Muted Love

Chapter 23

It was currently Monday morning, and Naruto was still avoiding talking to Sasuke. Sunday, Naruto spent the day mostly in his room. With Itachi and Konan there for the weekend, he checked up on Sasuke minimally, barely saying more than a couple sentences to the raven.

Sasuke frowned as he got ready for the therapy session for the day. His gaze set on the bathroom door that he shared with the blonde. He could hear Naruto in there but when he tried the door earlier, it was locked.

He heard the bathroom door unlock and Naruto pass by his room. He finished throwing on his shirt and followed after the blonde who was downstairs, waiting.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked, monotone.

Sasuke nodded, briefly giving him a concerned look which Naruto chose to ignore.

The drive was silent, Sasuke throwing Naruto looks. Naruto could easily ignore the raven, focusing on the road. It didn't take them to reach the building that held their therapy sessions.

When they arrived, they were the last to get there, besides Kakashi.

"Sasuke!" Karin called out, waving her hand ecstatically. "I saved you a seat!"

Sasuke stared at her blankly before taking the empty chair between Ino and Kiba, crossing his arms over his chest and staring boredly at nothing in particular.

Naruto sat next to the red-headed girl, giving her an apologetic smile. She glared before letting out her breath in a huff and turning away, pouting.

"Ah, I see everyone is here!" Kakashi walked through the double doors of the room, a coffee cup in his hand. "I was waiting for the right time to make sure everyone was here."

"You liar!" Suigetsu immediately accused, standing up from his seat and pointing his finger at the silver-haired man.

"I don't know, Suigetsu." Ino replied, smirking. "He did arrive shortly after Naruto and Sasuke got here, maybe he knew."

Kiba's eyes widened as he looked Kakashi up and down. The silver-haired man looked towards Kiba, his eyes slowly closing in what they assumed was a smile. Kiba gulped audibly before scooting his chair closer to Sasuke's.

"Alright" Kakashi clapped his hands together, looking over the group. "Honesty is always the best policy here in therapy as you're all aware. So, in the spirit of telling the truth, I didn't come up with a plan today. I was too busy with my boyfriend."

"Cool, so we can go?!" Kiba stood up, slowly making his way to the exit.

"No, Kiba." Kakashi rolled his eyes, grabbing onto Kiba's sleeve before he could get past him. "We're just going to make it simple and talk about our weekend."

Suigetsu groaned, throwing his head back in his seat. "I didn't even do anything this weekend!" He let out a huff and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I was working at our family's vet clinic." Kiba responded, throwing his arm over the back of his chair, his legs spread out wide in front of him. "It's always a good time hanging out with the dogs."

"What about the cats?" Ino asked with a smirk.

Kiba gave her a glare, his cheeks gaining a pink-ish tint. "T-they were okay."

"Hm, doesn't seem like they were just''okay ''.'' Karin decided to join in the playful teasing of the brunette, her own smirk spread onto her face.

"Shut up." Kiba mumbled as the girls began to giggle to each other.

"Now now, Kiba." Kakashi piped up. "Play nice."

Kiba just let out a huff.

Ino cleared her throat, sitting up straighter in her seat. "I had a day trip to the spa." She paused, looking away. "With Sakura."

Suigetsu let out a bark of a laugh. "You hung out with Ms. Crazy?!"

Ino rolled her eyes as Kiba and Suigetsu gave each other a fist bump. "She's not that bad when she's not being Sasuke crazy. We have fun."

Suigetsu leaned forward on his knees, giving her a look of disbelief. "Right." He exaggerated the word. His face turned to one of boredom and he leaned back in his chair and looked over at Karin. "So what did Ms. Second-Crazy-In-Command do over her weekend?"

Karin glared darkly. She rolled her eyes and flipped her red hair over her shoulder. "For your information, fish boy," she smirked at him. "I went on a second date with that guy from last weekend. We had a lovely time."

Suigetsu's eyes widened. "Wow. If she can get a second date, I guess anything really is possible."

Kiba let out a bark of laughter. "Guess so, right Naruto?" He nudged the uncharastically quiet blonde who blinked once, looking around the room. "You okay?" The brunette gave him a concerned look.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, just a lot on my mind."

Karin snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's what therapy's for."

"He's just Sasuke's interpreter." Kakashi reminded them. "He doesn't have to participate."

"Well, what about you, Sasuke?" Ino asked, looking at the bored raven.

Before Sasuke could begin to sign, Narut spoke up. "We both had a long weekend."

The girls eyes widened before looking at each other and letting out a squeal.

'Be careful of your wording, moron.' Sasuke signed with a roll of his eyes before glaring at the blonde.

Naruto blushed before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Uh, nothing of that nature. Just some drama."

The girls sat back in their seats, disappointed looks sporting their faces.

"Aw man, you can't leave it like that." Kiba whined, hoping the blonde would cave in.

Naruto shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, keeping quiet. Sasuke once again looked bored, unmoving.

The rest of therapy passed by quickly, neither Naruto or Sasuke saying much. The group met up in the parking lot, gathering in front of their cars.

"You guys wanna join us at the diner?" Ino asked hopefully.

'No' Sasuke signed immediately.

"Yeah, we're going to skip today." Naruto agreed with the raven, surprising the whole group, even Sasuke himself. "We'll have to catch up next time." He waved goodbye as they all made their ways to their cars and drove off.

'What's wrong with you?' Sasuke asked as everyone's cars disappeared from sight. 'Ever since you got back, you've been acting differently. What did you do?'

Naruto scowled. "Why are you asking me for? You told me I didn't have to talk about it if I didn't want to. And I don't!"

'Normally that would be the case, but you're acting the complete opposite of how you normally act and it's concerning.'

Naruto kept his glare on the raven, his own onyx eyes glaring just as fiercely back. Naruto let out a tired sigh and ran a hand through his golden locks. "Can you just, please stay out of it and drop it?"

Sasuke's glare fell and he gave the blonde a concerned look at the change of attitude. 'Naruto, you know you don't have to deal with whatever this is, alone, right?'

"Please Sasuke," Naruto pleaded, his cerulean eyes glimmering. "Just please drop it. I promise, I'll act more like myself."

Sasuke wanted to push the blonde more, but the beginning signs of unshed tears pooled at the corners of those eyes, made him take a step back. He let out a breath before reluctantly giving him a slow nod.

Naruto gave him a small smile. "Thank you. Now, let's go home."