Thanks for the reviews, minna.

Kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, kuso, KUSO, KUSO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damnit, I just replied to all your reviews and my friggin computer shut down! Damnit!!! It took me so bloody long too…TnT I figure that you might prefer the chapter than waiting on me, but I'm saying now that I most definitely really appreciate them. If you asked a question, then the answers somewhere below. I have too much college work to try answer them again, damnit! I cannot afford to get stressed with under a month left!

SasuSaku marriage I am unsure if it will follow through - many reasons.

Sasu finding out is torn between two stages, near to now or further off. Any ideas? Better drama further off, FYI.

I came up with names for the kids a while ago.

Both Saku and Naru are pregnant with Sasuke's kids - not Itachi or a random guy.

Kids can't be part fox cause Kyuubi aint really involved with the pregnancy, though ears and tail would be cute.

Sasuke bashing is in the eye of the reader and Sakura, I'm not sure of.

There are more ItaNaru scenes and Sasu not shown for a while; so his reaction of Naru moving pending.

Usuratonkachi is basically a degrading word Sasu refers to Naru in the anime, something along the lines of moron of morons or clumsy idiot.

It will not be ItaSasu, but I assume you meant ItaNaru??

Thanks for the love, praise and laughs - you give me more than my family does. Sorry if I make you cry.

Thankyou like hell for the cookies, I really, really, really needed them, and I hope to send an email through at a later date to my reviewers that left addresses/links. Sorry for screwing around. God, I need to get laid good sometime real soon.

NARUTO

Naruto, for the life of him, couldn't understand how he'd done it. He lay in bed, thinking to their conversation and decided it must have been at that moment. Then, when he was getting pretty emotional and probably disregarded the actions of his tenant because his tired mind expected him to be doing nothing. To say people had believed him an oblivious person before, a new word would need to be invented to accurately describe the action of 'looking at someone and not notice them dressing in front of you, wounded, whilst sitting on your floor!'

Sighing, he rose from his bed and made his way to the closed door, separating him from the light of the hallway. He blinked his eyes repeatedly against the slight orange glow offending his sight. Warily making his journey across the small hall to the bathroom, he stumbled over a dropped towel and settled in to relieve himself. He sighed another time, thinking of how much this apartment didn't feel like home.

His move had been a good save on money. He, himself wouldn't need it that long; but he had to feed his children with something. He sighed for the third time that night, Children - it still sounded so wrong and surreal. Everything felt hazy, as if it was a huge illusion. Even he knew, however, that an illusion can't last as long as this one felt like…Children…It just wasn't right….He almost felt glad he'd be leaving them; it would be best for them in the end, anyway. He could only imagine the village's reaction…

Unlike his old apartment, this one was slightly better maintained, but much smaller. It was, after all, just a place to sleep until Tsunade forced him with Iruka and Kakashi. That wasn't far off either. There was a bathroom; which had a small shower cubicle, toilet and sink - all off white. The bedroom was blue; with a bed, chest of drawers and a side-stand. The living area was red; all different shades. A centre table, couch and large cupboard, with a counter, fridge and two small hob-rings against the far wall, composed it.

Flushing the chain and rinsing his hands, he debated whether to grab some ramen of go to bed on an empty stomach. The loud growl of his intestinal tracks made up his mind for him. All the food he was eating was definitely not good on gama-chan, his froggy purse. As if his and Kyuubi's need for nutrition wasn't enough, he now found himself eating twice as much. Well…unless he went to Ichiraku's. Just because it was the best ramen didn't mean it was the cheapest.

Turning into the living area, he was surprised to find another light on. The light beside the couch that he sometimes used for reading, was encasing the furniture and sole occupant in the midst of them in it's dull yellow shade. He was even more shocked to find Itachi in pain and sweating. He was making no noise, but his eyes were tightly closed against his pale, clammy skin. When Naruto gasped, the small fidgets and irregular breathing lessened.

"Itachi! Are you…what's wrong?" Naruto stumbled out, crawling on the sofa beside the Uchiha.

"Naruto-kun." He plainly said, his voice too steady for the pain he must have been enduring. "It seems I have an infection."

Looking down upon his guest, Naruto shook his head softly. "What do I do?"

"Nothing." He calmly frowned.

"What do you mean nothing?! You idiot!"

"Since that promise, fate has tried to kill me and allow you survival many times. The only person defying that point is you."

"So what? I'm not ready for you to die, you fucking moron!"

"That's not up to you, Naruto-kun."

"What about Sasuke? He'll go crazy if he doesn't kill you himself. It's all he lives for. It's all he fucking lives for, you bastard!"

"I left him to kill me. It's his own foolish fault that he reaches for nothing else."

"Why the hell do you want to die so badly?" Naruto whimpered angrily. "Why leave someone to kill you as if you feel guilty?"

"Maybe I do." Itachi growled, making Naruto's eyes wide before Itachi calmed. "He was my limit."

"Your limit? Like that means something? Who-"

"And you?"

"Huh?"

"Why are you so eager to die, Naruto-kun?"

"I'm not." He bit, angered eyes boring into cold red, daring him to say otherwise.

The hate Itachi was seeing through was making it hard to identify the challenge in those blue depths. He could feel his heart's fast and painful beats pounding roughly in his chest; the wounds of his abdomen throbbing and stinging with every move or pump of blood; his body radiating a sickly amount of heat and sweat, trying to force out the poison he concluded must be there; his mouth so dry from dehydration, along with his pounding head.

"I'm trying to kill you." He became blunt. "If I live, you die. Yet you continue to aid me. Why?"

"I've told you. You're not my enemy." Naruto growled.

"I am." Was his simple reply. "I always have been." Not once did his eyes look at the blond.

Naruto crawled off the edge of the sofa, giving the impression that he would leave the injured man to die in a slow and painful way. Somehow, when said blond returned with more bandages, unlabelled bottles and the same objects from the earlier clean up, he couldn't find it in himself to be surprised. The boy really was to kind hearted for his own good. No matter what he told himself, Itachi knew that Naruto couldn't hate. Not truly and not when he should. He should be sickened by it…

"It won't work." He monotonously announced.

Naruto merely ignored him, moving the small table aside so there was more room to kneel by the injured Uchiha. With steady movements, the young Shinobi cut away the shirt, mumbling low curses over the fact that it was a good top gone to waste. If he wasn't in pain, Itachi may have chuckled, but as it was, he lay unmoving to the ghosting fingers and kunai cutting at his bandages.

Taking the washcloth to the infected wound, producing an abundance of a yellow, disturbing liquid, Naruto narrowed his eyes. The wound seemed to have grown since his first inspection. Non-too-gently, he dabbed at the wound, trying to soak up and get out the infected substance first. Itachi resisted hissing and settling for glaring at the boy, only now acknowledging him with his eyes.

"It's poisoned." He informed, on the verge of a growl.

"I know." Naruto mumbled irritably. Whether he actually did or not prior to his statement, was unknown to Itachi.

"You can't do anything."

Once more, Naruto ignored him, opening an unlabelled bottle and dabbing some of it's contents around the wound with a washcloth. At the contact, Itachi hissed violently, before inhaling sharply and willing the sounds to cease. He had definitely not been ready for that. Although he could not see the wound clearly, he saw the increase blood and puss on the washcloth. Whatever that substance was, obviously attracted the infected fluids to the surface of the wound that Naruto hadn't previously pushed out earlier.

"Don't struggle."

The words being said were a promise of pain, but he did not expect the blond to take the kunai to his wound and reopen it. Unlike previously, it did not sting and he didn't make a sound, even as he felt the blood ooze from his body. Opening the wound at this stage seemed pointless to Itachi; and he was about to say as much, maybe even growl it to show his distaste.

A burning heat, however, stopped him. The second unlabelled bottle was positioned over the gash, allowing the clear liquid to pour into the opening. His breath caught as he desperately held in a scream, that eventually escaped, muffled by tan hands, that were quick to substitute with a more efficient material piece. It felt like he was being burned from the inside, with tan hands relocating upon the wound. His limbs felt numb, yet ached as if knives were positioned in every inch. After a thorough circulation of his blood stream, it nullified, but left an icy ache through him. His breath came back abruptly; fast and harsh.

As the material, which he know knew was the wasted shirt, left his mouth, he spoke in a voice that sounded too raspy and weak to be his own. "What did you do?"

Naruto looked at him with teary eyes. "I'm sorry." His voice shook slightly. He had never before used the second potion and the effects had shook him more than slightly. To see such a renowned and hardened man reduced to thrashing and screaming was rather frightening to watch. Never had he thought the effects would be quite that bad. "It's something I got - I got from a forbidden scroll, it's…" He looked away. "It's dangerous - and Kyuubi's chakra…"

"Don't be." Itachi felt much weaker than his voice showed.

"But-"

"You should hate me. Detest me."

"…I tried."

"Try harder!" He demanded.

"I can't." He cried. "How can I hate you when you look at me like I am something? Like I matter?"

Itachi glanced at the overflowing wetness in the blue eyes before choosing the ceiling to lift heavy-lidded eyes to. "The Kyuubi matters."

"You lie." He sobbed. "Just once, on that night. You looked at me like you could regret killing me, and that was enough…Kyuubi… Just-just because he matters more than I do, doesn't mean I'm nothing."

Itachi sighed, feeling woozy and faint from the treatment and blood loss. "The children." If he didn't heal soon, he knew he would die.

"Huh?" Naruto choked out.

"I…lost control." What was he talking about again?

"Itachi? Itachi!" Naruto yelled as the Uchiha began slipping from consciousness. "Itachi you've got to stay awake!"

Naruto pulled on the older Shinobi and forced him upright against the couch, trying to stir him awake.

"Itachi!"

Slowly, eyes flickered, but not enough to form a response. Straddling his legs, grabbing at the shoulders and shaking gently wasn't doing much, and he didn't want to further delay the healing of the wound with pain and violence. He needed to shock him somehow - force him awake. But he was too hysterical to think.

"Please, Itachi, you've got to open your eyes. You've got to listen to me. You're gonna die if you don't stop. You've got to stop using Sharingan; it takes too much chakra. Are you listening, Itachi? You gotta heal." He leant his head to Itachi's shoulder and sobbed harder. "You can't die yet. You're the only one I can count on. I know what you're going to do; I know what you want. You won't disappoint me, right? With you I know where I stand. Please."

On impulse, he reached up and kissed the closed mouth of his self-labelled enemy. The previously glazing, half-opened eyes widened slightly as lips covered his own. A tongue hesitantly brushed across his lips as blue eyes begged for a response; anything to show he was aware. He opened his mouth slightly and met the tongue with his own. Naruto pushed a little harder before pulling away.

"Please." His smoky eyes but tear-stained cheeks drew him to note. "Please turn the Sharingan off. Just for now, please heal." Hands trailed his chest to rest on his shoulders, eyes closed as a tanned forehead met his. "Please."

Next, when Naruto looked into eyes so close to his own, they were tired black ones. They were not an overly dark blue like his brother's - they were pure black. There was no other colour they could have been. Itachi raised his head a little, forcing their noses to touch, as if telling Naruto he were to kiss him again. Bringing a hand to the side of his face, he did. Tongues met briefly before Naruto pulled away again.

"You can sleep now." He whispered, smiling gently. "Heal, okay?"

Already feeling extremely disoriented and tired, he fell asleep very quickly, becoming unaware of rough fingers applying healing salves and bandages to him; laying him back down on the futon afterwards. The drunk-like state he had experienced nullified any and all self-restraint, where as Naruto's condition made him over-emotional. But as each had fallen to sleep in his own time, they couldn't find it in themselves to care.

NARUTO

I got a little mushy, huh? Almost like Naruto had a mini-breakdown there. They happen, you know, I've had three. Anywho, Itachi said he was testing his capacity in the actual show right? So the 'limit' he mentions is…? Also, the 'children' he mentions and 'losing control' are in reference to the previous chapter, if you remember; Naru asked why he killed the children of his clan. Of course, they'd have eventually been put together, and you probably already figured it out, but you might have forgot.

TIMELINE

October - (Late) SasuNaru begins.

November - (Early) Pregnant, (Around 10th) Party, (Late) Mission starts.

December - (Early) Mission ends, Sakura Pregnant, (Week later) SasuSaku marriage told, Naruto moves teams, (Late) Failed visits, Observe NejiHina, KakaNaru talk.

January - (Early) Kakashi makes a lie, NejiHina told to be false. (Mid) Sakura tries visiting. (Week later) last failed visit.

February - (Early) Questions of father stop, (Mid) Sakura's baby's sex, Sasu rapes Naru, Naru moves. (Late) Stops training.

March - (Mid) Finds Itachi, Saves Itachi

In order of occurrences, tell me if I've missed anything and I'll add more as it's revealed.