Sakura was there along with Tsunade's assistant, a few medical ninja, Kakashi, 'pervy sage' as Naruto called him, and a few others. They were all watching him waith wary eyes and he understood that.
"Ah, Sasuke, you're awake." She walked over to him and tilted his head this way and that, craning his neck uncaring it might hurt.
"What happened? Why am I here?" His voice was hard for him to reconize by how raspy and disused it was.
"You were bitten by Orochimaru's mutated snake."
"What happened?"
"The snake went out of control and bit you. After you killed Orochimaru his control of it went away and it attacked everything it saw."
Sasuke was stunned. How did everyone know he killed Orochimaru already?
"How do you know I killed him?"
"We sent in a spy."
"Who?" He didnt remember reconizing a spy.
"We'll tell you later."
"How did I get here?"
"Naruto saved you. Naruto," The blond looked up from where he sat, feet propped up on the windowsill, looking out the window. Sasuke hadnt realized he was there. "You want to tell the story or me?"
Sasuke realized Naruto had changed from three years earlier. His body was a well tanned and oiled machine, while his face never lost the innocent look to it, neither did his eyes, and his hair fell past his shoulder and was currently tied back at the base of his neck but spikes were still evident along with the bangs in his face.
"Baa-chan sent me out to do some recon with a couple other ninja." His voice was soft and deep. "We managed to barely capture a Akatsuki ninja and decided the best way to get information from them is one of us disguised as one. Since I was the only one to be able to hold a jutsu for hours, maybe a day or more it was evident I was the perfect canidate. I went in and blended perfectly with them. Not even your 'precious brother' knew anything was wrong." He spat out both precious and brother in disdain. "I made it all the way to Orochimaru's own contingent, the one you lead, and I was there to hear everything. That day..." His voice faltered slightly.
"He has seen things no one should see, no matter their age." Tsunade said quietly.
"That day," Naruto's voice was strong and determined to finish. "The contingent I was in wasnt going to the field but in the end we were brought along any way. I watched as you killed Orochimaru and the snake reared up behind you, poised to strike. It was like slow motion. The fangs came down and punctured your neck, nearly piercing all the way through, then came out, pulling blood along with it, before going to the next victim. The group attacked the snake and they all fell to him. Someone must have found out I was a spy because the next thing I knew, my body was held in a jutsu, an easier target for the snake. Im kinda thankful to the snake because the justu maker was killed and I was free to get out of the snakes range of vision."
Sasuke interrupted. "So how'd I get here, Dobe?"
"Shut up, Sasuke." Kakashi said glaring at him.
"I moved out of the snakes view, towards YOUR limp body." Naruto said, acting as if nothing happened, very well too. "I was about to teleport when the snake reared back and almost saw me move." He closed his eyes wearily. "The worst part was I wasnt able to teleport for hours. That snake had one eye on me at all times it seemed. I had to watch it greedily devour those men. It wasnt just a flick and swallow since he was so big, it was a gore filled and stomach twisting sight. He would tear off those mens flesh, letting the blood run before licking some up. I heard bones snap and fragments, more than once, flying at me." He seemed nauseous. "I had to watch as those partily alive men screamed at their killer. Their screams are STILL echoing through my head, I dont think they'll ever leave. I finally realized I wasnt going to have a safe chance at getting away since the snake was working his way towards YOU." He swallowed heavily. "I took the initive and my chances. The snake turned and began snapping forward for his strike when I teleported."
That was when Tsunade, and Kakashi realized Naruto was favoring one leg as he sat with his feet propped in the window. When he was done telling the story they decided to say something.
"I got us to the gates and had to haul your heavy ass all the way through the town to Tsunade. If not for me, you would be dead. You would have died on the way, had I not given you some of my tainted chakra." FAWP (a slap to the back of Naruto's head). Naruto clutched the back of his head. "OW! Why'd you do that Baa-chan?"
"Your chakra is not tainted. Now let me see your left leg."
"Im fine Baa-chan." Naurto said with a faked smile.
"Leg. Now." She growled out.
"Fine!" He pulled his pants leg up and everyone in the room gasped at the gauges in his leg. "Alright, so they snake did get me a bit. It was just a glancing hit!"
Sasuke, the stiotic bastard, was stunned too. He didnt know how long he was out but the 'glancing blow' looked painful.
"How long was I out?"
"I got you here on a Tuesday..." Naruto said. "And its Saturday, so almost five days."
"And you walked around with that, that long?"
Naruto was about to reply but then realized he didnt know why since he had been gone. "I have a special body. Ill be fine."
"No, Naruto. I dont think you will." Tsunade said seriously.
"What!?"
"The poison isnt letting Kyuubi heal your leg..."
Sasuke interrupted. "Kyuubi?"
"And so if what treatment I can give you doesnt work, you might not be able to be a ninja."
Naruto's face fell drastically. "Oh." Was all he said.
Sasuke didnt speak. For some reason it hurt him to see the finally defeated look on Naruto's face.
"Whats the Kyuubi?"
"You werent here so you'll have to figure out on your own." Naruto snapped out. "Have a nice day." With that Naruto was up and leaping out the high window.
"He's going to kill himself with his leg weak like that." Tsunade said.
"He's Naruto. What do you expect?" Kakashi said, behind his mask he was smiling slightly. "I'd hate to see him lose his dream. Can you help him at all, Tsunade?"
She ran a hand over her face. "I...I dont know."
Sasuke was stunned, the Dobe had given everything to save him. He wanted to help Naruto even if it was against his normal attitude, he wanted to show he could be grateful.
Hereisalinebreak.IfeelbadformakingNarutososadandstuff.Hesstillhotthough.Ohyeah.
A week had passed and it was the first session to fix Naruto's leg. Tsunade, Naruto and surprising Sasuke were in a hospital room to try the first session.
"This is going to hurt, Naruto." She had dropping the teasing nickname in the serious situation.
"Ill be fine, Baa-chan." He tried to reassure.
Tsunade sent her chakra into Naruto, making him cry out, and began to probe the snake poison together, to hopefully pull it all together then out. Naruto bit down on his lip from the pain and clutched the hospital bed tigthly.
Sasuke frowned uneasily at the pained Naruto. He stepped forward and lightly touched Naruto's arm.
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he looked though them at Sasuke who seemed nervous. He looked down at the hand that had touched him and it was open, inviting him to grip it in pain.
Sasuke bowed his head in embaressment then felt warmth in his outstretched hand. He looked over at his hand and saw Naruto's hand in his.
Although he didnt know why, Sasuke liked the warmth in his heart at how easily Naruto accepted him back. He closed his hand around Naruto's and let the blond grip his in the renewed pain.
Nearly two hours passed before Tsunade claimed they could go no further. She handed Naruto a pair of crutches and told him that his leg would be too weak to hold his weight.
"Now listen to me, brat, I want you on those cruthes until I say something else. I hear from anyone that you arent on them and you'll be on no missions for a month."
Naruto sighed. "Fine."
"Good." Naruto got off the bed and leaned on his crutches. "Sasuke, you'll stay with him."
"Why?" Both Naruto and Sasuke asked.
"One-to prove to the counsil you arent trying to attack and kill us all, two-because I dont trust the brat home alone, and three-its either Naruto or...Sai."
Naruto groaned. "Be glad Teme that she didnt give you to Sai."
"Why's that?" Sasuke was confused, since he barely knew who Sai was by passing encounters.
"Sai is just odd. He's...clingy."
"Huh?"
"Long story." Naruto said as he began to hobble for the door. "These things are ANNOYING."
"Live with it, Brat." Tsunade said, shooing him off.
Sasuke followed Naruto out the door and began to open all the others for the struggling blond. Neither spoke as they made their way to Naruto's small apartment.
"Dobe, where is your apartment?" Sasuke finally said.
"In the lower part of town." Naruto replied unemotionally.
"The lower...isnt that the poor side of town?" Naruto nodded. "Why do you live down there?"
"Thats the only area Im allowed to live."
"What do you mean?"
"Here isnt a good place to talk about it."
When they reached Naruto's apartment Sasuke felt bad for the blond since it wasnt furnished very well and was barely able to call it a home. He closed the door softly behind him and sat on the one couch in the place.
"You going to tell me what's with Kyuubi and having very few places to live?"
Naruto's head bowed in sad defeat. "The nine tailed fox demon is called Kyuubi. An old Hokage sealed him inside a baby, me. The Hokage was my father, who wanted me to be the hero. I'm just a demon in their eyes." He was looking forlornly out the window. "To them I should be killed off as to not let the Kyuubi live either."
"How come you never told us, Dobe?"
"Same reason you never spoke of your past. It wasnt important and just too painful to speak of."
Sasuke nodded. "So what about Sai?"
"He's clingy."
"What do you mean clingy?"
"Once he gets to know someone...he becomes attached to them. He tries to control every aspect of their lives."
"What do you mean?"
"When he first came, he tried to control me. It got so far as he stalked me and wouldnt leave me alone."
Sasuke nodded and sat back. He understood part of the pain Naruto was going through.
Hereisanotherlinebreak.ImwatchingTheHunchbackOfNotreDamn.Itsacutemovie.IstilllikeMulanbetter.
Two weeks had already passed since Naruto's treatment and Tsunade summoned him to her office. Sasuke, who hadnt left Naruto's side, went with him to tsunade's office.
"Hey baa-chan!" Naruto said as he hobbled into the office.
"Nice to see you too, brat. I see you brought Sasuke with you."
"Why not? He's been helping me." He sent a smile to Sasuke.
"Lets see your leg, Naruto."
Naruto sat down and propped up his leg on Tsunade's desk, making sure to avoid the papers. He lightly pulled his pant leg up and undid the bandage he wrapped around it.
"This may hurt, brat, but I need to check if its healing at all."
Naruto nodded. "Ill be fine, Baa-chan."
Tsunade sent her magic into Naruto's leg who grunted in pain. He panted as the pain increased with Tsunade probbing deeper.
Tsunade pulled back and looked Naruto in the eye. "Listen to me, brat."
"Yeah?" Naruto drawled out as Sasuke leaned against the wall.
"You'll heal thankfully. That leg will be weak for a while but you should be fine."
"So can I have a mission?"
"No."
"C'mon, Baa-chan, I can do it."
"You'll handicap whatever team I put you on."
Naruto's face fell, it was the one thing he didnt want said to him. He didnt know how to respond so he sat quiet.
"I will allow you to go on border patrol though. No further then the far edge of the forest. You too Sasuke, but you will have a secong ninja with you as you patrol. Even better, both of you will be a patrol pair."
Naruto nodded. His spirits had lifted some since he could do something.
"You two can start tomorrow since its nearly dusk now."
"Well see ya Baa-chan."
Tsunade nodded Naruto and Sasuke out the door and watched them go. Sasuke smirked at Naruto as he tried to climb down the stairs.
"Do you need help, Dobe?" Sasuke asked smirking still.
"No." Naruto snapped out bitterly, not like his normal retort.
"I was trying to help Dobe."
"Then dont sound like your getting a kick out of this!" Naruto growled out.
By the time they reached Naruto's apartment and got inside, an hour had passed. Sasuke finally gave in and helped Naruto up the stairs to his apartment by giving him a shoulder to lean on.
"Dobe?" Came a half hour after they returned.
"What?"
"Do you still hate me?" He sounded pulled back and nervous.
"I'm going to go shower." Naruto said quietly, not answering.
Neither picked up the subject again after they both showered. They barely spoke as they got ready for bed, Sasuke on the couch, and had gone to bed.
The next morning, Sasuke woke Naruto and cooked them ramen. He wanted to prove to Naruto he was a good person so he made sure to help Naruto around, along with Naruto being stiff in that leg.
"We need to leave soon." Naruto said around ten that day. "We have to check in with Baa-chan then leave. You packed?"
"Yeah, Dobe."
"Then lets go."
Tsunade, when they greeted her, wished them luck then shooed them off to drink her Sake. The passage through the forest to the far edge was uneventful, even with Sasuke offering Naruto a piggy back ride, which was sadly denied.
When they finally reached the far edge, that edge being a no mans land between their village and a roudier one, Naruto sat down wearily. He neither spoke nor made any indication that he remembered Sasuke was there, besides making enough food for two.
The night passed quietly and Sasuke took first watch, wanting Naruto rested from the journey since it took out more from the blond. He paced quietly back and forth, every now and then stopping to look towards the distance.
It continued on like that for nearly a week, Naruto barely talking and practically ignoring Sasuke and Sasuke trying to secretly taking care of Naruto. On the sixth night, Naruto was on watch when a shuriken flew past him, cutting his cheek and thumping into the tree behind him.
Naruto quickly jumped over to the sleeping Sasuke and woke him. He left his crutches behind leaning against the tree and was soon in a defensive position as Sasuke woke up.
Three more shuriken flew in and Naruto deftly blocked them with a kunai. Sasuke was fully awake by then, his sharingan whirling.
"Itachi." He whispered the name, stunned.
The man, as if called, stepped out from the trees and smirked the famous Uchiha smirk at Naruto and Sasuke. He seemed happy that Naruto was blocking his shuriken.
"Ah, little brother." He said slowly stalking forward. "I see you havent killed the jinchuuriki (sp?). Had he put that much into trying to stay alive that you pity him?" He was trying to provoke Naruto with what he said.
"Itachi, I can not say anything for my companion but I believe he has more reason to live than you or me. All I have is revenge while all you have is the quest for power. Naruto has a dream of improving this world."
"And yet he can not since he is a demon."
"No demon, Itachi. Houses a demon. There is a difference."
Itachi charged in then, aimed for the more easily defeated Naruto. Sasuke was about to make Naruto move then he realized what the blond had done.
As Itachi and Sasuke spoke, Naruto had done a complex jutsu without their knowledge. As Itachi stuck his kunai into Naruto's gut, Naruto exploded, sending Itachi flying backwards with a burnt arm and face.
"You cant underestimate me either, Itachi." Naruto growled out from a few feet away as Itachi landed on the ground.
"Ah but you are already slowed down."
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked smiling his bright smile. "Can you be completely sure I havent been faking it all this time?"
"I watched as your precious Hokage treated you."
Naruto's laugh echoed through out the little glade they were in. Neither Itachi or Sasuke knew what was so funny.
As Sasuke watched, Naruto did some hand seals for a jutsu so fast his sharingan couldnt catch it. "Wind walk jutsu."
Sasuke felt a pull on his body then looked around, he was behind Itachi, who was still looking forward at Naruto. He quickly slid a kunai out of his pouch and threw it.
"Wind cage jutsu." Naruto called, entrapping Itachi in a cage of wind.
The kunai flew forward as Naruto turned Itachi around. The elder Uchiha's eyes widened at how easily he was defeated as the kunai went between teo of the wind bars and embedded itself in his shoulder, mere millimeters from his heart.
"We need to bring him to Baa-chan." Naruto said quickly. "Pack everything."
Sasuke complied and regretful of not killing Itachi he packed anyway. They started their way back, Naruto still holding Itachi in his wind cage justu.
"It will take nearly a day to get back." Naruto said as he hobbled along the broken trail and holding Itachi in the cage.
"Dobe, just let me carry you and we'll make it back easier."
Naruto finally gave in and settled on Sasuke's back, resting his chin on the ravens shoulder, and concentrated on the wind cage jutsu. He kept himself awake as they past through the forest by talking to Sasuke quietly as to not let Itachi, floating ten feet behind them, hear.
"Why did you ask if I hated you last week?"
"Because, Dobe, I dont hate you."
"Oh. I dont think I ever hated you. Maybe when we get back we can actually act like friends if you dont run off again."
"I wont. The only reason I went off before was because I wanted more power to beat Itachi."
By the next day, Itachi was in Konoha clutches and tried/sentenced to life in prison for crimes against the country. Sasuke was allowed to become a Konoha citizen and ninja again but under some supervision...aka Naruto having to go on any missions he went on.
Neither Sasuke or Naruto minded in having to be together on missions and soon they were allowed in the top ranking missions by how well they completeed their others. Kakashi and Sakura became the other half of their group again as they reached the higher more deadly ranked missions.
Both Sasuke and Naruto became ANBU and once again, Kakashi was with them as a returned ANBU. When it came time for Tsunade to retire and pass the Hokage garb to the next generation, two friends were there to see it, one being the next Hokage and the other as his personal ANBU guard, along with...once again, Kakashi.
When Naruto was to be signed in as Hokage, a load uproar came when a sand wall knocked the crowd apart to crate a walkway for...Kazekage Gaara. Gaara and Naruto had kept in touch over the years and created a pact to bring the two towns together.
No one but Sasuke, Naruto, Itachi and Tsunade knew that the wound Naruto had was a fake since it was easily healed by Kyuubi but Naruto had convinced Tsunade that there had been someone watching and he made it an elaborate hoax. Naruto and Sasuke had easily kept each other company and never let the other give in...Even when Sasuke fell for Naruto and Naruto fell for him...even as they found that Gay YAOI sex was the best sex they could have...Even when the Pervy-sage made a Icha Icha Paradise book of Yaoi just for them...
THE END
So theres another fluffy ficcy. You know you love it. Chippy would love you if you reviewed. . Yum...Reviews. I reply to them all...unless chippy doesnt let me...but Ill cage him up just for you...!