Note from the Author: So yesterday was Zabuza's birthday. If he was in this story – and Haku too – I would totally freaking give him some love. But alas, he's not. So he just gets an A/N "Happy Birthday."
Book-manga-freak: o.O :suddenly wish I had sand armor: You're one of my tougher critics, so I really like it when you say that you like my story. And – don't tell anyone – I'm secretly an Orochimaru fangirl. I think he's the sex – you know, besides Neji and Kiba, who are the sex.
PIE IS FILLED WITH AWESOMENESS: Fillers are love – and I think I was making an attempt at foreshadowing, but – you know – running on four hours of sleep, the brain doesn't work at its maximum capacity.
DemonRogue: Tsunade is my hero:waves Tsunade flag: Jesus – I sound like TenTen. -.- Someone shoot me.
Kawaii-Aikurushii-Kitsune: I like it. It's challenging and that makes me happy. I sit here and sound it out in my head. Haha. Yes, perhaps Sasuke will wise up (Let's just leave this at a "Let's not get our hopes up.").
BankotsusChick: I think I'm just trying to get it done now – I know exactly how I want to end it, but I have to have at least six more chapters in this story. I know how the last two are going to go, and I'm just kind of winging the chapters before that.
Show me you're trying.
Tsunade's eyebrow shot up at the boy who walked into her office. "I'm sorry, hun – I'm not your doctor." She said kindly, figuring he was one of the patients that had lost most of their grip on reality. "Why don't you just go back to the community room and watch a movie, hm?"
"I'm not a patient!" the blonde boy shrieked at her, flailing his arms indignantly. "Do I look crazy to you?"
She was unfazed. "Right now? Yes, you do."
He immediately calmed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Okay, Mr. I'm-not-a-patient – what can I do for you?"
Remembering why he was here, he plopped into the chair opposite her desk. "I want you to tell me how my boyfriend's been doing – and keep in mind, he doesn't know I'm here."
She blinked at him. "Who are you exactly?"
"Uzumaki Naruto." He grinned, as if his name actually meant something.
Which, of course, to her, it did, and she smiled at him. "Your infamy precedes you." At his cocked eyebrow, she went on, "Sasuke talks about you."
"What does he say?"
"Patient-doctor confidentiality."
"Oh, fuck you."
"Well, if I had had any doubts about whether or not it was you, I don't anymore." She chuckled, shaking her head. "You're just like he describes you."
"You can't say that and then expect me to be happy with you not telling me anything else!"
"Let's just say that he adores you and leave it at that, hm?" she shuffled the papers around on her desk, stacking them up - paperwork completely one pile, paperwork that hadn't been touched yet in the other. "Now what exactly does Uzumaki-san want to know?"
0
Kiba yawned contentedly, stretched out fully, his bare torso comfortable against the warm sand. Laying his cheek on his sun-darkened hands, he smiled fondly at Shino, who had fallen asleep beside him. I wonder if he put sunscreen on, he thought vaguely, noting the faint strip of pink across the bridge of his nose.
"Kiba-kun!" a voice sang suddenly, dragging him into an embrace.
"Oh, God – no!" he yelled, thrashing against the grip. "Ukon – let me go! Ukon! Are you – Ukon! Get your hand away from there!"
Somehow Shino had managed to sleep through the exchange until that point, but he shot up suddenly, pulling his now-traumatized boyfriend from the grasp.
Kiba squeaked, jumping to hide behind him. "You guys are a couple of freaks!"
"Don't lump me into a category with him." Sakon sighed, voice full to brimming of boredom.
Ukon snorted indignantly. "I'm not a freak! It's just Kiba-kun is so cute." He continued to gush like that for a minute or so, not fully aware of his surroundings or the people he was with.
Maybe if he'd been paying attention, he would have noticed Shino's pink skin growing darker every moment. Kiba thought to step back before the stoic boy exploded in a rarely-seen fit of rage, but he held tight to his hand, keeping him close – almost as if he thought that if he was too far away he couldn't keep this guy off him.
Kiba held his breath, clinging suddenly to his arm like he thought that maybe he could control him a bit.
But all Shino did was open his mouth and simply ask: "Why are you here?"
"It's the beach!" Ukon cried, spreading his arms as if to encompass it in the most flamboyant of ways. "It's a public place, you know – we're allowed to be here."
"You're all here."
"What?"
"All five of those who accommodated members of our group are at the beach today – why is that?"
"We were given direct orders to go nowhere near the building." Sakon sighed, rolling his eyes. "Which means Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto are probably going at it."
Kiba blinked, moving to stand beside his boyfriend. "Okay – that's just weird."
Ukon shrugged. "Like that's anything unexpected." Picking at a chipped fingernail, he continued nonchalantly, "It's nice to see Orochimaru-sama has picked someone worth his time. That Uchiha kid wasn't interested anyway."
"Hey – 'that Uchiha kid' is our friend!" Kiba snapped. "Don't talk about him so disrespectfully."
"He was quite talented at bartering." Sakon mused, drawing patterns in the dirt with bare toes.
Shino's eyebrow lifted. "Bartering?"
"You weren't supposed to say anything, Sakon!" Ukon whined.
Eyes narrowed behind dark glasses. "Bartering with who? With what?"
"Time to go now, Sakon!" Ukon linked arms with his twin, tossing an overly-enthusiastic wave in the direction of the Konoha kids. "See you 'round, Kiba-kun." He winked. "If you ever get sick of this stick-in-the-mud, come find me."
"Like hell I will!" Kiba yelled, flipping him the bird, then turning to the pensive boy beside him. "What do you think they were talking about?"
"Something illegal."
"Really? You think Sasuke-kun is into that kind of thing?"
"No – I think he thinks he doesn't have a choice." He turned toward the dog-lover who was watching Akamaru, who had been sleeping through most of the exchange, jump around his feet. "Maybe we should talk to Neji and Hinata about this."
Kiba blinked. "Why?"
"Because they know Sasuke best – besides Naruto." He explained simply. "And if we bring it up with Naruto, we're just asking for trouble, aren't we?"
"Yeah – Naruto needs to chill out."
A smirk almost crossed his face. "Look who's talking."
"Hey!"
0
Progress.
Sasuke was making progress.
What did that mean exactly? Naruto had to wonder – because what he always thought was progress always ended it up being digression. He had to wonder if Tsunade – who hadn't known Sasuke nearly as long as he himself had – was intuitive enough to make the decision to say he was making progress.
He sighed, strolling slowly down the hospital hallway. He couldn't understand why they would send mentally unstable people to a place like this. The sterility of it all – the smell of antiseptic, the quiet – it would drive him mad before it would cure him.
Still – progress. If Sasuke made progress – if he got better – if all of this ended – they could be together again, right? All Naruto really wanted was to be Sasuke's crutch – and anything else he could be. He wanted to mean something to him.
"Naruto?"
He looked up, offered a smile. "Hey, Sasuke."
The pale boy came toward him slowly. "What are you doing here?"
"Came to see you." He murmured, embracing him gently – feeling as though he would break if he held him too close.
But it was as if he was begging for contact and he wrapped his arms tightly around him, burying his face in his shoulder. "I've missed you." He whispered. "I didn't think you were going to come."
"I wasn't." He answered honestly, drawing away and leading him into the community room, where they both settled into chair at the table, pulling them close together. "I was scared to see you."
"Why?"
"What if I made it worse?"
Sasuke snorted. "There's only one person that could make it worse."
They left the name unspoken. "How is it here?"
"The food is awful."
"Yeah – you look thinner."
"Yeah, well – when you have to hold your nose just to get your food down, that happens." His fingers reached out, wrapped around Naruto's hand.
The blonde blinked at him, surprised. It was a simple gesture of affection – but in all the years they'd known each other – and the last seven months they were dating – they had never held hands. It wasn't a display that Sasuke had ever been really willing to offer. Now they smiled at each other – smiles full of shyness and doubt - and Naruto whispered, "Sasuke, will you come home with us?"
He tensed, mumbled. "No."
Naruto jerked as if the word was a physical blow. "Why not?"
"Because there's no place for me there anymore."
"Sasuke," he gripped his chin, turning his head to face him though his gaze remained downcast. "Sasuke, there's always a place for you there."
"What about Itachi?"
"You never have to see him again."
Dark eyes met blue.
"I promise, Sasuke."
"I made a promise too, Naruto." He replied quietly. "I promised Orochimaru."
"Sasuke, that's a promise you can break." His tone was soft, urgent. "You don't have to be a part of that. If you come home, you don't have to worry about him anymore."
"Naruto." Sharp. "Can we not talk about this right now? Right now, I just want to get out of here – I'll worry about the rest once I'm out."
A sigh - lips brushing gently together, like feathers, and then the touch was gone. "For now, I'll drop it. But," his voice was stern, "not for good. We're going to be talking about this again as soon as you get out."
"What if you go home before I get out?"
"I'm staying as long as I need to."
0
Additional A/N: God – this chapter took forever. -.- I decided not to do the OrochiKabu – just 'cause I didn't feel like it. And randomly, right as I was finishing it, the language of Microsoft Word somehow reverted to Spanish. It was kind of funny, but really aggravating. I'm going to go take a nap.