Sasuke saw Naruto hit his knees and he took off running to him. Naruto turned to face him and started to collapse forward. Sasuke made it to him just before his face hit the ground. He wrapped his arms around him and slowly let him down. He lifted up the back of his shirt to see the last wound. It was at least 4 inches deep. He packed it with gauze and covered it with a pad and taped it down. He knew this could not take the older man down. He flipped him over to assess any other injuries. Sasuke attempted to lift his shirt up to examine him. Naruto's eyes opened and flashed bright red. He let out a low growl and clamped his arms over his chest. Sasuke backed away a little and Naruto's eyes shut. He leaned forward and placed his hand on Naruto's leg. When His eyes did not open he picked him up bridal style. Sasuke picked up Naruto's discarded jacket and covered his face. Sasuke headed back to the apartment. On the way there Naruto started to shake and whine. Sasuke hurried up the rusty stairs. He kicked on the door hoping Sakura was home. She opened the door with a blade in hand., when she saw Sasuke and Naruto She dropped it and opened the door completely. Sasuke hurried in and Sakura shut the door, and led him back into the room. Sakura stripped the sheets. Sasuke laid Naruto on the bed. Sakura snapped straps onto the bed frame and snapped in Naruto's wrists and ankles. She turned and pushed Sasuke out of the door and put chakra seal on the door. She took a deep breathe and walked into the kitchen.

"You want some lunch?" Sakura yelled down the hall.

"What the hell is going on? Sakura he was bleeding!" Sasuke was in her face.

"Uchiha." She warned

"I have a right to know." Sasuke whined.

Sakura gave a frustrated huff. "When he sleeps he is haunted by memories."

Sasuke heard the venom in her voice and decided that he no longer wanted to know.

"So, lets go meet Lady Tsunade about your court date."

Sasuke gave her a nod and followed her out the door. They slowly made their way to the tower. The villagers were whispering insults about Sasuke. One brave man stepped up to Sakura.

"Miss Sakura why do you associate yourself with a monster and a traitor?"

Sakura did not dignify the man with an answer. She built chakra up and her fist and punched him in the gut. He flew through a wall of a shop lining the street. There was an eerie silence over the crowd that had gathered. Everyone in the village had wanted to know the answer. After Sakura had gotten over Sasuke she started dating Lee. They were set to be married in late December. She moved in with him In September. They were happy. The last time she saw Lee She kissed him goodbye when he left for a mission with Neji and Kiba. None of the men made it back. They were attacked by Mist Nin. They had been missing for more then 3 months. In early January their Ambu packs were found, and they were declared dead. Sakura had moved into her parents house. She had became closer to Naruto. He had always turned up to help her. In march the rest of the rookie nine went to the village hidden in the mist to attack the village. When they arrived there were no nin in the village. They rushed back home to find it set ablaze. After her parents had died in the first siege of the last war with the village hidden in the mist., she moved in with Naruto. The two of them had become connected at the hip. There were many rumors that they were a couple. After the war everyone knew the extent of the power Naruto had. He ended the war almost by himself. In secret he had merged with the Kyubi no Kitsune. During this time he had found out the bottled hate; he had took a life of his own. In the last battle he had shown his true power and killed thousands of Mist nin. Most of the village feared the strongest nin in the village.

"He is a hero not a monster. He saved all of your pathetic lives." Sakura took a few steps then paused. "You may call me Miss because of my relation with Lady Tsunade, but if it were me I would have let you burn in this god forsaken village. So do not go around calling people traitors. You people are traitors. Beating and throwing stones at a child and refusing to feed him. Make him wear orange in the hope he would be killed. Then when he saves you, you fear him. Remember that." She continued to walk. Sasuke followed quickly behind her. Sakura grabbed Sasuke's arm and pulled him in step with her. They walked slowly with their heads held high. They were on a mutual cause. They were here for Naruto. Once everything calms down Sasuke and Sakura may be friends. Once they made it to the tower the Ambu backed away from Sakura as well. Sasuke deemed he had missed a lot. The walked up to the Hokage's office. Like Naruto she did not knock she just walked in.

"Lady Hokage."

"Sakura."

"I brought Sasuke. Naruto was otherwise occupied."

"What happened?" Tsunade was eying Sasuke.

"He left the house about 3 am to train and worked until exhaustion and passed out in the training grounds." Sakura was speaking very blandly to the Hokage. "Didn't think you really cared what happened to him?" Venom was dripping off Sakura's every word.

Tsunade took a deep breathe and motioned to Sasuke. "Take a seat."

He took the seat in front of the desk. She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers in her temple. She looked Sasuke over.

"So. Uchiha. Why did you come back." She felt she already knew the answer.

"Naruto." She was not expecting that answer.

"With what intent?" She was hesitant to hear this answer. Sakura took a step closer ready to defend her adopted brother.

"From the beginning Naruto was always there for me. When I left in the beginning he tried to convince me it was all not worth it. He told me I would regret killing my brother. He followed me for years he never gave up on me. After I killed my brother I realized Naruto was right. He had always been right. I wanted to show him I have learned that he was right. I wanted to show him my new found feelings for him."

Sakura gasped and Tsunade was eying him as to make sure it was all true.

"You better not be lying Uchiha." Tsunade stood.

Sakura stood between Sasuke and Tsunade.

"Are you going to hurt another one of my team mates?" Sakura practically growled.

"Why are you bringing this up now child?!" She leaned toward Sakura.

"Because I believe him and I know how you work. I hold you responsible for the death of all my friends and I blame you for the fear this village has for Naruto. It is all your fault." Sasuke stood and took a step back. Tsunade walked around the desk to stand face to face with her old student.

"I did not kill any of them, and i attempted to keep Naruto out of that fight you know it. It is solely his fault that he displayed immense killing power and blood thirst to the civilians. You can not just make some one not fearful. Dammit Sakura. You saw him. He brutally killed thousands of people."

Sakura was pissed. "To save the village! He did more than you old lady. When did you become so weak?"

"I did not know there was a second demon. No one did!"

"There is only one demon Princess. You had him merge with Kyubi. That was your order. To do that he had to face his hate. It is not his fault that it took on a life of its' own, but that hate is still him. When he changes that is still Naruto. He just no longer cares. He would kill you. Frankly I would not blame him either!" Sakura was fuming. Tsunade backed down from her student that had long ago surpassed her. "Sasuke your trial will be in 10 days. Until then stay with Naruto and Sakura. No funny business." she turned her back on the two of them. "Dismissed!"

When they made it back to the apartment Sasuke had many questions for Sakura. He needed to piece the rest of the story together before he asked Naruto anything. He felt he needed to prepare.

"When did you grow a back bone."Sasuke asked with serious intent. "I mean, you do not take anything from anybody do you?"

"No I do not, and I especially do not listen to anyone who has hurt my Ani." She was eying Sasuke.

"Look, I know what I did." Sasuke held a smirk on his face.

"The only reason I am still in the village is the man you came back for. Do not ruin it for all of us by screwing him over." When Sakura finished there was an agonized wail from the bedroom. "Why don't you go look and see if you can still love him after what everyone has done to him."

"I never said I loved him." Sasuke held firm to his mask.

"You didn't need to."

"Do not go around telling people I am not heartless. I have a reputation to uphold."

Sakura gave a sigh and walked into the kitchen to fix a drink. Sasuke made his way slowly down the hall. With every step he took the harder his heart beat. He could hear the whimpers and begging to stop. Sasuke leaned his head against the door. Sasuke could hear the sobbing that seemed to be right next to door. When he turned the door knob Naruto let out a wail. Sasuke would never admit that he hesitated at the door before opening it. He quickly stepped in the room and shut the door quickly. He stood with his back to the room with his forehead on the door. He did not know what he expected when he turned but it was not what he saw. All of Naruto's muscles where clenched. His restraints were drawing blood from his now pale skin. His hair was darker and matted to his forehead from sweat. His back was arched off the bed, and his face was contorted in pain. He started to scream when his claws came out. His body started to thrash. His head started to roll back and forth. He was screaming now. Sasuke took a few steps toward the screaming man. He could see the claws digging into his fists. Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's cheek. The world seemed to stop turning. Naruto's entire body softened. He leaned into Sasuke's open hand. Sasuke closed his eyes focusing on the warmth. Sasuke took a few calming breathes and opened his eyes. Large purple eyes were staring back at him. They were bright and unblinking. Sasuke was startled but it did not break through his mask. He did not remove his hand and Naruto Darted his long tongue out and licked him. Sasuke raised and eyebrow questioning why he would do that. Naruto hummed and closed his eyes. When he opened them his cool blue eyes were stoney. Sasuke dropped his and called for Sakura. Sakura ran into the room less than a second later. She must have been standing outside the door. She ran to Naruto's side not expecting him to be awake nor did she expect him to be coherent. She stood quickly. "Oh!" He looked back at Sasuke. She pulled the keys from her top and unchained the man. Before she was done Sasuke vacated the room. He took a seat at the bar. He was unsure of what had happened.

In the room Naruto was shocked. He had never been awoken from his nightmares. He looked at Sakura hoping for an answer. She stood back and motioned for him to sit up. He removed his shirt knowing Sakura was going to examine him. From the bedside table she took out her first-aid kit. She pulled scissors from the kit."Door." Naruto rasped out. His throat raw from screaming. She hurriedly shut, and locked the door. She cut the Bandages from Naruto's chest that were soaked in blood and sweat. Every time she saw it she could not help but cringe. Naruto had thousands of scars, all varying in length, depth, and precision. Most were self inflicted but not all of them. The deepest one was from Sasuke and it was the darkest. There were the scars he had from when he was young and tortured by the villagers. Then he had man scars from the many fights he had been in, But what scared her the most were the scars stretching from his shoulders down to his hips. She knows that he had done this to him self many times over the years. She will never forget the first time she found him; He had drug his claws across his abdomen six times shredding his flesh. She found him laying on the kitchen floor bleeding out. When she started to help him, he started to beg her to let him die. Her heart was crushed. After wards she begged him to stop. All he had to say is do not comment on things you know nothing about. She had since learned why, and she now has her own habits. Sakura had stitched up his new cuts and bandaged him up. Naruto pulled on sweat pants while Sakura cleaned up the bed and made it.

When Naruto made it out of the room he found Sasuke sipping on a green tea reading Naruto's Icha Icha Paradise book. Naruto gave a small chuckle and fixed himself instant ramen and sat across from the younger man. They sat in a comfortable silence for 10 minutes before the shower cut on. Naruto pushed his ramen bowl from in front of him and grabbed the book out of Sasuke's hands and set it down. Sasuke raised his eyebrow with a smirk on his face. Naruto gave a quick smile to the smaller man.

"When is your trial."

"Starts in ten days."

"How do you feel about it?"

"I do not really care what they say it will not affect my plans." Naruto's face dropped as he sat back. "No I came back for you, not the village." Naruto's smile came back.

"So..when are we sparing?" Naruto's eyes were brimming with excitement. Sasuke almost smiled.

"I am not sure when you train your self on the brink of death." Naruto laughed at Sasuke's statement.

"Worried about me Bastard?"

"I have to be when a moron like you is my light."

"I am not a moron bastard!" Naruto yelled.

Both men started to laugh. Naruto was surprised by the sound of Sasuke's laugh. It was a deep baritone rumbling in his chest. It was amazing. Naruto had to stop and stare at the man. Sasuke stopped and covered his mouth with a blush showing on his face. Naruto place his hand on Sasuke's hand. Sasuke's eyes got wide.

"You should do that more often."

Both men jumped when Sakura cleared her throat in the hallway.

"Get dressed men. We are going out." She stepped into the bathroom to do her hair and makeup.

Sakura was unsure when her wardrobe had become so dark. She had her black skirt on with red fishnet stockings underneath. Her stomach was showing her red belly ring the was a human heart. She had a red tube top on covered with a small tight black jacket. She had cut her hair even shorter in the recent years. In the back it did not touch her neck in the front her bangs reached her collar bone. She had dyed the back of her hair black with the front still her typical pink. She had 7 piercings in each ear. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror she wondered when she had decided to change. She pondered if she even really decided to change or if it just happened. She did not think about it to much longer. When she walked out of the bathroom she saw two delicious men. Naruto was standing in his black jeans and a tight black shirt with a red silk unfastened button down shirt covering his arms. He had put his lip ring in for the occasion. Sasuke was wearing a tight short sleeve blue shirt. This was the first time since Sasuke had been back that Sakura saw the mans bare arms. He had two full sleeves of colorful tattoos. He was wearing tight black jeans with a midnight blue studded belt. Team seven made their way down to the club. The villagers stared at them the entire way there.

The team walked to the front of the line. Naruto growled at the bouncer and he let them in without saying a word. The trio took a booth ordering the first round of drinks. By the end of the third round Naruto had Sasuke explaining each and every tattoo on his body. By the fifth round Sakura had hit the dance floor with some random nin. Naruto and Sasuke had two more rounds before Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hands and dragged him to the floor. When they made it to the dance floor Sasuke turned his back to Naruto and started to sway his hips. Naruto grabbed him by the hips and pressed the smaller man to his body. They were grinding deep into each other. Naruto slid his right hand up Sasuke's side. He curled his hand in Sasuke's midnight hair. Naruto pulled his head back to his mouth.

"I have missed you." Naruto bit his ear lobe, his eyes shining purple.

"I have always wondered how your skin would feel against mine."Naruto nipped at his jaw line.

"I always thought you would be hard like porcelain." He nipped at Sasuke's neck.

"but," He growled into Sasuke's ear. "your soft and delicate."

Sasuke shivered at the older mans words and ground his hips into the man. He brought his arms up to Naruto's hair and curled his fingers in the soft hair. Sasuke moaned. Naruto then looked around and noticed everyone was staring. He let out a growl at the onlookers. Sasuke dropped his arms and faced the man. He grabbed Naruto's hand and led him out of the door.

On the way back Naruto stopped and apologized to Sasuke for his behavior. Sasuke gave him a grunt as an answer. Sasuke led him back to the apartment. They almost made it back. When they were 50 yards from the stairs 9 villagers made an appearance. All had a weapon of some kind. Naruto stood in front of the younger man.

"Protecting you faggot traitor, Monster." The leader announced to Naruto. Sasuke was about to pounce. Naruto grabbed him. Naruto whispered,"I can not have you getting into a fight before your trail. Get to the apartment." Sasuke hesitated. "NOW!" Sasuke slowly backed up the stairs.

"Do not speak of Sasuke as a traitor." Naruto growled at the man.

"That is what he is. Did he not betray you, demon?"

"What this village did to him was far worse."

"The village did nothing but praise him! Do not speak of the village like you belong here."

Naruto created a clone to keep Sasuke in the apartment. The leader charged Naruto with a knife. Naruto grabbed his wrist to pry the knife away when the other eight attacked. He could not fight back. The village would hate him more. After he blocked many blows he felt a blade against his neck. He took a blow to the gut with a bat. Naruto closed his eyes to take the blows. He felt his wrist snap with a blow from a pipe. He could hear Sasuke scream from up stairs. Naruto dropped to his knees with another blow to the gut. The leader kicked him in the face. Naruto felt his nose crunch. Sasuke was screaming for him to fight back. Naruto had to concentrate on keeping his clone there to keep Sasuke from killing anyone. A pipe slammed him in the ribs. He felt them break. It was harder to breathe for Naruto. A knife was shoved into his rib cage. Naruto coughed up blood. Sasuke would only ever admit it. Naruto he was sobbing and begging the man to fight back or let him out so he can. Naruto fell into a sitting position with the knife still pressed to his throat. One of the men started to jump on his legs breaking his shins. Naruto felt a pipe to his face. He could feel his cheek bone crush. The blows started to rain down on him. All he could hear was Sasuke scream. Then the blows stopped. "Can you see well enough bitch boy?" The leader yelled to Sasuke. Then the blade drew across his throat. Sasuke started to scream and pound on the door to get through the clone. The attackers fled before the Clone dispersed. Naruto was lying flat on his back. He felt rain drops falling. It started to pour. Then he saw Sasuke's face over his yelling at him. The last thing Naruto saw before it all went black was Sasuke's shoulder as he cradled the Naruto in his arms screaming for help.