On their way back to Konoha Naruto woke up, but he had lost far too much blood for him to be able to walk without loosing conciousness so he remained on Sasuke's back. Little Kuyusuke walked next to Sasuke asking Naruto several questions like "What is it like in Konoha?" and "Will there be kids I can play with?" Naruto had answered each question with a small smile and even told the child a few things about Konoha that he had not asked about.
"Where will we stay?" asked Irena. "We aren't going to stay in a hotel are we?"
Naruto laughed. "No, you'll be staying with me at my place."
"Really?" asked the child excitedly.
"Yea. My father was a very wealthy man and he left a mansion for me to live in that is way too big for just me to live," said Naruto. "Some of my other friends live their too. Haku and Zabuza. Haku's really nice and Zabuza isn't bad once you get to know him, but he is kind of scary looking so don't freak out when you meet him."
"I won't freak out," said Kuyusuke, "Nothing can scare me."
Naruto's only answer was to laugh amusedly.
"We should stop here for tonight," said Kakashi. "It's getting dark and god knows we all need our rest. We'll be back home tomorrow."
Sasuke allowed Naruto to climb off his back and then left to gather firewood without even looking back at him. Naruto frowned. Sasuke had been upset throughout their whole journey back and he could not figure out why. Maybe it was because he was too weak to defend himself and had broken his promise about the fact that he would be fine during this mission.
"What's wrong Naruto-nii-san?" asked Kuyusuke as he sat down next to him.
"Nothing's wrong," Naruto answered with a smile. "I'm still just a little dizzy is all."
"You know when I get dizzy dad tells me that I need to eat something or drink some water."
"Well then when the dinner is ready I will make sure to eat some."
"Good," said Kuyusuke. "I'll go tell them to hurry up so that you can get better faster." He ran off to talk to Irena while Naruto laughed at his innocence. He couldn't remember a time when he had ever been that innocent. From the very first moments of his life he had already been exposed to the cruel reality that plagued the world. He would never have a beautiful mind like that of Irena and Kuyusuke.
At that moment Sasuke walked back into camp and began to start up the fire in front of Naruto so he wouldn't have to move. Still, Sasuke would not look at Naruto even though he sat just in front of him. "I'm sorry," Naruto said finally breaking the silence between them when the fire was done.
Sasuke's head shot up to look at him with wide eyes. "Why?" he asked.
"Because I broke my promise," said Naruto, "I didn't take care of myself like I said I would. That's why you're upset with me isn't it?"
"No!" gasped Sasuke, "I'm not mad at you. There was nothing you could have done. There was way to many people for you to be able to fight on your own. Most people would have died. You did nothing wrong."
"Then," said Naruto a little confused, "Why have you been avoiding me?"
Sasuke sighed and placed his hand against his forhead as though he had a headache. "I'm mad at myself Naruto," he said.
"Why?"
"Because it's my fault you got hurt. I didn't listen to orders and I wasn't paying attention so I tripped the alarm. If I had just stayed outside like I was supposed to, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."
"That's not true," said Naruto quickly as he grabbed Sasuke's hand away from his face and made him look at him with a hand on his chin, "If you hadn't come when you did I would have died, and if you didn't trip the alarm I would have tripped it when I went to get the scroll. You saved me Sasuke. That is nothing to be upset about."
Sasuke stared into the serene eyes that stared right back at him. He wanted so much to kiss the man. All he would have to do is to lean gorward a couple of inches and then their lips would meet, but he knew that no matter how much he wanted to kiss the boy, he could not.
"Naruto-nii-san!" yelled Kuyusuke from across the camp where they had set up a small fire to cook while they waited for Sasuke to make the camp fire. "The food's ready."
Naruto waved at the child and said, "I'll come and get some now."
Before he could even try to stand up Sasuke placed his hand on his shoulder and said, "Stay here. I'll go get some food for you."
"Thank you," Naruto said with a smile. Sasuke turned away quickly trying to hide his face from Naruto so that he wouldn't be able to tell that Sasuke felt disappointed that they didn't get to kiss.
When they all had food they sat around the fire and ate in relative silence that was only broken by Kuyusuke talking to Naruto. Then they all split up to sleep in the three tents that team 7 had brought with them. Sakura and Irena took one camp, Itachi and Kakashi took the second, and Sasuke, Naruto, and Kuyusuke took the last one. Kakashi had decided that their was no need for a look out because they were so close to Konoha so they were all able to sleep throughout the nigh. It wasn't long before they had all fallen asleep from their exhausting day.
When they got to Konoha the next day Sasuke walked Naruto to his house, said hello to Haku and Zabuza, who Kuyusuke was afraid of as soon as he saw him, and then left to get to his own home as fast as he could. He was glad that he didn't have to deal with any of the people greeting them when they returned because their mission had been top secret.
"Hey sweetie," said his mother when he walked in the door. "How was your mission?"
"It was fine mom," he said quietly.
"Are you okay sweetie?"
"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired is all," he answered. "I'm going to go to bed for a while."
"Alright sweetie," said his mother as she watched him go to his room with worried eyes. Then she saw Itachi walk into the room and she was so happy to have her eldest son back that she almost forgot her worry for Sasuke. Almost. In the back of her mind she wanted to go and console him, but she knew that he was just going to ask her to leave even if she tried.
Sasuke collapsed into his bed as soon as he reached his room. He could hear his family talking excitedly about Itachi's return and he was glad that they had that distraction because he knew that if they didn't he would have to deal with his mother constantly coming in to check on him. Not that he didn't love his mother and the fact that she cared for him. It's just that he really wanted some time alone to think things over. And the only thing he wanted to think about was the blonde haired blue eyed love of his life.
When he closed his eyes he could see Naruto's face so close to his that he wanted to reach out and kiss the beautiful lips once more. Then he opened his eyes to see that he was in his room. He regretted not kissing Naruto when he had the chance, but he had two very good reasons. The first was that he knew that Naruto would never love him and the second... Well he didn't want to think of that reason.
He turned on his stomach and buried his face in the large pillow. Maybe he should tell Naruto how he feels. Maybe Naruto would feel the same way about him and actually want to stay with him. But then what would happen when... No, he couldn't think of that. He had to decide if he would confess to Naruto without thinking of that.
Naruto collapsed face first onto his bed when he finally escaped from everyone else. He had had to show everyone around the city and then take them to the Hokage to get them situated as a Konoha resident where he got yelled at for not asking about bringing them in beforehand. Then he had to take Kuyusuke to meet Konohamaru, which normally he would have been happy to do, but he was just so tired. After about an hour of sitting and watching them play and trying hard not to fall asleep, Irena suggested that he go home and rest and she would watch the children. He thanked them and then practically ran home so that he wouldn't have to do anything else.
After a few moments of just lying in his bed he turned onto his back and placed his arm over his eyes to block out the sun that was still out. He wanted so badly to be able to sleep, but thoughts of Sasuke plagued him. He couldn't believe that he actually was so close to Sasuke. That he was able to touch Sasuke's face without the man pulling away from him. He sighed. That was the best moment ever. To be able to come so close to the man he loved. But he also knew that that would be the closest he would ever be able to get to Sasuke. Even if he had the courage to tell Sasuke about his feelings he would never do it because he knew it was impossible for them to be together.
i think this is a new record for me to have 3 chapters in one day. i hope you like it