Strings of hearts

Chapter 21

Naruto's heart throbbed. He couldn't contain himself from trembling at his sight. Although Sasuke had no idea, both Sai and Naruto was able to sense the change of the atmosphere. Naruto looked around to have a glance of his parents but his parents vanished from the sight. His body was trembling, so was his heart. "That scar...."

"Old acquaintances? What a coincidence." Sasuke spoke as he came forward. Sai smiled as he also came forward. "He and I were really close." Sasuke advanced toward Naruto taking the position beside him as his hand made contact with Naruto's back. Naruto body turned numb.

"Why don't you guys catch up then? I'll find my friends and come back later." Naruto's body froze. His fearful eyes could only be noticed by the pale boy who appeared without any notice. He lost his voice for quite some time. He couldn't ask for Sasuke's help and only could watch him leave helplessly.

Sai's cold hand touched Naruto's face. Coldness spread all over his body which also seeped into his heart. His mind turned hazy. Did he come back to torment him? To punish for the sin he committed? Or reveal the truth to everyone?

"How come you always attract bad crowd?" Sai spoke. Naruto could only utter,"Wh-what?" Sai's small lips made a nice shape as those formed a smile. "Sasuke? Out of all people?" Sai said. Naruto took a step back as his back was pinned against the counter. Among the crowd nobody's eyes looked for them, nobody sensed the aura of uneasiness.

"I-I... I'll go look for dad..." Naruto's hand was grabbed by his strong hold. Naruto's eyes grew bigger as the fear had started to surge up. "Why are you running away? It's not like I can do anything to you in here." Sai spoke calmly. "We should really catch up. I missed you. Did you miss me?" Then his breath fanned over Naruto's ear, his neck "Darling~"

Naruto pushed him off of him subconsciously. Sai couldn't be pushed off that easily. He wavered his hand as his head turned to a certain direction. A familiar person rushed forward. Naruto's blood turned colder. "Hey! Is this.... Naruto!" Kiba's face turned crazy.

"Holy shit! He was cooped up in here out of all places." He said. "Yeah his father would run back and forth. So it was here." Sai said with a smirk. Naruto felt cornered as if a group of blood thirsty beasts circled him leaving no way for him to leave. Before the situation could turn any worse, someone's deep voice echoed throughout the hall.

"Dear guests, thanks for giving me the pleasure of having your company here." It was finally the turn of Fugaku Uchiha to give out his speech. Both Kiba and Sai's back was straightened then. The stage was occupied by a group of people who seemed influential. Naruto searched for a certain boy but except for him, everybody was there.

"This is my nephew Obito." As his name was announced, Naruto found the name to be unfamiliar. "The son of my late brother." Then a painful expression engulfed his face, black clouds of something unknown clouded his vision. But in his lips, there was a proud smirk. He would never smile at his own offsprings like that.

Itachi's eyes turned crescent as a charming smile appeared on his handsome face. He stood beside Obito as if he wasn't Fugaku's son but Obito was. Fugaku's hand was resting on Obito's shoulder as the younger male was busy interacting with the people who had been introduced to him. Naruto's gaze shifted to different places but he couldn't catch a glimpse of him.

Naruto's phone buzzed. Naruto froze once again. With fear in his mind and heart, he took the phone into his palm and the message from the creep appeared on his screen. "Having fun in the party?" Naruto looked around in an instant to find anybody who could be engrossed in their phone but there was nobody.

"Well well. I have a task in my mind for you. Have you seen where Sasuke has gone? Well I know..."
With his shaky fingers, he tapped on certain characters. "What do you want from me?" "Getting straight to the point huh? Okay, go straight to the only corridor. You will see it once you move to the staircase. Take a turn."

Naruto rushed to the direction which had been pointed. "Go straight..."  Naruto kept walking until a green room came forward. "That's right. See what's happening?"

A muffling sound startled Naruto. The door was carelessly kept opened while two people were engaged in a certain activity inside the room. "Sasuke, you have been avoiding me. Don't deny." Sakura accused without beating around the bush. "That's your imagination." Sasuke denied swiftly.

"Really? What excuse do you have for this?" Sakura pointed to her phone screen which Naruto couldn't see clearly. "Seriously!? Is this the right time for us to fight! If father notices..." Sakura used her strength to push him until his back got hit against the wall. Sasuke let out a groan. "I know what's going on in this little head of yours." Her voice turned deep.

"But honey~ you know we can't go back to how things were. Yui is gone, there's only you and me." She said as her voice turned seductive. Naruto's phone buzzed once again.  "So I want you to film this steamy moment of their right now and post it. You can do it anonymously." Naruto's body turned cold.

"Are you crazy! Why do you think that I'll dance according to you!" Naruto didn't hesitate to send a reply faster than before.
"You have been taking me lightly Naruto. Didn't I tell you how much I know about you?"

"What does that mean?"

"You caused arson in the building of your old school. And the most surprising fact is, you are gay. Would you want the whole school to know that.?

It was as if thunderbolt had fallen upon him turning him into a stone. He broke into cold sweat as he kept staring at the screen as if what he had seen there could be fake. Another text popped up then. "Time is tickling. If you don't manage to capture this spicy moment, I might reveal your deepest darkest secret."

Naruto gulped the lump that had been stuck in his throat. It could never be Itachi or anyone from this school. Was it Sai? Could it be really him? But he had no more time. He turned on the camera and started filming with guilt pouring in his mind, in his consciousness. His hand had already been dirtied. Whatever secret Sasuke had had been revealed right at the moment when the video was posted.

Naruto ran like a madman right after finishing the job. He couldn't cry, he couldn't change his expression no matter what. He couldn't get caught. When he pretended to stare at his phone screen staring at the video which he filmed with his own hand, guilt he had been trying so hard to suppress turned even heavier. He felt a sudden pang. Mimicking what he had been doing, all the others who went to Konoha High who were present in the banquet had their phones in their hand with a stupefied expression on their faces.

"Is this? Oh my god."
"While we are enjoying here, they are enjoying in a room doing this?"
"What can you expect from Sasuke?"
All sorts of comments were being thrown in the absence of the person about whom the scandal had been spread. Naruto's head was lowered.

"Naruto! Have you seen this!" Deidara came running. Naruto masked his expression and plastered his face with a expression filled with surprise. "Didn't you say he was a good guy? What is this now?" A proud smirk was formed in his lips. Naruto's lips twitched in a weird way. He couldn't form any expression at that moment. Guilt had consumed him.

In that room the phone was held tightly in Sasuke's hand. All the yelling and shouting from Sakura had been filtered out from his head. A disgusting videotape had been playing. When a notification was sent to his phone, he had no idea that it was all about him. The comment section was flooded with different type of comments.

His face turned solemn. He didn't catch the culprit who created such a scandal in such a sneaky way but in his heart there was that one name who was capable of doing it. Itachi...
Everyone had a rough idea about what there had been going on in between him and Sakura but this video was posted as a clear proof. His glare wouldn't stop anyone after that. He didn't feel enraged. He felt sad. There was nothing left private in his life anymore....