Disclaimer: No I don't own Nauto and I get no profit from this story, but everything else is mine!

Scratching his blond spikes as soon as the door is closed he lets a sigh brake free and his usual smile fades from his face as he looks at his dark apartment with empty eyes. Mechanically he walks to his bathroom, leaving the lights out, and starts the shower while he disrobes. Even now as a twenty-three year old elite ANBU leader he can't let his old façade fail him. He's still forced to smile like a fool so that his enemies don't up the violence. Oh, not the enemy he's sent out to kill, not the enemies lurking in the village as harmless law abiding citizens that live here.

It all started out harmless enough, tricking him into getting into trouble, or ignoring his presence, or giving him just enough recognition to insult him before going back to acting like he didn't exist. However, as the years passed it progressed; throwing things at him, denying selling him items, refusing him entrance somewhere, upping his rent, things of that nature. As he got older he thought that was bad, but things got worse; attacking him from behind, beating him for walking down the wrong street, his first broken bone, getting drugged and raped for the first time. For years this was the standard, but as of this last year it got worse again. This time they stole from his apartment all the furniture he had in his living room, and cutting off his power. Ironically enough they don't seem to want to go further then his living room, he has yet to come back to find everything stripped down to the walls.

So why hadn't he done anything in retaliation? Simply put, he's not allowed to. After an incident years ago he tried to tell the Hokage what the villagers were doing to him and he was not believed. 'The villagers would never do that, and if you harm anyone you'll be banished for harming the innocent.' Naruto snorted indignantly as he remembered what she had said, "Innocent my ass." He finished his shower and toweled off before heading to his room to flop, still naked, onto his bed. He'd struggled over the years with just leaving the village all together, but had been hesitant. As a kid he had the other rookies, but over the years he had either grown apart or they were afraid of him. He and Kyubi hadn't become friends over the years, but because of their working relationship he had mastered the nine tails and by doing so could keep sane while using Kyubi's powers. However, at one point the village had been invaded and he'd saved them with that power, but after that even his closest of friends were weary if not totally scared of him. Realization dawning on him, that was all last year, he could just leave and no one would miss him. But where would he go, what would he do if he wasn't here in the village? It didn't matter. With the hurt, betrayal, anger and pain surging over him all he wanted to do was leave and start over somewhere no one knew him.

Decision made he threw what little clothes he had with his weapons into his travel bag and left for Hokage Tower. He entered her office through the open window and stood before her desk waiting acknowledgement. He didn't have to wait long. As soon as she looked up she noticed the bag. "What's going on? You don't have a mission."

"I'm leaving. I won't tolerate this abuse any longer."

"Ha, abuse? What are you talking," she stopped speaking as she remembered him coming to her years ago saying the villagers had abused him, "You can't be serious."

"I am. I don't know where I'm going yet, but I'm not staying her any longer."

"If you leave I will mark you as a level S missing nin. You will never know rest again," She stated firmly.

"Ha, you think that's a threat? I haven't known true rest since birth. What are you afraid I'll gather forces and come back and take the village over as revenge? One: I don't want this shitty village and two: if I really wanted revenge I could take it by myself. I'm going to leave and I don't care what you say about me, how you write me off, but I am gone tonight. " Moving so fast she didn't even see him move, he was behind her with a shuriken at her throat almost drawing blood with the pressure. "Do you understand?"

Realizing she really didn't stand a chance she gave a weak, "Yes," and before she could say more he was gone. Now he understood that she was going to send some one till he killed enough of them that she realized he couldn't be killed or brought back by anyone there in the village, but he just had to leave and if he was going to do it for real he had to get a good threat in before he left. Setting out he decided to travel through the night and get as far as he could before someone caught up with him. Hopefully no one in his own Unit., they might not have known each other out side of training and missions, but it was a small group of people that treated him like everyone else because they didn't know each others identities. Luckily for him with Kyubi's abilities now fully merged with his own he's able to move much faster then everyone else. So the hours before sunrise saw him very far away from the village. Deciding he was at least a day's trip from the village by his unit's standards he decided to brake for camp.

He found a very old tree with beautiful sprawling branches shaded from the sun, and picked a branch well wide enough to lie upon and slung his bag to the junction of the branch for his pillow before heading off to find some fruit for a snack before sleep. Naruto kept this routine up for a month; catching small game for food here and there just wandering, seeing the country and reveling in the peace and solitude. He did have to kill one of his unit and several other ANBU before the Hokage got the hint, but he was certain now he wouldn't have to worry about it. When he came upon villages he kept a low key, but he tasted new foods, met new people learned new skills, but he never stayed for long, preferring the solitude of travel. Before he knew it a year had passed.

This night however, would change his life forever. Having stopped for the night he noticed the sent of another camp fire not far off, but chalked it up to travelers, as he wasn't far from a known road. He settled in, for going his own fire so as not to be noticed just in case. Unfortunately, a few hours later he was awakened by something. At first he couldn't figure it out, and then he could feel it; fire running through his veins. There was a strong pulsing in his leg in time with his heart beat, shooting the liquid fire through his body. Calming him self to lower his heart beat, so as to not spread what was happening faster, he checked the pulse point on the outside of his right ankle. It was a bite of some sort, of that he was sure; the problem was that he couldn't reach it to try sucking the poison out. His heart beat began to climb again as panic set in, but he calmed him self and forced his mind past the numbing fear to think. The camp fire he's smelled earlier! He could reach it before the poison reached his heart, he was sure of it! Grabbing his things he leapt to the ground and slowly made his way to the camp fire.

It was taking so long! The distance, that before had seemed so close, felt miles away now! He controlled him self and moved slowly; too afraid to move quickly and risk raising his heart beat. As he finally neared the camp he called out, "Please, I need your help! I was bitten by a snake and I need assistance getting the poison out!" As he rounded the tree blocking him from sight he stopped. Something about the person seemed familiar, but it was hazy, like trying to remember a dream. Long black hair as dark as midnight on a moonless night, skin pail as the moons rays on the lake in winter, all encased in dark clothing, but it wasn't until he saw his eyes that he realized who he was looking at. Itachi Uchiha. For being an elite ANBU leader Itachi could have killed him three times over in the time he stood staring in disbelief. Itachi just smirked at him and said, "What's this about poison and needing help?"

Still completely stricken but desperate he waked over to the log he was sitting on and let his foot rest on it as he lifted his pant leg to show the bite he had sustained. Itachi inspected it before kneeling on the bracken under the fallen log and put his supple lips to his leg and sucked. Completely entranced, Naruto watched as he spit the poison onto the ground before repeating the process. When Itachi was sure he'd gotten most, if not all, of the poison out he brushed his pants off and prepared a poultice and applied it. Naruto finally dropped his pant leg and sat down on the log, "Um, not that I'm not grateful, because I am, but why did you just help me?"

Itachi finished putting his supplies away before he turned to look at a still slightly stunned blond, "We are no longer enemies. I have no reason to turn you away or cause you harm." Naruto figured since he did just save him, and it definitely wasn't planned on his part, that he could trust him. Plus Naruto found himself wanting the brunettes company. Naruto had been starting to notice of late that he was starting to feel lonelier and wanting of a companion. He knew Itachi wasn't it, but maybe be could be until he found someone else. Deciding to just do as he pleased and not ask for Itachi's approval, knowing he probably wouldn't get it, he moved to the other side of the fire and curled up to go back to sleep. It was Itachi's turn to look slightly disturbed at the blond's boldness.

In the morning as Itachi readied to leave, Naruto did the same and as Itachi continued down the road Naruto followed him. Itachi didn't mind for a while assuming they were just heading in the same direction, but after they passed the village he began to think otherwise. Finally, he decided to stop early for the night as he began to notice the blond's limp becoming more pronounced. Without a word Itachi set up a fire and got dinner going as Naruto flopped onto the ground and rubbed at the area around his bite. After dinner Itachi wordlessly changed the dressing and Naruto quietly thanked him before laying back to wait for sleep. The next day was much the same. Itachi would travel until he noticed Naruto's limp get bad before stopping and repeating the previous day's actions. With out a word from either of them that's how the next week passed, until Naruto was healed enough to walk with out having to limp. Naruto soon noticed that Itachi had been doing the same as he had and just roamed the land. They fell into an easy pattern and just followed it uninterrupted.

That is until four months later Itachi came back late from a near by village, no doubt visiting a local lady for some fun, acting strange. At first Naruto couldn't figure out what it was, until it slapped him in the face. Itachi was grinning. The man's expression never changed, so how was it he was smiling? Over their time together they still hadn't talked to each other that often but it did happen. "Hey Itachi, are you okay?" The man slowly turned to look him full in the eye and there was something decidedly dark in his eyes that Naruto wasn't sure he could name. Okay, didn't want to name. It looked damn close to lust if not extreme horniness. Naruto liked the silent man and definitely found him HOT, but he didn't want to complicate things this way. Unfortunately, he didn't have a choice.

"No, I don't think I am. I think I've been drugged," was his dazed response.

"Um, like poisoned, or slipped an aphrodisiac in your drink," Was Naruto's nervous question.

"Hmmm, defiantly an aphrodisiac," He said as he closed in on Naruto.

"So, why didn't you sleep with who you were with?" It was no secret that Itachi spent at least one night in town for sexual gratification, but this was the first he'd come back with out it and drugged. He didn't know how to handle a situation like this!

"He wasn't you," was his deadpan response.