Naruto gets colder as the days pass. Sasuke notices, but he keeps his distance out of fear and utter confusion. It's upsetting him to a point of complete loss and he doesn't know how to make things better. He doesn't know how to return to normal – how to return Naruto to normal.

He recalls what Itachi said.

Naruto needs him.

But why? Sasuke still doesn't know. He still doesn't understand. He hovers in front of Naruto's closed door most days, but he never opens it. He never steps inside and Naruto never calls him. Sasuke feels like he is once again being forced to fend for himself. He's in survival mode, meek and timid – willing to do what he has to and sacrifice what he must.

He takes a deep breath, once again staring at the door to Naruto's office. This time, he steps inside. There are words he needs to say and questions he needs to ask.

"I was wondering when you'd finally open that damn door," Naruto says. "You've been dancing around it for days. What do you want?"

"Are you drunk?" Sasuke asks, dismissing the blond's harsh words and wondering if alcohol has anything to do with it.

Naruto laughs at that, looking up from his paperwork as he sits at his desk. "No?"

"You've been going out a lot lately," Sasuke mentions. "Where do you go?"

"As I've told you before," Naruto starts, "There's an election coming up. As it turns out, I will be running in that election. Danzo Shimura has recently taken me under his wing. I've been welcomed back into the world of politics. We have preparations to make. On top of that I also have my work at the lab. I'm a busy man."

That shocks Sasuke, but he tries not to show it. "You want to be president?"

"I think I'd make a good one," Naruto says with a knowing smirk. "Don't you?"

"Not like this," Sasuke whispers.

Naruto's eyes narrow at that. "All right, just say what you want, kid."

"I'm older than you," Sasuke points out.

Naruto dismisses it. "You came in here for a reason. I don't have all day to chat, so spit it out."

Sasuke takes a few steps closer. "I was happy," he admits softly, wondering if it means anything. "For a few minutes, at least... I was happy." He shakes his head, offering the other man a small, sad smile. "For those minutes, nothing else existed. It was just me in my purest form. There were no worries. It was like... I was too tired to be here. I wanted to go somewhere quiet, somewhere I could be with myself. I felt like things would be okay without me, whether or not it was actually true. The world would survive."

"Do you still feel that way?" the blond man asks. "Then maybe you should have stayed dead."

"I'm not sure..." Sasuke whispers, feeling pained. "Everything hurts now."

Naruto bends down over his paperwork once more and Sasuke feels like shouting at him. He wants attention. He feels lost and he's mourning, but the blond doesn't seem to care. "Only cry if you need to," he says with a sigh, not bothering to look up from his desk again.

'I need to,' Sasuke thinks, but he refuses to. It's a thoughtless offer and it holds no sincerity. If Sasuke starts crying again he fears that he'll never be able to stop and Naruto will have to deal with it. Sasuke can tell he doesn't want to. Instead, he shakily asks, "What's wrong with you?"

"I'm as fine and fit as ever," Naruto promises offhandedly, scribbling words down with his pen.

"What are you writing?" he pries.

"New ideas to show my team," Naruto murmurs.

"Research..." Sasuke states knowingly. "I thought... I thought you didn't want to do experiments?"

"I've changed my mind," Naruto says. "I have many plans. I think I've figured out how to create a sexual stimulant that will activate not only the body but the mind as well."

"That's so cruel," Sasuke whispers. "They used that drug on me, you know."

Naruto chuckles and the sound sends a bitter chill down Sasuke's spine. "Then perhaps you'd like to test the new formula out as well?" he jokes lightly, winking.

Sasuke simply stares at him. Still innocent and young in mind, he is left unsure. "Y-you... You said you loved me..." he murmurs. "What happened? Why don't you feel like that still?"

"Maybe I do," Naruto argues.

"You don't!" Sasuke insists surely. "I can see it! It's like you've stopped caring! I was dead, Naruto! I died! I thought you would be happy to see me alive again, but you're not! You don't even care! I bet you wouldn't even care if I told you that your father did it when he's supposed to be dead!"

Naruto looks up at Sasuke with a sigh. "I know he's alive," he reveals.

"So, what?" Sasuke asks bitterly. "Everything else was just a game?"

"You're pissing me off quite a bit," Naruto says. "I'm going to beat your ass in a second if you don't calm down."

Without another word, Sasuke leaves.

  ||XxXx||  

Time continues to pass and it does so slowly.

Naruto spends the following weeks readying his campaign. He puts on a charming smile as he speaks with the press, telling them of his great plans for a bigger, brighter future. Utopia is the word that comes to mind. For the rich, that is.

Just like Orochimaru suspected, the public loves his son. Naruto has a good face for lies. He tells them with ease and a lack of effort. They come out smooth, just like the truth.

Across town, Sasuke sits and listens to Naruto's campaign speech on the radio. He listens to promise after promise to give the public what they want. The rich public, that is. Those without money still have no place in his new world.

Sasuke feels like he's going mad and it's distantly familiar. There's a lump forming in his throat, but he just swallows it. He sniffles, but he doesn't cry. Instead, he turns off the radio and he stands up. In meek hope, he moves to the back door but he doesn't see Jugo standing watch near the woods. He feels like he's just waiting for more bad to happen.

His clan is dead.

His parents are dead.

Sai is dead.

Kiba is dead.

Sakura is dead.

And now Itachi is dead.

Perhaps, in a way, Naruto is also gone. It still doesn't feel quite real. Why do people have to go away? Sasuke understands change, but he doesn't like being left behind.

Who else has to die?

With a sigh, he moves upstairs and into his bedroom, turning off the lights and lying down. What now? He continues to ask himself this question but he never knows how to answer it.

    ||XxXx||    

When Naruto gets home, he cracks open a bottle of wine and finds Sasuke in his bedroom. He looks wary and it makes the blond smirk. "Don't worry," he says, "I don't fuck whores."

"That didn't stop you before," Sasuke points out tersely. "What changed?"

"Me," Naruto says simply. "I've done a lot of reflecting recently. Things needed to change... When I dragged you back into my house the night your brother bit the big one, I thought I'd have a little fun with you... but I changed my mind. Nonetheless, I'll admit I'm attached to you. I don't quite know why, but clearly, that feeling isn't going to go away anytime soon."

"I'll leave," Sasuke whispers.

"And go where?" Naruto scoffs. "The forest? That's where the Akatsuki base is, isn't it? I vaguely recall you saying something about it. Perhaps I'll try and beat you to it. I can send a team in to flush out your friends. I can have them killed in the blink of an eye."

Sasuke runs a shaky hand over his face, letting out a shuddery sigh. "You make me hate myself," he murmurs hoarsely. He watches as Naruto slinks into the room like a vulture. He can read the look on his face. He can read it easily. It's a look he's seen many times before. He knows what is about to happen, but he can't find it in himself to move. Even if he could, he wouldn't. He's once again in survival mode. 'Take it with an empty mind,' he thinks to himself, repeating the words in his head.

Naruto grabs him by the front of his shirt, forcing him to his feet and meeting his frightened gaze. "I can make you need me."

"I already do," Sasuke admits wetly.

"I can make you hate me, too," the blond adds.

"I know," Sasuke whispers.

With that, Naruto slams Sasuke into the wall. The black-haired man emits a soft sound of shock, sinking to the floor. He doesn't say anything. He simply stares at the blond wearing an expression of hurt and utter betrayal. Naruto knows it's a look he'll never forget. It's appalling and, deep down, he knows it's wrong, but he can't find it in himself to care. He stalks closer, like a wild animal on the hunt. He bends down and forces Sasuke to his feet once more. Sasuke shrinks away from him, a pleading look in his glassy eyes.

Sasuke isn't surprised when he feels the first punch, but it hurts. It hurts to be attacked by someone you love. He breaks almost immediately, letting out a gut-wrenching sob as his body once again hits the floor. "Stop it!" he shouts pleadingly. "Stop it...! Please...!"

But Naruto doesn't listen. He sits on the brunet's stomach, pinning him to the ground. He's in a sort of daze, beating the body beneath him like he's trying to tenderize a piece of meat. There's a quiet, little voice in the back of his head telling him to stop and another quiet, little voice asking him why. Why would he stop? If he wants to do something, he should be allowed to do it. The carnal urge is overpowering.

    ||XxXx||    

Gaara makes his way across town. He hasn't seen Naruto in a while, but the news of the upcoming election shocked him. Furthermore were the strings of promises that followed. It happened out of the blue, but then again... that doesn't surprise him. He suspects foul play.

'Ah, the bourgeoisie,' Gaara thinks to himself with bitter sentiment. He once assumed Naruto was better than that.

When he arrives, he knocks on the door but there is no answer so he lets himself in. Immediately, he is greeted with the sound of a sharp scream. He hurries upstairs, following the sound. What he sees shocks him.

Naruto is sitting on the edge of the bed in the guest room, smoking a cigarette. Near his feet is a bruised and bloody body.

"Naruto, what the hell are you doing?" Gaara shouts, kneeling down to check the stranger's pulse. He's alive, but unconscious. "My, God..." he whispers before glancing up at the blond. "Did you do this?" he asks. When Naruto responds with a simple nod, Gaara demands, "Why?"

"I felt like it," Naruto murmurs.

Gaara stares down at the brunet man, eyebrows drawing together in vague realization. He's seen this face before. He's seen this man on posters around town. Without wasting any more time, he looks up at Naruto and declares, "I'm taking him."

"Do what you want," Naruto says. "He won't stay away forever. He'll forgive me."

Gaara shoots him one final look of disgust before lifting the brunet and leaving with him. None of it makes sense to him. He never thought the blond capable or such violence, but perhaps he shouldn't be so surprised. He knows what Naruto is like when he drinks. The liquor makes everything worse. The liquor makes his anger surface.

He puts the brunet in the backseat of his car and drives home. "Uchiha," he says to himself in faint recollection and awe. "Sasuke Uchiha..."

a/n: okay guys this doesn't have anything to do with the story, but I am so sick of the media creating these manipulative and repulsive stories that aren't even close to being true. It's honestly just dumb that they create these rumors and they get paid for it. It makes me sick. Sorry for the rant. I just needed to let that out.