AN: I've officially got eight chapters left of this story and that's it. I am going to finish this off and then head on towards my other stories that are near-completion and so on. Hopefully…

Old Times

Naruto uneasily slipped into his once comfortable pajamas. He gave Sasuke a pleading look of utter discomfort, hoping that he didn't have to go. Then again, Sasuke had voted to go with him in the first place.

Packing his bag, Naruto made his way down the stairs, not daring to touch the railing incase Choji left chip residue behind again.

"Dad…can…I stay with you…please..?"

Iruka shook his head, giving him a firm pat on the shoulder.

"Sleeping over at your dad's house should be fun. Sasuke is going with you, so there shouldn't be any problems or complaints."

Sasuke had begun his long trudge down the stairs, making sure that he was heard throughout the entire household.

"Oi, Sasuke! Stop that!"

Kiba shouted from the basement, seeming nastier than usual that night.

"Pfft…someone's not happy to be sleeping alone in the room tonight."

Sasuke retorted, sticking his thumbs under the straps of his backpack. To his anger, Arashi had shown up on the doorstep with goodies and whatnots, asking Iruka if Naruto could sleep over at his place. Iruka only agreed happily. Sasuke tripped on the last step, falling on the ground with a loud noise. Kiba stood up angrily, marching over to Sasuke and grabbing hold of the front of his shirt.

"Do you want to shut up before Hinata wakes up?"

"Well maybe if she didn't fall asleep and say goodbye to us, there wouldn't be a problem!"

Kiba was about to punch Sasuke for being arrogant, but Iruka stopped him.

"And what's with you being happy to send them off to that person's house! You don't even know him well enough! No one does!"

"It will be alright. Don't worry, Kiba."

"Yeah, I'm going to worry for them because you don't."

Kiba stormed off, slamming the door shut behind him. Naruto made his way past Iruka and waited outside on the driveway, waiting for his ride to come pick him up.

"Naruto, why don't you wait inside? It's pretty cold…"

The blond slowly shook his head at his caretaker's question, looking behind to see Sasuke coming up next to him.

"Right…then, I'll keep an eye on you guys from inside."

"Alright."

Sasuke had drawn himself in since he had heard that Arashi was going to take his beloved brother away from him. A car pulled up into the driveway, giving the boys no time to discuss anything of any importance. Naruto had drawn back from society as well. The older blond honked the horn, the boys trudging towards the car with great effort, the two tuning back to see Iruka waving goodbye to them. Naruto's breath fogged up the window as he kept his bag close to his body.

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"Well, guys…how about we watch a movie?"

"Let's not and say we did…"

Sasuke curtly replied, kicking his foot on the side of the couch.

"Then, what do you guys want to do?"

"Aren't you supposed to be the one entertaining us?"

Arashi tried his best not to get mad, but he was beginning to bubble. Everything inside was hard for him to take and this child wasn't making it any easier for him to bear.

"Naruto…? Do you have any suggestions?"

The blond boy hesitated a while before shaking his head from side to side, staring at his feet. What else was he supposed to do? Say yes and have Sasuke get mad at him before he leaves?

"Guys, I know you don't want to be here, but can you at least make an effort to give me a chance?"

He turned on the radio, listening to songs from a few years back. Naruto's face lightened up and he turned to Sasuke, tugging at his shirt.

"I need to go to the bathroom…"

He whispered to his raven-haired friend. Sasuke heaved a heavy sigh.

"Can you hold it?"

He shook his head vigorously, beginning to dance around. Sasuke couldn't believe it.

"He has to go to the bathroom."

His statement was blunt and said with a straight face, almost making Arashi laugh.

"It's down the hall and take a left, go down that hall and then to the right. It's there."

Naruto nodded and rushed off, Sasuke following his friend. There was no way he wanted to be left alone with a person of whom he held deep loathing towards.

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Naruto came out of the bathroom, hearing the sound of something clicking. Sasuke wasn't anywhere in sight. There was a single light shinning at the other end of the hallway, the blond boy's eyes lighting up with curiosity. He walked towards it, hearing muffled cries. He stuck his head through the doorway, seeing Sasuke cowering behind a grandfather clock, Arashi looking around with crazed eyes.

"You…"

Slowly, he raised his pistol and aimed it at Naruto, firing one round. The boy's eyes widened, he going unmoving. The shot only barely missed his head, but it was enough to freak him out.

'He's just like the others…'

He thought to himself, still standing in the same spot. Instinct took over and he began to run away, Sasuke opening his eyes in enough time to see him run out of the room, Arashi following him with slow, easy steps. A song kept repeating on the radio, as if it were stuck on the repeat mode. Everything around Sasuke just felt so surreal, as if none of I were happening. Then again, he was right in front of him, chasing down his best friend, wanting to shoot him to death. A shrill scream pierced through the air making it ricochet throughout the halls. Sasuke stood up quickly, hitting himself for letting Naruto run off like that without going with him for protection. Then again…it was he cowering behind a clock and the blond running—diverting the attention of the elder blond from Sasuke and towards himself.

"Fool…"

Sasuke muttered to himself, running to Naruto's aid. He could hear another shot going off, another scream being heard. The young Uchiha could only hear the sound of his own panting before any other noise.

"Stupid western bastard…whose side are you on?"

Sasuke heard Arashi say, hovering over Naruto with the pistol poised steadily at his face, the younger boy shrinking back in fear against the fridge, holding his shoulder as blood seeped through his tiny fingers. His head turned slowly to see Sasuke. Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat, finding the courage deep inside him.

"RUN!"
He yelled to Sasuke, Arashi snapping his head to the side, his arm following and firing at Sasuke without a second's hesitation. The boy dived behind the wall just in time to avoid the oncoming bullet, breathing heavily. He saw the phone in sight, trying to run to reach it to call Iruka before he saw Arashi heading his way.

"Get away from him…"

Naruto breathed heavily, a knife clutched tightly in his hand, approaching Arashi with his eyes in angry slits.

"You're choosing the wrong side…"

Arashi raised his gun towards Naruto and shot point blank, the blond shutting his eyes tightly and Sasuke screaming out his name. Nothing came out of the barrel but smoke. Naruto opened one eye slowly, then the other.

"Empty…"

Arashi muttered, throwing the gun to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of his biological son's hair, lifting him up and grabbed his throat, pinning him to the wall.

"You will die here now…western bastard…"

He began punching Naruto, Sasuke screaming for them to stop, completely forgetting about the phone in his hands. Tears streaked the raven-haired boy's face; Naruto was tear free, taking the beating from Arashi when Sasuke was his original 'opponent.'

"LET HIM GO!"

Sasuke screeched, shaking furiously. Naruto's face was turning black and blue from the bruised he was receiving from Arashi, the knife from his small hands fell the ground with a thud. Sasuke ran to shake Arashi's leg, receiving a swift kick to the stomach as he sailed through the air, hitting the wall and falling to the floor with a sickening clunk. He slowly stood, grasping his side. He picked up the phone, staring at it for a few minutes. He couldn't remember the phone number of Iruka's house. The stress was too much for him to bear. A silly thing as a phone number could have saved him, but not even the emergency number could have crossed his mind at the moment. Sasuke tried to stop the elder man, seeing the gun at the corner of the hall. He ran to pick it up, holding it up towards Arashi inexpertly. Arashi stopped.

"Put that gun down, Sasuke."

His eyes were back to it's loving self. No longer were they that of a madman from the times of the war, but sane.

"Are…you finished now…?"

Naruto asked in a quiet voice, staring at Arashi with a swollen eye.

"N-Naruto! What…what am I doing…!?"

He set his son down, kneeling in front of him and holding his shoulders.

"Oh god…what have I done…?"

"You nearly tried to kill us."

Sasuke stated bluntly, letting his arm rest at his side. His face fell and he soon began sobbing hysterically, frightened after the episode while Naruto just stood, staring at the blond until he proceeded to go to the bathroom to clean himself up. Arashi ran over to Sasuke, trying to comfort him. He kept hearing the same song repeating over and over again, his eyes widening.

"That…was playing the first time I went to war…we heard that song after the first day of killing…"

Sasuke couldn't help himself. His tears wouldn't stop.

"I'm sorry….oh my god, I'm so sorry…this never happened before…"

He stroked Sasuke's hair, the boy didn't move in fear for another event to occur. Naruto came out of the bathroom, his clothes changed into daytime clothes while the bloody pair lay in a heap inside the garbage. He held a first aid ice pack to his face, the swelling already reducing to nothing and the scratches already scabbed over. His shoulder wasn't shot through, but merely skimmed by the bullet. It was dressed tightly with bandages that he found in the closet.

"Naruto…"

The blond didn't say anything. He merely hugged close to the wall and slid away, grabbing Sasuke's hand and running to a room with a lock. He made sure the door was securely locked before turning to Sasuke.

"Naruto, we have to tell Dad."

Naruto shook his head, looking down. Unconsciously, he didn't talk. It was his safety shut down mode in where he knew that if he said nothing, nothing bad would happen to him.

"We have to! You're going to move-"

Sasuke realized that he was yelling and reduced his tone to a whisper.

"You're going to be moving in with this lunatic and he'll do the same to you whenever he's reminded of the war!"

Naruto went over to the bed and took the covers off, draping it around Sasuke and himself. For the first time, Sasuke finally realized how safe he felt while being under the covers. Naruto was alone his entire life until he entered the Umino household. This was how he coped with his everyday life—hiding under a cover for faux protection. It felt comforting. The only sounds that they heard was the sound of their own breathing and the random noises outside the door belong to Arashi and his cleaning up.

"Why don't you want to tell Dad..?"

There was no answer from the blond male. He was fast asleep next to his friend, trying to save his energy for whatever might have come at night that usually came to him while he was with other caretakers.

"I'm sorry…Naruto…I couldn't protect you. You protected me…"

Sasuke's body trembled as more tears streaked down his face, he bringing his hands up to cover them.

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AN: I know, I updated so slowly, but here's an excited chapter….(hopefully). It took me a while…I have writers block.-Insert sweat drop- Hope you enjoyed it! R&R! Arashi was remembering the times of the war and thought the boys where his enemy, btw if you didn't know.