DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, but I hope to get Shikamaru very soon.

Oh yeah, by the way, this chapter is now officially dedicated to my friend "Sakura" since she finally found the love of her life (at least I think so)

Please review and let me know what to think; at the end of the previous chapter I was considering dropping the fic and starting a new one, so let me know what you think.

ENJOY

It was late afternoon, the day after the blonde and raven had heard that blood-curling scream. When the ANBU Black Ops ninjas had reached the place where the commotion had occurred, they had found the body an unconscious woman lying on the ground in front of her house.

Naruto and Sasuke had been informed that Hinata had been brought to the hospital immediately. Apparently, Itachi had taken refuge in the closest empty house that he could find. When Lady Hinata had walked in, she realized this and had tried to take on the Uchiha by herself.

She had up a good fight, it was clear, but she had to go through several traps, which, in the end, rendered her unconscious after the wanted Uchiha had given her a sample of his Mangekyou Sharingan with the last of his remaining chakra.

The two ninjas were assured that she would be fine after she was treated and had some rest, but no one was allowed to visit her due to the chances at another ambush happening.

Now, both the blonde and the raven were sitting side by side on a bed, looking out the window and contemplating what to do next; they were forbidden to leave the room without the permission of the Lady Hokage and were to be accompanied by an ANBU member to go to the bathroom.

They weren't bothered much, only the occasional check up by a medical or by whoever brought them their meals. It was as though they were in a prison, but it was a safe prison where their "capturers" were only looking out for them.

Sasuke gingerly put his hand over the dobe's and gripped it reassuringly. He didn't want to see the blonde in any more distress and knew exactly what was going through his thick skull. Sasuke was almost positive that the blonde blamed himself over what happened to Hinata.

"Naruto..." he said.

No response.

"Naruto," he tried again.

No response.

"Dobe! Can you hear me?" he called, waving his other hand in front of the blonde's face, and gripping his hand tightly.

Naruto looked up and turned his to face the worried raven.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Sasuke, were you talking to me? I was just thinking..." he grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

Sasuke looked at the blonde, seeing right through the wall he had built up.

"Naruto..."

"Yeah, what is it?" the blonde asked, looking out the window, and leaning on Sasuke's arm slightly.

"Naruto, what's wrong? What's on your mind?" he decided he'd just be straight up and ask him, he knew if he tried some other tactic, the blonde would find a way to answer his questions by going around the fence.

The blonde looked down at his feet, trying to think of what to say. "Uh...well, with everything that happened with Hinata...a-and Itachi..." he took a deep breath and looked down at the side of the room.

Sasuke knew he was trying to avoid eye contact, that he didn't really want to say anything.

"Dobe, it's not your fault; none of this is any of your fault. Stop beating youself up over this." he took his hand away and put around the blonde, holding him closer to himself and stroking his hair. "You don't have to worry anymore, we're all here trying to help you; we're all trying to protect you."

"Yeah, I know that, but - but, if it hurts any of you in any way, then I'll never forgive myself," he whispered, more to himself rather than Sasuke. "Hinata's already hurt, and that's just because of where her house is located, what would happen to you or Sakura or everyone else when you try to help?"

He'll kill you...he'll kill you all, I know it, I'm sure of it, then after that, he'll kill me, too, the blonde thought to himself. He felt a chill down his spine just as he thought about it.

Sasuke felt the blonde tense up and was about to say something when there was a knock on the door. He let go of the blonde and stood up to open the door since it was locked from the inside.

"Thank you, hope you two are doing well," the figure came inside of her own accord, without being invited to come in. "Naruto, Sasuke, I've set up another place for you two to stay; being here any longer will make you an easy target for that bastard Itachi."

She had her hands on her hips as she took in the blandness of the room.

"Hokage-sama, where will we be staying?" the raven god right down to the point, not wanting to talk about any other less vital things.

The older blonde tucked her hair behind her hair and glared at the two of them. "I can't tell you. You see, we're going to blindfold the two of you and take you there. This way, if Itachi happens to find the other entrance to the place, he can't force you to find the right exit, because there's only one way out, which you won't know about." She had a slight edge to her voice, as though she was really annoyed about having to explain everything. "I'm having several of the ANBU black-ops team members keeping guard there, and a lot of the rest of them are out looking for him in the village and near the borders."

Seeing the blank expression on Naruto's face she add, "I'm sorry, that's the only plan we've got. You'll be safe there, I promise, and most likely, if all goes well, you'll be able to lure Itachi out for us to capture incase we don't find him before that."

She glanced around the room once then headed for the door. "I'll be back in five minutes, be ready to leave."

She closed the door behind her and left, leaving the two ninjas to their thoughts. It hurt her to have to be so distant from them, but she had to; showing any signs of genuine concern for the two might lead the older Uchiha to targeting her for information.

Sasuke turned to Naruto with a slightly confused look on his face saying what was that all about?

Sighing, the blonde stood up and walked to stand beside the raven. "I guess we better 'get ready', huh? I-I hope everything will work out..."

Sasuke nodded and started gathering the weapons he had hid around the room. Besides that, there wasn't much to take with them; everything else pretty much belonged to the hospital.

Naruto gathered the few belongings he had, and sat down on a bed, this time facing the door. He wasn't sure whether he really wanted to go to this new place or not; it sounded as though they would be put in a type of special jail cell, and he didn't like that. Sure, he and Sasuke would have a lot of privacy, but from the way Tsunade had talked about it, it was like they were setting up a trap for Itachi, meaning he and Sasuke were the bait.

The raven sat down beside him, holding his things in his arms, waiting for Tsunade to come and take them away.

The blonde told the raven of his feeling towards the Hokage's plan; that he didn't like it much.

"I don't either; not knowing where we'll be, and being guarded by the ANBU black-ops like that seems as though she's trying to keep us away from the village so no one will get hurt." And it also seems like she's blaming us for all this.

There was a small knock on the door, and then Tsunade walked in, with two ANBU members behind her, both carrying blindfolds.

The raven and blonde stood up when the door opened. Naruto tensed a little as the ninjas walked over to them and took their belongings. Tsunade explained that it would take approximately half an hour for them to reach their destination; they had to take the longer root to avoid being seen.

Sasuke was the first to put the blindfold on, trying to reassure Naruto that everything would be all right. When the blonde was sure of himself, he let the ANBU member blindfold him as well. They both had their guard up, not entirely willing to go along with the plan, but doing so anyway since they had no choice in the matter.

Their route consisted of several twists and turns. Naruto had lost track of the directions when they were about halfway there, and Sasuke thought he had forgotten some turns somewhere in between.

The blonde noticed how the Hokage didn't seem to be talking much, that she seemed much more distant than she usually was. The stress of all this is probably getting to her, he thought frowning.

They had to climb several staircases, where the blonde nearly tripped and fell over. Luckily for him, he didn't. Unknown to them was that they were climbing along the edge of a cliff. Ten minutes after they climbed the stairs, Tsunade led them into their new place and left them alone with the two black ops members who removed their blindfolds.

It took them a while for their eyes to adjust to the light, but when they did, they found that they were in a small, dimly lit room furnished with a couch, table and chairs, and a small television, sitting on a stand.

Naruto turned towards the ANBU member, prepared to ask them the question that were popping up in his head. But before he could say anything, they held out a hand telling him to keep quiet and spoke, "We have done our duty and will now keep guard outside. You are to stay here until further notice."

With that, they disappeared in a puff of smoke and a small pop.

"They were just shadow clones. The real them must be standing outside." Sasuke muttered as he walked around the room.

There were no windows, and the only source for light was a few light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The blonde followed the raven as he went out through the only door leading out of the room.

They came to a small hallway with four doors, two on each side. Sasuke opened the first one on the left. He turned the light on and they found themselves in a kitchen, connected to the living room with a light curtain. Curious, Naruto went through the cupboards and the fridge and found that everything was packed with food, there was even some instant ramen bowls.

Next, they went to the room right across from the kitchen and found a room that was completely bare except for a shelf with books and a chair. Sasuke walked in, turning on the lights, and briefly glancing at the various books placed on the bookshelf. They were all about ninja training and meditation. Smirking, he turned around to head back towards the door. He paused and noticed a closet door on the opposite wall.

He motioned to the blonde who walked over to see what he was looking at. Sasuke went over and opened the door.

"Whoa!" the blonde replied when he saw what was inside. The whole closet was full of ninja weapons and training materials.

"Hn, I guess this so we can train. Good idea, incase that bastard comes after you again." he said tonelessly, only emphasizing the word 'bastard'.

The other two rooms they found were a bedroom and a bathroom. The bedroom, they both noticed, only had one bed, big enough for the both of them. The bathroom was pretty big, too, and full of the daily necessities.

All in all, it was basically like an apartment flat, without any windows or neighbors.

Sighing, the two of them went back to the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Sasuke?"

"Hm? What is it?"

Naruto sat up properly, pulling his knees to his chest, burying his face in them, and curling up like a ball on the corner of the couch.

"I..I'm kinda scared..." he whispered, not exactly wanting Sasuke to hear.

The raven looked up at the blonde. He hated seeing him in that condition, it hurt. He moved over to the blonde and put an arm around his shoulders.

"Naruto, please. Don't worry. Everything will be fine, Hokage-sama's doing her best, Itachi won't hurt you, I promise." he gently pulled the blonde onto his lap and took hold of chin, turning his head to look him in the eye. "Don't worry, don't be scared, I'm right here."

He didn't see any tears and he was thankful for that. He knew the blonde had suffered a bad childhood, and had to go through all of the nights with Itachi, that he was very confused and scared because of all of what was happening to him.

He heard a growl from the dobe's stomach and smiled slightly. Getting up, slowly stroking the blonde hair, he said, "I'm hungry, you want some ramen?"

There was no response from the blonde, but the raven got his answer, and went towards the kitchen. He took out one bowl of instant ramen and starting preparing it. Feeling hungry himself, he took out a can of soup and warmed it up.

He returned to the living room where the blonde was in the same position as when he had left. He sighed inwardly, to himself, and put the soup and ramen on the table.

"Naruto, I got your ramen, come and eat," he said softly, waiting for the dobe to walk over to him. He didn't that just asking would work; he knew he'd have to go over and try to persuade him. Truthfully, the whole idea of staying in their current place didn't suit him well, and he just wanted to back to the village again.

Surprisingly, the blonde slowly lifted his head up, turning his head to look at the raven, and blinked. Sighing, he got up and dragged his feet over to where the other was standing.

He took his seat across from the raven and silently took his bowl of ramen and starting eating. He avoided looking straight into the endless dark eyes of his partner in front of him. He was determined to look anywhere except for those eyes. He didn't want to show his weakness and extreme discomfort for their current situation. He knew Lady Tsunade was trying her best and that Sasuke would help him through all this, but if he accepted their help completely, they could pose as a target to Itachi, just as Hinata had been.

Sasuke knew the dobe was trying to avoid eye contact. He smirked, looking down at his soup and moved his legs to lightly touch Naruto's. He saw the blonde tense up a bit, caught off guard, but back to normal in seconds. Sasuke rubbed his leg against the blonde's, trying to get him to say something.

If he even got a angry shout or a whine or anything from him, he's be content. The silence between the two was killing him. He wanted so much to hug him and kiss him and spend time with him. It was odd to have Konoha's biggest loudmouth be so quiet.

But then, he didn't really know if Naruto was always this quiet or not, he'd usually only seen him during missions being the dobe that everyone perceived him to be. He must be used to having no one to talk to at home...

Suppressing a sigh, he continued rubbing his foot against the blonde's. This time, the dobe moved his foot back, away from the raven's reach. At this, the raven pouted, something an Uchiha would never normally do.

Seeing him the corner of his eyes, the blonde looked to face Sasuke, freezing for a moment and broke into laughter.

"Oh wow, Sasuke ha ha ha you look hilarious, I never knew you ha ha ha you could have an expression like that ha ha ha..."

Surprised by the blonde's reaction, it took a moment for Sasuke to realize what was going on. When he did, he smiled and let out a small laugh in response to the blonde's burst of laughter.

The blonde doubled over in laughter, putting his head on the table.

Sasuke used this opportunity to lean over the table to hold the blonde's face. The dobe froze for a moment. The distance between the two slowly disappeared as their lips met in a sweet embrace.

He could taste the ramen on the blonde's lips and nibbled on them. Naruto gasped, giving Sasuke the perfect opportunity to slide his in his tongue, beginning to explore Naruto's sweet crevasses.

The raven put his elbows on the table, holding the Naruto's chin with one hand and ruffling the blonde locks with the other.

Naruto moaned and slipped a hand around Sasuke's neck, grabbing hold of his shirt.

Sasuke felt the blonde's tongue enter inside his mouth and let slip a moan despite his efforts to suppress it. He could feel Naruto's hand holding the back of his shirt, taking in every moment of their passionate kiss.

Reluctantly letting go for air, Sasuke slowly leaned back to look at Naruto who was slightly out of breath. Putting a hand on the side of his face, he leaned in again, stopping when was a hair's breadth away and kissed him on the forehead.

Naruto shivered at the touch of the raven lips, and smiled. He reached to hold the raven's hand and leaned in towards his ear.

"Aishiteru, Sasuke..."

They woke up the next morning, entangled in bed sheets, to the sound of Naruto's stomach growling.

"Mmm...urgg...damn it...sorry Sasuke. Keep sleeping, I'll go make breakfast..." the blonde said sleepily as he tried to untangle himself from the bed sheets.

Before the dobe could get up, however, Sasuke grabbed the back of his nightshirt and pulled him close, smirking. "You're not going anywhere, dobe."

"Awww, but Sasuke, I'm hungry!" he pouted.

"But I'm not."

"Then at least let me--" he got cut off suddenly as the raven gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"All right, but let me make breakfast." he got up swiftly from their bed and went over to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Naruto lay back down in bed, his stomach growling again. It was nice to able to be with Sasuke so freely and to have him all to himself. He liked it. Mainly because he liked Sasuke. The raven was the only reason he agreed to stay in this place. If it weren't for him, he would have tried to break out by now.

It was pretty creepy, being in a place with no windows and no exits leading to the outside world. How would have to stay in there? How long until Itachi was caught? Or, rather, how long until Itachi caught them?

The very though of Itachi finding them in a place so isolated sent shivers down his spine and he pulled the bed covers over himself, thinking about the possibilities.

He heard Sasuke head towards the kitchen. Jumping out of bed, he went after the Uchiha.

"Sasuke..." he called when he entered the kitchen.

"Yeah?"

"After breakfast, let's train together." the blonde walked over to the counter and leaned back on it, tilting his head up. He felt nostalgic, remembering his and Sasuke's training sessions from when they were young. He smiled.

"If you want to, sure." he said simply. "Want scrambled eggs?"

"Yeah! You're making me even more hungry, Sasuke." he ruffled his hair.

"Hn."

The blonde soon left Sasuke to brush his teeth and freshen up.

By the time he came back, the raven was done, waiting for him silently at the table. As the blonde sat down, another growl came from his stomach.

"Heh heh...didn't know I was so hungry." he said happily.

Both of them ate their meal in silence; Naruto thinking about life without Itachi and Sasuke running his eyes up and down the blonde's toned and muscular body.

Once they had finished eating they cleaned up and walked over to the training room. It wasn't very big, they wouldn't be able to practice many justsu's but it was an ideal amount of space for them to spar.

The raven opened the weapon's closet and pulled out a few kunai and a blunt Katana he found at the back. The blonde took some kunai's for himself along with shuriken throwing stars and a blunt Katana blade as well.

They both walked over to the centre of the room and stood facing each other, armed with either a katana or kunai blades. Sasuke didn't feel the need to activate his sharingan at a time like this; he didn't want to waste any chakra and he felt the need to get used to fighting out the help of his sharingan incase he found himself in a situation disabling him from using it.

The blonde attacked first, aiming for the raven's upper arm and shoulder. He was easily blocked, though, and was almost hit at side before he managed to avoid it. Flipping to his right so he was standing behind the Uchiha, he aimed to strike at the raven's shoulder again. Before he could reach, however, Sasuke had vanished, reappearing near the blonde's feet, nearly tripping the blonde when he stuck out his foot.

Jumping up to stand straight again, Sasuke curled his fist into a ball, about to strike at the blonde's chest. Naruto, caught off guard from the near-fall, doubled over slightly when the raven's fist made contact. Smirking, the raven stood upright again.

His victorious smile vanished in a moment when Naruto disappeared in puff of smoke and reappeared behind him, striking him at his side with the katana.

The two continued to spar for the rest of the morning, taking several five-minute breaks to catch their breath. It was amusing to see how much the other had learned since when they had fought as kids. Naruto felt the most pleased to be able to spar with the raven freely without having to worry about any of his wounds reopening again. It was a great relief for the both of them.

Once they had finished sparring, they ate lunch and sat down to relax a bit afterwards. The raven went back to the training room to meditate for a while and the raven went to their room to take a nap. He was quite exhausted from their spar and his wounds were still healing. It was no wonder he had felt so hungry when he had woken up in the morning; his body was still getting used to the new physical activates with out Itachi.

Like this, they spent their days, waking up moderately early in the morning, having breakfast, sparring, then meditating in the afternoon. They would sometimes get lazy and just sit on the couch and talk or play around.

But, of course, they both new it wouldn't be like this for much longer; it was only a matter of time before Itachi was captured or showed up in front of them to continue with his plans. The latter was much more likely given that the village ninja's still hadn't managed to capture Itachi.

Then again, they didn't know for sure if he was captured or not, no one had come in to tell them anything; it had only been those two together, no interruptions. Sasuke had a great regret for accepting to come to this place, it might have just been a trap to keep them there, so Itachi wouldn't have to go after the village.

Naruto refused to let his mind wander and think about what, if there even was, was the real reason for Lady Tsunade to have brought them here.

Obviously it wouldn't be to get rid of them, right?

Hope you liked it. Next chap gets better...I think ha ha, you'll have to read to find out ;)

THANK YOU FOR READING

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