Chapter 4 - 4

Chapter 11

Kyoshiro prided himself on being one of Orochimaru-sama's top spies. He fancied himself a Spy Master in charge of gathering and disseminating information to his leader or to the pertinent individuals who required the knowledge for their particular projects. He had an uncanny knack for sorting through data provided to him and pulling out the oddities that pointed to a larger picture.

Sasuke-san and this "Oturan" were two such oddities.

Kyoshiro sighed and glanced down at his notes. As one of Orochimaru-sama's favored and as a loyal follower, he kept a close eye on the goings on not only of enemy villages, but also on Sound's own widespread network. He saw it as his duty to inform Orochimaru-sama of any suspicious activity within their ranks.

Kyoshiro, along with certain other important members of Oto, had been informed of the body transference by Kabuto that had taken place several months ago. Kyoshiro himself had been able to take the physical description and was able to match it to the name of the body's previous owner. Uzumaki Naruto. Jinchuuriki. An interesting choice but he was not one to judge anything that their leader did. It was his job to help protect the Legendary Sannin by providing him with information as well as the occasional assassination.

Which brought him back to the Uchiha and his companion.

Shortly after the incident, he had been able to send men to retrieve information from a few servants who had fled and survived the slaughter that had occurred at the lair near the gambling town of Saikoro no Oka. The survivors claimed that Orochimaru-sama himself had gone insane and killed everyone.

Then of course there was the strange occurrence not long after that in Lightning Country which ended up in more deaths and more uncharacteristic behavior from Orochimaru-sama. The reports of an imposter traveling with the Uchiha filtered in quite speedily through messenger birds.

Which brought him back to his current problem.

He knew he had Orochimaru-sama's vessel in his lair. What he didn't know was whether the Sannin was playing some kind of game, allowing some kind of plot to unfold or whether the vessel had actually taken over from the master. After a brief moment he came to the conclusion that someone of Orochimaru-sama's stature and brilliance, not to mention dignity, would never conduct himself the way he had seen the yellow-haired vessel act. Therefore, he had to take measures to help reinstate the snake Sannin to power.

While Kyoshiro wanted to help his Otokage, he didn't necessarily want to put himself directly in harm's way. Besides, the work that this base did was too valuable to risk. His first step would be to try to subdue and capture the traitors, preferable in a non-violent way. Poison was always a good option for this.

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While that morning's activities had been very fulfilling, seeing Sasuke naked in the shower and then going back to his room to jerk off to the sight couldn't be anything but fulfilling, a few hours later found Naruto bored out of his mind. He crossed his arms with a sigh, wondering what kind of trouble he could get himself into to liven up his day. He felt his thumb absently running back and forth over the upper right side of his chest and forced the digit to stop.

He knew eventually that the conversation would take place. He knew that the conversation would probably degrade into another fight knowing the two of them. He knew that eventually they would bring up the past and the relative peace that they were now sharing would be shattered. He wanted to avoid that confrontation. He wanted to avoid that pain both for his sake and for Sasuke's.

While normally Naruto took things head on in his outgoing and forceful manner, this is one thing that he didn't want to immediately tackle. He wanted this chance to reestablish his connection with the dark-haired ninja before reopening wounds of the past. Of course he had already mostly forgiven Sasuke for the fight to begin with. After all, he never could hold a grudge very well against his friend. Then again, his friend had never tried to kill him before. But he didn't blame Sasuke completely for the way he had been acting. He could tell that after the snake bastard had bitten his friend is when things started to change. While Sasuke might very well have been feeling the jealousy, hatred and despair the curse seal seemed to amplify everything negative that the other was feeling, turning it to a churning mass of darkness within his soul. Naruto knew about darkness within. Sasuke was just never very strong in fighting it.

Thus began his quest to try to save his friend from himself. He didn't want to see Sasuke become like Gaara had been. Didn't want him to become what Naruto himself could have been. Even though no other spirit inhabited Sasuke but his own, he still had his own demons that he had to contend with and they were just as deadly to his psyche as Naruto's and Gaara's had been to theirs.

Eventually they would have this conversation, it would reopen their wounds and then it would either bring them closer together or tear them apart.

Shoving his thoughts aside, Naruto looked for something with which to distract himself. He pulled out the two packs containing the scrolls and started to sort through them. He made three piles which he mentally labeled "Boring", "Interesting" and "What the hell?" He scowled at the number of scrolls that ended up in the third pile. He was quite sure that had Sasuke sorted them that the last pile would be almost non-existent.

Huffing through his nose, he pulled the second stack toward him (the smallest stack) and began to look through them.

Several hours later found the young shinobi stretched out on the floor on his stomach, feet kicking in the air, writing on a scroll. He had found a summoning scroll much like the one that had carried his giant windmill shuriken, but this one hadn't had anything stored in it yet. He planned on using it to carry their pack of scrolls, but first he wanted to copy it to see if he could replicate the jutsu and make it work.

Naturally, he wasn't dumb enough to use the scrolls as a guinea pig to try out the copy. Rather he was planning on using some unimportant item from the room to see if he was successful.

He had just grabbed Sasuke's toothbrush when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," he sang out, hand casually dropping down by his kunai holster. A dark-haired young boy, barely looking ten years old, came in with a tray of food.

He cleared his throat nervously. "U-Uchiha-sama asked me to bring you lunch."

Naruto's mouth quirked up in a grin just as his stomach growled loudly in joy. "Just set it down over there," he said cheerfully, gesturing towards the desk. The tray held a selection of rice, steamed vegetables as well as a few fried sea foods. "Hey, kid," he said as the young boy turned to go.

"Y-Yes, sir?"

"See if you can't sneak me some ramen for dinner."

"Bu-but he already said what to fix for dinner."

Naruto grinned at the boy's apparent nervousness at the thought of disobeying the intimidating shinobi. "Yeah, but he didn't say anything about not adding something to the order, did he?"

"N-No."

"Then add three bowls of miso pork ramen and you'll have my eternal thanks!"

The boy smiled at the ear to ear grin that the blonde gave him and quickly departed.

Naruto paused a moment to look between the tray and the toothbrush. Shrugging, he tucked the utensil behind his ear and went for the food. "Itadakimasu!" he practically crowed right before the inhaling began.

Naruto gave a pleased belch as he surveyed the battlefield of empty dishes. They were fallen soldiers who had fought valorously against the dual enemies of starvation and gluttony, leaving behind only their cold white ceramic corpses to tell the horrific tale.

He briefly wondered if he should have saved Sasuke some, but then decided the bastard could go get his own. If he had wanted some, then he should have showed up in time.

He sighed happily, patted his belly lovingly like one would a favored pet, and then moved back over to the scroll on the floor. He lifted his hand up to his ear only to find the toothbrush missing. He frowned and looked back over to the desk. After running his eyes over the area, he found the navy blue hygienic tool under the desk. He quickly fished it out and hastily rubbed the dust bunnies off on his pants. He blew on it once or twice before he was satisfied that his friend would never notice where his precious toothbrush had been. Personally he was shocked that it didn't have the Uchiha mon on it somewhere. Probably not a whole lot of engravers specialized in toothbrushes.

He plopped down on his behind and carefully laid the toothbrush in the center of the kanji symbols. He channeled chakra as he made the appropriate hand seals before slapping his hands down upon the scroll.

Nothing happened.

Frowning, he compared the two scrolls, making sure all of the brush strokes matched. Brightening slightly, he made a couple of minor adjustments. Nodding, he readied himself once again. Chakra channeled, check. Hand seals, check. Slap the scroll, check. Toothbrush, poof. Success!

Jumping up, Naruto did a little victory dance in honor of his accomplishment. Okay, now time to bring the little booger back.

Chakra, hand seals, paper slapping.

No toothbrush.

"Shit!" he cursed in frustration.

He compared scrolls once again, but couldn't find any differences. Maybe he should touch up this kanji here…and maybe that one. He tucked the original scroll away and added a few brush strokes. Nodding decisively, he prepared the summoning for the toothbrush.

Draw up the chakra, perform the few hands seals, hands on the paper and…toothbrush!

A…pink toothbrush.

Sasuke was going to kill him.

Naruto tried several more times, but to no avail. The blue toothbrush was apparently lost in a void somewhere. Probably the same void that sucked socks into it from the dryer. Naruto never could figure that one out. He would put in twelve socks but only pulled out eleven. But every once in a while he would get lucky and pull out thirteen. But the thirteenth was usually green or blue or even pink occasionally. Those he kept for rare laundry emergency days since he normally didn't wear socks.

Shaking his head and dragging his mind back to the current predicament on hand, he held up the pink toothbrush. 'I wonder if it's Sakura's?'

Needless to say the uptight bastard would be pissed that he didn't have a navy blue toothbrush. Naruto's eyes widened as an idea struck. Jumping up, he quickly headed to the door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyoshiro was walking toward the quarters that Uchiha used whenever he accompanied Orochimaru-sama on a visit when the door unexpectedly opened. The blonde-haired vessel, who should have been asleep at the moment, hurriedly walked out. The young man started slightly when he saw him, but then brightened. After a brief glance down at Kyoshiro's hands, the blue-eyed jinchuuriki asked an unusual question.

"Does anyone around here use nail polish? Preferably dark blue?"

Kyoshiro blinked once or twice before pulling himself up with an air of superiority. "I wouldn't know," he murmured. The blonde immediately frowned and turned to walk away without another word. "I trust lunch was acceptable?"

The young man stopped and nodded while looking over his shoulder. "Except for the lack of ramen, it was good! Ja!" He waved a hand vaguely in the other's direction as he moved down the hall.

'Hmm, apparently a higher dosage and stronger sleep poison is required,' He watched the blonde head bob animatedly down the hallway. 'A lot stronger.'

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Sasuke ignored the knocking on the door. He had been holed up in the room all day trying to crack the vault. He believed he now had it. If they would let him alone that is. After he had left orders to feed the dobe, he had forgotten all about food. However at both noon and now later, some imbecile insisted on disrupting him merely to tell him food awaited him.

"Uchiha-sama," a young voice said respectfully. "It is time to eat."

While not wanting to acknowledge the presence, he figured he might as well answer to prevent further interruptions. "I will be out shortly." Not a lie exactly. It just depended on your definition of "shortly."

Two hours later found Sasuke walking towards the infirmary with a partially filled sack tucked up under his arm. He had decided to make a pit stop on the way to the kitchen to replenish any medical supplies that they might need. Not that Naruto made much use out of them, but he himself didn't have a demon residing in his gut tending his every wound.

He made sure to grab some extra vitamins as well as a few medicines they might need in the future. His face turned slightly red as he spotted an innocuous looking tube sitting on a counter next to some latex examination gloves. After staring at the lubricant for a long moment, he snatched it up and stuck it in an extra medical kit.

While trying to ignore the paranoid feeling that everyone he passed in the hall somehow had Byakugan and could see into the medical kit, Sasuke stopped by the mess hall to grab a quick sandwich. He knew he rode Naruto hard (his face turned red again) about taking care of his health, but Sasuke was in too much of a hurry to take his own advice. They had the scrolls, now he just wanted to get out of here.

As he approached his door, it suddenly opened and a young boy came through carrying a large tray full of empty dishes. What caught his attention the most was the half stunned look on the kid's face. What had the dobe done now? His nose twitched as the faint scent of ramen wafted by with the tray. Sasuke scowled and the boy ducked his head slightly, letting his eyes fall away.

"Would you like some dinner, Uchiha-sama?"

Sasuke recognized the voice as the one that had interrupted him several times today. "No," he said shortly and walked past the boy into the room. His eyes immediately sought out his companion.

Naruto was sitting on the floor with his back propped against the bed, casually looking through some jutsu scrolls.

"Hn. Try not to strain your brain, dobe." That hadn't actually been what he meant to say, but he supposed it would work.

"Hey, Sasuke. Glad to see you, too. Missed you bunches. Hope you had a good day, 'cause mine's been boring as fuck!" A pair of blue eyes glared up at him. "You better tell me you got those damn scrolls, 'cause I'm not going to sit here another day with my thumb up my ass doin' nothing."

Sasuke didn't think Naruto would appreciate comments on what else could be up his ass in his current mood, so he dropped the sack at the blonde's feet instead. "We leave in the morning."

"Finally," the other boy sighed with relief.

Thinking that Naruto must be irritable due to his inactivity, Sasuke thought to cheer him up the best way he knew how. "We'll get some training in as soon as we get into the woods again." He made a gesture with the hand holding the medical kit. "I got some more bandages for you to use after I kick your ass."

"You wish, teme!" came the expected comeback. "I will so beat you down!"

"Hn." He watched as Naruto blinked slowly, his eyes drooping slightly. "Let's get some sleep so we can get an early start."

"M'not tired," he slurred before giving a jaw-cracking yawn.

Sasuke smirked as he moved to lock the door, sealing it with his chakra. He then turned and started stripping down for bed. Even half asleep, Naruto managed a slightly lecherous grin. Sasuke fought down a blush successfully. "I'd be more impressed if you were actually awake enough to do something," he informed the other loftily.

"Give me a minute, bastard. I'll wake up for that."

"Hn. Get ready for bed." He moved past the other and slid under the covers, wearing only his boxers.

Naruto pushed himself to his feet, unsure why he felt so tired all of the sudden. Maybe it was working with the summons scroll so much. He stripped down to his briefs and turned out the lights.

He crawled onto the bed where Sasuke had already turned so his back was to Naruto. The younger of the two cautiously moved closer and allowed his arm to drape over the other's hip. He felt the pale body tense up for long moment before slowly relaxing. He put his head down on the pillow and lost himself quickly to his dreams.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke woke up to a dark room, wrapped within Naruto's arms. He wasn't sure how the clumsy ninja had managed to slide an arm under his head without waking him up, but he didn't feel the need to complain. Actually he was surprised that the dobe hadn't sprawled onto his back yet. Those two thoughts were just quick flashes through his mind as he tried to analyze what had caused him to awaken. It had been a noise…somewhat loud.

A noxious smell hit his nose and he immediately leapt to his feet, grabbing the kunai he always kept handy at night. His Sharingan activated, instantly scanning for a smoke bomb or some other source for the poisonous gas. He froze when his nose finally identified the fumes. A gurgling sound from behind him seemed to verify it.

"Naruto!"

The blonde, who had stirred at the sudden leaping about of his partner, blinked blearily up at him.

Now that he had the idiot's attention, he couldn't find words scathing enough to express his disgust. Just then, blue eyes widened almost comically and the scantily clad ninja was making a mad dash for the exit. Sasuke barely had time to release the jutsu on the door before it was thrown open and bare feet raced down the hall.

Sasuke left the door open for the moment, trying to air out the room. Although his first urge was to beat the …no, he didn't want to beat that out of him at the moment. Although he wanted to beat the dobe half to death, he had to wonder what had upset his stomach so badly. Sasuke snorted derisively to himself. It was probably the ramen. It was more than likely a shock to his system having been without it for so long.

After standing for a few moments, he finally gave up and lay back down. It was almost twenty minutes later that Naruto crept back into the room, closing the door behind him. He had taken two steps toward the bed when Sasuke spoke up. "You're sleeping on the floor."

"What? Bullshit I am!"

"I'm not letting you near me," Sasuke informed him coldly.

"Bastard, you'll smell it whether I'm on the floor or not. Besides, I think it's passed through me." His stomach chose that moment to gurgle out another complaint.

Sasuke gave a growl as he felt the bed dip under the blonde's weight. "Just keep that damn thing pointed away from me. It's a freaking bio hazard."

"Oh, like you've never farted or had an upset stomach before," Naruto sneered.

"Yea, but I've never blown toxic fumes out of my ass before," he argued disdainfully. "I thought we were under attack, that someone was trying to poison us!"

"Fuck you, bastard!"

"Better than me fucking you at the moment!" Sasuke shot back.

There was a shocked silence for a moment that was broken by sudden laughter. Sasuke felt his lips twitch as snickers and snorts made known the blonde's amusement at the whole situation. Sasuke smothered his own tickling mirth and grumped a "hn" that seemed to lack its usual arrogance.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sasuke stifled the urge to yawn. He would not show Naruto how tired he was from the blonde's frequent trips to the bathroom throughout the night. Every time the other ninja had gotten out of the bed, the disturbance had awoken the dark-haired young man.

It was a half-conscious Uchiha clan member that brushed his teeth while pointedly ignoring the blonde that was staring intently at him the whole time.

He then slunk back to their room to shoulder the two packs that he normally carried, only to find one. He blinked up at Naruto as the other ninja handed him a single scroll.

"I put them all into one pack and put the pack in here," he said as Sasuke took the scroll from him.

The raven-haired shinobi nodded and tucked the scroll away in the pouch around his waistband.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kyoshiro watched the two ninjas leave the lair. He had been unable to capture either one. One had refused to eat or had eaten directly from the kitchen. The other had been drugged with enough sleeping poison to knock out quite literally a horse and it had merely made him drowsy and given him diarrhea.

Kyoshiro however had a backup plan. One, he would send messenger birds to all of the major lairs and inform the other that Uchiha Sasuke had defected from Sound and that he and especially his companion were to be taken alive. Two, he would allow them to get several hours away from his base and then he would send his own men after them.

He was loyal to Orochimaru-sama and he would do what he could to help the Sannin regain his power, or in this case, possession.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They were traveling through the treetops, heading towards Earth Country. Naruto personally couldn't wait until they were done chasing after scrolls and able to settle down into some serious training. If Sasuke was serious about the two of them hunting down his brother, then they needed to relearn how to fight together and not just with each other.

His gaze moved over to the swiftly flowing body next to him. He was impressed that despite the bulky warm clothing and the weight of the lean muscled form the dark-eyed shinobi barely disturbed the snow on the branches of the trees that they leapt between.

He felt a warm curling in his gut and knew that he wanted the other man again. He also knew that he would wait until he received some signal, whether consciously given or not, that Sasuke would be receptive to his advances. Until then, he tried to tuck the feeling away for a more appropriate time.

"There's someone following us," the older boy announced calmly.

Naruto immediately had to quell the urge to rubberneck. "Yeah... I knew that," he attempted to reply with the same blasé tone.

Sasuke gave a scoffing snort. "Sure, dobe."

Naruto didn't quell the urge to stick his tongue out at the other. "So what do you want to do?" He had come to finally admit that advanced planning wasn't really his forte'. Improvisation was the arena in which he shined.

"Leave them a few parting gifts."

"I can leave a Kage Bushin behind to find out who they are," Naruto offered.

"They are Sound-nin," Sasuke replied confidently.

"How do you know that?"

"They've been following us for some time now. Obviously you screwed up somehow."

"Me?!"

"Who else would it be?" he asked dryly.

"Bastard," Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke quickly started setting traps with some of the ninja wire, kunai and explosive tags that they had on hand. He waved Naruto away when the other offered to help and cautioned him not to set off anything. Looking extremely put out, the blonde ninja sat pouting on a branch until his companion was done.

"It's crude," Sasuke said while looking over his handiwork. "But it might slow them down some."

With a gesture, they started off again.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

They continued on toward Earth with very few stops. They maintained their head start on the other ninjas both by setting a hard pace and by setting the occasional traps, forcing their pursuers to slow down to spot the impediments.

"We're getting close," Sasuke announced on the third day.

"Good, then we can get the hell out of this cold. I hate being wet and cold." Naruto was quickly getting over his enamored attitude with winter as the weather warmed just enough to turn things to slush but not warm enough to be a comfort.

Sasuke agreed to that statement though he wouldn't say so out loud.

They traveled for a few more hours when Sasuke felt the presence of others around him. He slowed to a stop and Naruto drew even with him. He could tell by the alert look on his friend's face that he was aware of the situation.

A voice called out through the icy air. "Uchiha Sasuke, you have been labeled a missing-nin of Sound. Lay down your weapons and we will be lenient."

"Yes, sure is my fault somehow," Naruto murmured. "I'm sure it had nothing to do with you locked up in the snake's library, plundering his vault."

Sasuke shot him a look before shifting his now-red gaze over his surroundings. There were about a half dozen shinobi in the area with more not too far behind.

"Stay here, dobe," Sasuke commanded quietly.

Naruto's eyes widened incredulously as the dark-haired youth jumped down in the middle of a clearing. 'What the hell does he think he's doing exposing himself like that?'

The black draped stoic figure stood still for a brief moment before pulling his katana from its sheath. Another moment and he was leaping high into the air as the area he had just been occupying was suddenly filled with kunai and shuriken. His leap carried him into the trees and towards his first target as he heard the familiar words "Tajuu Kage Bushin no Jutsu" behind him. He should have known that the dobe wouldn't sit out any fight.

He made the hand seals for "Katon: Housenka no Jutsu" one-handed as he had taught himself since learning swordsmanship from his late sensei. Having the weapon would be as much as a hindrance as a tool if he was forever having to drop it to use his ninjutsu.

Sasuke strafed the area with the multiple small fire balls, cutting off a readily available escape route for the Sound-nin. Forced through a curtain of flame, the ninja barely deflected the katana strike that was aimed at his neck. He was hard pressed to stay alive due to the sheer speed of Sasuke's attacks. Jumping back, he performed a few quick hand seals and the ground under the fire-user's feet turned to mud, pulling the man down into it and immobilizing him. An electrical aura manifested around the body, pushing the earth jutsu back, both drying and cracking the mud.

Sasuke jumped out of the muck and charged the other ninja, shuriken preceding him. Quickly deflecting the throwing stars, the Sound-nin tried to block the oncoming sword. The glowing weapon sliced right through the steel of his kunai and descended toward his body. It was then when he saw the sword coming at him and he knew he had no moves left to protect himself that he felt the sudden blossoming pain in the back of his skull. The world quickly went dark.

Sasuke quickly checked his swing as Naruto straightened from the round house kick he had just delivered. Before he could demand to know what the dobe was doing, the blonde spoke.

"Let's get out of here while they are busy, before the others catch up."

Sasuke paused as he slowly admitted he was right. While he was irritated and annoyed that the other scrolls were now out of his reach, it would serve no real purpose continuing this fight. He glanced around to see the mass number of black and orange clad blondes and shook his head. "Just how many times can you divide your chakra and still have any left?"

Without waiting for an answer, he wrapped an arm around Naruto's waist and disappeared in a swirl of smoke. They did this several more times as what was left of Naruto's clones scattered to the four winds, leaving trails heading in several directions.

They traveled silently for several hours before Sasuke finally spoke again. "If they have me labeled as a missing-nin, we won't be able to just walk into any more of Sound's bases. We'll have to make do with the scrolls that we have and find some place to train."

Naruto thought for several moments before he looked at his friend with a smile. "I think I know the perfect place."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tsunade sighed wearily as she stared at her desk. The paperwork was close to overflowing the sides and she couldn't bring herself to care very much. The last few months have brought nothing but bad news after bad news. They had lost two very talented and loyal ninjas, first Naruto and now Asuma.

There were so many rumors and so much speculation with what was happening in Sound amongst her spies. Some of the paperwork on her desk was reports which included interviews with survivors, overheard conversations in Rice Field Country as well as supposedly intercepted communications. Frankly, she didn't know what to believe any more. She wanted to hope. She so badly wanted to hope that Naruto had somehow found a way back from Orochimaru's jutsu, but if there was such a way she didn't know what it could be.

What she needed right now was solid evidence, real information. What the council needed was Naruto back in Konoha on a leash. What Naruto needed was a chance to prove himself and the support of people who believed in him. What Uchiha Sasuke needed was someone to knock some sense into him so that he could see that he had left behind the very thing that he needed most, his friends and his village. Well, everyone needed something and as Hokage she was supposed to provide those things that were needed most. To do that, she needed her information so that she could make the appropriate decisions.

Wrapped up in her thoughts, she didn't hear the door open or the person enter the office. Decision made, she raised her voice to call her assistant. "Shizune!"

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?" a voice said right next to her desk.

Tsunade started slightly and gave the younger woman a glare. "Don't sneak up on me."

"But, Tsunade-sama, I am a ninja," Shizune pointed out with a small smirk.

Tsunade scowled but then gave a rueful snort. "Get Team 8 for me and Sai."

"Of course," she answered with a smile. "And while I am doing that, these reports need reviewed and stamped."

Tsunade gave a low grumble, but obediently started on the paperwork while waiting for the requested shinobi.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sai stood with his back to the wall waiting for the others to show up. The Hokage had said nothing to him except to invite him into the room. Now he lazed against the wall watching her do cursory glances over reports that were probably about as interesting as what was underneath her panties. No matter what her appearance, she was over fifty years old after all.

Although bored with waiting, he gave no physical indication of his emotional state. Danzou had been very strict during his training and any emotional display was dealt with harshly. Emotions were for the weak of mind and spirit, according to his late instructor. However, he had come to learn not long ago that those with emotions were sometimes much stronger than those around them. Thanks to Naruto he had relearned what it meant to feel something for someone. He wondered how the blonde was faring. It would be a shame if Orochimaru had really swallowed up his soul. Sai really didn't believe it however. The strength of the bond he shared with the Uchiha brat would be enough to lead the blonde back to himself.

An errant wish to have his sketch pad with him floated through his mind before he banished it to stillness once again. What was going to happen would happen in its own time and wishing otherwise would not change it. However annoying it was to wait. He entertained himself by wondering how long it would take Naruto to get into Uchiha's pants once the two of them actually got together. He just hoped for Naruto's sake that the Sharingan user was better endowed than the blonde had evidenced in the onsen.

A knock on the door interrupted his musings and Tsunade-sama called for entrance. The three chuunin members of Team 8 along with one large white fuzzy four-legged member walked through the door and presented themselves before the Hokage's desk. They all murmured their greetings to their leader and waited for her to speak. Tsunade eyed the three of them and then shifted her eyes to Sai. She made a short motion and he stepped up to the desk next to the others. Three sets of eyes glanced at him curiously then shifted back to the Hokage as she began to speak.

"I need the four of you to do some information gathering for me. Three of you already have an idea of what is going on, but I need you as well, Kiba, because of your and Akamaru's keen senses. Right now most of Jounin and Anbu members are tied up with another project, so I am counting on you to do this right."

She paused to gather her thoughts. "You all were there for the encounter we had with Sound about seven, eight months ago. I have had people on the lookout for Sasuke, Orochimaru, Kabuto and Naruto but I am getting conflicting and confusing reports."

Her honey colored eyes took them all in as if to impress on them how important what she had to say was. "I want you four to find Naruto. I want to know what has happened to him. I want to know if he is in control of his own faculties. I want him brought home so that we can help him and for Kami-sama's sake bring that Uchiha home as well so that baka won't run off after him again!"

She sighed and ran a tired hand through the pony-tails in her hair. "Mainly try to find out what is going on. If you can't bring him home, stay with him. The last place he was spotted was in Lightning Country." She unrolled a map and showed them the location. "That was a few weeks ago. Send me reports any time you move or find something, verified by the way, that has happened concerning any of those four. Do you understand your orders?"

Team Eight merely nodded, Kiba a little confusedly. Sai reiterated his orders so there wasn't any question. "Find Naruto. Make sure that Orochimaru is not controlling his body. Bring him and the Uchiha back, if that is impossible, stay near them. Observe and report." Kiba's eyes widened at the bluntly stated objectives, but a nudge from Hinata stopped any demands for information.

"You seem awfully sure that Naruto is with Sasuke," Tsunade observed shrewdly.

Sai gave her one of his trademark empty smiles. Smiling either made people feel at ease or threw them off track. "I am sure of it." He gave the Hokage a bow. "I will make sure to inform my team members what they need to know to ensure the success of our mission." That of course could be taken one of two ways. Either he would tell them everything or only enough to get them by. He wondered which the Hokage would assume it was. By the glare he was receiving it was the former. Which meant that she was a very perceptive shinobi and that paperwork hadn't dulled her mind like sitting behind the desk had widened her rear end.

"I don't have to tell any of you that anything you learn on this mission is classified. You will tell no one anything about what you learn except myself." Her look threatened death if her orders were not carried out.

Hinata, Kiba and Akamaru gulped at the look. Shino merely nodded like it was expected. Sai gave another happy grin and turned to leave the room. As the others fell into step behind him, Shino paused and looked back at Tsunade. "Who is in charge of the mission?"

Tsunade frowned like she was unhappy with her answer. "Sai has rank."

Shino nodded and followed the others from the room.

Sai was waiting for everyone to gather together in front of the Hokage's office. "We will be gone for an extended period of time, be aware of that when packing your gear. We will meet at the front gates in an hour. If you are not there by then, you will be left behind."

Chapter 12

The cave was the first place that the two shinobi had been able to rest at in over a week. While Naruto's clones had thrown off pursuit to begin with, the Sound-nin had been able to pick up their trail again. The two young men were exhausted with the head-long flight through cold weather and unfamiliar territory as they tried to lose their hunters. They had spent the last week cat-napping when possible, eating on the run when they had time and avoiding human habitation.

Sasuke set about trapping the entrance quite lethally while Naruto made some hot tea and rice. He used some drift wood that was scattered about just inside the cave, hoping it would be dry enough. Neither said a word as they quickly consumed their meal. They peeled out of their damp clothes and set them near the small fire to help dry. They used one of the blankets as ground cover and snuggled together under the other, sharing body heat, self-consciousness forgotten in their fatigue. Within minutes they were both asleep, trying to recover from their flight through the wilds.

Sasuke felt himself surfacing to awareness. The warmth of the body next to him was relaxing and tempted him to sink back into oblivion, but he knew that they would have to move again soon. He opened his eyes to find himself cuddled up to a broad chest. Naruto was once again on his back, snoring lightly, sprawled under the blankets carelessly.

Softly, so as not to disturb the slumbering demon vessel, Sasuke ran his fingertips over the whisker-like marks that so resembled the kitsune within him. His fingers continued up into the downy hair, catching on a few tangles. He smiled softly to himself. He hadn't had time to properly take care of his dobe lately. He could feel something inside himself rail at his thoughts, something that tried to make him clam up again and deny his attraction, but he forcefully ignored it. He was going to indulge himself for these few moments.

His fingers drifted down to that expanse of tanned skin upon which his cheek rested. His hand trembled slightly as his touch ghosted over a painfully familiar area. The skin was unmarred thanks to the Kyuubi, but he knew. He knew that he had been the one to hurt Naruto painfully with his actions. Without pausing to think, he scooted up and leaned over his friend. His precious friend. His warm breath fluttered airily over the flesh as his lips gently caressed it in a fleeting kiss.

The part of him that had been beaten into momentary submission flared to life, giving him so many reasons why he shouldn't be feeling these things for this man. Why he shouldn't feel anything for anyone. Turning away, he sat up and stared at the dimly lit wall of the cave. He missed the blue eyes opening and staring at him with a wealth of emotions displayed for any to see.

He tensed as the body next to him gave a long stretch. "Hmmm, morning," came the sleepy voice. Naruto casually stood, allowing the blanket to slip from his body. He ruffled Sasuke's hair almost playfully before moving over to pull on his clothes.

"Moron," Sasuke grumbled half-heartedly as he tried to straighten up his hair.

Naruto snickered at his friend's lack of progress. "I don't know why you try. It's still going to look like a chicken's butt no matter what you do."

"Hn."

"And so witty, too," Naruto teased, throwing his friend's words back at him. Ignoring the dark look directed his way, he moved to the entrance to take a quick look around. "Think we have enough time for some hot tea before we go?"

"Hn," he grunted in agreement. He stood and quickly dressed while the blonde continued to look out the cave opening. "I've been thinking. Instead of avoiding towns, we need to find a large one to get lost in."

"That should be easy. I've been lost in several."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I mean we need to blend in with the population and lose our pursuers in the crowd. Maybe go so far as to disguise ourselves or something. Otherwise they are going to continue until we have them on our doorstep." He built up the fire until it was large enough to heat water. "Go grab some snow to melt. Preferably not the yellow kind."

"Pfft. Don't you mean slush?" He caught the canteen tossed his way. "I'll see if there isn't any fresh water around."

"Don't go too far. I don't want to have to look for you when I come rescue you from whatever hole you fall into."

Naruto replied in the form of a hand gesture before ducking out the entrance.

Thirty minutes later Sasuke was about ready to go looking for the other ninja. He should have known better than to let him loose out on his own. With his luck, he probably stumbled right into the enemy's camp and then stood there scratching the back of his head while giving an embarrassed laugh. Not that it didn't work some of the times strangely enough, but that was not the point.

Just then a dripping wet, muddy apparition appeared at the cave entrance. He heard teeth grind as the vision came into the cave and held up a water canteen. "Don't say a damn word," came the growled warning.

Sasuke blinked a time or two and calmly took the canteen.

"I found a creek-"

"Apparently."

A bright blue glare was directed his way. "But the melting snow made the banks slippery. They were pretty steep, too."

Sasuke looked over the muddy hair with the occasional bright yellow peeking through, the dirt smeared orange pants and the filthy poncho. He held up the canteen and shook it meaningfully. "I don't think there's enough here to take a bath with."

"Shut up, teme," he growled.

Sasuke shook his head. "We'll cross into Fire Country and hit a large trade town. Something with a transient population."

"We'll have a higher chance of running into Leaf shinobi that way," Naruto warned.

"I know that, dobe. But the Sound-nin will be hesitant about following us there and they certainly won't attack us. Once there, we can lose ourselves either by joining a group of travelers or by sneaking out after we've lost them." Sasuke took out the tea leaves and added the last of the packet to the hot water. "We can also restock on rations." He eyed Naruto gaugingly. "And I know your stomach must be gnawing at your spine by now."

Naruto's stomach took the opportunity to loudly agree. A light blush graced the whiskered cheeks as a hand reflexively went to scratch the back of his head. "Heh, yeah, kinda."

While waiting for the tea to steep, Naruto took the opportunity to wash his face with some cold water and to brush his teeth. He wasn't even going to try brushing out his hair until the mud dried fully and would flake out. He folded up their blankets and was about to put them away when Sasuke called him to tea. After blowing on it a few times, he guzzled his down, emitting little yips as he burned his tongue. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and drank his at a more sedate pace.

Naruto pulled out both of their packs and started rifling through them, looking for some scrap of anything to eat. Finding nothing, he resigned himself to a day of foraging on the run. His raven-haired friend came up, grabbed his pack and liberated his toothbrush from the blonde's pilfering. Naruto blinked at him a few times as he grabbed the canteen and proceeded to start brushing his teeth. There was a flurry of activity as the blankets were folded and all remnants of the camp was packed away.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment with his toothbrush stuck in his mouth. He only wished that the dobe was always so thorough and helpful in tearing down camp. He spit and rinsed his mouth out as the blonde was heading toward the cave entrance, dropping Sasuke's pack next to him on the way.

'At least the idiot could wait a minute,' he thought to himself. He glanced down to put his toothbrush away when he saw a streak of pink on it. Confused he held it up to the stream of light coming in from the morning sun. He rubbed his thumbnail over the spot and frowned as the blue flaked off to reveal more of the pink beneath. His head whipped around to see the retreating back of his friend ducking through the entrance rather quickly.

"Naruto!" He knew somehow, someway that the usuratonkachi was responsible for this.

Naruto looked over the large town spread out before him with heart-felt appreciation. They had spent several days traveling to this trade town, having to circle around to the south so that they weren't seen coming from the direction of Rice Field Country. There were regular patrols between the borders of the two countries and anyone was subject to being stopped and questioned if coming from the direction of Fire's enemies. The patrols had also seemed to work in their favor in that they had lost the presence of their pursuers.

"Let's get a room with its own bath," Naruto suggested.

"The less we're seen the better," Sasuke agreed.

"That, too. I just want a shower and then a hot soak in the bath without interruptions."

"And maybe one with a guest accessible laundry room," his friend suggested, looking at the mud splattered clothing.

"I'm not doing your laundry, teme, so don't even say it," the blonde warned.

"It will give you something to do while I am out getting supplies. I stand out less than you," he rationalized.

"Pfft. A pretty boy like you? You would stand out anywhere."

Was that an insult or compliment? Sasuke decided to go for neutral. "Whatever, dobe." He adjusted his pack and started toward the town. "Besides, I know you too well. We would end up with a pack full of ramen and little else."

"What's wrong with that? It never spoils!"

"Because you are back sliding, dobe. You haven't meditated in gods know how long, we haven't been able to eat well or very often. The only thing you have going for you right now is that you've been able to take your vitamins."

"Awww, Sasuke! I didn't know you cared!" He bumped lightly into his friend, wearing a large grin.

"Hn. I don't. I just want you healthy so you will be useful to me," he retorted shortly, while pushing the blonde away.

Naruto's bottom lip stuck out in a pout for all of three or four seconds before he smiled happily. "Whatever, teme." They walked on for a few moments before he spoke up again. "Hey about those vitamins that you make me take, they are really nasty tasting and are as big as marbles practically. Can we get some chewable ones in town?"

Sasuke snorted sardonically. "Shall we get them fruit flavored, too?"

"Could you?!" Naruto asked hopefully.

Sasuke merely closed his eyes and shook his head in disparagement.

Just before they entered town, Naruto pulled up his hood to cover his hair and pulled his arms into the poncho. Sasuke heard a little mutter that was followed by a few puffs of smoke escaping from the openings. When he saw that the young man's stature had changed to a slimmer, smaller form he understood. It was better that a man and woman was seen entering the town rather than two men. He frowned when he could barely detect the chakra use that maintained the disguise.

Naruto noticed his look. "I improved it to be useful for undercover missions. As long as someone isn't really looking for it, the chakra use is overlooked since it is about the level of your average civilian's," a soft feminine voice said from under the cover of the hood. The tone turned a little smug. "That and I tweaked it a little so I can change the features to what I want."

The hood turned slightly and noticed the look on the pale face. "Don't give me shit, teme! You don't know what it's like having to play cocktease just to get training out of your sensei!"

Sasuke didn't reply but he could feel his face heat up in a deep blush.

"Oh shit, don't tell me you, too?" Naruto frowned beneath the cloth mantle. "You said he never touched you, right?"

"That's what I said," he growled, not wanting to have this discussion.

"You didn't lie to me, did you?" the feminine tone seemed to make the hurt intonation even more forlorn.

"No, I didn't lie to you." Sasuke drew a breath and let it out in a sigh. "He just liked to... watch me."

"Watch you do what?" he persisted.

"Hn. Everything. Like you said, I got better training whenever I was... teasing."

"Ero-sennin would make me use my sexy jutsu just so he could drool over me when he needed "inspiration." Bastard refused to train me unless I would do it." He paused a moment in contemplation. "I think it is official then," Naruto announced. "Sannin are obviously perverts. All of them."

Sasuke gave a snort of laughter.

"You remember Tsunade? The woman that healed you in the hospital, the new Hokage?"

"Vaguely. I have heard Oro- ... my previous sensei talk about her occassionally."

"Yeah, well she is training Sakura now. And she's a Sannin, too." Naruto paused for effect. "Makes you wonder what poor Sakura is having to do for her training."

They both shuddered at the mental pictures evoked by that statement.

They stood at the reception desk of a hotel that had met with Sasuke's approval, waiting for the matronly woman to assign them a room. "You do realize that you will have to get separate rooms. We do not allow couples unless they are wed. We run a respectable business here," the woman told them sternly.

Sasuke was about to turn and step out when Naruto pushed back the hood of the cloak. He froze when he saw what could have been his twin sister. "You shouldn't worry about me and aniki, obasan. I can assure you we have shared rooms since we were little! No one would dare bother me with aniki here to take care of me!" the throaty feminine voice assured the older woman sweetly.

The woman hesitated, but couldn't help but smile at the endearing, pretty little thing.

"Aniki picked me up from school to go home to see our parents! We have been traveling quite a bit and have found that things are so much more expensive than what we thought! Why traveling has taken up most of my savings from my job as an assistant at the hospital." Naruto gave a very sad face and added tragically, "I don't think I will even be able to bring my dearest mother a gift home to show her how much I have missed her!"

"Oh, you poor thing!" the older woman commiserated. "It is so hard nowadays being separated from family. Well, I am not going to make you spend what little money you have left on an extra room!" She turned and grabbed a key from the wall and turned the ledger toward Sasuke. "This room should be big enough and give you some privacy for your bath."

Naruto gave a grateful smile, looking ready to deliver a hug to the older woman at any moment.

Sasuke and his "sister" walked through the door and entered the hallway leading to the various rooms. Their steps echoed slightly on the polished hardwood floors. "Good performance," he murmured in a low tone.

"Why, thank you," his twin answered with barely twitching those coral pink lips. "I expect to be at least nominated for an award."

Sasuke smirked as he unlocked the door and ushered the other into the room. "You could give Koyuki-hime a run for her money," he said, referring to the ex-actress turned princess of Snow Country.

Naruto gave an unlady-like snort as the door closed. He dropped the jutsu and rubbed a hand over his chest. "Much better."

"Just make sure you don't leave the room as a male. Now go get cleaned up so I can take my turn."

Naruto shed his coat, shirt and shoes before heading into the bathroom. The sound of a shower soon filled the room as Sasuke pulled their dirty clothes out of their packs. He realized with some dismay that they didn't have any clean clothes left. He walked over and knocked on the bathroom door. "Dobe?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to run to grab some clothes," he said through the closed door.

"What?"

"I said I am going to go get some clothes," he repeated.

"Can't hear you over the water. Come in already!"

Sasuke sighed and opened the door. His words died in his throat as he saw the body behind the clear glass shower door.

"Hey, bastard, wanna help me get my back? I think I got mud caked on me and I can't reach it."

'Bad idea. Bad idea. Bad idea,' chanted his brain, but as the blood left and flowed southward, he seemed unable to hear it anymore. His hands moved on their own, disrobing him and dropping the dirty articles of clothing on the floor heedlessly. Before he even realized it, he was opening the shower stall and stepping inside to join a very naked, very wet and very hot blonde.

Naruto half turned and handed him a washcloth with a carefree smile. Sasuke glanced at the only adornment that still graced the tan body in the form of a crystal necklace. He had noticed that the blonde never took it off, but had never gotten around to asking him about it. Looking up, his friend's eyes told him not to ask now either. He took the cloth and nudged the broad shoulders. "Turn around, dobe," he said a little hoarsely.

Naruto turned and placed his hands against the beige tile walls, letting the water cascade down his back. Sasuke soaped up the washcloth and hesitated before placing a hand lightly against the other male's hip. He carefully started to rub the washcloth over the tanned skin, watching as the suds trailed down the broad expanse to slip down firm buttocks and thighs. Sasuke quickly came to the opinion that this was greater torture than anything that Ibiki and Orochimaru could jointly conjure.

Naruto gave a soft moan of appreciation that proved to be Sasuke's undoing. He absentmindedly placed the cloth on a bar set into the wall as his head lowered down to that tantalizing wet skin. His lips brushed over the small of the back, then followed the water upstream along the spine. A groan rewarded his efforts as he continued up and across muscled shoulder blades. He moved closer until his hardness pressed boldly against rounded globes of flesh, finding a cradle between them.

Naruto gasped and pressed back against the cock nestled against his ass. He straightened up, allowing those lips that were trying to devour him access to his neck. They found a meaty spot on the outside of his shoulder and bit down hard. He hissed and jerked slightly.

"Not so hard at first, start gently then work your way up," he tried to say as softly as he could so as not to offend the pride of the one behind him. When the mouth hesitated, he carefully reached back to entangle his fingers into the black locks. He guided the head to the juncture of where his neck met his shoulder.

"Right there. Start lightly then add pressure until you get the reaction you want. Until you learn what your partner likes."

The mouth lowered over the tanned flesh and gently sunk teeth into it. The jaws tightened until a moan was heard, then started to loosen. "More," Naruto urged a little breathlessly. The teeth bore down once more until the moan turned into a gasp, hips lifted to push back forcefully and the head fell back in pleasure. "Yes," he shuddered, "like that." The teeth reluctantly let go and a light kiss was dropped in their place.

Sasuke allowed his hands to explore Naruto's chest blindly as he nuzzled and kissed his friend's neck. He couldn't help but rock his hips against the silky firmness of the other's buttocks. He wanted to be inside of him so badly that he throbbed with each heartbeat. His own leaking fluid soon had the little valley at the top of the blonde's rear slickened and he slid against him easily.

He felt a hand gently take his and firmly trail the both of them down over a tautly muscled abdomen. The hand guiding his paused as he felt a jolt of pleasure almost leap to his skin as if from an electrical current.

Naruto moaned as Sasuke's hand rubbed and kneaded the soft, marked skin of his stomach. While the sensation was arousing, he wanted his friend's hand elsewhere. Exerting a little pressure, he urged their hands down to the juncture between the blonde's thighs. With their fingers still entwined, their hands skimmed over the hardened length that pulsed at the sudden attention.

Sasuke's hand was guided lower to cup and stroke once or twice over a tight sac, then back up to curl around a thick shaft. Sasuke had never experienced anything as erotic as having Naruto guiding his hand over the younger man's own erection, showing him what brought him pleasure.

Naruto's head tilted to the side and the hand that was still in Sasuke's hair guided his mouth back to the sensitive skin. As his teeth sunk into flesh, Naruto tightened his grip and started moving their hands faster. Sasuke couldn't get over the feel of how hard and hot the other man's shaft was. Touching him like this was completely different than touching himself. It was so much more exciting, so much more arousing. It seemed to bring out his baser instincts toward dominance and possession.

Naruto's breath was coming faster now and his muscles were slowly starting to tighten. Sasuke started nipping and biting along his shoulder and neck, being careful not to bear down too hard but was being rougher than he was previously. If the hair pulling and moans were any indication, the blonde didn't mind in the least. The broad chest was starting to act like bellows, forcing the air out of his lungs fast and hard before trying to drag a ragged breath back in. Sasuke's hips were grinding hard against the blonde's ass now, trying to force his body along the same path, the same timing as Naruto's.

Sasuke felt Naruto tense within his embrace. "Sa..Sas..k..." his lover tried and failed to utter his name. The hand in his hair suddenly jerked his face hard into the juncture of neck and shoulder and Sasuke knew what he wanted. Panting harshly, Sasuke waited until every muscle went rigid then allowed his teeth to pierce skin.

Naruto cried out gutturally as his orgasm ripped through his body, wrenching every muscle, draining every reserve and emptying it out in thick jets onto the slick tiles below. He felt a hot wash go across his back as teeth clenched harder, fingers dug into his ribs and a hand tightened almost painfully around his cock. Sasuke's voice moaned around his mouthful of flesh as he kept Naruto's body in a death grip. The teeth slowly let loose and the muscles relaxed and they leaned on each other, trying to hold themselves up on shaky legs.

"Well," Naruto finally said with a sigh as he straightened up. "If we're doing this for stress relief, I would say it's working. I wouldn't give a shit right now if every damn Sound-nin on the continent knocked on our door." He gave a stretch under the still warm water. "Does this count as meditation? That would be nice." He turned around to look at his glaze-eyed companion. "You know, I am beginning to suspect you aren't worth a fuck after sex. Pardon the expression."

Sasuke gave a sound that Naruto guessed was supposed to be a "hn" but it only came out as a "h." Chuckling, he picked up the washcloth and began to bathe the tired but beautiful pale body in front of him.

The two young men soaked quietly in the hot water. There was enough room for them both in the large tub as long as they didn't mind their legs entangled together. At that point they were both drowsy enough that they didn't care.

Sasuke cracked an eye open as he felt the pleasurable pressure of a foot against his groin. He looked over at his companion to see languidly closed eyes that would have denoted innocence had it not been for the mischievous grin stretching those wonderfully full lips. "Knock it off, dobe. Play time is over."

Those cute lips turned down into a pout. "You're no fun." The foot stroked gently along his twitching length, trying to tempt him.

He reached down and grabbed the foot, stopping its motions from stirring him up further. "We aren't here to have fun. We're here to resupply so we can go find our training spot." He scowled slightly and decided to emphasize a point to the other before things got further out of hand. "You're not here to be my boyfriend, nor my playmate, nor my fuck buddy nor anything else you might have delusions of in your mind. You're here to help me train so that I can hunt him down and obtain vengeance for my clan. I don't need you for anything else."

Naruto felt a shaft of pain go through his chest not too unlike the one he had felt at The Valley of the End. Instead of surrendering himself to it, however, he let anger try to burn it away. He abruptly stood letting the water sluice off his body as he reached for a towel. "Hmm, we must be in "stoic avenger" mode I see. Mr.-I-don't-need-anyone-but-myself-because-I-am-so-fucking-pathetic-that-contact-wth-another-human-being-makes-me-weak." He stepped out of the tub and began drying himself vigorously. "Well, here is something for you to chew on, Sasuke. Have you ever stopped to wonder why that the two that you idolized so much because of their power, hatred and self-sufficiency, the two that encouraged you to sever all of your ties and isolate yourself, both had partners that they relied on heavily and trusted with their lives?"

Ignoring the intense but unreadable look he received, Naruto stormed out of the bathroom, scooping up the dirty laundry on the way through the door.

Naruto sat on the small bench in front of the short row of washers, watching the machine vibrate as it spun out the water. Had he been in his normal male form, he would probably be sitting on the washer, letting it shake him up while he tried to sing. Unfortunately, he had to sit lady-like to protect his disguise. Naturally he emulated Hinata in his attempt since none of the other kunoichi he knew had a gentler aspect to their femininity. At least not when they were around him. He had to teach Sasuke his jutsu so that the bastard could be the girl next time. Kami-sama knew he was prissy enough to be one.

Just once he wished the bastard didn't have to make things so damn difficult and complicated. He would love to be able to walk up to him and touch the raven-haired boy without fear of seeing his dark graphite-colored eyes shut him out and draw away from him. He was afraid of taking the chance of losing him. It would be the one blow from which he could never just stand back up.

The washer buzzed and he stood up with a sigh. Grabbing the clothes, he tossed them in a dryer almost wishing he had washed his orange pants with Sasuke's white shirts just to spite him.

'Maybe I was too pushy, too touchy.' He thought as he sat back down and watched the clothes tumble in circles.

About an hour later, Naruto still hadn't resolved how to handle his friend's hot/cold attitude. The only thing he knew to do was to keep his distance until he was wanted and immediately withdraw again. He grimaced at the thought. What he really needed to do was just be there for his friend, support him and try to help him put the pieces of his soul back together. That and kick his ass a few times a day until he dislodged the stick that was currently imbedded in it.

He finished folding the clothes and took everything back to their room. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, immediately spotting the sleeping form under the blankets on one bed. Closing and securing the door, he gently laid the clean clothes down on the dresser. His eyes shifted longingly over to the occupied bed as he released his jutsu. He was bone tired what with their travels, the great sex and the hot bath. His stomach grumbled but he ignored it as he shucked the hotel robe and slid into the empty bed.

Red. Everything around him was tinged in the color from the crimson aura that surrounded him to the blood that bathed him. The ground under his feet was red clay as were the tall statues flanking the huge thundering fall that flowed with ensanguined water. Red were the eyes that watched him.

The twitching of a hand-shaped wing was the only warning before the creature in front of him attacked. The two clashed together not with Chidori and Rasengan this time, but with fangs and claws. Talons shredded skin and canines bit into flesh. They were forcibly parted as a well-placed kick to his stomach threw him several meters. Again they charged and grappled. Naruto was able to land a hard uppercut and would have followed through with a kick to the stomach had not the other flapped his wings hard and lifted into the air.

"Why?" Naruto demanded to know. "Why did you betray the village? Why did you betray our friendship?"

The fury on the dark-skinned face was plainly evident. "No, Naruto! It wasn't me this time, it was you! You betrayed the village! You let the demon loose! You killed the Hokage, our teachers, our friends. You destroyed the village and killed everyone! You," his voice hitched and anguish joined the rage in his wildly spinning eyes. "You killed my wife and unborn child. The future of my clan." His voice dropped into a harsh whisper. "You took everything from me." Lightning gathered in his left hand, the chirping birds almost drowning out his next words. "I will not leave you alive this time. This time you will die here."

Naruto watched as the wings thrust powerfully, propelling Sasuke towards him. He stood there and made no move to defend himself. "I killed them all," he whispered, tears welling up and sizzling against the heat of his aura. He shook his head in denial. "No. Oh please, no."

His vision was quickly eclipsed by the brilliant ball of lightning coming at his chest.

"Naruto!"

Sasuke watched as the whimpering boy sat bolt upright at the sound of his name. A tanned, calloused hand immediately went to his chest protectively. Their eyes met and Naruto jerked himself away from him, gaze filling with both fear and sorrow. Sasuke felt his stomach twist in pain from that look, but believed it was no better than he should expect. He knew better than to believe he could hurt his friend that badly and have it be forgiven and forgotten.

"It was a dream," Naruto breathed heavily but with apparent relief. "The Valley of the End. It was a dream." His pale eyebrows rose slightly in capitulation. "Okay, maybe a nightmare."

"Yes, a nightmare," Sasuke agreed quietly, turning away from the bed.

"You saw it?" he asked anxiously, still befuddled with sleep.

Sasuke slowly turned back to him, a little confused. "Dobe...Naruto, I was there..."

"Some trip, huh?" the blonde mumbled, looking down at the blankets. "The bloody waterfall...the red stained rocks..." He shuddered in memory.

Sasuke was even more confused. "Naruto, what are you talking about? If anything, it was all grey, not red."

Naruto shook his head. "Not the first time, this time. In the dream." His hand went over to his right shoulder and started to absently rub his unmarked skin.

Sasuke repressed a wild urge to yank the other's hand away from the spot. It was too painful of a reminder both of what he had done and that Naruto didn't fully trust him, yet. If he ever would again. "What did you dream?" he asked, trying to take his eyes off of the repetitively stroking fingers.

"We were there again, fighting. I had killed everyone and destroyed the village. You were taking revenge for them and for your wife and child." Naruto's voice had dropped to a wretched whisper.

"Hn. Well that goes to prove that it was just a nightmare. I don't have a wife, nor do I plan on getting one anytime in the near future." The idea of having a wife reminded him of Nara's favorite saying. 'Troublesome, indeed.'

"Sasuke! This isn't a joke! It could really happen!" After his outburst, he looked away from his friend's dark eyes once more. "Look what happened at the lair."

Sasuke sighed. This is what he hadn't missed when living with a bunch of psychopathic killers. Guilt and remorse. "Naruto..." He stopped to try to find the words to say what he really meant to say. "It wasn't totally your responsibility at the lair. It was the Kyuubi..."

"I was aware, Sasuke. At some level, I was aware. I was pissed because I had been locked in my mind for months, I was pissed because the damn demon betrayed me and I was pissed because they had kept you away from me for so long. I didn't try to fight the urges as strongly as I would have and I let it have its way." At this point he was looking Sasuke directly in the eyes, daring him to argue the point. "It was my responsibility."

Sasuke slowly let a smirk curl his lips. "And you know what, dobe? Everything that you just said should tell you why you would never let that happen at the village. Do you know that there wasn't one servant among the dead at the lair? There were no innocents, only other shinobi. You couldn't bring yourself to hurt innocents there and you won't hurt innocents later. Don't feel sorry for men who willingly allied themselves with the snake."

"You mean people like you?" Naruto ignored the immediate scowl. "People who didn't do it because they were evil, but because they were just stupid?"

Sasuke found himself sighing again. "We are shinobi, Naruto. Even when we make dumb moves, we are still shinobi and we are responsible for our own actions even when they lead to our deaths. So no, you shouldn't feel sorry for us."

Naruto slowly smiled a ghost of a mischievous smile. "At least you have finally admitted it was a dumb move."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Shut up and come eat, dobe."

Trying to push his nightmare aside for the moment, Naruto hopped out of the bed with forced enthusiasm. "Fooooood!" He sniffed the air happily.

Sasuke slowly let his eyes trail down all of that wonderfully exposed tan skin. "You might want to at least put on some pants or something."

Naruto gave him a genuine leering smile. "But why, Sasuke?"

Lifting his chin when he felt the tell-tale heat starting in his cheeks, Sasuke dared to look pointedly down at Naruto's waist. "Because I don't think you will want to spill hot ramen broth on your pride and joy."

"Ramen!" The blonde practically bounced (along with certain interesting parts of his anatomy) over to the table where Sasuke had set down the bags of take out.

"Clothes or no ramen," Sasuke growled. He wouldn't be able to eat with that kind of distraction at the table. Naruto gave him a cute pout before going to the pile of folded clothes on the dresser. He snagged a pair of boxers and started slipping into them. "Hey! Those are mi...never mind." The blonde was already sitting at the low table, pawing through the sacks. He made a mental note to buy some more boxers tomorrow while he was getting supplies. Eying how snug his fit across Naruto's ass, he made a mental addendum to that note to keep buying them in his own size.

Realizing that if he didn't get over to the table soon that he wouldn't be eating anyway, Sasuke quickly sat down and went about rescuing something edible from the Gullet of Doom across the table.

Naruto paused in shoveling food onto the sturdy paper plate to allow his friend to serve himself. Sasuke had gotten the usual range of veggies and healthy food that he was always nagging at Naruto to eat as well as two bowls of miso pork ramen. "Thanks for the ramen, teme."

"Hn, whatever, dobe. Just make sure your stomach doesn't get upset like last time you ate that shit. Otherwise you will be sleeping in the other bed."

Naruto paused and looked up at his friend in surprise. Sasuke, for his part, totally ignored any awkwardness and finished dipping out his portion of the meal. The blonde felt a grin stretch across his face as he recognized the apology for what it was. This was Sasuke's way for making amends for being a dick earlier. So naturally, he had to show his appreciation and acceptance of the apology. "Whatever, teme. You know you would freeze your cold ass off if I wasn't there to keep it warm."

And with that, everything was normal between them again.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes."

"Dammit, teme! I will not stay locked up in the room all day! I had to put up with that shit while you had the run of any hideout we happened to be in. I'm going outside whether you like it or not. Your only choice is whether I go with you or on my own!" He crossed his arms over his chest and gave the raven-haired nin his best glare.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow at the pathetic attempt to look intimidating. He then sighed, knowing that he was defeated. Naruto had his "I'm being stubborn and nothing you can say will change my mind" attitude going on which meant that even if Sasuke left him behind, he would leave at the first opportunity. Sasuke really didn't want to picture what would happen if Naruto was out loose on his own. It wasn't as if his friend was a walking disaster...well, most of the time. It wasn't as if he couldn't take care of himself... most of the time. It was just that he had this odd tendency to cause trouble and mayhem wherever he went... most of the time.

"Fine, but you don't leave my side," he finally relented.

"Why, Sasuke, I didn't know you-"

"I don't, so shut up."

"Bastard."

"Moron."

"Jerk."

"Idiot."

"Asshole."

"Woman."

"WHAT?"

"If you are going with me, you have to change into a woman." He gave a sinister smirk. "My sister if I remember correctly. My younger sister. Younger sisters always do what their big brothers say."

Naruto gave a snort of amusement. "You don't know too many girls, do you?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Doesn't change the fact that if you don't do what I say I am going to lock you in this room. Now change and let's go."

Sai carefully scanned the crowd of the marketplace, keeping his eyes open for anything that stood out. His team was currently in a large town near the border of Sound, trying to pick up some gossip while supposedly shopping for food. They hadn't been on the mission too long, but they had yet to find anything useful. They were going to head out in the morning for Lightning Country, ostensibly looking for Uchiha Sasuke since everyone knew by now that he had defected from Konoha. While the Raikage reported that the missing-nin had escaped custody, he didn't give any details as to how.

His eyes flicked to his companions, watching them interact together seemingly without effort. He had to envy them that. He was still trying to find the best ways to approach people socially and so far he hadn't succeeded very well. For instance, the bugman Shino had seemed calm at the time when Sai had asked him if he kept himself covered because he was ugly. Sai didn't mean to offend him really, he was just curious. After the expressionless stare that lasted a full minute, Sai thought that he had gotten over it. However, in the days that followed he found that insects seemed to be active during winter in this part of Fire Country. And that those insect bit. A lot.

His second mistake had been the honest bit of advice that he had tried to give the perpetually blushing Hyuuga. He didn't see anything wrong with telling her that if she showed off a bit more cleavage and ditched the coat that she would probably get laid faster and thus lose some of her awkward shyness. He hadn't honestly thought the girl would pass out. He also had a suspicion that his chewed up sandals were somehow directly related to the incident.

Lastly, knowing how men joked around with one another competitively, especially when it involved their masculinity, Sai jokingly told Kiba that since he was as loud and boastful as Naruto had been then he must have been overcompensating as well for his small penis. That, of course had been bad enough. He seemed to take it a lot harder than Naruto did. Sai suspected he must be in denial. Sai supposed in hindsight that he really shouldn't have then suggested that Kiba should be jealous of his own nin-dog which was undoubtedly hung better than his master. Afterwards, he was sure never to set his pack down anywhere near the dog since the beast suddenly decided it was part of his territory and marked it every chance he got.

His eyes suddenly swept back over the crowd to a man standing by a fresh fruit vendor. The hood of his black coat was pulled up partially concealing his features and he wore anonymous dark pants. The way he moved however wasn't typical for a standard civilian. This person had been trained how to fight and moved with that knowledge, smooth and gracefully.

His gaze was pulled to the man's companion as said person scratched the back of their head, pushing their own hood off in the process. The hair was the wrong color, the body was the wrong gender, but the moves were the same. Sai had spent quite some time studying Naruto while he had been assigned to Team 7 with the blonde shinobi. There had been something about him that was so different from the other ninja that Sai had been exposed to during his short lifetime. He knew the younger man's body language, knew how his hands moved while he talked, how he bounced when he was either excited or wheedling. But there was something extra added to the mix now. Something that screamed protective in a possessive sort of way. It was evident in how he never strayed far from the other man's side, how he watched when the other wasn't looking and how he scanned the crowd almost unobtrusively, looking for threats.

Which of course is how their eyes met across the square.

It was the last piece of information that Sai needed to be sure who he was looking at. No one else could have those expressive eyes, even if they were the wrong color. Sai gave a small smile of greeting.

A finely arched black eyebrow quirked slightly, then the figure nodded in return.

Sai gave a stretch of his neck, dipping down in the direction he wanted to meet him.

The pale face scowled slightly, wondering if it was a set up.

Sai deliberately lifted a mocking eyebrow and slid his gaze to his companions as if to say "I could always tell them you're here" and back.

He saw the other's lips twist slightly and could almost imagine the 'humpf' of breath leaving the body. The eyes rolled in resigned agreement. The figure turned to the other dark-haired, pale-faced person and murmured something. Sai caught the word "restroom" mouthed. The other nodded and his quarry walked calmly toward the direction he had indicated.

Sai glanced at his companions, two of which were still arguing the benefits versus the disadvantages of the longevity of raw meat as trail rations. Shino, quiet as always, merely watched the two. "Gotta take a leak," he informed them and anyone else who happened to be listening. He slipped away without waiting for a reply and made his way to whom he was sure was Naruto.

Giving a last look around, Sai stepped into the mouth of the alley and shot a grin at the girl waiting for him. "Damn, I knew you didn't have a penis worth talking about but I didn't think you would go all the way to being a girl."

The girl gave a low growl. "Shut the fuck up, Sai, and tell me what you want."

Sai gave a laugh. "You do realize that you're contradicting yourself?"

"Whatever, man. Are you here to drag me back or something?"

Sai stepped closer to the girl, making the conversation appear more intimate than it was. Naruto glanced up at him in surprise then seemed to realize what he was doing and relaxed again. "That was one of my orders. Luckily however, that was the one with conditions attached to it that I can manipulate. So, let's say you trade some information for your continued freedom?"

Naruto eyed him warily for a moment. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Who's on top or do you fuck him while you're a girl?" he asked curiously.

"Sai!" He cuffed the ninja upside the head with a small hand.

Sai grinned, pulling a reluctant smile from his detainee. "Okay, seriously, tell me where you've been for the last few months and the location of any other of the bases."

Naruto hesitated a moment and then shrugged, realizing that telling the other ninja wasn't going to hurt him or Sasuke somehow. He began by telling him of the location of a lair that Sai knew had been the location of a massacre, then the location of a base in Lightning Country that had been apparently conducting human experiments, and then of a small base in Grass Country that Sasuke had said was a central point in Sound's spy network.

Sai nodded through the quick explanations, knowing that they couldn't spend too much time away from their companions. He glanced up to see the Uchiha watching him from across the square warily, waiting for him to make an aggressive move towards Naruto. Sai flashed him a cheerful smile, watching with some amusement as the other narrow his eyes in irritation. "I take it you are with him voluntarily?" He knew the answer, but had to ask so that he could report it with a clear conscience.

"Yeah, I promised I would help him with his brother," Naruto said quietly.

Sai leaned in and nuzzled the dark locks around the feminine ears. He could see Uchiha stiffen from here before starting to stride their direction. "Last question. Where's the snake?" He felt the body tense beneath his where he had pressed them to the wall during their conversation. "Quickly, Naruto, before your boyfriend finishes pulling out his sword."

Naruto whipped his head to the other side and saw Sasuke not far from them, his hand behind his back and beneath his coat. His red eyes were fixated on Sai like a predator's and his aura started to slip his tight control. "He's still in here with me or rather in with the fox, behind the seal," he said hurriedly.

Sai nodded. "I'll find you later." With that he leapt to the rooftop and vanished in a black blur.

With the disappearance of his intended prey, Sasuke turned his burning red gaze to Naruto. "We're leaving. Now."

TBC