A/N: UPDATE TIME! It's been a long time coming, and I apologize for that so without further ado...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It'd been a year and Sasuke was finding that as the days went by, he was growing increasingly more frustrated with the situation. Aberdeen was a great school but the distance from Naruto was driving him up the wall. And today had been one of the worst days yet.

He'd gotten to class on time but as soon as he'd walked in the door one of the TAs had immediately latched onto his arm. She'd been hinting at wanting to provide him with more help, which Sasuke had interpreted her cooing to mean that she would die to have a chance at having sex with him, any time, any where. Disgusted with the blatant innuendos he'd brushed her off with a glare and taken his normal seat. Later on in the class he'd heard some of the students whispering about how he must be gay since he'd turned down the girl. He'd rolled his eyes and was almost joyous when the class ended and he could get away from the sidelong glances he was receiving.

Naruto was attending the French Culinary Institute in New York working on becoming a decent chef. She'd at first wanted to attend a school that would put her closer to where he was studying but had eventually opted to stay in the States.

He took the break between classes at the Hub where the campus' internet café was located and sent off another e-mail to Naruto. He'd been texting her since last night but hadn't received an answer. He was beginning to get worried.

So currently he was running through several scenarios as to why she wasn't answering her e-mail or texting him back. The first being that she'd gotten hurt somehow and was in the hospital unable to contact him. The second and more worrisome was that she had met someone and was avoiding letting him know by ignoring the messages.

He sighed and looked around the small café ignoring the looks he was getting from the female population and some of the male population. He stood and walked to the door tossing the coffee that he'd ordered into the trash receptacle. Once he was out of the building he glanced up at the grey sky that was threatening to drench anyone caught out in it with a deluge of water.

It was a good thing that this was his last week and he could go home. He'd never been so far away from the people that matter the most to him. The phrase 'absence only makes the heart grow fonder' kept playing in the back of his head, but it was draining on his concentration.

He walked up to the grey stone building that housed his next and final class. He breathed out once again pondering on the fact that this lesson in torture was nearly over.

"Oi, Sasuke!"

The raven paused on the first step and turned to see who had shouted at him. Suigetsu, one of the students that he could truly tolerate at this school, was waving at him. He had a mop of shaggy hair that seemed to be a cross between grey and a light purple color. He wore a sleeveless tunic with grey pants and a couple of belt wrapped around his slender hips. He waved a little over enthusiastically to him motioning him over to the group that was currently loitering in front of the Edward Wright Building. His grin showing off teeth that he'd had filed to find points. "All the better to intimidate the criminal pricks who he would be defending soon," was his normal comment to questioning looks regarding his teeth. But Sasuke had found out that he'd been in a gang when he was younger and everyone had filed their teeth to terrify the other gangs that they had gone up against. Suigetsu had been the only surviving member after a turf war had broken out; he'd never gone back, mourning the friends that he'd lost privately, at least until the night he'd gotten drunk about midway through the term and talked openly about that night. Sasuke'd had his eyes opened to another side of life that night, one filled with bitter regret and violence.

"Hn?" Sasuke grunted as he strode over to the group which consisted of two other members.

Karin was a hard core bitch with auburn hair and thick pop bottle glasses. When she was asked why she didn't switch to contacts, she'd punched the guy and sent him to the hospital with a concussion. No one had asked again. Sasuke didn't know much about her other than she came from Montana and didn't ever want to go back.

Juugo was a hulking man who towered over everyone. He was a quiet man and spoke slowly which caused more than a few people to think that he was lacking in the toy department (his brain to those of you who don't understand). Sasuke knew that the man had more than a couple of tired hamsters running on a squeaky wheel in that skull of his. Juugo liked to think about his answers before he spoke, that was a trait that Sasuke wished more people had.

"Hey, man, we're going to the PoW tonight for drinks, you coming?" Suigetsu asked slinging an arm around the Uchiha's shoulders causing him to stiffen. Not many people were allowed to touch him, but he forced himself not to shake the friendly gesture off.

"No, I'm waiting for a message from home."

"From your girl, Naruto?"

"Hn."

"You know, if she hasn't answered by now then she's probably moved on," Karin said snidely then looked Sasuke up and down with a more than interested look.

Suigetsu looked at her in disgust.

"I'm sure that she's probably just busy with her classes and she'll call soon," Juugo reassured.

"Yeah, man, so why don't you call it quits for the night and come with us," Suigetsu agreed.

"Alright, but only for a couple of drinks," Sasuke agreed. "Right now, I have to get to my economics final."

"Oh, yeah, me too." This from Suigetsu, the only person that Sasuke knew who could forget that he had to take a final exam causing Sasuke to shake his head and roll his eyes.

愛愛愛愛

The Prince of Wales was packed with people standing shoulder to shoulder along the bar and squeezed into booths. The air was heavy with chemicals released from cigarettes and the voices of people trying to talk over each other in a steady hum. Many of those voices excited and celebratory from the fact that the school year was complete as were their degrees and they could go home. Most, students and locals alike were enjoying the atmosphere that the longest bar in Europe had tonight.

Sasuke Uchiha wasn't one of them. He rubbed his temples and grimaced as another female body rubbed along his, deliberately, as she slid past to join a flock of friends on the other side of the bar. He didn't know why he'd agreed to come along now but he knew that he wouldn't agree to this again. He winced as his foot was stepped on again, for like the hundredth time and an elbow was jammed into his side by another person who was trying to get by.

"Sorry," came the drunken reply from a rancid smelling mouth.

Maybe he should have insisted that they go to Slains Castle. At least there the crowds were thinner and the drinks better than the drafted ale he was holding in his hand. But he'd avoided that place since the day after he'd arrived at the university because of the mob of fangirls that hung out there. He definitely wasn't in the mood to be groped, hugged, and thoroughly humiliated by college age women with one thing on their minds.

Feeling a shooting pain in his foot again, he decided that he was going to call it a night when a light tapping on his shoulder caused him to swing around with the intention of telling who ever it was that no he didn't want to go to a party, private or otherwise, no he didn't want to go to dinner and no he definitely didn't want to have s…

Bright and shining blue eyes met his and a huge grin was one of the most beautiful sights he'd yet to seen in the old town. Long blond hair was pulled up and anchored on the top of her head with a pair of chopsticks and a few wisps were feathering lightly across cheeks that were lightly scarred with three thin white lines. Stunned, all Sasuke could do was stand and gawk at the woman.

Naruto blinked up at him suddenly filled with trepidation. They hadn't seen each other in nearly a year and he was just staring at her. She'd known that she'd made a rash decision when she'd purchased the ticket on a flight to Scotland. She'd finished up her year and was at a loss as to what to do. She'd gone back to Konoha for the break and wandered around meeting up with old friends that were also on break from college. They'd talked about what they'd done and the experiences they had but as the days had worn on Naruto had hatched the seriously ill thought out plan and boarded the first flight she could get onto.

"Naruto," Sasuke breathed quietly and relief filled him. The mug of ale dropped to the floor with an unheard crash, and he reached out and pulled the girl into his arms filled with an inexplicable joy that Uchiha's didn't feel. He held her tightly to him despite the protests that were being muffled by the thick sweater he wore; he wasn't going to let her go any time soon either.

Grasping her wrist he pulled her through the crowd ignoring the people who glared or complained at the rudeness of being shoved out of the way. He wanted, needed, to find a quiet place so that he could question the girl as to what she was doing here and why she hadn't answered his texts. Reaching the parking lot he swung around and pulled Naruto back into his arms this time claiming her soft sweet lips in a harsh, I-missed-you-like-hell, kiss.

It was a long time and several cat calls later that he reluctantly pulled away from her to look into wide cerulean eyes that stare up at him with languorous confusion. The deep pools drew him in and he dropped his head again for a brief but fiery peck.

"Naruto…" he started.

"I couldn't stand it so I came here," she said looking up at him, the hand that he wasn't latched onto was fisted in the material of his sweater as if she wasn't going to let him go either. "School was out and I went back to Konoha but…you weren't there. I—I…" She trailed off looking worried.

"You weren't answering my texts," he said.

"I was on a plane, stupid, I couldn't…and then I was here and I wanted to surprise you. I went to your apartment and Neji brought me here," Naruto explained haltingly. "Are you mad?"

"Yes…No…No, I'm not mad." He smiled down at the worried face reaching up to smooth the lines that formed between furrowed eye brows. His caress trailed down her face to cup her cheeks and bring her head back up so that he could kiss her again.

This time he lingered at the entrance to the parted lips, instead of invading like the Nazi army had Russia. He licked over the soft, supple flesh pulling it into his mouth and biting down gently earning him a small whimper from the back of her throat. He explored the sharp little teeth that had bitten him when they were nine because he'd wrestled her to the ground and refused to let her up, all because she'd thrown a mud clot at him after he'd called her an idiot for playing in the dirt like a three year old.

Fire ran down his spine as he licked at the inside of her mouth and tongue that tasted spicy and sweet at the same time, his favorite flavor. His hand came up to clutch at her arms before smoothing over her back in a downward motion to cup her ass and squeeze gaining him a startle squeal. He grinned, unseen, and pulled back from tempting flavor that was Naruto.

"Never again, damn it. A year is just too long to go," he muttered. He took a step back and looked her over. "I would have thought that you would have gained some weight from all that cooking."

"Not with having to run several blocks every day to make it to school on time," she said with a small blush.

Sasuke smirked. She was constantly running behind because of she had the attention span of a gnat and was easily distracted. Living in New York, he guessed, hadn't changed that…probably had made it worst because there were more things to distract her.

"So did you get the hoodie from Neji?" he asked tucking her hand into the bend of his elbow and turning to walk back to his apartment.

"Yes, I didn't know that it would be so chilly here, even though it's almost June. But he said it was yours and you wouldn't mind."

"Hn, I don't."

"Oh, what's that?"

Sasuke had to grin as Naruto's attention shifted to the buildings that surrounded them. They were just off of the busy St. Nicholas square and there were plenty of distractions for Naruto to see. He took her hand and pulled her up the street pointing out sights and talking about the history of the town and its surrounding area. According to history, one of Aberdeen's claim to fame was that William Wallace, a Scottish hero, routed some English out of the city during the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Sasuke showed off the little gem to Naruto as they walked back to the University. The Granite City was filled with beautiful architecture, most of it made from granite. There were also several castles in the surrounding area that Sasuke was making plans to take Naruto to tomorrow not to mention gardens and the bay.

"Naruto," Sasuke started only to be drawn up short when Naruto froze. He turned around to see what had drawn her attention now only to have a low growl rumble through his chest.

A flannel clad arm was locked securely around her throat with another hand holding a knife to the delicate skin. A small drop of blood was slipping down the tan flesh showing up darkly against it. A craggy face appeared next to hers with a nasty grin pulling the flesh back into a creepy mask, it reminded Sasuke of those faces that were sometimes displayed on the side of buildings to ward off evil spirits.

"Now isn't this a sweet sight," the man holding Naruto mocked, his accent letting Sasuke know that he was a local. "A pair of lovers out for a nightly stroll."

Sasuke set his jaw and waited for the man to tell him what he wanted though he already knew from the worn and torn look of his shirt and pants.

"Be a good man and hand me your wallet," the gargoyle demanded, " and your woman won't suffer any damage."

Sasuke refrained from pointing out that he'd already cut her causing damage but Sasuke didn't want to anger the mugger and make the situation worse. He slowly reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

"'urry up!' barked the man as he looked around. There wasn't anyone but that didn't mean that someone wouldn't appear soon. After all they were on a lane that was frequented by tourists and students from the university.

Sasuke watched as the hand holding the knife began to tremble slightly and he heard a small gasp from Naruto as the knife dug deeper into her.

"Take it easy, man," Sasuke ground out lowly holding out his wallet, the need to attack the man fighting against the need to keep Naruto safe and alive. He had plans for both of their lives and he was determined to keep those plans in place.

The man's eyes locked on the piece of black leather and he reached out with the hand that had been holding on to Naruto. Unfortunately, he'd had enough brains to keep the knife hand where it was locked tightly against the beloved throat. The gargoyle snatched the wallet out of his hand and fumbled to open it.

"What the 'ell kind of name is Sasuke Uchiha?" the man asked seeing his ID before opening the pouch that held his money. "Pretty boy must be rich, no wonder you like 'im so much." The money distracted him slightly so that the knife moved away from her throat. He pulled nearly three hundred from the wallet and tucked it into his back pocket before tossing the wallet to the side. "I'd like to thank ye kindly for your generous contribution and to make sure that you don follow…' The knife flashed in the dark and Sasuke heard Naruto cry out as the gargoyle buried the blade into her upper shoulder before shoving her towards Sasuke who caught her. The man was gone when he looked up.

Sasuke saw the dark splotch growing on her shoulder.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" he asked. Her eyes were closed tightly as she tried to clutch at her shoulder, small whimpers escaping lips that were pressed tightly together against the pain.

"Yeah," she panted.

"Good," he remarked sitting her up to sway unsteadily next to him then pulling out his cell phone and dialing the emergency number. After quickly explaining what happened and receiving confirmation that the police and an ambulance were on their way, he set the phone down on the pavement making sure to keep it open if the operator needed more information as to where they were or she needed to relay information. He pulled her onto his lap and laid her against his chest making sure that he didn't bump her injury.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Naruto mumbled between hitched breaths.

"What do you mean? You didn't have anything to do with this."

"I know, but I still feel guilty that it happened. Maybe if I wasn't here then you wouldn't have left the bar without your friends and then you wouldn't have been attacked."

Sasuke shook his head at the backward logic. "Firstly, I wasn't the one attacked. And Secondly, I would rather it have been me than someone who would have lost their composure and made the situation worse, possibly killing someone in the process."

"That's...noble, dumb, but noble," she muttered.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. He heard the sound of sirens getting closer and knew that help would be arriving soon. He tucked Naruto's head under his chin and pulled her tighter as the police rounded the corner and came to a stop first then the ambulance. Two large men strolled up to them as if they had all the time in the world, then crouched down to eye level.

"Are you Sasuke Uchiha?" one of them asked.

Sasuke nodded then glance up as a paramedic ran up dropping to the ground with a large duffel bag. The police man was shouldered aside by the female tech and easily forgotten by Sasuke as he was about to find out if Naruto would be alright. The bag opened to show an assortment of gear and first aid equipment. The medic pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the sleeve of Naruto shirt all the way down parting the material easily with the sharp instrument that could probably cut through steel just as easily. Naruto hissed as the woman probed at the wound then smiled up at them.

"It's deep but clean so a couple of stitches is all she'd going to need," the medic said. "Let's get her up and into the ambulance so that we can take her to the emergency room and get her fixed up."

Sasuke's teeth relaxed from being clenched together and a soreness that he hadn't noticed set in making him realize that he'd been scared that the injury was worse, possibly even life threatening. He felt heat suffuse his face at the illogic that had entered his normally calm, rational brain. He took a deep breath letting it out slowly then felt Naruto's hand settle onto his chest and pet him in a soothing manner.

"Its okay, Sasuke," Naruto said quietly then pushed away letting the medic help her to stand. She winced as her shoulder was bumped and the movement caused the already abused arm to stretch and pull. Sasuke jumped to his feet and followed Naruto and the medic to the ambulance.

"Mr. Uchiha, is this yours?"

Sasuke looked around and saw the cop holding up his wallet bringing the memories of the night right back to the front of his head. He nodded and reached out to take the wallet.

"I'd like to ask you about what happened," the man said. "I'm Detective Campbell."

"Hn, could we talk about this at the hospital?" Sasuke asked then looked back to where Naruto was sitting in the ambulance with a now impatient looking medic. Her partner was looking back at them over his shoulder wanting to leave also.

"It would be best to do so now. Every minute that we delay is a minute longer that the mugger has a chance to get away," the detective explained. His partner was already looking around the scene shuffling and squatting then moving on as he tried to find clues as to which way the attacker had gone.

Sasuke reluctantly nodded. "I'll meet you there,' he said to Naruto just as the doors were closing. He felt bereft as the ambulance pulled away and closed his eyes to regain some of the Uchiha composure before turning back to the policeman with a cold, emotionless mask in place.

愛愛愛愛

When Sasuke walked into the emergency room, Naruto was sitting in one of the chairs joking with a pretty nurse. A spike of killing need went through him making his eyes flash red before he pulled it back onto the dark place and locked the door. Her shoulder had been bandaged though the sleeve was still dangling at her side. Naruto looked up with blue eyes sparkling. The mirth that had gathered in her eyes changed and softened as she saw him walking up.

"Sasuke!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet and rushing over to leap into his arms. Sasuke caught her to his chest and hugged her warm, alive body against his. Letting her out of his sight for the past hour had been one of the hardest things that he'd done in his whole entire life. Tonight things could have been a lot worse and he could have lost her. Having her pressed up against him and feeling her heart as it beat against her ribcage and his was the best reassurance that he could have.

"Naruto," he breathed his lips finding her temple and laying a hard kiss against it.

Naruto pushed away from him then sparkled up at him. "Come," she said taking his hand and pulling her over to meet the nurse that had been sitting with her. "Sasuke, this is Haku. He was kind enough to keep me company and take my mind off the doctor stitching me up." Sasuke remembered Naruto's fear of the doctors and anything resembling a hospital and the last time that he'd seen the unusually healthy girl sick. It'd been years ago and she'd had tonsillitis and she hadn't even had a sniffle since.

Haku stood and held out his hand to Sasuke to shake but Sasuke looked down at his outstretched hand with an upraised eyebrow, then pulled Naruto into his side in a move that made it more than obvious that he was a possessive, jealous bastard. Haku grinned and held up his hands as if surrendering to the other man's claim.

"Please to meet you, Sasuke. Naruto has been filling me in on your lives while we waited for you," he stated his eyes twinkling before growing sober. "It's been quite a journey for you both."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted feeling Naruto pinch his side causing him to squeeze her tightly until a tiny squeak escaped.

"Don't be rude," she admonished before shaking his arm off her shoulder and moving a step away.

Before they could say anything else a tall man in a doctor's white lab coat strode up to sling an arm around Haku's shoulders. Haku blushed prettily at the man's gesture but didn't move away.

"Ah! Sasuke, this is Dr. Zabuza Momochi," Naruto introduced. "He's the doctor that sewed me up."

The man towered over the three by nearly a foot and his lower face was wrapped in bandages causing him to look very intimidating, kind of a Jack the Ripper effect. His dark hair stood on end in messy spikes like he'd rubbed his hand through it several times in frustration.

Sasuke nodded politely looking from the doctor to Haku and back. "Thank you for taking care of Naruto for me, both of you. She hates hospitals and it take a near force of nature to make her go when she had set her mind against it."

"Not a problem," Dr. Momochi commented, "we get that a lot but mostly from little kids."

Naruto turned into a good imitation of a tomato as the three looked at her.

"Fine," Naruto said, "I'm still a little kid, but you have to admit that hospitals aren't full of fun and joy. When was the last time you saw a clown here?"

"I believe that it was just last week during the Children's Circus," Haku stated. "We brought in several clowns and circus performers to entertain the kids that won't be able to see them otherwise."

Naruto's head dropped to her chest as her little triumph had been thwarted by the nurse.

"Com on, Naruto, it's getting late and I'm sure that these two probably have better things to do than entertain us," Sasuke said taking her hand.

"Yeah, I need to find a supply closet so that I can have some alone time with Haku. It's been nearly three hours," Zabuza said which cause the smaller man in his arms, not to mention the other two people, to blush hotly.

Sasuke tilted his head in farewell then they turned to leave. Naruto walking next to Sasuke out into the chilly air. She shivered faintly before pressing against Sasuke to try and absorb some of the heat coming off of him.

"So I've become a personally radiator, have I?" he asked as his arm came around her to hold her steady against him.

"Absolutely."

"Hn."

"I really liked those two," Naruto said as she glanced back over her shoulder at the closed doors.

"Yeah, they were good people even though the doctor looked like a serial killer."

"Hn." Naruto yawned widely and let her eyes slid to half mast, an indication of how tired she was from the flight and also from the events that'd happened.

"So where's your hotel?" Sasuke asked. "We need to get you back and tucked into bed."

"With you."

Silence greeted her statement and Sasuke felt his chest constrict before looking down at Naruto.

"No really, Naruto, where are you staying?" He didn't think that he could take her joking with him this way. Not with how much he wanted her. They'd never really officially said anything about waiting but he'd just thought that it was an understanding between them.

"I'm not joking, I'm staying with you," Naruto looked up at him with complete seriousness written in every line of her beautiful features. Her blue eyes were clear and bright, shining with the innocence that she was now offering up to him. Then she stopped walking making him halt as well. He turned to face her completely. "I—I've thought about this for a while now, and with what has happened tonight, I…I wannabewithyou!" She rushed through it jumbling the words together.

Sasuke stared down at her, watching as she clasped her hand together then fidgeted, wringing her hands together until he took them into his own. His mind had focused back on what had happened earlier tonight when she'd brought it up again. He had nearly lost her and with what she'd just said the pain he felt earlier at seeing that knife pressed against her throat came back tenfold. Not only had she nearly lost her life, but he'd almost lost his chance to be with her completely in every sense of the word, he'd nearly lost the chance to have that connection with her that he'd been planning the rest of his life around.

When Sasuke had taken her hands, Naruto looked up at him with a small smile hovering about her lips, hoping that he didn't reject her. Her heart was pounding in her chest like a wild bird that had been suddenly caged and was now beating its wings against the wire bars looking for a way out. Her mouth was dry as she waited for a response from him and boy did she get one.

Without a word, Sasuke turned and began striding up the street towards his apartment, pulling Naruto along only pausing long enough for her to regain her footing as she stumbled to keep up. It took nearly ten minutes to get back to his apartment but he didn't slow down and soon he was towing her up the short flight of steps and through the doorway. He didn't even slow down to day 'Hi' to Neji who was looking a little stunned as he saw that Naruto's sleeve was dangling from her shoulder and white bandage was wrapped around her upper arm.

Sasuke pulled her down the hallway and into his room where he froze after slamming the door shut. Naruto was standing next to him, wide eyed, as she waited for Sasuke to move.

"Sasu--" She didn't get any further as Sasuke pulled her into his arms once more and his lips settled down on hers.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: YES! *grinning evilly* O.O Please don't kill me, but I've decided to change the rating on this fic. I know, I know...there, there, its okay. I just felt that it wasn't needed here, and really most of you are kids and shouldn't be reading that anyway because your brains aren't mature enough for such things. :) But I love you people anyway even if you are throwing virtual rotten fruit at me right now. Thanks for all you support and please don't forget to leave a review. and yes, I know that I have some grammar and spelling errors but I'll go through it later and I hope that it didn't turn you off of the fic.

ZEN