My light in the dark

Chapter 11

Shikamaru's Pov

I watched the blonde move around the bar, a smile plastered on his face but I could tell it was fake. Anyone who knew him could see the spark was gone in his normally bright eyes, his skin more pale than normal, almost to an unhealthy degree and bags under his eyes which had become a permanent addition to his face.

It had been a month since I had come home to see Naruto sitting on the steps to our apartment, soaked to the bone from the rain. I had dragged him inside and put him in the shower to warm up. After that I had sat him on the couch with a warm cup of tea and pulled the story one word at a time from him. He had spoken like a robot and he looked lost. Sasuke had broken up with him. Just like that. No warning, just told to leave and never come back. I had rung the raven, furious but the number had been disconnected. I tried his subordinates but no reply, no matter how many angry messages I left. Naruto had become a shell of his former self. I knew he had fallen hard for the Uchiha mob boss but I hadn't known how deeply. Naruto was broken. The loss of Sasuke had sucked all life from the blue eyed boy and I didn't know what to do. I had come home from work one night, about a week after it had happened to find Naruto on the floor in the bathroom, having overdosed on pills. I had called the ambulance and forced him to throw up everything. Sakura and I had raged at him when he had woken up but he had simply stared blankly back at us. After he was released a few days later Sakura came to stay with us to keep an eye on him while I was at work. He wasn't eating much and we had to bully and force him to eat what little he did. The man we loved like a little brother was dying before us and we didn't know what to do. Sakura had broken down one night when Naruto had collapsed on his way to the room and she cried and screamed at him.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you know that you are hurting us more than how Sai and Sasuke hurt you?"

He had blinked up at her at the mention of their names and I had held my breath as before any mention of the raven would make Naruto cry and scream. He didn't react, just stared at the weeping pink haired girl before him, as if seeing her for the first time.

"What about your parents' house? Are you going to let that dream fade away with you? And dancing at my wedding? Helping Shikamaru build his own company? Are you going to break all those promises?"

"I'm sorry."

We had frozen at the quiet words. Naruto raised a hand to his throat, his voice raspy from being unused the past few weeks. He had looked at us both, actually seeing us for the first time in a long time.

"I'm so sorry."

Sakura had launched herself at him and they had both tumbled to the floor, crying.

After that he began to come back to life. However, sometimes he would get the broken look back in his eyes and I knew he was thinking about Sasuke. I took it upon myself to clean out his room and phone, removing all traces of the raven so not to trigger Naruto. He didn't thank me but I could see the gratitude in his eyes.

It was his first night back at work and I had come to make sure everything would be okay. I sat near the bar and watched as Naruto would occasionally glance at the corner of the bar and then his eyes would flash with pain and he would whip away, only to look again later.

"He is still hoping to see Sasuke."

I looked up as Sakura sidled over to me and handed me a glass of coke as we both stared at Naruto.

"Has he come by?"

She shook her head and sighed when she caught Naruto glancing in the corner again.

"No trace of any of them. You?"

"No. It's like he really washed his hands of Naruto."

"I don't get it! They seemed so happy! What happened?"