Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of its characters... (I'd realli buy Kakashi and Sasuke if I could though.. sigh)

Summary: This is SasukexNaruto YAOI. Yes, boy likes boy, type of thing, so don't bother reading if you don't know what YAOI means. This takes place in the TV series version where Sasuke abandons Konoha and all his buddies to go to Orochimaru. The story starts off where Naruto is trying to stop Sasuke from going to the snake-head and they are fighting each other.

Author's Note: I got very obsessed with Naruto recently, and me, being the queen of angst and yaoi, just HAD to write up a super dooper angsty SasuNaru fic. I can't help it, I just must. Please enjoy, and please review! Review author happy updates sooner! I hate Sakura, so I will bash her if I get the chance to in this fic. Oh, and Naruto's kind of OOC, less bright and happy go lucky. Oh, and I don't currently have a beta, so sorry for grammar mistakes!

-Xtra notice! (Read this!)-- Hey guys, I have a beta now, Arashi Strife! So major propz to her, my chapters will be error-free to everybody's delight. ;) (Thanks to everybody else who offered to Beta my fic, I really appreciate your interest in helping out. Perhaps you'll want to beta one of my future fics?) Anyways, I accidentally put "Chapter 7" on my Chapter 8, so I've gone back to fix that... (not that anybody noticed lol). Also, I was adviced by a reviewer to up my rating, which I really should, I totally had forgotten about it. So yes, this fic's rating has been corrected! Also, I'm gonna start calling them 'men' from now on. Come on, they're old enough to be, right? Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 9 - "Clue in the Blue"

The blonde boy gasped when he bumped head on into somebody. Both of them fell to the ground with a loud splash. Before Naruto bothered to check who he had crashed into, he stood up quickly and pulled his robe together tightly, not wanting to make eye contact with whoever it was.

"I'm sorry, I was in a hurry. I wasn't watching where I was going. Sorry..." Naruto blurted out softly. With that he turned to walk off.

"Excuse me, you dropped something."

Naruto froze when he heard the voice. He recognized it perfectly. There was no mistaking that the deep and arrogant voice belonged to the person he had feared he would run into. Suddenly he was too shocked and too nervous to do anything. He knew he shouldn't, but he turned slowly and looked at the outstretched hand. In it was the blue pendant Ayame had given him earlier. Naruto's eyes trailed from the hand up at the man's rain-drenched face. Two dark and serious eyes looked straight into his blue ones.

Naruto whispered out subconsciously,

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke gasped when his eyes met with the other man's. His mind went absolutely blank, and all he could do was keep staring in shock. Time suddenly had stopped around the two men, and only they existed in the world. The footsteps of the people around them, the sound of the rain falling, the murmurs of the children playing, everything, was just a soft hum that could barely be heard.

Silence was all that came out from either of their mouths for long painstaking minutes.

My God... it's really him. Those scars on his cheeks... sun-kissed blonde hair... it has to be...

Sasuke eyed the other man's every feature. The few strands of wet pale blonde hair that were on Naruto's face, the barely visible scars on both cheeks, and those eyes... those deep ocean blue eyes, they were still as beautiful as the last time he had seen them. But Sasuke didn't fail to notice the weight loss, and much paler skin replacing what was once very tan. Worry started fill Sasuke's mind when he also noticed a dark bruise on the corner of his right eye. Everything else was covered in that long robe he was wearing, and Sasuke trailed his eyes back up to meet the other's eyes. Naruto hadn't moved from his position, staring straight forward, and still no words spoken from those pale lips.

Finally Sasuke shook himself out of the reverie and managed to say, "Is that you... Naruto?"

But Naruto didn't hear the question. He was lost in his thoughts of how much the man he loved had changed.

He's so much taller... mature looking.

The sight of a grown-up Sasuke, soaking wet in the rain with long dark and wet bangs glued to his face, was truly a sight to see. The dark eyes that were watching him with a piercing intensity, were wise and filled with knowledge; the cold, mocking, and indifferent look they once held was totally gone. He had clearly joined the ANBU force, since he was wearing that long dark outfit. Had so much time passed? What other things had changed about this man who was once a boy that only thought about getting revenge and killing his brother? Sasuke didn't look like the bitter and hurt boy he once was anymore.

"Naruto... please, say something..."

Sasuke didn't get a response once again. He then carefully reached out towards Naruto's face with a trembling hand, scared that if he touched him he would disappear and it would all just have been an illusion. When the tip of his finger was less than an inch away from Naruto's cheek, the blonde boy finally snapped out his trance and gasped. Terrified of what could have almost happened, he jerked himself backward, away from Sasuke's touch. Naruto's brain finally registered how stupid he had been and that Sasuke had almost been turned into ashes right in front of his eyes. This foolishness had to end; he was putting his loved one in danger. The blue-eyed man looked up at Sasuke one last time, and took a mental picture, hoping that he would be able to remember every single feature possible. Then he whirled around and started running.

Running like there was no tomorrow.

Sasuke was shocked at not only the fact that Naruto had flinched away from his hand, but now he was running away too! The black haired man didn't know what to do next for a few seconds before realizing that if he didn't start running, he would never catch up to Naruto and he'd be gone from his life again.

No... I can't have that happen again...NO...

"NARUTO!" Sasuke screamed and started running after the blonde man as fast as he could.

Naruto heard the deep voice calling out to him, and it made him run even faster. He knew that since Sasuke had joined the ANBU, he would definitely be swifter and much more skillful than he already had been. The blonde had to put to pull every single stunt he knew as a ninja and push his speed to its max if he was to escape from Sasuke successfully. As he ran, he looked behind him out of the corner of his eye, and he saw that Sasuke was catching up slowly.

"Shit."

Naruto sped up even more and dodged people and carts, making sharp turns into narrow streets and jumping over rooftops. No matter how swift he was, he couldn't get rid of Sasuke, who was still chasing him with a both bewildered and eager look on his face.

"Naruto! Please, stop. Don't run, we can talk. Please... Naruto!"

Naruto sighed. There was absolutely no way he could outrun that monster ANBU officer. He would have to use different measures. The only thing he could think of was to use his oldest trick. This way, he wouldn't have to fight the other man; the last thing he wanted to do was hurt him.

Sasuke stopped abruptly when Naruto suddenly stopped in front of him and turned around. The ANBU officer was confused at the other man's actions, and before he could figure out what it was about, it was too late.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Dozens of Narutos were surrounding a very shocked and surprised Sasuke. After a slight pause, they all whispered to him one last phrase.

"Goodbye, Sasuke."

In a split second, all the images darted out in different directions, running away at amazing speeds. Sasuke couldn't believe that Naruto pulled off that jutsu on him; it had been the last thing he had expected.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

Sasuke made dozens of copies of himself to chase all the Narutos, but it was a few seconds too late. There was no way of him knowing exactly how many copies Naruto had made, and some of the images were already disappearing into the distance.

"Don't do this to me Naruto, PLEASE! Stop!"

He kept chasing as many copies as he could. After a long time of chasing, the last image of Naruto he had been chasing disappeared in a poof. Suddenly, he found himself standing in a narrow Konoha street all alone. There were no more clones of the blonde man in his perimeter, and he knew looking for him would be futile now. He was ashamed of calling himself an ANBU officer. Not only had he been caught off guard, but he had dealt with the whole situation in a very clumsy and unprofessional manner.

Sasuke slapped himself mentally. "How could I have let him get away? After all those years of searching and worrying, I let him go without any resistance. I'm such an idiot, such an idiot!"

He punched the wall in frustration. Blood started to trickle out of his knuckles and down the cracked wall. Out of breath and totally shaken up, Sasuke leaned on the wall and started to cry. He hadn't felt this stressed out and angry in a very long time. His mind was blank and all he did was let the tears trickle down his cheeks, hoping the pain would be washed away with them.

After a few minutes, he noticed it had stopped raining, and the sun's rays were shining down upon him. He reached up with his hand to wipe away the tears when he suddenly noticed something in his hand. Then he gasped and remembered, "The pendant!"

Sasuke had been so dumbstruck by the whole situation that he had forgotten he had been holding the artifact this whole time. He opened his hand and looked down at the gorgeous blue stone. It looked even more breathtakingly beautiful when he put it out to the sun. He ran his fingers gently on the stone and the long silver chain it was attached to. The light made the different shades of cerulean blue swirl and sparkle within the gem, making it look like a kaleidoscope.

"Just like his eyes..."

Sasuke closed his eyes and saw those deep blue eyes looking back at him. They were beautiful, just like the gem he was holding. But the sad thing was, that in those eyes, there was so much sorrow and pain. Naruto's eyes had told him everything he had to know about how miserable these past three years had been for him, how many tears they had shed, and how many sleepless nights he had to endure. And it hurt him. It hurt him deeply and painfully at the fact that Naruto's eyes had showed him everything he had hoped he wouldn't have to see.

Hoping that Naruto was safe and sound all these years had been futile. He was obviously living a nightmare, and having to face hell itself. Sasuke didn't even want to start thinking about what had caused the sorrow in the blonde haired man.

Why did he flinch? Why did he run away? I don't get it... I don't...

Did Naruto hate him? That was the only reasonable answer. Naruto hadn't forgiven him for what he had done, and didn't want to see him ever again. Sasuke sighed. But then, what was he doing in Konoha in that strange outfit? There were just too many questions that needed answers, and he didn't know where to start looking for them. Suddenly, he realized something, and his eyes lit up with hope.

The pendant!

The blue stone was something very unique, indeed. He had never seen anything like it before. This had to give him some answers. He was sure that Tsunade hag would know something. At least, he hoped she would. There had to be some kind of clue in the blue. He just knew it.

Naruto kept running deeper and deeper into the forest, even though he knew that Sasuke had lost sight of him a long time ago. There was no way he could take any chances and get caught. Finally, when he had ran away as far as his legs could take before collapsing, he went right ahead and fell onto the ground. He gasped for air, and felt the beads of cold sweat trickling down his face. The ground felt moist, and he looked up at the sky. It had stopped raining; he hadn't even noticed.

The sun felt good shining in his face, and he closed his eyes, registering the sequence of events that had happened.

He remembered the onyx black eyes that had looked back at him with one of the deepest looks possible. The eyes had been questioning, they had asked him billions of questions.

Naruto, is that you?

What are you doing here?

Where have you been?

Do you know how worried I've been?

Can you please say something?

Please... don't disappear again...

There had been shock in Sasuke's eyes, but there had been so much worry in them too. He wasn't surprised. Naruto's old self would have been shocked to see him in this condition too. But the one who had truly been shocked from the sudden meeting was Naruto. He had never expected to see Sasuke so grown up and mature, and much less see that he had joined the ANBU forces. That had been a true surprise.

It had been a good surprise though. Naruto smiled proudly. Yes, he was proud that Sasuke had made it so far, and had worked hard and attained such a high rank. He knew that Sasuke was capable of anything.

He had also been very relieved. Sasuke looked healthy and physically intact. Naruto had been so scared that Orochimaru had been lying to him this whole time and done something to the black haired man by now. But now that he had seen with his own eyes that Sasuke wasn't just fine, but he was working for Konoha as a shinobi, he was truly happy.

But after all the happiness, came painstaking sadness. He had seen the hurt look on Sasuke's face when he had pulled away from his touch. If only he knew why he had done that. If only he could have told Sasuke how much he longed for his touch, and how much he wished to be in his embrace. But of course, that was just his heart being stupid and hoping for impossible things.

"Wake up, Naruto! Get a grip! You were lucky enough just to be able to see him."

Naruto stood up and brushed off the dirt and grass from his cloak. He reached up to his neck, expecting his hands to come in contact with the precious object he had come across earlier.

But there was nothing there.

Naruto gasped and his eyes widened in horror.

"The pendant..."

To be continued...

Author's note: OMG, I got tons of reviews! Thanks sooo much! Much appreciated, I'm very happy. A lot of constructive reviews too, thanks for all that too. Here's the new chapter you've all been waiting for, and I hope it lives up to your expectations, worked real hard on it. (I actually struggled a lot with this chapter, put a lot of thought into it.) Thanks to Arashi Strife for her very very helpful advice on many things, which aided me in finishing this fic sooner. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed, PLEASE review! Thanks!

Love,
Angelline