Chapter I: Return

~The clouds move on, the earth turns grey...

"I think this is...this is the best for the both of us. I'm sorry but...this...this is the end. I'm so sorry but... we're...us...this...it's...all over."

"No, wait!" yelled out a young man who was reaching out blindly in the darkness, perspiration coating his forehead; only to realize once again that he was having a nightmare.

It was the same nightmare that had plagued him ever since she had left. The same sequence always repeated itself and the end results were all the same. He would wake up calling after her only to watch her leave over and over again. Regardless of where he was, these nightmares seemed to haunt him. Yet, there seemed to be an increase in nightmares ever since he decided to return home.

The tired man slowly pulled himself into an upright position, his calloused right hand placed in his wild blond hair. The bed creaked under the sudden shift of weight. This only served to annoy the man further. His lips tweaked downward into an uncanny frown and the whisker like scars that were permanently etched on his face seemed to stand out even more than usual. He rubbed open one eye while simultaneously letting out a loud yawn. A cool gust of wind blew in and goosebumbs began to form on his muscular arms.

Directly across from him was an open window. He could make out the border of his village through the disappearing light. A strange sense of nostalgia washed over him as he watched the sunset. He was completely mesmerized by its beauty. As nostalgia disappeared, an even more familiar feeling replaced it, longing.

He had missed his home and the people who inhabited it. He had especially missed his friends who had become a foster family to him. It was ironic how as a child that was all he wanted, a family; people who would acknowledge him for who he was and not what was forcefully sealed inside of him. Just when he had it all, it was once again ripped away by his cruel destiny.

Weary cerulean eyes scanned the area. The serene calmness which had been present in the motel room vanished. He couldn't detect any threats but his instincts told him otherwise. The three years of being ANBU captain had served him well. He felt the lightest of chakra being exuded by an unknown presence.

In the blink of an eye, the ninja stood beside the front door of his hotel room with a kunai in hand. The sleepiness and drowsiness felt by the man earlier, had all but abandoned him now. He waited patiently beside the worn out door, ready to spring at the intruding assailant.

"Naru..." The intruder's voice slowly decreased in volume as he felt the cold edge of a recently sharpened but well worn out kunai against his neck.

"Get the fuck out of my room, or else I'll..." growled the blond haired man into the ear of the masked ANBU he held captive.

"Or else what?" retorted the bitter ANBU who sported a white cat mask, which contrasted drastically with the rest of his midnight black attire. "What are you going to do, dickless?"

"Fuck you!" responded the blond immediately, anger momentarily getting the better of him. Then realization dawned upon him. He withdrew his kunai from the ANBU's neck, his eyes clearly giving away his astonishment.

"Sai! What are you doing here?" whispered the blond softy, slightly dropping his guard.

He released the ANBU but still kept an eye on him. The ANBU walked in casually and took a seat at the vacant dinner table, completely ignoring the fact that he had been at the brink of death mere seconds ago. The ANBU carefully took of his cat mask to reveal a pale face surrounded by silky black locks. Charcoal eyes silently observed the humble residence. Twirling a paintbrush in one hand, he turned to face the blond ninja who stood before him rigidly.

"Is this all you could afford?" he asked mockingly after briefly surveying his surroundings. "Pity, I would have expected more for Konoha's ANBU captain." Sai's wandering eyes swiftly focused in on the man who stood in front of him, expecting a reaction.

"Shut up!" retorted the agitated ninja, instantly reacting to the taunt; though clearly not wanting to answer any questions.

"Shut up. What an effective come back. It's very intimidating." Sai replied back evenly, sarcasm dripping of his every word.

"Why are you here?" asked the blond man crossly, staring daggers at the ANBU who sat before him.

That however, didn't seem to affect the ANBU the slightest, as he proceeded to give his answer.

"To take you back to Konoha, Naruto."

The ANBU's seemingly calm demeanour was quickly disappearing. A dark aura seemed to radiate of him, but the fake smile never left his lips. He was watching Naruto as a predator would watch its prey; calm and calculatingly. It was as if the temperature in the small motel room had dropped a few degrees. An unnerving tension clouded the ageing room.

"If you want to take me back, it's too late because..." started Naruto before being abruptly cut off by Sai's fist connecting with his right cheek.

Naruto could feel the fist making contact with his cheek.

The punch had caught him completely off guard. Thankfully for him, the punch wasn't chakra laced, and thus didn't require surgery to restore his injured bones. It did, nonetheless, cause Naruto's cheek to swell up almost immediately after contact.

"Bastard," muttered Naruto as he spit blood out. The profanities he muttered steadily got worse but it didn't seem to bother Sai at all. In fact, Sai seemed quite content at his impulsive action which was reflected by the smug grin on his face. "What the hell happened to you? Last time I checked, you weren't the type of guy who would just punch someone blindsided."

"You kind of deserved it, don't you think?" responded Sai cheerfully, as his false innocence returned. The mad rage that had consumed him just short moment ago had all but vanished. The ever present fake smile was now aimed directly at Naruto. "As for the punch, well, I owe Sakura a debt. I just thought that now would be a perfect time to settle it, seeing as she would have done the same."

Naruto grumbled and mumbled more profanities, but this time all under his breath. But there was no mistaking the small smile that had appeared on his face after the mention of his dear friend's name. As he trudged on towards his small kitchen, he could feel Sai gathering chakra.

"Don't bother," called back Naruto as he moved towards the direction of the kitchen. "I'm not going to try to run away from you. Like I was trying to say before you slugged me, I'm..."

Naruto winced as the pain in his jaw caught up to him. He quickly rummaged through the little freezer and grabbed the ice bag which was located at the back. Not wasting any time, he slowly eased the ice on to his burning skin. The coolness of the ice brought instant relief.

Naruto took his time and walked back into the front of the room he had rented. His earlier statement had fell on deaf ears.

In a matter of minutes, Sai had set up intricate booby traps and counter measure jutsus. Sai had taken no chances. Even for a jounin of Naruto's calibre, escaping unscathed simply wasn't possible. Sitting on the middle of the floor between all the traps was Sai. He held a summoning scroll in his left hand and a paintbrush in his right.

"One wrong move, Naruto, and Konoha's ANBU corps will assemble here."

Sai spoke with neither sympathy nor empathy. He was brought up to be indifferent to other peoples' suffering. Growing up in ROOT had suppressed most of his emotions. Regardless of pressure or circumstance, Sai could always be trusted to make the decisions that would benefit Konoha most. Although he was formally a part of Team 7, his utmost loyalty would always be to Konoha.

Naruto ignored the warning and took Sai's abandoned seat at the dining table. He put both elbows on the table and resumed holding ice on his swelled up cheek. He was well aware that Sai wouldn't lie when it came to matters like this.

"Jhus calm dhown, owww!" Naruto gritted his teeth which only added to his pain. "Lishten to me. I'm notsh running away! Let me make a dheal."

Sai rolled his eyes. He didn't believe a single word that came out of Naruto's mouth. But he did ease some of the pressure on the summoning scroll. His charcoal eyes narrowed, as he watched Naruto intensely.

"What kind of deal can you possibly make?" Inquired Sai, intrigued. He had been observing Naruto's behaviour since the minute he set foot in the room and what he had noted so far wasn't reassuring. Naruto presented himself in a very untrustworthy manner.

But Sai too had made a promise, a promise very similar to the one Naruto had made to Sakura so many years ago. His mission was to bring Naruto back at any cost. And now, he had Naruto Uzumaki, the Hokage's apprentice, right before his face. This was the boy who seemed destined for greatness, before his mysterious disappearance.

The Rookie Nine were assembled immediately, even Sasuke who hadn't finished serving his ten year confinement in Konoha. It was a relatively light punishment considering that the Uchiha had not only abandoned his village but co-operated with internationally wanted criminals as well.

To be this close to handing Naruto in to the Hokage and not doing so was agonizing for Sai. But something was stopping him from pulling the trigger.

"I'll come with you. No escaping, no fights, no anything. All of this on one condition, nobody knows where we are and what we are doing. It's just you and me. We'll make our way back to the village alone." Continued Naruto, as the pain in his cheek started to numb. He tossed the remaining ice cubes into the sink, each one landing in the center.

"And why would I want to do that?" responded a patient Sai, after mulling over his options. "Besides, think of all the risks involved. There are plenty of opportunities along the way for you to 'mysteriously disappear' once again. Who knows, you might even kill me. It would be a lot easier and safer for me to call the ANBU squads here and forcibly drag you back to the village. Tell me Naruto, if you were me, would you take this deal?"

"Cut the crap, Sai. You know full well I wouldn't kill you," darkly growled Naruto, his cerulean eyes narrowing and fists clenching tightly. "I give you my word, I won't run. I never go back on my word, you know that."

A tense silence followed. Both men stood face to face, neither turning away. It was as if they were involved in a complicated battle; trudging on the fine lines between trust and deception. Sai was the first to speak.

"I, against my better judgement, will trust you. Betray my trust however, and you will suffer the consequences. Consequences far worse than anything you have ever known. I will not hesitate to use the most brutal methods in my disposal to drag you back home, either alive or dead." Stated Sai clearly, pausing only to see a dopey grin form on Naruto's face.

"And to think I was sure the old Naruto had vanished and an imposter took his place," continued a slightly frowning Sai.

"Tch, it takes more than that to change me," replied a grinning Naruto, as he got back up and walked towards his kitchen. His stomach growled and he turned back to ask Sai a question. "So what do you want for breakfast?"

A look of confusion on Sai's face conformed what Naruto needed to know. Naruto started to take out various cooking utensils and started warming his oven. Sai was still staring at him, as if demanding an answer.

"What, you didn't think we were leaving right now, did you?" asked Naruto as he opened his fridge and pulled out various food items.

"On second thought, handing you over right now would be a better idea," stated Sai darkly, half angry that he had fell for one of Naruto's more simpler tricks and half amused that Naruto still had the guts to play pranks under such tense situations. However, one thing was guaranteed, Naruto would come back to Konoha; his instincts were telling him that.

Yet, Sai also had a nagging suspicion that Naruto hadn't fully gotten over what had forced him to leave the village in the first place. But for the moment, Sai wouldn't voice his concerns. That could wait until they had reached Konoha. He sure wasn't the only person who needed the answer to that question.

"Oi, do you want food or not?" called back Naruto, temporarily interrupting Sai's thoughts. Sai nodded no in reply. He stood back up and walked towards his mask. He slowly put the summoning scroll back inside his pouch.

"Don't bother trying to steal the scroll," warned Sai, as he hung his ANBU mask on the black belt that hung loosely around his waist. "Its touch activated. If anyone else touches it but me, it will automatically go off."

"I gave you my word already," reminded Naruto irritably as he started cracking eggs. He slowly dropped it onto the hot frying pan. A sizzling sound filled the room as the eggs made contact with the oil. The warm aroma of breakfast flooded the small room.

Sai merely shrugged off Naruto's exasperation.

"It's better to be safe, then sorry," wisely remarked Sai, as he watched Naruto try to prepare a decent, edible breakfast. "We are leaving today around lunch, no ifs, not buts, no nothing. Any later then lunch and I'll..."

"You'll summon the Konoha corps here," mimicked Naruto in a high pitched voice, trying his best to imitate Sai in the most annoying way possible. He was finished with the eggs and was now frying bacon. The oil and grease continued to produce sounds which resounded though out the kitchen.

Sai closed his eyes and took a deep breath, than gave Naruto a fake smile and lifted up only his middle finger in return.

...The happiness I felt has quickly gone away ~

Author's Note: Wow, this chapter took an awfully long time to write! To everyone (or anyone) who reads this story, please humbly leave your opinions. Was it good...or bad? This is my first 'true' story of sorts, and I would appreciate any feedback. I'm not forcing you to review, but please let me know about things I should change or keep. Thanks in advance and hope you enjoy this story!

P.S. The lines at the top and bottom are actually from a poem (Inevitable Reality by Liz Waller). I do not own the poem in any way, shape or form. I just thought it fit in nicely with my story.