Last Time;; Sasuke, on the other hand, stayed awake, a deep twirl in his stomach resting heavily, pooling at the bottom of his gut, as if warning him that the day had not yet ended. It was obvious that something was wrong, not with Naruto -though definitely with him too- but with Itachi and Misato. They should have picked up their phones to begin with - Sasuke rarely called unless something off importance, so they always picked up, especially Misato who took it as an opportunity to bug the boy. If he wasn't going to pick up, Itachi would send a text message explaining why; because sometimes one couldn't pick up a phone from your little brother in a business meeting.

Yet hours passed, the dawn began turning to noon, then to afternoon, then evening. Dusk was befalling on the pair, and still, not a word.

Uchiha Sasuke was beginning to panic.


Instalment 7even;;

SIGN. [part 1]

Getting Naruto from the living room to his bedroom was a difficult task; one Sasuke hadn't yet done. He still lay, bundled up next to the still-sleeping boy, the moon thankfully providing more then enough light through what had previously been the glass wall leading to the balcony. The moon was incredibly huge, with the different shades of whatever-colour-it-was-supposed-to-be craters on it, visible as if it were right in front of him, and not far off in space. He'd never admired it before, nor stopped to just think of it's existence, how on earth it had gotten there, where it came from, what it was made from - but in the past three hours or so, that's what he'd been doing.

That's all he had been doing.

"Naruto… Come on… You need to sleep…"

The blonde moaned, his head resting on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Just… Here…"

"Naruto, we're sleeping on shards of glass."

"Dun' matter…" Was that a hint of amusement Sasuke heard in the boy's voice? "Can't.. Feel…"

"But I can. Now UP."

The boy groaned once more, obviously loathing the idea of moving; but slowly began to comply, only being able to move his head a bit before it returned back to it's place. Sasuke frowned slightly, but quickly figured out that the boy was too dizzy, far too exhausted, to even move his own head let alone get to either one of their bedrooms. He shifted slightly, moving so that he had a arm wrapped around the other's waist, fully well ignoring the little voices that began talking in his head. This was not the time for lecherous thoughts, nor to truly appreciate just how incredible the boy's waist felt--

'Wait.' Which bedroom should he take the blonde?

True, the AI's own bedroom was closer, Sasuke's being further down the hallway - but immediately the thought of just how ruined the room was made it obvious he couldn't take him there. Not only that, but he felt dread fill him up at the mere idea of leaving the blonde in that room; surely it would be more easier to take care of him in Sasuke's much more calming room? The blue wall, green carpet and orange bed sheets in Naruto's couldn't possibly be good for the exhausted teen. The dark magenta, brown carpet and dark curtains however…

"Come on dobe, before you start coughing up blood."

No retort came back at him, though he truly couldn't be surprised, what with how the boy was simply concentrating on breathing, his whole weight effectively leaning on the older teen [could you really call a nineteen year old a "teen"?]. Sasuke didn't need to make contact with skin, he could feel the heat practically radiating off the younger man, reporting that Naruto was incredibly hot. A small scowl graced his pale features; guilty for the almost invisible tinge of red that sprang up at the numerous meaning behind the observation. No. He wouldn't allow such disgrace. Naruto wouldn't appreciate it, being ogled while in such a state - and Sasuke's sanity sure as hell didn't too.

Perfection seriously was not overrated.

The pair slowly stumbled their way across the living room, watching out for the countless shards of glass, though it was mostly Sasuke trying to half-carry Naruto in hopes the latter wouldn't further injure his already bleeding feet. After the time-consuming trek, they were stumbling around in the kitchen, avoiding the kitchen island, the stools that brought an odd twinge as to just how everything had perfect been merely days ago, stopping a moment to allow Naruto to rest; the small movements he made taxing on his already worn-out body. Once rested enough, they began again, making the rest off the kitchen in small time, now in the hallway that seemed to stretch far too long for the Uzumaki's tastes. The blonde boy frowned at the passageway, as if trying to will it to shrink with his eyes and eyes alone, though on seeing the walls not budging, sighed heavily and prepared himself. Slowly, they began, one of Naruto's arm held over Sasuke's shoulder, the Uchiha's free arm holding the blonde at the waist - and it was only on noticing this that Naruto felt immense gratitude for the patience the Uchiha was demonstrating. He couldn't help but rest heavily on Sasuke, on the first real person outside that building he'd been apparently created in [even if including Iruka-sensei] he had seen - on the first real person Naruto was sure he could call a friend. A string of depression pulled at his heart; sure, Naruto could call Sasuke a friend, but the blonde was sure the Uchiha only saw him as a nuisance. There was no way someone so incredible and always cool could think of a blithering "dobe" as anything but just that.

Once more, he found himself glaring at the hallway. As the pair hobbled along, they reached the door that led to Naruto's bedroom, said door now practically holding on with the last hinge that remained intact after the countless abuse it had received; wide open, showing the full extent of the carnage that had taken place inside the room. There were blotches of blood, large, dark ones, with small stains accompanying them, and Naruto winced at the fact he couldn't remember whether they were his own or Sasuke's. He remembered well the scar that would probably remain on the dark-haired man's stomach, but many of the time after that were in blotched memories, in few, and highly blurred. But the look on Sasuke's face as he had been tied up in that bed was as clear as Naruto's blonde hair. The way those eyes had look, dark obsidian, still capable of showing rage, indignation with a questioning tint, despite the fact that even the pupil seemed melted into the black of the iris. Sasuke didn't stop however once they reached the door, instead still patiently moving on with the wounded Naruto in his arms, and the AI was confused to see them passing his bedroom, having been sure he would be deposited on his own bed. Shooting a questioning look to the black-haired companion, Naruto almost gaped as he saw the full concentration on the other's face, the close proximity allowing him to even see one, lone, bead of sweat travelling from the hairline down towards the neck, leisurely taking it's time, only then once more realising that the other was starch naked save for the pants that were far too low to be correct. He gulped audibly, though Sasuke had probably only taken it for Naruto finding it hard to carry on considering how he slowed down considerably, relaxing what had been a tight grip on the other.

Keeping quiet, Naruto urged forward, trying to take initiative, picking himself up slightly from Sasuke. It was easier to use the other's shoulder as support, and the first time he stumbled clumsily, though didn't fall or even waiver with the strong grip on his waist, tentatively taking another step, wincing at the pain that shot up from his feet. With that pain, his whole body slowly began throbbing, dimly at first, yet was picking up slowly as they got closer to the master bedroom, to Sasuke's bedroom. Once they were standing in front of the perfectly safe door, Sasuke kicked it lightly, with enough force to open it, but not enough for it to bang off the wall and slam shut right in their faces. The pair walked through, careful not to bump into the frame, and once more Naruto was leaning heavily on the other, his eyes drooping already, his body sagging with exhaustion and pain.

Noticing the signs, Sasuke hastened to get to the bed, moving apart the sheets and laying the almost asleep blonde onto it, tugging the sheets around him once more. He would have smirked at the sight of the blonde already fast asleep, but found that he himself was actually far too exhausted for even that simple gesture. Slowly, he forced his aching body to close the curtains, throwing the room into a soothing darkness, and with a brain and it's reasoning long shut down, crawled into the other side of the King-size bed, pulling the sheets over himself, and getting comfortable; feeling hazy, blank, slightly dizzy.

The Uchiha was asleep in seconds.

* * *

Riiiiinngggg, riiinggggg, riiinnggggg.

An irritated growl escaped the youngest Uchiha's lips as his arm untangled itself and reached over some strange alien bundle to get to his mobile. Riiingggg, riiinggg, riiinggg. He could have sworn his mobile should have been on vibrate; lord knew he hated anything but vibrate, but the constant ringing begged to differ, splitting across the obsidian-eyed male's ears, making his whole head feel as if it were vibrating. Dimly, he noted that it could be either Itachi or Minato, hope already beginning to blossom itself in his chest, and he scrambled-- 'no, Uchiha's don't scramble,' -- moved further over the still present bulge in his bed to the drawer that was close by, not questioning where said drawer had come from. Once his fingers wrapped around the bottom of the blackberry, he picked it up and fell over onto his own side, letting out a breath of relief as he checked the caller ID.

There was a reason why Uchiha's rarely hoped.

The caller ID was none other then Hyuuga Neji - the Uchiha frowning at the suddenness of it; dimly wondering where the hell the Hyuuga had gotten his phone number from - clicking the little red phone button; refusing the call. When you were the son of a multi-billionaire company and lived like it; getting cell phone number's wasn't really an obstacle. As for why he refused it; well what the hell did Neji have to do with him? The Uchiha hated the Hyuuga, not for the obvious stupid rivalry between the Uchiha Corps and Byakugan Bank; but the Hyuuga was a high-strung, typical rich brat. He frowned again, knowing full well people considered him to be the exact same. Like hell he was; for one, he earned the things he had, dammit! Heck, everyone knew of Sasuke's personal distaste for Neji, including the Hyuuga, his little freak of a cousin was better off in the younger Uchiha's eyes, what was her name…? Hinata….?

"Yeah… Hinata…"

'…' Huh, the voice was coming from the foreign bundle in his bed. The foreign bundle right next to him and cuddling up to him. Sasuke's frown turned into a scowl, his brain suddenly catching up with everything that had happened the previous night, realizing then that Naruto had quite literally croaked out what he'd said - also meaning Sasuke had probably been muttering out loud. Feeling the sudden urge too, Sasuke pulled the blanket off the younger male, only so that it didn't cover him all up like before, exposing the head. Immediately, he placed a palm on the now-revealed forehead, pushing the blonde strands away from the AI's face, feeling it far too warm to be normal. Despite being wrapped in the heavy comforters of the bed, Naruto seemed to still be shaking in what Sasuke guessed was cold, sweating with the fever to the point that his hair was damp and sticking to his face.

Once more, the mobile began ringing.

Irritated, the caller ID shows Hyuuga Neji once more, and the Uchiha's thumb was already hovering over the little red phone button, fully well intending to refuse the call so bluntly again - praying to any deity that could every exist that the damn Hyuuga took the hint. A hot hand grabbed his wrist, weakly, squeezing a bit to get noticed, though even the squeeze was far too weak. Sasuke looked over, the scowl on his face reaching the point where it would probably stay permanently, hearing Naruto try and croak out some words.

"Don't… Just see… What he wants…"

It only hit the Uchiha then, that the ringing was probably ear-splitting to Naruto at the least, if not downright torture for the still-sickly boy, but Sasuke was certain that Naruto wasn't telling him this just to shut the damn mobile up, but because the dobe had this stupid thing of giving everybody the benefit of the doubt. Stupid, optimistic, cute, blond.

"Fine." He growled out, returning back to the still ringing phone and moving his thumb over to the green little icon, pressing it and bringing it up to his right ear, his left hand helping him support himself on the bed. Neji was an annoying imbecile, and Sasuke was damn right sure that the Hyuuga had absolutely nothing to do but taunt the Uchiha with crap about destiny and fate (the boy was obsessed with such things). The Uchiha wouldn't really be surprised. And that's exactly what it seemed to be right off the bat, the deep baritone voice smooth across the line, drumming its way into Sasuke's ear.

"Is it fun? Having an A.I. to play around with."

Naruto watched from his bed, his eyes half closed, his breathing laboured. But he would still bloody well keep on watching; because Sasuke had forgotten that last night he had gone to sleep without even putting on a shirt, and was now sitting upright shirtless, his hip below covered by the blankets, the pants probably under, though the bed comforter gave the illusion of a very naked Uchiha. And Naruto knew that he could leer all he bloody well wanted thanks to this annoying fever of his. The heavy blush was probably mixed with the flush of the fever. The lust in his eyes was probably part of the haziness, the way a sick person's eyes always look soft and sort of glazed over. His forehead still burnt from where Sasuke's palm had touched him, the small contact fully waking him up, though that damn god forsaken phone had been part of it too. Watching Sasuke turn it off, only for the damn thing to ring again, had been amusing, especially the scowl that was threatening to freaking lodge itself into the pale man's face, though really, the ringing was annoying. So of course, he'd told Sasuke to just bloody damn pick it up, he was a sick man after all! And Sasuke had complied! The immense happiness Naruto had felt at that one word of submission [ooooh, submission~] had elevated to bounds unknown.

But then Sasuke's face dropped.

'Huh? Did something happen? What does Neji want…?' Naruto watched on, opening his eyes further as he peered from his position into Sasuke's face; noticing the slight opening of the eyes that indicated surprise, and the way his lips opened slightly in a small 'o'. From the time Naruto had spent with Sasuke [a couple of weeks? Wait, had it even been a month yet?], he'd come to learn that it took very little to surprise the taller-by-an-inch-or-two male. So whatever Neji had just told the Uchiha, it had to be big. Which meant it was really bad. Which in turn began nagging at Naruto, who poked himself further from the comfort of the blankets, trying to get Sasuke's attention, a question on his face.

Sasuke didn't respond, raising a palm in a sign of "Be Quiet" to Naruto, who only became even more curious when he saw the Uchiha pay deep concentration to what the Hyuuga was probably saying. Faintly, Naruto could hear the muffled voice of the other, frowning himself as he tried pushing himself up to sit, mimicking Sasuke's position. He tried peering into the other's face; now an unreadable mask, which only tore at Naruto's insides more. From shock to mask. Definitely not a good sign. Of course he was Sasuke's A.I., Sasuke's Artificial Intelligence; it was part of Naruto's job and programming to fully record his master's personality, quirks and pattern, and make a note of it as soon as possible. Needless to say, when Sasuke opened his mouth to hiss out his reply to Neji; Naruto's frown became one of worry, his ears trying desperately to hear what the other was saying.

"What do you want, Hyuuga?"

It was all but hissed, pure and utter loathing invading more then just the voice. The previous mask of a face twisted into hatred, into deep loathing; and Naruto could only wonder just what the hell Neji had said to incur the almighty wrath of a very pissed off Uchiha. Silence rained across the room, falling thickly around the pair as they both stopped breathing, one in anticipation of what the other would do, while the latter waiting for a reply. He didn't seem pleased when he got one.

"No."

By now, Sasuke was practically fisting the sheets underneath his body, the material scrunching up beneath fingers of iron grip. He really looked angry. "… No." Again, silence, obviously a reply being returned while Sasuke paid attention. For one split second, Naruto saw obsidian eyes glance towards him, almost --dare he say it?-- hesitantly, but the expression disappeared just as fast as it had come; causing the blond to wonder whether it had been real or not. A sigh caught the A.I. from his wonderings, and he saw anger flick through Sasuke's eyes.

"You are despicable, Hyuuga. No."

The youngest Uchiha made a move to move the phone away from his ear and turn it off, but as soon as he even began doing such a thing Naruto saw his eyes widen once more in a much more larger manner then they usually did to indicate he was surprised. This wasn't just normal surprise either, but a dumbfounded shocked one. The slithering of dread began pooling in Naruto's stomach. Sasuke's mouth was opened in a small 'o', his skin far too paler then his usual marble-like complexion, looking more like a corpse that had been dead for years then a living, breathing human. But that wasn't where it ended; Uchiha Sasuke actually stuttered. Uchiha's don't stutter. Sasuke does not stutter.

"W-What…?"

But he did.

And it didn't last long; naturally. Without another word, the Uchiha turned off the phone, stood up and did something Naruto would have never expected. He threw the phone against the wall. And it crashed and broke with the strength of the Uchiha's right swing, crumbling to the floor. While Naruto lay in shock, Sasuke stalked out of the bedroom, leaving the blond to himself, and Naruto found himself lying back on the bed fully, staring at the ceiling above, still slightly dumbfounded by the pure outrage he had seen flicker across Sasuke's face as he had thrown what could only have been a pretty expensive damn phone.

Before he could even grab any sort of comprehension from the strange morning [as he could tell from the light behind the curtains], Sasuke came back in, slowly, as if uncertain of how to move his own body, walking towards the bed. Naruto merely glanced at him as the Uchiha sat on the bed, watching as pale teen slowly turned to face his blonde counterpart; a blank face, never a good sign.

"Naruto… Just how important was Minato to you…?"

* * * *

'Minato…? Arashi…?' It took a bit to connect the name to the nickname the man in question was usually referred too, unconsciously brightening up at the mention of Minato, the head scientist that had taken care of the whole Artificial Intelligence Project and it's Research Centre. True, he was surprised, and he knew his eyes were wide slightly in curiosity as well as a silent question of 'Why?', but instead Naruto decided to think out his words carefully and answer the obviously not-well Uchiha.

Oh crap, maybe the Uchiha had somehow been infected by that Kyuubi?

'Don't wish on it, brat.'

Naruto mentally sighed, hearing the inner voice rumbling with it's deep pitch, putting his attention back on the matter at hand. Minato had always been something like a role model, like a father figure, just as much as Iruka-sensei from that Academy school had ended up becoming - Naruto would usually visit the scarred teacher every morning before going to the University. The man, Minato, rarely ever seemed like a scientist, or whatever it was that his actual job entailed, but more like a father taking his young son to the park to play some ball. The elder blonde haired man would take Naruto around the building, play with him in the facility's large gardens, take him to the cafeteria and even teaching him random things like how to use the coffee machine [though he always told Naruto that he was too young to be drinking coffee] and so on. So of course, Naruto pretty much loved the man, was fond of him to no bounds.

And so he told Sasuke.

"Eh… He always took really good care of me, and treated me like a…" He hesitated slightly, hating the way he had phrased the sentence. "Like a real person… Not an A.I…. I… I really love him, something like a dad… I guess… WAIT--"

It had taken all but two minutes for Naruto's brain to catch on. 'Why is Sasuke asking me?' Did it have anything to do with what Neji had said? MAYBE SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED! For a brief second, Naruto was blissfully ignorant, but after that second the slither of dread that had early been in his stomach began festering, growing larger, almost choking him in a fashion similar to panic. "S-Sasuke… Why…?"

Something like pain flashed across the normally stoic Uchiha, an expression Naruto had yet to have ever laid eyes on, and even then it left just as quickly as it had come; baffling the younger blond into wondering whether he was going crazy and seeing things that weren't truly there. This whole morning, heck, even last night, seemed all too surreal, seemed to be just happening out of the blue. Why couldn't the pair just stay in one room for more then a month without anything outright weird happening, huh?! But despite as much as Naruto would have wanted to return to the previous state of ignorant bliss [heck, even the pain from last night would have been perfectly welcomed at this point], he knew that something big was going on. Something that had to do with Sasuke, Neji, himself and… Possibly Minato…

Just what the hell had happened?

* * * *

Sasuke didn't know what to do. He mask was falling off, blurring at the edges, and he could see Naruto's cerulean orbs catching every drop of security, catching everything with those ocean-like spheres that had always caused a stir in the older teen's loins.

There was nothing he could do about what Neji had just dropped on him; a bombshell no less, and he knew it was sudden, out of place, absolutely blue. But it was life. Fate. Whatever the damn Hyuuga liked to babble about. And the Hyuuga had certainly enjoyed doing so; showing an almost uncanny sadistic nature, one Sasuke hadn't previously known the silver-eyed boy was remotely capable off. And the Hyuuga had most certainly added his take on fate and how it had caused this catastrophically large bombshell to drop and explode. Not to mention something about how it was probably the Uchiha's bad karma finally rearing it's ugly head back at him. 'Please,' As if an Uchiha believed in karma.

After asking the question, he listened intently to Naruto's words, catching each drop, refusing to show anything, and paying far too much attention to Naruto's body language, his own stomach chock full with dread at the fondness he saw in the other's eyes. He finally let out a deep sigh, some of the tension in his shoulders leaving momentarily, only to return one more with a vengeance. And the blonde could only cock his head in curiosity, silently asking Sasuke for some sort of explanation.

When had everything drained itself into the gutter?

Naruto caught the sigh, cocking his head slightly to the side, his cerulean orbs unknowingly projecting numerous emotions all at once; worry, confusion and most of all curiosity. He could see every detail of an internal struggle take within Sasuke's mind, the eyes far more expressive then they could ever and would ever be, and the blond felt bad for the little bit of pride in witnessing [and he had an odd feeling that he had also somehow caused it] what probably only Itachi-san had ever witnessed. Probably. Sasuke could be a very stubborn bastard when he wanted to be.

"Sasuke… Tell me what Neji said…"

The obsidian-eyed male turned to look Naruto in the eye, finally deciding on something after a few more seconds ticked away. Dimly, Naruto wondered what time it was, being unable to tell from just the brightness obscured by the curtains in the dark bedroom. Either way it didn't really matter, so he dropped the thought just as quickly as it came, focusing on Sasuke and Sasuke alone. The Uchiha now had his undivided attention. And the Uchiha knew it.

Another deep sigh, as if resigning himself to something, and Sasuke finally began opening his mouth to speak.

"Neji… Knows you're an A.I…"

Wide cerulean eyes stared back, drinking in the information. It took a bit for his brain to figure out all the implications this would bring. Obviously Sasuke had informed him who exactly Neji was. Not just who the weird-eyed man was, but what he was; i.e. in terms of social ranking, family, all that stuff. And Byakugan Bank. Naruto now knew that Neji was quite literally Sasuke and Itachi-san's sworn rivals, that the Hyuuga's were very into their own research of A.I. and were quite pissed [to speak lightly] of… Naruto… Though previously they only knew him as "the A.I. who is being put in it's 'last testing'". But know they knew where that A.I. was, what name and identity of the A.I. plus they even knew who was supervising/being the guardian of said A.I.

And heaven forbid if they would just sit back and let it slide.

"He… Tried bribing me into allowing to… Loan…" The last word was hissed rather then spoken. "You…"

After some time of letting it absorb into him, slowly, Naruto nodded his head, also wondering why Sasuke had spoken with such loathing of that word. But that made sense with all the "No"'s that had taken place in the conversation. Nodding his head again more firmly, he silently encouraged the older male to carry on, but Sasuke shook his head, indicating that that was all their had been to the conversation.

But Kyuubi began whispering that it couldn't be. The deep voice began reasoning with the confused blonde; So Neji had asked to loan Naruto [the blonde slightly shuddered at the prospect], then Sasuke had quite literally outright refused such a thing [Isn't that sweet, he doesn't want to share~]. But then afterwards, Neji had said something that had done something no Uchiha would usually do. He had shocked Sasuke. Meaning he had said something big then, meaning that that wasn't the last of the conversation, meaning Sasuke is hiding something from you.

He was about to voice his opinion; somewhere feeling proud with his quick thinking, somewhere hearing Kyuubi rumble about never receiving credit for anything, but a faint knock had him shutting his mouth again. Sasuke didn't seem to notice it, his eyes looking distant, indicating he was in some form of deep thought. Maybe some Uchiha form of meditation. But once more the knocking sound reached Naruto's ear, this time louder, stronger, breaking Sasuke out of reverie also.

They both looked at each other slowly, silently agreeing that it would be best to go see who it was, and began to get off the bed. Sasuke moved fluidly off towards the bedroom door, but stopped as soon as he looked back to see Naruto standing there dazedly looking down at his own body. The tanned, golden skin was scarred with cuts and bruises, some cuts being longer then five inches, some bruises barely there, and almost every part of his skin was stained with some form of blood. Before Sasuke could even begin saying anything, Naruto smiled sheepishly, a hand moving to scratch at the back of his head.

"Eeeh, I guess I'll just go take a bath first. You go ahead and open the door, 'k Teme?"

Wordlessly, Sasuke left the room. His own form of an 'Okay'.

As soon as he reached the kitchen, he heard the telltale sounds of a scratching on his door, meaning someone was putting in keys; meaning the someone was Itachi. Relief flooded the younger Uchiha's veins, though he refused to show any outward signs of it, as he began crossing the kitchen and reaching the living room just in time to see the door opening. He was ready to start questioning, raging, ranting and down right guilt-tripping the elder of the two when instead, he stared unabashedly at the figure in front of him, limping to take off his shoes, pale as a ghost and seeming to be more like six hundred [600] years old then the mere twenty-six [26].

Uchiha Itachi stood after placing his shoes on the shoe rack, having not yet noticed his younger brother, and sighed for the umpteenth time that day, his whole body aching, his limbs seemingly far longer then they used to be, making him feel lanky rather then the perfectly proportional Uchiha that he was. After placing a bag that contained his laptop on the floor next to him, he finally looked up to see where his younger brother and the blondie were, seeing a smaller version of himself staring wide eyed at him; obviously shocked at Itachi's state. Well, what could he do about it? The elder Uchiha was still in his suit from yesterday, having gone to attend a meeting with Minato and his wife riding in the same car as him. The suit itself was freckled with dust now, wrinkled beyond repair, torn in places not truly all that important, and seeming to have gone through a jungle survival trip. Itachi's hair had lost it's band that he usually used to hold it, the long strands looking mussed and messy, no matter how much he had tried to smooth it down, and even his hair held some traces of dust in it. The sleepless night had caused the older brother to look far more paler then usual - because despite what you might think; Itachi always slept healthily, if only because he knew he should. Besides, he'd been told he looked far too frightening when he went on sleepless nights and such.

And obviously, he was beginning to freak out Sasuke.

He sighed again, moving as best as he could with the pain in his left leg, but stopping short just as his surroundings finally began making themselves known. 'Oh… My…' The whole living room was trashed, looking just like the carnage he had just come back from this morning, no, not from his office, nor the Uchiha Compound he lived in, but from… From…

"Dear brother…" He began, turning slightly to look at his younger brother; seeing the shirtless boy, the mussed hair of his own, and… And… Was that a scar on his stomach…? "I… Was not aware you were into tattoo's…"

Sasuke disappeared then, turning abruptly and going to the one room Naruto had yet to even look in, the third door in the hallway; the storage room. After a few moments of what Itachi heard of rumbling and small curses, the younger Uchiha came back with two large pillows mostly used to sit on rather then sleep, dropping them on the floor far away from where Itachi saw was thousands of glass shards from the wall which had previously been all glass, connecting itself to the balcony. Looking at said direction, he saw no glass. Only balcony. And a whole lot of air.

Sasuke sat on one of the pillows, putting the other one in front of him, indicating Itachi to sit, of which he did, gladly. The two pale brothers sat in front of each other, looking each other over, silently assessing what they knew would be the worst week coming to both of them. Maybe karma really was dishing out the punishments, huh?

"Didn't you get any of my messages, Aniki…?"

Itachi shook his head. His phone was the last thing he had even bothered to salvage from--- "No, I believe I will need to buy a new one."

Sasuke nodded slowly, feeling that both of them had a story that would be none-the-pleasant at all to tell. And while he had some form of preparation to Itachi's story, Itachi would have none to his own. "Naruto… Was infected…" He began, watching closely for Itachi's reactions.

Of course, Itachi wasn't the type of man who would really control himself in front of his own little brother; the one person he could say he loved dearly and trusted far too much. At hearing what Sasuke had said, his eyes widened slightly in curiosity, making a small noise in his throat, nodding his head in understanding. "And what sort of infection was this, dear brother?"

With a frown beginning to settle among his pale face, he answered. "The sort of infection that happens in a computer." Without waiting for a reply, he carried on, wanting to get it over and done with. "He's been feeling a sort of headache and stomach ache for the last three days, yesterday I told him to take some painkillers and sleep it off. He did, and the next morning he was running a fever so I told him to stay while I went Uni." Seeing a protest form on his older brother's lips, he quickly added, "Because if both of us didn't come on the same day people would get suspicious." The protest thankfully died on Itachi's lips, and silently Sasuke was encouraged to carry on, and so he did. "When I returned… Well, look around you, this is pretty much what I saw too. I searched every room, Naruto's being the last one, and when I went there… It… Wasn't Naruto that greeted me…"

He swallowed thickly, remembering how the voice had sounded, how the arm that had held him in place had an iron, steel grip. Itachi didn't miss the action, but kept quiet, fully understanding that if Sasuke had been unnerved by whatever had happened, then it must have been pretty… Unnerving… The younger of the pair waved a hand at his own stomach, moving to sit crossed legged so that it was visible to Itachi, and seeing it fully now, the elder could see that it wasn't a tattoo, but a scar that had slowly turned into scab, and would probably leave some sort of mark behind. It looked to be in a spiral, with some designs on it; and Itachi had to say it looked cool. With the glare he received from Sasuke, the younger had probably figured out what Itachi had just thought. The elder only hummed slightly in amusement.

"Ah, so Naruto-kun gave you that delectable little… Mark?" His amusement was evident in his voice, not really worried about the story considering that Sasuke was in front of him, sitting here, talking to him; meaning everything was as under control as humanely possible.

Sasuke nodded sharply, his face in a grimace. "It took a while to snap him out of it, and not after… More damage to the place… But yeah; he's taking a shower in my room now."

Itachi nodded knowingly, amusement gone now, his face serenely serious. Sasuke continued to watch his older brother; because however the elder of the two reacted would lead the situation. It was always like that. If Itachi was worried, then that meant that they were in deep, deep shit, if Itachi found something amusing, then it meant no worries, at the most, Sasuke would just find himself in an embarrassing spot which would be entertainment to the elder brother. So of course, Sasuke had learnt to read and watch his elder brother's face, his elder brother's body language, and careful choosing of words to form sentences and speech. Because his story wasn't over yet, what he had to say next would lead to Itachi's own story.

"By the way…" Itachi looked up from some deep thinking, looking into the cool, obsidian eyes that bore into his own similar ones. "Hyuuga Neji called."

It took all but a millisecond to catch Itachi's reaction; slight widening of the eyes, the stiffening of shoulders and the atmosphere crackling with tension. It took all but a millisecond for Sasuke to gouge out just how bad Itachi's own story was, to gouge out whether what Neji had said was indeed true, whether indeed they were in deep, deep shit.

And they were.

"Naruto-kun… Is taking a shower…?" Itachi spoke, his voice calm, controlled, yet clipped in the way of conspiring, of secret telling. Sasuke only nodded his confirmation.

"Is it true?" He asked himself, boring his eyes into his blood siblings face, feeling an immense gratitude to whatever deity was above that he had Itachi for an older brother, only now realising just how much he was indeed in need of the older man. In return, Itachi only nodded his confirmation.

"Yesterday. While you were busy dealing with Blondie… I, along with Minato and Kushina, were heading towards a meeting with some client… We got to a four-way road. Some drunk driver in a truck decided it would be fun to run the red lights." Itachi sighed here, frustration off the past twenty-four [24] hours beginning to finally catch up to him. His words were dripping with sarcasm, hatred, loathing. "The damn Bentley was completely totalled. Kisame, the driver, practically went unscathed - the man is a monster, I tell you - and as you can see, I merely have a few cramped muscles and a cut or two, nothing more."

'But Kushina and Minato weren't so lucky.'

The thought transferred perfectly between the two - it didn't need to be said. And as Sasuke was about to open his mouth, Naruto trotted into the room, his hair slightly damp from the shower, wearing Sasuke's clothes, the dark colours contrasting with the sunny blond hair and bright blue eyes. Naruto, thankfully, looked a whole lot better this time round, seeming more alive and awake thanks to the shower then before. On noticing Itachi, the bright sun-out-of-your-ass smile almost blinded the elder Uchiha, the smile infectious enough to make Itachi's lips quirk up in response. Though the pale adult turned the quirk into a small, polite smile, greeting Naruto with a nod.

The A.I. plopped himself next to Sasuke, passing the glass of shards carefully, sitting in between the two Uchiha brothers, his blonde hair and tanned skin contrasting darkly with the black-haired and pale skinned duo. Grinning at them both, he waited for them to carry on.

Silence began festering the room.

Slowly, Naruto's grin turned awkward, then slightly nervous, and a hand shot up to scratch slightly at the back of his head, something that Sasuke was beginning to notice was a habit. An annoying habit. It always irked the younger Uchiha. So what if he had his own quirks? Thankfully, Itachi was the one to speak up, thus saving the day.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. How are you feeling today?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, the hand still not removed from it's spot behind his head, and Itachi couldn't help but almost smirk at the bunched up eyebrows on his younger brother; showing Sasuke's… Agitation on Naruto's nervous gesture.

"I'm okay, though…" The youngest looked around at the chaos resembling the living room, feelings of guilt slamming into the two other occupants, making them slightly cringe at just how bad the blonde felt. "… I really messed up this place…" On saying so, Naruto looked down, his hand awkwardly dropping to his sides. Now for sure, Sasuke would hate him. Sure, the elder teen had been incredibly nice to him, even this morning; but it was probably just Sasuke's manners in the way, and the Uchiha had probably been talking of ways to get rid of him to Itachi before Naruto had interrupted. Despite thinking this though… Naruto just couldn't bring himself to believe it. But he still thought it.

"No worries, Naruto-kun." Itachi's voice made him peek through his bangs, cerulean eyes looking into the kind ones of obsidian. Itachi really was a lot different then Sasuke at times, but at others, they were almost twins. "A little remodelling, some touch up of paint… And new furniture too, I suppose, and this place will be back to normal. Not even a dent in dear brother's pockets, right, Sasuke-kun?" Only a grunt of agreement from "Sasuke-kun", though for some strange reason, that had Naruto more happier then receiving a full "Yes, Itachi-nii, that is true." would have.

Maybe he wasn't going to be abandoned.

"Ne, Itachi-san, you don't look so good… Did something happen?"

Immediately, much to Naruto's shock, both brothers stiffened up, paled far too much, and the atmosphere turned tense. Looking from one brother to the other, Naruto was visibly confused, obviously wondering just what the hell was going on, whether he had said something bad, and yes, whether he had indeed interrupted a conversation that had been revolving around the abandonment of him. He couldn't help but re-ask his question, the last one anyway, directing it to both brothers this time, rather then just Itachi.

"Did… Something happen…?"


... I CAN FEEL THE CHILLS OF YOUR EYES BORING INTO MY VERY SOUL TRYING TO MAKE ME EXPLODE INSIDE OUT INTO FLAMES. But the good thing is... I'VE UPDATED. :D Lol jah, you all hate me, I won't be surprised if I don't get any more then 2 reviews, heck, even 1 will be a godsend and a blessing, and I'm always grateful for the things I get. The long wait is due to many things, I'm actually glad I updated back in January, because a lot of things has been happening, none of them sorted out, and more problems arriving. It's almost like everything I've been missing out on before the year 2010 is catching up to me in one full blow. D: BUT ANYWAY. You have this chapter [which I personally think is nowhere near my usual quality, but I'm still really happy with it]. You're probably wondering WHY I'm happy with it, if I don't think it was good. Well, that's because I quite literally forced myself to type this all out, and when I got to the point where my notes had all finished, I continued writing, thought "Screw the notes" and carried on. This chapter was actually supposed to end quite a bit before it did, but even before THAT it was supposed to actually carry on further from where I stopped it. The only reason I stopped it there was because it was a good cliff hanger [not really, since you guys can pretty much guess what happened], and because I couldn't for the life of me carry on. Unfortunately, my notes HAVE finished. All I have is an idea of how I WANT the story to end, but none in how to GET there.

I fail miserably. What's worse... Well... Nothings worse. Because despite all this; I will get the next update done in less then a MONTH. Mark my words, I never promised before, nor have I said anything about WHEN I would be updating, but I have now. Oh, and just so you all know, I DO INTEND TO FINISH THIS STORY. It would be absolutely LOVED to get some constructive criticism from all the talented people out there. If you don't know what to say; just tell me whether you like it or not, whether the characters are actually IN character [which I hope they are], whether I'm doing justice to the fact I've placed this story under "Humour" [not as of the last two chapters though... Plot kinda kills the humour] and whether you like the fact I just randomly stuck Kisame in there as a driver, even though I really don't like him [other then a picture I saw of him in spandex... 3]. He'd be an epic driver. And yes, if you've noticed... I do dislike Minato and Kushina [finally know their names. XD] - don't ask me why. I just find them annoying and pathetically weak as hell. -- This coming from the kid who is hoping Naruto will die soon in the manga so the damn story can end. XD

Once more, DISCLAIMER: Naruto does not belong to me, will never, even if you pay me for it. I am not a fan of Naruto. I only read it to keep in touch with the major anime/manga population. And I write this because despite my dislike for the manga and utter hatred of anime, I wuv the yaoi pairings to no bounds. Naruto could use a bitch-slap though.... XD