I'm a fucking piece of shit. I think that pretty much covers everything I wanted to say here... O.o this is the longest I've ever gone between updates, and I am SO SORRY. If you want my excuses, I changed emails, and it was putting all my reviews in the spam folder instead of the main one... so for a long time I'd thought you'd all forgotten about me and this story so I had no motivation. BUT! Then I checked my spam folder and nearly had a mental breakdown. Actually, I ran around the house screaming 'Sas lives!' for a good half-hour. Which. Yeah, it feels kind of half-assed to just say 'thank you' by this point, I feel like I should be offering you guys my soul or by first-born child or something. But obviously I can't do that. So, thank you all :) and I dearly hope you don't hate me. Chapter's kind of short (sorry for that too!) but I have a little one-shot tidbit thing written that I'll put up next just as an apology gift. So yeah, here you go... after FAR too long waiting.

Also – welcome to all my new readers! Thanks so much for enjoying the nonsense I spew when I'm left alone with a computer for too long!

Oh and yeah, because I had to say it twice – I'M A FUCKING PEICE OF SHIT. PLEASE DON'T EAT ME.

Then the eldest Uchiha's vision flared white and then black, and he crumpled to the floor just as the door burst open before his team.

As per usual, Naruto was the first through the door. The brass nob slammed into the wall with a deafening crack, which was drowned out by Naruto's exclamation of,

"Teme! If you've gotten yourself killed I will never forgive you!"

Sasuke jumped a mile in the air at the loud, dramatic entrance, but admirably kept from flinching.

"Geez, Naruto, could you be any loude- oh my!" a new voice entered the fray, and Sasuke's eyes snapped to Naruto's side, where a pink-haired woman had just appeared. Said woman proceeded to shove Naruto out of her way unceremoniously.

"Is he okay?" yet another new voice said in monotone which, though totally flat, still managed to sound concerned.

"Don't know yet," the pink woman replied tersely, laying two fingers on the side of Itachi's neck.

Sasuke instinctively skittered back a step when the woman walked by him to kneel by his lover, and the movement seemed to remind the invading ninja that there was someone else in the room.

"Who're you?" The pinkette asked rather brusquely, quickly slipping into mission mode. Sasuke blanched and opened his mouth, but the woman cut him off before he could respond. "You know what, never mind, I have to get started on treating Itachi... you, whoever you are, can you wait outside with Naruto and Gaara?"

"I- B-but - " the small Uchiha broke off with a squeak when the pinkette gave him a pointed look.

"I cannot treat him or even assess his injuries with people crowding around."

"I – but, he -"

"Lay off the kid, wouldya Sakura?" Naruto broke in with his usual charisma, then sent Sasuke a friendly smile. "Why don't you come with me and we'll wait just outside?" When Sasuke hesitated he added, "We won't go anywhere else, I promise. We'll be right there."

Sasuke cast an anxious glance at Itachi's pale, still body, and the nodded bravely.

"C'mon." the blonde man and the redhead – Gaara, was it? - both withdrew from the little room. Sasuke hesitated one final time and then followed. He looked back just as the door swung shut, blocking his unconscious lover from sight.

The final sound of the door thudding shut sent ripples of unease through Sasuke's form.

Already outside, Naruto and Gaara exchanged a small glance with each other that was both questioning and confused -

Do you know who this kid is?

No, I thought maybe you did?

Nope, not a clue.

Quickly coming to the conclusion that his red-headed partner had never seen the boy before either, Naruto decided to do what he usually did and just ask.

"So who are you?" Not the most polite way to start a conversation, perhaps, but the blonde made up for it by adding a friendlier, "I've never seen you before, are you related to Itachi? You look like him."

Sasuke started when the spiky-haired man spoke to him, and suddenly he was very aware of how much larger the other two men in the hallway were than him.

"A-ano, no we're not related – I m-mean we are, b-but not closely," Sasuke stuttered the words nervously, looking down out of reflex. "I – um." At that point Sasuke paused. Itachi had said before he'd passed out that he trusted these people, and he'd also said that if they asked Sasuke was supposed to tell them that they were dating. So why were the words sticking in his throat?

Naruto, apparently having missed the hesitation, didn't pause. "So are you here visiting? Distant Uchiha relation or something? I didn't know Itachi had any family close enough to let visit... let alone a cutie like you."

That gave Sasuke pause. He dared to glance at the blonde man's face and caught sight of – was that a flirtatious grin? The redhead was currently rolling his eyes, seemingly in exasperation, and Naruto bent down a little so that he was on level with Sasuke.

"Y'know, if you ever get tired of hanging 'round Itachi's place, you could always come see me-"

"Itachi-sama and I are dating!"

The entire corridor went quiet for a split second, and Sasuke felt his cheeks go red. Shit, he'd just yelled that out loud, hadn't he?

"Aw, really?" Naruto said, sounding disappointed as he straightened back up. "How on earth did he manage to snare a hottie like you?"

Sasuke blanched, shocked by the man's reaction. The ex-slave had expected the blonde to at least be annoyed that his advances weren't going anywhere, but it would seem that Itachi's trust in his friends was not misplaced.

"Um, y-yeah, we're really dating," the small Uchiha answered the first part of Naruto's question shakily. "And how me met, well... it's compl-"

"Wait a sec," Naruto said. "Aren't you related to him? How can you be dating, isn't that, like, illegal or something?"

Sasuke went to answer and then realized – he didn't actually know. Was dating a relation illegal?

"Um, I-I'm not actually s-sure if it is or not..."

"How closely are you related to him?" A smooth, slightly gravelly voice that had only spoken once so far broke in.

"W-we don't know," Sasuke replied, turning to include Gaara in the conversation. "P-probably not too closely. You see, um, I was kinda..." Sasuke trailed off, unwilling to tell these two men where he'd come from. Still, he'd started now, there was no getting out of it. Naruto's blue eyes were boring into him curiously, and Gaara's foam-green eyes, while not quite as piercing, were even more unnerving.

"Um." Sasuke's throat seized up, and suddenly all he wanted to do was to run back into the first aid room, put his arms around Itachi and not let go till his lover woke up.

"Eh, you don't have to tell us," Naruto said, obviously sensing the teen's discomfort. "You're important to him, so we'll look after ya." the blonde grinned infectiously, and Sasuke felt his worry decrease in the face of such simple, forward reassurance.

Soon enough, though, the moment ended and Sasuke was once again thinking about Itachi.

So distracted was he that only Gaara noticed the serious look Naruto gave the boy when Sasuke lifted a hand to touch the door separating him his lover. The movement bared the ex-slave's skin up to mid-forearm, revealing the thick burn scar wrapping around Sasuke's thin wrist.

Suddenly everything about the boy made much more sense to both ninja, and both of them resolved not to let the skittish teen out of their sight.

Unaware of the scrutiny, Sasuke stared unhappily at the door keeping him away from Itachi. He understood that he would just be getting in the way if he stayed, but he couldn't help but want to be inside. Since Itachi had rescued him the two Uchiha hadn't been apart for more than a few hours, and once they'd gotten together they hadn't been separated even while they slept. Waiting while someone else helped his injured lover was grating in Sasuke's nerves.

The ex-slave jumped back when the door swung open again and Sakura stuck her head out. Her expression was pinched, and Sasuke felt his heart drop into his stomach.

"I've dealt with the worst of the bleeding, but he still needs to get back to headquarters ASAP. Naruto, would you fetch the stretcher from the med vehicle? It's unlocked."

The blonde's brow creased at the request; he hadn't realized that his friend's injuries were serious enough to warrant a stretcher. "Sure thing," he said, before striding off. He sent Sasuke a reassuring grin as he moved away, before he turned a corner and was hidden from sight.

"And you – what was your name?" Sasuke turned back to Sakura with a gulp when she spoke again, then gulped a second time when he realized she was speaking to him.

"I, um- I'm Sasuke, Ma- er, miss." Something told him that calling Sakura 'ma'am' as his training demanded would seem a little suspicious here.

"Right," the pinkette said, eyeing him strangely. "Well, can you tell me what happened? If I know what caused some of these injuries I might be able to do more..."

"Um, h-he was- there was an explosion, and it knocked us into one of the tanks -"

"'Us?'" Sakura repeated incredulously. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Wh- no, I'm fine," Sasuke stuttered. Even after all the time he's spent unlearning his slave habits, Sasuke was still unused to having people ask if he was okay. "I think m-most of the injuries were c-caused by either the shockwave or the g-glass we fell into."

"Hm... I suppose that explains the burns on his back," Sakura muttered. She disappeared back into the little room, this time leaving the door ajar.

Hesitantly Sasuke crept forward a little and peered into the room. Sakura was between him and his lover but what he could see had his heart jumping into his throat.

Itachi's face was sheet white, as if every drop of blood had been drained from it, and the white bandages that Sakura had wound around his forearms were already beginning to soak through. The pink-haired medic had removed his shirt to get to the burns on his back, and Sasuke had to look away at the sight of the charred, blistered flesh.

The ex-slave felt a sob rise in his throat, and he turned away quickly.

Sasuke nearly flinshed when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but he relaxed when he saw it was just Itachi's other friend – Gaara.

The redhead didn't say anything for a moment, just offered a reassuring squeeze. Then, in the same monotone as before, "He will be alright."

The man's appearance and voice weren't all that reassuring, but the simple confidence behind the truth of the words made Sasuke feel just a tiny bit better. He got the feeling that Gaara wasn't the type to offer false assurances, even just to make someone feel better.

After a minute or so more of anxious waiting, Naruto arrived back with the stretcher. Gaara helped Sakura lift the still unconscious Itachi onto it while Naruto went to gather the last two members of their team from the main foyer.

"You know, with all the credentials he's got, you'd think he'd be able to avoid shit like this..." the new voice made Sasuke jump and turn to see two new people striding down the hallway with Naruto. The first was tall with an eye-patch and silver, spiky hair, and the second – presumably the one who had spoken – was a little shorter than the first, with pale skin, inky hair and stormy blue-grey eyes. Sasuke would have mistaken the second figure for an Uchiha of not for the absence of the clan's trademark sharingan.

The three ninja arrived right as Sakura pushed open the door and started wheeling the stretcher out of the room with Gaara's help.

"Would you three give me some space?" she requested. "I've stabilized his condition, but technically he should still get stitches, and I can't treat broken bones here. I have to get him to the hospital ASAP."

Naruto and the two newcomers shifted to give the stretcher more room, and as a group began heading down the hallway.

"I've spoken to the press, there shouldn't be too much media coverage. The aquarium administrator has agreed to wait to give a statement until we can hold a press conference." The silver-haired man cast a worried glance at Itachi's still form with his single good eye. "How close was it?"

"Very," Sakura responded grimly. "He isn't in life-threatening danger, but he'll be out of commission for a while."

"Did you find out what happened?" the second unnamed man asked. "The witnesses we talked to just said they heard an explosion, they didn't see anything."

"We don't know yet," Gaara broke in. "Although I'm sure Itachi's boyfriend here can tell us when we get to the hospital."

Sasuke, who had been tagging along quietly in the background and hoping that nobody would notice him, gulped at being suddenly brought up like that.

"You're his boyfriend?" The silver-haired man said, casting Sasuke a curious glance.

"Ah – h-hai," Sasuke stuttered.

"Do you mind if Kakashi-san and I ask you a few questions about what happened?" The remaining unnamed man asked. "Just so we can give the administrators and the general public some answers."

"Um – s-sure." Sasuke was beyond nervous at this point, but everything was going so fast that he hadn't been given an opportunity to panic properly.

Naruto, seeming to have an idea of what the small black-ette was feeling, sent him yet another reassuring grin. "Don't you worry about it, Sasuke. Kakashi-sensei and Shusui-sempai just need to know what happened so we ca make sure it doesn't happen again."

Sasuke nodded again, trying to slow his breathing. Itachi trusted these people, so Sasuke would do his best to trust them too. Because damn it all, but he couldn't afford to have a breakdown right now. Itachi needed him to keep his head, so that's what he would do.

Half an hour later, after a tension-charged ambulance drive and a nerve-wracking interview with Kakashi and Shusui, Sasuke stumbled into Itachi's hospital room and plopped down on one of the plastic chairs. It had been a tiring day, but the exhaustion tugging at Sasuke's eyes was easily ignored in favour of making sure his lover was comfortable.

Sakura and her assistant had set and set and casted Itachi's broken arm and braced his broken ribs, after which they had hooked him up to an IV and then replaced the bloodied bandages wound around the older Uchiha's forearms. There was a second IV running into his other hand, pumping blood into his body to try and replace the copious amounts he'd lost, but judging by the still ashen quality of the ninja's skin it wasn't enough yet. There was splinters and broken glass shards imbedded in the burned flesh of Itachi's back, hence why he was lying on his stomach rather than his back like he usually favoured.

The entire picture still made Sasuke want to cry.

Slowly Sasuke left the chair and approached the bed, almost nervously. Carefully he hopped up to sit beside his seme, worrying his lower lip as he did so. He wasn't sure if he was allowed to be doing that, but at the moment he missed Itachi's arms around him too much to care.

"Please get better soon, okay?" he said quietly. "Your friends are great and all, but I miss you." Suddenly there was a lump in his throat, but he pushed it away as he lay down next to his boyfriend, being careful not to brush up against anything that might be painful. Since that was essentially Itachi's entire body, however, Sasuke ended up awkwardly on his side, thin fingers intertwined with his lover's larger ones. The younger Uchiha pressed his forehead to Itachi's carefully, a single droplet of moisture slipping down his cheek as he closed his eyes.

Sasuke knew it was irrational, but he couldn't help hoping in some dark corner of his mind that the entire day had just been a nightmare, and that when he woke up Itachi would be fine, and he'd kiss him and hug him like he usually did, and everything would be okay again.

The younger of the two slipped into sleep with that thought on his mind, worry in his heart and tears on his face.

In another room in another building, a very different situation was developing.

"What the hell do you mean, they have Deidara?" The red-headed man exploded at the messenger. "Are you honestly trying to tell me," he snarled, "that not only did those useless goons fail to retrieve my property, but that they allowed my second-in-command and their leader to fall into enemy hands?!"

"Y-yes sir," the messenger squeaked, huge eyes trained firmly on the ground. "Th-the report from your ANBU spy said that all f-four members of the squad were killed and Deidara-sama arrested."

"Fucking useless morons," the taller man hissed. He paused in his tirade for a moment, flat brown eyes calculating. The messenger shivered a little at the killing aura surrounding the rouge nin. "Who was it?"

"I-I'm sorry?"

"Who was it?" He repeated impatiently. "What's the name of the man who found the brat and took him in? He's causing me more trouble than I thought he would."

"Ah, I-I don't recall, Akatsuna-sama, i-it's all in the report -" the shaky man held out a folder to his boss, and jumped when said boss snatched it out of his hands.

"You may leave."

"Y-yes sir." the messenger wasted no time in retreating.

Left alone in the room, the redhead drifted over to the couch resting beside the fireplace. Two glasses of red sherry had been placed beside it on a small table, and one of them found its way into his hand. He settled onto the expensive furniture with the grace of someone who is accustomed to luxury and flipped open the file.

"Name of target, Sasuke. Attempt one, failed... imbeciles. Location of target, unknown. Other factors..." the redhead scanned the document quickly, searching for his old slave's new master. "Where are you?" he muttered.

He flipped the page over, and slate-brown eyes fastened onto the picture on the bottom, of a lean figure with long dark hair and glittering crimson eyes.

The redhead was suddenly very still. His gaze locked on the photo with an unreadable expression.

"Well would you look at that," he said with a cryptic expression. Sasuke's old master put his drink down with an ominous thunk and stood, Itachi's picture held perhaps a tad too tightly between his fingers. "Never thought I'd be seeing you again, 'Tachi dearest."

Dun-dun-dun.

What did you think?

Thanks for everything, you guys. Seriously. Thanks for breathing. And existing. And reviewing. *throws first born child at you* ARIGATOU! And if it's not too much to ask after a shit-ton of months hiatus, would you tell me what you thought?

Neko-chan says thanks too!

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