Muted Love

Chapter 20

At the introduction, Sasuke's eyes widened briefly before narrowing in a dangerous glare.

"Nice to meet you, Gaara." Itachi gave the redhead a genuine smile. "Any family of Naruto's is welcomed here."

"That's okay, Itachi." Naruto quickly spoke up, a large but nervous smile on his face. "Gaara was just leaving. He doesn't want to come in." He grabbed onto Gaara's arm, pulling him in the opposite direction of the Uchiha house.

"Now Naruto," Gaara gracefully pulled his arm out of Naruto's grip, giving him a smirk. "It would be rude of me to decline such a generous offer."

'Don't let him in!' Sasuke signed quickly in front of his brother, sending him a glare.

Itachi gave Sasuke his own glare, shoving him to the side. "Please, don't mind my little brother. My name is Itachi and this is Konan. We were just about to order dinner if you'd like to join us." The older Uchiha gestured to him, leading him inside.

Naruto and Sasuke stayed in front of the house as they watched the other three head back into the house.

'What the hell is he doing here?' Sasuke signed erratically, giving the blonde a confused look.

"I don't know!" Naruto pulled at his hair in frustration. He crouched down to the ground, resting his elbows on top of his knees. "He just showed up saying he wanted to be back in my life."

'Say no.'

Naruto snorted and rolled his eyes and then ran a hand through his golden locks. "You don't think I did? He was trying to convince me that he's being serious and he's a changed man."

'Sounds like bullshit to me.'

"That's what I said! And then everyone came out and now he's going to be buddy buddy with Itachi!" Naruto groaned loudly.

'Itachi doesn't make friends that quickly.' The raven walked over to the blonde, standing in front of him and looking down. When Naruto gave him his full attention, he held out his hand for the blonde to take, helping him up.

Naruto brushed himself off once he let go of Sasuke's hand. He let out an exaggerated sigh and stood up straight, giving Sasuke an annoyed look. "Alright. Let's go in."

Sasuke gave him a nod and the pair walked together. They looked in the living room to see the TV was still on but was now muted. Naruto gave the raven a questioning look before shrugging.

Laughter was heard from the kitchen and Naruto quickly spun on his heel and made his way to the room.

As he walked in, he saw Itachi and Konan sitting at the bar, Gaara was currently pulling ingredients out of the refrigerator. Cerulean eyes narrowed as he took in the scene displayed in front of him. "Gaara," he practically hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Making dinner, of course." He gave the blonde a charming smile. "I insisted on it."

"Of course you did."

"Naruto," Itachi gave the blonde a smile. "How come you've never brought Gaara over? We'd be happy to have company over for you."

'Speak for yourself.' Sasuke signed. Itachi sent him a glare to which Sasuke gave him a shrug, feeling unapologetic.

"We're not very close." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the red-head who was still cooking like nothing was going on.

"And that's why I'm here." Gaara stopped what he was going to give the room a charming smile. "The past is the past and I want you in my life again, Naruto. I can overlook what happened in the past so we can move forward."

Naruto's mouth went agape as he stared at him. "You can overlook the past?! Are you serious right now?! You're the one who fucked everything up!"

Gaara went back to cooking the food, giving him a shrug. "I know with time, Naruto, you'll come around."

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously at the red-head as he continued cooking. He even began to start a conversation with Konan as she was once again drawn into his cooking. With a low growl, the blonde spun on his heel and stomped out of the kitchen and to his room.

Sasuke stood in the kitchen, unsure of what to do. He glanced at his brother who made a gesture to follow after him. The younger Uchiha gave him an understanding nod before following after Naruto.

When Sasuke made it to the closed bedroom of the room, he heard Naruto mumbling to himself. The raven smirked to himself before standing up straighter and using the back of his knuckles to lightly knock against the door.

A string of curses came flying out of the blonde's mouth and then a small crash. "Come in!" He shouted out.

Sasuke entered the room to see Naruto sitting on the side of his bed, head in his hands covering his face. Onyx eyes scanned the room for any clue on the sound of the crash. He looked next to the nightstand to see the blonde's phone on the ground. He raised an eyebrow before picking it up and sitting next to him on the bed.

Naruto made no movement as the bed dipped with Sasuke's weight.

Sasuke looked around, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the silence. His eyes fell on the blonde once again and he tapped the blonde's leg before placing the phone on his leg.

In a flash, the phone was sent flying nearly halfway across the room and Sasuke's eyes widened, unsure of what happened. He looked at the blonde, bewildered.

"I don't want to talk, Sasuke." Naruto commented, still keeping his face covered.

Sasuke frowned as the blonde still refused to look at him. With a sigh and a slight coloring of his cheeks, he wrapped his arm around the blonde's shoulder and pulled him hard and quickly to his chest, interlocking his other arm together, trapping the blonde against him in an awkward embrace.

Naruto uncovered his face at the sudden movement and he blinked wildly, letting the tears he was trying so hard to prevent, fall freely. "Wha?" He looked up at the raven who gave him a small, half smile in an attempt to comfort him. Cerulean eyes searched onyx and he then threw himself into Sasuke's chest, allowing the tears to flow, still staying silent.

The two boys sat there for a while, it wasn't long before Sasuke began rubbing the blonde's back, practically lulling him to sleep. When a soft snore sounded from Naruto's lips, Sasuke slowly laid the blonde down onto the bed.

Luckily for Sasuke, Naruto didn't ever make his bed so throwing the sheets and blankets over him was an easy task. He stood over the blonde, watching him sleep. He smiled to himself before gently tousling golden locks.

He walked over to the phone that was thrown and picked it up. He curiously looked it over before unlocking it. He made a mental note to have Naruto create a lock for his phone as it opened straight to what Naruto was previously looking at.

It was on Gaara's social media page, a picture of him and Naruto, arms over each other's shoulder. Naruto was smiling brightly, eyes closed and facing the camera. Gaara had a small smirk as he was side glancing at the blonde.

Sasuke frowned at the picture before locking the phone and placing it back onto Naruto's nightstand. He left the room and headed to his own.

As he got ready for bed and lied awake, staring at his ceiling, he made a vow to himself and Naruto. He'd do anything to keep Naruto from that kind of hurt again. With a new sense of determination, Sasuke closed his eyes and began to fall asleep.