Just a little warning for those who haven't gotten to Shippuden yet: THIS ONE-SHOT CONTAINS SPOILERS.

DISCLAIMER: Naruto doesn't belong to me, unfortunately.

Promise

"Naruto." The addressed boy made a small noise in the back of his throat and turned over in his sleep. He seemed not to have heard the voice, save for in his dream. "Naruto." The voice was louder and somewhat more annoyed this time, accompanied by a small shake of Naruto's shoulders.

This time the boy woke up. He turned over to see who had woken him, and was promptly met by a hand clamped over his mouth. "Shh." His waker put a finger to his lips, and leaned down to Naruto's eye level. "I want you to come with me, and I want to know that you won't make a sound." It was Sasuke.

The moment Naruto realized who had woken him, his first instinct had been to wrench the hand away from his face and give Sasuke a good kick in the shin (or ass, either one would have been fine), then tie him up and drag him back to Konoha. But when Sasuke hadn't drawn his sword, hadn't threatened Naruto in any way, simply asked him to be quiet and come with him, Naruto had sensed something was... wrong. Or different. He never could tell the difference.

The blond looked up at Sasuke – screw the Sharingan – and stared at his eyes. They were black, just like they always were whenever Sasuke wasn't using his bloodline limit. Sasuke hesitantly removed his hand from Naruto's lips, waiting for an answer.

"...Alright. Fine. But I want an explanation." Sasuke nodded curtly, and stood up smoothly. Naruto was still a bit sleepy, and wobbled slightly as he rose. Damn that Uchiha, always being better at everything, no matter how insignificant that 'thing' was. He followed Sasuke blindly, with no idea as to where the raven was leading him.

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"Naruto? Naruto??" Sakura's worried voice rose above the treetops; Yamato joined in.

"Where could he have gotten to?" Yamato bit his lip, and looked around. "We're on a mission here! Not to mention one that seems veryimportant to him! I don't understand why he would have wandered off!"

"Maybe he didn't... wander off." Sakura's suggestion seemed too undesirable, however, and she immediately discarded it. Or she tried to, anyway. It was hard to get rid of a thought like that.

"Hey, Sakura! Yamato!" The boy they had been searching for walked sheepishly. He was obviously ashamed for his absence, and kept his eyes on the ground as he approached. Sakura hugged him tightly, grateful that he had returned, and nodded in Yamato's direction. He'd already started heading for Orochimaru's hideout.

"Come on, Naruto!" Sakura knew how much this mission meant to Naruto, and she didn't want him to fail because he'd wandered off – presumably sleepwalking – in the middle of the night. Naruto grinned, though it was a tired, weary grin, and he followed Sakura as she leapt from branch to branch.

She hadn't noticed the blonde's swollen lips, or the reddish marks on his neck that he kept pulling up his collar to hide.

"You're coming back, right?"

"I am."

"... I don't want to lose you."

"Nor I you."

"You promise you'll come back?"

"I promise."

Just a nice little one shot that I couldn't get out of my head. :3 If enough people ask, maybe I'll write what happened between Sasuke and Naruto. (I can't guarantee it'll be good, though. It'll be my first time writing anything like that.) Stupid line breaks. D: Messing up the format and whatnot.

CONSTRUCTIVE criticisms are always helpful!