The Trust 'Verse, Part II - Relinquish

Word from the Author: This is actually a fairly plot-heavy fic, as such, it's not likely going to make much sense unless you go read 'The Trust 'Verse, Part I - Return' first... Sorry about that folks. But without any further ado to those who have done so, I present to you, the second part of the core trilogy.

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The Trust 'Verse - Part II

Relinquish

Chapter I

†

Things got better after that. Sasuke told Sakura about what had happened, and even confessed to the kiss. Sakura had just hugged him, and told him she was proud of him, for bringing Naruto back to them.

Sasuke’s eyes had prickled slightly at that. It was true; the Naruto from their youth seemed to have been revived, at least the bright and cheerfully exuberant parts at any rate. The goofy mischief maker hadn’t though, but when questioned about it, Naruto would simply shrug and say, that that hadn’t really been him.

Sasuke was inclined to agree. As Sakura had claimed, he hadn’t really known Naruto as well as he thought he had. Their friendship of old had been an odd mixture of face value and too deep for anyone other than them to appreciate. In essence, they’d missed a lot of the middle ground that came along with normal friendships, or so Sasuke was beginning to discover.

Even when Naruto had been his best friend, he had still been something of a stranger, even more so after his sudden departure years earlier. Nowadays, things were different, although still on an extended mission, Naruto would return home every few months, for at least a couple of days, Sai always in tow.

Sasuke was still sort of getting used to that, but Sakura was happy enough to have both of them over, especially when Sai was willing to cook. He was surprisingly adept at the art – which he had been informed was the reason why; because it was an art. Sakura had just laughed, while Naruto had scoffed, and Sai had looked mildly indignant, well, or so Sasuke had assumed. He still had some trouble reading the ever stoic shinobi.

The first time Sasuke ever heard Sai laugh, he had thought he was imagining things. The sound had been strangely sweet. Sasuke had been quick to realize that it was Naruto who made Sai laugh like that. Feeling as though he was intruding on something private, he had turned and quickly walked back to the kitchen, calling down the hall to let them know that the tea was ready. From then on, he made sure to wait for them to come meet him instead.

It became a pleasant routine, and now even when Naruto was away, Sasuke was happily getting into the habit of sending him missives, just to let him now that he was being thought of back home. All three of his children always added pictures to send along, Furiko and Toshirou’s in glaringly bright crayons, Iwa’s in starkly contrasting inks.

It was upon the discovery that Sai was an artist of sorts that Iwa had commandeered Sai to help teach him how to draw, sketch and paint. At first, Sai had refused, outright, engaging in some weird staring contest with his son, until Naruto had entered the room and asked what was going on. At this point, Iwa had turned to Naruto, and shyly mentioned that he had wanted Sai to teach him how to draw. Sasuke still wasn’t sure whether the shyness in that moment was an act or not; if it had been, all he could say was that it had been very convincing. Especially as Naruto’s first reaction had been to immediately turn to stare at Sai. From what Sasuke could decipher, the long meaningful look Naruto was giving Sai silently asked why on earth Sai would have refused.

Very reluctantly, in response to Naruto’s pointedly enquiring gaze, Sai had muttered, “Fine,” almost instantly surrendering to Naruto’s wishes. Still, Naruto had smiled brilliantly at him for agreeing, and apparently that made things a little more tolerable in Sai’s eyes, as he softly smiled back.

Iwa had simply scowled at this; an expression that seemed almost permanent when Sai was around.

Sasuke really didn’t want to contemplate the implications, such as the possibility that his five year old son had a crush on his closest friend, especially given the fact that he and Naruto were the same age, and that he’d always thought he would only have to deal with boy problems once Furiko grew up, and the boys her age, he assumed they would be her age, started swarming the estate.

Sasuke rubbed at his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. He wondered if Naruto would always be the one complicating his life.

Flopping onto the couch, to watch as Sai and his son silently bickered with each other, and Naruto sat playing some unexplainable game with his two other children while Sakura was out getting groceries, Sasuke smirked.

What was a little complication in the great scheme of things anyway?

†

When he turned six, his parents finally caved and allowed him to begin his formal training. And even though he perfected all the techniques, memorized and internalized all the necessary information required to graduate within his first year at the Academy, Iwa did not in fact do so. Instead, he spent a lot of his time studying the art of concealment, focusing in particular on learning how to hide his talents. He figured that it was a good enough way to wile away the hours he was forced to spend in the classroom that was as much his prison as anything else. Somehow, he was able to endure, if only by telling himself that having such skills would someday provide him with a strong tactical advantage when it actually came time for him to properly assume his role as a shinobi of Konohagakure.

Most of his time from then on was spent alternatively trying to increase his speed, power and accuracy while also trying to manipulate how much of his capabilities he let others see. It was surprisingly easy – and also surprisingly entertaining.

Early on he made a game of it, seeing whether he could mimic his classmates’ various chakra readings. Never all the same person’s, otherwise it was entirely possible that his teachers would realize what he was doing. No, what he did instead was carefully examine three people at a time and then mix and match their speed, power and accuracy.

He found that this also further served to help him better read other people’s strengths and weakness. He knew that in the real world his opponents would be much better equipped at hiding their abilities, just like he was able to do. Nevertheless, it was something to do to stave off insanity while he pretended to be not quite as brilliant as he really was.

Iwa knew all about his Otou-san’s aniki, Itachi. He heard what was said about how similar they seemed when people thought he wasn’t listening, or when they didn’t know he was there. He also knew that it was bad, because it made his Okaa-san worry and his Otou-san look at him oddly. He knew he had to hide anything that might make him seem too much like this person he had never met, and never would. Because Iwa didn’t want to leave the village, or go missing, or be hunted. He wanted to stay here with his family, and where he knew Naruto-san would come back to.

If there was one thing that Iwa truly loved about going to the Academy it would have to be that quite a lot of the teachers there had known Naruto-san when he was just a chibi, as Naruto-san liked to call him. Some of the people who came to help out had even grown up with Naruto-san. It was the same reason that Iwa would go visit Tsunade-hime – she always told him things he wanted to know, not only about Naruto-san but also about what it was like, what it meant, being Hokage. Though, then again, that in part was also to do with knowing more about Naruto-san and his childhood dream, which he was even now striving to obtain.

Tsunade-hime was the one who had taught him about these things called dreams. Iwa had previously understood the concept in terms of the brain requiring these virtually resonant sequences to help resolve issues and refresh the mind. He had been surprised to learn that there was more to it than that; that people could have waking dreams, manifest as sincere desires to reach what some might consider unreachable heights.

It had been even more amazing for Iwa to learn that Naruto-san was the one who had taught Tsunade-hime how important they were, when she herself had forgotten, as she had explained to him.

Iwa liked spending time with Tsunade-hime because she didn’t treat him like a child. To her, he was simply a valued member of her village, and Iwa could see it in her eyes when she looked at him, that she understood what he was capable of, as well as what he chose not to do.

It was probably because of this that Iwa was willing to trust her, one of the very few outside his family that he did. It was why he answered any question she posed him with honesty. That and the fact that she was again one of the few who thought to ask anything at all.

One of the problems with his parents, Iwa thought, just after he turned eight, was that they never questioned what his plans in life were, they never asked about his dreams, or his motives, why he didn’t push himself to exceed everyone’s expectations when they quite clearly knew that he could. The other problem was that he suspected they didn’t ask because they were afraid of what he might say in response.

For as long as Iwa could remember he had kept his silence, happy to be at home within his own thoughts. It seemed to put his parents at ease when he didn’t go out of his way to prove himself, or anything stupid like that, so he let it go, maintained his quietude, all the while knowing they could be closer were he to do otherwise; knowing that the distance between them was there because they weren’t quite sure how to deal with him.

On the rare occasion, Iwa wondered to himself if that wasn’t the reason why his Oji-san, Itachi, had snapped. Iwa wondered whether Itachi hadn’t hated the strained misconnection between himself and his parents. His kyoudai were another matter entirely, and Iwa could see, even though Itachi might’ve gone somewhat insane, massacring the entire clan, why his Otou-san had survived. Iwa himself couldn’t even begin to imagine ever hurting either Toshirou or Furiko.

The other big difference that no one else seemed to have realized was that unlike Itachi, Iwa had purpose. After his talk with Tsunade-hime about dreams, he carefully considered what he wanted in life. It didn’t take much thought, he had already known what he wanted; he had simply never quite been able to give the desire form before.

Still, the partial estrangement from his parents was for the best, in Iwa’s humble opinion, as it required very little effort on his behalf to maintain, effort that in turn could be channelled into more fruitful avenues, such as attaining his dream.

By nine, despite still attending the Academy, Iwa secretly arranged with Tsunade-hime to undertake medical training. At the very least it would greatly improve his chakra control, as well as help him to develop a greater variety of defensive and offensive techniques.

Perhaps he could have asked his mother, who was arguably just as skilled as Tsunade-hime, but he didn’t; for all the same reasons that he only spoke when spoken to. There was also the fact that he would likely end up revealing his true potential, something that he was determined never to do to his parents. He knew he did so with Tsunade-hime, but in that case he was safe in the assurance that Tsunade-hime would never tell, not without his consent first. She’d promised.

Iwa also knew that Tsunade-hime had only agreed to the lessons, which took place several times a week, once he had told her why he wanted to learn. No one really asked about his time spent in the tower, probably seeing as that’s where he was usually to be found anyway. So, in that aspect, it was hardly an issue.

Nevertheless, when asked, he had hesitantly admitted the truth to Tsunade-hime. He was only hesitant because he’d never before verbalized this truth, not to anyone else, at least.

In essence, Iwa wanted to be the best at everything, so that when Naruto-san became Hokage, no one would question his being by Naruto-san’s side.

Tsunade-hime had stared at him for an inordinate amount of time. Long enough that Iwa was mildly impressed that his answer had apparently stumped her so. Visibly recovering, Tsunade-hime had then asked a heap of other questions, which Iwa thought he answered fairly succinctly by saying, “Because Naruto-san is the most important person in the world.”

The heavy silence that had followed seemed to have been tinged with equal parts amusement, disbelief and contemplation.

He later wondered whether he had worded that right. Iwa was fairly certain that that was what his Otou-san said quite often about Naruto-san, and that his Okaa-san always agreed.

Iwa wasn’t prepared to believe that Naruto-san was any less important to him, than he was to his parents. Naruto-san really was Iwa’s favourite person, and Iwa always looked forward to the times when Naruto-san would come home with untold anticipation.

Iwa thought that that had to count for something.

Naruto-san would be returning again really soon, just in time for Iwa’s birthday, in fact. He generally made it back to Konohagakure for all their birthdays. On occasion though, it was unavoidable and he ended up missing one here and there. But he’d never missed one of Iwa’s, which for some reason made Iwa even happier that his birthday was coming. Perhaps because it was a guarantee that Naruto-san would be back, to see him specially.

Iwa’s room was impeccably tidy for a young boy of nine, going on ten. In some ways, Iwa knew he had somewhat of a minimalist’s view when it came to materialism, so in that sense, some of the tidiness could be attributed simply to his not having all that much clutter to account for.

In truth, most of the things in his room, apart from his bed and bedside table, his drawers and closet and study desk and chair, were presents from Naruto-san, or Toshirou or Furiko.

Toshirou and Furiko often made him things, which sometimes were somewhat stupid looking, but still, they lay strategically placed upon shelves and free space as decoration, for the most part out of affection for them both. He also made sure they had an equal number of things about the place, only to be fair.

Naruto-san’s gifts were another matter entirely. Those he kept sequestered away, for his enjoyment and his enjoyment alone. If he left things out, as it happened, they would sometimes get lost, or misplaced, especially if his Okaa-san insisted on cleaning his room, despite his already having done so. She was fastidious like that, and Iwa sometimes wondered whether it was caused by her medical knowledge. The more he’d learned about microbes and bacteria and fungal spores and the like, the less inclined he’d been to touch a lot of things he’d not have paid much mind to before. It was amazing what a little knowledge could do to your perspective on things.

Still, the only gift from Naruto-san that he kept in the open was Rokudaime who sat happily upon Iwa’s bed. Everyone knew not to touch him without Iwa’s permission, because the last time Toshirou had, he’d regrettably ended up with a broken wrist. Iwa was just lucky he’d snapped the left; otherwise Toshirou wouldn’t have been able to go to school to learn his characters and numbers if he couldn’t write. And Iwa would’ve been in even more trouble.

He’d never seen his Otou-san freak out quite like he had. However, after a painfully stilted discussion with his Okaa-san, the whole thing had been more or less forgotten, except for the newly established Uchiha house rule: do not touch Rokudaime.

Naruto-san himself was of course the exception to this rule. It was always amusing to find Naruto-san fast asleep half-sitting, half-lying on Iwa’s bed with Rokudaime loosely tucked under his arms.

Sometimes Iwa would just sit at his desk and go over what he’d been learning with Tsunade-hime, listening to the comforting sound of Naruto-san’s steady breathing, and occasionally pausing to turn and watch the rise and fall of Naruto-san’s chest as he slumbered on.

Naruto-san would often wake and look surprised to be there, holding a plush kuma in his hands, before he would smile sheepishly and apologize for stealing Iwa’s bed and Rokudaime.

When this happened, at times too few and far between for Iwa’s liking, Iwa would simply smile back and say, “He’s half yours, anyway.”

Because it was true. Naruto-san could have anything of Iwa’s he wanted, all he needed to do was ask.

Besides, Naruto-san had promised him the very same thing. Or at least, something very much along those lines.

If ever there’s anything you need, anything you want, just ask, and I’ll do whatever I can to get it, alright, chibi?

The only problem with that was sometimes all Iwa wanted to ask of Naruto-san was, “Please stay.”

But he couldn’t do that. Because Naruto-san’s dream was to become Hokage and his mission was part of his journey to see that dream realized. So Iwa remained silent. Because really, that was the only thing he could think to ask for. It was the only thing he wanted.

But if he was patient, he knew a day would come when Naruto-san would return home to Konoha to stay for good, to don the mantle of Hokage, and then Iwa’s wish would be fulfilled at long last.

For the moment, all Iwa could do was wait and pass the days and months, if not years if that was how long Naruto-san needed, by making himself useful so that when the time came, Naruto-san would be proud of what he had achieved.

In the meantime, he’d have to make do with simply seeing Naruto-san when he returned.

Only three days to go.

He wondered what Naruto-san would bring him this time.

†

Naruto paced anxiously. Sai stood unmoving, out of his way. It was amazing how quickly things could escalate from ‘hey, what’s going on?’ to a full-blown hostile situation. And they certainly didn’t need this; they had better things to do, like go home.

Coming to abrupt stop, Naruto growled at the metal bars that he knew he could easily melt into nothingness, “What the hell is the hold up?”

They had already been here for more than twenty hours. There was a distinct lack of response from the guards that stopped by every four or so, when Naruto demanded that they be released. When all he was met with in return was oppressing silence, he had to bite his tongue to stop himself from doing something he would later regret, like forcing his way out – there was no doubt he would succeed, the only problem, though, was by doing so he knew that it would only cause the situation to escalate, if not bring Earth Country directly into conflict with Fire.

They were currently at the further most outskirts of Earth, having already passed through Iwagakure. Konohagakure hardly needed another war with Rock, and Naruto would be damned before he incited one.

Sai moved silently to wrap his arms about Naruto’s shoulders, pulling him back to lean against Sai’s warmth. “Calm down,” Sai instructed firmly. “We didn’t do anything wrong, so they can’t detain us as anything other than witnesses for more than forty-eight hours.”

“Forty-eight hours?” Naruto groaned.

Sai snorted lightly at Naruto’s neck, a puff of warm air hitting the sensitive skin and making him shiver. “Naruto,” Sai chided. “You of all people know this as well, if not better, than I do; you went over all the procedures before we got here, if I recall correctly.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like them,” Naruto protested. “Or even stop complaining about them. Especially as we’ve already been in here almost half that time.”

“Hai, hai,” Sai agreed, squeezing once more before letting go. “It’ll be fine. Tanaka’s working on it, and you know how good he is at his job. He’ll get us out as soon as he can.”

Naruto grumbled his acknowledgement wordlessly.

“Now, sit,” Sai said, pointing to the ground at his feet.

Naruto felt his lips twitch at the sight. Faintly amused, he demanded, “What am I? Your pet?”

Sai smirked winningly. “That’s right, little fox. Play nice, and I’ll give you a reward.”

“Sai!” Naruto gasped, reading from Sai’s expression and tone precisely what that reward would entail. “We’re in prison… and you… you…”

“I—what?” Sai asked, feigning curiosity while his eyes laughed silently.

Leaning close, Naruto hissed with questioning indignation, “You want to have sex?”

Grinning now, Sai slapped Naruto’s shoulder, which made Naruto start, and bark, “Oi, what was that for?”

Sai, quickly suppressing his grin, stared at Naruto seriously, before he leaned forward to whisper, “I can’t believe you asked me to have sex with you in prison. Just wait until I tell Sakura-chan about this!”

Naruto gaped, before crying, “I did not! You,” Naruto gesticulated wildly at Sai’s nose, “were the one who was suggesting it!”

“Was I?” Sai questioned, his expression faux-innocent.

Naruto spluttered, before sitting with a huff.

Sai laughed out loud at this. “What? No witty comeback?” He taunted, running a hand lovingly through Naruto’s golden locks. Bending slightly, to trail his fingers along the nape of Naruto’s neck, Sai circled with them until they reached Naruto’s chin, at which stage he titled Naruto’s head up in order to properly meet his gaze.

“Ii ko,” Sai husked, watching with pleasure as Naruto’s eyes darkened at Sai’s praise.

“Sai,” Naruto breathed, his eyelids fluttering close as electricity rushed through him, originating from the gentle press of Sai’s skilful fingers against the sensitive skin of his neck, which Naruto happily bared to him.

Blinking as he realized just what was going on, Naruto jerked back to scowl. “You’re taking advantage of me.”

Sai smiled endearingly, “But only because you’re worth taking.”

Naruto’s scowl deepened, as he complained, “That’s the best compliment you could come up with?”

“Oh?” Sai asked. “I hadn’t realized you were fishing for compliments. How terribly inconsiderate of me not to have noticed.”

Naruto froze as Sai dropped into his lap.

“Prison,” Naruto whined piteously.

Sai raised an eyebrow, before calmly stating, “I thought that was meant to be the place for this kind of behaviour.”

Naruto snorted, loud and quick, before threatening, “Not if you ever want to get any outside of here. Ever. Again.”

Sai sighed sorrowfully, before simply relaxing against Naruto and wrapping his arms around his neck. “You’re spoiling my fun.”

“I have Sakura-chan to blame for this, don’t I?” Naruto lamented plaintively, even as he pulled Sai in closer, holding him tight. “She’s more of a bad influence than Ero-sennin ever was.”

Sai laughed at that. “That’s the first I’ve heard you complain about it.”

“Yeah, well,” Naruto faltered slightly, his cheeks turning pink as he explained, “that’s because it usually leads to good things…”

Sai mock-pouted, “Are you telling me you don’t think it would’ve been good?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, before pronouncing, “Oh, it would have been just dandy, apart from my not wanting any of me coming in more contact with this shit-hole than is absolutely necessary.”

Naruto paused for a second, his eyes widening comically in realization, as he exclaimed with a horrified screech, “Why am I even sitting down in this crap!?”

“Because I told you to,” Sai purred, licking at Naruto’s whiskered cheek.

Naruto growled, before turning his head to capture Sai’s tongue in a kiss anyway.

Breaking free for a second, Sai murmured hopefully, “But you have no qualms about making out in prison?”

“So long as your tongue hasn’t touched any of the floors, walls or bars of this place,” Naruto stipulated firmly.

“You know where my tongue’s been,” Sai teased between kisses, “better than even I do, I’d say.”

Thinking about just where it’d been the day before, Naruto groaned into the next kiss, “No fair.”

Sai smirked as he felt Naruto respond beneath him. “Are you sure I can’t convince you? I mean, I could just suck you off. None of you would even get a chance to touch any of the grunge in this place,” Sai’s voice dropped in pitch as he continued, “and technically, you’ll be cleaner than you started.”

Naruto’s arms tightened involuntarily about Sai’s body, as he observed with an air of scepticism, “There’s something wrong with that logic.”

“Doesn’t mean you won’t give in,” Sai proclaimed, rubbing himself temptingly against Naruto, before adding, “I’m hungry.”

Naruto barked out a laugh at that. “Oh, well, if you’re hungry. You do realize that most people would describe that as more ‘creepy’ than anything else.”

Sai’s eyes crinkled into a smile, “Only you’re not most people.”

“It’s still weird,” Naruto laughed.

“But you taste so good,” Sai argued, licking at Naruto’s cheek again. “And you can have some of mine, once I’m done with you.”

Naruto wheezed, he was laughing so hard.

Sai stopped and frowned. “Is that a yes?”

Naruto choked as he tried to stop laughing, eventually calming down enough to say. “In any other place, you know it would be. You had me from the start,” Naruto smiled.

“But?” Sai prodded.

Naruto glanced at the bars of their prison.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Sai demanded.

“What?” Naruto said, his eyes narrowing slightly at Sai’s incredulous attitude. “It’s a valid concern.”

“Hm,” Sai hummed, noting that Naruto was still just as hard as he’d been to begin with. “What if I used genjutsu?”

Naruto’s eyes bulged a bit, “You want to use jutsu to hide the fact that you’re in a prison cell giving me head?”

“If it means that I actually get to give you head in a prison cell, then, yes,” Sai affirmed simply.

“Even though we just did it this morning?” Naruto clarified.

“And by this morning you mean, the morning we had almost twenty-four hours ago?” Sai protested.

“Uh,” Naruto hedged.

“Since when is that a valid excuse not to have more sex,” Sai continued. “Plus, this,” Sai ground his hips down against Naruto’s own, feeling his erection hot and hard press back up against him, “which I happen to think is a lot more sincere than the rest of you, really, seems to think now is as good a time as any.”

With another thrust, Sai added, “And I agree.”

Sucking in a sharp breath at the increased pressure, Naruto swayed slightly, before steadying himself, and muttering petulantly, “Fine.”

Sai smirked as he felt Naruto twitch beneath him, belying his apparent reluctance. Quickly, Sai called on his chakra to weave phantasms in the form of himself and Naruto, both of them sitting propped up against a wall, dozing lightly, his own head upon Naruto’s shoulder, and Naruto’s hand resting gently on his own thigh.

Sai opened his eyes. Pleased with the illusion he’d created, Sai grinned widely, for him anyway, before standing up, and pulling Naruto to his feet, so that he could kiss him enthusiastically.

“You’re enjoying this far too much,” Naruto complained half-heartedly against Sai’s lips, even as he responded.

Licking happily into Naruto’s mouth, Sai replied, “And you’re protesting far too much.”

Grabbing Naruto by the hair to pull his head back, Sai nipped at Naruto’s exposed neck. “My beautiful kitsune,” he praised. “Such a good boy.”

Naruto shuddered, and locked his knees in place, lest he fall down, shaken to the core as always by the sheer power of Sai’s voice. It had always been a power that could bring him to his knees.

But then it was Sai, letting go of his grasp on Naruto’s hair, dragging his hands down Naruto’s chest, petting his sides, before taking hold of Naruto’s hips, as he fell to his knees, and nuzzled against Naruto’s hard length, lapping with slow, languid strokes the outline of Naruto’s erection through the light material of his black uniform.

Naruto whimpered as he carded his fingers through Sai’s silky soft hair.

Yanking Naruto’s pants down just enough to set him free, Sai proceeded to show Naruto just how good this could be.

And, better than good, it was in fact brilliant. As always, Sai was nothing if not a man of many talents. And as far as Naruto was concerned, his ability to give head, was exceedingly high on that list. Proved by the fact that within moments, Naruto was already coming, blindingly hard, his entire body shaking with the force of his orgasm.

Sai swallowed with relish, savouring the flavour upon his tongue, even as the muscles of his arms bunched tight to keep Naruto upright.

Boneless, Naruto hunched over, staring down at the top of Sai’s head, dazed.

Practice makes perfect, Naruto reasoned blissfully.

Sucking him dry, Sai pulled back to glance up, smugness filling his expression as he said, “Told you so.”

Naruto, his fingers still curled tightly into Sai’s hair, tugged gently, silently demanding he be kissed.

Graciously, Sai obliged.

Delicately pressing his tongue into Sai’s mouth, catching a taste of himself, Naruto sighed contentedly.

“Feel better, don’t you?” Sai murmured as he pulled away to stand, leaving Naruto to collapse onto him, his arms curled possessively about Sai’s shoulders, his face buried against Sai’s neck.

“Mmm,” Naruto agreed, before straightening a little to ask, “Sai?”

“What is it?” Sai asked.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” Sai smiled, eyebrow raised.

“You said I could have some of yours, once you were done with me.”

Sai almost laughed at the pout he could now hear in Naruto’s voice. “When we get home,” Sai promised.

“What?” Naruto asked groggily, before demanding, “why not now?”

“Because,” Sai started, efficiently tucking Naruto back in, before reaching out to stroke golden locks back from where they had fallen forward across clear, blue eyes, smiling at how adorably mussed Naruto looked Sai continued the thought, “Tanaka’s coming, and if you want to even try to make it back in time, we need to leave now.”

“Shit,” Naruto cursed, immediately straightening and visibly shaking off the afterglow. “You did that on purpose,” he accused.

“Time flies when you’re having fun,” Sai sing-song’ed sardonically.

Naruto snorted at that. It was true though, Sai had managed to completely take Naruto’s mind off his growing irritation at being stuck here.

Tanaka had obviously done his job, as a small band of officials arrived with him, apologizing profusely at having detained two individuals of such high stature.

Naruto waved them off, stating he was only interested in getting home as quickly as possible.

There was still much gushing that followed, as they escorted Sai and Naruto to the city’s limits, before seeing them off.

As soon as they were outside city bounds, Sai and Naruto took off at breakneck speed. They had a little less than two days to cross from the edges of Earth to Fire’s heart.

Naruto just hoped that they would make it in time.

†

To Be Continued…