Monsters

Monsters Scared Of People

"You see, if you cross the lines like this and then count the intersections, you don't need all that!" Naruto explained, pointing his pencil for emphasis. Sasuke nodded, surprised this wasn't the way the academy taught it, it seemed much easier. 

Naruto got a smile, one that curved the corners of his eyes slightly, and much different than the cocky grin he usually wore. It had been about two and a half months since Sasuke died, and honestly he felt…lighter. Not in the sense that he had no weight, just that nothing was holding him down from sitting and learning new ways to do multiplication while Naruto waited for his ramen to finish cooking. 

The room was dark, it always was. The curtains worked well. Sasuke liked to open the curtains at night though, the blonde's plants were beautiful even in the moonlight. 

This was his existence, no burns constantly making his lips ache, no striving for attention, no disappointment. He barely felt lonely most days. Naruto took up a lot of space for someone so small. 

He said, well, mouthed as much, and Naruto scowled, squinting like he was crushing the ghost's head with his eyelids. 

Sasuke smirked to hide a smile. 

But what was the point of that? 

So he smiled, and Naruto looked at him like he was the most amazing thing. He looked stupid, Sasuke made as much clear. 

Was it always going to be like this? 

He hoped so. 

--

Naruto came home late. Naruto never came home late. He had no reason to. 

Sasuke listened from the bedroom when he heard the door creak open, he went through the wall into the living room to scold the blonde for being home late. But he tensed when he saw someone much bigger than his friend. 

Iruka was standing by the front door curtains, flicking the useless light switch, and red eyes zeroed in on the blonde in his arms. 

Naruto was passed out, deep scrapes and cuts that were too clean to be from anything less than a knife littered the parts of his legs Sasuke could see with the shorts. Blonde hair had a clump in the front where the pretty colour turned red and brown with dried blood. 

What was the man doing here?! He didn't belong here! What happened to Naruto?! His friend didn't wake up and Iruka was rifling through the kitchen cabinets. Was Iruka… Was he robbing them? Did he knock out Naruto so he could rob him?! 

But that night, that hesitance to put the knife down. 

Was Naruto…? 

No, no that was impossible. 

Right? 

He went closer, but there was blood. 

Sasuke hated blood. 

He hated Iruka. 

He wasn't going to just sit back and watch

Not this time.

He rushed back to the bedroom, grabbing the blanket of the bed and wrapping it around himself. He needed to think of something scary, quickly. 

He transformed into the first thing he thought of. 

--

Okay okay okay

Iruka was having a day.

First, Naruto doesn't show up to class, which is weird. He thought he should ignore it, but Shikamaru kept looking between the empty chair and him, expectantly. That was the first hint that today was not his day.