Need (SasuNaru)

Chapter One

            It was a rush. This new drug was flooding through Sasuke's veins at a reasonable speed. He had been wishing for a rush like this since his older brother had gotten him off of drugs. He needed this. He needed drugs. More than anything, he needed to be high. This rush was what he lived for. Leaving it would be like refusing to breathe. Leaving a part of himself, really. And that was just unacceptable in Sasuke’s eyes.

            Sasuke sighed as his vision blurred and a tingling sensation took over his body. The complete rush was flowing through each and every vein now.

            “Hell yeah. This is what the wait was for,” his voice blurted in a strange way. His voice sounded far off. Distant. As if it wasn't his own. That was someone else's voice, right?

            Sasuke decided to respond, “I agree. I waited a long time for this.”

            “Sasuke, who are you talking to?” There was a knock on his bedroom door. The knob twisted. “Why is your door locked? You know you can't lock your door!! Sasuke! Open this door right now! Sasuke!”

            ‘Oh, yeah,’ Sasuke's fuzzed brain thought, ‘I'm not allowed to lock my door anymore.’ Sasuke heard the sound of the door being hit. Glancing to his side, he saw a man with long black hair and scars on his face. Itachi. Brother. Sasuke tried to smile but failed with a smirk of accomplishment instead. The syringe fell from his hand.

            Itachi gasped. 

            “Sasuke...wh-why did you do this again?” The voice trembled with both anger and fear. Itachi didn't want to lose his only family. He really was trying to help the younger Uchiha.

            “I beat you, brother,” Sasuke replied. He gave a laugh that faded as he lost consciousness.

            It was always a competition in Sasuke's eyes.

-------| Later That Evening |-------

            It was a home for troubled teens. And apparently, in Itachi's eyes, Sasuke was a troubled teen.

            “You need help!!” the elder man yelled as he fought with Sasuke. They were in front of Konoha House: The Home for Troubled Youths. This was where Itachi wanted his younger brother to go. The success rate was high and it was nice here, or so he’d heard. First though, he wanted his brother to admit to his problem. He explained again and again, but it wasn't getting through to him. Itachi had told him that it wasn't normal to inject yourself. That life was a rush enough without the drugs. That Sasuke needed help.

            “All I need is my syringe filled with some concoction. All I need is to get high! You don't know what it feels like, Itachi. The rush is everything,” Sasuke was starting to plead. He didn't need this place. This place was for cutters and hobos with no lives. Not for him!

            Sasuke was fine.

            “Hello! Welcome to Konoha House! I'm Iruka! I'll be showing you around for today!” said a man with brown hair and a scar across the bridge of his nose.

            “Are you a doctor or something?” Itachi asked, somewhat rudely.

            The man laughed. “No, I'm a volunteer. I come here every Tuesday to help with some of the patients. My adoptive son actually goes here. Which isn't really a good thing, but I still enjoy seeing him.” They had started to walk to the Home when Sasuke's fingers started to twitch. The need was coming. And he needed it bad.

            By now they had gotten inside. Glancing to his left, Sasuke saw a public bathroom. Tilting his stride, he worked his way over. “I'll just be a minute.” Sasuke stuffed his hands into his pockets and fisted his hand over the back-up syringe he placed there. Sasuke wasn't quite sure what the liquid inside was, but what did it matter? As long as the rush came, it really didn't matter what the concoction was.

            Locking himself into one of the cubicles, Sasuke found the roughened vein and plunged the needle in. Just as he started to release the drug, the door to bathroom burst open. A small group of boys came chattering inside. Sasuke pulled the needle back out. There was no time. He couldn't be caught. The need could wait. It had too. If he was going to make it through the months he was going to be here, he had to get used to waiting.

            Sighing, Sasuke placed the needle back into his pocket.

            Walking out of the cubicle, Sasuke was ambushed by faces he didn't know.

            “Hey, you're the new guy! I'm Kiba! This is Shino and Naruto. And the guy over there,” he pointed to a guy over at the sinks, “is Sai.”

            “Hn,” was all Sasuke replied with as he left the bathroom. Striding over to the two men waiting, Sasuke's tour continued.

            Sasuke hadn't been prepared for there to be an angel here.

            Naruto.

            Maybe being here wasn't going to be so bad. If he could keep getting his hands on some concoctions and get Naruto, this place could actually be nice.