Thanks for remembering me, DarkRavie:) I'm glad you still enjoy the story! I'm trying to update a lot! I got a flashdrive, so I can write more often. I hope you like this chapter!

"Where is he going?" Sakura lagged slightly behind Lee.

"I do not know but I suggest that we continue to follow him."

"There." Kakashi pointed to a small orange glowing area amidst the trees. "A fire. That must be Naruto."

"But where do you think Itachi went?" Sakura looked worried.

Kakashi tugged at the ruffles on his dress. "I'm not sure but if he went to so much trouble to get Naruto, I doubt he'll just leave him. He's probably nearby."

Sakura made a strange face. "Then how do we know that we're not headed for Itachi and not Naruto?"

Kakashi smiled. "We don't."

They all looked ahead at Sasuke who was at least twenty feet away. He seemed to get faster as the light got closer. Sakura, Kakashi and Lee had to strain to keep up.

Where are you Naruto? Sasuke had no doubt that Itachi was still holding Naruto prisoner. He knew his brother was cold hearted. He didn't care about anyone but himself. Naruto was in grave danger.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Itachi screamed as Naruto straightened his leg against the log and secured it. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!!"

"Come on, relax." Naruto finished tying the log in place. He was no doctor but he figured that he had done a pretty good job. Naruto threw a log on the fire. "There. That should do it." He took a seat beside Itachi and placed a hand under Itachi's knee where the bone had broken. "I don't think it's safe to move you yet."

Itachi sighed. "At least we were in this clearing when it happened. He used one arm to push himself up straighter. He cleared his throat. "Nice view."

Naruto smiled. "Yeah, the stars are beautiful."

Itachi smiled back. "So… when do you think we will be able to get out of here?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "Actually, the best thing we could probably do is find Kakashi."

Itachi shot Naruto a withering look. "Kakashi?"

Naruto didn't even flinch. "Yes."

"No." He said firmly. Itachi looked away from Naruto. "Anyone but Kakashi."

It was quite obvious to Naruto that the subject was no longer up for discussion. He crossed his arms. "Fine. Sasuke?"

"What? Why would I-" Itachi turned to look at Naruto but Naruto wasn't paying any attention. He was staring into the trees.

"Sasuke? Sasuke is that you?" Naruto took one step toward the darkness of the forest.

"Hello, Uzumaki Naruto." That voice was not Sasuke. Gaara stepped out of the shadows. He had a killer look in his eye and Naruto took a step back. "I've been looking for you."

Naruto swallowed. "Me?"

"Leave him alone." Itachi's voice was not protective or angry. Instead, he seemed to be dismissing the joke of a friend.

"Ita?" Gaara took a step closer to Itachi.

"Yeah, it's me."

Naruto's eye twitched. "You two know each other?"

Itachi smirked. "Yes, we know each other." Gaara however, did not smile.

"Bu…bu….bu" Naruto's pointing finger moved from Itachi to Gaara and back to Itachi. "Bu…bu…" he continued as Gaara and Itachi spoke.

"Gaara, my leg is broken just below my knee."

Gaara nodded. "I can see that."

"Well? Are you going to fix it or not?"

Gaara scowled. "The last time I loaned you a portion of my sand, I never got it back."

Itachi groaned in pain and grabbed his left arm. "Yes, I know. Do you still want it back?" Naruto could see the sand moving under the surface of Itachi's skin.

"No." The pain in Itachi's arm subsided. Gaara turned to leave.

"Fix my leg." Itachi sounded threatening.

"You have nothing to give me in return." Gaara started to walk away.

"I don't have nothing to give you." Gaara froze. "I would give you nothing if I had it. Nothing is precisely what you need. For nothing shared among no one finds its way everywhere."

Naruto puzzled over what Itachi had said. Gaara, however, seemed to understand at once. He gritted his teeth. "Then nothing is what I shall help you for. Nothing is greater than anything." He walked back to Itachi.

Naruto stood by the fire. "Nothing is greater than….. nothing is everywhere? What?"

But Itachi and Gaara ignored him as Gaara set to work fixing Itachi's leg. "I hope this hurts," He said.

"I have no doubt it will," Itachi retorted.

Gaara lifted both hands in the air. The sand in his gourd reacted by attaching itself to the tips of Gaara's fingers. He then placed his hands on Itachi's leg. "Attach."

Naruto watched in mute horror as the sand dug into Itachi's leg. He could see it moving around in Itachi's skin. Naruto felt nauseous. After a moment Gaara lifted his hands from Itachi's leg. "There." Then he left.

Naruto ran to Itachi and placed his hand on Itachi's leg. Much to his surprise, he could no longer feel where the bone had broken. "What was that all about?"

Itachi adjusted himself and began to untie the wood from his leg. "He used his sand to hold the bone together until it heals."

"I know that. I meant, what was all the nonsense talk about? What do you mean 'Nothing is precisely what you need'?

Itachi hesitated. "I…I'm not at liberty to say."

"What? Why? Look, you two just did something weird and I want to know what's going on!!" Naruto was throwing a childish fit.

"Naruto, you're throwing a childish fit."

Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. "But Gaara doesn't like anyone. Why did he help you? What did all that mean?"

"I've already said, I can't tell you."

"No, you said you aren't at liberty to say. That means you shouldn't, not you can't."

Itachi sighed as he stood up. The little blond boy was so cute when he pouted. "I shouldn't tell you, Naruto."

"Fine. Don't. See if I care." Naruto walked into the forest. Itachi could see him pouting in a tree. Itachi was certain that Naruto could not make him feel guilty, so he sat on the stump and stared into the fire.

…It took a whole ten seconds before Itachi sighed and got up to join Naruto.

"What do you want?"

Itachi sat on a branch facing Naruto. "How did you get so good at making people feel guilty?" It was a rhetorical question but Naruto answered anyway.

"It's not me. It's your conscious." He poked Itachi's head.

Itachi smiled slightly. "Actually," he said. "It's a bit funny but…"

"But…"

"You can't tell anyone."

"Ooh, secrets."

Itachi didn't quite like the way Naruto said the word but he continued anyway. "Okay, well, I'm sure you had a stuffed friend at one point."

Naruto thought of Choji. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

Itachi looked skeptical. "I mean a stuffed animal."

Naruto thought of Choji. "Yeah, I think I know what you mean."

Itachi rolled his eyes. He knew Naruto wasn't getting it. "I mean like a teddy bear."

"Oh."

"Yeah, well," Itachi wasn't sure that he should tell Naruto… "Gaara has one."

Naruto's mouth fell open.

"Yeah. He's had it for a long time. Actually, it got really destroyed once. It was really terrible. Barely recognizable. I found it…"

"So you gave it back?"

Itachi laughed. "Actually, I thought about torturing it a little more but I kept it instead."

Naruto looked disappointed. "You kept it?"

"Yup."

"And that's it?"

"Yup." Itachi smiled. "I'm joking. I gave it back when I thought he looked ready to take it. The thing is…" Little tears budded in Itachi's eyes. Not because he was sad but because he was trying so hard to not laugh.

"What?!"

"He giggled! Then he hugged it, called it Snugly, and danced around!" Itachi's arms came up, mocking a dance.

Somehow the image of Gaara dancing wouldn't appear in Naruto's mind.

"He made me swear not to tell anyone."

"So then, your strange talk?"

"I don't have nothing to give you? His 'teddy'" Itachi made a strange mocking face at this word. "is nothing. That's what he said when I gave it to him. I said 'What's this to you?' And he said 'Nothing.' And Nothing shared among no one finds its way everywhere? If I told anyone, but hopefully you, this, everyone would know!"

Naruto stared at him as Itachi laughed so hard he had to clutch his sides. "So… all that was because…he didn't want anyone to know that he had a teddy bear?"

"Yup!" Itachi's laughs calmed a little. "Pretty funny, huh?"

"Actually…it's not."

Itachi's laughs stopped short. "You don't think it's funny?"

"No. I think it's wrong that you used that against him."

Itachi just stared. "Oh." He climbed down from the tree to sit by the fire. "Well," he called back to Naruto, "we'd better get ready for a journey tomorrow."

"What?" Naruto ran down to join Itachi. "I'm going back to Sasuke."

"No." Itachi flicked Naruto's forehead, knocking Naruto out. "We are leaving."

I know that fire was up here somewhere. Sasuke had run toward the fire as fast as he could. Even after the fire had been extinguished, Sasuke had followed the smoke. But now… the smoke was gone. He had tried to not let his eyes stray from the spot it had been but… "There." He said it quietly but Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee heard him nonetheless. Sasuke wove through the trees at lightning speeds.

It took only seconds to reach his destination. A clearing where a small fire had been smothered. Sasuke searched the area with his eyes, desperate for anything that pointed the way to Naruto but the site was clean. Sasuke screamed, "Itachi!"

Itachi didn't even glance back as his name echoed through the forest. He knew what he had to do and he would do it. He lifted Naruto higher on his back. "I'm sorry, kid."