Almost


He doesn't belong here.

That is the only thought that goes through my mind as I stare down at Naruto laying down on the ratty cot. In fact Naruto didn't belong anywhere near this shitty little shack. He belonged on a mattress draped with the finest coverings, in a quiet home, in a village far, far away from her.

My teeth clench even harder as he mumbles her name again. But it's fine, I try to calm myself while I take a few deep breaths. Once he wakes up we'll talk, he'll probably be an overly emotional idiot like normal, and he'll agree with me that the only sensible solution to our problem is to kill the bitch and destroy the village.

I pause for a moment after this thought. There's something wrong with it, but I can't think of what it is. It seems like the answer is brushing at the edge of my mind, and I almost have it when I see Naruto stirring and the thought vanishes.

He groans and begins to sit up. He looks at me blearily and says my name softly. The scene makes my lips long to tug upwards in a loving smile, but I don't. Somehow I just can't bring my lips to follow my wishes.

He's questioning me again, not as concerned as last time, in fact he almost seems angry. I don't understand why, I mean I understand the words coming out of his mouth. They just don't make sense to me.

Naruto, love what are you talking about? Kidnapping? Hardly, I mentally scoff. He's being rather over dramatic. I was saving him from a village that would only pretend to like him when they needed him. I was saving him from making the stupidest mistake of his life.

I glare at Naruto when he tells me he's going home. Can't the idiot see that's where I'm trying to take him? As he stands up and tries to walk past me to the door, my heart rate starts to accelerate. This isn't right. He's not right. He was supposed to agree with me. He was supposed to take my side.

I reach out to him, suddenly desperate. Naruto, don't. Don't leave me. I'm holding him, clinging to him, and I see and feel him freeze. Then he's questioning me again, but the concern is back in his voice. There's something else in his voice too, something I can't place. I don't think I like it though, and I want to get rid of it. I'm clutching him tighter and I rest my head on his shoulder, pressing my chest into his back.

This time when I whisper his name I'm positive it was aloud. It makes him tense for a moment and from what I can see of his face he looks confused and...worried? But then he relaxes completely in my hold and now he looks almost defeated. I like this even less than that tone in his voice earlier. I feel as if I would do anything to make it go away and I'm desperately wishing for it to disappear.

I run my hands up and down his sides and he shivers. I feel the want to smile again, but then I look at his face. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe a tentative smile or a teasing insult, but the strange blankness that is inhabiting his face is not it.

What, Naruto? What is it that you want?

I feel my anger rising. Why? Why is he acting like this? Does he have any idea how long I've been waiting to see him again? How long I've been waiting to hold him, to love him? I wrap my arms around his waist loosely and lower my face to nuzzle his shoulder. I don't know how long we stayed like this, but it's long enough for the air to have become considerably cooler outside. Finally he is speaking again, but it's with that same tone I don't understand. He's asking about dinner, stating that he hasn't eaten since lunch the day I rescued him. I pause to think about that and realize that it has been more than 24 hours since he last ate. I grow angry at myself for a second. I'm supposed to protect him and I forget to make sure that even his most basic needs have been met? But then I feel the want to snort and can't suppress the joy that at least one thing about Naruto hasn't changed. His stomach still rules him.

And then it clicks for me. I haven't really lost my Naruto, I just need to find him, but he has changed. Not where it matters though, I'm sure of it. And I feel like laughing as my mind finally starts making sense of everything. I think back to his anger earlier. He wasn't angry about me saving him, he was angry that I left him in the first place. My heart feels so much lighter and I hug him to me even tighter for a moment before I turned to get the food in the kitchen. I take only one step before I feel movement in the air. I turn to Naruto in confusion, but he's not...there


AN: Sasuke's way of speaking annoys me a little bit. Beginning sentences repeatedly with "but" and "and" was a major no-no in my old english class. It seems fitting though. I can't seem to change it.

I might do the next chapter from Naruto's perspective.