Chapter Text
Beep beep beep beep!
The alarm clock Naruto set on his phone for 6 AM was blaring in his ears as his groggy eyes fluttered open. Groaning, his hands fumbled in his sheets, found the phone, and shut off the alarm. He sat up at the edge of his bed and stared at the floor for a good five minutes before he pushed himself to his feet and stepped over old plates of food on the floor to get to his dresser. He stared at himself through the mirror on the wall above his dresser and narrowed his blue eyes. God, he forgot how ugly he was, he thought as his hand rubbed his blonde head. He lowered his hand to the whisker-like marks on his cheeks and wished he could just wash them off. He definitely wasn't a sight for sore eyes. He forced himself to look away from himself and grabbed whatever shirt and pair of pants were at the top of the small pile in the drawers and threw them on. A black long-sleeved shirt and jeans, basic and unnoticeable. Perfect for school. Without another glance at his sock drawer, he left his messy room for the bathroom down the hall.
"Naruto?" a voice called from the kitchen at the end of the seemingly never-ending hallway. "Are you awake? Breakfast is almost done! Come eat when you're done getting ready. You need to start eating more."
"Yeah, I'll be there," he called back to his adoptive dad, Iruka. Eat more. The words rung his ears like a church bell. He didn't feel like shoving pointless food down his throat, knowing it won't help him in any way. He pushed the bathroom door open and brushed his teeth without turning the lights on, refusing to look at himself in the mirror. The burning sensation of mint stained his mouth even after spitting out all the foam. He pushed himself up from the sink and headed back to his room to slip on his sandals and grab his backpack from underneath his gaming desk. After glancing at his PC, he wondered if he should go live after school; he hadn't gone live or made a video in three months. He bit his lip and silently bashed himself for being so behind in everything. He turned from his desk and left his room without shutting the door and entered the kitchen to be greeted with the calming smell of eggs and grits. He made himself a plate and sat at the table with his backpack laying at his feet. Scowling down at his food, Iruka looked at him with a sweet smile.
"Sleep well, son?" he asked, slowly walking toward him.
Naruto shrugged. "I guess." He felt a warm hand reach around his shoulders. He turned his head and met his father's eyes. "Where's Kakashi?" he tried to avoid Iruka asking something personal.
"In the garage," he answered. "He's working on something, but he's ready to take you to school whenever you are." He stared down at his son with a hard look, frowning. "Naruto..." he began but trailed off.
Naruto looked away and chewed on the scrambled eggs.
"How's school, Naruto?" Iruka finally found his words. "You're last report card... wasn't, you know, the best. I'm getting worried about you. Is it your ADHD meds? Do we need to go up another dose?"
Naruto glared at him. "No. I don't want anymore meds."
"Right, sorry, sorry," Iruka muttered and nodded. "How are they making you feel? Normal, sad, irritable? What about-"
Anger rose in Naruto's chest, gripping his throat and making it sore. He fought back with everything in him to not snap at Iruka; his father was trying to help him and he should be grateful. "I'm fine, Dad," Naruto couldn't help but hiss, pushing his father's arm off his back. "I've just been tired. Now leave me alone." He pushed the plate away, snatched his backpack, and stormed out the door and into the garage. He saw Kakashi hammering some boards together, but he stopped when he looked up and saw Naruto. Kakashi opened his arms to hug his son; Naruto only pushed away and sped past him to sit in the car. He gritted his teeth when he realized he forgot his phone on his bed, but he pulled out a book from his bag--- Fainted Love, a doomed romance between two boys, with one boy getting possessed by a demon and having to kill the other boy--- and tried to distract himself from the fury rattling throughout his body. He never knew why he always got so worked up over nothing so easily. He shot a half-second glance up at Kakashi as he poked his head in the garage door to ask Iruka something, probably why Naruto was upset. He looked back at his book yet failed to read as the words blurred together as tears flooded his eyes. The cool tears trailed down his heated face and he began to sob, burying his face into the pages.
I can't do anything right, he thought pitifully. How can I be so mean to them? They've sacrificed so much for me and I'm acting like a brat. He shoved his book back into his backpack and hugged his knees to his chest, covering his face with his knees as Kakashi walked and entered the car. He sat in the driver's seat with a soft sigh and started the car, glancing sideways at Naruto. He pulled out of the driveway and left the neighborhood. They were a good ways down the road when Kakashi finally broke the deafening silence.
"So, uh, you weren't hungry?" he asked gently.
Naruto's voice cracked as he answered, "No."
Kakashi paused. "What's going on, kid? Are kids bullying you?"
Naruto didn't answer, only sniffled as more tears came down.
"Who are they? I'll talk to Principal Tsunade and we'll handle it."
"No!" Naruto suddenly snapped, looking up with puffy eyes and a defeated look spread across his red face. He swallowed the growing lump in his throat and breathed, "It'll only make it worse. Don't do anything about it."
"I'm not letting people torment my son anymore!" Kakashi cried. "I'll handle them myself if I have to!"
"Dad!" Naruto shouted. "Just stop! Please."
Kakashi went quiet, staring at the road before him and gripping the steering wheel like it was the throats of the kids hurting his son. Naruto wiped his face with his sleeve and buried his face into his knees again. "Just forget about it."
They parked in the parking lot, in the area designated for teachers, and Kakashi locked the car doors with the key as they walked toward the large school building. It was a normal-looking school with nothing but gray wallpaper peeling and chipping at the corners and a few anti-suicide posters here and there. Now all of a sudden, the administration is acting like they care about suicide prevention once one of their students does kill themselves after so much bullying. They don't care until something happens in the system they created. It's unfortunate, but it's reality.
They entered the building and Naruto turned to Kakashi and pulled him into a hug. "I love you, Dad."
Kakashi rested his chin on his son's head. "I love you too, son. Be safe, okay?"
"I will... Don't do anything. I'm fine." He looked up at his father with pleading eyes.
Kakashi frowned through his mask. "If they do anything-"
"I won't let them. I'll fight back this time. But if I'm the one to get in trouble, you better stick up for me, m'kay?"
Sighing, Kakashi nodded. "M'kay." He ruffled Naruto's hair. "Now get to math. Don't be tardy again."
Naruto forced a smile and ran off down the hall, dodging past the sea of teens screaming and play-fighting. He turned the corner and hauled right in his tracks, his eyes widening. The last person he wanted to see was waiting for him at his locker: Kiba Inuzuka, the jockiest of all jocks, the asshole of all assholes. Naruto squared his shoulders and inhaled deeply as he approached the brunet boy, dipping his head in greeting. "Can I get to my locker before you start this bullshit?" he asked.
Kiba bared his teeth like the wild dog he was. He lunged forward and grabbed Naruto by the collar of his shirt, cocking his arm back and balling his hand into a fist. Naruto gasped and winced before Kiba's blow landed with a womp! He groaned as he crashed into the lockers and slumped to the ground. His eyesight began to fuzz and the world around him spun as his hand shakily touched his head, swearing he could feel blood mixed with sweat. He heard a yell from a voice he knew like the back of his hand but he couldn't pin a face to the voice. Blinking the fuzz away, firm hands grabbed him and pulled him to his feet; he must've crumbled back to the ground because he felt his bottom touch the floor again, even with the firm arms still gripping his waist. He gasped for air as reality settled back normally. The voice belonged to Sakura Haruno, one of Naruto's best friends, and she was completely going off on Kiba.
"What the actual fuck is wrong with you?" she screamed with Ino Yamanaka by her side. "He just got here and you're already beating on him! As a matter of fact, you shouldn't be beating on him at all!" She was looming over Kiba--- Naruto guessed she shoved him to the ground before he could land another hit on Naruto.
As Sakura bellowed at Kiba, Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see who was holding him by the waist. He squinted through the remaining of the fuzz in his eyes and met a soft yet cold gaze. At first, he didn't recognize who it was, but then he inhaled their scent and his cheeks immedately flushed red. "Sasuke?" he whispered.
"Are you alright?" the raven replied in a hushed voice into Naruto's ear.
"Y-yeah," Naruto answered and leaned into Sasuke. Embarrassment crept through his body as he pressed up against the more popular boy, wondering why the hell the raven was helping him in the first place.
"You're bleeding." Sasuke gently touched Naruto's temple. Naruto grimaced and Sasuke pulled his hand away. "I'll help you to the nurse. Come on, get up." He lifted Naruto to his feet once again and waited until Naruto found his footing. "Dizzy?" Rage poked through Sasuke's tender voice as he glared at Kiba. "I'll fucking kill him. I'll do it before Sakura gets the chance."
"Sasuke, stop," Naruto whined, wrapping his arms around the raven's shoulders and resting his hands on his neck. "Let's just go. We're already bringing so much attention to ourselves."
Out of the corner of Naruto's eye, he noticed Kiba pushing himself to his feet, glowering at the two boys and pointing at them. "How can I not bully a bastard like that?" he yelled over Sakura but managed to let Naruto and Sasuke hear. "Look at how he's hugging Sasuke! He's such a fag!"
Naruto's heart plummeted into the abyss in his stomach as his breathing grew rapid. Sasuke's fingernails dug into Naruto's skin for a split second before he softly pushed the blond away from him and charged toward Kiba, his fist colliding with the brunet's smug face. He stumbled back to the ground as Sasuke screamed nothing but curse words at him, stomping and kicking every part he could before Sakura and Ino managed to drag the raven off of Kiba. Naruto's body was blazing, especially his face, and shaking. All eyes were on him, making him feel cornered, as he clutched his chest. His breathing sputtered as he leaned against the lockers, desperately searching for a way out. Sasuke's ongoing shouts echoed the halls as Naruto dashed through the bystanders, pushing some out the way without meaning to. He forgot his backpack, he forgot his dignity, and he forgot he was going to be late for class.
He sprinted down the hallway, the walls blurring together, and he could've sworn he heard people laughing. He skirted a corner and shoved a door out of the way, slipping into the mens' restroom and locking himself in the furthest stall from the door. Gasping and shaking uncontrollably, he clenched his chest with one hand and seized a handful of hair with the other. He pulled at his hair, praying to whoever was in the clouds to wake him up from this sick dream. "Please, make it stop," he sobbed as drool dripped down from the corners of his mouth. "Why don't you ever listen to me? Just help me!" His whole body shuddered as he sobbed and begged for it all to end. He let go of his hair and rolled up his sleeve, digging his nails in his wrist, squeezing and squeezing until he drew blood. His breathing slowly eased out as he watched the blood from his wrist drip on the floor and pool at his feet. He bit his lip and wondered how long he had been sitting here since time seemed to have slowed down. He took some toilet paper and wrapped it around the wounds on his wrist. Sharp pain stung under the paper as he applied it and tightened it around his arm.
Suddenly, he shot up then froze when he heard the creaking of the door and the light from the hallway poured across the floor. Someone silently walked in as the door swung shut behind them. They turned on the faucet and washed their hands for what felt like an hour. Naruto could hear their shaky breath all the way across the bathroom. He debated on whether or not he should say something, fearing it was Kiba looking for him.
But the person spoke before Naruto decided to. "Naruto?"
It was Sasuke.
Relief flooded Naruto's senses as his muscles relaxed. He pulled his sleeve over the toilet paper and unlocked the stall and stepped out, forgetting entirely about the pool of blood. He scratched his neck as he walked toward Sasuke, who had his and Naruto's backpack slung over his shoulders, and stopped beside him. "Did you get in trouble?" he whispered with his head down.
"Surprisingly, no," the raven muttered. He pulled his bruised knuckles from under the cascading water and dried them off. "Look at what I did to that piece of shit."
"Sasuke, you didn't have to do all of that for me," Naruto admitted in a soft voice, slightly grazing the raven's shoulder with his fingertips.
"No one was going to," Sasuke hissed. "Everyone's too scared to touch him and teach him a lesson because his daddy's rich. And no one is going to beat my ass for beating his ass because my dad was also rich." He chuckled as he gazed down at his knuckles like they were a prized possession. "I won't lie, it felt good to wail on him."
Naruto didn't say anything for a moment, only gently touching his forearm, feeling the lingering pain from his nails. He must've pressed on them too hard and winced because Sasuke noticed.
"What's wrong?" He turned to face Naruto, eyes narrowing. "Did he grab your arm?" He reached for Naruto and took the blond's hand into his. He tugged on Naruto's sleeve, but the blond boy snatched his arm away.
"It's nothing," he snapped. "I... I just-"
"Don't fucking do this shit, Naruto," Sasuke snarled, reaching out for Naruto's hand again. "Give it."
Naruto's lip quivered as he rested his arm into Sasuke's hand. He looked away as the raven rolled down his sleeve and eyed the toilet paper suspiciously. The suspicion transformed into recognition within seconds. "Naruto." His voice was soft like silk as he slowly unwrapped the paper. "Naruto," he repeated, unable to come up with anything else to say. He stared down at the wounds and the bloody paper, his face contorting into pain and fear. He carefully rewrapped the blond's wrist and pulled Naruto into a tight embrace. His cold hands circled around Naruto's lower back, the single gesture Naruto always loved when being comforted. Naruto squeezed him back, burying his face into the crook of the raven's neck.
"I'm here, Naruto," the raven breathed. "Don't do this to yourself. Please, just talk to me. I'm here, you hear that?"
Naruto swallowed the returning lump in his throat. "Okay," he croaked. "I hear you." He pulled his face away from Sasuke's neck and held his gaze, inhaling deeply. "It's... Kiba and all the bullying and the degrading and the beatings... and..." He broke eye contact with the raven as he thought of how he could possibly say how he felt. Naruto was always questioning how he felt about... men. He definitely was attracted to them, but he was also attracted to women and it made him feel like his attraction to men wasn't real. If that made any damn sense. He hated thinking about his sexuality--- none of it made sense and everything about it seemed to contradict itself somehow. After years of putting thought into it, he finally gave up and concluded he was bisexual. Fear tingled along his spine at the thought of coming out to his friends, especially Sasuke; he didn't think it would be much trouble coming out to Iruka and Kakashi, they themselves were a gay married couple. He tried to comfort himself and think about what his friends' reactions would be: Sakura would be shocked at first, then welcome him with open arms, Ino would be the same as Sakura, Shikamaru wouldn't give a shit, Choji would probably just be happy to have a gay friend, Sai would be a dick about it, Gaara... oh, what would Gaara think? Then what about Sasuke? Would he look at Naruto differently afterward? Would he be disgusted and hate him forever? Him and Sasuke had only been friends for about six months, and Naruto had grown very attached to the raven--- the idea of Sasuke deserting him for something he couldn't control made him want to hurl himself off a cliff.
"And?" Sasuke's voice snapped Naruto back to reality. One of his hands was still circling the blond's back while the other one was scratching the back of Naruto's neck.
"And... there's something I'm experiencing, but I don't know how to tell you," Naruto forced the words out.
Sasuke's hands paused and his expression softened. "I told you to talk to me. And that includes everything."
Naruto hesitated. "You won't hate me?" he mumbled.
"I'll never hate you, Naruto," Sasuke reassured him.
A soft smile curved across Naruto's face. Before he even opened his mouth to speak, the bell for next period rung over the loud speakers. Naruto flinched and Sasuke quickly pulled his arms off of Naruto as the bathroom door swung open. Shikamaru and Gaara walked in and paused mid-conversation to stare wide-eyed at Naruto and Sasuke standing so close.
Sasuke stepped away from the blond and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, hey, guys," he said as a drop of sweat dripped down his temple.
"You're not suspended again, Sasuke?" Shikamaru wondered aloud as he shut the door behind him and Gaara.
"No, Kiba's ass beating was deserved." Sasuke smirked with a glance back at Naruto. Naruto didn't smile and Sasuke looked back at the other two boys, clearing his throat.
"Anyway, what are you two doing in here?" Gaara asked, and Naruto clearly saw the glare he cast at Sasuke.
"I was just talking to Naruto," Sasuke said with a kind of tone that suggested he saw Gaara's glare.
"About what?" Gaara took a step toward Sasuke, crossing his arms.
"None of your business, Gaara," Sasuke hissed. "Just back off."
Gaara's entire expression softened when he turned to Naruto. "Naruto-kun, we have to get to English. I'll walk you there." He snatched Naruto's backpack from Sasuke and glared at the raven again as he grabbed Naruto's hand.
Sasuke huffed and grabbed Naruto by his other hand. "He's not going with you! He still has to go to the nurse."
"Then I'll walk him to the nurse and then to class if he's feeling up to it," Gaara argued and pulled Naruto toward him. Naruto stumbled over his feet and nearly crashed into Gaara, but the red-haired boy caught him by the hips.
"Don't pull him like that!" Sasuke stretched his hand out again to try and grab Naruto, but Gaara pulled the blond out of the raven's reach.
"Guys, stop fighting," Shikamaru groaned. "This is such a drag. I'm heading to class early. See ya, Naruto. Hope you feel better." He waved to Naruto as he left.
"Come on, Naruto-kun, I'll take you to the nurse," Gaara said as Naruto looked up at him. He pulled Naruto closer with his hands firm on the blond's hips.
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "I'm taking him to the nurse."
"You both can take me!" Naruto cried, reaching his limit of how much more fighting he can handle. "Jesus, just shut up and stop fighting. You're both pissing me the fuck off." He pushed Gaara off of him and took his backpack from the red-haired boy. Gaara still held him by the hand as the blond limped out the door.
Principal Tsunade's office was warm with the wavering fan being the only source of breeze as Naruto sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk. A tight bandage was wrapped around his head, soaking up the blood from his temple. He refused to make eye contact with the principal, gluing his gaze on an unopened box of pencils. Sasuke and Gaara were on either side of him in separate chairs, with Sasuke explaining what happened again. He already had to explain to her what he did, now he was explaining what else went down.
"So that's when I punched him in the face," Sasuke finished, grazing his knuckles with his fingertips. "He does shit like this nearly everyday, ma'am. He's always picking on Naruto and no one does anything about it! I finally did something about it because I was lucky enough to be there when it happened."
The pale blonde woman nodded along as the raven spoke. She clasped her hands together and rested her chin on her knuckles, leaning in and listening intently. Once Sasuke was finished speaking, she sighed. "I already spoke to Kiba and he was sent home. He's been suspended until further notice. I applaud you, Sasuke, for defending your fellow student and then bringing him to the nurse to be checked."
"I brought him, too," Gaara butted in.
Principal Tsunade glanced at Gaara and nodded. "I applaud you too, Gaara. But, Sasuke, escalating the situation like that isn't how we do things around here."
"If that's what it takes to get him to stop," Sasuke remarked, "I don't see what the problem is."
"Fighting altogether is the problem."
Sasuke waved his hand dismissively. "Tell that to Kiba! He's always starting it, right, Naruto?" He looked at Naruto and took the blond's hand into his pale, slender fingers.
Naruto's blue eyes met his for a moment before making eye contact with the principal for a quick second. "Yeah, he is," he murmured and looked back down at his shoes this time.
Principal Tsunade frowned with a glint of sympathy in her eyes. "Gaara, Sasuke, could you two step outside for a few minutes? I want to talk to Naruto alone."
Naurto's heart sank like a ship lost at sea as he watched the two loyal boys leave their chairs and walk out the door, shutting it behind them. He tapped his foot nervously and began to chew on his nails without ever looking up at the principal.
"What else does he do to you, Naurto?" she questioned with a compassionate voice as she pulled out a pen and pad.
The blond boy searched for words. "O-one time, he forced Sai to... to try and touch me inappropriately."
"Forced?" she echoed.
"Kiba said he'd find Sai outside of school and hurt him. He'd probably have killed Sai if he didn't do as Kiba said."
"So then he did touch you?"
Naruto didn't answer, only nodded. His stomach churned as she quickly jotted down notes on the paper. "But Sai is my friend now," he broke out. "He apologized and apologized, and I forgave him. He just didn't want to get hurt and I understand what that feels like."
She looked up from the paper and at the blond. "That's good, at least. What else?"
The conversation dragged on much past a few minutes as Naruto described the torture Kiba would preform on him just for the brunet's own satisfaction. Such torture ranged from homophobic taunts, to physical attacks, to psychological torment. Naruto described a time during freshman year when Kiba nearly succeeded in turning most of Naruto's friends against the blond, conjuring up a rumor that Naruto had slept with Sakura's girlfriend, Ino. Naruto and Ino both denied it for months until Kiba finally admitted it was "all just a joke and shouldn't be taken so seriously." After that incident, no one believed a word Kiba said.
It was now Naruto's junior year and all of this was at last coming out.
Principal Tsunade nodded when Naruto concluded his long, long list of every action Kiba had done to him. Her paper had so many notes that she had to flip to the next page. She placed the pen and pad back into her drawer under her desk and smiled gently, showing no teeth. "Thank you for speaking up, Naruto," she said. "I'll do everything I can. You can sit outside now, and I'll call your father to take you home. You're not in any trouble, remember that. Get better, sweetheart."
Naruto gave her a curtly nod and walked out her office. He saw Sasuke and Gaara still waiting in other chairs outside and they both immediately jumped to their feet when Naruto walked out. Worry was smeared across their faces as they rushed toward the blond.
"Everything alright?" Gaara asked before Sasuke could open his mouth.
"Yeah." Naruto pushed past them and sat in one of the chairs. "I'm going home."
"She suspended you too?" Sasuke's eyes widened in fury as he reached for the door handle to her office.
"No!" Naruto cried and grabbed Sasuke's hand, snatching it from the handle. "I'm not in trouble. I'm just going home." He let go of Sasuke's hand once the raven calmed down.
"I'll bring you any notes or homework we have," said Sasuke as he sat in the chair next to Naruto. "Since my house is closest to yours," he added with a triumphant glare at Gaara.
Gaara bit his lip as his brow furrowed. "I can come check on you too," he hissed.
Naruto shrugged. "Thanks, guys, but just give me some space, okay? So much is happening right now, and-" He cut himself off and sighed. "It's whatever. I'm just tired."
The door to Principal Tsunade's office opened and she poked her head out, narrowing her eyes at Sasuke and Gaara. "You two should be in class right now," she scolded. "Leave Naruto alone and get moving." She pulled her head back in and shut the door.
Gaara walked away first with a huff, waving goodbye to Naurto. Sasuke stayed seated for a few more moments--- his gaze was stuck in Naruto's eyes. "You can finish telling me what you wanted to tell me after school," he cooed, brushing the back of hand against Naruto's cheek, with a toothy grin.
Naruto's face crumbled into a frown. "Why?" he muttered. "Why are you my friend? Me of all people? You're so much cooler and more popular than me; I-I'm just a loser, Sasuke."
"You're not," the raven replied softly. "I think you're cool and funny and easy to get along with unlike most of these kids here. I'd say you're more than a friend."
Naruto's heart stopped and his face turned red. "W-what?" he stammered.
Sasuke's grinned widened. "You're my best friend." He stood and trotted out of the waiting room outside of the principal's office, glancing back at Naruto to wave goodbye.