Welp I lied no kyuubi in here yikes :/

But! the next chapter for sure! Enjoy this one haha XD

Disclaimer: I own no characters and am making no money off this fic (unfortunately!)

The Strange Aura's Owner

No sooner than he had spoken Naruto felt an impact. A weight was pinning him against the door, and whilst regaining his focus he felt a cool metal making contact with the skin over his throat.

A kunai.

'Sa-'

'Don't move.'

A voice that was dangerously low spoke into his ears and Naruto's back stiffened even more against the door. As if the black-haired boy didn't trust him not to, he pushed his weapon closer to the blonde's throat, causing the Leaf nin to feel a warm trickle down his neck.

Naruto had been looking straight ahead up until now, and even though he thought he could see the glare of red in the dark, he couldn't help but sneak a peek. He cautiously moved his eyes to the face in front of him, and gasped as soon as he saw a glimpse of crimson as his pupils met with the Uchiha's ones- if not for only a fleeting moment. Panicking, he shut his eyes- hoping that that wasn't enough time for the boy to get into his conscious. It was even more so worrying as with his chakra issue of late.

'Hn. Too late.' The boy sneered, and even though his voice lacked emotion it still held a mocking tone that Naruto could sense. 'Sharingan!'

Naruto dread what was coming, but never came. He nervously opened his eyes again, slowly peaking up at the other's face.

'Why can't I sense your chakra?' the voice hissed again, irked.

'Even before coming here, I didn't detect you at all,' -eyes dangerously narrowed- 'just what are you up to?' The Uchiha pressed his bodyweight against the Leaf shinobi more, making Naruto hitch his breath when the cut in his neck spilt additional blood.

For a while, the both of them stayed like that until Sasuke deemed the other boy not a threat to him. As he relaxed and moved away, Naruto did too- as the exhaustion that was interrupted by the excitement and fear of seeing Sasuke finally came back and hit him like a gush of wind. Moving to the wall on his left, the blonde's legs gave way and his back slid against the wall until he hit the ground. Under exhausted eyes, Naruto looked up. He could see Sasuke crouching near what looked like an old fireplace that he started to ignite, muttering to himself.

'Don't…'

Uchiha didn't even turn around.

'Don't…You can't go out…in this weather…Sasuke.' Naruto heaved and threw out every word with such difficulty as if he had to physically take the letters out from his mouth.

The missing-nin continued to ignore him and set on glaring at the hole in the wall. Naruto knew what he was thinking. He knew that he couldn't stand to be in the same place as the Uzumaki, as much as this fact hurt. But there was no way he could leave at this time of night, in these conditions. But then again, knowing the Uchiha and his determination…

But Naruto's determination.

'Ah-ugh!' The Uzumaki stumbled as he rose, falling flat on his ribs. Naruto winced in pain, clutching his sides as he shifted his position on the floor trying to get up. At the sound of the impact, the Uchiha cast a glace over his shoulder but that was it.

'Sa…suke,'-he stumbled some more- 'you can't leave...'

The leaf nin was making his way over, painfully. It was pathetic, and frankly, the raven-haired boy was getting tired of this. He turned his head back after getting up and finally opened his mouth.

'What makes you think I will?'

'Huh?'

'Didn't you say it yourself that the weather is bad outside?'

'Oh-I…Yeah.'

The blonde was taken by surprise at the other's words. He had actually listened to him? No, it wasn't listening, he was making fun out of me. Still… Naruto thought, it was nice for him to pretend that he was. Now sitting up, he watched the other with careful eyes as Sasuke decided to sit down against the wall in the far corner. He wasn't looking back at him because there was no way he'd pay the Uzumaki any more attention than necessary. That boy didn't waste even a glance.

It killed Naruto to have another person in the room and they weren't talking (except Sai, or Kiba for that matter), but then he thought that he might be killed by the other person in the roomif he started talking. His mouth fluttered open and shut, indecisive on whether it wanted to say something. Usually, the two didn't need words to figure out what the other was saying. But today was different. And so the words came through.

'I, uh, didn't know that you were here.'

No answer as usual.

The Uzumaki regretted what he said instantly- as he knew that that was a clear indication that he couldn't sense the other boy's chakra either. It would have been wise to keep the knowledge from Sasuke that his body wasn't mustering energy like it should- in case they got into a fight. But then again, if Sasuke thought that Naruto did know where he was, then he would think that he was trying to locate him and bring him home. So why didn't he leave? Was it truly because of the weather, or did Sasuke figure out that he wasn't the one with a problem?

As if they could read each other's thoughts in this moment, the raven-haired boy spoke.

'What's the matter with you?'

Eyes narrowed and honed in on the bulky rucksack displaced at the door.

The surprise on Naruto's face at his voice was an invitation to continue probing.

'You…what's going on with you?'

Sasuke spoked more than he had liked to. But it was bothering him, being confined in the middle of nowhere with a shinobi whose power status he didn't know.

'I…don't know.'

The Uchiha scoffed. Of course he wouldn't tell him.

Instead, he got up and moved to where his cloak was in the opposite corner, and bundled it around his head, ready to lay down without ever really falling asleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was probably two hours later when Sasuke realized that he might have dozed off (he had been travelling all day, after all). Alarmed, he quickly sat up and looked at the other shinobi in the room. Naruto had fallen asleep as well, his head hanging low and drool coming out of his mouth. The Uchiha couldn't help but also notice the trail of red stained down his throat that gleamed in the firelight.

Carless as always.

He thought back to the events earlier. It was irritating that so many questions ran through his mind but so few answers. First of all, why didn't he detect the other shinobi- him of all people? Sasuke didn't like to admit how much of an affect his chakra had on him, but in reality now, the lack of it was troubling. Naruto had also said that he hadn't detected him either. Either that was a lie -to try and get the Uchiha back to Konoha maybe? -or he was telling the truth. Sasuke ruled out the former as the leaf nin wouldn't come alone- that, and he couldn't act well.

After organising his thoughts somewhat, he took another careful look at the Uzumaki. Nothing else spiked alarm or attention except for the way the blonde ninja was tightly gripping his rucksack in his sleep. Sasuke wondered what type of mission he was on.

'Nnghh..'

Naruto stirred in his sleep and Sasuke swore he saw his eyes flutter open for the slightest moment. The way the fire flickered and radiated his blonde hair burned a familiar image into the Uchiha's mind from two and a half years ago.

A demon fox.

The dark-haired boy unbundled a piece of bread that was parcelled in layers of rice paper. He took a bite then chewed at it slowly, eying the glass panel that was placed adjacent to the chimney.

The storm was still raging.

Sasuke thought it a wonder how the fire hadn't died out yet, but then concluded that there must have been some sort of special shaft that allowed air to go out, but not the wind in. He wasn't particularly cold, but still wrapped his cloak around him anyways. Scanning the room he entered less than 24 hours ago, he wondered how long ago it was constructed, and initially for what purpose? There was no sign of a bed, or a basin for that matter, just a wooden box in another corner which he had found empty upon arrival.

The blonde next to the wall stirred, but the rogue ninja decided that he wasn't going to wake up for a while, so he laid down again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

The sky was beginning to lighten to a pale blue, and the winds calming down ever so slightly when the two boys were starting to wake up. The raven exhaled a small puff of air and sat up stiffly. It wasn't the worst place that he had slept in, but he would have liked it to have been more comfortable since he was waking up every few hours. He stood up and stretched. Almost immediately his glance fell in the direction of Naruto.

The Uzumaki was shifting around on the floor as he got up from sleep, his eyes opening slowly. A piece of thread dangled from his face, so he reached out a removed it with a hand. Groaning (probably because of the poor position he slept in), the ninja gingerly got up. It looked like for a moment he forgot where he was, since his head turned a few times until it landed in the direction of the raven in surprise. Exhaling as he remembered the events of last night, the blonde spoke.

'How long have you been here for?'

As soon as he had finished asking the question, Naruto thought that there was no point of ever asking the Uchiha anything at all. Hell, you would have gotten more of a response out of a stone wall. As he watched the Uchiha- who was doing his best to ignore him- reach into a pouch, it reminded the shinobi of how hungry he was.

Ironically, as soon as Sasuke heard the unfastening of Naruto's backpack, he whipped his head around. When nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be taken out of it, he resumed to looking down at his breakfast. It was tofu wrapped in seaweed. He had eaten this for a few days now, but couldn't complain as the moist texture kept him hydrated in the hot climate. After a few more bites he glanced at Naruto again, who didn't exactly look like he was enjoying his meal either. It seemed the Uzumaki was eating a rice ball filled with a grated vegetable of some sort. Unfortunately for Sasuke, the blonde caught him looking over and used this opportunity to speak.

'You want some?' Naruto offered gingerly, holding out the parcel in the raven's direction.

'Hn.' Said boy turned his face sharply in the other direction and resumed chewing his food. A bit too slowly.

'You don't look like you're enjoying that so much,' Naruto started again. 'Besides, didn't you always eat rice at the academy?'

Sasuke inwardly twitched at Naruto's casual mention of his time in Konoha, as well as the fact that he remembered such a trivial detail about himself. It was true- even as a teenager he still enjoyed eating gohan. He was getting sick of the tofu now, but didn't want to admit it first.

'Let's swap.'

A parcel was thrown in his direction and before he knew what he was doing, the Uchiha found himself catching it. There was still a lot of food left, and Sasuke was secretly grateful since he hadn't eaten rice in a while. Carefully packaging up his tofu, he also threw his meal in the other boy's direction. As the Uzumaki accepted it thankfully and started to eat it rather quickly, Sasuke wondered whether the swap was more for himself. He also recalled the fact that the blonde loved to eat ramen filled with tofu and seaweed. And in order to stop more unwanted memories making their way to the front of his brain, he too began to eat the food in front him.

A shorter chapter this time...didn't realise until I actually uploaded it ahahaha. Well, you know what they say- better quality over quantity!

Guess whose fav bashful bijuu is making an appearance?

#KURMAISCOMINGPARTY

I've done half of the next chapter so hopefully the next upload won't take long.

PLEASE REVIEW! XDDD

bye~