Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ All-Girl's Sasuke ❯ Strangers ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: Nyah, I don't own Naruto. And MM.org is messing up my layouts, so I have to keep to uploading this bloody chapter... meh, I hope it comes out right THIS time... u.u;

 

Chapter 11 — Strangers

 

-

 

He couldn't see. It was so dark... an inky blackness crept all over him. Several times the gashes across his chest sparked with pain, but each time was brief. He couldn't move. It felt as though something were strapping his arms and legs down. Was this a dream? Or the foregoing part of a predestined nightmare? He wanted to open his eyes. But were they not already wide open, searching the blank air around him for life? Haku wished for even the smallest glimmer of light. Anything to bring him out of this cold shadow that he knew would eventually drive him insane.

 

`But aren't I already insane?' he mused, contemplative now that he was surrounded by nothing but the dark with nothing to divert his attention elsewhere. `Why else would I be trapped in this blank void? Perhaps... perhaps I've died....' Haku felt a sad smile etch itself onto his lips. `Maybe now... my heart won't ache so much...'

 

He tried to imagine Zabuza's face, but found that he couldn't bring himself to. All he could see was the man's name, which disheartened him.

 

`Why...? Why can't I see your face?' Could he only think his words? Whatever happened to his voice? He tried to speak, but nothing could be vocally sounded out. Or maybe he just couldn't hear it. Haku tried again and again, until he thought he was screaming. But there was nothing. Nothing in this empty blackness....

 

If he could see, he knew he would be dizzy. But Haku couldn't even close his eyes, because now he couldn't tell the difference between opening and closing them. The shadowy veil was over him at both times. He couldn't live this way.... Anywhere but here!

 

Haku felt himself screaming harder, wanting someone to find him and release him. Where was he? Was he even human anymore? While he still heard no sound, his throat felt hoarse. His cries faded away, as the slashes on his chest began stinging, before totally silencing him. At least he could feel himself breathing, the air going in and out of him harshly after his silent screams finished. In fact... he could even hear it.

 

He held his breath for a moment, despite the ache it formed in his chest, and yet continued to hear the sound. It wasn't his breathing he was hearing... it was someone else's. Releasing his breath, he found that the sound was getting louder. Was the person coming closer? Or was Haku, himself, unintentionally going over?

 

As it got louder, Haku soon realized that that sound wasn't necessarily just breathing. There was an erratic pattern to it... crying? Whoever was here with him was crying, he mused, suddenly feeling like he should be doing the same. But why? What was there to be sad over...?

 

And then a new sound. A voice, this time, heard over the breathing. His eyes were wide as he tried to look around himself, hearing his name being called.

 

“—Haku—st—Let—stay with—I said!—Stop!!” The voice was protesting something. Who was that...? Why couldn't he remember? The words faded fairly quickly, however, which made Haku fear for whoever was crying out to him.

 

`No... don't leave me here!' he tried to call back, trying to reach in front of himself. It was either he still couldn't move, or he'd lost all feeling in his body. He tried to feel blindly in the darkness, but there was nothing but air around him. `Come back!'

 

--

 

“Sasuke!”

 

Haku's eyes shot open, their first sight being his right hand raised high above his head, reaching for the glaringly white-tiled ceiling. He then felt a sting of pain centered on his chest, his arm flopping back down languidly beside him. His eyes felt heavy. Had he been asleep this whole time? Sitting up, ignoring the annoying feeling the cuts were giving, Haku realized that this wasn't his dorm. It wasn't his real room, either. No wonder the ceiling had looked odd when he first saw it.

 

On his right was the equally white wall, small splotches of off-white marring its overall appearance, plus a brown door over in the corner.

 

“What...?”

 

Over on the other side, he saw an odd, pastel green curtain. Haku felt his eyes narrow at the sight—oh, it felt good to actually be able to see—and began to wonder where he was exactly. Tilting his head, Haku reached for the curtain, expecting the thing to maybe disappear and be nothing more than another illusion. It was not, and the plastic-y feel under his fingertips proved that point.

 

Looking down at himself, the tacky curtain currently forgotten, Haku realized he was shirtless. A tinge of color rushed to his face, wondering who it was who dressed his wounds. White bandages spiraled around his upper body in an X shape, bits beginning to dot variously on the cloth. He shifted his legs, awkwardly, but found them to be covered much unlike his torso. Inwardly sighing a breath of relief, Haku lay back down.

 

But then another realization hit him. Whose name had he called when he woke up? Swooping back up, Haku stared ahead at the blank wall expecting answers. This was, quite obviously, a hospital. How had he gotten here, though? And what of Sasuke? Surely he was here with him. Turning back to the curtain with a curious look, but still holding the bed blankets up to his collarbone just in case, Haku felt the pale green décor once more. Then in one swift move, he ripped them aside.

 

The other bed in the room was, indeed, occupied, but not by Uchiha Sasuke like Haku had presume. Instead, a middle-aged man stared back at Haku incredulously. The equipment around him and white strips over the upper part of his chest indicated that the man was recovering from heart surgery. Haku blinked in surprise and was just about to close the curtain again, when the man suddenly widely grinned.

 

“Hey baby,” the man called, trying to make his voice low with seduction, though it sounded more ridiculous than anything. “What're you in for?”

 

Haku scowled, one eye twitching, and pulled the curtains back in their place.

 

“Hey! Don't you want to talk?!” the man's voice came from the other side. “I'm so loooooonely...!!” Haku cringed and hid under his covers, turning over to the right to further block out the neighboring pervert/patient. More pleading statement followed, but they soon ceased.

 

Sighing in exasperation, the air getting warmer and warmer under the wooly blankets, Haku finally reappeared out of the enclosure. The cooler air in the room quickly surrounded him once more, a shiver ensuing, and Haku laid back down normally.

 

If Sasuke wasn't here then... where was he? Haku racked his brain, trying to remember the last thing before he blacked out. Fast forward past Zabuza—a spark of remembrance fluttered in his chest—then again past Sasuke saving him, then the running... and finally the bushes. Was there nothing more after this? Haku's brows furrowed, as the boy puzzled over this.

 

He could've sworn that they were going to die there. The incredibly cold feeling he'd had at that time blossomed once more vividly in his mind, and he wondered what had saved them. What kept them from dying there... alone....

 

I wasn't alone. Sasuke was with me. That was right but should Sasuke have been with him? Neither of them would be where they currently were if Sasuke hadn't intervened. But where was Sasuke?

 

Hopefully just in another room, Haku thought, a feeling of guilt gnawing at his core. It was his fault, running off like that. If he had just put up with those girls' rambling, if he had just owned a stronger will...

 

Could he honestly wait for a nurse to walk in to find out where the Uchiha was? Of course he could always call one of them using one of those handy call-buttons. But then they might not tell him anyway, due to privacy matters or some nonsense like that. Hospitals were too complicated. But at least he wasn't in a mental ward.

 

Finally making a decision, despite its rash nature, Haku swung his feet out of the bed, finding a pair of white, soft pants covering his thin legs. He quietly escaped through the door, hoping the pervert on the other side of the room would hear, and shut the door behind himself with the knob turned so it wouldn't click. Haku then stepped lightly down the cold hallway. His feet were bare and they soon began to feel less than clean from walking on the unswept, yet smooth, flooring.

 

Now there was another problem at hand. How in the heck was he going to know where Sasuke's room was? Dwelling on this for a second, an inner feeling of defeat urging him to give up and return to the room, Haku looked ahead towards the end of the hall for clues. There weren't any signs that said, “Uchiha Sasuke here,” but there was one that stated, “Information.”

 

Yet it isn't a lobby? Haku wondered, slowly approaching the desk. He didn't want to be caught out of bed but the nurse at the desk looked too preoccupied with playing Solitaire on the computer to pay any real attention to anything else.

 

“Excuse me...?” he began, hiding partially behind the wall that turned in towards the desk. The nurse nodded, not taking her eyes off of the screen. He cleared his throat, finding his voice hard to find. Maybe he was actually screaming when he was asleep...

 

“Er, can you tell me where a certain room is?” Haku slowly asked, praying she wouldn't question why. The woman nodded again.

 

“What room do you want, kid?” she asked, her hand on the mouse, still clicking and dragging virtual cards. “Tell me the first and last name.”

 

“Uchiha Sasuke.” After he replied, her eyebrows rose for a second, as she glanced down at a sheet of paper with penciled down names.

 

“Eh.... room 349,” the nurse stated before continuing with a flat, emotionless tone, “Don't disturb the room if there are nurses and doctors working in there, and have a nice day.” Another click of her mouse and her attention was instantly diverted once more.

 

Haku nodded, despite her not noticing, and continued on down the hall, checking each room number that he passed.

 

“336... 338... 340...” After a short while in a surprisingly deserted hallway, Haku finally found his was to Sasuke's room. The door was closed of course, and he found a sudden, odd feeling of butterflies as if he were about to discover some huge secret. When his hand turned to the handle, Haku cautiously peeked in, not wanting any non-patient to discover his being out of his own room.

 

Looking around the door, readying himself to duck back out if worse comes to worse, Haku found himself sighing in relief at the sight of Sasuke on the bed. Maybe he was glad to see that Sasuke was alone. Or perhaps he had to see the Uchiha himself before he could believe the boy survived?

 

Entering the room after seeing that no one else was there and shutting the door, Haku approached the bed quietly, noting how the lights weren't on. Looking towards the window, he could see that the faint amount of light that did enter the room was coming from the orange, afternoon sun. How much time had passed since Friday, then? What was the current date?

 

He sat himself down in a visitor's chair, sitting in it sideways without thought, peering down at Sasuke's sleeping form in front of him. Did the boy's skin seem paler than before? Haku's eyes narrowed. He reached for Sasuke's face, his fingers trailing over the Uchiha's jawline. So smooth... just like that night. Haku could feel heat return to his face, but dismissed it, as his thumb brushed against Sasuke's slightly parted lips.

 

His hand retreated quickly as the sleeping male seemed to stir, a deep breath taken during the moment, before Haku found it safe to move again when Sasuke's eyes didn't open. Scooting the chair as close as it could get to the bed, noiselessly, Haku leaned in closer to the male. His head had turned when he moved, and now it was facing partially away from Haku.

 

Perhaps it was the tinted light coming in from the window, but was that a trail of red going across Sasuke's face?

 

Haku sighed, folding his arms over the side of the bed, leaning down low to be on level with them, still watching the teen before him with unwavering eyes. A soft smile found its way onto his lips, as he found himself remembering something Sasuke had said before he'd blacked out.

 

“Sasuke....” Haku began, finding his thoughts being spoken aloud, “did you mean it when you said you didn't hate me?”

 

It'd been said so many times to him before, foster mothers usually being the greatest fans of it. They told him they loved him like their own child, yet, now he lived alone? Whatever happened to the never-ending love a mother supposedly had for her child? Haku used to feel bad for himself over their lies, but now he didn't bat a lash at remembering. There were worse things to cry over.

 

“I'm sorry. I... again, feared for your life,” Haku admitted, while still holding his smiling expression. “But this time I was to blame. So maybe I wasn't being too sentimental when I was afraid you would die this time? I don't like to senselessly worry over people, but.... You understand, right? Maybe not.

 

“They must know by now. The school. They were more than likely the first people contacted... and with our uniforms it wouldn't be too hard to figure out, anyway,” Haku said, his quiet voice made only more muffled by his crossed arms, which he were practically speaking into. Now his eyes were watching Sasuke's chest move up and down in front of him, unconsciously following the pattern with his own breaths. “Which means you might not see me at school. Or... maybe not even by the time you wake up....

 

“That's probably all for the better anyway. Zabuza-san's probably gone off somewhere else; I still need to follow him. Don't bear a grudge against him. He's not... so bad....” His voice was beginning to waver with these words, almost as if he were trying to convince himself of the same thing. “He isn't. But... he shouldn't have hurt you. I'm glad you didn't die, though.... If you had I...”

 

He buried his face in his arms, breathing erratically then in stifled tears. “I don't want to cry, but I don't know what else to do. Zabuza-san always hated my crying... and I thought I was done with it, too, until Friday.” Each word was tagged with more emotion than the last, as Haku's hand clenched the bed sheets through their awkward stance. “Damn you... Sasuke....”

 

-

 

As Haku was bent over in sorrow, he nary noticed as Sasuke's right hand, the one closest to his roommate, slowly arose from its position. Before it could get even two inches above the mattress however, the door to the room swung open, Sasuke's hand once more feigning sleep at the noise. Haku turned around quickly, drying his eyes with his wrists when he saw it was Kakashi. The expression his teacher wore was not one of amusement.

 

“Yukio-kun,” Kakashi began, his arms folded in front of his chest, “I'm sure you realize that we've been informed of your little secret, right?” Haku nodded, wordlessly. “Then can you please speak to us? Outside Uchiha's room?” This last comment was aimed more towards the boy faking sleep on the bed, though Haku barely noticed it as he stepped out with Kakashi.

 

Once the door shut behind them, Sasuke's eyes blinked open. Without looking, he felt at where Haku had been crying. The sheets were dotted with tears here and there.

 

“Haku...” He wanted to sit up, but Sasuke knew that the wound to his side would probably hinder this wish. Sighing, he turned to the right, facing the door. Why hadn't he showed Haku he was awake earlier? Perhaps because he wanted to hear all Haku had to say.

 

In truth, Sasuke had been awake since long before Haku had walked in. He was just feigning sleep so that the nurses wouldn't bother him, like the last time he'd been awake when they walked in. It turned out, though, that when the door had opened that Haku was on the other side instead.

 

Another faint blush escaped to Sasuke's cheeks once more, remembering Haku's thumb to his lips. What was all that touching for?! he mused in an annoyed fashion. Still... Sasuke's own hand reached up, touching the same spot that Haku's had. That touch had been enough to make Sasuke have to move away somehow.

 

Right before the door had opened again for Kakashi, he had been reaching for Haku to stop crying. Perhaps the awkward situation that might've followed made his hand fall to the bed once more? More than likely. Sasuke inwardly cursed his cowardice. Haku had now cried in front of him three times, and yet Sasuke couldn't admit he wanted to console his dorm mate?

 

“I'm so weak...” Sasuke muttered, in spite of himself.

 

“I'll say,” came a voice from the other side of the room. Sasuke's eyes widened, though he dared not turn to confirm his suspicions. “What?” said the voice again, mocking innocent confusion. “Don't tell me my darling little brother has gone back to pretending I don't exist...!”

 

“Itachi...” warned another voice. Gaara's voice.

 

Sasuke shut his eyes, wishing for another delusion than this. Can't his nightmare consist of something other than him?

 

“Sasuke...” Itachi's voice stated, this time the light expression gone. “You seem to think you can run from me, over and over.” Sasuke could feel his bed dip on one side, but merely moved towards his own edge further, painfully aware of this nightmare being reality. “We're all we have left, little brother. Why do you continue to fear me?”

 

“I hate you,” was Sasuke's only reply, unconsciously curling into himself. “Get away from me.”

 

“Hm.” Itachi's hand was surprisingly warm against his brother's bare shoulder, the elder Uchiha turning Sasuke over slowly. Sasuke found himself staring into his brother's crimson eyes without wanting to. “I suppose this is all my own fault...”

 

“You think?” came Gaara's voice once more, the redhead leaning against the wall on the other side. His arms were crossed, bitterly. “You told him to hate you, what do you expect? ...fool...”

 

Itachi didn't even glare at Gaara's comment, knowing it would do nothing. To each his own, after all. Instead, his eyes lingered on Sasuke's face.

 

“Sasuke, you mirror our mother, you know,” Itachi pointed out, before smiling. Sasuke wanted to push him away, get him to stop speaking, but Itachi was holding down both of his arms, leaning across his chest. He was so close...

 

“I didn't kill you for a reason, Sasuke,” Itachi murmured, gripping Sasuke's arms harder as he glared at some unrecognizable thing behind Sasuke. “I... didn't want to kill anyone, then.”

 

“Then why?!” Sasuke cried, Itachi shaking him slightly in an attempt to quiet his little brother. “....why did you do it...?!”

 

“It was either them or you,” Itachi snapped. “I had my choice, and I made it. Just like Gaara.” He arched a brow, knowingly. “That goes for Zabuza, as well.”

 

Sasuke stared up at him. They were on the same team. Dammit...! “Tell that bastard to go kill himself, then!”

 

Itachi shrugged, releasing his brother's arms before standing. Despite the stabbing pain in his side, Sasuke sat up, one hand to the bandaged site of pain. “He nearly did, the poor fool,” he replied, coolly. “That man acts tough but he's really softer than Gaara over there.”

 

At the mention of his name, Gaara turned his head away. “Don't compare me to him. You don't have the right say anything like that, anyway.” A slow, deriding sneer appeared on his face. “I'm not the one who—”

 

“Don't say anymore,” warned Itachi, a bloody glare sent from him to Gaara. The younger boy blinked, but didn't say any more. It didn't matter much to him anyway. Itachi turned back to Sasuke. “We'll be leaving now, little brother.”

 

“Fine, go,” Sasuke urged, waving him off. “I don't care. Just leave me alone.”

 

“I said `We,' not meaning `Gaara and I,' but `You, Gaara, and I.' Now come.”

 

Sasuke looked at his brother in confusion. “What? Why?! You told me I wasn't important! I'm not worth your time! I hate you!! What more do you want?!”

 

Itachi's eyes narrowed. “You.”

 

Despite the suppressed ferocity in Itachi's nature, Sasuke couldn't fight the heat that was creeping to his face. What the hell was his older brother getting at? Or was Itachi even more demented than he'd thought all these years?

 

“... you stay the hell away from me...” Sasuke growled, inching away once more.

 

“Don't do this.” Itachi reached for him, but Sasuke batted his hand away, leaping out of the bed backwards. He stopped just before hitting the wall, but doubled over when his injury flared, falling to his knees.

 

“Sasuke...!” Itachi hurried around the bed to the younger Uchiha, kneeling down to Sasuke's level. Sasuke glared up at him, despite the pain in his eyes in doing so. He brushed back Sasuke's bangs, furrowing his brows. “....you're apparently not supposed to move, Sasuke. Here—”

“Don't touch me,” Sasuke cut him off, knocking away Itachi's hands. “Get out of here. Now.”

 

Itachi scowled, though the reason behind it seemed different from what Sasuke had expected. “I will not leave here without you.”

 

“I'd like to see you t—” Sasuke's words were cut off as he coughed, harshly. Looking down at his hands, both Uchihas saw them splattered with blood. Sasuke felt faint at the sight of it, though perhaps there was more to his dizziness than just seeing the blood.

 

“Sasuke!” Itachi tried to pull his brother up by his arms, but Sasuke refused.

 

“No... let me go...!” Sasuke stated, red trailing in small lines out of his throat. “I don't...,” his voice faded as he fell limp, though not unconscious.

 

“Gaara, come here,” ordered Itachi. When the red-haired teen didn't move, the elder Uchiha glared up at him. “Gaara.”

 

Gaara stared back, unmoving. “They're coming back.” Itachi hesitated, but then stood at these words while leaning Sasuke against the bed side, soon joining Gaara beside the window. Sasuke looked up, feeling the distinct warmth trickling down his neck.

 

“Once these fools leave you alone again, I'll return for you,” Itachi coldly stated, sliding open the window. He turned to Gaara. “Close the window after you leave, Gaara.” Then the Uchiha slipped through the window, despite them being many stories up. Sasuke's eyes were wide; how did they keep doing that?

 

Gaara looked ready to leave, but hesitated and looked back at Sasuke. Sasuke returned the gaze, realizing that Gaara was eyeing the blood dripping slowly out of him.

 

“I'll kill him,” Gaara said, flatly, before taking his own swift leave. The window seemed to shut behind him by itself, and Sasuke found himself leaning on the side of the bed for support.

 

Kill him? Sasuke thought, finding it hard to breathe without having the urge to cough. The blood was probably edging into his lungs now. He groaned, trying to stand and get back into the bed. Kill who? That bastard Itachi? No... He furrowed his brows, realizing it. No, Zabuza. Hn... I certainly wouldn't mind that, that's for sure. Though, Yukio would be sad, that moron.

 

Behind him, the door's handle clicked, signaling someone opening it. Sasuke slowly turned his head, just in time to see Haku rush to his side in panic.

 

“Sasuke! What are you do—?!” He cut off, noticing the blood trickling out of Sasuke's mouth. “What...? What happened?!”

 

“Nothing,” Sasuke denied, attempting to crawl back into his bed once more. “Help me stand.”

 

“No! Stay there, don't move,” Haku refused. Sasuke glared at him.

 

“On the floor?”

 

“Yes!”

 

“It's cold, idiot!”

 

Haku furrowed his brows. “Here then, you child,” Haku muttered, pulling the sheets off of Sasuke's hospital bed, before hanging them on the Uchiha's head. “Warm enough for you?”

 

“Pft...” Sasuke pulled the white blankets off, the sheets marred with spots of scarlet from his face. He continued to glare at Haku, but bit back his remark, eyeing the wetness in Haku's eyes. “.....hn.... Ha—”

 

At that moment, Kakashi reentered the room, Tsunade-san, the principal of St. Ruto's following close behind.

 

“Playing on the floor, boys?” she commented, one eye brow raised in question. Sasuke and Haku looked up, the latter looking like he would've stood if Sasuke didn't need help.

 

Kakashi, however, noticed the boy's injury. “Sasuke-kun, did you fall out of bed?” He barely glanced down at Haku, before returning his gaze to the Uchiha while adding, “Again?” Sasuke stared at Kakashi warningly.

 

`Again?' Haku mentally repeated, before looking angry. “How can you just stand there? Call the nurse, Sasuke's bleeding...!”

 

“It's nothing,” Sasuke rebuked, avoiding Haku's eyes as the long-haired boy turned back to him. “What about you? You're not supposed to be moving your arms for at least a week! Look, it's already beginning to bleed through, fool.” He gestured to the bandaged wrapped around Haku's chest, a more pronounced X beginning to appear through it in red.

 

“S-so...” Haku felt like he should've been covering the mark, but ignored the urge. “It doesn't hurt. Besides, you look like you're about to die just sitting there!”

 

Tsunade and Kakashi merely glanced at each other in a bored fashion, the silver-haired teacher shrugging, before deciding to let the two teens take out their anger. Alone. The two quietly left the room, closing the door behind them so as to not attract more attention to the boys on the floor.

 

“I do not,” Sasuke replied. “And what do you mean that doesn't hurt? Every time I snuck out to see you, you'd be crying in your bloody sleep!!”

 

Haku nearly answered this, but stopped himself. “.... what?”

 

Sasuke crossed his arms, despite how a tendril of pain seethed into his side in doing so. “You heard me. You were nearly sobbing! And what's with mumbling that bastard's and mine's names?!”

 

“Not that,” Haku brushed aside his earlier comment. “You snuck into my room? ...too?” Sasuke nearly looked as though he regretted saying anything about the subject, but his usual facade reappeared.

 

“Yeah... only because the nurses are complete morons who know nothing,” Sasuke curtly answered, staring at the cold floor beneath them. “And since you seemed to be the lucky one to not have so many nurses prancing in and out, seeing as how you were still asleep, I sometimes... went in there....” He looked back up at Haku, noting the surprised look on the other boy's face. “Not like that, narcissist! Stop thinking everyone lives to hit on you and only you!!”

 

Haku couldn't help but smile. “You... hopeless romantic.” Sasuke looked back down, remembering that phrase from before. Haku's smile slowly faded, as the silence bore down on them both.

 

“You were saying his name... and mine, too, but...,” Sasuke paused, tracing circles on the smooth floor below them, the other hand wrapped in the now red-spotted white sheet Haku had pulled from the bed. “Where were you?” He glanced up at Haku. “You were screaming bloody murder.”

 

Haku gave him a wary look. “... you could hear me?” He'd thought he was trapped in a shadowy silence.

 

“Psh,” Sasuke made a sound of disbelief. “The question is, `Who couldn't hear you.'” He paused. “Was it that frightening, wherever your mind was?” Haku nodded.

 

“Maybe not to someone like you but... it was for me,” Haku answered. Sasuke left it at that, noting the uneasiness that flickered across Haku's expression just remembering. But then Haku suddenly smiled.

 

“I saw someone that day,” he said, in response to Sasuke's look of confusion at the grin. “Uzumaki-kun. He's nice, but a little... off, no offense.” Sasuke arched a brow.

 

“How did you see him?”

 

“We met on a pair of swings,” Haku answered. “Apparently, he was skipping school too,”—Sasuke murmured something along the lines of “Dobe.”—“and so we talked.”

 

“...about what?”

 

“You, Sakura-chan...” A grin. “He's cute.” Sasuke glared at Haku, warningly.

 

“Don't get ideas,” Sasuke muttered back, keeping his steely gaze on the cross-dressing male.

 

“Jealous, are we?”

 

“No.”

 

Haku pouted to Sasuke's curt reply, but said no more. Thus, the perturbed silence returned with a seeming vengeance.

 

“I... They said I should probably leave the school...” Haku finally revealed. Sasuke dared not look up now. Emotions like this were never his favorite. However, despite his refusal to look at Haku's face, he could still see how Haku's hands gripped at the blankets strewn around them both. “I suppose that means we won't be in Ribbon Heart together, huh? Oh well...” A feeble laugh, as Haku attempted to appease the dark mood that suddenly appeared.

 

“That's probably for the best, huh?” Haku continued, smiling up at Sasuke just as he'd thought it was safe to glance. It was the saddest smile the Uchiha had ever witnessed. Forget all the girls he'd ever refused... This was the epiphany of all that. “Now you might actually have a female playing the opposite...!”

 

“Haku...” He bit his lip. “You're going to follow him, aren't you?” This time Haku averted his eyes, though his nodding proved Sasuke's assumption. “Why? Why him? He's—”

 

“If I don't, they'll eventually catch him and I'll have done all this for nothing,” Haku replied, cutting his ex-roommate off before the boy could finish his sentence. Sasuke frowned to this claim, however.

 

“He deserves to be caught!” the spiky-haired boy argued. “The guy tried to kill you! Though that was partially my fault, he was the one with the knife!”

 

“Your fault?” questioned Haku. “You weren't—”

 

“It's because I almost told Iruka-sensei.” Haku's eyes widened. Sasuke shook his head. “Not about you... about Zabuza. Haku, he's in league with Gaara. With...” Sasuke hesitated, before continuing, “my brother, Itachi.” Haku blinked, a look of realization seeming to dawn on him.

 

“O-oh.”

 

“He threatened me with your life, since he knew my brother wouldn't let me be killed. And... I guess I almost didn't win the gamble.” The Uchiha's last statement was no more than a whisper, though Haku heard it more clearly than anything else Sasuke'd said.

 

“I didn't think he would hear me,” Sasuke quickly added. “But he did and that's when I heard you'd ran away, too.” He glared up at Haku, though a question was the one thing most evident in his dark eyes. “Why?”

 

Haku shrugged, simply. “I don't know,” he answered. Sasuke gave him a look of knowing better than that. “Fine. I do know. It was something childish, though... those girls were just hassling me again, that's all.”

 

“Hmph.” Sasuke quirked a brow once more. “And you call me a child?” He raised a hand to Haku's face, before placing his first two fingers on the boy's lips, perhaps to silence whatever quip came next. “I'm not the one fondling people while they sleep.” Haku looked surprised for a second, speaking under Sasuke's fingers.

 

“You were awake?” He finally pulled Sasuke's hand down by the wrist, a faint red coloring his cheeks. “Why didn't you say anything?! Were you just listening blissfully to my confession?!”

 

“Yes, and you seemed to want me to hear it anyway,” Sasuke replied. “What's the big deal?” He blinked, watching his dorm mate's abashed expression. “Are you... embarrassed?”

 

“No, I'm not,” Haku stated, sarcasm edging his words. “I'm so ecstatic you heard my heartfelt sobs of pain and sorrow. We should do it again real soon. I can't wait.” He looked off to the side, proving his offense. Sasuke wanted to get back to the real subject at hand, however, ignoring Haku's remarks.

 

“He doesn't feel the same for you, you realize that, right?” Sasuke tried to lock stares with Haku, though the latter seemed to pretend he didn't notice the Uchiha's trademark glare and merely shrugged. “He doesn't care...!”

 

“Yes he does!” Sasuke found himself pulled forward harshly, Haku still having a grip on the boy's wrist. He'd pulled the spiky-haired teen towards him in speaking. “He...,” Haku released Sasuke's arm, marks left where his fingers had dug into the skin, “does...”

 

Sasuke rubbed at the spot indifferently. “Are you so blind? I'd understand if maybe he showed some ray of kindness, but all I've ever seen him do to you is hurt you!”

 

“Same with you!” Haku cried. The other boy stared at the accusation before him. “Since when have you ever tried being genuinely kind to someone? Anyone?!”

 

“Lots of times!” Sasuke replied, harshly. “I'm not some heartless jerk. Unlike your precious Zabuza-sama, I actually acknowledge that others exist, for one thing!!”

 

“You.... you don't know anything,” the cross-dresser seethed, turning away from the Uchiha. Sasuke performed a similar action.

 

“You're one to talk.”

 

“Arrogant, self-absorbed, immature jerk.”

 

“Creepy, narcissistic, overly-feminine masochist!”

 

“What makes me a masochist?” Haku asked, returning his glare to Sasuke, the other male quickly returning the heated stare.

 

“The fact that you seem to just love men pouncing all over you as if you have no feelings!!” Sasuke quickly answered. “And what in all hell makes me immature? I'm the most mature person in the whole bloody school! City too, probably.”

 

Haku looked taken back, but just as quickly retorted with, “You're immature due to the fact you seem to never get enough sex wherever you go! Ten million times a day with Uzumaki-kun, and yet you still try to rape me?!”

 

“I didn't rape you! You consented... sort of... after a while....!! And besides, I didn't go any further than your waist, I already told you that!”

 

“I was trying to knock your lights out until you finally overpowered me, you man-devil. And touching is touching! Who are you to disregard my privacy?!”

 

“I'm sorry, okay!”

 

“....” Haku kept his heated stare fixated on Sasuke, the Uchiha doing the same. After a few intense moments of silent glaring, a smile cracked Haku's angry façade. Sasuke blinked in bewilderment, soon finding himself watching Haku trying to stifle his laughter.

 

“...what?”

 

“I'm going to miss you, Uchiha-kun,” Haku finally said, looking back up at Sasuke, any resentment erased from his eyes. “You really are... kind.” He stood in one move, flicking his hair back from his face. “When you want to be, anyway.” A smile flitted across Haku's face, as he opened the door. Kakashi and Tsunade stood there, about to walk in, when Haku left between them. Both adults watched him walk back to his room, Tsunade looking ready to say something but biting her tongue.

 

“Hn,” Kakashi merely murmured, looking back down at Sasuke. “If you want to apologize, you could've just mentioned how you kept knocking out doctors just to stay in his room.” Sasuke glowered at the man, as Kakashi grinned.

 

“I-I was dazed and confused,” protested the teen, hoping distinctly that the heat rising to his face didn't mean he was blushing. “Besides, this—” He pointed to the blood drops on the white sheet— “is from that one man-nurse.”

 

“It was the only way to get you unconscious, Uchiha,” Tsunade reminded him, raising a brow. Sasuke snorted.

 

“So... you're kicking him out?” he finally brought up, his gaze suddenly turning icy with his own words. Both looked surprised at this statement.

 

“No,” Kakashi replied.

 

“He can stay, as long as he keeps posing as a female,” Tsunade continued. “If anything, we're hoping his stays; the police may finally be able to get those two—”

 

“Three,” corrected Sasuke.

 

“—if Yukio stays. Especially if the one called... what? Zabon? Well, if `Mochi-san' returns,” Tsunade said, Kakashi nodding in accord.

 

“But, then why is he leaving?” inquired Sasuke.

 

“Oh, he's decided to leave?” Both Tsunade and Kakashi glanced at one another curiously.

 

Sasuke nodded, slowly, staring beyond the two into the hallway behind them. Haku... damn it, you're even harder to figure out than Naruto.

 

-

 

Review, simple as that.