Woot finally an update. I'm SOOOO sorry it took me SOOOO long (22 days Shock horror) Just please don't kill me. At least its about twice as long as all my others

So I'm definately aloud to go to London MCM Expo now: Day 1 - Sora (yay an excuse to be anoying)

Day 2 - Kisame (yay an excuse to be blue)

so if ya going or see me, give me a shout.

Disclaimer - don't own Naruto :(

Guardian Angel – Chapter 7 – Moving

Slowly, Iruka and Kakashi walked towards the bedroom. As they approached the entrance to the room, Iruka covered his eyes with his hand, dreading what he was about to see.

He slowly dropped his hand. And gasped. He hadn't known what to expected, but it wasn't this.

The blonde boy he had begun to see as a son was sat with his legs under his body and eyes downcast. The bottom half of his body was covered with blood and semen, the room stank of this and urine.

"Naruto?" there was no reply, "Shit, Kakashi, get a sheet on him, he must be freezing." There was no window, and the boy had no clothing on.

Kakashi handed him a sheet, and he wrapped it around him, before picking him up, his head resting against his chest. The boy flinched away from the touch.

"Who did this to you?" It was the first time Kakashi spoke since entering the flat. But no answer came, as he had already passed out. He rested his hand on Iruka's shoulder, he nodded, and they left the flat.


Tsunade groaned and rested her head on the desk in front of her, there was an empty bottle of sake in her hand.

I suppose it's time I got on with that paperwork, she turned her head to look at the teetering pile of papers beside her.

She sat up and cocked her head as she was disturbed by a commotion outside. She stood up, as the door was flung open.

Her angry remark died on her lips as she saw what was in the doorway.

It was Kakashi and Iruka, in the brown haired mans arm was a precious bundle, and though it was wrapped in a blanket, she could tell perfectly well what it was.

"Naruto!?" she said, running over and taking him from Iruka's arms, she gently placed him on the sofa in the corner of the office.

She began yelling out orders, all the while checking all of his vitals.

Three nurses ran in, bringing in medical equipment with them, and before the two shinobi could say Believe it! Naruto had been whisked away.


The slow, steady beat of the heart monitor was the one thing keeping Iruka awake. After Naruto had been taken from the office, Tsunade had questioned them on what had happened, they told her all they knew, but even that was little.

The Hokage was fuming, shortly after this she had left to take over the healing of the boy. It was the middle of the night, three hours since they had found him.

She had wheeled him in on a gurney. There were big, black bags under her eyes, but she had stormed out, saying to keep an eye on him, as her work wasn't done. That had been an hour ago.

Iruka was staring intently at Naruto's whiskered face, looking for any kind of sign of life. Kakashi quietly stood by him and gently put his hand on his shoulder. He looked up, and smiled, seeing his face reflected in the one visible eye.

The strange serenity and calm of the hospital room was broken as heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway and burst into the room.

It was Sasuke.

His hair was ruffled, and his eyes were manic.

"Where is he? What happened? Is he okay?" all of the questions tumbled out at the same time, all in one breath.

The two other occupants of the room looked at him, startled. Kakashi smirked underneath his mask.

The Uchiha caught sight of the sleeping form, and made his way to the bed. He knelt down in order to be on a level with Naruto.

Raising his hand, he brushed a strand of blonde hair out of the unconscious boy's eye.

A few moments passed as he stared tenderly at the still form. A quiet cough brought him back to reality.

He closed his eyes and slowly stood up. He turned around. Kakashi and Iruka were smiling at him suspiciously.

He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"I, uh, I…was just wondering…uh…how He was." He mumbled, causing his teachers to smile.

"Sorry, didn't hear, what was that, Sasuke?" he smirked putting his hand behind his ear. Iruka looked at him as if to say 'don't tease him!'

"Is he okay?" he repeated, glaring. At this they grew serious, and the light hearted atmosphere of the room suddenly darkened considerably.

"Um…well…he seems to be recovering, slower than usual, but recovering non-the-less." Replied Iruka, moving closer to the raven haired boy, resting his hand on his shoulder.

Slowly Sasuke nodded, his onyx eyes never leaving Naruto's face.

Sasuke stayed in that hospital room for most of the day. Iruka came and left a couple of times. Sakura had come bursting in, demanding to know how he was, but she too had had to leave. Every hour on the hour, and then whenever she had a spare moment, Tsunade would come bustling in, to check on the patient.

Eventually night came, and the nurses politely asked him to leave. He politely refused, saying that he would rather stay with Naruto. Until Tsunade came in and demanded that he left, saying that he could return early the next morning, and that someone would come to find him if there were any changes in his condition, or he woke.

Sighing, he left the hospital, to return to his empty house.


Tsunade sighed and held her head in her hands. There was an empty bottle of sake in her hands. Silent sobs racked her body. How could I let this happen to Naruto? Who did this to him? Though she already knew the answer.

She began making arrangements for him to move.


Sasuke flicked the switch by his hand, and watched as the entrance hall to his large house was flooded with light. He kicked the front door shut behind him.

He stumped up the spiralling staircase to his bedroom, and flopped onto his bed. His hands balled into fists as he clutched the black sheets.

He shut his eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek, and dripped of his chin.

Images of Naruto flashed through his mind. Their first day as Team 7. Naruto laughing, crying, yelling and angry, all the different emotions that Sasuke had ever witnessed.

He saw Naruto as he was when he had first returned to Konoha; his cerulean eyes filled with years of hurt.

And as he had last seen him, lying unconscious, battered, in a hospital bed. It made the Uchiha angry to think that someone would do that to anyone, especially the one that he had grown to realise he loved.

And so Sasuke fell asleep, with thoughts of Naruto, and the one word, love resounding through the caverns of his mind.


The sun was streaming through the spotless glass of the hospital window. Sasuke glanced at the clock hanging on the white walls. Half three. He had been there since seven in the morning, refusing to leave Naruto's side, except for toilet breaks.

The blonde boy's eyelids fluttered, and for a moment Sasuke thought that he was finally going to wake, but they stayed closed, and the heart monitor continued with its steady beating.


For three days Sasuke kept his bedside vigil. His mind was beginning to wander from lack of stimulating activities in the bare room.

He was jolted out of his reverie when he heard a small moan from the bed beside him. He looked down at Naruto, as the blonde boy shifted beneath the white covers.

He ran to the door and started shouting for a nurse. Moments later Tsunade came bursting into the room.

"Uchiha! There better be a good reason for all this commotion you're causing!" he gestured to the figure on the bed, and with a gasp she ran over.

She stood over him, Sasuke hovering over her shoulder. She softly called his name. He scrunched his eyes up and groaned, before finally opening them.

"It's good to have you back with us. Now how are you feeling?"


Naruto was swimming in darkness, he noticed a pinprick of bright light, and it hurt his eyes, sensitive from recent lack of light. He began to move towards it.

Slowly he could feel himself coming out of the depths of blackness that he had been drifting in. He could feel bright light seeping through his eyelids. He groaned and closed them tighter.

When he finally opened them, all he could see was white.

"It's good to have you back with us. Now how are you feeling?" came a dis-bodied voice. With it he became aware of Tsunade, though he could only see her head swimming in all the whiteness.

He tried to sit up, but felt firm hands pushing him down.

"Not yet you don't" as he was becoming more aware of his surroundings, he realised that there was someone else in the room, hovering over Tsunade's shoulder, only he couldn't quite work out who it was.

The familiar smell of strong disinfectant hit his nostrils. He realised that he was in the hospital, with a gasp the memories of that night came flooding back. Shit, please, please, don't already know what happened he prayed silently.

"Who did this to you, dobe?" shocked, he realised that it was Sasuke. As this dawned on him, more of the room became visible to him. Tsunade now had a torso, down to her waist, and he could all of Sasuke, that wasn't hidden behind Tsunade.

He sighed in relief as he realised that they didn't know what had happened. There came a slightly frustrated sigh.

"How are you feeling?" came an almost impatient sounding question.

Naruto opened his mouth, but only a croak came out. Someone held a glass of cold water with a straw to his lips, craning his head forward, he took a long drink from it.

When he had finished drinking he flopped back onto the bed, and closed his eyes.

"Fine." He finally mumbled in response. They looked at him as if they didn't really believe him.

"I've just gotta go check on something. Uchiha, make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Tsunade said, as she left the hospital room.

There was an awkward silence in the room. Sasuke slowly walked to the bedside chair and sat down. His arms were folded across his chest, and his gaze never once left the blonde on the bed.

"What happened?" he asked, bluntly. Blue eyes blinked, confused.

"Uh, Well, I fell…down the stairs." He stuttered.

"Do you really think I'm going to fall for that?" the question was rhetorical. "Who did it, Naruto?" he said it through clenched teeth, like he was angry.

Naruto chuckled nervously.

"I don't know what you mean, Sasuke, honest." He said quickly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he stood up.

"Naruto! Tell me!" he took step closer to the bed.

Naruto cowered under the covers, his body shaking. Sasuke stopped in his tracks, shocked at the blonde's reaction. What's all that about? I'm only trying to help. He thought, confused.

Tsunade came bursting in, and took in the scene with one sweep of the room. She ran over to the bed.

"It's okay Naruto." She said, resting her hand on his quivering shoulder. He flinched away from the touch. She withdrew her hand, frowning, but not saying anything on the matter.

There were a few moments of awkward silence in the room.

"So…Tsunade…did you check on whatever it was you needed too?" Sasuke asked, attempting to make conversation.

"Yes, and you'll see what it was soon enough." She said mysteriously. She carried on watching Naruto, his eyelids began to droop. It was then that she remembered that he had only just woken up, and must still be feeling very tired and weak.

"We'll be leaving you in peace then, Naruto." She said softly, turning to leave the room. "Uchiha!" she barked, he opened his mouth to protest, but seeing the look on her face, he obliged, and followed her out of the hospital room.

Naruto had indeed been beginning to drift off, and a few moments later, he was fast asleep, his blonde hair spread over the pillow, blissfully unaware of Tsunade's plans.


Sasuke was fuming, how dare she take me away from my Naruto.

She spun around to face him, inwardly flinching at the glare he was giving her.

"Look, it's no use looking at me like that, I've a job for you to do." She stated, smirking as his expression changed from wanting to kill her, to one of curiosity.

Tsunade smirked as he scrunched his face up, before curiosity finally got the better of him. He sighed.

"What is it you want me to do?"

"Go to Naruto's flat, collected up his things, and then bring them to my office. I'll explain why then." She ordered, before giving him directions to the blonde's home.

He nodded once, before leaving the hospital.


Sasuke was making his way to Naruto's house, anticipation was making his heart pound faster, he was going to see Naruto's home, and it was a long time since he had last seen it.

He reached the bottom of the block of flats. It was in the rougher area of Konoha, it had many dark alleyways, with eerie looking dumpsters, and the place smelt of urine, everything about it seemed dank and dirty.

He pushed the battered wooden door open, and began walking up the rickety staircase. He reached the fourth floor, and made his way down the corridor. There was a hanging light bulb, flickering, like it could go of at any moment.

He stopped at the scratched and pitted door Tsunade had given him directions to. As usual, the door was unlocked. Naruto had stopped bothering to lock it, as it never stopped the villagers before.

Sasuke gently pushed the door open, the sight that met his eyes was not what he expected.

There were only three rooms in total, and none of them had doors. A kitchen-diner, which was joined with a sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom. The flat was bare. The cupboards were hanging off their hinges, showing that they were empty. There were no tables or chairs.

Where there should off been a sofa, there were just suspicious scorch marks.

I know it's been a long time since I was here, but I'm sure I remembered him having a sofa, and, well, more.

But the flat seemed clean and well looked after.

Moving on from where he stood by the door, he glanced into the bathroom. It was small and dismal. Deciding that there was nothing there to see, and made his way to the bedroom.

Again, the room was small. It smelled of floor cleaner, as if it had recently been cleaned. There was a small bed, that had a thin cotton blanket, which would in no way keep you warm in the summer. It was small enough to reveal the bed, which Sasuke noticed was no more than a plank of wood.

There was no glass in the window, simply a black plastic bag to keep out the light.

On the bare, grey walls, that were dripping with damp, were three hooks, each had an orange jumpsuit hanging on them.

Resting beside the bed was a picture frame, with the photograph taken of Team 7, before Sasuke had left.

He picked up the photo and hanging clothes, and deciding that these were the only possessions of Naruto's worth keeping, he left the building to return to Tsunade's office.


Sasuke was stood in front of Tsunade's large wooden desk.

"Is this all there was?" she asked, incredulously. He nodded.

"Three jumpsuits and the picture. And the only furniture he had was his bed, if that's what you could really call it."

"I guess we'll just have to sort that out as well." She muttered.

"Tsunade." She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "What are you planning?"

"Operation: Move Naruto" she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Noticing his confused expression, she began to explain.

"We're moving Naruto from where he lives now, to a new flat." She said.

"Why?" he asked, wondering if it had anything to do with him being hospitalised.

"'Cause there's no way in hell that he's staying in his present flat." She said vehemently. Sasuke was taken aback by this sudden outburst.

With that said, they began making arrangements to find some proper furnishings for his new flat.


It had been three days since Sasuke had been to Naruto's flat. He had spent most of them watching of the blonde boy, who spent most of the time sleeping, and the rest running around for Tsunade picking things up for the new flat.

For the first two days since he had first woken up, Naruto still spent most of the time sleeping. It was on the third day that he spent most of the time awake, staring blankly at the ceiling. Tsunade deemed him ready to go home.

"Tsunade says you're fit to leave, Naruto." Sasuke said, leaning against the door frame.

The boy didn't look best pleased; this was not the reaction that he had expected.

Sasuke made his way over to the bed, placing a clean orange jumpsuit on the bed.

"You can go home, isn't that what you want?" he shivered as he heard the word 'home', which the other boy didn't fail to notice. But he slowly sat up nonetheless.

Sasuke was confused by the other boy's reluctance to return home, usually he hated being in the hospital, maybe this had something to do with Tsunade moving him.

"Come on, dobe, the sooner you get home, the sooner you can resume training, and thus, finally beat Me." He mocked, smirking, trying to get a reaction, without much success, for he carried on in his unhurried pace.

He picked the clothes up off the bed, and his made his way to the small bathroom joined to the room.

In the small, white bathroom, he took off the horrible robe he had to wear, and looked down at his body, he felt dirty, and weak, if people knew, they would never look at him the same. He supposed that Tsunade already knew, being Hokage. He hated that thought.

He could hear Sasuke outside, beginning to get impatient, and quickly dressed, hurrying back.

But spending so many days in bed, these sudden movements had already tired him out. Back in the room, he stumbled over to the bed, and flopped down.

"Naruto!" he jumped forwards.

He waved his hand slightly pathetically.

"I'm fine Sasuke, fine, just a little tired, 's all." He mumbled. But the raven looked at him worriedly.

But before he could press the matter, Tsunade came bustling into the room.

"Right Naruto, are you ready?" she asked. He nodded slowly and stood up, swaying slightly with the effort.

Again, Sasuke jumped forwards and caught his arm, but the blonde shook him off.

"Here." She said, holding out a pair of crutches she had been holding under her arm, "Use these."

"I'm fine." He replied sullenly.

"Look, it's that, or I get the Uchiha to carry you." She said, knowing what his reaction to that would be.

But instead of the outraged explosion she had expected, he gently took the crutches from her and made his way to the door.

Tsunade looked across to the other boy and raised one eyebrow, he shrugged his shoulders. He's not acting normal, she thought.

Looking up, they realised that he was already leaving the room. They hurried to catch up with the hobbling boy.

"Wait up, Naruto."

"Huh?"

"We're coming with you, dobe." Answered the raven.

"But I can find my own way home." He muttered.

The only reply he got was the two others over taking him, leading him out of the hospital.


It took them longer then usual to get through the village, as Naruto had to stop every now and again for a breather.

They reached a cross-road, and Tsunade took the lead down one of the roads.

"But, Tsunade, I don't live that way, I live in the other direction." Naruto said, confused.

"You do now." She said simply, taking note of the lack of '-Baachan'. His confusion only deepened.

He followed them down the road, they hadn't gone far before Tsunade stopped in front of a block of flats.

She opened the front door, and led them up four flights of steps. She stopped in front of a clean, white door, with a shiny brass handle.

Handing him a key, she said "Open it."

He looked at her questioningly and slowly took the silver key from her outstretched palm. He cautiously put it in the lock, and twisted it. With a click the door swung open.

The layout of the flat was the same as his old one. The walls were all painted white. There was a two seater sofa, an arm chair and a small oak coffee table.

He turned to face Tsunade, looking at her questioningly.

"It's yours." She said, smiling.

"But I can't afford this." He said, dismayed.

"It's on me, I'm Hokage, or had you forgotten that." She replied, a vein in the side of her head twitching.

"B…But why?" he stuttered.

"'Cause I'm not letting you go back to that place" she growled.

His eyes widened, shocked at this sign of affection. He slowly turned around, and limped to the kitchen part. He opened a cupboard it was full of food.

He felt a hand resting gently on his shoulder.

"That should last you a week at least."

Dropping his crutches, he turned around, and fell into Tsunade's arms, surprising her. He wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank you." He whispered, tears streaming down his face, soaking her shoulders. She gently rubbed his back.

But this rare tender moment was interrupted as they were joined by three other people.

"Hi! Naruto" chirped the pink haired Kunoichi. He slowly un-draped his arms ad pulled away from Tsunade. He sniffed, and wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"We thought we'd through a 'welcome to your new home' party." Said Kakashi, pushing past Sakura and seating himself on the sofa.

Iruka just smiled and made his way to the kitchen, turning on the oven.

"I thought I'd rustle something up." He said, beginning to explore the cupboards.

There were a few moments of awkward silence before everyone settled in and began talking. Sakura was merrily chatting away, and even Sasuke was joining in. Every now and again Iruka would give his own comments from the kitchen. All in all, everyone seemed happy enough.

Everyone except one person.

Naruto.

The blond didn't once join in the conversation, but instead appeared to be in his own world. The other occupants of the room noticed this, but let it slide.

At least, for a while.

"Naruto, are you okay?" It was Tsunade who asked. He nodded slowly.

"Well, you're awfully quiet."

"I'm just thinking, 's all." He muttered, getting up and going to his new bedroom. She sighed heavily. Sasuke went to go and follow him, but she shook her head.

"Give him time, he'll come round eventually." He sat back down, glaring at the door that had been closed on them.

Naruto was looking around the room in awe. There was an oak wardrobe, and when he opened it, it had his other three orange jumpsuits, and a few other garments, which he realised someone must have brought.

Not only that, but there was proper window, with glass, and thick black curtains to keep the light out.

He sat on the bed, the mattress was thick and springy, and there was a tick, orange duvet. It was all so much more than he had ever had before.

There was a small bedside table, with a cupboard and drawer. Resting on the top was a polished picture frame, protecting the photo taken of Team 7.

He sank down on the bed, burying his face in the pillow. Though he tried to stop them, he felt tears begin to make their way down his face.

How can anyone be this nice, let alone with me. He thought, by now they were running thick and fast.

He felt the bed shift under him at the added weight of a new presence. A warm hand rested on the back of his head.

He flinched away at the touch, almost falling off the bed. Iruka quickly stood up, trying not to frighten the boy.

"Shh…It's okay, Naruto, it's just me." He assured the blonde boy.

He was huddled against the head board of the bed, quivering.

As Iruka soothed him, he began to relax. The older man cautiously perched on the edge of the bed, his eyes never leaving the others face.

He was shocked at the blonde's reaction; he had never seen him behaving like this before.

"Oh Naruto, what did that man do to you?" he sighed, rubbing the back of his hand across his eyes.

The brilliant blue eyes widened in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no sound came out.

"You know" he managed to whisper.

"It was us that found that." Was the soft reply.

"U…Us?" he stuttered.

"Yea, Us." Was the soft reply from the door. Looking up, Naruto was shocked to see that Kakashi stood there, a serious look in his eyes.

Naruto's heart sank, Iruka he could handle knowing, but not Kakashi.

He looked to the door, to the room that Sasuke was in, panic obvious in his eyes. They understood what he meant.

"It's okay Naruto, we won't tell them if you don't want us to." Kakashi said, moving further into the room, till he was stood behind Iruka, hand resting on his shoulder.

"But Naruto," Iruka continued, "If you ever need to talk, about anything, we're here for you."

He nodded his blonde head, feeling tears begin to leak out at other people's kindness again. Because the truth was, he knew that they were telling the truth, they wouldn't tell his secret to anyone, and he knew that he could rely on them in the future.

So yea, I hope you all enjoyed it. Reviews and such get much love.