Something I never told you

NOTE: I'm awfully sorry that this has taken so long coming, and equally sorry that it's only a short chapter I'm posting. I've only just caught the writing bug again, and I really want to take it slow, since I've been out of the game so long. I only ask that you bear with me - I can't force myself to write, and I've just not had the time/patience/inspiration/determination/other stuff to do any good solid writing. Hopefully that period's now over, though I can't promise anything :/ HOWEVER reviews will obviously encourage me to write more and work harder at it. There, you have a reason to review :3

Also, I noticed an error in chapter one - I forgot that Akamaru is larger after the timeskip, however, I intend to go back and correct that very soon.

PLEASE REVIEW. Tis a nice way of saying thank you. Either that or giving me a million dollars donation into my bank account, but hey I'm not expecting miracles xP

Chapter 3

Tsunade's desk gave one last, stressed groan in the silence and then collapsed completely, sending a new layer of thick dust floating into the streaks of early morning sunlight glimmering through the Hokage's window. Nobody in the room payed any attention to the desk, the dust, or even the new rays of sunshine spreading their warmth over Konoha: what was happening within these walls right now was far more important, and for at least two of the ninja who were frozen to the spot in the slowly settling dust, nothing else mattered, or even existed, except the pair of contrasting eyes that stared back at them across the silent room.

The inside of Uchiha Sasuke's chest felt as though a boa constrictor had curled around his ribs and was squeezing the air from him. Something unfamiliar stabbed at his lower stomach as he watched that face, the face that had hounded his sleeping thoughts for three long, emotionless years. A mixture of long-abandoned emotions seemed to be bubbling up inside the raven. He could feel his fingers weaken their grip uncertainly against the upraised katana and begin to shake just slightly at the sense of Naruto's chakra so close-by... then he forced himself to stop with a long, low, controlled breath. He couldn't allow anything to effect him that much... not even Naruto. And even as he thought it, the raven remembered: a certain hand on Naruto's hip, outside a certain ramen bar...

Sasuke's face hardened just a little in the shadows.

The blond in the doorway, however, didn't seem able to work out which emotion he was meant to be feeling, or even if he had any emotions left in his body except for sheer dumb shock. Kakashi removed the hand from his shoulder as Tsunade shot him a furtive glare and formed her lips into a thin, angry-looking line.

"...I thought I'd made it clear not to drag him into this." Hissed Tsunade's voice through the silence, and as though on cue, Naruto seemed to stir. His fists suddenly clenched and his eyes narrowed, though he didn't once remove his gaze from the raven-haired ninja backed up against the wall.

"You knew he was here?" The blond growled suddenly, stopping Tsunade from continuing to speak. She turned her eyes to Naruto with a troubled frown, but didn't say anything. Sasuke was still frozen in that defensive stance, blood warming his chest as it flowed freely. He was starting to feel lightheaded. Dizzy. But he still recognised the tone of Naruto's voice all too easily. Naruto had directed it at him long ago, more than once.

"You knew all this time that Sasuke was here and you didn't tell me?!" He said louder. Tsunade's eyes focused and she sighed. This was the conversation she really hadn't wanted to have, and she knew from years of experience that no matter what she said to try and subdue him, Naruto would more than likely not listen to her and think exactly what he wanted. Still... she was the Hokage, and she had to make him understand.

"Naruto, He's not who you think he is." She said calmly, knowing all too well that her words were hitting Naruto without even leaving a dent in his consciousness. He was too stubborn to see what was as plain as day to the rest of the world "That Sasuke isn't the one you knew..." Her eyes darted over to the dark, blood-stained figure backed against the wall, as though waiting for him to suddenly spring forwards with a snarl and prove her right. "...He stopped being that person the moment he left this village. He wouldn't even tell me what he was doing here..."

For a brief second, Naruto felt his heart leap in his chest in hope, though he barely had to take in Sasuke's appearance before it fell flat again. The Uchiha's expression was unblinking... wide-eyed, yes, but just as cold and unreadable as ever it had been, only now - to make Naruto feel even more sick - Sasuke's clothes mirrored those of the one person he'd tried to save the raven from. He seemed somehow paler too, as though Orochimaru's pallid skin had somehow been passed on to his apprentice. It was... twisted, just like the blond's stomach right now. How could Naruto even have dreamed that there would be anything else there in those deep obsideon eyes? He wondered just how much the likeness went, even below the surface, but...

"I don't care..." He growled a moment later, his expression darkening, even though he barely knew what he was meant to feel, to say, to do. "...I don't care what you say, or what you think you know about him. I... I know Sasuke!" Naruto clenched his fists tightly, feeling his face flush red in anger and determination as he willed himself into action. His will to find Sasuke had failed, but now that that bastard was right here, there was no way Naruto was going to fail a second time. His whole body seemed to move, shaking, on it's own, and the next moment Naruto knew, he was stood with his back to Sasuke, his very fingers outstretched, protecting the bleeding raven from the ANBU... from Tsunade.

Naruto felt the very tips of his fingers shaking. He felt numb, but the blond wasn't going to fail Sasuke again. Even now, he could feel those eyes burning into the back of his neck, was aware that any moment a Katana could rip through his chest from behind. He couldn't think too much about that now, all that mattered was protecting Sasuke. "...I know Sasuke..." he repeated shakily, "...I know him better than even he knows."

The ANBU shifted as a tense silence fell once more on the Hokage's office, each ninja uncertain of what would happen next. One of them raised the tip of his kunai to his other hand and fingered it impatiently as he looked to Tsunade, making it perfectly clear that he was more than happy to slice through anything that stood between him and his prey.

The Hokage, however, was focusing too much on Naruto to notice, her face contorted into a deep set frown. Even Kakashi's eyes seemed somehow concerned as he stood in the doorway, unmoving.

"Naruto...Think about what you're doing..." Tsunade said carefully, brow furrowing even further as she spoke. "You have no idea what he has been doing in the years he was away."

"Does any of that matter? He came back-"

"We don't know why!"

"So you're just going to... to execute him!?"

"It's the only way to keep Konoha sa-"

"THEN FIND ANOTHER WAY!" Naruto yelled, and for a moment a flash of red flickered in his eyes. There was a pause as Naruto's head dropped, eyes closed as he calmed himself, then glared back up at Tsunade determinedly, his eyes their usual vivid blue. "...Because the only way to Sasuke, is through me."

Another pause threatened to fill the air, broken only by the sound of Naruto's angry heavy breaths. Naruto's blood was pumping through his veins like fire. He could feel all the eyes in the room levelled on him, nervously. He had nearly lost control of his anger that time. He couldn't afford to do it again.

Before the silence had a chance to take hold, an unexpected figure moved away a little from the wall, and for the first time since Naruto had entered the room, it spoke.

"Naruto." Sasuke growled stonily, his eyes narrowing as the blond looked over his shoulder at him. "If you don't step aside," He said flatly, "...I'll kill you."

Sasuke's stomach churned at the lie as he saw the effect it had on its target. Naruto seemed to shrink just a little, his eyes flickering in what could have been sadness, but Sasuke shrugged the guilt away like an irritating fly. He was angry that Naruto seemed to think he couldn't defend himself, worried that the blond had put himself in danger, and angry at himself that he still had enough emotions left in him after all this time to worry at all. A confused mixture of anger and worry, and a desperation to just escape and try to forget everything that had happened, was all that he could think of; all the rest of what he felt was just too big to fit into one brain at once.

Tsunade made a noise in the back of her throat and straightened up, looking almost triumphant at Sasuke's words, even as Naruto turned back towards her, a little less defiant than before.

"You see, Naruto? He hardly remembers you. He doesn't care about anyone or anything, except doing whatever it is Orochimaru has sent him here to do." She muttered distastefully. "He's not who he was when you knew him, you should get used to it and let me do what I have to." Tsunade knew her voice was cold, but Naruto was a blind brat when it came to Sasuke. He always had been, since the very day the Uchiha had ran away. The ghost-faced ANBU moved in on the two teenage ninjas and seemed to tense up silently, ready to move when Naruto stood aside, as they knew he would. Sasuke gritted his teeth and gripped his Katana tighter, ready to go out fighting.

Naruto, however, stood his ground.

"... maybe you're right."

The blond's voice was suddenly nothing more than a whisper, though only a second before it had been a shout. His shoulders hunched over as though he hadn't slept for days (Which was half true), and his eyes were hidden behind loose, limp bangs of hair as he stared at the floor, lost momentarily in thought.

"Maybe... Sasuke isn't anything like he was when he left... maybe nothing's left in that... bastard that I could recognise." Nobody in the room noticed that Naruto's fists were clenching, that he was beginning to shake. Nobody except Sasuke, at least. "But I won't let you execute him before I have a chance to find out."

The raven had been listening with baited breath to the whole conversation, his insides moving uneasily as Naruto defended him, and more than he liked. Even tensed up and ready as he was, he couldn't help but blink as Naruto turned on the spot and glared at him, his chest heaving as though about to either scream or cry. Sasuke wasn't even sure which one was more likely, judging from the look on his face. Naruto himself could feel his heart pounding hard against his chest as he spoke. He was half afraid that it would jump up out of his mouth any moment now. He gritted his teeth in an attempt to keep his heart where it was meant to be.

"I won't sever the only connection I ever made...just because it's easier." Sasuke's stomach gave another churn at those words, and at the familiar glare that came with it. He couldn't help but remember a waterfall - the last time he'd looked into those stupid, stubborn, determined eyes... and something underneath the surface of his calm, grim facade seemed to pull him in, catch him off balance. He stared at Naruto silently, dumbstruck. The Uchiha swayed slightly from bloodloss as Naruto clenched his fists harder, fingernails digging so hard into his palms that he was losing circulation in his fingers. "...I'll always remember that, even if this bastard doesn't."

He didn't know what came over him, and when he would try to recall it later, he would never be able to place exactly what had happened, but Sasuke's hand suddenly began to lower the Katana back to his side automatically, as though on cue. Something about the blond's words, that glance, that face that he'd tried to forget for years had caught him off guard. He opened his mouth wordlessly in an attempt to say something - threatening or otherwise, but he never got the chance. An angry Uzumaki's fist suddenly connected with the raven's jaw, and Sasuke fell to the dusty floor with an almighty thud, unconscious, for the second time in six hours. Normally Naruto's punch would just have given the Uchiha a sore head, but weakened as he was, he really was in no state for a fight.

Naruto had frozen as soon as the punch connected, watching as Sasuke crumpled silently to the floor and stayed down. Now that the anger had passed, Naruto felt numb with disbelief, as though his whole brain had been dipped in ice and frozen where it was. He was aware of just one stupid thing: that his eyes were burning, and beginning to blur a little.

Tsunade watched silently as Naruto hunched over one more time and turned to head for the door slowly. Kakashi moved aside without a word as Naruto walked past him and paused in the doorway, shuddering. All those years... all the guilt that had built up inside him like a dam waiting to burst, all the things he'd wanted to say to Sasuke, if he'd only had one more chance... and here it was, and Naruto couldn't bear it. This was all just too much... He couldn't deal with it all, his brain just wouldn't move fast enough.

"Old woman..." He croaked, licking his dry lips but making damn sure she knew he meant business, "...if you touch one hair on Sasuke's head, you'll have one more renegade ninja on your hands." He growled shakily, and without one more word, he walked out the door and down the coridoor, his footsteps echoing in the hanging silence.

Tsunade waited until Naruto's footsteps had rung out of hearing before she looked down at the unconscious Uchiha, sprawled out and bleeding heavily onto her floor.

"...Tsunade-Sama?"

The ANBU with the kunai drew in closer to the sprawled figure on the floor, greedy eyes glinting in the morning sun, even behind the thick mask. Tsunade, however, held out a hand to stop him, a deep and troubled frown playing on her features.

Naruto had made things difficult... as usual, but even if getting rid of Sasuke was the right thing to do, even if it was the only sure way to keep the village safe...

She just... couldn't do it.

Tsunade strode over to the windowsill and grabbed the half-empty pitcher of cold saké from the night before, taking it all down in one gulp as the others watched and waited. She held the empty pitcher to her lips and closed her eyes firmly for a full thirty seconds before she opened them again and walked back over, kneeling down over Sasuke silently, and brushed the blood and sweat soaked hair from his milky face. She looked at him carefully, as though by watching him sleeping she could judge what his thoughts were. If it weren't for the two shining new bruises on his face, he could look almost peaceful right now...

The Hokage's mind spun. It was wrong, she knew it. She could feel it in her gut, but there was no way now that she could go ahead and kill him, not without hurting Naruto - which alone would feel wrong - and maybe even setting loose an angry Ninetails on the village in the process. It was about damage control now, that was all.

With a heavy sigh, Tsunade leaned over the Uchiha and placed a palm to his neck, mending the wound as best she could. The restless ANBU above her shifted as though they wanted to say something, but none of them dared to argue with Tsunade. Everybody knew how notoriously short tempered she could be, and how much she liked getting her own way. It was easy to see why she liked Naruto so much.

"...Take him home." She said shortly as she stood again. "Keep watch on him night and day. Make sure he doesn't leave the village."

The ANBU members hesitated for just a fraction of a second, and Tsunade was sure she knew what they were thinking.

"Today!" She snapped, throwing a frustrated fist that made a dent the size of a boulder in the wall. She turned her back on them to stare, unseeing, out of the window behind her broken desk. The sunlight was now streaking brightly across the village and covering everything it touched in glittering gold; but Tsunade couldn't see it. She was thinking about Naruto, about Sasuke, and about the decision she'd just made. She barely even noticed the sound of the ANBU carrying Sasuke out of the room, or that the final, solitary figure in her office had come to stand beside her, staring out at the morning sunshine.

"...Well," Mumbled Kakashi at her side, "that was more dramatic than I'd imagined it would be." He said airily, a vague smile in his eyes. He sounded more like he was commenting on the weather than anything else. Tsunade bit her lip and narrowed her eyes in the bright light, resting her hands on the windowsill with a sigh.

"I ordered you to leave Naruto out of it. You completely disobeyed me, Kakashi."

A moment of silence. The Jounin scratched his neck offhandedly.

"...Yes. I suppose I did."

Tsunade turned to look at him curiously. He barely looked concerned.

"You know I could have you up on trial for it."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows at her, in a polite sort of way.

"...would you?"

Tsunade tried to take another comfort swig from the empty saké pitcher, and dropped it on the floor frustratedly. She didn't answer.

"Why did you have to get Naruto involved?" Tsunade muttered bitterly a moment later, the anger gone from her voice now. She just wanted to get a hot saké and drink herself into a stupor. It always worked for Jiraiya, so maybe it was time to take a leaf from his book. "Don't you think that boy's been through enough?"

"Hmm..." The Jounin scratched his chin thoughtfully, then shrugged and headed for the door himself, leaving Tsunade still watching the morning get brighter. He stopped in the doorway as Naruto did, though unlike Naruto, Kakashi's voice was unwavering as he spoke. "...Don't you think - since he's been through so much - you owe him a chance to make decisions for himself?"

With that, the silver-haired Jounin left Tsunade alone to her thoughts, her mind spinning, along now with the room after the drink she'd just had. She wrinkled her nose at the broken furniture and sat down on the only chair that was still standing. Today had started out as a pretty rotten day. Somehow she couldn't help feeling that Naruto wouldn't be having the time of his life right now, either.

With a broken desk, a bloody floor, a spinning room and an overwhelming headache - she decided - she would have been better off if she'd just stayed in bed.