Chapter 14:

Naruto was tense. Really tense, tension had just filled him all the way up to his forehead; with that little bit more to go. He tried to concentrate on whisking the eggs perfectly for the cake he was making. He'd finally called Kakashi and invited him to dinner. Now he just had to make a few really delicious dishes and break the news about witness protection to them. Something that he was not looking forward to in the least.

He kept his gaze on his right hand, which deftly whisked the egg yolk, before deeming it perfect and adding it to the butter and egg mixture. So far in the past one and half days, he'd heard nothing from Orochimaru, which actually made him worried, he'd been sure the man would try to call him by now to threaten him or something of the sort. Orochimaru was the kind of man who loved inspiring fear and mentally fucking with his enemies for a while before he made his move. The blond added the first spoon of flour to the batter and mixed it...but where was he to begin? A few scenarios all ending with Sasuke or Kakashi injured sprung up in his head and he shook it to clear those thoughts.

Damn it. This wasn't the time for this. This was the time to concentrate on his perfect raspberry sponge cake...he had no way out anyway, he had to tell them today. He'd left the list of precious people and acquaintances with Asuma, leaving the officer to give them the heads up. He was grateful that Asuma had plain-clothes cops watching the house, and that they didn't hang around enough for Sasuke to notice anything different.

Both the males would be here soon, so Naruto stopped thinking and just got on with the food. It was simple, creamy chicken kebabs, mutton curry and rice and raspberry sponge cake for dessert. He loved cooking Indian and was in the mood for some really spicy food. Hopefully it would choke him and get him out of this mess.

Then he went upstairs and got on a nice blue shirt and some jeans. Then he quickly laid the table and then went over to the couch. He flopped on it and turned on the TV, watching a cooking contest series for a while. The front door opened and Sasuke came in, his uniformed all ruffled and his hair in a mess. He blinked when he saw the table setting and smelled the amazing scent of yummy food. He glanced at the blond.

"Are we supposed to be having another date that I didn't know about?"

Naruto grinned even though it looked a little fake. "Nope. Sorry. Kakashi is coming over for dinner, so run up and get dressed in something better."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose. "I have to dress up for Kakashi?" then his eyes widened a little... "Naruto this isn't like some meet the parent thing right? Like me getting dressed up so you can break the news about us to Kakashi while lulling him into a false sense of security?"

Naruto shook his head, though that was what he had planned for both of them. It took about half an hour for Sasuke to get dressed. He came down the stairs looking amazing in a black shirt with white stripes and nice black jeans. His looking so good turned into a slight frolic on the couch, so Kakashi basically walked in on them looking a bit red, trying to get their hair in order. They blushed a bit more under his raised eyebrow and then scuttled to get his bags and get him seated.

Once they were all seated, Kakashi smiled and folded his hands together, surprising the other two and began to say grace. "Thank you for our food O' Lord and thank you for the love that fills us all. Please lord, teach the young to use protection. Amen"

The other two sputtered at him once this was done and the dysfunctional family got down to dinner. It didn't escape Sasuke's notice that Naruto was lost elsewhere as he ate. So Naruto was lost in space and Sasuke was lost in Naruto...leaving it up to Kakashi to find an effective way of dragging them out of it.

"So, Naruto...care to tell me why you wanted me to pack most of my clothes and belongings and come here?"

The blond choked a little and Sasuke thumped him on the back all the while looking at him with a small frown. "You asked Kakashi to move in with us, dobe?"

Naruto could see the suspicious expressions flit across their faces and sighed. He had wanted to do this after a good dinner and while lounging on the couch. He took another bite and chewed slowly aware of the tense silence and then put his fork down.

"You guys better finish chewing...I don't want either f you to choke and die..." he began. After they set their forks down too, he continued. "Two days ago, Konoha police contacted me in the morning to let me know that Orochimaru has escaped from prison."

A thud sounded, as Kakashi violently hit the table, making the dishes rattle. "WHAT?"

Naruto's blue eyes looked at him seriously. "They haven't been able to find him, but he mentioned me a lot during his term and they think he's out to get me. So they want to move me and everyone important to me into witness protection."

Sasuke looked at him in shock. "They want to move us out? To where? If they don't catch him he'll still be loose...he can still find us...what about my friends?"

Naruto sighed and looked at him in concern. "I don't know. I gave Officer Asuma a list of people to protect, and they should be able to protect them. This house is being watched right now and tomorrow early morning they move us. I tried to convince him to let me stay but the police think we all have to move, which is what we will be doing tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning! But...Naruto...I want to say goodbye, we need to pack, there's so much to do..." Sasuke looked torn between feeling concern for his boyfriend and leaving with no word to his friends.

"I'm sorry. You and Kakashi are the most important things to me, and Orochimaru wouldn't hesitate to hurt you if it came down to that. The police don't want to let it come down to that and I agree. I'm really sorry." Naruto hid his head in his hands.

Kakashi, who'd been silent all this while, put an arm around his shoulder. "It's not up to you Naruto. And it is a good idea to go along with what the police say, it's better to let them do their job than to stand in their way."

Naruto nodded, then he turned to Sasuke. "You cannot tell your friends or say goodbye. None of us are allowed to. I hate doing this to you now, when you've finally found a bunch that cares about you, but it'll put them and you in danger."

Sasuke stood up and moved his chair away. "I'm sorry but I need sometime alone..."

"Sasuke..."

Kakashi grabbed Naruto's shoulder. "Let him go...it's come as a shock to everyone and you've had sometime to get used to it. He'll be fine. Now has Orochimaru contacted you?"

Naruto shook his head. "But they still want me to go along with this witness protection thing..."

"Of course they do. Look when you see it logically, it makes sense. It's for our protection. Look you just worry about getting out of here and leave the policing up to the police. You're only twenty..."

Naruto played with his fork, pushing the food around on his plate...he needed something to do, so that he wouldn't dwell too much on the problem. "You're right...fine, so its settled. Let's clear up and get to bed, ok? I have to go up to Sasuke or he'll brood away the entire time."

Kakashi looked at him seriously. "So you're together now?"

Naruto smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah... I know you'll lecture me, but it was inevitable and I don't intend to let anyone else find out. At least not for the next two years."

Kakashi shrugged. "If you're happy that's enough. By the way Naruto was Iruka on your list?"

Naruto looked up with a tiny frown, as he cleared away the extra food. "Yes, I did. They might even consider him for the witness protection because I mentioned your relationship to him."

Kakashi sighed. "Good. To set the record straight, there is no 'relationship'. He hasn't called me since that night..."

Naruto looked up at his guardian, from where he was bending down to arrange food in the fridge. "Why not?"

"I don't remember…but he hasn't taken any of my calls or answered any of my messages." Kakashi sighed. "It would be so much easier if I could just remember what it was that I said to upset him…"

Naruto smiled. "Well since you guys are going to be forced to spend time together, you might just get your chance to find out." He cleared away the last of the dishes and loaded them up. "Well, I had better get going and see if Sasuke is ok. I've given him enough alone time."

Kakashi nodded. "But I still don't forgive you for springing it on us I like this….I for one was expecting much more pleasant news, like a holiday to the Bahamas or something…."

Naruto snorted. "Keep wishing, with Sasuke in school and my uni, I don't think we'll be going anywhere for a while, I'm so glad it's my last year though. Goodnight, Kakashi…"

Kakashi followed him up the stairs before moving off to his bedroom. Naruto walked into his room, to see Sasuke curled up on his bed. He sighed and shucked his clothes off before settling down to curl around the boy.

"Sasuke…"

"I wish he'd stayed in jail…"

"So do I…"

"I don't want you to be in danger; I don't want to just leave without a word to anyone…." Sasuke sighed. "You have no idea how much they've helped by just being around…"

"I wish I could let you stay…"

"This is awful…I choose you Naruto, you know I'll follow you anywhere, but I don't want to have to make this choice…not that I have one…" he added as an after thought.

Naruto drew him closer in his arms. "I'm really sorry, Sasuke…but I promise…I promise I won't just let it go on and on."

At that Sasuke turned around to look into his lover's eyes. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Naruto bent down and took his lips, trying to distract him from that line of thought. After a bit of a struggle, it seemed to work, as Sasuke got hotter and bothered by his ministrations.

[Lemon]

Sasuke didn't want to part when Naruto pulled off his shirt, but he had to breathe at some point. He'd actually forgotten to breathe during the kiss. Naruto smirked at him before running his large hands all over Sasuke's delectable body. Then he smiled and took a nipple into his mouth. "You know Sasuke, the whole day I've wanted to feel your cock buried inside me..."

Sasuke moaned and tried not to hump the yummy body next to his. Naruto was suddenly taking so much initiative in pleasuring Sasuke and Sasuke liked it. Naruto's hands roamed his body while his mouth assaulted the sweet pink nipples. "N...Naruto..."

"I wanted to just impale myself upon you the moment you walked in," Naruto rubbed his crotch against the younger man's. "Mmm...maybe I should just hump you into cumming?"

Sasuke wriggled a bit, trying to get his hands onto his boyfriend. He threaded his fingers through Naruto's hair and pulled him up for a kiss, while trying to mould their bodies together. Maybe if he pressed himself against Naruto hard enough, his cock would somehow slip into his guardian? He sighed into the kiss, and let go off Naruto's head to let his lips latch onto the tan neck, moving towards the shoulder before choosing a spot that would be covered up to leave the gift of a large hickey.

The blond moaned and bucked up, his hips thrusting into Sasuke's powerfully. "Nnn...Sasuke...Sasuke...more..."

The dark haired seme smirked around the nice red mark and then slipped downwards, leaving a trail of kiss marks against the body that finally was his. He dipped his tongue into Naruto's belly button a few times, before moving lower...he followed the happy trail and then bypassed to it lick and suck at those caramel thighs.

Naruto's hand landed on his head and tried to get bossy, pulling his hair in an attempt to yank him up to the rather impressive erection. It thwapped Sasuke on the head a bit, but the boy remained down there, teasing...he moved to Naruto's balls then suckling them and rubbing his nose against them.

"Sasuke please..."

"Please, what, dobe?"

"God...do something, put your mouth there...or fuck me, please just do something that results in me screaming..." *pant... pant* "...your name as I come..."

"You can be such a slutty thing, dobe..." Sasuke moved up to take the head of Naruto's cock into his mouth. He sucked erratically, not really sticking to any particular pace, while his hand groped for the lube on the dresser at an awkward angle. Finally locating it, he swiped his tongue up the shaft, from bottom to top, before grabbing the base with one hand and moving his mouth in time with his hand. In his other hand, he managed to open the tube and smear a large amount onto his dobe's hole.

They both couldn't really wait much, the whole idea of things being completely different tomorrow, gave this a new meaning. And true to what Naruto had said Sasuke couldn't wait to pound into the blond and make him scream.

He shoved a finger into that tight pucker, moving it in and out while trying to find the right spot. He hooked it and Naruto shifted a little. A little more stimulation and the blond was panting, his face flushed and eyes half lidded as he watched Sasuke.

When the second finger was added, Naruto whimpered, trying to get more of it, he almost gagged Sasuke while trying. Sasuke's hand on the base of his cock tightened, it would be awful if Naruto came now...Sasuke wanted them to come together.

Once he was done stretching the man, he smeared his cock and tugged on it a bit. Then he lined it up with Naruto and thrust in. The blond was really tight and it took a while for Sasuke to enter him fully. He waited, breathing deeply for Naruto to adjust, but the moment the blond nodded assent, Sasuke was off, thrusting fast and hard. He yanked Naruto's left leg onto his shoulder and straddled the other to get better leverage. Naruto was making loud noises at every thrust.

"Yes! That's it...right there...ahhh...Sasuke...I love you...Sasuke..."

Sasuke was close; he grabbed Naruto's cock and started stroking him in time to the thrusts. A few minutes later, he didn't know what hit him as he was plummeted into pleasure. Somewhere along the line he realised that Naruto had screamed his name too, they collapsed onto the bed, holding each other tightly. Sasuke pulled out and rolled onto his side. He felt really tired. Naruto nuzzled him.

[lemon ends]

"It'll be ok Sasuke...I promise."

Covering them up, Naruto gazed at the ceiling in the dark. Tomorrow he would go on the stupid protection program and after that who could tell what life would be like. Hell, from what he'd heard, until Orochimaru got caught they could just end up moving from place to place. It wasn't a life he wanted for Sasuke…or for Kakashi.

Sasuke helped load the bags into the plain black SUV the police had sent. It was a nice vehicle, but it looked like anything anyone on the road might have….a good normal family vehicle. Watson was at Hana's. Finally having loaded up, he leaned against the car and looked up at the window, it was Naruto's room. The blond was on the phone, frowning as he talked. Sasuke frowned too, who the hell would be calling Naruto at five in the morning?

He couldn't make out much more than Naruto's expressions, which slowly went from angry to horrified and back to angry. Then the blond just hung up and pocketed the phone, before disappearing from view. He reappeared a while later, with a smile on his face and all traces of the earlier phone call, gone.

Sasuke opened his mouth to ask about it, but they all heard hurried footsteps. The two plain clothes policemen, Anko and Aoba straightened, their hands moving into their jackets ready to draw their weapons.

It turned out to be Iruka. Naruto swooped down on the man and caught him up in a hug. "I'm glad you're ok. Thank you for not refusing this and agreeing to come along. It cuts down my worry quite a bit."

Iruka smiled at him warmly. "It's going to be fine Naruto. Don't worry too much. They'll catch him!"

Naruto's smile slipped and was caught put back on again so quickly, that Sasuke almost missed it. He was worried now, his boyfriend was acting extremely weird and it bothered Sasuke. It could just be the strain of all of this, but it didn't seem to be just that.

They all got into the car after loading up Iruka's luggage and then set off. They were going to be putting all them in one house in River country first, and then depending on how long it took to catch Orochimaru, making their new identities permanent. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

Naruto talked about many things non stop for the first hour of the journey. The place was about five hours away from Konoha, so it was to be a long journey. Everyone assumed that the blond was trying to keep the mood as normal as possible.

After a while it got really quiet in the car. Naruto sighed, and looked out. The scenery was beautiful, but he couldn't enjoy it, not when he was the reason everyone was leaving their lives behind. He needed to go to the toilet..NOW.

"I need to go!"

Anko grimaced and looked at him. "Can't you hold on?"

He shook his head. "It's the BIG job! And I need to stretch my legs and all too. We're all ready two hours away, so you know could we stop? Please...I think something didn't agree with me last night."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He watched as Anko struggled about it and then nodded. "There's a restroom coming up. They have a gas station, fast food joint and everything."

They stopped and walked to the fast food joint. Naruto cried off, professing his need to go to the toilet first. Aoba, said he'd go with him and wait outside just in case. Sasuke waited in line for a long while, finally getting his order of sausages, they'd split up so they could all get their food and Kakashi and Iruka were already sitting at the table with steaming boxes of pancakes. He sat down beside them, wondering how much longer he had to wait...

Naruto was glad when he saw the size of the windows in this toilet. He looked at his phone for a moment as it buzzed, and flipped it open to read the message. Grimacing slightly, he pulled out another smaller phone he'd brought; he quickly replaced the sim cards on the phones. Then he set his original phone down on the toilet lid in the cubicle, playing the sound of him humming, and groaning as if he was really on the toilet. Then he stepped onto the pot and clambered out of the toilet, and ran towards a blue car parked behind the building.

"Sasori..."

The red headed man inside nodded. "Are you sure about this?"

Naruto nodded. "You owe me one remember? You said anything I wanted."

Sasori nodded with a large sigh. "Gosh if they find out I helped, then I am going to be in so much shit. Get in and hunker down."

Naruto slipped in and hunkered down, his head between his knees. He thanked the gods he was so flexible. Sasuke... the name flitted through his head and he clamped down on the guilt he was feeling. I'm sorry Sasuke...but this is the only way to stop, you might as well kick my ass later...

Sasori passed Aoba waiting by the bathroom entrance looking at his watch with an annoyed expression. They drove back down to the highway and headed back to Konoha.

Sasuke was staring at the table wondering what he could order for Naruto, that wouldn't give the blonde a relapse, when Aoba burst in looking like death. Sasuke scowled it had been forty-five minutes and there seemed to be no blond head or blinding grin behind Aoba as there should be.

"He's gone..."

"WHAT?" Anko looked up at him with a frown.

"Naruto...he's not there! I could hear him muttering and calling out that he would be 'just a second', I finally got mad and went in and found that there were no feet in the stall." Aoba explained hurriedly, it was easy to see his brain trying to work. "I broke down the door and saw this." He held up the phone. "He'd recorded himself on it!"

Everyone in the room went some shade of white. Sasuke's heart suddenly tightened unbearably... "I'm really sorry, Sasuke…but I promise…I promise I won't just let it go on and on." That complete idiot! Sasuke knew the blond had decided to go back, there wasn't any other possible way to stop all of this, without him actually facing Orochimaru.

First Sasuke felt hurt, pain and fear. Now fear dominated his mind. Naruto was going back to face a killer...the man who killed his father, who had ruined his whole life... and Sasuke was stuck here unable to do a thing. Naruto had left him with four people who would refuse to let him do something stupid. Sasuke forced himself to breathe and pay attention to everything around him. There had to be a way he could get to Naruto.

"Where do you think he's gone?"

"Maybe Kakashi's farm?"

"Maybe the house?" that was Kakashi... Sasuke knew the man was thinking along the same lines as him.

"Why would he go back there? We still have cops watching the place...if he goes back there, he's safe..."

Sasuke frowned. Well cops were good at their job, but hadn't this whole thing with Orochimaru seemed so simple? His escape, the way no one could find him, the way they had to put everyone under witness protection and why had Naruto suddenly gone haring off? Wait...that phone call...everything clicked into place. Naruto's broodiness, the phone call and Naruto going back.

Sasuke looked out of the window as the adults talked. Someone on a motorbike was riding into the parking lot...a hint of desperation pushed him. He looked from the cops and the two adults to the door. He was really close to the door, if he slipped out quietly, no one would notice...? Maybe...but it was worth a shot.

Sasuke edged towards the door and slowly slid out when another bunch of people came in. The moment he was out the door, he took off towards the biker who had just slowed down. Roughly he shoved the man off the bike. Catching the bike, pulled at his arms a little, he silently thanked Karin for all the workouts at the gym. He clambered on just as he heard shouts behind him and revved up. He almost hit a car as he sped out of the lot, gaining more grace and balance as he hit the road.

I'm coming Naruto...don't you dare get into shit without me!

Naruto got Sasori to let him off a block away from his house. He'd pulled on a hat and sunglasses; luckily it was a bright day, so it wouldn't look too out of place. Then he started quickly walking around the neighbour's house. Sure enough, a plain clothes cop stood in his backyard. Naruto walked up to him with a smile on his face.

"Hey, Bee, it's me!"

The cop turned around and frowned. "Naruto, what are you..." a quick punch cut him off. Before he could retaliate, Naruto flew forward and hit him with a rock he'd picked up. It was crude, but he was as gentle as he could be and it worked. He went through the man's belongings, picking up whatever he thought he'd need. Then he took another look around...from what he remembered, Asuma was going to place four guards around the house and they would patrol the perimeter in an inconspicuous way. He wondered if he'd get caught.

He made his way into the house, only to find a man sprawled out on the ground. Seems his worries were needless; Orochimaru had already taken care of one more. He made his way from the kitchen into the living room...moving quietly. Seeing no one there, he went up the stairs and to Sasuke's room.

Orochimaru sat there, toying with Sasuke's notebook, idly flipping the pages. He looked up his snake-like eyes narrowing, full of hate as he took in the blond young man who stood before him. The expression changed to that of glee. "Naruto..."

Naruto's face was tight, the muscles in his jaw twitching. "Orochimaru..."

Orochimaru put the notebook down and gestured towards the window, "Over here, Naruto...in case someone notices that your here, I'd like you to be between me and the window."

Naruto obliged. He stood there silently staring at the man who had ruined his life in just a few hours. "Why don't you just finish me off?"

The snake-like man smiled. "Do you want to die so badly? I've been looking around your house for a while now...I've familiarized myself with the way these cops move...they've been watching your house for the past few days...they'd gotten complacent." Orochimaru reached out to pick up a picture frame. "Your ward and your dog...but it seems like he's more than a ward...do you really want to die?"

"Isn't that what you want? Isn't this whole charade and luring me here all because you want to kill me?"

The man walked up to Naruto and cupped his cheek. "Why, whatever gave you that idea? I have plans for you, dear one...you singlehandedly got me arrested and ruined everything. What makes you think that I would simply give you a quick death? I might just keep you and then hunt out your ward...kill him in front of you maybe?"

That was it...Naruto suddenly flew at the man, knocking him down, trying to grab the gun he'd stuck into his jeans at the back, hidden under his loose shirt. He grabbed it and levelled it at Orochimaru.

The man smirked. "Are you going to kill me, Naruto? Haven't you had enough of killing? After all you did kill your parents didn't you? How much more blood do you want on your hands?"

Naruto began to shake slowly. He tried to concentrate on the gun, but the words were getting to him...No...Don't zone out now...

Orochimaru moved quickly. He knocked the gun away and punched Naruto off him. They both lunged for each, holding each other, grappling for the gun. Orochimaru kicked the boy hard in the stomach and reached for the gun...Naruto grabbed his knees and tried to hold him back. Orochimaru grabbed the gun, his eyes lighting up in triumph as he kicked Naruto in the face, hard.

Sasuke made it to the house and jumped off the bike. He made a dash for the back door, as someone grabbed him around the middle trying to tackle him. Going to the gym had paid off, Sasuke wasn't very light and he was able to fling the man onto the ground, before jumping over him into the house. He could hear some yelling outside, the other cops would be trying to follow him in. He hoped it hadn't alerted Orochimaru...

He burst into his room and saw his boyfriend on the ground with another man, trying to reach for a gun. Neither of them noticed Sasuke standing there. Orochimaru got the gun, kicking Naruto at the same time. Sasuke moved quickly kicking the gun out of the snake man's grasp just as it went off. Naruto keeled over with a groan, red blooming on his shirt.

Before Sasuke could process that Naruto had been shot, Orochimaru leaped to his feet with a howl, and grabbed Sasuke by the neck. For a thin man, he was pretty strong. He lifted Sasuke up by the neck, his elbows making sure none of Sasuke's blows got anywhere near him, his eyes frenzied as he tried to strangle the younger boy. Sasuke struggled, trying to kick out or poke the man in the eye, but he was slammed against the wall so hard, that his vision blanked out for a second. He tried desperately to get some air into his lungs...this time his vision was blacking out due to the lack of air.

Naruto grabbed the wound, trying to stem the blood. He could feel it pooling around his hands, but then what happened? He looked up to see Sasuke going blue as the murderer strangled him. Naruto cried out, his hands going for the gun again, when there was a loud bang and blood splattered everywhere.

Naruto blinked, trying to gather his senses, wondering where all the blood came from. Asuma and Kakashi stood at the door, a gun in Kakashi's hand. Sasuke was slumped on the floor, coughing and gasping air into his lungs.

Kakashi hurried over to him, helping him sit up, and shoving Orochimaru's body out of the way. Asuma came over to Naruto and started making a quick tourniquet for the wound. "Damned stupid idea! What made you think to come back here? I didn't have many cops watching the place because I thought you'd be safe and they could watch your other friends...we would have gotten him, if you'd let him wait it out..."

Naruto shook his head blearily. His voice came out garbled. "I want'd it to end...if he wath dead or I wath dead, then it would just thtop...Thathuke..."

Asuma sighed. "Sasuke's going to be fine, son...let's just get you cleaned up...no...Naruto...don't pass out..."

Sasuke looked up in shock... "Naruto...Naruto..."

A/N: Well sorry it's been so long...I've gone through a break up, an years study abroad, confusion about myself and have finally finished this chapter. The next part will be the epilogue. Then it's over! Thanks for still being there for me!

Taka