Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Insanely Yours ❯ One Mistake Too Many ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine: One Mistake Too Many

 

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Set the sky ablaze
Fill the night with paint
Smother all the shade

Flood it through my blood
Breathe it through my lungs
Give us all your love

 

The sound of a piano being played softly echoed in the background; it was a nice change from the noise of the television. Earlier that morning, Shizune had come into the TV room, and set up a CD player. Since then, she'd put in multiple CD's with calming music. The one that was playing now was the music from someone named Yiruma. Naruto hadn't ever heard of him before, but he had to admit that the music was very beautiful. Most of the patients had gathered in the room, and were now just sitting and listening. Naruto hadn't ever seen them all this calm, in the same room, together.

 

So here he sat, with a small brush in his hand, and a girl sitting in front of him. Somehow, he'd gotten Hinata to let him get closer to her, and she'd actually let him brush her hair. Over time, and the few weeks that'd passed, he'd gained her trust. And even though she would never say a word, Naruto would still talk to Hinata. And she'd listen.

 

Today, it has seemed as if the girl were distressed about something. When Naruto had saw her for the first time today, her eyes had been red and puffy, and she'd been rocking back and forth in the corner, holding herself. Of course, Naruto would never know what had happened to her, because she couldn't tell him, and even if he asked her cousin Neji, the boy would tell Naruto absolutely nothing about Hinata.

 

Now, it was true that Naruto knew virtually nothing about girls, but he had a sister, and thank goodness for that. He remembered times when Aya would be upset, crying, whether it be about a boy, or memories that she hated to recall, Naruto remembered. He remembered that every time she'd get sad, he'd brush her hair for her. He didn't know why, but it always seemed to calm her down, and make her feel better. So, he'd tried it on Hinata. Lo and behold, she wasn't crying anymore. In fact, she was calmer than ever.

 

The only thing wrong with this entire ordeal was that Neji was now staring daggers into the side of Naruto's head. The pale eyed boy sat across the room, tightly gripping the arm of the chair he was sitting in. The look on his face told Naruto that he was about ready to jump out of that chair and strangle him. But, as not to agitate the situation any further, Naruto ignored him, and he kept brushing Hinata's long hair.

 

"You know, Hinata-chan," the boy started, as he ran the brush through her locks. "You have really pretty hair..." he told her. And Naruto was surprised to see that a slow blush crept over the girls face after he told her that. She brought up her hands, which were covered by the sleeves of her sweatshirt, and buried her face in them. Naruto was already used to that, so he only continued to do what he'd been doing for the past ten minutes.

 

After a while, Naruto watched as Sai walked past the room with his brother, Yamato. Naruto had spoken to the man once before; he was really nice. It was obvious that Yamato really cared for Sai, because he always came every Saturday; he'd never missed a day. When he came around, Sai always seemed significantly happier, and calmer. He'd already told Naruto that Yamato was all he had left, so of course he'd be happy to see him.

 

"Oh Hinata-san, your hair looks beautiful." Both Naruto and Hinata looked up to see one of the nurses who worked under Kakashi. Her name was Kurenai; she was nice, and not as scary as Shizune was. "You have an appointment with Kakashi, dear. Let's go."

 

Without hesitation, the girl stood up. She glanced back at Naruto, before bringing her sleeved hands back up to her face. Naruto watched as she and Kurenai left the room together, and headed down the hallway. From the corner of his eye, Naruto saw that Neji was no longer staring at him, and he sighed, relieved. He felt a lot safer when the boy wasn't wishing death on him.

 

"You know, you're the only one to ever get close to Hinata." Naruto glanced up to see Haku standing beside him. The boy came around, and sat down on the couch that was close to where Naruto was sitting. "Well, besides Neji...that girl acts like she doesn't know that the rest of us are here. I think she's more than mute." Haku took a drag from the cigarette in his hand; it was slowly dying away. "I think she's brain dead, or something. There's no way that someone can be so...unresponsive." Naruto turned around, and his eyes narrowed as he glared at Haku.

 

"She's not brain dead. And she's not unresponsive, either!" Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt like he needed to protect Hinata. He didn't like the things that Haku was saying about her, because they were obviously not true. "No one here pays enough attention to her to realize that she's perfectly fine; she just doesn't talk. There are people here with way worse problems!"

 

Haku waved his hand in the air at Naruto. "Calm down blondie; I didn't mean anything by it. You're getting all riled up for nothing." The boy blew smoke from his nostrils, and stared over at Naruto. "You're acting like you're her big brother, or something. Chill. Worry about her is Neji's job."

 

After hearing that comment, Naruto only rolled his eyes, and sighed. Haku was right; he did need to calm down. There was no need to act so overprotective about one comment. He leaned his head back onto the couch, and then let the sounds of music play in his ears. It wasn't long before Haku started talking again. "So, I hear you've been messing around with Sasuke, eh?" he started. "Are you two like, together?"

 

"...not exactly." Naruto mumbled.

 

The other boy smiled, and then blew smoke up into the air. "Nice catch; he's hot." Haku laughed to himself silently. "If I didn't have a boyfriend, I'd have tried to go after Sasuke a long time ago."

 

"You have a boyfriend?" Naruto asked him, curiously.

 

Haku nodded his head, and smiled before finishing off the lasts of his cigarette, by twisting it into the palm of his hand. Naruto knew that doing that had to have hurt, but Haku acted as if he hadn't felt anything. "Yeah, his name's Zabuza. He'll be coming today, too. And when he gets here, well...I'll make sure to blast the radio in my room."

 

It took a moment, but Naruto soon realized just exactly what Haku had meant. His cheeks turned a deep red color; he wasn't used to hearing about other people's sex lives. It was a bit, awkward. Of course, Haku had to point out the fact that Naruto looked cute when he blushed, which only made him blush even more, while crossing his arms over his chest, and trying to act like the comments didn't affect him.

 

"Naruto...why is your face so red?" The boy looked up, and saw that Sai was walking into the room, giving him the oddest of looks. The pale boy glanced over at Haku, who had an almost too innocent look on his face, and then at Naruto, who still resembled a ripe tomato. "Oh, I see; Haku's been talking about Zabuza." Sai motioned towards the walkway. "I think I saw his truck pulling up when I was saying goodbye to Yamato."

 

Before Sai could even say anything more, Haku shot up from his seat on the couch, and bolted towards the hallway. Sai shrugged his shoulders. "Zabuza must be really good in bed." He turned to Naruto who was shaking his head slowly, muttering about people who have no shame.

 

Soon, after Sai had laughed at Naruto for being 'modest', the two boys got to talking. Naruto asked Sai about what he and his brother talked about today. The dark-haired boy shrugged his shoulders, and sighed as he reached into his back pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes. It was obvious that sooner or later, everyone in this facility was going to have lung cancer; it was inevitable. "Well, today, my brother told me that Danzo is going to die soon." He stated. Naruto cocked his head to the side, and raised his eyebrows curiously.

 

"Danzo? Who's that?" he asked.

 

The boy waited for an answer as he watched Sai light a cigarette, close his eyes, and inhale from it deeply. "Danzo is my father." He told him, in a calm voice. Naruto was still a bit confused. Sai was acting as if this information didn't affect him in the least.

 

"Well, aren't you...sad?" the blonde asked.

 

Sai glanced over at him, and then he shook his head, lowering it and smiling bitterly. "I've got nothing to be sad about. In fact, I shouldn't even care." Sai blew smoke through his nose, before closing his eyes. "My father never loved me, you know. He hates me, he hates me more than my mother hates me, and that's saying something. In fact, if I were to show up at his funeral, he'd probably roll over in his grave."

 

Naruto's eyes widened; he couldn't believe that Sai had actually said that about his own father. But then, he remembered that not everyone in the world had an easy life, and Sai probably had a lot of baggage. He was here after all. "Don't give me that look, Naruto. You look like you're starting to feel bad for me; don't."

 

"...sorry." Naruto muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

 

He watched Sai take a deep breath before speaking again. "Yamato wants me to see him before they take him off of life support, but, why should I? He's never even thought to come here and see me. Why should I be there, to hold his hand on his deathbed? He doesn't want me there; I wouldn't want my presence to ruin his last hours."

 

"People change, Sai." Naruto told him.

 

The other boy scoffed, and rolled his eyes. "You don't know Danzo...the things he put me through...he'll never change." In a split second, a fiery, furious expression flashed across Sai's face. The boy stood up from his seat, shaking his head. All of a sudden, he'd become so angry, and when he left the room he hadn't even bothered to say goodbye to Naruto. The blonde decided not to follow him; he needed time to cool off. Naruto had never seen him so upset, but then again, Sai didn't talk about his family very often, so that was probably why.

 

Suddenly, Naruto looked towards the walkway when he heard quick footsteps coming closer. The person to come through it was Kiba. He had a stressed expression on his face, and he looked straight over at Naruto. "Did you hear?" he asked, while going over to him. Naruto was about to ask what Kiba was talking about, but before he could speak, Kiba started up again. "They put Sakura in the m-medical building. She refused to eat anything...and so they locked her up over there." Kiba sighed, raking his fingers through his brown hair. "I was thinking-thinking about going over to see her, but I didn't w-want to go...by myself-"

 

"-I'll go with you." Naruto said as he stood up. "If it isn't one thing, it's another..." he thought to himself while he and Kiba went to find Shizune, so that she could take them to Sakura's room. He hoped that the girl was alright; he hated to hear when anyone went into the medical unit.

 

When they found her, Shizune escorted both Kiba and Naruto to Sakura's room. Naruto could already tell that Kiba cared a lot about Sakura, because he was so worried about her. He seemed almost protective of her, almost like a brother. Naruto wondered if Kiba had any siblings.

 

They arrived at the room, and Shizune unlocked the door for the two of them. She told them to be very quiet, and not make any sudden movements, or they would startle Sakura. As the two boys walked into the room, neither of them were prepared for what they saw.

 

Sakura was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to too many machines to count, with tubes and IV's sticking out of her from left to right. There was a feeding tube in her throat, and Naruto couldn't even begin to imagine the discomfort that she was probably in. Slowly, the two boys walked closer to her, and they both almost gasped at the sight of her. Sakura's skin was pasty, ghostly pale, while her hair had become dull, and her eyes were glossed over. She'd gotten even thinner than usual, and neither boy wanted to try to guess how much she weighed right now.

 

The girl noticed their presence, and when she saw them, an airy laugh escaped her mouth. "...did you know that seventy pounds...was the perfect weight?" she said, in a whisper of her normal voice. Naruto and Kiba realized that they must've had her on some medication, because she was clearly out of it. "...seventy pounds..." she repeated.

 

"I've never seen her get this bad, before." Kiba said to Naruto in a low voice.

 

Naruto glanced up at him, his eyes questioning. "How many times has she been in here?" he asked.

 

Kiba sighed, and shook his head slowly. "Once every few months. I mean...we start to think that she's getting better after a while, and then she starts purging...and not eating, and she loses all her weight, and she ends up in here."

 

"...that's terrible." Naruto said. He couldn't find any other word to describe this situation.

 

Suddenly, he felt Sakura's hand on his wrist. The girl was staring straight at him. "...mother...mother always loved me even more...every time I lost a pound." She whispered. Then, all of a sudden, the grip she had on Naruto's wrist tightened. The BPM machine started beeping faster. "But she never really loved me...hated me, because I'm fat...I'll always be that way, just disgusting...disgusting!" she screamed. Naruto stood, and tried to get her to let him go, but she wouldn't. The heart rate machine kept beeping even faster, and before the boy could even open his mouth, the door to the room came bursting open, and in came Shizune, Kurenai, and Iruka.

 

"Sorry boys, but you're going to have to leave, now." Kurenai told them, as she forced Sakura to release Naruto. Iruka ushered them out of the room, and into the hallway.

 

Kiba and Naruto stood outside the door, staring into the small window, watching the doctors stick Sakura with each needle they held in their hands. They heard her crying, screaming, and begging them to let her lose just a few more pounds. It seemed like she screamed forever, and after a while, neither of the boys could bear to listen anymore...

 

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"You know, you'll get used to this place soon."

 

Shikamaru and Naruto were roaming the hallways of the building, talking with eachother. Naruto had explained to him everything that had happened. Shikamaru wasn't surprised in the least. "Things like that happen all the time. To be honest, the things that go on are pretty normal; try being here five years ago, now that was insane."

 

"...how long have you been here?" Naruto asked him. He'd never thought about it before, but Shikamaru seemed to know quite a lot about the facility.

 

"Seven years. It'll be eight in two months."

 

Naruto's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" he questioned, incredulously. Shikamaru nodded, and shrugged his shoulders, as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

 

"I've been here since I was fourteen." He stated. "It's not too bad after you get used to it, honestly. I've been here so long that I can't even complain about it anymore."

 

"Well, couldn't you leave, if you wanted to?" Naruto asked.

 

The brunet sighed heavily, and then stared up at the fluorescent lights that lined the ceiling. "Yeah, I could, but I'd have to get a personal psychologist, and they'd be monitoring me from home, there'd be so much paperwork to sign...it'd all be so troublesome."

 

When Naruto heard him say that, he couldn't help but laugh. Shikamaru was the laziest person that Naruto had ever met in his life. The man had a chance to get himself out of this place, but he thought that it was too troublesome to leave. What a guy.

 

The two of them kept walking through the hallways, and Naruto was listening to Shikamaru tell him about some of the other patients that had been released before Naruto had arrived. Shikamaru told him that there had been a girl here, named Ino. She and Sakura had been the best of friends, and both the girls had been diagnosed with the same problems. But, Ino had gotten better, and she'd been released. Shikamaru even told Naruto that he'd been quite taken with Ino; she'd been a loose cannon, but there'd just been something about her that he'd liked. When she'd left, Sakura had become depressed, and angry about her friend. And even though Ino still visited from time to time, Sakura never seemed to get any better.

 

Shikamaru started to tell Naruto another story, and he was eager to hear it. Though, the moment he'd started, Naruto's attention had become directed elsewhere. Naruto stopped, dead in his tracks, as he stared into the open door of one of the rooms in the facility. He could see the blue and orange flames flickering on the large silver stove. The Kitchen. Naruto didn't breathe, he didn't move, he didn't even blink. He watched the flames dance upon the stove, and even from where he was standing, he could swear he felt the heat emitting from them. In an instant, so many memories flashed before his eyes. A house burning down, the faces of his loving parents, the forest fire from months ago, and then the flames engulfed his entire mind. All he could see was fire...

 

"-Hey, kid. You alright?"

 

Naruto snapped out of his daze when he heard Shikamaru's voice, and felt his hand on his shoulder. The boy looked up and quickly nodded, while plastering a wide, fake smile on his face. "Yeah, I'm fine." He told him, before starting to walk again. Shikamaru only shrugged his shoulder, and continued talking about whatever he'd been telling Naruto before.

 

But this time, Naruto was definitely not listening. He couldn't get the sight of the fire out of his mind, the way it'd swayed with the wind, the way the flames flickered whenever a breeze would come through. His imagination took over, and he could see the whole room being set ablaze. "No..." he closed his eyes, and shook his head as he attempted to dispel the thoughts from his mind. His thoughts were being distorted, once again, and he already knew what was going to happen if he didn't stop himself. "And I can't let that happen, I'm here to get better, not to keep starting fires..." he shoved his hands in his pockets and forced himself to listen to Shikamaru talking; maybe that would take his mind elsewhere.

 

"...every year they release one or two people." Shikamaru told him. Naruto had no idea what he was talking about, but he would try to get back into the conversation. "It's not hard to get out, you know. All you have to do is tell your psychologist everything. That's all they want to do is get into your head, and once they do that, you supposed to be cured. They prescribe meds, they let you out, and you're free."

 

"Sounds easy." Naruto mumbled.

 

The other boy shrugged again. "It's not. For some people...reliving old memories can worsen someone's condition. I've seen it happen."

 

Naruto and Shikamaru came to a stop at the dining room, where they saw everyone seated at the large white tables. Naruto had been about to go and sit with Shikamaru, Kiba and Neji, but when he looked to his left and saw Sai and Sasuke sitting together, he decided otherwise. He walked over to them, and when Sai saw him, he smiled. Sasuke just stared blankly.

 

"Where've you been blondie?" he asked. Naruto was glad to see that he was in a better mood than earlier.

 

He took a seat across from the two of them. "Talking with Shikamaru." He said. Sai raised an eyebrow curiously, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

 

"Not cheating on me, were you?" he questioned, playfully. But someone obviously didn't take that as a joke. Sasuke turned to Sai, glaring at him, and if looks could kill, Sai would be hit by lightning, drowned in an endless sea, and hit by an eighteen-wheeler. He brought his hands up and waved them in front of his face. "I was joking, jeez; stop looking at me like you're going to murder me." He told him, and then, he muttered under his breath. "...jealous freak..."

 

Thankfully, Sasuke didn't' hear that comment.

 

"But if you think that you can have him all to yourself," Sai motioned towards Naruto, and smirked at Sasuke. "You're sadly mistaken. You have to share."

 

Sasuke scoffed, and crossed his arms over his chest, staring daggers at Sai. "I don't play well with others." He told him.

 

Naruto sat there silently, staring at the both of them like they'd lost their minds. "They're talking about me in front of me." He thought to himself, before frowning. He couldn't believe that the two of them were actually having this conversation; they couldn't be serious.

 

"Well I kissed him first." Sai muttered, while placing his hands on his hips, and rolling his eyes at Sasuke.

 

The raven laced his hands together on the table, and closed his eyes before he spoke again. "Sai, if you value your life, I suggest you shut the hell up, right now." Sasuke opened his eyes, and turned to Sai, glaring at him coldly for good measure. The other boy only smiled, and laughed. Naruto just sat there, shaking his head at the two of them. It was a good thing that they were here, though, because this conversation had taken his mind off of other things.

 

Soon, Shizune and Iruka brought out dinner for everyone. While eating, Sai would attempt to make passes at Naruto, just to make Sasuke jealous. First of all, Naruto couldn't believe that Sasuke was actually getting mad! It wasn't like they were together, or something. And second of all, Naruto knew that Sai didn't really like him or anything. This was all just a ploy to make Sasuke jealous...right?

 

After dinner, Naruto took the medication that Kakashi had prescribed him. The boy went straight to his room, and he went to sleep.

 

But of course, without someone to distract him, his thoughts took a wrong turn. While he was sleeping, he couldn't control his dreams. He dreamt of heat, of fire, and destruction. He could almost feel the flames nipping at his skin, making him sweat. He could swear that he smelled the burning of wood, and heard the crackling of the fire. He could see people's faces; he heard them scream.

 

All of a sudden, Naruto felt his body jerk, and he snapped out of his sleep violently. The boy sat straight up in bed, and threw his blankets off. He was burning up; it felt like the room had gotten a hell of a lot hotter. His throat was dry, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. The boy closed his eyes, brought his knees to his chest, and put his head between them. Naruto tried to steady his breathing, and calm his erratically beating heart.

 

"...I can't do it...I can't do that anymore..." he thought to himself, while taking slow, deep breaths.

 

The only thing that Naruto could think of was fire; ever since he'd seen the stove in that kitchen, it'd been almost impossible to get it out of his mind. His palms were itching to get his hands on some type of flame, and his mind raced with the possibilities. "I promised Aya that I wouldn't do it anymore, I promised." He grabbed handfuls of his hair, and yanked hard, as if that would help to get rid of the thoughts. But it didn't help. Nothing could help him now.

 

"I told her I wouldn't...but she doesn't have to know...no one has to know." He whispered to himself.

 

His mind was set. He had to see the fire; he just had to.

 

Naruto stood up from his bed, silently, because he didn't want to wake Shikamaru. The boy opened the door to his room, and walked outside into the hallway. It was quiet, almost eerily silent. As Naruto made his way through the hallways, he always checked for Shizune, or any of the others, before he turned the corner. He couldn't afford to get caught.

 

In the dark hallways, Naruto recalled the way that he and Shikamaru had come earlier. He could see the door to the kitchen in his head, and every time he pictured it, he would imagine the flames eating away at the wooden door. It was all so addicting. And when he arrived at the place, Naruto couldn't believe that the door was unlocked. It was a surprise that they would be so careless as to forget to lock up after themselves.

 

He went into the kitchen, and there stood before him the silver stovetop. Even in the darkness, it seemed to shine. The boy breathed out, and cursed himself silently as he reached out and turned the dials. The fire came onto each of the burners, and when they flared, Naruto backed up into the wall, and slowly slid down. His eyes were wide, and he stared, unblinking.

 

Naruto felt guilty, for breaking his promise to Aya, to himself. He'd promised to try and beat this disorder, yet here he was, feeding into his addiction. Naruto felt like the most terrible person on the face of the earth. He disgusted himself.

 

The fire continued to dance. And then all of a sudden, Naruto heard the shuffle of feet. Before he could even look up, he heard the voice. "So you really are sick." Naruto's eyes were torn away from the stove, and he turned to see Sasuke standing in the doorway. "You know, you're not quiet at all. You could probably wake the goddamned dead."

 

Sasuke walked over to the stove, and he turned off each of the burners. "Doing this won't help you get out of here any faster. You shouldn't feed into your disorder. You'll only be here even longer."

 

"It's none of your business." Naruto spat out, as he stood up, and glared at Sasuke angrily.

 

The boy moved to walk up to him, and get in his face, but as soon as he took a step forward, Sasuke grabbed both of Naruto's wrists and slammed him into the wall violently. "...idiot." he whispered.

 

And then he kissed him; again, and again, and again. And Naruto forgot all about the flames; the only thing on his mind was Sasuke. He was helping him forget.

 

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Peace & Love: DizziKatz