My 13 - Ch 09

My 13
By Kitteh and NeoFox
Rating: PG - 15
Warnings: Language, violence, romance
Pairings: Sasuke x Naruto, Kakashi x Iruka
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto
Summary: After Sasuke's departure hope had nearly been lost. Days later it was Naruto's own determination to bring him back that allowed him a chance to train in the ranks of ANBU and earn him the title of Hunter-nin. Now a year later on a quest to find the one thing he lost he runs into a mysterious person on his twelfth mission. The few traits of Akatsuki are clearly seen, but it is not the eldest Uchiha behind the Sharingan eyes.
Beta: Kitteh and NeoFox

Chapter 09

The two boys had immediately left the building as soon as they had been dismissed and wasted little time taking to the streets of Konoha. It was agreed that there would be no more traveling along the roofs. There was no more point to it since word had gotten around and Sasuke didn't have to fear his old attire any longer. People would only know that he had finally returned and he was in too good a mood to let his worries hinder him.

Sasuke had allowed Naruto to keep his word to treat the two of them for ramen and it had proved to be a wise idea. Both of them were quite hungry to the point that their stomachs refused to stop growling every few minutes. Still, the walk to the ramen shop was quite a long ways from the Hokage's office and the stares that they received were a little less than happy. There were a few waves here and there from some villagers that had finally gotten to know Naruto and greeted him when he came back from missions, but other then that Sasuke's presence kept most everyone at bay.

With his hands in his pockets, Sasuke kept his stride a bit slower compared to when they first left. He made sure to keep in pace beside Naruto while he glanced around the village a few times, catching the eyes of a few people here and there. The looks he received were less then pleasant, but were ignored as Sasuke kept his eyes on the ground below instead. It was odd to be looked at in such a way when a while back so many people used to have nothing but admiration for him and his clan name.

"Hey! Juusan?" Naruto patted Sasuke's cheek rather hard to gain his attention. "You haven't been listening to me at all! Have you?" Naruto's face was quick to peer right into Sasuke's. "You're sulking inside your head so soon? I thought it'd be at least a day before you started into that routine again." He knew exactly why Sasuke was all of a sudden so solemn but Naruto played as if he couldn't tell the blatant truth. He never cared what villagers ever thought of him; even with his rise in rank he tried his best to maintain his loud obnoxiousness just to prove nothing would ever change him. "Hmf." Naruto huffed at Sasuke. "I asked you if this was the ramen house you wanted to go to, or if you wanted to go to a different restaurant. They serve the best noodles, but I said I'd treat you to anything you wanted."

Sasuke stopped immediately and looked at Naruto as if the other boy had grown an extra head. His gaze then moved up to where Naruto had mentioned and he seemed a little surprised. He didn't even realize they had gotten so close to the ramen house. Had he really been that deep in his own thoughts? It was rather odd for him to lose himself like that. "Uh, no. This is just fine," Sasuke spoke matter of factly while he looked back at Naruto. He managed a small smile and shrugged. "You had your heart set on ramen and to be honest I don't mind it all that much. If you say this place is best then I'm okay with it."

Naruto sent a grin back at Sasuke. "Damn right this is the best! It may not be the most expensive place in the village- but their ramen is the tastiest." He wasted no time in grabbing Sasuke's wrist to drag him right to the ramen house. "C'mon! Stop wasting time that we could be spending stuffing our faces! How many bowls do you think you could eat? I have to have at least three or four!"

"Well, of course," Sasuke began while he was dragged around, "you always do well at being a bottomless pit." He didn't resist Naruto's hold and for a moment it made him feel less tense about his situation to just let go and try to relax. "I am pretty hungry. I'm sure I could handle two or three. Real food is sounding better and better the more you pull me towards it."

And it was sounding greater and greater the nearer Naruto dragged Sasuke to it. It smelled so divine; Naruto was practically watering at the mouth as he got closer. He felt like a thirsty man in a desert standing before an oasis, and he nearly collapsed dramatically on the counter and onto the stool. He waved a hand at the chief, speaking like a dying man, "Two large bowls of ramen please." He waved two fingers before he collapsed upon the counter, dramatizing his 'death'.

Sasuke followed close behind, but he wasn't quite as dramatic as Naruto when he sat himself on the stool. He kept his eyes on the other boy and seemed more then a little amused at Naruto's behavior. "You're over-exaggerating. You aren't that hungry. We ate a little bit before coming to Konoha, remember?" Despite his own words, Sasuke's stomach chose that moment to give a rather loud growl which earned him an irritated stare from the shop's owner, who had already been staring at him with bit more then disgust since they had arrived. Sasuke chose to ignore him and kept his attention on Naruto instead as he continued to speak, "Of course that was a while ago."

"I'm starving," Naruto wheezed. He raised a weak hand, making it shake dramatically as if it took everything to lift it and reach it out to Sasuke. "If I don't eat soon, Juusan, I'm gunna," he gave a dramatic dying man's cough, "-gunna... ughh." Naruto's hand fell limp on the counter in front of Sasuke. "Waste away," he finished with a whispered breath.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's little show and just as he was about to open his mouth to respond with something snarky the ramen they had ordered was placed in front of them. "Ah, thank you," Sasuke spoke up instantly, but it seemed to go ignored. He shrugged a shoulder and went about picking up his chopsticks instead to break them apart as he spoke to Naruto once again, "Now you can stop acting like an idiot and fill up your stomach instead."

Naruto shot up on his stool with new found energy. "At last!" He swiped up his chopsticks and shouted with enthusiasm, "itadakimasu!" He was soon shoveling as much noodles as he could into his mouth at one time, he almost couldn't manage chewing the amount he put in. Naruto ate like he hadn't eaten a decent meal in all his life.

Sasuke kept his eyes on Naruto for a few more seconds before he shook his head and turned his eyes down towards his own bowl. "Itadakimasu," he spoke much quieter before he was soon picking at his noodles. He slurped a few up and although he rarely ever ate ramen in the past at this very moment he found that it was suddenly one of the best meals in the world. His reserved attitude towards eating his meal was thrown aside and it wasn't long before he was eating with just as much vigor as Naruto.

Either boy wolfed down their food. Glancing at each other they seemed to take a small rivalry at who could eat their ramen faster; the challenge just seemed to come so naturally out of thin air. Their eating only got more noisy as they tried to down as much of their noodles as possible. Naruto took the lead. He had plenty of practice with downing as much noodles as possible.

He took the time to pause, chewing vigorously as he talked, "Eat'ny faster 'n you'll get sick."

Sasuke seemed hesitant to actually stop to acknowledge Naruto's words because stopping meant he would be left behind. His cheeks were already rather bloated with all the noodles he had yet to chew and swallow, but he didn't seem to care much. He decided to take a quick moment to lift his chopsticks and point them in the other boy's direction as he tried his best to speak and failed miserably, "Speak fo' yours'lf, Nar'to."

The sight of the boy next to him nearly had Naruto choking as he swallowed. He coughed a few until his mouth was clear enough to laugh. Naruto had a hard time starting to eat again; he was laughing so hard the noodles slipped from his chopsticks. "Speak for your self, Squirrelsuke."

Sasuke seemed to realize he was the sudden brunt of a joke and slowly started to stop in his chewing. He kept his eyes on Naruto and took his time in his bites until his face was finally back to normal and he was in no danger of choking. His cheeks reddened a little at the sudden nickname after he realized why it had come about. He narrowed his eyes on Naruto as the other boy continued to laugh and was soon rolling his own eyes. "I'd much prefer Juusan over that stupid name any day," he quietly admitted before he went back to picking at his noodles much slower then he had been.

"M?" Naruto looked at Sasuke with a trial of noodles hanging out of his mouth. He slurped up the noodles before he leaned over in his chair to peer right up to Sasuke's face with a catty grin since the other boy was blushing so embarrassedly.  "Eh? What was that, Juusan?"

Sasuke glanced up into Naruto's eyes from his bowl. He knew his face was still rather hot, but he tried not to allow it to bother him too much. Instead he removed his chopsticks from his mouth and pointed them towards Naruto and gave his own small smirk while he spoke, "I said be quiet before I shove these chopsticks up your nose, idiot."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at Sasuke. "Up my nose?" He held his grin as turned to sit back. "Like-- this?!" He turned back around with both his own chopsticks up his nose, cross eyed, pulling his mouth open with his tongue lolled out. "Blehhhhh!"

Sasuke blinked both his eyes at the sudden image, but soon enough he found he couldn't keep his laughter in. He ignored the odd looks they were both getting from the restaurant’s owner and kept his attention on Naruto as he tried to get his laughter under control. "Y-Yeah, exactly like that! It's a great look for you," he coughed out between his amusement. He couldn't hide his grin and while Naruto was distracted with his own antics, Sasuke reached over with his chopsticks to steal some of the other boy's noodles to nibble on.

"H-hey!" Naruto laughed out as he caught Sasuke stealing. "You have so much more than me!" He pulled the chopsticks from his nose so he could steal a larger helping of noodles from Sasuke's bowl, promptly stuffing it in his own mouth. "HA! There!" he announced triumphantly with his mouth full.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sasuke shifted around in his seat while he shouted in protest towards Naruto's actions, "I didn't take that much! You're just being greedy, Naruto." Sasuke wasted little time in reaching over to grab even more noodles from Naruto's bowl. He didn't even wait for the small bit of soup to stop dripping off each noodle before he was moving them to his mouth to slurp up and chew.

"Juusan! You're wasting good noodles!" Naruto couldn't stop the noodles from going into Sasuke's mouth but he could eat the rest that had yet to be slurped up. He grasped them up with his chopsticks to stuff them into his mouth, slurping what Sasuke had to eat. Unfortunately the end of the noodles stopped at Sasuke's lips and that's where Naruto's found his when he'd eaten all there was between them. Naruto stared at Sasuke in wide eyed surprise; oops.

All the loud noise that had been going on between the two boys suddenly stopped dead in that moment. Sasuke couldn't really figure out just what to do aside from stare right back at Naruto much like the other boy was doing to him. The entire situation was certainly interesting and not very unpleasant, but it was a bit of a shock and very out in the open compared to the few times earlier.

It was when Sasuke's hold on his chopsticks loosened and they fell to the floor below, causing a small amount of noise, that he finally seem to snap to. He pulled himself back as quick as he could and nearly toppled off his stool because of it, but caught himself just in time and chewed the rest of the noodles that were still in his mouth while he continued to stare at Naruto with wide eyes.

Naruto didn't bother with chewing and swallowed the noodles in his mouth. It wasn't the smartest idea to do and he ended up coughing as they nearly went down the wrong way in his surprise. He unconsciously licked his lips and he felt his face grow hot when he realized Sasuke was still staring at him while he did it. "Uh," Naruto faltered a little and his eyes fell on what Sasuke had dropped. "I think you dropped your chopsticks." It was the best Naruto could come up with in the new silent moment.

That snapped Sasuke out of his daze and he quickly looked down to where his chopsticks had landed on the ground below. With a bit of movement he picked them back up and gave a small disgusted look at them before he set them aside. "Mmm, well, I was almost finished anyway. It's fine." He looked back towards Naruto for a split second before he turned back to his bowl. He picked it up with his hands and placed it to his lips to finish off the soup that still lingered inside and only placed it back down when it was all gone. He turned his eyes back on the other boy and wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand before he spoke up again, "You were right. This place is really good. I'll have to come here with you more often."

That brought a new grin to Naruto's face. "Damn right! I try to come here as often as I can." He poked around his own noodles still left in the bowl before finishing off what he had, talking while chewing. "Which isn't very much, I guess. It kind of became a tradition to come here after every mission. Kind of a little celebration for coming back in one piece." He slurped up a noodle before he continued. "Last time I was here Iruka-sensei treated me to a bowl. It was kind of nice." Naruto lightly chewed on his chopsticks as he remembered the moment. "I hadn't seen him in a long while." He finally looked back to Sasuke as he returned from his thoughts. "I told you about it before. Heh. I'm supposed to treat him out too." Naruto grinned with the chopsticks hanging from his mouth. "You should come too. I'm supposed to keep an eye on you anyway. You two can, uh, catch up. Heh! And I can rub it in his nose that I actually succeeded in the impossible."

Sasuke raised a brow at the end of Naruto's bit of rambling and was soon shaking his head at such thoughts. He turned his gaze back to his empty bowl and tapped a few of his fingers on the edge to keep them busy. "I don't know, Naruto. I understand that you have to keep watch on me because of your orders, but I doubt going to see Iruka would be a very good idea for me. You told him about everything and it would be a little awkward so soon, don't you think? Besides," he shrugged a shoulder before he continued, "you haven't seen him for a while. It would be a little rude and I'm sure you don't have to baby-sit me constantly."

"That old lady wasn't exactly specific, but I don't think she'd want me to abandon you for socializing." Naruto gave a loose shrug. "Sides, what else would you do? You can't avoid Iruka-sensei forever." He slowly lowered his chopsticks from his mouth as he realized there was going to be plenty of people who would want confrontation with Sasuke. But for now Naruto decided to push it from his mind. "You have to take all of this in strides; large and small." He set his chopsticks aside so he could take up his bowl and down the rest.

"When did you become so wise all of a sudden?" Sasuke gave a small smirk after the question, but didn't give Naruto time to answer as he took all that had been said into consideration. "I suppose you're right, though. Iruka isn't the only person I can't avoid forever, anyway. I'll have to get all of this over with at some point. I guess it couldn't really hurt to at least talk with one person and move my way up." He turned on his stool so he could lean back against the counter. "It couldn't hurt too much..."

Naruto gave a loud satisfied noise as he plunked the bowl down having finished. He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve, happy to have filled his belly some. Despite Sasuke's musings about his situation Naruto leaned back on his stool to look at him as if they had been talking about something as casual as the weather. "Did you want another bowl?"

Sasuke shook his head almost immediately. Although he had been hungry when they had first sat down to eat, Sasuke found he was much too restless to stay still for too long even if his stomach still demanded more food. The fact that he was actually back in Konoha after a year of being away made him want to continue looking around even with the strange looks and such he received. "No, I'm good for now. Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto stared at Sasuke, quirking his lips. “‘Thanks, Naruto'?" he repeated as if the words were foreign; they were to his ears. Even with the given circumstances. He leaned back more in his seat to catch more of Sasuke's face. "What are you worried about now?"

Sasuke turned his eyes back on the other boy and gave a playful scowl for such words. "I'm not worried about anything, stupid. Am I not allowed to just thank you for bringing me here?" He scoffed and rolled his eyes before he looked ahead of himself once more and kept quiet for a few moments. It was then that his expression fell to something more serious and his voice fell a little lower, "But, I owe you a lot. You saved my life in more ways then one. I could have been imprisoned, tortured, or even executed, but somehow you stopped all of that from happening. There's no way I can say thank you enough times for that, Naruto."

Naruto hooked his feet under the counter so he could lean back more, reclined almost with his arms behind his head. "Oh I don't know," he started playfully with a cocky grin, "you can try, Juusan"

"You're going to fall," Sasuke spoke up in a lazy tone while he watched Naruto, mostly because they both knew it wasn't true. It was just force of habit to warn Naruto of impending danger no matter what despite the year apart. He narrowed his gaze on the other boy for a moment after the spoken words and managed a small smirk. "Thanking you could take years, though. I'd much rather try to make it up to you in some way, but even that seems impossible." He kept his eyes on Naruto for a few seconds longer before he seemed to decide on something and soon enough he reached over with one hand to grab one of Naruto's own, linking a few of their fingers. He found the gesture rather safe behind the cover of the counter. Before Naruto could really react, Sasuke had turned his attention forward once again.

Everything about Naruto went rigid, the colour in his cheeks growing hot ruining Sasuke's subtly completely.  He hadn't expected Sasuke to be the type to hold hands in public, even if it was veiled, let alone his own hand. The action almost did have him falling over since he was taken by surprise. Naruto lowered his legs clumsily down as sat back normally, himself facing forward while Sasuke still faced the other way.

"W-with something like this?" Naruto asked very quietly. He rested his free arm on the counter, nervously tapping the pad of a finger. "Heh. Don't feel obligated to, Sasuke."

"I don't," Sasuke had no real trouble responding, "There's a difference between feeling obligated and actually wanting to. All of this is far from owning up to anything, but even if it didn't add up I'd still want to do it either way." Sasuke shook his head at himself after such words and finally turned his eyes to look back at the other boy after a few seconds. "I admitted a lot to you, Naruto, and a lot of those things I had planned to keep bottled up maybe until the day I died. What's the point in admitting things when you don't try to act on them afterwards and attempt to make the situation better?"

Naruto gave a nervous chuckle. "I don’t know, I guess I just never pegged you as the romantic type." His fingers twitched against Sasuke's before they tentatively stroked them, slipping a little closer to grip. Naruto felt too embarrassed to hold Sasuke's gaze, so he turned his head to stare at something else. "Or even the hand holding type. In fact, you seemed down right asexual to me."

That certainly caused Sasuke to stutter for a moment and he quickly looked away once more so the red on his face couldn't be seen. It made it easier since Naruto wasn't looking, but Sasuke felt it safer to just not look at the other boy. "I was never that bad, idiot." Sasuke narrowed his eyes a little, knowing that in fact he had never really given reason for Naruto to think otherwise about him. The most he had ever cared about was getting stronger. Even his old worries about restoring his clan seemed dead and buried with all the need to gain power and the constant rivalry he had with the boy beside him. "Anyway, I don't mind it. Stuff like this, you know? It feels better then keeping it buried the way that I was." He held Naruto's hand a little tighter after such words since the other boy had moved his own closer.

"In public displays of affection?" Naruto gave a small good humoured laugh as he rested his cheek in a hand, glancing over at Sasuke. "Again, I never pegged you the type. Never saw you try anything like this with anyone else, ever." He smirked a little as he watched Sasuke, finding amusement in Sasuke's new embarrassment. "Pretty bold move in Konoha."

"Holding hands behind a counter doesn't really count as public displays of affection," Sasuke hissed out his words partly because he didn't want to be heard and also out of aggravation. Naruto was succeeding quite well in embarrassing him further and further. It seemed to easily get to him and Sasuke yanked his hand back when he finally had enough of being poked at over his actions. He crossed his arms over his chest and kept his eyes forward. "It's not like I planned to do anything like that out in the open," he mumbled quietly afterwards. It had felt rather nice to hold Naruto's hand, but if the other boy was going to make such a big deal about it then Sasuke would rather just stop. He had felt hesitant to even attempt such a thing to begin with.

A slow sly grin spread across Naruto's lips. "Really," he tried to sound as casually uncaring as possible. He glanced about; it was going onto night and all the villagers that were left outside were busy with their own, they were well hidden enough behind the drapery, and the restaurant owner was busy ignoring them. Naruto's grin grew even slyer still; such a wicked idea came to him to get a rise out of Sasuke. He slunk over as quietly as he could into Sasuke's blind spot behind him and ran the tip of his tongue along the edge of his ear.

An immediate shiver was quick to run down Sasuke's spine as if he had just been dumped in cold water, but the feeling wasn't at all that unpleasant. He was forced to lift a hand up in a quick second to slap it over his mouth before any certain noise could actually leave him and in that moment he whipped his head around to stare at Naruto with rather wide eyes as if the other boy had lost his mind while he ignored the hot flush on his own cheeks.

"Hi," Naruto greeted Sasuke's flushed expression with a wide mischievous grin. "I expected you to leap at least ten feet in the air, or to fall off your stool, but ya know, I think that was better." His grin only spread wider.

Sasuke continued to stare even after Naruto's words as he tried to think of anything coherent to say. Finally, after a few moments, he lowered his hand and a calm expression came over his own face that soon turned into a scowl. "Damnit, you moron." Without much warning, Sasuke leapt away from his own stool and towards Naruto to tackle the other boy away from his seat as both of them toppled onto the ground as a heap of tangled limbs because of such an action.

"Oof! H-hey!" Naruto struggled under Sasuke, squirming with a loud laugh. "Ow- C'mon! You liked it- don't lie! Don't get angry at me."

"That's not the point!" Sasuke managed to shout back between his own laughter. His earlier scowl had obviously been a cover up and his amusement showed through again as he kept Naruto pinned down. The other boy could get up if he really wanted to and they both knew that. Sasuke opened his mouth to speak up again, but he quickly stopped himself and forced his head back just in time as a bowl flew sailing inches past his face. He gave a few slow blinks and looked up and over the counter towards the old man who ran the shop. He looked none too pleased and obviously angry over the commotion they were causing. Sasuke only did what he usually did in such situations and glared right back.

"Hey old man! Watch what you're throwing!" Naruto sat up a bit to shake a fist and throw a fit. "You're jeopardizing your best customer here!" He huffed. "He's just pissed off because I haven't paid yet. Rising up in the ranks over the years and the guy still thinks I'm going to dine and dash." Then without warning while Sasuke's guard was down, Naruto flipped him over turning the tables as he then pinned the other boy down on the ground. "I WIN!" He thrusted his hands to the air in victory as he sat on Sasuke. "Again!"

Sasuke blinked his eyes a few times at being so startled with his new position. As soon as he realized what happened he relaxed a bit as he watched Naruto celebrate and kept still for a few seconds. "Tch, you're just a cheater." He moved an arm out after he spoke up to push it against Naruto's face, forcing the other boy off of him. He still couldn't help laughing as his own action's forced Naruto back down to the floor, but Sasuke only sat up once he was done instead of pinning Naruto down again.

"Am not!" Naruto swatted Sasuke's arm away. "I won fair and square." He gave a cocky shrug. "Not my fault you let your guard down." He crossed his arms as he tilted his head gaining a sly look. "Or maybe you just like being under me."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at such words. He scoffed and soon lifted a hand to place it near the side of his head while he spoke up, "I think something in your ramen must have killed a few of your brain cells. You've gone crazy, Naruto." He dropped his hand again and looked back outside as best he could. It was much darker compared to earlier and Sasuke couldn't see very many people walking around. He turned his attention back on Naruto and the playful tone fell away from his voice as he grew serious again, "You should probably pay so we can get going. As good as it is to be back it doesn't mean I want to stay out at a ramen shop all night."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto sighed as he waved Sasuke off. He stood up and paid the disgruntled owner, hoping over to Sasuke after. "Always so serious, Juusan." He offered his hand down to his friend to help him up. "Did you want to go to anywhere particular? It is getting rather late, and I think you forgot you're just getting over a bad sickness."

Sasuke took Naruto's hand with no real hesitation and pulled himself up, letting go afterwards. "I didn't forget, but it isn't as bad as it was earlier. I still feel stuffed up, though." He took the few steps out of the shop and stopped on the street looking around as he seemed to think over something. There was one place in particular he wanted to be and had been thinking about ever since they arrived outside Konoha. Of course with Naruto's newest orders it all might have seemed a bit far fetched now to leave the other's side. It left only one idea for Sasuke and he was soon looking over to Naruto once the other boy came out of the shop as well so he could ask the question, "Want to tag along while I head home to see how the place is fairing without me?"

"Home, huh?" Naruto tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hm. Still can't believe you stayed in that area alone after everything. That's a lot of space for one guy alone." He quirked his lips a little amused. "All I've ever had is a little cubby hole to call home." He made a small circle with his hands as if that were the exact ratio he had to live in. "Yeah, sure," Naruto easily agreed. It then occurred to him. "I've never really been to the area of the Uchiha clan. Even while you were gone. Heh. It's probably really dusty now."

"Most likely," Sasuke spoke almost distantly. Naruto's words had certainly brought on some memories, but he wouldn't let it detour him. Naruto had agreed to go with him and so he wasted no time as he started to walk along the street in the direction towards his house while he continued to speak to the other boy, "I didn't really see a reason to move away nor did I really want to. It's where the people I loved lived their lives and it helped me stay more determined towards my goal I suppose." He shrugged a shoulder. "Although, I guess my choices lately have steered me away from such things."

Naruto gave it all some thought, but his mind steered in a completely different direction. "Aw man, that's a lot of houses to clean! Sounds like such a pain in the ass. I can barely keep my apartment clean by myself; I would totally fail keeping several houses clean on my own." He sent Sasuke a grin. "But you're not really the type who really makes a mess, right. So compulsively neat and organized." Naruto splayed out his hands, gesturing as he talked. "I bet your room is the pinnacle of organization! Clothes folded and put away. Books and scrolls neatly tucked away in their shelf- organized by alphabet, then size, then colour."

"Yeah, well," Sasuke began, but found he couldn't really argue against Naruto's words. Everything that the other boy said was pretty much the truth. Sasuke had always tried his best to keep his own room as organized as possible. It made him almost shudder to think what it would look like after a year away. "It wouldn't really kill you to try and be neat at least once in your life, you know." He glanced to the side at Naruto after taking a jab at the other boy instead.

"It might. Most likely." Naruto grimaced as he thought of the state of his apartment; it wasn't exactly in the best of shape. He never had the time to dedicate to the cleaning it; not that he really wanted to. "Trying to clean it might be actually enough to kill me." He stuck out his tongue at the thought of doing so.

"Ah, what a shame," Sasuke was quick to mock, "You have no troubles bringing down some of the worst criminals, but going head to head with a dirty home and your defeat is certain." Sasuke couldn't hide his grin even if he tried. "Should I really assume that a few dust bunnies are going to be the death of you one day, Hunter?"

"J-Juusan!" Naruto blushed as he became flustered. He practically tackled into Sasuke as he clapped a hand over Sasuke's mouth. "Shhh! Don't call me 'Hunter' in public," he hissed in the other's ear. "I have an identity to keep, remember. People are going to put two and two together when they see you back here and hear you calling me 'Hunter'." Naruto huffed. "And don't you kid yourself, dust bunnies are pretty deadly."

Sasuke wasted no time in forcing Naruto's hand off of his mouth while he looked to the side at his friend. He couldn't help the amused look on his face even though Naruto looked as if he would come unglued at any moment. "Yes, because you're so very good at keeping your own mouth shut. I'm shocked you've kept your identity hidden for this long, but sure, whatever." He dropped his hand to give an a-okay signal to Naruto with his fingers. "And by the by, the evil dust bunnies have yet to harm me whenever I clean, so I think you're perfectly safe."

"Hmf- well if they don't fear you, maybe you should clean my apartment." Naruto suddenly liked that idea very much and soon he was grasping Sasuke's shoulder to shake him. "Yeah, yeah! You owe me so much- you start it by cleaning my apartment and banishing those evil dust bunnies from my home."

"Naruto!" Sasuke grabbed onto the other boy's arms to halt his actions. They were making him very dizzy and he had enough of that to last him a lifetime after his sickness. As soon as he was free he stopped in his tracks to level Naruto with a glare for only a second, but soon he sighed and shrugged. "I guess you're right. I mean, I do have to spend most of my time with you anyway and it's not like your place could be that bad. It'll give me something to do at least as soon as I finish with my place." He continued in his steps after he was finished speaking, feeling a new sense of energy to know they were nearing his district.

Naruto gave a nervous laugh. "You have no idea," he mumbled to himself. He slung an arm over Sasuke's shoulder. "Great! Thanks, Sasuke." He gave the other boy a friendly squeeze. "My place could really use a cleaning. A thorough cleaning. You might want to bring a shovel. It's kind of collected over the years."

A loud shatter cut off their conversation. It had come from straight across from them on the street. A small thin figure stared at the two of them, the reminisce of a small long vase and a single flower for a shrine at their feet. Her dark rimmed sleepless eyes stared at them as if either were as disbelieving a sight as phantoms on the street. But it was soon Sasuke that had her eyes widening, her mouth agape in almost a silent scream.

The laughter which had been coming from Sasuke after Naruto's admittance died on the boy's lips at all the commotion and the intense gaze which bore into his own. It was the one meet up that Sasuke had wanted to avoid and keep for the last possible moment after all that had happened and all that he and Naruto had talked about, but it seemed fate didn't want to be kind to him for now. Sasuke pulled himself free from Naruto and straightened up as best he could as a rather blank expression came over his face. He really didn't know how to feel at that very moment, but when he spoke up his voice held a tinge of regret, "Sakura."

The girl's eyes widened that much more at hearing her name from Sasuke's lips. How she longed to hear it from him again, so badly it physically ached. This was his first word to her, after a year, after a year of so much suffering. It seemed she did have some tears left to shed.

"... Naruto did it," Sakura whispered distantly. "He really did it... He really did what he said he would." Her entire body began to tremble terribly with disbelief. Her vision flickered, with all her energy spent either training or grieving for the boy that now stood in front of her, Sakura felt as if she would faint.

Naruto looked from one to the other. He suddenly felt out of place, forgotten even though Sakura had mentioned his name. He was sure he should have been proud to finally show Sakura his awesome accomplishment, that he should be loudly boasting, but suddenly Naruto felt as if his energy had been sucked away too. He had nothing, in all his life, nothing to say.

It felt awkward for Sasuke to suddenly be the complete center of attention. Of course he had been stared at plenty of times since returning and been chewed out by Tsunade, but to be looked upon by Sakura of all people after returning felt completely different and Sasuke couldn't help the way he squirmed. "Mmm, yeah, he managed by some miracle I guess you could say," Sasuke finally spoke up quietly. He narrowed his eyes a little on the girl across from him as he noticed her rather pale appearance. "Hey, you okay, Sakura?"

The girl began to shake even harder. “‘You okay'?" she quietly repeated. Sakura's hands raised up into weak trembling fists as her face contorted with agony. "After everything that's happened, all the horror and pain that you left...-after an entire year, and all you can manage is 'you okay, Sakura'?!"

Any evidence of the good mood that Sasuke had been in was wiped away completely from such words. Nothing but a blank expression came over his face as he shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to keep his eyes on Sakura. "Naruto told me about everything you've been putting yourself through and right now you look as if you haven't gotten much sleep," his voice remained calm as he continued on, "so, yes, I suppose I can't help but ask such a thing."

"Well," Sakura started with shaky anger, "then you already know things are 'not okay'. They obviously wouldn't be. Everything has fallen to small unsalvageable pieces since you've left, Sasuke!" The tears fell down harder on her already red cheeks that were raw from sleepless nights of tears. "And you're just as dense as dense and ignorant as Naruto for not seeing all of it- and asking something that stupid!"

Naruto physically flinched as if he'd been hit. He grasped near his shoulder, the old healed wound hurt; a sharp pang at Sakura's words. But he kept his silence, turning his gaze from the girl. Naruto thought this was what she wanted; but apparently it hadn't been enough.

Sasuke's eyes finally narrowed and the blank expression turned to something hateful. He thought that when he came back Sakura would have changed, but she still seemed just as bitter a girl as before he left long ago. "Why is he ignorant, Sakura?" Sasuke went on to speak without any real defense to himself first. "Because he's more determined then anyone else in this village? Because he doesn't let a few words and looks bring him down? Or is it because he chose to waste a year of his life he could have used towards his dream, training all to chase after me? Something that I owe him my life for." Sasuke felt as if it were long ago on their first day as a team all over again as he scolded Sakura for how she spoke to Naruto, but he didn't care and continued on, "It's more then anything you've done, isn't it, Sakura? Mourning me certainly wasn't going to bring me back any quicker."

Sakura was stunned. She was surprised Sasuke was so quick to defend Naruto. Sakura had faith in Naruto, but she hadn't expected the boy to pull through and actually bring Sasuke back; or to be walking the streets of Konoha as freely as he was. Whatever Naruto had done, it had impressed Sasuke enough. Enough to make Sasuke forget what she had done.

"... I tried," Sakura quietly spoke up. "I tried to get you to stay." She took a few uneasy steps forward, her legs felt so weak they felt as if they'd collapse any moment. That look on Sasuke's face was unbearable. She wanted it gone. She missed that brief laughter she had heard before she had interrupted them. Sakura wanted anything but that hateful look that was burrowing through her. "I- I tried so hard. I pleaded... I begged. I just wanted to be by your side." Sakura didn't notice that Naruto had fully turned from her. "That's all I wanted... what more could I do? I offered you everything too, Sasuke. I was willing to give up everything for you, my entire life, before Naruto ever did."

"I never wanted you to," Sasuke spoke up in that same harsh tone as before. He refused to go easy on Sakura after what the other girl had said. If she wanted to bring up the past then that was just fine. He would keep no secrets even with Naruto standing nearby. "You wanted to run away and become a missing-nin as well. That is ignorance, Sakura. That's nothing to be proud of. You did nothing but cry and try to argue my way out of leaving before you threatened to scream. Naruto fought against me and fought for me. Everything; it's all so very different. I thanked you for caring enough, but still you weren't the one that could do a thing for me."

Sakura froze up, each muscle going tense at that. She stared at Sasuke with those tired lifeless green eyes of hers. The tension slowly left her as all the energy drained from her in a wounded defeat. Sakura then began to walk towards Sasuke; she didn't stop until she stood barely a foot away from him. Her breath was shaky; her heart beat erratic just to be standing in front of Sasuke after all this time. It wasn't hard to tell that she dreamt of this moment more times than there were stars in the sky above; it was seen in her pained eyes.

"I've been training. Bettering myself with a new teacher," she quietly announced to him, though she kept her gaze straight forward away from Sasuke's. "I may not have been as strong as Naruto. I knew I had no chance to fight against you and win. Even Naruto failed that fight. All I had in my arsenal was intelligence, and desperation." Sakura raised a shaking hand. "I don't know... what it is you want." She grasped on Sasuke's shirt, having no courage to dare touch his face. "But what ever it is, of me," Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as she slumped against Sasuke, exhausted, needing him, anything from him, "it's yours to take."

The entire time Sakura spoke Sasuke kept his silence. Even when the girl invaded his personal space he didn't move an inch or barely bat an eye which was rare for him. He listened intently to what was said, obvious by the small way his jaw clenched until finally he turned his eyes down to look at Sakura. He lifted a hand to place it over the girl's, but not in comfort. The move was made to release the near death grip she had on him. "I don't want anything from you. I never have, Sakura. I always have and always will be just your team mate, but even now I believe I'm not even that any longer. I'm only Sasuke Uchiha. You always believed I would be something more and I never once tried to lead you on in such a way. You were kind to care for me and about me, but this has to stop." He finally let go of her hand and allowed his own to drop to his side instead of back in his pocket.

Sakura watched her hand fall with wide eyed sadness. 'Stop' he had said. 'This has to stop'. It was just too much to bear. A choked sob left her and her energy finally gave out, her legs buckled. She collapsed against Sasuke, weakly clinging to his shirt so she wouldn't fall to the ground. "Sasuke," she whimpered, trying to embrace him best she could. "Please- don't."

Naruto clapped his hands over his ears; he couldn't take it, those pathetic begging words. He didn't want to hear anymore. He knew what words would come out of her mouth next; Sakura was no stranger to confessing what she felt. Naruto didn't want to hear the cold rejection he knew Sasuke would give her, not while he knew exactly where Sasuke's heart laid. It brought on a twisted meld of guilt and jealousy that made him sick. Sakura had offered to give up everything for Sasuke to be a Missing-nin with him, yet she wouldn't even offer him a thanks or a kind word for bringing Sasuke home; only the usual insults. It had disturbed Naruto to have Sasuke stand up for him, but Naruto never could talk back to Sakura. So he allowed himself to suffer in silence throughout this confrontation.
But Sakura was pawing Sasuke now, begging him in such a pitiful way to love her back. Naruto almost wanted to push her away, grab Sasuke's hand and run off; but that was such a childish thought. Naruto had always wanted Sakura to be happy. And some little selfless voice nagged him to just 'let go and let them be happy'. But Sasuke didn't love Sakura; he had proven that most often enough.

'Why me?' Naruto kept asking himself over and over to drown out Sakura's voice, pressing his palms harder against his ears. It was just too complicated for his mind to comprehend. He just wanted things to be okay. Between the three of them, again.

"... I can't bear to live a life that doesn't have Sasuke in it," Sakura quietly whimpered against Sasuke's shirt. Naruto had caught the words spoken, finding his hearing to be far too sharp when he tried his hardest to block all sound out. The words had his heart dropping hard. He had said similar words himself, though not near as sad.

Naruto pressed his hands hard enough against his ears, trying to listen to nothing but his ragged pulse, but he still caught those two little heart breaking words that left Sakura; 'love you'.

Sasuke didn't enjoy being backed into a corner and he felt exactly that way with Sakura's clinging embrace and easily spoken confession. It was that night all over again except this time the girl was far more desperate for him to give a care back and Sasuke just couldn't do such a thing when his heart already belonged to someone else. "Damnit, Sakura," he hissed out while he lifted both arms this time to force the girl back as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "Stop depending solely on me. Stop living every waking hour just for me. I'm a traitor and I've done countless things that I'm not at all proud of. If anything you should see me with nothing but hatred not love. So just stop."

Sakura was let go so gentle hands could place themselves on top of Naruto's own, forcing the other boy's hands away from his ears. With some form of grip on Naruto, Sasuke moved him so he was in front and facing Sakura instead while Sasuke stood behind, looking over Naruto's shoulder. As he dropped their hands he kept the bit of contact between their fingers as subtle as he could under the dark of night. "You wanted Naruto to bring me back, right? You depended on him this entire time, right? Then give him some admiration and stop acting as if at this very moment he doesn't exist. It's usually polite to thank people, Sakura."

Naruto's shock mirrored Sakura's own. Either hadn't expected Sasuke to pull Naruto from the shadowed sidelines and push him in between. Naruto unconsciously back stepped and accidentally bumped into Sasuke. The contact had him jumping a little, suddenly terribly self conscious about the contact between him and Sasuke. If Sakura found out what had been going on between them, Naruto feared Sakura would try nothing short of killing him.

"I'm sorry, Naruto," Sakura's quiet apology snapped Naruto to. The girl sniffed hard and suddenly Naruto felt bad for what Sasuke was forcing her to do. "Sasuke is right," Sakura went on, "you've pulled nothing short of a miracle."

"I-It's okay," Naruto shakily tried to reassure her. "You helped me a great deal," he quietly spoke on. Sakura had motivated him, perhaps for all the wrong reasons, her own selfish reasons they might have been, but Naruto found that old habits died hard. "... If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have gone out and found, Sasuke." Naruto had to stare at the ground; it felt like such a hollow truth it might as well have been a lie. But his guilt wouldn't let him say anything else.

Sakura rubbed her eyes free of tears, sated on Naruto's words even though he was the one barraging her from Sasuke; in more ways than she knew. "Thank you, Naruto." She placed a shaking hand on his shoulder. "You really came through. I'm sorry we all doubted you... Thank you." She looked past Naruto to Sasuke.

Sasuke tore his own eyes away from Naruto and finally glanced back at Sakura over Naruto's shoulder. The earlier contact that had come between them hadn't seemed to bother him as much as it had the other boy. Sasuke was in a rather cool mindset that had only worsened from his year away while part of Akatsuki. He had already tried everything to be reasonable with Sakura, but still the girl only seemed to crave his attention after her spoken words to Naruto. "What are you doing out so late at night anyway in such an area, Sakura?" It was the only thing he allowed himself to ask after all that had been said. He didn't want to continue on otherwise with earlier confessions.

Sakura perked as Sasuke had then decided to grace her with his voice. But the question had her shrinking a little. She removed her hand from Naruto's shoulder to clasp both of her hands together, wringing them a little. "I... I was..." Sakura turned to look at what remained of what she had been holding. "I was going to place an offering to the Uchiha clan... In their memory and for your well being." She nervously bit a finger in her worry at being caught. "... What they did to your family's district, it isn't right."

Those words were enough to finally have Sasuke's calm demeanor falling away as he tensed up behind Naruto and his eyes grew wide. "Wh-What they did?" he echoed almost immediately. He didn't understand what it was Sakura meant. Naruto had never said anything about something happening to his part of the village when he brought up the idea of going back. He almost didn't realize he had stopped breathing for a moment until he started to speak again, taking a large breath before he did, "What are you talking about?"

"Y-you don't know?" Sakura was startled and she clasped her own hands tighter. "I- I thought Naruto would have told you."

"I- I haven't been- I've...” Naruto swallowed hard. "Too busy training." He couldn't finish his own sentences, his stomach dropped too heavily. Working for ANBU had taken far too much of his time the past year to worry about the little things in Konoha. He had never given the Uchiha clan home a second thought. He turned to face Sasuke as well as Sakura, looking from one to the other.

"Oh Sasuke! I'm so sorry!" Sakura spilled out so hurt for him. "Because you were marked as a Missing-nin, and you were gone for so long, the last of the Uchiha clan...-Y-your clan's district was seized back by the village. All traces of the Uchiha were wiped clean, like they never lived there. It's just a regular part of Konoha now. New people, families, even stores have taken root in your clan's old homes." Sakura stepped nearer to Sasuke, raising a hand wanting to comfort him but she didn't have the courage to touch him again when she had been so obviously rejected. "I'm sorry, Sasuke... If- if you hadn't left- things might have been so different."

Sasuke was quick to slap Sakura's hand away despite the fact the girl had yet to even touch him in her hesitant state. Her words didn't make the situation any better at all. Did she really think any of that really made up for what had been done? No one in the village had a right to do such a thing. He may have been a traitor, but his family's memory didn't deserve to be wiped away as if they had never mattered. His own eyes had down casted towards the ground while they narrowed during Sakura's words. He felt as if he couldn't think of a thing to say as he tried to find his breath again. It had to be a lie. Just some sick and twisted lie.

Without caring much about his actions, Sasuke moved forward and pushed both Sakura and Naruto aside as he started forward in a run. He refused to believe any of it. There was no way that his entire life and his entire family name had been wiped away as if it had all been a dream. He would go there and see that each house was still in tact, the street was just the same and he would continue to have the same memories each time he looked upon it all. There was no way it could be true.

"Sasuke!" But Sakura's emotional shout fell on deaf ears, Sasuke was already gone.

"Damnit," Naruto breathlessly cussed. "Damnit damnit damnit. Damnit! Damnit!" Everything had been alright. Everything had turned out okay for them. There had laughter after all their struggles. Now Sakura had wiped it all away with but a few words, leaving Sasuke to run away as if he were to witness the death of his family once again.

Naruto staggered, sick throughout. He gave Sakura a fleeting glance before he sped off after Sasuke. He couldn't let Sasuke go, not because he was ordered to watch him, but he didn't want Sasuke to go through it on his own. He didn't see Sakura fall weakly to her knees, bury her face in her hands and lose herself to sorrow and tears; he'd seen enough of it in the span of that hard and lonely year.

The road that led to the separate district was an uphill climb, but it didn't hinder Sasuke one bit. He seemed to have found a sudden adrenaline and was using it to his advantage as he continued with his run. Once or twice he stumbled and almost fell as his emotions took over his ability to focus, but he caught himself before he could fall on his face.

It was near the top that Sasuke finally slowed and took his steps one at a time instead of in long strides. His breath was heavy, but he paid it no mind as he grew closer and closer to what had once been his home. It wasn't long before he came up to the familiar street and for a moment he was relieved. It looked just the same as it had in the past and from the many times he had walked it, but so much seemed off and it wasn't long before he realized why.

There were lights on in so many of the homes that were lined up along the streets. Few even seemed to have signs up above them that Sasuke couldn't remember ever being there before. The lone symbol that Sasuke's family had always prided themselves on had all but vanished from everything and anywhere, and for a moment Sasuke seemed lost as to where his own home had gone. It was as if he had stumbled onto a very foreign place that he had never seen before in his life.

Foot steps came to land beside Sasuke; it was Naruto who soon came to stand beside him. He watched Sasuke's wide eyed expression before he too looked out to what had been the Uchiha district. Naruto saw nothing out of the ordinary, just a normal part of town, but that was probably exactly the problem. It wasn't the place Sasuke had called home for years. Sasuke now had no home, to match the no family he now had.

"I'm sorry," Naruto quietly started, "I never thought to ask about your home." There was probably good reason why Tsunade never mentioned the ending of the Uchiha residences. Naruto kicked himself inside for it. It didn't matter that he had already done his best for everything, but that he failed to see the bigger picture.
Naruto looked back at Sasuke as his own expression fell seeing his old friend so lost. It wasn't an expression Naruto liked seeing on a face that always looked so calm and confident. "... Sasuke," Naruto was at a loss to say much else.

Sasuke seemed to ignore Naruto's words and even his friend's presence for the time being. There was no one wandering the streets in the district so late at night so it gave Sasuke good enough reason to finally take a few steps forward and even more as he continued on. His eyes scanned every building as he tried his best to fit them into the puzzle of what they had once been. It was in the middle of the street that he stopped and his eyes stared ahead. He knew that his own home was further away, but he was too afraid to go and look what had become of it.

Hands finally clenched tightly at Sasuke's sides as the entire situation hit him full force. In the blink of an eye one of his hands moved up to pull at a kunai on his belt and when he had the weapon free he swung it out. It gave a loud 'thunk' as it hit its mark, causing one of the signs that hung above one of the new shops in the district to swing on its hinges rather wildly. Sasuke didn't even watch. His hand dropped back down like lead weight and his entire body shook while he kept his eyes shut tightly.

A firm grip wrapped around Sasuke's throwing hand. "Sasuke," Naruto's voice spoke in front of him. Sasuke could feel another hand smooth across his cheek, as gentle as it could when it had only known how to kill, the callouses proof of that. "Juusan," the acquired name sake spoken with soft familiarity, "please stop." Naruto's hand on Sasuke's cheek smoothed over to the back of his neck, petting the dark hair that rested there. "Destroying it won't change it back. Destroying it and hurting the people here won't bring anything back." Naruto tried to keep his voice level, but he could feel Sasuke shaking so badly. "I'm sorry, things change, and I'm sorry they did. I didn't know." He pulled Sasuke's head so his forehead leaned against his own, burying his fingers in dark hair. "This wasn't what I wanted you to come back to in Konoha."

Sasuke didn't realize he let out a choked sob until he felt the actual wetness start to slide down his cheeks. It caused him to blink a few good times, but he couldn't tear his gaze away from Naruto after the other boy's words. It all hurt so badly and he wished so bad that he could just change everything, but Naruto was right and that's what hurt the worst. "Why would they do this?" Sasuke spoke the question almost like a small child. He had given into Naruto's touches, allowing them to relax him, but still he was rightfully upset. "They had no right. My wrongs gave them no right."

Tears, Naruto had never seen them on Sasuke's face, not like this; making Sasuke appear so human, so small and sad. It was terrifying, Naruto almost lost his voice. "You know why," Naruto's voice crackled a little. "Y-you were gone, for such a long time." He linked their hands tightly while his other hand slipped back down to banish those sad tears that didn't belong on Sasuke's face. But as soon as his fingers touched Sasuke's tears, his own was quick to fall. "There was no one else to keep your family name, or home. You left all of this along with all of us." The truth stung brutally, but there was no hiding it. Naruto doubted Sasuke wanted any of withheld or stifled, no matter how much it hurt, the honesty was owed.

Despite such harsh words, Sasuke found he didn't hold any grudge against Naruto for saying such things. It was all the truth and he needed to hear it. It still hurt and soon he was lifting a hand to grab the one that Naruto had used to wipe his tears. As soon as he let go he wasted no time in clinging as tight as he could with his arms around Naruto in a tight embrace while he buried his face near his friend's neck and continued to let his tears out. It was so uncharacteristic of him, but this wasn't something he could deal with on his own. He was suddenly alone all over again with nowhere to go. He didn't know what else to do.

Naruto held Sasuke back, clinging right back as his old friend needed. He pressed his head against Sasuke's, letting him let all of that hurt out against his shoulder. The healed wound below ached terribly but Naruto ignored it best he could, allowing his own tears to fall onto Sasuke's dark hair. "You're not alone, Juusan. I won't let you be alone." Naruto stroked the back of Sasuke's neck again, not disturbing Sasuke's tears just trying to sooth them. "Home is more than just a place, with furniture and things; it's people." Naruto gave a small wet sniff. "People who care about you, Sasuke." He buried his hand in Sasuke's hair as he held onto him just that much tighter. "And we're still here."

Sasuke shook his head the littlest bit. Naruto didn't understand. Yes, there were the few people that seemed okay with Sasuke's return, but it was the majority of the village which looked down their noses at Sasuke as if he were no better than scum. In that respect he really was alone. His home had been taken from him and he had nothing. The only comfort he had were Naruto's earlier words to him that they would see things through together, but Sasuke had never been the type to hold onto hope for very long. With things crashing down around him he couldn't help doubting that things would look up for him. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Naruto," he finally spoke up in a broken voice. He was at a loss and he wasn't afraid to admit such things to the other boy any longer.

"Stay with me," Naruto offered kindly, "Come back with me. My place might not take up an entire district, but it's my little piece of Konoha. Erm, a very, very, very small piece. But you're more than welcome to stay with me." Naruto pulled back just enough to look at Sasuke's tear streaked face. He gently thumbed away the wetness from Sasuke's cheeks. "We'll figure this out together. Remember? We'll keep each other strong and happy."

Sasuke blinked rather slowly as he took in the offer presented to him. He never expected such a thing from Naruto despite what had been happening between the two of them. It was odd to be given a chance to actually stay with the other boy after what Sasuke had just learned, but it felt good all the same. To be wanted in some small way. "Yes," he finally answered in a weak voice, "alright." He took hold of Naruto's hand and placed a soft kiss on one of his fingers which had wiped away tears, speaking after the action, "Thank you, Naruto."

A new but small smile came over Naruto at Sasuke's agreement. "You're welcome." His cheeks grew a little hot at the kiss but that didn't stop him from grasping Sasuke's hand back. "Heh, I guess I can put off your cleaning of my apartment." Naruto brushed a few fingers of his other hand through the fray of Sasuke's long bangs. "I think you've had enough trauma for the day. Of such a long, long, long day." He pushed his hitai-ate up so he could clunk his forehead against Sasuke's, wanting to cheer the other up. "We could go retire back to my place; we don't have to see everything here now." Naruto placed a small sweet kiss on the bridge of Sasuke's nose, trying to perk his spirits a little.

And it did indeed help even if just a small bit. Sasuke managed a small smile for Naruto and was extremely grateful for how hard his friend was trying just for him. He kept near for at least a few more minutes before he finally pulled back, having enough of the area that just wasn't home to him any longer. "Come on, let's get out of here." He tugged on Naruto's hand while he turned them both around to head back down the street and away from the area.

It was when they were starting to near the main road that Sasuke stopped for a second to turn back around and step away from Naruto. He brought both his hands up and closed his eyes while he spoke quietly to the air around him, "Mother. Father. Everyone. I'm so very sorry for everything." He kept still for a few seconds until he finally dropped his hands and turned back around to leave the place he had always called home and fall in step beside Naruto.