Restless

Reminder 1: SPOILERS

Reminder 2: I'm starting to pull away from cannon a bit.

Reminder 3: Enjoy!


Restless

Chapter 13: Restless Nights


Sasuke stood on the ground, looking down into the pit of debris and ruble, aka what remained of the underground base potion that had formerly been his room. Blowing it up might have just been a bit rash, but it had felt good blowing it to bits. He looked down at Sai's motionless form, but then saw that he was slowly stirring. Sasuke tried his best to calm himself. He was not one to kill people in cold blood (though he did enjoy beating them half to death) but right now, he felt quite ready to murder this Sai person. He could feel the comforting weight of his sword, Kusanagi, better known as the legendary Sword of the Snake, resting on his back. Sasuke was thankful that he always made sure to sleep with it next to his bed in case of emergencies. Like someone barging into his room and rudely waking him up.

Waking him up to discuss bonds. The nerve. Speaking of waking up...

Sasuke looked down at his right leg and would have sighed exasperatedly in any other situation. There, wrapped contentedly around his leg, still asleep, was Dokueki. How the blast could not have woken her up, Sasuke could only guess. Sasuke grabbed her tail irritably, unwrapping her with an almost snap-like gesture, and then prompted her to slither up his sleeve and out of sight.

"Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssssssssssssssssuke!" Dokueki hissed in the most outraged voice Sasuke had ever heard her use - which was saying something. "I was sleeping so nicely! You were so nice and warm! I bet you were having another one of those sex dreamssss that alwayssss getssss you so-"

"Shut-up," Sasuke ordered sharply. It was then that Dokueki finally took in the situation at hand, realizing that she was outside of the base, and she wrapped around Sasuke's arm a little tighter as the two of them stood looking down as another figure emerged into the gaping hole. The pink haired kunoichi ran up to Sai, her face contorted in fury at the other ninja.

"Sakura huh?" Sasuke murmured. Sakura froze, as though she couldn't quite believe her ears. She turned her head to face Sasuke, and he thought he saw her mouthing his name as though in astonishment. If Sakura were here, then that meant that Naruto and Kakashi were probably not far behind. Sure enough, Naruto came skidding into the clearing from what was once the hallway that led to his blown up room. Naruto likewise looked at Sasuke as though in shock. Sasuke took a moment to look at Naruto, noticing the changes. He had grown since the last time they had met, and he was now wearing an orange and black jump suit, but he no longer wore glasses. Sasuke perched his left arm (where Dokueki was currently wrapped around) on his hip so that she could poke her head out to see what was going on without being noticeable.

"Sasuke," Sasuke could hear Naruto say as Naruto's face went blank. There was something in the way that Naruto said his name that sent shivers down Sasuke's spine.

"Naruto, huh?" Sasuke murmured back in way of greeting. At this, Dokueki tightened around his arm, clearing excited at finally seeing Naruto after all the stories Sasuke had told her about him. Sasuke stared at Naruto for what felt like at eternity, looking at his eyes, seeing how different they looked. Something about his face was harsher, but his eyes, the way they looked at him, made Sasuke feel close to someone. Naruto had always looked at him like that. Naruto saw Sasuke, and Naruto therefore always looked at Sasuke. Not at his abilities as some shinobi tool. Not at his heritage as some prestigious heir. Not at his looks like some shallow person. At him. Memories flashed unwanted to Sasuke's mind, memories of the mistakes that he had made when he had left Konoha. Looking into the bright eyes below him, seeing how the gaze never broke from his, made Sasuke feel as though Naruto was going over the same memories too, both analyzing Sasuke's mistakes. Sasuke felt oddly naked under his stare. It was as though Naruto had always been able to connect with him on some level. He may not have always understood him, but he had tried. Even after Sasuke insisted Naruto knew nothing about family, never having those bonds, and never having the heartache of having them severed, Naruto had at least tried to understand.

What Sai had said about bonds came crashing back to him as the memory of what Sasuke had bitterly yelled at Naruto during their heated battle at the Valley of the End resurfaced. Yes, Sasuke thought to himself, Naruto and he did share a bond. Though he hated the way that Naruto wanted to think of their relationship as being like brothers. Like hell they were. They had been much more intimate than that, though, naturally, Naruto wouldn't remember since Sasuke had drugged him afterwards. Still, looking down at Naruto, Sasuke couldn't help but feel rather possessive. Sasuke idly noticed out of the corner of his eye another figure enter the clearing. It was not Kakashi as he had expected it to be, but rather another Konoha shinobi that he was unfamiliar with. It seemed quite a bit had changed in his absence. Clearly this Sai person had replaced him, and this new guy had replaced Kakashi. Still, Sasuke kept his eyes on Naruto, ignoring the other three around him.

It was Naruto who finally broke eye contact, his head lowering slightly, and his eyes looking down, hurt.

"So why..." Naruto began, and Sasuke felt his eyes soften involuntarily at Naruto's insecure voice. Naruto continued, and with what Naruto said next, Sasuke was sure that he and Naruto were both remembering the same things, "If so, then why didn't you kill me then. Isn't that your way of breaking bonds, Sasuke?!" Sasuke remembered the way that Naruto looked as he lay near death at the Valley of the End, his eyes looking down at Naruto's face. Sasuke's chakra had been depleted then, and he had no connection to the curse seal. His head had been clear then, free from the grasp of the cursed seal for the moment.

"The reason is simple. It's not that I didn't cut those bonds," Sasuke said, shutting his eyes, feeling as though if Naruto looked at him right now, he would see through his lie. Sasuke couldn't tell Naruto what was going on at the moment. There was a chance that Orochimaru or Kabuto would overhear, and Sasuke wasn’t ready to reveal his plans to those two. It wasn't time yet, "I didn't want to give him the pleasure of seeing me gain power by following his ways. I merely spared your life on a whim," Sasuke murmured, hoping Orochimaru was around. Naruto didn’t understand what that meant, but it hadn’t been for Naruto’s ears. It had been for Orochimaru’s benefit to make it seem as though Sasuke wouldn’t hesitate to kill Naruto now.

In a flash, Sasuke jumped from his place. He stretched out his left arm, unzipped Naruto's backpack, dropped something in it, and zipped it back up again before anyone had seen what he had done.

"When did he-" Sasuke heard Sakura say.

"Come to think of it, isn't your dream to become Hokage? If you have the time to come chase after me, you should be training. Isn't that right, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, his face pressing lightly against Naruto's cheek, the slight touch of feeling the gentle brush of his cheek against Naruto's sending his body reeling, remembering their last encounter together, and Sasuke couldn't help but speak gently. He had meant his words to be a taunt, a way of trying to get Naruto to realize his stupidity, though he was sure his voice had come out too husky. Sasuke was not ready for Naruto yet. Naruto was going to ruin things by being here so soon. Didn't Naruto realize that? Sasuke had yet to get completely out of Orochimaru's grasp of the cursed seal. Sasuke just couldn't leave - at least, not yet. "That's why, this time, at my whim, you will lose your life." Sasuke murmured into Naruto's ear, feeling upset that he would have to kill Naruto this soon, but feeling at a loss without any other viable choices. Sasuke pulled the sword out of its sheath, trying to give Naruto as much time to react as it slid slowly out. Yet Naruto just stood there, not trying to fight. It made Sasuke wonder if Naruto was in that much of a shock to see him again.

Remembering how docile Naruto had seemed when Sasuke had taken him the night of his sixteenth birthday made Sasuke think that yes, Naruto was in that much of a shock.

"Can someone who can't even save one of his friends become Hokage? What do you think, Sasuke?" Naruto murmured back. Sasuke made a non-committal sound before angling his sword towards Naruto's back. His arm flew towards Naruto, but it was stopped in mid movement.

There, holding his right hand, and standing pressed against Naruto's back in order to prevent Sasuke from hurting Naruto, even if it meant protecting him with his life, stood Sai. Sasuke was annoyed that Sai had gotten in the way, but it might prevent him from having to go through with his plan too soon after all.

"You're plan of action is correct," Sasuke said, looking at how Sai held his hand in such a way that would make it difficult for him to use it, and Sasuke's momentary lapse of concentration allowed Naruto to take his arm, and flip his way out Sasuke's hold.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mystery jounin begin an attack. More people were interfering. How troublesome.

"Chidori Nagashi!" Sasuke yelled as electricity shot from his body. He stopped that attack, but the man still came at him. He tried to block Sasuke's sword with a kunai.

"You're plan of defense is quite wrong," Sasuke muttered as his sword cut through the kunai, piercing his sword into the jounin's chest, right above his heart. He sent his chidori through the sword, numbing the man's body. It would hurt, but the electricity would also fry the cells so that there would be minimal blood loss. Of course, his beloved Kusanagi sword was giving him more than just a jolt of lightening. It also held psychotropic substances drained from the venoms and poisons that Dokueki had so lovingly laced into its metal.** "Kusanagi cannot be stopped," Sasuke told Yamato, as the jounin could do nothing but stare at Sasuke. Sasuke heard a small grunting noise, turning to see that Naruto had been knocked down by his full body chidori and was attempting to get up again. Sasuke's eyes met Naruto's, noticing with a shock that Naruto's eyes were red. Sasuke activated his sharingan and looked into those blood red eyes. ‘Time to find out what your memories are, Naruto,” Sasuke thought as he entered Naruto’s mind. However, this felt far different than anything he’d done before, especially Sai’s that had just been a few hours ago. Sasuke felt as though time had stopped...


He was walking through some sort of corridor, and he could hear voices. One was Naruto's, and the other, far more sinister, as they talked. He heard Naruto yelling. This was far different that searching through anyone else's memories that Sasuke could recall.

"I don't want to see your ugly muzzle anymore! I don't need your pathetic powers!" Naruto hollered. The other voice chuckled, a rolling sort of hideous laugh. Sasuke's eyes widened as he saw that enormous chakra materialize into the form of a beast as Sasuke walked forward, neither Naruto nor the beast noticing. The beast seemed to be saying that Naruto was weak without him, and that he was nothing without his strength. Sasuke noticed the seal on the large gates behind the thing, noticing that it seemed to have been peeled off slightly.

Though there was something sinister in the chakra, the shape that it had taken reminded Sasuke of something. No, it couldn't possibly be...

Sasuke put his hand out to touch the beast’s materialized nose. It was then that they finally noticed him.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto demanded. Sasuke looked over at Naruto. He placed his hand lightly on the top of Naruto's head. Naruto's eyes widened before they fluttered shut. Sasuke caught Naruto as he fell, and laid him down gently. Sasuke had time to enjoy the dark amusement of knocking Naruto unconscious in his own conscious before turning to face the mass of chakra before him.

"You're Kyuubi, aren't you?" Sasuke demanded.

"Hohoho! You must be an Uchiha to be able to see me inside Naruto," the Kyuubi demon chuckled.

"This is quite an interesting development. Let's talk."


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Naruto woke up groggily, seeing Sasuke once again standing above him on ground level. This time Orochimaru and Kabuto were with him. They vanished before Naruto got a chance to say anything to Sasuke.

"No!" Naruto yelled, feeling as though he had failed. "Damn it!" Naruto cried, beating the ground with his hand, sobs shaking his body as the frustration over took him. So close! They'd been so damn close! The rest of the team watched as his sobs finally subsided, his breathing coming more evenly before anyone of them dared approach him.

"Naruto, we need to leave," Yamato said quietly. Naruto sat dejectedly on the ground for a minute, seemingly oblivious to what Yamato had said. He swiped the tears from his eyes, and got up abruptly, turning in the direction of home. The rest of the team followed.

The return home to Konoha was made in silence. Naruto could see Sakura shooting worried glances his way, though she did not speak. Sai looked as contemplative as his emotionless face could, and Yamato minded his business, taking in everything, yet interfering in nothing. There were too many emotions flaring around everyone at the moment. The return pace was deliberately slow, and with each step toward Konoha, there was a feeling of dread, as though the mission would be even more of a failure once they reached Konoha and confirmed it.

It was Naruto who stopped the group and far earlier than he would have during a normal mission.

"Ne, Yamato-san? Can we spend the night here?" Naruto asked. It was a small clearing in the midst of the thick forest, and it would be good for a small campsite. He knew it would add additional travel time to their return, but Yamato knew it was better to have them get all their emotions out now rather than return to only have another mission thrust upon them that would be poorly done due to their lack of concentration. Yamato merely nodded. Naruto sat down, facing away from everyone else. Sakura made to go sit beside him, but Yamato held out a hand.

"Wait until you get back," Yamato said, and Naruto was grateful that Yamato understood his need to be alone, though he was even more grateful that Sakura had at least wanted to try and comfort him - even if that was not what he wanted at the moment. The thought still counted. Naruto took off his back pack, intent on getting out a snack, but stopped mid motion upon feeling something strange in his backpack.

"Hello Naruto." Two yellow eyes blinked curiously up at Naruto. Naruto's eyes went wide and he knocked over his bag.

"Aaaaaaaah!" Naruto hollered. Sai, Sakura, and Yamato looked over at Naruto.

"What's wrong?" Yamato asked in a sharp voice.

"There's a ghost in my backpack!" Naruto shrieked, mortified. He hated ghosts. He could deal with enemies in the height of a battle, stand his ground against a nine-tailed demon fox, but ghosts, ghosts were another matter in Naruto's mind. The rest of the team members let out a collective groan at Naruto's "finding."

"Naruto! There are not such things as ghosts!" Sakura gritted out angrily.

"Yes there are! You weren't on the mission with me when I went out with Gai-sensei's team a few years ago. There was too a ghost! And besides, if there are no ghosts, then what's that in my bag?!" Naruto demanded, inching away from it. Sakura's eye twitched. She came over, and thrust open Naruto's bag.

"There is nothing in here that looks remotely like a ghost!" Sakura sighed.

"But there were two yellow eyes and it said 'Hello Naruto' in this strange hissing voice! Honest!" Naruto said. Sakura just sighed and ruffled Naruto's hair. Even though it had been a strange outburst, and Naruto was clearly just seeing things, the mood had lightened considerably, and a sense of normalcy had almost returned to the four.

Somehow, everything was always alright as long as Naruto acted like Naruto.

"You're probably just tired. Too much chakra exhaustion. Get some sleep," Sakura said, lightly ruffling Naruto's hair again. Naruto scowled at her, muttering. Sakura walked away from Naruto even though he was still grumbling. He continued to grumble as he ate one of his nutrient bars, though he was now muttering how they needed to create a miso ramen flavored variety for shinobi. However, his grumbling stopped abruptly as he felt something slithering around his ankle. Naruto looked down slowly. The same two yellow eyes that he had mistaken for a ghost peered back at him, but he could see the black scales as what he now recognized as a snake slithering around his ankle.

"I am not a ghost, Naruto. My name is Dokueki, and I believe we have a mutual friend," Dokueki whispered quietly so that no one else but Naruto could hear her. "You're so warm!" Dokueki almost purred as she slithered from his ankle up his pant leg. Naruto froze, not knowing quite what to do.

Naruto, for his part, was in a very awkward situation. He looked around at his teammates, seeing that they were totally oblivious to his predicament.

Naruto’s thoughts raced. There was a snake in his pants, and he wasn't talking about the slang term for his penis. The snake was slithering up his leg towards a very intimate part of him that he did NOT want the snake to wrap around. Clearly a talking snake meant that it was one of Orochimaru's snake summons - or one of Sasuke's. Considering that Sasuke was that snake bastard's apprentice, and Dokueki had said "mutual friend," Naruto was pretty sure that would have to be Sasuke. He was quite sure that he and Orochimaru had never been that chummy.

Naruto stood up slowly as Dokueki slithered the rest of the way up his leg. She stopped at about mid thigh, her head resting on the outer part of his leg.

"You're so much warmer than Sasuke," Dokueki hissed pleasantly, her tongue coming out and tickling Naruto's thigh, clearly content to between his warm body and his clothing, though her voice was muffled. Sasuke? Naruto thought. Naruto decided that he needed to talk to this snake, though he had a feeling it would not be a good idea to reach his hands down into his pants, or start talking to his area down there; he didn’t need his team to think he was crazier than they already thought he was. Besides, he sort of wanted to hear about Sasuke before anyone else did.

"I have to go to the bathroom! I'll be right back!" Naruto said in a higher pitched voice than normal. His team members gave him a strange look as Naruto rushed off through the trees, and ran for a full five minutes, making sure no one else was around before unzipping his pants and trying to tug Dokueki off.

"Hey! Stop that!" Dokueki hissed angrily as Naruto tugged and prodded at her body.

"Me stop that?! You're the one wrapped around my leg! I don't even know you! What are you doing here?" Naruto asked frantically. He knew he should have told the others, but he wasn't sure they'd appreciate him saying "there's a snake in my pants" out of the blue.

"Fine. Just no more tugssss," Dokueki complained as she loosened her body, allowing herself to slowly slide down his leg so that she lay in a tangled heap around his ankle.

"I shouldn't even be talking to you, you know!" Naruto said angrily, attempting to shake his foot to get Dokueki off, but she was completely undeterred, just wrapping herself tighter around his ankle.

"What are you doing? You really can't get me off like that," Dokueki chuckled in amusement. Naruto's body temperature was rising with his frustration. She was never able to get this much rise out of Sasuke, and she was quite enjoying herself. Though her enjoyment stopped as Naruto took out a kunai, his intentions clear. She slithered off his foot and hissed at him angrily.

"Tell me what's going on!" Naruto demanded.

"Fine fine. Can't have any fun first," Dokueki moped. "Not quite sure what'ssss going on, but Sasuke slipped me into your backpack assss soon assss he came down to greet you. The only reason for him to do that issss because he'ssss going to use my scent to track you. He'ssss done that before, the selfish prick, and without asking no lesssss. Just shoving me where ever he likessss. Doessss that to hissss own snake too. Shovessss it in, pullssss it back, takessss what he wantssss and then just leavessss," Dokueki snickered, knowing Naruto missed the sexual innuendo.

"Sasuke is tracking me?" Naruto breathed.

"Un. I know he'ssss got planssss for you. Like when he came to see you on your birthday," Dokueki said, knowing that Sasuke probably didn't want Naruto to know, but Sasuke wasn't here, and quite frankly, Dokueki didn’t care.

"What do you mean, my birthday?" Naruto asked.

"On you're sixteenth birthday he came to see you. When Sasuke comessss, you should ask him to tell you what happened on your birthday. He’ll be here after he can get away and find my scent," Dokueki smirked.

"He's coming for you?" Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing. Dokueki sighed.

"Haven't you been listening? He'ssss coming for you. He'ssss got planssss for you, but I don't know what all the detailssss are. He might just be coming to talk. He might be coming to kill you. Not sure. Wait till he comessss and then ask him," Dokueki said.

"Kill me? He already tried that, didn't he? Coming to finish off the job?" Naruto asked angrily.

"Now, now. It'ssss really not all that bad. Wait till he explainssss it. There will be no chance of Orochimaru over hearing what hissss planssss are out here, so he doesn't have to pretend to hate you," Dokueki explained. "I'll be able to tell when he'ssss near, and we can go out and meet him. Just don't tell anyone else."

Naruto knew it was foolish, trusting this snake. He knew it was even more foolish to risk going out see Sasuke when he might be coming to kill him. He knew it was foolish, yet he knew he was still going to do it.

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Dokueki's scent was easy to track, but getting away from Orochimaru had taken some cunning. Sasuke had had to come up with the excuse that it would help confuse the Konoha shinobi if they broke off, promising to meet him at their usual rendezvous point in three days’ time. Sasuke wasn’t sure if that would be enough time to find the Konoha group. Sasuke was therefore pleasantly surprised to find Naruto and company had not only not returned immediately, but they were only half a day off. Then again, if Dokueki had already done her part, then maybe it was Naruto himself who was holding the group back. Sasuke remembered from their own missions what a slave driver Naruto could be when he wanted to go some where. Going out to missions had always been different from coming back. Naruto had always been excited, and usually quick to try and head out of Konoha, but had always returned home at a leisurely pace when there was nothing demanding of his time.

For someone who claimed that he wanted to be Hokage, he seemed to enjoy a lot of time going off to be heroic rather than being in the village. Sasuke guessed that might have to do with Naruto's ideology. Naruto believed that he had to protect Konoha. He never seemed to realize as Hokage that he would have to protect Konoha from itself – or rather from the people that controlled its political inner workings. ‘It will be a hard lesson for the dobe if he ever becomes Hokage,’ Sasuke thought dryly.

Sasuke came upon the Konoha encampment at a distance. His sharingan allowed him to move stealthily into the surrounding area, but he knew he couldn't risk going too far. His chakra levels were too large to mask for long, and his chakra signature would be only too familiar for the rest of the group. He could only wait for Dokueki. He decided to wait on the other side of the nearby creak in order to have the water help distance himself even greater from the Konoha group. The moonlight reflecting off the surface would give Sasuke a clear view of anyone that approached from the opposite bank amidst the thick trees.

Midnight had come and gone before Sasuke saw – or rather sensed – Naruto approach. Dokueki was wrapped tightly around his arm, clearly content to be with the other shinobi, the moonlight reflecting off her scales.

"I know you're there, Sasuke," Naruto spoke first. His voice carried across the tinkling sound of the creak as it flowed between them. Sasuke emerged from his hiding spot, looking across at Naruto, their eyes locking in on each other. In a flash, Sasuke was standing in front of Naruto, Sasuke's arm encircling Naruto's waist, pulling Naruto closer to him as if in a hug before teleporting them away.

Naruto looked around in surprise after teleporting, and Sasuke could tell by the look on his face that he had never learned the teleportation jutsu. Sasuke let his hands linger on Naruto's waist a bit longer than he probably should have, though Naruto seemed oblivious as he continued to look around at the now completely forested area. In truth, they were not that far from Naruto's encampment, and Sasuke wondered if Naruto could tell.

Snapping back to reality, Naruto pushed Sasuke away from him, though not too aggressively.

"What's all this about, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, his voice deeper, and his eyes flashing in the moonlight. "Dokueki here says that you have either come to talk to me - or kill me. Well, which is it?" Sasuke's eyes flew to Dokueki, and she did he best to look innocent. Sasuke shot her a look that clearly meant that he would deal with her later. Sasuke closed his eyes briefly before explaining.

"I cannot leave Orochimaru at the moment. I-"

"Yes you can Sasuke! We can-"

"Let me finish," Sasuke said coolly. "Don't interrupt me until I am done. The cursed seal on my body is just that, a curse. It can act up at any time, and it alters my mind. Sometimes I find myself feeling crazy, though other times I feel perfectly sane. Then there are other times when I feel sane, but looking back, I know my actions were anything but..." Sasuke trailed off, but he did not elaborate, and Naruto actually waited patiently for him to finish. "Until I can find the person that is responsible for this curse, I can not undo it. Nor do I honestly want to until I have killed Itachi. I need this power in order to defeat him. Though I need your help as well," Sasuke looked at Naruto, resting his hands on either side of Naruto's shoulders.

"I'll do anything you need me to do to help," Naruto said, his eyes unwavering.

"Anything?" Sasuke asked. His voice was low, and Naruto could tell that whatever it was that Sasuke wanted him to do would not be something easy, but Naruto hadn't expected it to be.

"Anything," Naruto said. "Well, except, you know, hurt innocent people or betray my friends." Sasuke nodded, figuring as much.

"Would keeping this a secret count as betraying your friends? You can't tell Sakura or Kakashi," Sasuke said, eyeing Naruto up. Naruto smiled wryly.

"Well, wouldn't telling them about you be betraying you?" Naruto asked coyly. Sasuke allowed himself a small smirk.

"Then I need you to leave me alone until I am ready. Stop coming after me. Wait until I make my move. Then make it seem like you are going to go after me. But not until I make my move," Sasuke said.

"How will I know what your move is?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Even you aren't a big enough dobe to miss it," Sasuke insulted Naruto. Naruto frowned.

"You're still a teme, even after three years," Naruto growled before he suddenly yelped. "Stop doing that!" Naruto yelled. Sasuke was confused as what Naruto was talking about until he saw that Dokueki was snuggly wrapping herself tighter around Naruto's arm.

"She's annoying, but useful," Sasuke muttered. Dokueki chose to ignore Sasuke, content with the warmth that Naruto provided.

"She's a summons, isn't she?" Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded. "I guess she’s like Pakkun, you know, Kakashi’s lead summons dog? And Rana, one of Jiraiya’s frog summons. They’re the kind that are useful for staying summoned for a while,” Naruto mused out loud. “She isn't really that talkative. She keeps hissing out that I'm warm, and wraps around me. I think she was supposed to tell me more information than she did, but she's been too busy wrapping herself around me."

"Dokueki has a tendency to do nothing but talk unless she's warm. Consider it a blessing," Sasuke said amused.

"Not my fault that you are such a cold bastard all the time," Dokueki whined groggily. "The only time you really get heated up is when you remember what you did to Naruto-kun on his sixteenth birthday." If looks could kill, Dokueki would be dead. Oh wait, Sasuke's sharingan could kill...now how to make that work again...? Sasuke's musings of killing Dokueki with his sharingan were cut short with Naruto's next question.

"What did you do to me?" Naruto asked, clearly realizing something had indeed happened. "Is that why I was in the hospital?"

"Didn't Jiraiya tell you?" Sasuke asked, trying to shift the blame.

"No," Naruto said angrily.

"Then ask him," Sasuke shrugged, but Naruto wasn't going to stand for it. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as Naruto grabbed a fistful of Sasuke's shirt and slammed him to the ground. Naruto had Sasuke's arms pinned above his head, and put his body on to of Sasuke's, effectively pinning him to the ground.

"I'm sick and tired of everyone leaving me in the dark. Stop fucking around with me Sasuke-teme and tell me what the hell is going on!"

"Stop fucking around with you? I haven't even begun to do that." With that, Sasuke crushed his lips against Naruto’s. Naruto was going to find out just how well Sasuke could fuck around…


Next Chapter: Restless Smut

**Yes, I am aware that the Japanese legend of the Kusanagi merely looks like a type of plant that produces psychotropic substances, and not actually produces them, but since the magnificent author, Masakashi Kishimoto, hasn't elaborated on the sword (and I'm not sticking as close to cannon now anyway), I'm making the sword have that kind of power.

There was a smut scene that originally took place at the end of this chapter, but it was very brief and I wanted to rewrite it. So, next chapter will be an elaboration of that smut scene. Looks like it’s going to be Naruto/Sasuke, but does anyone prefer Sasuke/Naruto? Combo of both? Let me know what you think! - Jelp