Snakes and Paper Lanterns

Snakes and Paper Lanterns


It had been five years since the sand had blown so violently over the calmed land of fire, since Orochimaru had laid out his horrible plans for the quick and painful destruction of the Leaf. The Third Hokage had fallen to his hand, giving up his life to postpone the attacks, and a Fifth had joined the ranks.

For five years, the people of the Leaf Village slept with one eye open, more commonly cradling a sword between their legs or frantically pacing with sharpened weapons close to their chests. This was a terrible torture, as more and more land was engulfed in brutal attacks, attacks that took the lives of many Chuuin, Jounin, and innocent people who happened to get caught in the crossfire. But one battle had decided it all, only a few months ago, one epic battle between Naruto and Orochimaru.

Putting all his hate for the ruthless snake aside, the young Genin was fighting for one thing, and one thing only, to rescue Sasuke from the clutches of such evil. The young blonde fought with all the energy he could muster, using all the powers he had acquired at least once or twice in the same battle, and knowing his poor control of his own chakra, was expelling much, much more than he could regain.

Orochimaru was toying with him at first, merely playing with the young kid he determined to be not much of a challenge, but after a half an hour of this boy continually standing up and coming easily back into battle, he decided he had to put his entire being into the fight.

He hastily summoned his largest of anacondas, calling it forth underneath his feet, and nearly crushing the entire city below him. Naruto could only stall him, he knew he wasn't strong enough to fight him and win yet; he knew he wasn't as powerful as he boasted. With a curse and a stomp of his feet, he looked down at the innocent lives that were working so hard to evacuate the village. Ebisu led Konohamaru by the hand, following Iruka and the other Chuuin teachers who could think of no better use of their abilities than saving as many as they could.

Iruka peered up worriedly at his student, no, he wasn't his student anymore, he had to keep reminding himself of that. This was Kakashi's soldier now, Kakashi's young man who would never give up so easily to an enemy. Even so, the young brunette teacher had to wipe a few tears out of his eyes when he remembered all the times they had sat down to eat ramen together, in a time when the world was a lot less troubled, in a time before the war.

Naruto could feel worried looks all about him. They all wondered if he could do it, they all wondered if he was strong enough. He hated this feeling all around him, this looming doubt in the air. Of course he could do it, he was Uzumaki Naruto!

Balling up tight fists, so tight they dripped thick blood on the roofs of the building he had perched himself on, he stepped forward, slamming his hand on the shingles of the shaky roof and calling out his summoning. His hands burned blazingly bright as he closed his aqua eyes. He had done it, he was sure he had summoned up enough power to bring Gamabunta forth.

He was surprised when he heard a familiar voice call to him in a teasing manner, "No way you can beat Orochimaru, dead-last."

Naruto fumbled with his spell, falling to his knees as he turned his gaze away from his enemy for a spilt-second, a mistake he shouldn't have made against one as cunning and swift-footed as Orochimaru.

His blue eyes widened as he saw his old rival standing amongst the ones he wanted to eliminate the most. He was dressed all in black, fitting for his betrayal, his eyes were red, glowing from the Sharingan that had begun when the fight had sed, ed, the curse on his neck already beginning to spread from the excitement of seeing such a battle.

There was that mocking smirk he always wore, that horrible 'I'm better than you, and you know it' smile that had distracted Naruto from fighting more than once before. Tears gathered in the young Genin's eyes as he looked over at Kabuto, who was ready and standing by to heal any of his master's wounds, and the many of the sickening snake's victims who surrounded him, each with curse marks of their own, marks that took away their will power and made them no more than mindless slaves.

He couldn't stand it any longer. Even if he died, Naruto would be sure to wipe that smirk of Sasuke's face forever. "Dammit, Sasuke..." he muttered under his breath before he felt a strong blow to his chest, a blow that had no doubt shattered several ribs and sent his limp body flailing backwards.

Orochimaru grinned as he watched the last of the Leaf's hopes fall, like so many others. Hm, and this boy wanted to be Hokage...

Sasuke bit his lip, he kne had had been one of the causes of Naruto's pain, one of the reasons he was hurting so much now, it wasn't his master's attack, it was the feeling of being betrayed, the same feeling Sasuke couldn't get to leave his shoulders after Itachi had slaughtered his own family and clan.

The young man, who was now roughly the age of eighteen or so clicked his lips, hoping Naruto would get up, show him he was all right.

To everyone in the village's surprise, a thunderous sound echoed across the valley, and the entire town was illuminated with a red and vibrant chakra, one that screamed and wailed loudly, one that caused everyone within a square mile to shudder and whisper under their breaths. This was the power of the demon fox.

Naruto blanked out completely after that, waking in a small, makeshift hospital with a lot of bandages and a horrible headache, not to mention a wide array of fans just waiting for him to awaken.

"Can I see Mr. Naruto now?"

"No, I want to see him first, he's the bestest!"

Konohamaru pushed the other young kids aside, now older and wiser than they, "Hmph, I'm seeing him, kore." He demanded, already pushing into the room and slamming the door after himself.

His brown eyes scanned the room, there was medical equipment everywhere, much more than he even knew existed in the first place. They beeped and pinged and one even made an awful rumbling like a busted air conditioner.

He approached slowly, taking small steps before reaching the older man's bedside. Naruto lay so peacefully, no drool leaking out of his mouth or rude comments made about Sasuke like when he usually slept. He was too quiet, to eerily quiet to be Naruto.

The young Genin blinked as he let out a prolonged groan, finally waking to the pain that waited for him all these days he was unconscious. He rubbed his blonde scalp in his fingers before staring up next to his side.

There, dressed in a tight-fitting and very revealing nurses' uniform, equipped with two of the biggest-well... and long brown hair that fell down her shoulders was the most beautiful nurse he had ever seen in his life. Naruto wondered if he was still dreaming.

"You want a sponge-bath, Naruto?" The young woman perked, blowing a kiss lightly.

Naruto sat up in his hospital bed, stretching out the uncomfortable gown he was wearing and letting out a laugh, "Hahaha, well, you're getting better, Konohamaru. I almost didn't recognize you..." he muttered, finally glad to see at least one of the civilians of the Hidden leaf smiling again.

Konohamaru quickly transformed back in a puff of smoke, his eyes wide, "Really? Really? I showed that to Iruka the other day, and he said it was a shame I was taking after someone like you, kore."

Naruto laughed softly, his whole body aching from the attack.

The young Naruto-in-training crossed his arms over his chest, "I wonder if he still thinks that, kore..." he mumbled.

Naruto blinked and looked at his hands and arms, filled with needles and tubes and answered groggily, "What do you mean?"

"W-what do I mean? You saved the village, Naruto! Everybody's been calling you the Sixth Hokage, or at least the other kids have, kore. Everyone thinks you're a hero, kore." He exclaimed excitedly, kind of glad that he was the first to tell the young fox boy this.

Naruto grinned widely, "Oh yeah! Everyone in town finally recognizes my talent! Hehe, but..." he stopped.

Konohamaru stared at the mint green tile under his ninja sandals as Naruto stuttered.

"Orochimaru... where is he?"

Konohamaru burst into laughter at such a foolish question, "He's dead of course, you kicked his ass, kore! They told us not to leave the underground but I had to come up and see you, kore! You were so great, you even impressed Kakashi."

Naruto grinned like a feisty fox when he realized how much power he now held among the citizens. Boy, they owed him, he was sure the old man would have to give him plenty of free ramen after this.

Then, a thought entered his mind, or rather a picture, of a young man with jet-black hair and equally black eyes who always seemed to have a curling smirk on his pale lips day in and day out. "What about... I mean what happened to..."

The young boy remained quiet for a long time before staring up into Naruto's worried sky blue eyes, "They're holding Sasuke and the other curse victims in the Hidden Leaf jail. The Jounin who work as guards say they might not have to serve as much time because the curse had been controlling them."

Naruto nodded, he understood now. Sasuke had betrayed he and Sakura, he had betrayed the entire village, the entire Country of Fire, so now he was paying for it. Inside, a part of him felt content that justice was being served, but another half of him knew that he wanted Sasuke back by his side, in his familiar group of three, like it used to be.

The young blonde teen stretched his arms up in the air, unwrapping the gauze from his arms and grinning widely as his ability as the demon fox had already mended his burns, scrapes and broken bones. He wondered silently if the nurses or doctors knew about his amazing ability.

Without a second thought, Naruto stood up, tearing the tubes that had been taped onto his wrists out and moving the equipment out of his way as he headed to the door.

Outside was gathered at least two or three dozen young children, accompanied by their teachers who had no classroom to return to and teach after the Sand had blasted through. Iruka peeked in as the door was opened a crack, curious as to how his former student was doing.

Konohamaru pushed through the crowd, pulling Naruto by the hand as children bombarded him with questions and compliments. "You're so cool, Naruto!" a little girl squeaked, her cheeks pinkened as she grabbed his hospital gown tightly in her small fists.

"D-d-did you really defeat five giant snakes?"

"... And did you really finish the Chuuin second exam in six hours?"

"No, it was four hours!" another child returned angrily, frustrated that a fellow Naruto fan had mistaken the time.

Naruto walked through the halls nervously, kng evg every single of those rumors about his abilities wasn't true, but he didn't have the heart to tell them. He looked nervously down at Konohamaru and nodded. The two quickly vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing outside of the small, rushed hospital.

Konohamaru laughed, "I've gotten better at vanishing too, kore. I'll be better than you pretty soon."

This comment was answered with a hard fist onto the boy's brown scalp.

Konohamaru stumbled on the dirt ground, a large pouch falling out of his back pocket. Naruto picked it up curiously, "What's this, Konohamaru?" he asked.

The boy rubbed the wound on his head before looking up, "Oh, the Fifth wanted me to give this to you. It's payment for killing Orochimaru and Kabuto, kore. That's at least an A mission, right, kore? I bet there's tones of money in there, kore." He stated, tempted to open it and take the money for himself.

Naruto untied the bag and looke, on, only for a split-second before he closed it again with wide eyes. He could buy the entire village with this amount of money. His feet shook nervously on the ground as he fled down to the Ichigaku ramen bar, money in hand.

It had been a few days since Naruto had left the hospital, and besides being stuffed full of ramen bowl after ramen bowl, he had discovered he hadn't done much since then. He stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, remembering when things had gone wrong, so long ago...

There was a hard knock at his door, a frantic, almost emotional sound that erupted from the wooden entrance. Naruto wiped the sleep from his lazy eyes and stood up, taking his nightcap off to answer the door. 'Who would be knocking on the door at this time of night, anyway?' he wondered silently, striding over to the front of his house in a less-than-graceful manner.

He unlocked the locks and opened it up to see a dark, shadowed figure standing in his doorway. "S-Sasuke?" he asked aloud, blinking to make sure it was really him, "What are you doing here? What time is it?" he wondered.

Sasuke stepped out of the dark evening into the small, warm glow of the house. "Naruto..." he was short on words, like usual, his face different than the usual unemotional mask he wore.

The young blonde scratched his spiky blonde hair, "Sasuke, if this is about that fight you wanted, I'm not going to fight you at this time." He explained, turning around to go back to sleep.

Suddenly, he felt strong, warm arms wrap around his shoulders as Sasuke grabbed him from behind, letting his head fall on Naruto's shoulders. The young fox boy's blue eyes widened as the Uchiha's arms trembled nervously around him.

They stood in silence for a long time before a small whimper made its way past Sasuke's lips, echoing in Naruto's head over and over. 'Is he crying?' the blonde wondered to himself before his thoughts were confirmed. Sasuke stifled back his tears, his grip around Naruto's shoulders tightening.

"Naruto..."

"Sasuke, are you okay..." Naruto bego tuo turn, being stopped by the black-haired boy's still arms.

"Stop." Sasuke demanded, his dark eyes clouding with thick tears that had already begun to soak into the crook of Naruto's pajama collar. "I don't want you to see me like this. Naruto, I'm going to join Orochimaru." He stated bluntly, glad to get that horrible pain off of his back.

Naruto could not help but escape the boy's grip and turn around to see the hurt in his black eyes, "What are you saying? You can't join with him, he's our enemy!" he shouted, fully awake now.

Sasuke stared at the dark ground with regretful eyes, "I'm not strong enough yet, Naruto. I can't beat you; I can't beat Itachi..." his eyes glowed red with a slight sense of his powerful Sharingan before fading back to their original black. "I need more power..." he muttered sadly, knowing how weak and horrible he seemed at this moment.

Naruto bit his lip before leaping into Sasuke's arms, not caring anymore how stupid he was acting, how dumb the Uchiha must've thought he was acting at that moment. Sasuke was surprised that he was crying openly on his chest, balling up small fists and sniffing with a whine, "Please don't go..."

"I need to be stronger..."

"No!" Naruto screamed, his voice struggling not to pitch, "you're strong enough. You've always been better than me. You're Uchiha Sasuke, remember?" he shivered as he felt Sasuke's hands gently glide against his back.

This was strange and awkward, the two had never acted so civil to each other, had never touched each other unless it was absolutely, positively necessary. But now, the two rivals were holding each other like they were best friends. Naruto felt warmed over inside, something felt so right about this.

Sasuke breathed heavily as Naruto was now the one crying on his shoulder, his warm breath glowing an icy blue, encased by the frigid air around him. He pulled Naruto closer until their bodies matched up like a figure and his shadow. "Naruto, I have to go." He said, his low voice rumbling.

Naruto closed his eyes, letting the many tears that had gathered to fall suddenly down his cheeks, caressing his whiskers before falling into his collar. He looked up at the older, taller boy, the boy who had always gotten good grades and never skipped class, the boy who would show off unintentionally in the academy and make Naruto look even more incompetent. A blush came to his cheeks, "Sasuke," he mumbled before standing up on his toes, wanting to be the same height as the Uchiha, if even for a second.

Sasuke felt thin black locks wisp in front of his face as he stared the beautiful young boy in his crystalline eyes. No matter what the boy had gone through, or how many times he had gone through it, those eyes always glowed like pearls. "Naruto, I wanted to see you before I left."

"Why me?"

"I wanted to know..." Sasuke stopped as he thought out his words, realizing how incoherent he was being with the stubborn boy, "... if there was a reason for me to stay..."

Naruto let out a chuckle, warming Sasuke's pale body over, "Of course, Sakura would miss you, I would... miss you. We still have to have that battle, remember? I promised you I would fight you once and for all, and I never go bon mon my promises. That's..."

"...your ninja way." Sasuke finished his statement, his lips curling into a curt smirk.

Naruto stepped back out of the embrace that had lasted far too long to have been just between friends, wiping the tears away from his blue eyes, "Yeah."

Sasuke couldn't stand this unusual air anymore, he was sure Naruto had to feel the same strange feeling, the tenseness in his chest and the churning in his belly when he was around hiWithWithout a second thought, he pulled the young fox into another embrace and grabbed his small chin between his thumb and finger, encouraging him to face his rival before Sasuke pressed his pale, cold lips to the ladder's tan and warmed lips.

Naruto wasn't surprised, just caught a little off-guard by the whole situation. He wrapped his slight arms around Sasuke's waist and purred into the Uchiha's mouth, turning to putty in the older 's a's arms. Sasuke gently stroked his tongue against Naruto's lips, feeling how warm and soft they were before he was granted entrance, his daring muscle heading forward and grazing slowly, painfully slowly over Naruto's own.

Naruto let a moan eep out of his mouth as his tongue danced with Sasuke's, slipping and rubbing against it as Sasuke's ran along the line of his teeth and continued to tease the boy. Without thinking about what he was doing, Sasuke's primal instincts took over, as he broke the kiss he ran his tongue down to Naruto's left ear, nibbling on it and letting his muscle flick in and out of his mouth to hit the lobe before he placed small kisses behind his ear.

Naruto tried to resist, at least in his mind he tried, but it was so hard not to listen to that voice inside of him who wanted more of these caring touches, more of this recognition.

Sasuke, as if reading his mind, pushed him backwards into his bedroom, placing his small body on the bed and grinning, "Naruto, you always said you wanted people to remember you, to know that you existed."

"Sasuke..." Naruto whimpered as the Uchiha climbed slowly like an animal on the prowl over his small frame.

"I acknowledge you, Naruto..."

Naruto closed his eyes as countless kisses and licks were delivered carefully on his body, starting at his soft, tanned neck and moving on lower to his collarbone. Sasuke grinned as Naruto twinged from his touches, and from the older boy's black hair tickling his chest. He traveled lower, despite suppressed pleas and slowly tugged the boy's pajama bottoms off. Gods, he was so adorable, from his doggie nightcap to his small rabbit slippers, which were discarded under his bed, he was perfect, but no one had ever given him a chance.

All because of some stupid fox that was trapped within him. Sasuke let out a laugh, which of course only made perfect sense to him before feeling Naruto's small hands on his back, coaxing him to go further. The Uchiha, of course obliged, taking his long arm and dragging it up the boy's skinny leg, stopping as he reached his sensitive inner thigh and leaning his head down to take playful nips at it.

Naruto groaned, gathering his hands in Sasuke's black hair and hoping he would stop teasing him and get to the point, "Sasuke..." he said, his breathing labored and heavy, "please..."

Sasuke nearly fainted at the sound of those small words, nng ong obediently and pulling down the boy's straining boxer shorts, tossing them onto the floor, as he was quite sure the fox was not going tod thd them any longer.

Sasuke brought his hand up to Naruto's glistening member first, giving it light, almost torturous touches before dragging his fingers up the shaft and playing caringly with the tip, knowing all of this was driving Naruto crazy with desire.

The fox's member trembled under these touches, desiring more, much more. Sasuke felt his own erection straining the fabric of his black shorts and could no longer ignore how much he wanted to engulf the boy's length. Naruto looked down with slitted eyes, his eyelids feeling heavy from the pleasurable state he was in. He watched as Sasuke opened his mouth wide, only having to wonder what he was going to do for a few seconds before he did it, "Sasuke, what are..." his voice caught quickly in his throat.

Sasuke dragged his wet tongue up the lower half of Naruto's shaft, finally making it to the tip, where he allowed his warm muscle slip easily inside of the leaking slit, causing a long, frustrated moan to escape Naruto's lips.

He knew he was doing something right.

Sasuke placed small kisses along the extent of the boy's erection before leaning down to envelope his entire length.

Naruto's head rolled back and forth on the headboard, as he rhythmically pushed his hips forward into Sasuke's warm, slippery mouth. Naruto could barely breathe, this was too much, he couldn't handle all these feelings that were waving over him, all this simultaneous pleasure that he could not deny.

How could he be doing this now? Just a few days ago, Sasuke was mos mortal enemy, a rival to be competed with, the one who always made rude comments about him and called him...

"Hey, dead-last," Sasuke spoke up, grabbing the boy under his knees and wiping some of the boy's essence from his lips, "I love you..." he mumbled, climbing atop his body like a cat and licking under his ear affectionately.

Naruto hummed between clenched teeth, nuzzling up to his neck and kissing the top of his scalp, "I love you Sasuke, I love you..."

Sasuke sat up on his knees for a minute, to take off his own shorts. Naruto too sat up to watch him intently. The young Uchiha was so perfect, from his pale skin to his dark, penetrating eyes. Sakura was wrong; he had deep dark eyes that would make anyone fall in love with him, not just women. Sasuke noticed Naruto had begun to watch him; his figure bathed in the moonlighd smd smirked widely, taking his sweet time at revealing himself.

First, came his belt. Slowly he unbuckled it and slid it out in a slow, fluid motion, tossing in on the ground and unzipping his pants. Naruto could not help but lick his lips in anticipation. Sasuke pulled his tight black shorts off, revealing slim, but still semi-muscular white legs, covered only now by short white boxers. Naruto hated that piece of clothing now, he despised it, he wanted to rip them off and burn them into charred pieces.

A growl rippled through his lips as his whiskers furrowed. "Take those off." He demanded.

Sasuke chuckled and smiled genuinely down at him, "What's this Naruto? You think you own me now." He leaned over and whispered in his lowest, sexiest voice, "You might be strong, but don't forget, I'm Uchiha Sasuke..." he muttered, sitting back up and tearing off his binding shorts.

With no hesitation, Naruto spread his legs, seeing this position in one he bhe bookstore's hidden sections, a book he had opened by accident, no doubt. Sasuke smiled, seeing the boy's small entrance that puckered just below his throbbing erection. He licked his own fingers before placing one at his entrance.

Slowly he forced his index finger inside of the boy, reveling in how tight and slippery he was inside, soon inserting a second and separating and joining them together like a pair of scissors to stretch and prep him. Soon, there was ard, rd, and Naruto was ready.

Sasuke nestled himself between Naruto's outstretched legs and positioned himself at the boy's small entrance. He leaned down to place a reassuring kiss on the boy's forehead, "It'll hurt..."

"I don't' care..."

"... I just don't want to hurt you..."

"You won't."

Sasuke nodded, staring in the near-pitch black room to the only light that reflected off of the boy's glowing blue eyes and sitting back up again.

Slowly he pushed himself in, filling Naruto to his limits and stretching him harder than he had ever experienced. At first the boy let out a long groan, followed up by complete silence as Sasuke finished sheathing his entire length in the younger boy. For a short minute the two just remained in that position, realizing they were both new at this, realizing they were both probably too young to do these sorts of things, and realizing for the first time in their lives, the two had become one.

Sasuke then pulled completely out of the boy, leaving Naruto's body feeling utterly empty before the Uchiha rammed into him again, pulling only halfway out this time before he felt the urge to plunge himself back into the tight, vicing tunnel and feel Naruto all around him.

Sasuke let out a quick grunt and picked up the pace a bit, ramming into the boy faster and harder until Naruto was screaming at the top of his lungs, the back of his head hitting the wood behind him and creating an echoing thumping sound.

The young Uchiha huffed as he grabbed the headboard firmly with his hands, pumping into the younger boy harder, until Naruto began begging him to stop, "Sasuke, you're... it hurts..." he squealed, feeling another wave of both pain and pleasure overwhelm him.

Sasuke heard him and listened, trying to be more gentle and keep at a slower rate as he pushed himself into the boy, reaching that sweet spnsidnside of him that caused Naruto to cry out, "Ah, Ah, Ha, Sasu... Ahhhh!" he yelled, clawing at his lover's back and letting himself go, spilling his seed over Sasuke's chest and his own stomach.

As Naruto came, the rest of his body tensed, the vice on Sasuke's swelling member tightening suddenly and sending the Uchiha's body into a hot orgasm. He came inside of the boy suddenly and pulled himself out, lying quietly on top of his limp body as the two caught their breaths.

"Sasuke..."
sukesuke rolled off of his small lover's body and huffed, looking over at him in the moonlight's soft glow, "Yes, dead-last?"

Naruto sighed, "Why do you call me that? It's not something you should say to someone who just did that with you." He commented, crossing his arms over his still clothed chest as Sasuke pulled the covers over both of their shivering bodies.

"Have you ever heard me call anyone else by a nickname?"

Naruto shook his head curiously.

Sasuke cradled the back of the fox boy's head in his hand and brought his face forward to kiss him on the lips, whispering as their mouths were still brushing lightly against onothnother, "That's how special you are to me, dead-last." He chuckled, placing another kiss on the boy's lips.

Naruto closed his eyes calmly, a smile a smile wide across his lips as Sasuke's hand cradled his cheek and his thumb caressed his sensitive whiskers. He sighed contently, "Sasuke, so you're not leaving tonight?" he figured aloud, nuzzling his head in between the Uchiha's collarbone and neck.

"Who said that?"

Naruto bolted up where he sat, "What? I thought you said that..."

Sasuke pressed his head forward, silencing the boy with his lips, "Naruto, you're my reason for staying, but..."

"But..."

Sasuke ran his fingers through the boy's thick blonde hair, feeling his slight frame shaking under him, "I have a reason to leave too. I have to be stronger, I have to beat Itachi, because I'm an avenger." He explained.

Naruto sniffed. "But I love you."

Sasuke sighed, "I promise I'll come back, and we'll be together." He assured.

Naruto hated how the young man he had just fallen in love with was going to leave him alone so soon. "I thought you acknowledged me, I thought you were the one who appreciated me..." he whined, stifling back the tears that had caught in his throat.

Sasuke nodded, "I do acknowledge you, but I can't be with you until I'm sure I'm strong, until I know I can protect you with everything I've got." He answered.
uto uto still didn't understand, but as usual he nodded, pretending that he knew everything that was going on.

When he woke up the next morning, Uchiha Sasuke was gone; he had betrayed the Leaf and joined the Sand.

Naruto's vision returned gradually, memories of that star-soaked evening still looming in his mind. He fumbled with his short whiskers and thought studiously, "It was five years ago, Naruto, five years!" he reminded himself, giving his own cheek a firm slap. "Too many things have happened since that night, too many life-altering incidents." The destruction of the Hidden Village of Leaf, the death of Gaara and his dictorial father, and finally the demise of Orochimaru, the Leaf's greatest and most fearsome opponent.

Everything was different, completely turned upside down and fucked with until nobody knew which side was up any longeThe The most surprising change was that a couple of years after Sasuke had joined with Orochimaru and the Sand, Sakura had lost all concern and interest in him, viewing him like most of the other villagers did, as a worthless traitor.

Naruto sighed, knowing by all logic that he too should have given up on Sasuke. But he didn't. There was never any doubt in his mind, through all of his days of fighting helplessly against the wide-stretched iron fist of the snake who was formerly a Leaf. Everyday he defended Sasuke against the loud-mouthed children who said he was an evil traitor, and the older Jounin who slammed their fists against the wall and muttered about how they should have 'taken care' of the Uchiha boy when he became too powerful for them to handle.

Naruto pulled a kunai from his waistband pouch and threw it at the far wall, "Shit!" he cursed angrily, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He rolled himself up in his-their sheets and cried himself to sleep, vowing to visit the jailbird first thing tomorrow morning.

A loud knock on his door woke him up readily. He groggily stepped towards the front of his home and wiped dried sleep from his pale blue eyes. He opened the door to find Kakashi staring back at him with a single brown eye, the other covered up by his usual forehead protector. "Yo."

"He, what kind of introduction is that for your student you haven't seen for years?"

Kakashi smiled warmly, "Well, I planned to come earlier so I could talk to you when the sun was rising, but a pretty girl needed help with her-"

"LIAR!" Naruto interrupted him, glad to be in their old routine. That was no doubt the only thing that remained the same in this small village.

Kakashi scratched the back of his silver hair, "Naruto, I spoke to Sasuke yesterday..."

Naruto's face grew very solemn and serious.

"I think you should go visit him too. Here, you can have my Jounin pass, it lets you in and out of the prison as much as you want." He told him, handing him a card.

Naruto pocketed it, "Thanks. Hey, Kakashi, he seemed alright, right?"

Kakashi stared at the porch on the fox boy's house and shuffled his navy blue sandals, "He's Sasuke. He's always Sasuke." He assured the young Genin with a pat on his head comfortingly.

Naruto nodded, closing the door and feeding himself his usual bowl of ramen for breakfast before heading out to the jail.

He walked slowly, partly because he had never visited Kohana's prison before. He stepped cautiously into the large stone building, scanning it with nervous eyes as he came upon the guards. They looked him over suspiciously before swiping the metal detector over his body and confiscating his kunai, shuriken, and other weapons that he could give to the inmates for an easy escape.

Naruto flashed his card at least once or twice before being granted clearance to the visiting room. A Jounin guard took him by the hand into a small, secluded room with a single table and two chairs and sat him down, awaiting the second guard's arrival, the one who was bringing Sasuke along with him.

Within a few minutes, a large, burly guard stepped inside, followed up by Sasuke, who was dressed entirely in a dismal gray jumpsuit, his wrists and ankles shackled together and a protective headband fitted over his very dangerous eyes.

The young Uchiha sat down on the seat blindly, "So, Kakashi, you're back to visit me again." He figured, sighing loudly as he sat back in the small wooden chair.

Naruto stared at the band that covered the young man's eyes, "No, Sasuke, it's me." He answered, pounding his fist on the table angrily and looking at the first guard, "Will you take that blindfold off of him?"

The guard began to interject, "But his Sharingan..."

Naruto gritted his teeth angrily, "Just take it off, he won't hurt me." He assured, though the guards were more likely worried about their own safety and well being than the visitor's. However reluctant they were, they removed it anyway.

Sasuke blinked a few times as the light shined into his eyes, light he hadn't seen for weeks. He focused his blurred vision on the boy in front of him, "N-Naruto..." he stuttered, a light fluster in his cheeks. He smirked widely and sat forward, leaning his arms on the table. "I thought I'd never see you again..." he mumbled.

Naruto nodded, "Sasuke, why did you do it?"

"Hn, this again, I thought I already explained it to you."

Naruto chuckled a bit, "You have to repeat it, I am kind of slow." He admitted, knowing that would get at least a smile on the Uchiha's lips, but it didn't.

Sasuke remained hardened and emotionless after all Orochimaru and his men had put him through, he was permanently scarred. "Naruto, I had to get stronger, and Orochimaru promised me power. I had to take it. That's what Itachi gave to me when he killed my clan, he told me to hate him and use that hate, he gave the position of avenger. I have to..."

Naruto stood up, slamming two angry hands on the table, and shaking its weak legs. "You don't have to do anything! Since when does Uchiha Sasuke listen to anybody else? Itachi doesn't control you, and why would you let him? He killed everyone you loved and now you're obeying him!"

"I'm doing this for the Uchiha..."

Naruto was getting frustrated with Sasuke's high-and-mighty attitude, "Bullshit! You're doing this for yourself, to make test your abilities, to make sure you're better than anyone!" he shouted angrily, tears already running past his neck into his thick collar.

Sasuke knew he was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it, Naruto always seemed to be right. He stared at the cuffs on his hands and rattled the chains uncomfortably, "Naruto, there's no use in trying to convince me of anything now. I'm a hopeless case. Everyone in the prison tells me that everyday, even the guards don't trust me. It's my fault, I joined with Orochimaru, knowing what he was planning on doing to the Leaf."

Naruto shook his head, pressing his own forehead to Sasuke's, "No, none of this is your fault. It's Orochimaru's fault, it's Itachi's fault, but it's not your fault!" he assured him, reaching his hands across the table to gently touch Sasuke's hands. He felt closer to him already, though his feelings that reached out were not receiving completion.

Sasuke stared the boy in his stubborn blue eyes as the cold metal from his rival's forehead protector stung, "How do you know?"

"Because Sasuke wouldn't do something like this! Sasuke is trustworthy and caring, and despite how he acts on the outside, he really is a nice guy!" Naruto shouted with an angry fervor, hoping everything he said was true. He stared into the black, leaking eyes in front of his face and sighed, "Because I don't fall in love with bastards."

Sasuke bit his bottom lip and leaned forward, feeling strong, warm arms wrap around his shoulders. He closed his eyes and smiled for the first time in a long while, "I missed you Naruto."

The second guard suddenly spoke up after staring up at the large, ticking clock on the wall, "Visiting time's up, time for the prisoner to get back to his work detail." He told them, walking over and taking Sasuke by the hand.

Naruto fumbled, he couldn't possibly watch the young love of his life walk out on him again. He desperately reached into his pocket and pulled out his large pouch of money. "Wait, I can pay his bail!" Naruto insisted, pushing his money in their faces.

The young Uchiha wiped tears from his cheeks as he realized how far Naruto was willing to go for him, "Come on Naruto, my bail is more than even the richest man in Kohana could afford." He laughed, still appreciative for what his friend was going to do.

When Naruto took his money out of his wallet, everyone in the room's jaws dropped to the floor. Perhaps he was the richest man in the Hidden Village of the Leaf.

After the proper paperwork had been filled out and Sasuke had been released, the guards stared Naruto in the eyes carefully, handing him the blindfold they had used to keep the Uchiha in line and telling him to use it when he had to. Naruto took it with a roll of his eyes. The Jounin guard touched his shoulder, "We're releasing him into your custody. If he commits another crime against this country, the penalty is death, you got that?"

Naruto nodded, knowing Sasuke wouldn't do something like that again.

And Sasuke's bindings were removed from his hands and feet, his everyday clothes returned to him as he prepared to step back into the village he had left so long ago.

He took in a breath of fresh air as he stepped on the fresh, green grass and the dusty dirt he remembered so well. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and walked through the streets of the wrecked village, heading towards his own house, one of the only ones that had not been completely annihilated by the Sand.

The few citizens who wandered around the damaged city gave awkward, stray looks of disappointment and disgust at seeing their village's savior hand-in-hand with the man who had turned his back on his own village. A few of the older citizens made sure their loathing of the Uchiha was known as they passed by in pairs, whispering loud enough for Naruto and Sasuke to hear them.

"That's the one that betrayed the village."

"The bastard shouldn't be allowed to show his face around here again."

"Should've received death for this."

Naruto ignored them, as he had for five years and looked to his side. This was no enemy, this was not a murderer and a traitor, this was the same young man everyone in the academy wanted to be or be with. Slowly Naruto dragged haze aze up Sasuke's long legs, to his black shorts and upwards to his black shirt, finally meeting his eyes with Sasuke's own. "Sasuke..." he whispered as quietly as death.

Sasuke continued to stare at the dirt below his feet as they approached Naruto's small dwelling, obviously hearing every word the passers-by had said. The two remained silent as they reached the door, Naruto taking his hand off of Sasuke's for a second to reach into his pockets and take out his key ring.

He carefully opened his creaky wooden door and stepped inside with Sasuke, enticing even more rumors that had been hanging in the air of the broken city. Naruto sighed as he closed the door behind him and sat on the side of his bed, coaxing Sasuke to join him. "Sasuke, I really missed you all these years."

"Seems like nobody else did..."

Naruto's eyebrows ruffled, "Sasuke, don't listen to those people, they'll get over it."

The young Uchiha played with his own thumbs while staring at the floor below him. He knew things could never return to normal, things would never be the same between the he and the village populace again, no matter what he did to regain their trust. But, Naruto had not lost faith in him, for five years he believed he would come back to them and nothing would be any different. Perhaps he was just too stupid to realize the truth.

"Naruto, aren't you even a little bit worried? I betrayed you, I joined the enemy and fought against you, and now you're letting me into your home? Aren't you worried I might betray you again?"

Naruto could do nothing but feel sorry for the young man who seemed so emotionally broken and destroyed, it didn't even seem he could trust himself anymore. The fox stood and headed over, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders comfortingly.

Sasuke began to close his eyes before realizing someone was touching him. He bolted up where he stood, his eyes glowing a deadly red as sweat poured off of his forehead. He was breathing heavily and frantically and seemed to want nothing more than to escape the touches of the young blonde.

"What did Orochimaru do to you?" Naruto asked curiously, with tears cascading down his cheeks.

Sasuke backed up a few steps, not resisting as Naruto removed his tight, black shirt, even lifting his arms to assist. The young Genin's blue eyes remained wide as he stared at the long, deep, some repeatedly-opened wounds and cuts. No blood still leaked from them, but there was a substantial amount that had dried into a crusty, dark red color. Naruto had to step back, rotating around the young Uchiha to get a good look at every horrible injury he had sustained.

Sasuke stood in silence, starinwnwawnwards. "He did give me power, but it came with a price. I was foolish to think anything was free."

Naruto's shoulders stiffened, it was almost as if Sasuke thought this was his own fault. The young teen placed his hand on Sasuke's shoulder to comfort him, only finding that he recoiled once again from his touch, scooting himself back into the corner of Naruto's bedroom, sitting on the floor and closing his eyes. "Please Naruto, don't touch me." He begged.

Naruto nodded sadly. Ever since Sasuke had left, all he wanted to do was hold him, kiss him, and fall asleep in the young man's muscular arms. He couldn't do that. Quietly he headed outside to buy some ramen he desperately needed now.

When he returned, his face was exhausted, large purple bags loomed under his eyes, and he sighed longingly as he returned to the man he loved, whom he could not love. Sasuke had fallen asleep hours ago, still huddled up like a frightened child in the corner.

Naruto tore the sheet off of his own bed and headed over to the broken Uchiha. He smiled widely before draping it over Sasuke's body and placing a single kiss on his forehead. He looked so wonderful when he was asleep, his black bangs fell over his eyes sloppily, his mouth parted only slightly, leaving his pale lips so vulnerable, Naruto wanted to kiss them...

He leaned forward, cupping the boy's cheek in his hand and coming closer. "Sasuke..."

The Uchiha trembled suddenly, kicking his legs and clenching his teeth tightly in his mouth. He whined in his sleep, tears leaking from his dark eyes, "Orochi... stop... it, it hurts. Please..." he cried, whispering the last part, it seemed as a desperate plea. He kicked his legs quicker now, hitting Naruto's stomach.

Naruto grimaced, sitting back as he thought of what kind of horrible nightmare Sasuke must have been going through. "Sasuke, Sasuke, wake up." He insisted, shaking the older boy's shoulders.

Sasuke's eyes shot open, scanning the room like a cornered animal before seeing Naruto's warm, tanned arms had again enveloped him. "Sasuke, I'm so sorry, for everything Orochimaru put you through... I'm sorry." He repeated, hoping Sasuke wouldn't get emotional, praying he wouldn't leave his side again.

Sasuke shook violently in place, his eyes dilated and red like when anyone touched him lately. All he could remember were those long, terrible nights with Orochimaru, nights when he tortured him till he passed out. The young Uchiha tried to remind himself that this was Naruto, this was his best friend and rival, even his lover once, but all these logics were overwhelmed by those horrible incidents.

Orochimaru slid a delicate finger up Sasuke's inner thigh, stopping just short and letting a sickening smile peel over his thin lips. Sasuke panted hard, his arms strained by the weight of his own body as he hung precariously to the wall; unable to stop the torture he was being put through. He closed his eyes, thought of better days, but nothing seemed to help.

He could still clearly hear the moans from Orochimaru's mouth, he could feel his long black hair tickling his thighs and the sharp kunai he pressed into his chest. Sasuke screamed, his blood dripping from his chest only for a second before the snake licked it off meticulously.

Orochimaru grinned before stabbing him again and again, his lower half growing more excited and infuriated with each drop of blood that came out of the pale boy's naked body. "You have the perfect body, Sasuke..."

Sasuke cringed, biting his lip. Truthfully he preferred the stabbings to the other things Orochimaru usually got ideas to do. There was that look in his eye again.

Orochimaru slid in two fingers at once, laughing manically, "Scream Sasuke, I want to hear those sounds from your beautiful lips..." he whispered lightly into his ear before letting his long tongue wander into it, flicking the lobe and swirling wetly inside.

Sasuke bucked his hips desperately, he hated this, but his body was surely enjoying itself. He looked down at his own strained head, the tip of which was already leaking and swollen. Orochimaru wouldn't let him come yet though, Sasuke had never known him to be that generous.

With an uproarious laugh the snake tied a thick rope around Sasuke's length and inserted two more fingers. He now had four in, and Sasuke was barely hanging on the wall now, his legs trembling from the feeling and his hips gyrating to his own rhythm. "Orochimaru..." he growled between clenched teeth.

Orochimaru shook a scolding finger to the younger boy and smirked, "That's not the screaming I wanted to hear, Sasuke..." he muttered, allowing his long tongue to roll out of his lips, edging closer to Sasuke's length. Sasuke tried to back away, sucking in his breath and pressing his backend against the wall. He didn't want to be touched by this dirty creature, he couldn't, Naruto was waiting faithfully for him back home.

It was of no use. Orochimaru's slender, slick tongue circled around Sasuke's length, swirling around until it had found the tip and rubbing itself against it while tightening it's grip on his hardening rod. He really was an impressive specimen for being his young age.

Sasuke shouted, biting his lip until blood dripped down his neck and hoping it would all be over soon.

Orochimaru's slitted eyes widened at the sight of more of the fantastic substance, his tongue leaving Sasuke's member quickly to drink of it. His long snake tongue swiped slowly at first at the copper-tasting liquid on Sasuke's neck, then dragged with no concern for time until it had consumed every last bit of it.

He looked down at his own bulging pants and laughed, his finger movements more frantic now inside of Sasuke's body, his breathing erratic like an enticed psychopath. He rubbed himself roughly outside of his clothes only for a short while to get some sort of release. "Look what you do to me, you wonderful, beautiful kid."

Sasuke felt warm tears caress his cheeks, soon feeling a thumb pressing at his entrance. His dark eyes widened before Orochimaru, who hardly hesitated or prepped the boy at all, shoved his entire hand inside of him, pressing the large swell further inside, until he could clearly feel Sasuke's weak spot.

Sasuke screamed like he had never screamed before, perhaps when Itachi had murdered the clan, but other than that, this was the loudest, most painful scream. Even from upstairs, Kabuto cringed, knowing what it took to be one of Orochimaru's disciples.

Orochimaru ignored the boy's helpless pleas and plunged his arm further into him, pressing strongly against his insides.

Sasuke wanted to die, gods what he wouldn't give for a heart attack or random hapieapien spontaneous combustion right about now. After his insides were ripped, torn, and scraped until raw and numb, Orochimaru left, leaving him completely nude and hanging from the wall.

Sasuke closed his dark eyes, feeling his weak arms hanging, stretching, aching. His lower half he could no longer feel. He was losing blood by the pint, and he could do nothing about it. Orochimaru had chosen him, he had put on the curse seal, he had permanently enslaved him. He was completely helpless.

He slowly lifted his neck up to the single lantern above his head and grinned contently, his mind drifting off to a simpler time, when the days were long and there was nothing to do but be a child...

Naruto's young blue eyes wandered around the magic of the harvest moon festival, the candied food, the moon pies, the free ramen until midnight! The little fox squeezed his small fists and quickly headed over, hoping to get in as much food as he possibly could before the old man got grumpy and started charging again.

Sasuke dragged his older brother by the hand, wanting anxiously to see every booth. Reluctantly Itachi walked with him, making sure to stop when the young child stopped and pointed excitedly. Sasuke's perked interest seemed to travel everywhere at once. He ran over to a booth selling weapons, his black eyes glistening, "Big brother, look look! Kunai! And Shuriken! Oh! Oh! Oh! Can I get that big one? Puweese?" he asked to Itachi, who had completely fazed his younger sibling out and was sighing tiredly.

Sasuke held his small lantern from a long cane in front of him, lighting his path as he carried his newly bought kunai contently. He let the lantern bob in front of his eyes, watching the golden light it set off in the blued skies above.

Itachi followed, his hands in his pockets, "Sasuke, can we go now?"

Sasuke turned back to look at his brother with wide, dark eyes, "But I wanted to see..." His words were quickly interrupted when a boy about his size ran haphazardly into him from behind, knocking him onto the ground with a comical thud.

The youngest Uchiha rubbed his forehead as he sat up, "Ow, ow, ow..."

The perpetrator, Naruto, who was the age of about five or six touched his skidded knees and stared down at his walking lantern, which had been put out in the commotion and burnt by the fire inside. He sniffed a little before bursting into a bawling cry, putting his small fists to his blue eyes. "My lantern went out..." he muttered sadly, knowing from experience that no one would listen to him.

Sasuke's dark eyes softened at the sight of the young boy crying. The two were about the same age, but the Uchiha had learned to be strong, to take pain like a man, just like his older brother. Naruto had no such example.

Itachi rolled his neck around its joints, knowing this would only hold him up more at this pointless festival. He put his hands to his hips and sighed, "Listen kid, watch where you're going. You could've injured an Uchiha, you klutz." He muttered angrily under his breath.

Naruto nodded, picking up his money and a few of his things that had been scattered all over and preparing to leave. "Yes, I'm sorry..." he mumbled with the lack of confidence that only came with being completely alone.

Sasuke chose not to listen to his brother for once, as he took his own, uninjured lantern from the ground and dusted it off, "Here." He offered, looking at the ground sheepishly, as he did not want to be seen talking to the demon fox when his reputation as a proud Uchiha was at stake.

Naruto's blue eyes widened, "What?"

"Just take it, take it. You-you got it dirty anyway. And it's better to have a busted lantern than none at all." He explained childishly.

Naruto accepted it gratefully, taking it from the young black-haired boy's hands and smiling. Somebody cared for him, if only for just a moment somebody recognized his existence. He wiped tears from his whiskers and trotted off into the night's activities.

Sasuke felt somebody shaking him, coaxing him to wake up, "Sasuke, Sasuke, are you alright?" a young Genin asked quizzically, cupping Sasuke's cheeks with his hands.

The young Uchiha blinked a couple of times before his eyes focused on the caring young fox in front of him. "I'm okay, Naruto." He answered finally, giving a sort of fake, plastered-on smile.

Naruto smiled back softly, wrapping the sheet around Sasuke's shoulders. "It's okay, I understand that you don't want anyone touching you right now." He said, standing up and heading over to his own bed tiredly.

Sasuke watched the way he walked, his legs crossed over each other, his knees buckling a bit and faltering so he looked as if he'd been drugged. That was Naruto's lazy walk, the walk he would use after missions, the walk he would use after too many cups of ramen. Sasuke loved it.

He smiled and nuzzled up to the cold wall next to him. Naruto was right, he wouldn't be able to be physically close to the young teen for weeks, months at least, the memories of Orochimaru's torture were far too great to remember in such a short while. With a loud sigh, Sasuke fell asleep.

"Wake up, little Sasuke..."

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about me already..."

"We are one person now, remember?"

Sasuke's heart raced as that sickeningly creepy voice entered his head, echoing over and over as if he was dreaming. For nights he hoped he was, but he knew the truth. The nightmare had just begun.

"Get out of my body, you bastard!" Sasuke yelled at the top of his lungs after finding himself in a blurry, pitch black surrounding. This must have been his inselfself.

Out of the vast, seemingly endless shadows a figure emerged. He was tall, with slitted eyes and a flowing robe that fell from his shoulders. Seductively and teasingly, he licked his hungry lips. "I wasn't sure if you had forgotten about me, Sasuke."

Sasuke fumed, turning to face Orochimaru, a red coming to his cheeks just seeing him, his wounds ached and burned as if all had re-opened once again. "I told you to get out."

"And why would I, when I am in the body of such a fine specimen such as yourself?" he asked rhetorically, while stepping uncomfortably closer to his victim.

"You should have known, Sasuke. I needed a new vessel, and yours was perfect. Plus, you can thank Naruto."

"Shut up."

Orochimaru decided to continue on anyway, "After he transformed into his demon state and destroyed by body, he released my soul into the air. After that, it wasn't that hard to perform simple spells and enter you." He explained with a chuckle.

Sasuke's eyes reddened, "Why didn't you just kill me?"

Orochimaru walked up to him, placing his delicate, light hand on the Uchiha boy's face and stroking his black hair with his opposite hand. "Because, Sasuke..."His mouth opened, revealing that sick, unnatural tongue, "that would have been too easy, and I so enjoy making you bleed."

Sasuke cringed as a complicated jutsu froze him in place, realizing that Orochimaru would now use his arms because he was a soul, not trapped in a worthless body anymore. The snake's long tongue dragged itself along Sasuke's neck, headed downwards and brushing up ever so slightly against the boy's nipple.

Sasuke's entire body shifted and shivered desperately, an eep escaping his lips as Orochimaru's tongue again flicked against his hardened nub.

"Show me that blood, Sasuke, that wonderful blood..." he whispered.

Sasuke managed to move his arm slightly, taking a kunai from his pocket and stabbing it into the snake's chest with a grunt.

Orochimaru seemed unfazed by the wound. Slowly he pulled it out of him and tossed the worthless weapon to the ground with a smirk. "We are one person, Sasuke. Do not forget that this is your subconscious. Nothing you do here can hurt me..."

"Kill me..." Sasuke growled, his response more of a plea than a demand. He wanted to die, he didn't want to watch his world crumble around him, knowing he was the cause for all of it.

The snake shook his head, "I will kill you, when I'm finisheth yth your body. Until then, let's have a little fun."

Sasuke cringed, 'fun' coming out of Orochimaru's mouth always meant horrible pain and torture for someone else. He held tightly clenched fists at his side, wondering what his master was planning.

"Oh, let's start with Naruto..."

Before Sasuke could fully comprehend what Orochimaru had meant by that comment, he had awoken. He peered around nervously, seeing he was still in the fox boy's house and lettout out a sigh. At least everything was all right.

The young Uchiha looked carefully down at his hands, watching as they came to life without his commands. Damn, when did Orochimaru learn to overcome his senses? Until that point, all that the snake had done was tease Sasuke when he was asleep, showing him vicious nightmares and replaying his old, terrible memories until Sasuke screamed and woke up.

Needless to say, Sasuke had tried lately to sleep as little as humanly possible.

His body was moving, twitching, standing upwards and stepping over to Naruto's bed. Sasuke grimaced; forcing his chakra to gather up in his body, hoping his life force would be enough to suppress Orochimaru's. His entire body tingled and ached, but still Orochimaru remained in control.

"You can't beat me that easily, Sasuke..."

Sasuke grumbled, his bstilstill approaching Naruto, this time at a quicker pace. There he was, the love of Sasuke's life, (though he would never admit it aloud), the one he had fallen in love with five years ago, the one he had become one with five years ago. Sasuke hated this, Orochimaru couldn't hurt Naruto.

Naruto's chest rose and fell as he breathed heavily, stirring in his sleep and rolling over to face the possessed Sasuke. The fox was tangled in his white covers, legs sticking out in arbitrary places, arms hanging off the bed; in short, he was sleeping in typiNaruNaruto fashion.

Sasuke's hands moved as if they were pulled by strings, gently brushing Naruto's light blonde hair off of his forehead and feeling the warm skin of his forehead. Sasuke had almost forgotten how soft he was.

Naruto grinned in his sleep, moaning and making a content sound, like he knew who was touching him, "Mmm, Sasuke..."

Sasuke's heart warmed over before Orochimaru's control returned it to an icy cold. "So what do you want to do to him, Sasuke?"

Sasuke shivered at the voice in his mind.

The snake dragged Sasuke's fingers down Naruto's face slowly, bringing an unwanted smile to the Uchiha's face. "He's pretty good-looking when his mouth's shut." Orochimaru commented, sticking Sasuke's fingers into Naruto's mouth, pressing them so far back that the young fox began to gag helplessly, suffocating in his sleep.

Orochimaru shoved them further inside, seeing the fear and pain on Naruto's face that he loved so much. Naruto's eyebrows ruffled, his head moving as he tried to rid himself of the sharp sting in his mouth. Sasuke's dark eyes widened as it had been at least a half a minute. There was no way he could survive without air for much longer. "Stop it, you're killing him!" The young Uchiha yelled, biting his lip as he looked down.

"Oh? We wouldn't want to do that... Then we can't have fun with him..." Orochimaru hissed. "I bet he's got a beautiful body under there."

Sasuke flustered angrily. "Don't you touch him."

Orochimaru moved Sasuke's hand out of the fox boy's mouth, allowing Naruto to cough and inhale desperately, still fast asleep. His hand wandered to Naruto's pajama top, reaching for the first button and letting it loose, revealing the soft, adolescent tanned skin below.

The snake laughed, this was certainly a change from the delicate, pale skin that he was used to with Sasuke. Hungrily he exposed more of this supple skin, unbuttoning the pajama top until it was completely open and flipping the sides away.

Sasuke felt himself hardening at the sight of the boy. He had grown since the last time they had made love, his chest was muscular and formed, his stomach rippled with small signs of abs that led to his small navel. Sasuke gulped hard as Orochimaru moved him as if he were on strings again, making his hands rub up against the smooth flesh, reveling in the sounds and movements it produced from the boy.

Naruto bucked as a pale hand scanned his chest and stomach, wandering around with no particular course. "S-Sasuke..." he began to wake up, rubbing his eyes as he looked up at Sasuke, who was standing over his bed and using both hands to fondle the boy as if he had no greater purpose.

"Sasuke? What are you?"

His voice was silenced as Orochimaru grabbed his small nipple, pinching it playfully before pressing harder and harder, until it swelled red and popped blood vessels, making the area around it a deep purple. Naruto yelled, throwing his head back, "S-S-Sasuke... it hurts, please stop..."

Sasuke's chest stung at hearing that sweet innocent voice, he didn't want to hurt him, gods that was the last thing he ever wanted to do. But Orochimaru had very different plans.

Naruto's blue eyes widened as Sasuke climbed on top of him, straddling his hips with a devious little grin. "Sasuke, are you feeling alright? I thought we shouldn't do this, until you got better..." he mumbled, wrapping his arms around Sasuke's shoulders kindly. "I love you, Sasuke."

Sasuke could not let Orochimaru so easily contain his spirits now, he needed to escape, he needed to save the boy. He strained his soul to take power over the sickening man, trying to overcome his control. "Don't you try it, Sasuke. We're the same person, remember? And I'm much more powerful than you. It's useless..." Orochimaru bragged, making Sasuke's hips grind violently against Naruto's to illustrate his point.

Sasuke let out a helpless moan. Naruto's eyelids lowered, "Sasuke, are you okay? You look kind of sick." He told him, sitting up to wipe the furious tears from the Uchiha's eyes. "You don't have to do this to make me feel better." Naruto muttered, smiling with the warmth that only came from the demon fox.

Sasuke's heart melted at seeing that smile before Orochimaru took control again, slapping the young teen's face and scattering his whiskers, pressing him back down into the mattress by his neck. Naruto looked confused by his lover's sudden change in attitude. Sasuke was usually so gentle and caring, though it was obvious this didn't please him, all he ever cared about was making Naruto feel good, in any way possible. But maybe the village people were right, maybe Sasuke had changed since his days with the people of the Sound, maybe being with Orochimaru truly had changed him.

Naruto took in a quick breath, "Sasuke..."

Sasuke couldn't answer, his body possessed by the unruly spirit of the snake. He continued to feel the fox's body until Naruto was moaning and bucking his hips upwards to scrape against Sasuke's. It felt good, it felt incredibly good, but Sasuke couldn't enjoy it, for he was constantly worrying about Naruto's safety, and what Orochimaru planned to do next.

"Let's make him bleed."

"Damn you, don't you hurt him!"

Orochimaru ignored the young voice in his head and took out a few simple kunai, waving them menacingly before pressing the cold metal to Naruto's chest, moving the blade so it slowly tore the flesh, letting the blood spill out slowly.

Naruto groaned as his cut opened, biting his lip in pain before staring into Sasuke's eyes. These weren't the beautiful dark blue eyes that had focused intently on him while he was sleeping, these weren't the wonderful eyes that could make any person loose themselves for hours, in fact, these eyes gave Naruto the chills.

Sasuke watched as Naruto's wound healed itself, courtesy of the demon nine-tails inside of his young body. Though the blood still remained outside of his tanned skin, the slice had completely vanished. Sasuke blinked a few times in confusion before a grin came to his lips.

He made another cut, and another, wondering how much it would take for the healing factor to be rendered powerless. Naruto screamed so loudly the neighbors probably awoke in their beds, wondering what on earth was going on in the fox's house.

"Stop, Sasuke... you're scaring me..." Naruto whispered, holding Sasuke closer and stifling back his tears.

Orochimaru now tried a stab instead of a cut, letting the sharp kunai imbed itself into Naruto's supple stomach. He watchedentlently as it bleed, more, more, more, until it was dripping down and staining the sheets.

Naruto's blue eyes widened as he felt the weapon stuck in him. Desperately he reached down to pull it out, no longer wondering if this was Sasuke or not, it couldn't have been. His hand was stopped as the icy cold metal of a second kunai touched his palm and pinned his hand to the mattress with a loud thump.

Sasuke licked his lips and opened his mouth, letting Orochimaru's trademark tongue slip out and caress the boy's face, making a slurping sound as it headed towards his neck.

Naruto cringed, "Orochimaru!" he shouted, his eyebrows lowering as his upper lip cringed into an animalistic growl. "What have you done to Sasuke?!" the young blonde Genin demanded.

The man who looked like Sasuke grinned and remained silent, pulling the kunai out of Naruto's belly with a pop and ripping his pants open with it, taking no time to pull them down to his ankles, instead simply tearing what pieces he felt he did not need any longer.

Naruto's boxers were torn off quickly, Orochimaru panting in Sasuke's body as he grew more excited by the minute. This was fun, this was fun, this was fun. His dark eyes reddened evilly as he held the blade of the knife in Sasuke's hand and plunged the handle mercilessly into the kid.

Naruto whimpered as the cold metal and rough wrap hit his insides, pushing into and out of him so hungrily and tirelessly. "Scream, Naruto..."

Orochimaru knew the time was coming, the time when he would kill his enemy, the one who had destroyed his previous body, the one who had made him occupy the Uchiha. He would pay, and of course, Naruto would not dare to hurt his best friend.

"Sasuke, I know you're in there!" Naruto said between moans. Orochimaru cursed under his breath and wrapped his delicate fingers around Naruto's member, suffocating it by squeezing it angrily from the bottom. slowslowly transformed into a bruise-colored tint, causing Naruto to yell at the top of his s ons once again.

"You can hear me, right Sasuke?"

Sasuke held his head at the sound of Naruto's voice, knowing he could hear him perfectly fine, "I..." Sasuke struggled to best Orochimaru for a minute, just to let Naruto know he was there, "I can... hear you..." Sasuke blurted out, clenching the sides of his head and pressing on his temples.

Naruto ved ved the second kunai from his palm and sat up, seeing Sasuke/Orochimaru was in pain. The young teen grabbed the dark-haired boy's hands, "Sasuke..." he mumbled.

Sasuke bit his lips, "Get away, Naruto..."

"You're hurting..."

"Get away! How many times do I have to repeat myself, dead-last?!"

Naruto did as he was told, stepping out of his bed and heading over to the opposite wall, hoping to the gods he would not be forced to fight his best friend.

Sasuke looked as if he was having a mental breakdown. He held his head and stumbled about the room as if fighting some invisible enemy. He had to overcome Orochimaru; he had to stop him before he hurt Naruto anymore.

Naruto held his fists to his chest, "Sasuke, you-you can beat him! Don't give in!" he encouraged.

Sasuke grinned for a minute before feeling the presence begin to delude inside of him, getting thinner and thinner, Orochimaru's influence becoming weaker.

"I love you, Sasuke..." Naruto mumbled without knowing he had said it aloud.

Sasuke blinked a few times, moving his fingers to make sure he still had supreme power over his body before sighing. He had won. Naruto still appeared genuinely worried, "Sasuke, are you alright?"

Sasuke didn't answer but walked over the young blonde he had tortured and hurt in too many ways. First he left him, then he betrayed the village, and now he could not even control his inner demons. Still, Naruto could never fall out of love with him.

Sasuke wrapped his warm arms around Naruto's shoulders and nuzzled his head into the crook of the blonde's neck, taking in his scent. He had missed that smell in the jailhouse. He closed his dark eyes contently and let no words pass between them for a long while before breaking the awkward silence, "Naruto, I love you."

Naruto smiled and placed a sweet strawberry kiss on his forehead, "I love you too." He repliemostmost robotically, as if he didn't have to even think twice. He let his fingers run through Sasuke's dark hair and closed his eyes. This was just like before, this was the same. Itld nld never change again, the young fox promised himself.

Sasuke kissed the young teen's lips softly, whispering as their lips still touched, "I've missed you."

Naruto wiped the tears from his lover's perfect pale complexion. "Can we stay together like this, forever?"

Sasuke smiled, pulling back a little out of their tight embrace so he could see Naruto's face in its entirety, "Yes, forever."

"You won't leave me again?"

"No, dead-last."

"Will you ever stop calling me that?"

"No, dead-last."

Naruto closed his eyes, "Good." He replied contently. He began to feel his senses drift in and out; his consciousness drifting in and out as he gradually became limp in Sasuke's arms.

He openes eys eyes once more to get a good look at his lover's face before he went to sleep, wanting to remember him in his dreams. His pale blue eyes focused blurrily, finally making sense of everything around him, "Sasuke..." he muttered, sitting up. "Yo-you're bleeding..." he stuttered nervously, looking up at Sasuke's leaking lip.

Sasuke smiled, his lower lip trembling as he touched the whiskers on Naruto's cheeks, "Go back to sleep, I'm fine."

Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked down, seeing a sharp kunai had been driven through Sasuke's chest. "Sasuke!" he shouted, fully awake now. He shook as he stared up into his best friend's dark eyes. This couldn't be real, it had to be a nightmare, but damn why wouldn't he wake up?

Sasuke felt his body go numb, his limbs feeling very cold and icy, "He told me he was going to kill you."

Naruto felt tears come into his large, marbled eyes, "Sasuke..."

Sasuke smiled down at him and tiredly closed his eyes, "I feel tired, Naruto..." he whined, his head now in the boy's lap.

Naruto nodded, quieting him comfortingly and brushing the dark hair out of his eyes.

"Naruto, I'm sorry..."

Naruto put a single finger to his lips, now feeling the tears dripping down his neck as he watched more and more blood drip out of the Uchiha. "Shh, go to sleep."

Sasuke closed his eyes again, "I am tired... Naru..."

He became completely silent.

There was blackness all around hevereverywhere he looked was covered with a large black veil. There was no escaping it. Sasuke could barely see his own hands in the foggy blue mess.

He watched as a bright yellow light bobbed in the distance, glowing like a firefly and looming a few feet off of the ground. Far off he could faintly hear someone singing, or humming rather off-tune.

Sasuke curiously followed the light, watching as it weaved back and forth, slowed and quickened before it stopped in place. The lantern focused its light on its holder, a young blonde boy in an elegant kimono who looked back curiously at Sasuke. "Hey, mister, you don't have a lantern." He stated simply.

Sasuke scratched the back of his scalp, "I guess not."

The young blonde child coaxed him to come closer and touched his hand with his small one, "Mine's broken."

Sasuke grinned a bit before the two began to walk off, where to he had not determined yet. "But it's better to have a busted one than none at all."

The young blonde child nodded, his whiskers furrowing. "Do you like ramen?"

Sasuke laughed.

"I love ramen! I like all kinds! There's some kinds where you put in the hot water first, and den' wait, and there's others where you boil the water with the noodles. There's chicken ramen, I like that one, but my favorite is Miso ramen, but only the kind at the Ichikaku ramen bar. There's also this kind..."

~OWARI~

What a sad story. This turned out a lot more depressing than I intended it. How strange, it was originally going to be a lot shorter too, but then I got all into it. I wonder what Konohamaru would look like older. I hope he's hot :P Anyway, thanks for reading. >< Please review or I kill off more characters. (I killed off Gaara in this fic for no particular reason, so you can just ignore it, because I dun' like him anyway)