Under the covers
By Aishiteru Koinu (a.k.a. SasuNaru723)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Kishimoto is their creature and that's that.


Sasuke screamed.

Back out in the living room, Kiba, Shikamaru, and Shino (can you even tell if his eyes are open or closed since he even sleeps with sunglasses on?) both open their eyes in alarm at hearing the loud scream coming from the far hall.

Kiba slightly sat up; Akamaru had taken to sleeping on the unoccupied couch because he didn't want to be quashed or thrown off again.

"Hey, did you guys here something? Sounded like Uchiha screaming," muttered Kiba with such curiosity on his face.

Shikamaru and Shino also sat slightly up out of their sleeping bags to listen once again for the sound, but then they suddenly heard a different screaming coming right toward them in amazing speed that was a higher pitch.

"Oh my god! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!" came the frantic yelling voice and out popped Naruto from the hall and running straight for his sleeping bag, hiding himself right under the covers and shaking with chills.

The other three boys turned their attention onto Naruto with curious looks of also complete confusion.

"What's up with you, Naruto? Did the Boogieman try to get you and Uchiha?" asked Kiba sarcastically in a fit of laughter.

The blond popped his head out from under the covers to glare over at Kiba, the boy's trembling lips pouted out as creases grew near his eyebrows, making a distasteful frown.

"That was not the Boogieman! There is no fucking way that something as freaky looking as that can be the Boogieman! It was way worse!" reasoned Naruto in a shaky and crocked voice.

"Right, whatever you say Uzumaki. I believe you… not! Hahaha!" laughed Kiba once again while clutching his sides and rolling over in his sleeping bag, still laughing like mad.

"Naruto, where's Sasuke?" asked Shikamaru after he elbowed Kiba in the gut to shut up the boy's obnoxious laughter, making Kiba cease in laughing and glare at Shikamaru as he nursed his sore stomach.

"Sasuke? Oh shit, that's right! I left Sasuke behind when I fled!" said Naruto, mostly to himself out of realization, then his face went pale at another terrifying thought, "Oh, no! What if the monster's eating him right now? What do we do! What do we do? We've got to do something!"

Naruto then stood up and turned to glare back at the hall. "Alright! I'm coming to save you, Sasuke!" announced Naruto, however, the blond didn't make a move and was frozen still in his position while the others stared at him strangely.

"Aren't you going?" pondered Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto's glare slowly disintegrated and he dropped to his knees, curling himself up into a ball with a shameful and sad look about his face as he looked down at his feet.

"I'm too scared to go by myself!" whined Naruto in a little kid's voice, making Shikamaru, Shino, and Kiba sigh with exaggeration and smack their foreheads at their friend's childish behavior.

Kiba was finally the first to rise out of his sleeping bag and a serious look about his face, "Fine, gaki! Where the hell is this thing then? The faster we kick its' ass and rescue Uchiha-bastard, the quicker I can get back to sleep!"

Naruto looked up with wide sparkling eyes at Kiba. "Really Kiba? You'll help me save Sasuke?" he asked.

Kiba grinned to himself with his eyes closed and scratched the back of his head with one bent arm above his head, "Sure. What the hell."

Naruto's face lit up with a happy smile, "Wow, thank you Kiba! You're a real friend!" said Naruto standing side with Kiba now.

Kiba chuckled, Shikamaru and Shino simply glared at him; he was acting too much of a moron and a loud one at that.

"More like you getting your ass kicked in the next couple of minutes. I bet you that you'll be screaming more like a girl than Sasuke ever could," said Shikamaru.

Kiba's laugh lowered and he eyed Shikamaru with a murderous glare, annoyed that the lazy youth was mocking and teasing him just to piss him off and it was really working.

"Watch yourself, Shikamaru! I'm never going to degrade myself as to being a snot-nose prissy ice bitch like Uchiha –that you can guarantee!"

Both the two Chuunin shinobi smirked with wide humor about their faces, Shino's expression was a little concealed by his pillow being pressed up against half the lower part of his face, but Kiba could tell he was amused.

"We'll be waiting for your flea hide anytime soon, Kiba," replied Shikamaru with a smirk on his lips toward the wolf-boy.

Kiba looked away from the two mocking him and he glared at hearing their snickering laughter behind his back.

"Bastards," he muttered with annoyance laced in his voice.

"So… what's our plan of attack going to be? We need to keep in mind that it's got long shadowed tentacle legs or arms, so we can't be easy." Said Naruto.

Kiba's eyes widened a little at Naruto and he sweat dropped, "Um… there's tentacles?"

Shikamaru was still grinning at Kiba's uneasy position, "Don't forget that it probably eats flesh. Wouldn't want your arm to suddenly be missing?"

Kiba slowly raised a pointed finger at Naruto, an eyebrow raised and the other eye squinted skeptically.

"Naruto… what exactly did you and Sasuke run into? Are you sure you weren't hallucinating because of not sleeping yet?" asked Kiba.

The blond frowned at Kiba and raised his hands above his head, waving them frantically in the air, "But Sasuke screamed!"

Kiba smirked, "Ah, but Sasuke could always be playing a joke on you Naruto, just to scare you off or give you nightmares to dream about tonight."

Naruto glared at Kiba, "Kiba, you know as well as anyone that's known Sasuke that Sasuke screaming like a girl or in anyway is not something you hear no matter if he was joking; you know Sasuke wouldn't dare degrade himself as to acting like a girl anyways; that's just not his style –I know."

Kiba grinned wryly and shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you never know the Uchiha bastard these days. I'm mean… out of all the guys, girls, or what-not that he could have had, he picked you; he's acting weirder and weirder everyday than he use to be back when we were all in the Academy before being Genin."

Naruto frowned and started to add the boy's word into his mind to debate on and fuss over for a while; the room took on that eerie silence.

"Hmm… Well, Sasuke is a little different than before, but you can't blame him after that whole fiasco about a year ago."

The dog-boy growled and shook his hand randomly in the air, "Aw, come on Naruto! After being babied by Orochimaru-"

Kiba's words ended abruptly as he now found himself with Naruto just millimeter's from his own face, the blond glaring savagely up at him, a menacing low growl rumbling from his throat. Kiba was surprised that the boy's irises weren't a deep red color, just only their nature flaming blue, but the pupils could easily be mistaken as slit down straight –like a cat's pupil.

"Don't ever say that fucker's name again. It's ugly to my own ears. I don't want to hear anyone breathe it –no way in hell! We're just going to refer to that time as a fiasco –because it was, okay?" muttered Naruto in such a deadly tone that sent chills down Kiba's spine, making the stiff boy unconsciously swallow his sudden dry throat.

"Sure, whatever you say. Never again –promise," reassured Kiba in an odd, shaky voice.

Staring straight at the other male before him for some time, just a little longer to make sure his warning was clear and understood for sure, Naruto's anger-fueled mood finally started to dissipate and cool off.

Naruto just hated to think back on anything dealing with that whole period from a year ago to three years ago; it was all such a bitch. For those whole torturous four years, Naruto was livid and pissed, though at times he did put on most of a fake act just so his friends wouldn't pester him about being all moody and upset all the time with Sasuke's absence from Konoha –the village they all grew up in. The blond could swear that the snake bastard whom coxed Sasuke into taking his side –the Sound- was purposely taunting him; rubbing it in his face saying that Sasuke was now a Sound shinobi and soon the Uchiha would serve Orochimaru by giving up his body to the fucker. If there was anything other than ramen Naruto could be possessive of, it was Sasuke, but of course this possession Naruto had for Sasuke was feverishly stronger than any want or need Naruto ever had in his entire life; he never took into consideration that it may be unhealthy for someone to be obsessive and possessive of the same gender –even if they're your best friend. He never took love or mutual feelings and stuff like that into thought until he confronted Sasuke not for the first time after their two and a half year separation, but the second time.

Naruto frowned inwardly, 'As if the first time wasn't a royal bitch because of Sasuke acting all 'hey, I've got a fucking katana, these slutty clothes, and the Northern Pole way up and imbedded in my ass', but the bastard had to actually rile me up like no other. He was such a dick then –he still is and yet I love him and he's possessive of my ass; especially after Itachi tried taking my ass from Sasuke. I learned my lesson then; never place yourself between two territory seme male Uchihas no matter what! Well… unless you can tame them –or, well, at least one of them…'

"Oi? Naruto?" called Kiba to Naruto's attention.

Naruto blinked rapidly a few times to clear his thoughts and now brought his view to Kiba and lightly frowned at him.

"Yeah? What is it?"

Kiba scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Are we going or not?! Because honestly, I wouldn't care if that priss got his ass done in or skinned for a change. Maybe he'd then stop sulking."

Naruto leered at the half-dog looking male standing right beside him. "You know, Kiba. The only reason why Sasuke sulks when he's around all you guys when I happen to be present as well is because you're interrupting the time he could be using to screw me into any object you see around."

Kiba's eyes widened and his mouth gapped. "Say WHAT??!!"

Shikamaru stared crossly at Kiba. "Holy shit, Kiba. You mean that you never noticed? Ah well, why I'm I not entirely surprised? Kiba's always slow anyways…"

Kiba's expression now took on something of anger and outrage in between to the max.

"That's what's always on his mind?! Why that sick bastard!"

Naruto glared at Kiba, not because Kiba would probably at this point start cussing out Naruto's boyfriend, but mostly because Naruto wanted to go save Sasuke already before the thing that tried to damage Sasuke –mentally, physically, or both.

"Look, I want to get down to this weird ass shit that's going on and get Sasuke back –else I'll never be able to forgive myself! So Kiba, are you still in or what?" growled the only blonde within the room with his blue eyes sharp and narrowed.

Kiba held back his complaints at seeing the seriousness within Naruto's face honing in on him; that look promised severe pain and years worth of blackmailing without mercy to spare in between.

Kiba swallowed audibly, a habit he did if and when he would suddenly become nervous. "Uh… Su-sure… I'm in…"

The blonde nodded his head, eyes still hardened and pissed-looking. "Good. Now, let's move out!"

It was as though Naruto had forgotten he was afraid previously to venture back into the dark halls where he had left Sasuke behind. The anger of knowing Sasuke could be at this moment being tortured and also Kiba's accidental mentioning of the Sasuke's past mistakes must have triggered a loathing hate deep within Naruto to finally surface and show its ugly self.

As Naruto confidently marched toward the hall, Kiba slowly and nervously in silence followed at a far distances behind the blonde, staring warily at Naruto's back in the meantime.

'Me and my damn mouth and friendly kindness! I'll probably die a virgin tonight and that's how everyone will remember me as! The fucking idiot virgin that talked smooth but never got a date within his goddamn life! I hate sleepovers…' were Kiba's thoughts before he disappeared along with Naruto into the darkness of the hallway.

Shino and Shikamaru watched the two males' leave.

Shikamaru yawned as though he wasn't the least bit bothered that there could really be a monster like Naruto described to be within the house.

"Well, while those two idiots get their dicks served back to them, I hear z's calling me and I intend to answer them," said the Nara Clan's most genius shinobi, mostly toward Shino since he was the only one within the room that was awake.

Just like that, Shikamaru laid his head back down onto his pillow and was out in seconds, dreaming of never having to do such troublesome tasks such as completing assigned mission.

Shino watched Shikamaru fall asleep and all was once again silent within the wide room, except Chouji's faint grumbling and snoring. Now it was just Shino awake and his gaze tilted once more back to the empty dark hall that Naruto and Kiba had gone through moments ago.

His eyebrows furrowed together as he sensed something else very different than before that no one else had yet to notice.

Gaara was missing.

TBC… maybe…


I am SOOOOO SORRY for not posting up this 3rd chapter!! I had like mostly all of it or at least more than half of this chapter already written out, but then I got sidetracked with college homework, tests, examines, and also life's other daily challenges as well. My inspiration and focus for this story had just died and I've been telling myself to at least get this 3rd chapter done so that you guys that like this story can finally read the next chapter (that is if any of you that had reviewed are still patiently waiting for the 3rd chapter). God, I feel like such a mean person for not getting this done sooner; I know what it feels like to want the writer to post up the next chapter and wait and wait and wait to see once in a while if they've updated yet or not –like I'm currently doing with a few of my favorite writers so far. I'll see sometime if I can inspire my self to get back into this story and at least post another chapter or if possible get myself to finish it. This other story that I've been working on for a while has been taking up most of my thoughts and writing spark though, so it'll be difficult for me to write chapter 4 –but I'll try!