Moving Day

Hello all; I’m sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. My new job has taken up a lot of my time. Also, my friends are demanding the rest of my time when I’m not working. Gah. So, yeah. It rules. (sarcasm, if you couldn’t tell.) I’m actually at work right now; writing this. So, I posted my new Story, ‘The happenings of Konoha Academy’. I’m actually pretty proud of that one; so I hope you like it, and stuff. And OMG holy fucking shit! I almost just had an accident on the freeway. So like, a piece of my car is jutted out and stabbed my front tire. I’m currently pulled over on the side of the freeway at 10:30 pm waiting for my dad to come get me; hoping and praying nobody hits me. My hands are still shaking from when my car jerked. Thank god I wasn’t driving in the middle lane and could pull over easily. *sigh* at least I have something to do to calm my nerves. Yeah here’s the 9th installment of ‘Moving Day’ enjoy. Oh yeah, and I’d like to point out, only ONE person noticed that my last chapter wasn’t as well written as the others; it SO wasn’t, not that this one is doing so hot either. For some reason, I’m having difficult writing the chapters out. I have them all planned, just the writing portion is getting to me.

Disclaimer: Don’t own Naruto or respective characters.

Warnings: Language; incestuous thoughts; boyxboy action; attempted rape
Rating: OT Language and adult content

For those who reviewed, thank you! I’m sorry for not responding to them like usual; I figured you’d all prefer I just get the chapter out; but know that I really appreciate it! HUGS!

“…” Talking

//…// Thoughts

=…= Kyuubi Talk

((…)) Shukaku Talk

--…-- Naruto to Kyuubi

Moving Day

Chapter 9: Safe?

Itachi’s POV

I’m sitting at the kitchen table, its 4:30 in the morning. I allowed Sasuke to spend the night at the blond demon’s house. I know it was the wrong decision, especially after Sasori informed me that Sasuke has feelings for said blond. I sigh and shake my head, Sasuke should be home sometime later today, and I can quiz him about last night. Sasuke is mine. That blond brat hasn’t known him long enough. If Sasuke should love anyone, it should be me. I raised him after I killed our parents. But, Sasuke is getting suspicious. I have no doubt it is Naruto’s fault, possibly Commander Hatake and the redhead as well. I growl as another thought floats through my mind; Orochimaru. That bastard. What does he want now anyway? I gave him my ‘payment’ for his assistance in killing my parents. I borrow his men and resources to kill as many people as I chose; and he got my body for one week. Sick fuck. That is one week, even I, would rather forget. I sigh and let my head fall down on the table, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke.

“Tough morning?” I bring my head up slowly, although Kisame’s presence had startled me, and glare at the blue man. “That bad?” He chuckled and sat down at the table; his clothes were ruffled and his hair was splayed, the only signs to show what we’d done not just a few hours ago. I shake my head softly,

“Orochimaru.” I grunt. He nods in understanding. I look back down at the table; I can feel my control slipping. Every time I’m near Sasuke, I just want to have my way with his small lithe body. Caress his baby soft skin, and be buried hilt deep in his perfectly shaped virgin ass. That’s why Kisame is here today; to help me relieve some of my pent up stress and frustration. “We can’t use his men.” I continue, “Do you think Sasori is up for the job? It has been a year or so since I’ve sent him out for a real assassination bit.” Kisame lets out a deep chuckle,

“Somehow,” he laughs, “I think he can handle it.” I look up, my face set in a straight line,

“Have it done.” I need to get control of my emotions.

Neji’s POV

I lay on the couch watching an early morning horror movie, my mind reeling about yesterday’s events. Last night, I spoke with Gaara about Sasuke. Oddly enough, Gaara refused to help me in my kidnapping ploy. I had asked him to, on Monday; simply take Sasuke home to my house instead of his own. Gaara had told me no. No! I couldn’t believe it! I shake my head and turn the TV off; I wasn’t really paying attention anyway. “No one says no to me.” I grunt and sit up, “On Monday I will just have to do something to Gaara’s car, so the two of them won’t have a ride. That way, I can offer and bring them home to my house.” I chuckle, “Yes, that’d work. I will lock Sasuke in my room, and teach that impudent brat some manners.” I start a low, dark laugh; “Come Monday, Sasuke’s ass will be mine!” my laugh grows into a maniacal rumbling as I fall back on to the couch to fine point my plans.

Hinata’s POV

I was walking past Neji’s room; I was told to go wake him up, when I heard him talk to himself. I get quiet and lean against the doorframe, listening to him talk. I pull back and fall to the opposite side of the hall against the wall, //Sasuke!// I gasp, why would Neji do this? //I have to warn him! But how?!// I get up and sprint to my bedroom, //Kiba!// I reach over and grab my phone and dial my boyfriends number, “C-come on Kiba, pick up.” I wait until I hear a click on the other end, “K-Kiba!”I wheeze out, “C-call N-Naruto over to your house! I-I need to talk with him about Sasuke!” Kiba agrees and I hang up the phone to get ready.

Naruto’s POV

I lay on my side, watching as Sasuke slept peacefully. His usually hard features lightened by the calming effect of whatever dreams he was having. I sigh and run a hand through his hair, tracing around his jaw, then over his soft bottom lip. I lick my own lips and lean down to capture his in a soft kiss. He doesn’t stir so I leave a gentle trail of kisses down his neck and lick softly at his collar bone, “Mine.” I reiterate and smile down at him as he exhales in his sleep, almost as if he’d been holding his breath. I look up as my door clicks open to produce ‘ruka, he opens his mouth and I pull my finger to my lips to quiet him, “Shh,” I whisper, and climb out of bed. Iruka smiles down at Sasuke gently before closing my door. I pull on a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt; taking one last look at Sasuke, I open my door and walk out to meet Iruka. “Did you know Pein was going to come by for a visit?” I question quietly and watch as Iruka stiffens up,

“Oh, I did, actually. He was the phone call yesterday morning. I completely forgot. Are you okay?” He asks, and I nod. As much as I hate the man for what he’d done to Iruka in the past, he didn’t do anything this time,

“Yeah. Sasuke’s the one who answered the door. Does Pein work at Sasuke’s family’s company?” I muse, and Iruka shrugs,

“Possibly, I ‘had’ thought the name sounded familiar.” I nod as we descend the last step of the stairs and move into the kitchen. Iruka goes silent and I give him a funny look until I hear an annoyingly familiar voice,

“G’morning Naruto-kun!” says the lazy drawl; I shoot my head towards the kitchen table, and there sat Kakashi,

“You!” I whisper ferociously; and he points to himself as in to say ‘me?’ “What are you doing here?” I ask, my voice getting steadily louder, =He probably spent the night= Kyuubi supplies cheekily, “Don’t answer that!” I say instead, “I don’t want to know, just leave.” Iruka makes a face and I round on him, “Don’t even defend him!” I start, louder this time, almost a shout, “I don’t want to hear it! I can’t believe you!” I rail,

“What the hell are you yelling for, dobe?” a quiet, agitated voice from behind me asked. I turn and almost pounce him there; Sasuke is wearing nothing but a pair of sleeping pants, his hair is all mussed up and splayed in every direction and his hand is balled up into a fist, rubbing one of his sleepy eyes.

Normal POV

Sasuke blinked and looked around, almost immediately spying Naruto, who was seated at the dining room table. Kakashi and Naruto watched as Sasuke blearily walked over to Naruto and plopped himself, still half asleep, into Naruto’s lap, cuddling up close. All of Naruto’s anger forgotten, he wrapped his arms around the adorable bundle in his lap and placed a chaste kiss on waiting lips. Sasuke sighed contently and wrapped one arm around Naruto’s neck, the other resting on Naruto’s chest, and nuzzled his face in Naruto’s neck. Iruka went bright red at the display, as did Kakashi, but for a whole different reason. //I was ignored!//Kakashi railed, //He didn’t even notice I was here!// To say Kakashi was jealous would be an understatement; he was furious. Kakashi cleared his throat, “Sasuke-kun?” Sasuke jerked his head from its comfy perch, much to Naruto’s annoyance, and settled his tired gaze at the gray-haired man seated across the table, “I found something suspicious in your case file.”Kakashi commented flippantly, gaining a now very awake Sasuke’s full attention,

“What did you find?!” Sasuke leaned across the table, shifting himself slightly to make his position in Naruto’s lap more comfortable,

“I’ll tell you later.” Kakashi comments smugly, casting a one-eyed challenging glare in Naruto’s direction. Sasuke blinks and pulls his face into a pout,

“That’s not fair. You can’t say something like that and then not tell me.” He huffs and crosses his arms, leaning back against Naruto’s chest. Iruka looks back and forth between the three people in his kitchen,

“Um, I’m not even going to ask.” He mutters and shakes his head, “But, I need to go to the store. I’ll be back in an hour or so.” He walks away from the group and into his room to change. Sasuke stops huffing and turns around in the chair to face Naruto, straddling his legs,

“Can I take a shower?” Sasuke asks, using both his hands on Naruto’s chest to hold himself up. Naruto flashes a mischievous grin,

“Sure can teme, as long as I’m in there with you.” He replies, keeping one eye on Sasuke and the other on Kakashi. Sasuke rolls his eye and pecks Naruto on the lips. While swinging his leg over he smacks Naruto on the back of the head,

“Dobe. I’m showering alone.” Naruto holds the back of his head in a mockery of pain, but shrugs. Naruto and Kakashi both watch as Sasuke walks off out of sight before Naruto rounds on Kakashi,

“What are you up to pervert?!” He growls out, leveling his full suspicious glare on the masked man in front of him. Kakashi’s one eye twinkles with anger,

“I should ask you the same thing, brat!” they both glare for several seconds, and then Kakashi gives in, “So far, I’m not planning anything. What I said was true, I did find something, I just didn’t think the two of you wanted Iruka to know.” He points out casually. Naruto narrows his eyes suspiciously but sits back down, =Iruka knowing would be bad.= Kyuubi throws out flippantly, Naruto huffs,

“Fine.” He grunts, “What’d you find then?” Naruto places his hands on the table and folds them into an intelligent ‘thinking’ position. Kakashi lets out a soft, dry laugh,

“Shouldn’t we wait for Sasuke-kun?” he muses, and watches as Naruto’s face scrunches up into a scowl,

“Don’t call him that.” He growls, falling back in his chair, arms crossed tightly over his chest,

“And what power do you have to stop me? Sasuke-kun doesn’t seem to have a problem with me calling him that.” Kakashi reasons. Naruto snorts,

“I’m his boyfriend now,” he almost laughs at Kakashi’s shocked face, “Didn’t see that coming did you, perv? Stay away from what’s ours.” Kakashi blinked as he noticed a deeper timbre to Naruto’s voice. Naruto flashed a toothy grin, showing his elongated canines.

“Who-?” Kakashi starts, and is cut off by Sasuke walking in,

“Can’t you two be in a room alone for more then ten minutes without fighting?” he chuckled as both men turn to look over at him. Naruto grins at Sasuke’s outfit, he was wearing a tight long-sleeved fishnet shirt over a black muscle shirt and black flared jeans that clung lowly to his waist. Kakashi just openly stared. Sasuke blinked at the two of them, leaning one hand on his hip and cocking his head to the side, “Guys?” he asks, snapping them both out of whatever stupor they were in. He shakes his head and sits in the chair in between the two and looks at Kakashi, “You said you found something suspicious.” Kakashi stares for a bit before surprising Sasuke by tackling him out of his chair on to the floor into a hug,

“You look so cute!” he praised. Sasuke blushed and struggled on the floor,

“K-Kakashi!” he barely stuttered out. Naruto was on the two in seconds ripping Kakashi away and tossing him in a nearby chair. Sasuke sighed and sat up, “Focus! What’s suspicious?!” he demanded from his position on the floor. Kakashi frowned under his mask and let out an exaggerated huff of annoyance,

“Did you’re parents try to do anything to avoid the truck?” He asked carefully. Sasuke scrunched his face together in thought and looked down,

“Yeah, I think,” he closed his eyes as the memory flooded through his mind; his mother was screaming at his dad to turn, to break, to gun it, to do something, and his father had said that the car wasn’t responding. “Mom had told father to do something to move the car. And father had told her it wasn’t responding.” Sasuke opened his eyes and looked back up. Naruto sat down on the floor next to him and pulled him into a hug, placing a soft reassuring kiss on his neck. Sasuke sighed, “Why?” Kakashi bit his lip,

“Well, in the report, it said that your car’s main timing belt was found somewhere near the beginning of the intersection. If your car lost that, it would have lost all functions, gas, steering, breaks, and all other major devices.” Sasuke frowned,

“How is that weird? It just makes it seem even more like an accident.” Kakashi shook his head,

“It would have, if on the belt, it didn’t have what looked like searing marks. I think that it was possibly burnt off; maybe someone set it to fall off at that specific time?” Sasuke nodded, “Also, there was something weird about the lights, you said your parents had a green light, right?” Sasuke nodded again,

“Yeah, we even waited at the red light before going. That truck had been pacing us for a few blocks. The one that was on our left.” He commented quietly, Naruto squeezed his arm again, “What about the lights? There was a power outage, right?” Kakashi made a face,

“Yes, but the weird thing about the outage was that it only happened in one area. ‘That’ one area. Even then, the lights shouldn’t have reset. The power shouldn’t have even turned back on. It usually takes hours.” Sasuke frowned, if this was a set up; it was a damn well elaborate one,

“Do,” he started hesitantly, “Do you think there is a possibility that I too, was a target?” To his right, Naruto choked and sputtered,

“I hadn’t even thought of that!” he’d thought that he was the target, what if it was Sasuke?! Kakashi shook his head,

“No. If you really were the target, then they would have come back for you,” Naruto opened his mouth, “Sooner. They wouldn’t have waited this long. Sasuke was defiantly meant to survive.” Sasuke frowned,

“If that’s the case, they why did they strike when I was in the car? If they wanted me alive, wouldn’t it make more sense to wait for when my parents were alone?” Kakashi blinked in Sasuke’s direction, now that is a bloody good question,

“Well,” he started, “Maybe they didn’t want you to be under suspicion, or possibly someone close to you did it, and didn’t want themselves to be under suspicion.” Naruto and Sasuke exchanged confirming looks, “I believe they felt that their plan was so fool proof that they knew you wouldn’t get hurt either way.” All three stayed silent after that comment; each thinking on its possibility. Kakashi finally broke the silence, “You already have a suspect.” He pointed out quietly; Sasuke shifted his eyes uneasily,

“Maybe.” He responded defiantly. Kakashi chuckled,

“It’s Itachi, isn’t it?” Sasuke shot his head up, then cursed himself for being so obvious,

“Yes, we think so.” Kakashi nodded, then thought of something,

“Who all is ‘we’? I know: you, Naruto, and that Gaara brat, anyone else?” Sasuke sighed and nodded,
“Just one: Shikamaru. He was actually the first to suggest it to me.” And something else, but that will stay unsaid. Kakashi nodded, but kept note that Sasuke seemed to be hiding something,

“Do we have a reason why yet? And why, if it is Itachi, he’d be targeting Naruto?” Sasuke worries his bottom lip in thought, but before he had a chance to decide what to do, Iruka comes home,

“Tadaima.” Is heard from the front hall, followed by a door closing, “Is anyone still alive?” Iruka walks into the kitchen and sets a few bags down, and looks around the room to happily note that everyone seemed okay, “I have a few more bags, does anyone want to help me?” Naruto immediately stands up,

“Sorry ‘ruka, I gotta get dressed!” he says quickly and rushes from the room, Kakashi makes a face and stands,

“Look at the time, I have to go. I’ll call you later Iruka!” Kakashi all but follows Naruto’s example and practically sprints from the room. Iruka and Sasuke roll their eyes as Sasuke stands,

“I’ll help you Iruka-sensei.” Iruka smiles and thanks Sasuke as the two set out to bring all the groceries in and put them away. Conveniently when they finish, Naruto comes downstairs fully dressed,

“We’re going to go to Gaara’s house.” Naruto informs Iruka, who makes a face, //When does Naruto hang out with Gaara anymore?// Sasuke waves and the two leave Iruka alone to puzzle this odd new behavior. Just as Naruto steps outside, his phone rings in “Who let the dogs out” by the Baha men, he pulls it out of his pocket and flips it open, “Sup Kiba? I didn’t know you could wake up this early” He joked light heartedly, then stopped and listened. Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto’s odd behavior, as Naruto stole another worried glance at him, “Uh-huh. Yeah, actually I have Sasuke with me. Yeah, we’ll both be over in about ten.” He listened, “yeah, ‘ruka still doesn’t want me riding my bike so we’ll be walking.” He listened for a bit, “Yeah, see you then.” And then hung up. Sasuke stared at Naruto for a few seconds before breaking the uncomfortable silence,

“What did Kiba want?” Naruto scowls,

“He said Hinata overheard Neji saying something weird about you. He wants us to come over so Hinata can tell you herself.” Sasuke frowns,

“Isn’t Hinata Neji’s cousin?” He asks confused, Naruto nods, “Then why does she live with him?” He asks, as the two begin the ten minute walk to Kiba’s house,

“Well, Hinata’s family felt that she needed more experience dealing with people her age; to get it, they sent her to live with her uncle and Neji.” Sasuke nodded, that makes sense. About five minutes into their walk, a black car pulls up onto the side walk and blocks their path. Sasuke frowns and Naruto makes a face, “What the hell?” The car shuts off and out walk two people Sasuke was familiar with,

“Orochimaru-san, Kabuto-san. What do I owe this visit?” He asks pleasantly enough. Naruto makes a face as the creepy snake-man walks up to the two, and stands directly in front of Sasuke,

“Sssasuke-kun. It’ss ssoo nice to ssee you again. I felt that our conversssation wasss cut short yesssterday.” He hissed out with a mock smile on his face. Kabuto looked from his boss, to the blond boy who seemed to inch closer to the young Uchiha with each one of Orochimaru-sama’s words. Sasuke nodded in understanding,

“I suppose it did. In fact, it will have to be cut short again; me and Naruto have a previous engagement that I’d rather not be late for.” Orochimaru fought back the urge to glare as the blond boy, Naruto, smirked triumphantly,

“I sssee, could we possssibly give you and Naruto-kun a ride?” he tried. Sasuke shook his head,

“No thank you. It will only take a few more minutes to get to our rendezvous point.” Naruto huffs, and pulls Sasuke back against him,

“We’ve walked this far,” he started, his eyes flashing red, then back to blue, “We don’t need any help to finish it.” He growled out. Orochimaru eyes Naruto with interest before turning back to Sasuke,
“Isss thisss the ‘boyfriend’ you mentioned yesssterday?” Sasuke opened his mouth to answer when Naruto cut him off,

“Yes. I am. The names’ Naruto Uzamaki; don’t forget it.” Sasuke blinked over at Naruto’s hostility. Orochimaru could have smiled, //I knew I recognized the brat; he’s one of the demon vessels.// he chuckled lightly,

“Of courssse. Kabuto,” Kabuto looked startled at being mentioned, “Let usss go home, perhapsss, we shall ssstop by Ssssasuke-kun’s houssse later.” Kabuto nodded and pushed his glasses further up on his nose,

“Of course Orochimaru-sama.” With that, he turned around and opened the door; Orochimaru took one last look at Sasuke and Naruto before turning as well and climbing into the car. Both teens just watched until Orochimaru’s car was out of sight,

“That man is creepy.” Naruto commented lightly, Sasuke nodded,

“Yeah, aniki told me to stay away from him. He’s got to be something dangerous if even aniki’s afraid of him.” Naruto made a face, and shook his head,

“Let’s go. Kiba’s going to wonder what’s taking us so long.” Sasuke agreed and they set out once again. Arriving at Kiba’s house about five or so minutes late, Naruto knocks on the door and has it immediately open to find Hinata,

“Y-your finally h-here.” She breathes quietly. Naruto and Sasuke nod as Hinata moves out of the way to allow them access to the house. Once everyone, Kiba included, was seated in Kiba’s living room, Hinata retold what she heard, about Neji’s plan, and about punishing Sasuke. Sasuke made a face and had turned white; while Naruto made a different face and turned red, “D-do you see why I c-called you here? I t-think he’s going to h-hurt S-Sasuke-kun.” She muttered shyly. Sasuke nodded slowly,

“Thank you Hinata.” He whispered //Damnit! I seriously thought I got rid of that bastard.// Hinata smiled and nodded. Naruto stands and pounds a fist into his hand before growling out in a deep voice,

“He wouldn’t.” an expression no one in the room had ever seen before flicked across Naruto’s face, “We’d kill him” Naruto grunted, and started across the room in a pacing motion. His movements seemed different, almost an animalistic grace to them,

“Naruto?” Sasuke questioned, standing up to inspect his boyfriend, Naruto turned around, red eyes shining. His whisker marks seemed darker, and his hands seemed sharper. Sasuke narrowed his own dark eyes, “Who?” he whispered. Those red eyes went wide. Kiba and Hinata looked back and forth, confused, between the pair, “Where is he? Who are-?” Sasuke began to demand as the Naruto look-a-like turned and bolted from Kiba’s house. “Wait!” Sasuke called, chasing out after him. Kiba and Hinata immediately stood to follow, but lost the pair in a matter of seconds. Kyuubi growled as he noticed Sasuke still hot on his trail,

“Damnit kit! You had to pick the kid that could run!” Kyuubi rounded a corner and entered a park as Naruto berated him –Not my fault Sasuke’s perfect. Besides, you like him to fox, so don’t even deny it!-- Kyuubi snorted and looked behind him again to find nobody. He stopped and looked around, “Lost him.” He huffed out and Naruto sighed with relief. He’d gotten pissed that Neji even thought he could do something like that, and lost control to Kyuubi. He needed to calm down, and then he could take over again. –Kyuu!—Naruto warned a bit too late, Sasuke came launching out of a bush and tackled Kyuubi-in-Naruto to the ground. “Gah!” Kyuubi grunted as he hit the floor, Sasuke pinning him down.

In two separate bushes around the pair, there were two stalkers; neither aware of the other. Sasori had been told by Itachi to follow Sasuke, since Orochimaru was lurking around. Juugo had followed Sasuke, because he didn’t trust the damn blond. Both watched as Sasuke tackled Naruto to the ground none-to-playfully either, “Got you!” Sasuke railed making sure the struggling blond below him couldn’t escape, “Now, you’re going to tell me, who are you?!” The blond stopped, “What have you done with Naruto?” Sasuke demanded again. Both Sasori and Juugo, in their respective bushes, made a face and thought the same thing, //Wasn’t that Naruto there?// The blond gave out a laugh,

“Come on teme, why are you doing this? It’s me, Naruto!” Kyuubi tried; causing Sasuke to let out, quite frankly, a creepy chuckle,

“You’re not Naruto. I think I know my own boyfriend. Who are you?” Kyuubi flinched =What do I do kit?! You’re not calm enough for me to hand you the reigns.= Naruto frantically ran around in his head, --I don’t know! What do we do?! Should we tell him?!-- Naruto questioned softly, stopping and falling to the ground to let out a strangled cry, --what, Kyuu? I don’t want him to hate me!—Kyuubi sympathized, he didn’t want Sasuke to hate him either, =I think we should tell him kit. Maybe he’d understand?= he asked, clearly weary himself, Naruto nodded slowly, before making up his mind –Yeah; tell him Kyuu. He would have found out eventually anyway.—he nodded again, resolutely this time and Kyuubi-in-Naruto sighed,

“Okay.” Sasuke stopped and leaned back, sure that the imposter wouldn’t run, “We’ll tell you.” Sasuke made a face, //We?// Kyuubi sighed again, “My name is Kyuubi. I am a nine-tailed fox demon.” Sasuke’s eyes widened and he started to take a step back, Kyuubi reached out and grabbed his hand, “wait, don’t run till I’m done. Please” he strained that word out; Damnit, a 500 year old king of demons shouldn’t be pleading. Sasuke stalled, but stayed on his toes, just in case; “17 years ago; I was a trickster. I used to hop from human body to human body causing mischief. A priest by the name of Minato was tracking me. I’d killed his wife or something, I don’t really remember anymore.” Sasuke made a face like, ‘Does this have a point? Cause if not, I’m out of here’ and Kyuubi continued, “Finally, I’d settled inside a human girl, and cornered Minato in a hospital. I didn’t know at the time, but Minato had prepared a human vessel for me in that particular hospital, one that if I touched it; I wouldn’t be able to leave it until it died. But even then, I too would die.” Kyuubi-in-Naruto took a deep breath, “The girl’s body that I was using was beginning to wear out; and I knew I needed to find a new one soon; so did Minato. I turned down the hallway being stopped by some seal he’d set up in advance; I turned back around to find Minato holding a baby; his baby.

“I tried to move around him when he threw the baby at me. The female instincts in the body I was inhabiting forced me to catch the infant, and thus transfer my soul from her body into the small one in her arms. Almost immediately the girl collapsed and Minato came over mumbling some sort of curse. I felt something sear on the child’s stomach as Minato got weaker, right before he died he mumbled something to me, ‘Now, if Naruto dies, so will you.’ And he passed out; never to be woken again. A few hours later, the infant was found and taken care of. He got adopted, and grew up; now here we are.” Kyuubi closed Naruto’s eyes and opened them to take in Sasuke’s stiff form,

“Sooo,” Sasuke started, “You’re telling me, that you live inside Naruto’s body?” he asked softly; Kyuubi-in-Naruto nodded,

“I usually can’t control his body; only when he loses control of his emotions.” Sasuke nodded and slowly stood up, “Sasuke?” Kyuubi asked, his rough unfamiliar voice, attached to a familiar face making Sasuke flinch,

“I-I can’t,” Sasuke started to slowly back away, “I can’t do this right now.” Sasuke turned and ran. Kyuubi jumped up,

“Sasuke! Wait!” Just as he was about to chase after the boy, an unfortunately familiar orangish-red head jumped up from the bushes and retackled Kyuubi-in-Naruto to the ground. “You!” Kyuubi screeched, “Damnit! Why couldn’t I sense you?!” Kyuubi shoved Juugo off him and crouched low in a fighting position, “How much did you hear?” he growled out, Juugo narrowed his eyes,

“All of it demon.” He spat, “No wonder you got so mad when I called you a demon! You filthy creature! Now maybe Sasuke will realize how worthless you are and come back to me!” Kyuubi lunged and Juugo barely dodged it, “I don’t know what Sasuke saw in your damn host anyway.” He taunted, “But now he knows the truth; your host was used! By his own father no less! How does it feel? For both of you? A human life reduced to a holding cell, and a mighty demon brought down by an infant.” He chided, goading on the already tense demon and vessel. –Kill him Kyuu. I don’t care about morals, this monster needs to die!—Naruto cursed Kyuubi nodded,

“Die human!” he pounces forward, fangs bared, claws extended, poised and ready to kill; Juugo’s eyes go wide as he realizes he’s too slow to move out of the way. He closes his eyes and waits for the impact that never comes. Opening his eyes reveals a dark red; Sasori. Kyuubi-in-Naruto blinks, =Isn’t that your math teacher, kit?= Kyuubi pulls back yanking himself from Sasori’s vice-like grip on his arm and chest, “Sasori-sensei?” he questions, confused. Sasori frowns at the deep voice,

“Juugo.” He says instead, Juugo starts, “Go home.” He says evenly, “I’ll deal with you later.” Juugo’s eyes go wide, //Shit; I’m in trouble.// Juugo walks backwards a bit,

“But Sas!” he starts, “The blond brat’s a demon! He’s dating Sasuke, he could hurt-“ Sasori cuts him off,

“Go. Home.” He narrows his eyes dangerously and Juugo flinches before turning and bolting from the scene. Both Naruto and Kyuubi had calmed down considerably in that little exchange and Naruto was able to reestablish control,

“Sasori-sensei?” Naruto asks, and Sasori looks back at him. //Hmm, softer voice, blue eyes, no fangs, no claws; I guess Naruto is back// Sasori observes,

“I hope,” Sasori starts, “for your sake, that the chibi isn’t as mad as Juugo was.” Sasori tugs a small, almost-smile at his lips and walks away. Naruto follows his red-headed teachers’ back with his eyes, confused, --wait, what just happened, Kyuu?—Kyuubi shook his head, =I have no idea kit. But I wouldn’t question your good luck. Go find Sasuke.= Naruto nodded and jogged of in the direction Sasuke had run in.

Sasuke didn’t even know where he was running to until his feet had stopped moving. He looked up at the house in front of him, //Gaara’s house?// He thought to himself, //Well, me and Naruto were headed here already anyway.// Sasuke walked up to the front door and knocked quietly. After a small amount of shuffling the door opened to produce a blonde girl with her hair up in four buns, “Oh!” she smiled down, “What’s a cutie like you doing here? Are you lost?” she laughed at her own joke; Sasuke, still in shock, didn’t even blush at the comment,

“Is Gaara home?” he coughed out. His voice felt like it hadn’t been used in ages. The girl made a face as a voice behind her drawled out,

“Temari? Who is it?” Sasuke looked behind Temari to find Gaara, “Sasuke?” Gaara asked, “Where’s Naruto?” Sasuke flinched and wrung his hands nervously. Temari looked back and forth between the two before mumbling something like ‘why are all the cute guys gay?’ and walking away; misinterpreting Sasuke’s nervous behavior. Sasuke licked his lips and looked around,

“Um, can I come in?” he asked and Gaara nodded, moving out of the way for Sasuke to enter. The two walked into the house and went up to Gaara’s room, turning down Temari’s offer for snacks. Once in Gaara’s room Sasuke fell to the floor and buried his face in his hands, “Fuck, Gaara; I don’t know what to do.” Gaara looked confused and sat down next to Sasuke; wanting to comfort him but not knowing how, “I didn’t think Naruto could hide things, especially something like this.” Sasuke shook his head and Gaara stiffened,

“What kind of things Sasuke?” Gaara asked carefully. Sasuke looked up; eyes strained red from holding back tears,

“He has, well, it’s, complicated.” Sasuke frowned, he was upset, he didn’t know what to think, but he figured not everyone knew, and that Naruto, or Kyuubi, or whoever he was probably didn’t want people knowing. Gaara nodded before supplying,

“Everyone has secret’s Sasuke.” Sasuke’s frown deepened,

“Yeah? Do ‘you’ have a secret, Gaara?” Gaara looked away and then looked back,

“I do.” He stated cryptically, “In fact, it’s a very similar secret to Naruto’s.” Gaara tried, ((What are you doing? If the kid really does know, then he’ll figure it out!)) Shukaku berated; Gaara ignored him. Sasuke looked down at his lap for a few seconds before mumbling out,

“What’s its name?” Gaara’s eyes widened slightly, //He ‘does’ know.// Shukaku made a face ((I’m not an ‘it’.)) Gaara swallowed,

“‘His’ name is Shukaku.” Sasuke nodded absently,

“Naruto’s is a fox; is yours an animal too?” Gaara blinked at how well Sasuke seemed to be taking this,

“Yes, he’s a raccoon.” Sasuke nodded again, “How did you find out?” Sasuke let out a light chuckle, “Did Naruto just tell you?” at that Sasuke let out a full out laugh,

“No. He didn’t ‘just tell me’. I found out first hand. Kyuubi’s voice is much deeper than Naruto’s and his eyes are a different color.” He comments dryly. Both Gaara and Shukaku fall silent, “Does your appearance change when he takes over too?” Gaara shakes his head,

“I wouldn’t know. Shukaku has always stayed dormant. He just speaks with me once in a while.” Sasuke looks up, “Are you okay, Sasuke? With this?” Gaara asked hesitantly as Sasuke laughed again, a bit on the unstable side,

“I-I don’t know.” He confessed, then stood. “I need to think. Does anyone else house a demon that I need to know of?” he asked, mostly jokingly but somewhat serious. Gaara shook his head again,

“No. Just me and Naruto.” Sasuke bites his lip and opens Gaara’s door. Gaara gets up and walks down the hall following Sasuke to the front door, “Sasuke?” he questions as Sasuke puts his shoes on and opens the front door,

“I need to think, Gaara. I really, really need to think.” Gaara nods and Sasuke leaves. As the door closes Gaara clenches a fist and shoots his right arm out, smashing it into an unsuspecting vase and shattering it,

“Fuck.” Gaara mutters as Temari walks out of the kitchen at the noise.

Sasuke wanders down the side walk, deep in thought, //Demons. Naruto has a demon in him. So does Gaara.// he sighs, // What do I think about that? I mean, obviously it can’t be that dangerous; both demon’s are usually dormant.// He stares at his hands, clenching and unclenching them, watching the muscles move, //Why does everyone I know have such big secrets to hide?// he shook his head, //Kyuubi didn’t seem to want to hurt me… He seemed almost as nice as Naruto. Though, I suspect living seventeen years in the dobe’s head would change how anyone thought.// he scoffs at his own little joke, //I guess the real question is, will this change how I look at the dobe; my relationship with him.// he sighs and stops right before crashing into a street sign, //Oops.// he looks around, //where the fuck am I?// Sasuke glared at the street sign directly in front of him, //I don’t recognize this area at all.// He growls and leans his head against the sign, //Shit, I’m getting hungry.// as if to verify his thoughts, his stomach rumbles at him and Sasuke turns around, leaning his back against the sign and slides down to sit on the floor.

After sitting for about five minutes, Sasuke is pulled from his brooding by the sound of a car pulling up next to him, and a door closing, “Sasuke?” Sasuke’s head shoots up, //I know that voice.// he turns around to glare half-heartedly at Neji. “What are you doing out here Sasuke?” Neji tries. Looking at Sasuke’s blank face; he notices red puffy eyes, and shaking limbs, “Are you okay?” Neji asks softly, truly concerned for the Uchiha’s health,

“I’m fine Hyuuga.” Sasuke spits out, “And even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t need your help.” He grumbles, ignoring his stomach’s protests, //I will ‘not’ let him find out that I’m utterly lost.// Sasuke resolved. Neji looked around,

“You’re lost, aren’t you?” Sasuke glares up at Neji, who sighs, “Want me to give you a ride home, or something?” Sasuke frowns, //Isn’t this how Hinata said he’d get me?// he narrows his eyes suspiciously, //Well, that was supposed to happen on Monday, maybe he can’t execute any plans with family home, or something…// Sasuke’s stomach chooses that moment to let out a loud growl; he blushes,//Damnit! Are you against me or something?!// Neji chuckles, “Hungry? Maybe I could take you out to eat or something? Or if you don’t want to go out, we could head to my house and I could have my cooks make you something.” Sasuke frowned, and Neji internally smirked, //I was going to wait until Monday, but now is the perfect opportunity, and besides, he seems a bit vulnerable right now.// Neji looks around, “Where is Naruto? I figured you’d be with him today.” Sasuke breaks and starts sobbing, //Fuck! Not now! Not in front of this asshole!// Neji leans down, and rubs small circles in Sasuke’s back, “I’m sorry Sasuke! Is it something I said?!” Sasuke shakes his head,

“N-no. It’s just, stuff.” He sniffs, trying to control his emotions, and slow his crying, “I’m fine.” He takes a deep breath as his stomach rumbles again. He laughs, “I am hungry though.” Both he and Neji chuckle,

“Come, I’ll give you a ride anywhere you want to eat.” Sasuke stands, “My cooks can make you anything you want! From any country you can think of.” Sasuke rubs his eyes and looks over at Neji, //Well, it seems safe enough, if there are cooks there, he won’t try anything; I just won’t let him make anything for me himself.// Sasuke re-resolved,

“Can they make Indian food?” Sasuke asks and Neji smiles, //Got him.// opening his passenger side door, Neji motions for Sasuke to get in,

“They make the ‘best’ Indian food.” Sasuke gets in the car and Neji shuts the door, climbing in the driver side himself.

Naruto jogs up to Gaara’s front door, and knocks loudly. To his surprise it’s opened almost immediately to an anxious looking Gaara. Upon seeing Naruto, and not Sasuke, Gaara sighs and moves aside, “Uzamaki.” He comments gently, “I suppose you’re looking for Sasuke.” He closes the front door as Naruto enters the living room. Naruto burrows his brows at the remnants of a shattered vase,

“Didn’t there used to be a vase there?” He points to the stand; Gaara doesn’t even look at it,

“Yes. And also, yes, Sasuke was here.” Naruto opens his mouth and Gaara cuts him off, “I told him about Shukaku, and he left.” Naruto closes his mouth and sighs, “Though,” Gaara starts, “He seemed considerably calmer when he left then when he arrived. He told me he ‘needed to think’. How did he find out? What set you off?” Naruto frowned and retold Gaara that morning’s events; Kakashi, Kiba, Neji, everything. Gaara listened quietly, only showing signs of a reaction when Neji’s plan was mentioned; Naruto also told Gaara about his confrontation with Juugo, and what Juugo had said. When he finished, Naruto looked at Gaara expectantly,

“What should we do? He’s got to be scared out of his mind; I know I would be.” Gaara shook his head; he couldn’t see Sasuke scared of them because of Shuu and Kyuu,

“I say we find him first; he’s a bit confused, and possibly hysterically right now, something bad could happen to him.” Naruto’s eyes widened, he hadn’t even considered that! He nodded his head vigorously,

“Yeah, he’s on foot, he couldn’t have gotten far.” Gaara nods and the two set out.

Neji spares random glances over in Sasuke’s direction during the ride, his new plan flitting through his mind at warp speed. This was going to be perfect; in this plan, he didn’t have to deal with Gaara. He smirked and pulled into the driveway of his mansion, “We’re here.” He muttered softly, pulling Sasuke out of his thought-provoked revere. Sasuke opened the door and got out, looking around at the mansion in aw. His family had always been well off, but this was more extravagant than even he was used to. The two walk into the house, greeted by maids and butlers on their way to the kitchen, “Antoine?” Neji questions and one of the cooks turns to greet his boss,

“Neji! What can I do for you?” his Italian accent was strong in his voice. Neji smiles and points to Sasuke,

“This is my friend Sasuke, we were both wondering if you could make us some Indian food. Any dish you know would be fine.” Antoine looked thoughtful and nodded,

“Of course Neji! I’ll make this new one I’ve been working on! It should be ready in about twenty minutes!” Neji nods and thanks the cook before turning to Sasuke,

“Why don’t we wait in the library?” He asks softly and leads Sasuke away. Sasuke nods his thanks to the cook and follows wearily. Neji takes Sasuke to a set of double doors, and pushes open to reveal the largest in-house library Sasuke had ever seen. It was two storied with intricate spiraling stair cases. Sasuke sits down on a large couch in front of a fireplace. Neji sits down next to him, “Over the top isn’t it? But I can’t help to admit that it is my favorite room in the house; aside from my bedroom of course.” Neji supplies cheekily. Sasuke levels a glare at Neji and frowns,

“Listen Hyuuga,” Sasuke starts, “You’re being nice, and I’m accepting it. Don’t get any ideas on anything else coming from this. I’m dating Naruto now, and I have no interest in you.” Sasuke wanted to get everything out in the open, letting Neji know he had no chance, even if Sasuke was a bit confused about what he was going to do with Naruto. //Am I still going to consider him my boyfriend?// he sighs, and Neji frowns,

“I didn’t know you were dating the Uzamaki brat.” He comments dryly, “But regardless, I have no interest in pursuing dating you.” He smirked, //just fucking you, which brings me to…// “Would you like something to drink?” Neji questioned casually. Sasuke looked at him suspiciously and stood,

“I wouldn’t mind a drink. Why not both of us go get them and see if Antoine is done with our meals yet?” He matches Neji’s smirk with his own. Neji smiles pleasantly and seethes inside, //Damnit, he’s not going to make this easy on me, is he?// the two make their way back to the kitchen and rummage around for something to drink. Sasuke settles with water and pours his own glass as Neji questions Antoine about there food, as it turned out, it was ready. Sasuke smiles, “See, it’s a good thing we both came.” Antoine sets the food in front of Neji as Sasuke turns around the pour his drink as well as Neji’s. With his back turned, Sasuke failed to see Neji pour something onto one plate of food. Sasuke carrying the cups, and Neji with the plates the two head back towards the library. Once there, Sasuke digs into his food, and Neji takes slow calculating bites. Sasuke chews on the food, “It’s very good.” He comments, “But it’s a bit bitter. You should let Antoine know.” Neji nods and looks down at his sweet Indian food,

“Yes, mine is a bit tangy as well.” He lies. Sasuke nods absently and finishes his meal off quickly, he was really hungry. Sasuke sits on the couch and waits for Neji to finish his food in a comfortable silence.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Gaara were wandering around on foot in Gaara’s neighborhood; they had driven to Sasuke’s house, and after asking Itachi where he was, and having Itachi freak out that they lost him, concluded he wasn’t there. They walked to a corner and paused. Naruto watching a woman weeding out her flower bed, “He’s not here!” he cried falling against the sign in defeat, “We have to find him Gaara! What if something bad happens to him?!” Gaara drops his gaze to the ground, and frowns, //Please don’t let something bad have happened.// he pleads to no one in particular. Gaara was about to ask Naruto where they should look next when the woman weeding flowers speaks up,

“Are you boy’s looking for a handsome young man with short spiky raven hair?” She questions happily. Naruto’s head shoots up,

“Yeah! He’s about his height,” he points to Gaara, “And has like pure white skin?” the woman nods, still smiling,

“Yes, I saw him about 30 minutes ago. He had walked up to that sign there and looked lost. I felt so bad when it looked like he was going to cry that I almost came outside to see if he was okay.” She gave a soft, thoughtful look, “But then another young man with raven hair drove up in a blue Ferrari and gave him a ride somewhere.” Gaara froze and looked up,

“Did this other boy have longer hair? Like to his waist?” he questions, hoping he’s wrong. The woman nodded and Gaara cursed, “Thank you.” He muttered and turned to walk away. Naruto shot up from the ground and jogged after him, “Neji has Sasuke.” Gaara growls out as both boys start into a full out run for Gaara’s car.

Sasuke blinked from his spot on the couch, his vision was spotting and he was getting dizzy, //Shit.// he growled out, //I think Neji poisoned me. Damnit, I’d been so careful!// he cursed himself a few more times before falling over and blacking out. Neji smirked from his perch on the ground and set his food aside; Sasuke should be out for about 5 minutes, the stuff was strong, just not strong enough for too long. Neji stood and walked over to the couch, leaning over Sasuke’s prone sleeping form and admiring the way his pale flesh gleamed in the firelight. Resting his knees on the couch Neji moved forward and stroked Sasuke’s face, leaning down to capture those soft lips in a kiss. His hands wandered down to the front of Sasuke’s shirt, before hooking on the hem. He studied Sasuke’s sleeping face for only a moment before pulling the shirt up and removing it.

Neji, with the shirt out of the way, was presented with an immense amount of delicious looking skin. He frowned at the small red marks marring some areas of the white flesh and traced over them, “So, Naruto’s had some fun with you, has he?” Neji crawled fully onto the couch and loomed over Sasuke’s body, bringing his head down he licked at Sasuke’s neck and shoulders, nipping lightly as he traveled downward. His hands left no skin untouched as they explored the taut stomach and dusky nipples; his mouth following closely behind. Keeping note of the time, Neji moved to removing Sasuke’s pants and boxers. Carefully pulling the buttons loose and gently extracting the garment from the body he would soon own. Neji watched closely, fascinated by every piece of skin revealed to him as he brought the pants down, finally fully removing all clothing from Sasuke’s form. He licked his lips and ran his hands up Sasuke’s legs, over his thighs, brushing against his awakening arousal, and then behind him to squeeze that delicious bottom and continuing up. Once he was done Neji stood momentarily, and removed his own clothes quickly, discarding them haphazardly on the floor.

Neji returned to his position above Sasuke and grabbed at Sasuke’s member, stroking it to full hardness. Somewhere beneath him, Sasuke stirred quietly; Neji reached under the couch for a bottle of lube he knew was hiding there. He uncapped it and applied some to three of his fingers, swirling it around to heat it up a little bit. Replacing the lube to its original spot, Neji placed his hand down by Sasuke’s small hole and circled it with one finger before pushing it in gently. Sasuke, who had been teetering on the verge of sleeping and waking, awoke instantly and cried out at the sudden intrusion. Neji reached down with his free hand to stop Sasuke from moving while he pumped that one finger in and out of Sasuke at a slightly faster pace. Sasuke thrashed, before his voice finally came back to him, “N-Neji! What are you doing?!” he rasped and then gasped as Neji pushed another finger through his tight ring of muscles, “Stop!” Sasuke kicked his legs and bucked his hips, while swinging his arms around in an attempt to throw the older boy off him, “No!” he wailed, his eyes starting to fill up with tears as Neji pushed his third finger into Sasuke’s quivering hole, “S-stop!” Sasuke gasped again and choked on his next complaint as Neji brushed his prostate,

“Stop?” Neji asked innocently, thrusting his fingers in faster, harder, and deeper. Sasuke’s back arched off the couch as he started to cry, “Shh” Neji muttered gently pulling his fingers out and giving his own neglected length a few firms strokes, “It’ll feel good, I promise.” He whispered against Sasuke’s trembling lips. Sasuke sobbed louder and started to plead,

“No, Neji, don’t, please, stop!” he was still weak from the drug and could barely move his arms, let alone push Neji away. Neji ‘shushed’ him again and kissed him softly on the lips, slowly growing in intensity as his tongue pried Sasuke lips apart and delved inside. Ignoring Sasuke’s now, muffled cries for him to stop, Neji placed his slicked member at Sasuke’s entrance. Before he could push in, strong arms gripped his shoulders and forcefully threw him from atop Sasuke’s body into a coffee table. Neji looked up stunned at Gaara glaring down at him; throwing a glance at Naruto who had now taken to comforting Sasuke. “Stop, stop” Sasuke was whispering, deliriously now, as Naruto pulled his naked body into a hug,

“Sasuke, its okay, its okay.” He rocked back and forth gently and ran a soothing hand through Sasuke’s hair. Sasuke looked up at Naruto and sniffed out through sobs,

“Na-r’to?” Naruto nods and Sasuke’s cries subside as he allows himself to fall asleep, knowing he was safe in Naruto’s arms. Naruto laid Sasuke down and reached out for his clothes, carefully putting them back on the slumbering boy.

Neji, still clad in all his naked glory glared at the blond, before turning to Gaara, “What the fuck Gaara? You’re supposed to be ‘my’ boyfriend. Why are you helping him?” He motions to Naruto and Gaara looks impassively between the two,

“I’m not helping Naruto,” he states nonchalantly, “I’m helping Sasuke.” He growled out, “And from this point on Neji, consider yourself single.” Neji’s eyes widen,

“You-You’re breaking up with me?” He asked in disbelief, and Gaara nodded, “All for that?!” Neji waved a hand carelessly in Sasuke’s direction, “He’s some nice ass Gaara, but I didn’t think you’d throw away something like me for something as worthless as that!” Gaara moved before Neji even knew what was happening and pinned Neji to the ground, one hand on a shoulder and the other circling Neji’s neck,

“I could kill you right now, and no one would care.” He hissed out, his bright green eyes darkening and narrowing to a dangerous level, “Sasuke is worth so much more than you will ever be.” Gaara applied a bit of pressure to Neji’s neck before pushing himself up and walking over to where Naruto was now carrying Sasuke bridal style, “Let’s go. We don’t need to waste our time with this trash.” With that, the three boys left, leaving Neji dejected, naked, and alone, sitting on the library carpet. Once in Gaara’s car, Sasuke resting in his lap, Naruto turned to Gaara,

“Did you mean that?” He whispered, and Gaara glanced over briefly and shrugged, “What you said about breaking up with Neji, and Sasuke being important to you?” Gaara sighed and glared out his windshield,

“Yes.” Was muttered out, so quietly that if Naruto hadn’t been listening for it, he wouldn’t have heard it. Naruto nodded as Sasuke stirred in his arms, a hand coming up to grip his shirt tightly,

“Thanks” was croaked out from under a patch of raven hair. Naruto smiled softly down at Sasuke as he pulled him closer to his chest,

“We’d both do it again. Though, hopefully, we won’t have to.” He joked lightly. Sasuke nodded looking up to glance at Gaara. Gaara flicked his gaze at Sasuke, who smiled at him; Gaara, compelled beyond belief, smiled back. The group pulled up to Sasuke house and parked in the drive way. Itachi, along with Kisame and Sasori were out of the house in a matter of seconds. The three boys got out of the car, Sasuke standing close to Naruto; which confused Sasori, and were bombarded with questions, all from Itachi,

“Sasuke! Where were you?! Gaara and Naruto came by looking for you!” Sasuke looked up at his brother, and flinched, quickly looking back down when he remembered what his face looked like, “Sasuke…?” Itachi asked softly, “What happened?” he reached his hand out to cup Sasuke’s face and pulled back hurt when Sasuke flinched. Naruto spoke up,

“That damn Hyuuga bastard! He kidna-” Sasuke elbowed Naruto hard in the stomach, his voice coming out like a soft squeak,

“Nothing aniki. I just needed some time to think, is all.” Naruto and Gaara looked at Sasuke like he was insane,

“You’re not going to tell him?! We could get that bastard on so many charges!” Naruto argued. Sasuke frowned,

“No. He doesn’t need to know. Nothing really happened, you guys saved me in time, I’m fine.” He frowned. Gaara walked forward and held his hand out to touch Sasuke’s face. Sasuke recoiled away from the hand and Gaara stopped,

“You call that fine?” Gaara pointed out softly, Sasuke stared at the ground,

“Okay, so I’m not fine. But, I just don’t want to talk about it. Never again. Neither of you two either. Just leave it alone. Okay?” Naruto and Gaara growl lowly but nod, “Good. Now, I’m exhausted and am going to take a shower and go to bed; could you bring my stuff over tomorrow, Naruto?” Naruto nodded again and Sasuke turned and brushed past the three confused (and one pissed) adults. He stopped at the front door and whispered with his back still towards everyone, “Thanks again. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t shown up.” Gaara frowned and Naruto forced a smile,

“‘Course teme. I told you before; every time.” Sasuke nodded and walked into the house. Itachi turned away from his little brother and opened his mouth, “Sorry ‘tachi-san, I promised. If and when Sasuke wants to talk about it, he’ll tell you himself.” Itachi growled,

“Fine; if you won’t be of any use, I’m going to kindly ask you to leave.” Naruto and Gaara exchanged glances; they could hear the underlying threat; and both left. Once left alone outside Itachi turned to Kisame, “I’m going to need you to look up this, Hyuuga, boy.” Kisame nodded, “Find out as much information as possible.” Kisame nodded again, for some reason the name sounded familiar anyway. Sasori frowned; he too thought the name sounded familiar. Both nodded at Itachi and turned to leave.

Sasuke lay in his bed, wrapped in his blankets, breathing in the smell of his shower, “What am I going to do now?” he mumbled sleepily; closing his eyes. //I don’t care; Kyuubi, Naruto, Shukaku, Gaara. Who ever. They’re still my friends. I’ll let them know tomorrow.// Sasuke yawned, curling up into a small ball, he drifted back asleep.

TBC…