Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto-sensei is stingy, won't even hand over Sasuke even though he's been ignoring him presently in the manga. Geeze.
A/N: I should have said so earlier, but uh, spoilers, couldn't tell you when, but they are in this story somewhere. Oh, there's violence too. Chapter 4
Naruto was getting desperate, they'd reached the boarder quickly, but a city, they would have to backtrack and go around. What was worse, it was a civilian city, which would mean nothing but trouble and possibly them getting imprisoned or killed. They had been watching the activity for an entire day to realize that there were no ninja's in sight, but that they knew the symbols of each ninja villages and who their enemies were.
So now they were headed for a two day trek around the city, and then they had to move by night since Kumogakure was a land of plains. The high altitude was effective against their stamina, and a drastic change compared to the dry air that resided over Konoha. The closeness to the open water made it humid and the air thin.
They had reached the border that would lead them across the plains and into a village that was allied with Iwagakure, an ally of Suna. They would have to take a boat the long way around into the territory of the village in front of Kumogakure. A village that had some of the most elite of the Village hidden in the Clouds. They were the ones that matched their Anbu and helped to protect the village from intruders.
They were set to leave at midnight, that way they could use the cover of night to get into the surrounding area. Neji had been stern about saying that he would travel into the village and find out where Sasuke was. If anything, he would convince him to follow him to meet up with them. But they were to remain in their place of hiding while he did so.
Naruto had argued the point, but Kiba and Sakura had agreed that Neji was the best to infiltrate the village. But he shouldn't go alone. After arguing Naruto had gotten his way and he would be accompanying Neji.
Now the four of them were running across the water, the boat had stopped a good mile away from the shore. Naruto had taken the lead, because even if he didn't feel like his usual self, his stamina was still greater and Neji had been using his Byakugan off and on since they left the boundaries of the Land of Fire.
Naruto stopped suddenly about twenty paces from the shore line. His chakra spiked in warning to his teammates and they stopped close to fifteen paces behind him. Naruto then quickly went through the hand signs for mist jutsu and the open water around them was quickly covered in mist. He made more quick hand signs and managed to cover their chakra signatures with the other three helping.
They parted ways swiftly, running across the water with the mist as cover to different parts of the shoreline. Once they stepped onto land the mist followed them through the land and they all headed across the plains swiftly and Naruto spotted a worn down shack that was surrounded by trees. He veered around it thinking, 'If they're aware of where we come from they may think we would look for a shelter surrounded by trees.'
He turned when he felt a slight spike in chakra from Neji and headed the way he was headed. He felt the spike in Sakura and Kiba's chakra as they headed the opposite way. Then it was gone, but Naruto was already on Neji's trail, following off to the side and a distance away.
They came to the village and Neji stopped just short before veering to the right, heading for a small building where Naruto could see some boats were kept. He headed that way and slipped inside behind Neji.
Neji looked at him, "This will have to do for the night. When we head out during the day, we need to swift, stealthy, and you should change your appearance somewhat."
Naruto sighed, "Yeah, I get it." He knew why Neji wanted him to change his appearance, one reason was in case Sasuke was in a violent mood. The other reason was due to the fact that Naruto had been a powerful force in defeating the Kumonin and he'd become well known by their countrymen as a threat. He wouldn't be surprised if they put a bounty on his head.
Neji took the first watch while Naruto forced himself to sleep for a few hours. Neji woke him at dawn and they headed out to find a better place to use as a shelter during the day. Naruto had quickly went through the motion of changing his appearance; brown hair, paler skin, green eyes, he'd remembered to cover his scars on his cheeks using the jutsu.
They found a small, empty home near the river that ran in front of the gates of Kumogakure. Neji slept for a short amount of time and they made a quick meal to eat and went over the plan of when they got into the village. Sakura would be coming at dark to engage the main guards by the gate, she would be using a sleeping jutsu and a genjutsu to make it appear as though those guards are still there.
It wasn't that surprising that she had become a genjutsu master. That would be when Neji and Naruto slipped into the village. Naruto was to search the surrounding area close to the gate quickly, in case he was found out because he was the one at the most risk with Kumogakure. Sakura would use her chakra to signal to them if they need to get out.
Neji would use the Byakugan to search the rest of the village, making sure to cloud his chakra signature. They all hoped that Sasuke would be within the first village, it would take longer, and be more dangerous to go to the village they knew was towards the back. But from what intell they had, they were truthfully at more risk infiltrating this village, the village where the more elite ninja of Kumogakure were.
That meant that their plan wasn't full proof, and the level of success was low. Naruto chanted over and over in his head, 'Let him be here, let him be here . . . '
They waited until dusk to leave the small home and then carefully and swiftly made their way towards the gates. There were at least fifteen ninja there, five Anbu, and the rest at least Jonin. The thick clouds around the village helped to hide them without use of their chakra.
Sasuke stopped what he was doing suddenly, he felt the presence of leaf nin. He was sure no one within Kumogakukre could sense it, his heightened senses from being an Uchiha granted him the ability to do so. He couldn't make out who the chakra belonged to exactly from where he was. He looked to the owner of the bookstore and finished shelving the books in his hand before walking over to him.
He was a short, chubby man in his fifties, short grey hair, pale skin, brown eyes. He was a cheerful man, but didn't talk much. He looked at Sasuke with a warm smile, "Is something the matter?"
Sasuke sighed, "I need to leave, I'm not feeling well."
The man nodded, "Then go, get some rest and take as long as you wish."
Sasuke nodded and turned to leave the empty book store. Before he could walk out the door the man said, "Take care Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke waved over his shoulder and set off into the night. It was already eight, so he had gotten a full days' worth. He headed quickly to his apartment, not stopping to say anything to Juugo. When he arrived at his apartment door his hand froze on the doorknob. He felt the signature of someone he knew. Someone he never thought would show up looking for him.
He smirked and thought to himself, Dobe, you'll get caught if they sense you. He unlocked the door and walked inside, he saw the shadow of the person inside move over to his bathroom. Sasuke scoffed and closed and locked the door behind him. He walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door hearing a muffled yelp behind the door that almost made him laugh.
He leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door, he hadn't even noticed the adrenaline passing through him at knowing who was behind the door. He hadn't noticed the hollow feeling diminishing almost entirely, or that he truly was glad Naruto had showed up.
After knocking he said in his usual calm, indifferent tone, "Dobe, I know it's you."
The door opened quickly and Sasuke had to jump away from the door to dodge a fist at his face. Sasuke was slightly caught off guard by his appearance. He noticed the brown hair, green eyes, the pale skin, he'd used a jutsu to cover his appearance. Naruto was glaring at him, "Teme, I'm not a dobe."
Sasuke smirked, "I could sense your chakra from the other side of the village."
Naruto bristled then sighed and calmed himself, "We came here to take you home."
Sasuke tensed and averted his gaze to the floor, he shifted and moved over to his bed sitting down on it. Naruto was caught off guard by the suddenly defeated look to Sasuke. He'd kept up his physique, but there was just a dead look to him. His longer hair looked uncared for, the usually spiked hair at the back was long and flat, his bangs easily covered his face. Naruto looked around the lifeless apartment, black and red, other than the white walls and tile, those were the only colors, black and red.
Sasuke still hadn't said anything, Naruto released the jutsu that had changed his appearance and looked at his best friend. He looked tired, old, and everything in his apartment said dull, lifeless. He felt a part of him come alive again at being in the same room as his best friend, but a part of him was hurting at seeing the once proud Sasuke Uchiha looking so defeated.
Naruto took a hesitant step towards him, Sasuke didn't even acknowledge the movement. Naruto could remember the journals he had read, why Sasuke didn't want to return, every reason. When he was within reach of Sasuke, he stopped when Sasuke said, "Don't."
Naruto took a deep breath, "Teme, what the hell . . . what's happened to you?"
Sasuke remained unmoving and staring blankly at the ground. Naruto was hesitant only because Sasuke looked out of it. But he planned to shatter his doubts that Naruto felt the same way about him. He stepped forward and Sasuke flinched when Naruto reached out and tilted his head up.
"What're you . . . " came a whisper from Sasuke, but it died in his throat when his eyes locked with Naruto's. He turned his head away and shoved Naruto away from him with his hands on his chest. Naruto fell back with a growl.
"What the hell teme?!"
Sasuke could feel that small amount of warmth leaving his hands tingling. He glared at Naruto, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Naruto got up and glared back, "I should be asking you the same thing. You gave me those scrolls, journals written by you and your brother and you didn't expect me to come after you? Baka!"
Sasuke tensed, "No, I didn't, I gave them to you so you wouldn't."
Naruto snarled, "Bullshit teme! That feeling, the feeling you hated to feel, the reason you left . . . You're an idiot. Why in the hell would you want to run away from that?"
"I wasn't running . . ." came a defeated whisper.
Naruto shook his head and let out an agitated sigh, "And you're supposed to be a genius."
Sasuke was caught completely off guard when Naruto closed in on him and wrapped his arm around his waist and then with the other hand tilted his head and kissed him. Sasuke felt his breath hitch in his throat, his mind went completely blank.
When he could finally think again he pulled away and backed away from Naruto, his hand reflexively going to his lips. He looked at Naruto in disbelief and then felt anger flash through him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing dobe?"
Naruto glared at him and walked towards him, Sasuke instinctively backed away and ended up backed against the wall by his window. Naruto boxed him in with his hands placed on the wall on either side of his head.
Naruto locked eyes with him and for all the strength he once possessed, Sasuke couldn't turn away. The close proximity of having Naruto there, and the haze from that kiss left him unable to move. It has electrified his blood, bringing back the life in him, but for some reason he couldn't keep hold of it, there was something he still needed to fully believe Naruto was there. He didn't know what else was missing.
He finally focused his eyes, started to notice the emotions swirling in those blue eyes. Emotions he felt surfacing, something he hadn't felt in years, the aching longing for the one looking at him resurfaced as well. Sasuke felt exposed with those eyes locked on his own, as though Naruto could see right through him.
Naruto smirked, "You look as though you've seen a ghost teme. Are you really that shocked that the feeling is mutual, has been mutual for a long time now?"
Sasuke swallowed, he felt flustered suddenly, "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you come?"
Naruto laughed, "I came to bring you home, with me."
Sasuke smirked, "And if I don't want to leave?"
"Don't play games with me teme, you're coming back with me, that's final."
Sasuke scoffed and moved to shove Naruto away, Naruto caught his wrists and slammed him into the wall. Sasuke glared at him, "Let go."
Naruto shook his head, he couldn't figure out why he felt angry, why his blood boiled at seeing Sasuke again. He'd thought his anger had disappeared for Sasuke. But it was still there, there was still anger there, anger because Sasuke had left and now he wanted to argue the fact that he was there, that he wanted to take him home.
"No, not this time teme. I'm not taking no for an answer. You escaped me time and again, but not this time. I refuse to let you leave me again."
Sasuke scoffed, "As though you can stop me."
Naruto growled, "I can and I will."
Sasuke closed his eyes, "Just leave and let me live here in peace."
Naruto slammed his wrists against the walls and Sasuke's eyes snapped open to lock with Naruto's. The hurt, anger, and a intensity in Naruto's eyes made his breath catch in his throat.
"Teme, you aren't living at all here. Nothing is here, scrolls and books. You've only read two books, the rest of them are untouched. Sure you have black and red everywhere, but you're trapping yourself in your past. You aren't living at all, you're slowly killing yourself. I am not going to let you do that."
"Let me?"
Naruto leaned forward and whispered in his ear, making him shudder despite his renowned self control. The moistened heat of Naruto's breath, "You heard me teme."
They both froze when they felt the spike of Sakura's chakra. Naruto hissed and released Sasuke, "Damn, we don't have time for this."
Sasuke scoffed, "She came as well?"
Naruto looked at him with a smirk, "Don't get any ideas teme, Neji will skin you."
Sasuke smirked and glared when Naruto clasped his hand around his wrist, "Come on teme, we have to get out of here."
Sasuke stood his ground, "I already told you . . . "
Naruto turned around and glared back at him, "And I told you, you are coming back, this isn't up for discussion."
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
Naruto grinned and Sasuke scowled at the shit-eating grin on Naruto's face. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto," his grin fell and he looked at Sasuke seriously, "Your best friend, and the one you're in love with despite how much you try to deny it. So shut up and come on."
Naruto didn't give him much choice, he pulled Sasuke to him and then they were gone in a puff of smoke. Sasuke scowled when his feet hit the ground outside the gates of the village, Naruto still had an arm tightly wrapped around his waist and was holding him with his back to Naruto's chest.
Neji appeared next to them and Naruto released him, but kept hold of his wrist. 'Why wasn't he fighting him,' his mind asked. Sasuke sighed, he knew why, because he really did want Naruto to drag him back to Konoha this time. But that didn't mean he would make it easy on him.
"Dobe, I already told you to let go."
Naruto looked at him and laughed, "Not happening teme," then he was pulled forward to run behind him as Naruto and Neji ran away from the gates. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder as he felt the Kumonin chasing after them. He nearly lost his footing when Naruto pulled him sharply to the right avoiding a shower of kunai and shuriken. Neji looked over at them as he dodged the kunai and shuriken effortlessly. Sasuke noticed a flash of pink in front of him and then felt his other wrist grabbed.
He looked at Sakura, 'Well, she's changed.'
She offered a forced smile and addressed Naruto, "You and Neji take care of them, I will regroup with Kiba-kun."
Naruto nodded and pulled out a metal wrist band from his right pocket. Sasuke scowled, 'He brought a chakra repressor?'
He released Sasuke's wrist in his hold and snapped the bracelet on then said, "Don't try anything teme."
Sasuke glared at him, "You actually thought this out dobe?"
Naruto smirked, "Big surprise, we outsmarted the genius teme."
Before Sasuke could argue further Sakura pulled him away from Naruto and Naruto leapt away at the same time, avoiding more kunai and shuriken. Sasuke scoffed at the feeling of loss he'd felt when Naruto had first released him and then when he'd jumped away.
He watched over his shoulder as Sakura led him away from them. Naruto and Neji were easily taking out one ninja at a time while avoiding being hit. He couldn't help feeling astounded at how much skill Naruto had, he effortlessly avoided every attack and stealthily took out Anbu and Jonin alike. It was like watching a Jonin take down genin's, there just seemed to be a huge gap between his opponents and Naruto. He reluctantly looked away when Sakura pulled him sharply towards the water.
Kiba was standing on the shoreline waiting for them, he growled at seeing Sasuke. He offered a smile to Sakura, "Where are the they at?"
Sakura sighed, "They will be here shortly, it seems that they didn't like the idea of us taking Sasuke-kun away."
"Figures," Kiba glared at Sasuke, "You didn't join their ranks did you?"
Sasuke glared back, "Does it look like I did?"
Kiba scowled, "Bastard," he mumbled under his breath. Their attention was averted when they heard the rustling of approaching ninja. Sasuke already knew that it wasn't Naruto or Neji, he tensed and looked at Sakura, "Take this bracelet off."
She looked at him, "Can't, Naruto's chakra is repressing yours. Only he can remove it."
Kiba cracked his knuckles, "Don't worry about it bastard, I'll take care of them."
Sakura made to protest but Kiba lunged at the ninja taking two out with brute strength and knocking them onto their backs. He then moved to take down the rest, but they avoided him and then he was showered with kunai and shuriken, but when they struck him it was a doppelganger. Then the nine enemy ninja collided with the ground and Kiba landed on the ground before him, his other eight doppelgangers disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Then Sasuke had to suppress a laugh when Naruto appeared next to him and he jumped and then was cuffed in the head.
"Idiot, you're supposed to be suppressing chakra use."
Kiba turned to him while rubbing the back of his head, "Just because you outrank me doesn't mean you can tell me what to do!"
Naruto growled, "That's exactly what it means!"
Sasuke let a chuckle pass through his lips and felt Sakura and Naruto's eyes looking at him. He sighed, scoffed, and glared at them both. Naruto suddenly stood right next to him and Sasuke had to suppress the urge to jump. Naruto put an arm around his shoulder, "I heard that teme, think that was funny?"
Sasuke scowled and continued to glare at him. Sakura sighed and released Sasuke's wrist then turned to the water. She glanced over at Neji, "We have to get to allied land or another war might start."
Neji nodded and turned to Naruto, "Remove the wrist band so we can leave."
Naruto looked at Neji, "Can the two of you travel that far?"
Neji scoffed, "We're long since genin."
Naruto huffed, "Yeah, yeah, suit yourself."
He grabbed Sasuke's wrist and tapped the wrist band with his finger. It fell to the ground and Naruto picked it up, placed it in his pocket, and grabbed Sasuke's wrist again, "Let's go teme, unless you've forgotten how to walk on water?"
Sasuke scoffed, "Not likely, only you would forget something so basic dobe."
Naruto chuckled and pulled him forward towards the water without warning. Sasuke fell straight into the water and when he resurfaced he scowled at Naruto, "BAKA!"
Naruto stood in front of him on the water and offered his hand to him, "Whose the dobe now teme?"
Sasuke scoffed and batted Naruto's hand away and focusing his chakra in his hands pulled himself out of the water. Once he regained his footing on the water, drenched in salty water making him shiver, he quickly went through jutsu signs and managed to dry himself off using a suppressed amount of fire jutsu.
Naruto chuckled, "You would be able to do that teme." He clasped his wrist again and started to run across the water pulling Sasuke behind him. Sasuke scowled, "I'm capable of following without holding your hand dobe."
Naruto glanced at him over his shoulder, "It's just assurance that you won't run away again."
Sasuke sighed and moved to run beside him. Sakura and Kiba followed behind them and Neji quickly took the lead. By the time they got to the shore again and then to an inn to rest Sasuke felt more than exhausted. It had been a long time since he'd used his chakra and he felt the fatigue of it more than ever.
Naruto hadn't given him the chance to argue when he got a room for the two of them to share. They all went to a ramen shop for dinner, Naruto was persistent about it. Sasuke wouldn't admit that he was glad for that. All those times of him going to a ramen shop and wishing Naruto were there with him.
Kiba had wandered off to 'scope the town,' after they ate dinner. Sakura and Neji had wandered off to do the same together. So that left Naruto and Sasuke alone together, and that had Sasuke feeling a little uneasy. Naruto pretended not to notice, but he had let go of Sasuke's wrist when they'd arrive in the village.
He was acting as though everything were normal between them and it aggravated him, but he couldn't find a way to say anything about it. They walked down the street in silence and Naruto sighed and finally broke the silence, "Teme?"
Sasuke glared at him, "What?"
Naruto sighed again and kept looking forward as they continued to walk, "Why did you run away from me?"
Sasuke stopped walking and closed his eyes, "I . . . "
Naruto stopped a few paces ahead and turned around to look at him. He walked over to stand in front of Sasuke and tilted his head to make him look at him. He then said softly when Sasuke kept his eyes closed, "Sasuke?"
Sasuke opened his eyes but he averted his eyes, "I can't . . . I didn't think . . . "
Naruto nodded, "I know, it was really just rhetorical."
Sasuke glared at him and backed away from him then walked around him and started down the street again. Sasuke growled, "Dobe."
Naruto laughed behind him and then turned and ran up to him, "Teme, I was just messing with you. Come on, lighten up."
Sasuke huffed and continued, picking up his pace. Naruto grabbed his wrist again and before he knew it he was spun around and his back was against the wall in an alley. Sasuke glared at Naruto, "What the hell, why do you keep . . . "
Naruto cut him off, "No, why do you keep trying to act as though you don't feel anything at all? Why do you keep trying to fight it?"
Sasuke made to reply, but Naruto's lips pressed against his again. He tensed and then gradually let himself relax into the kiss. Sasuke was more aware now than he'd been before. Now he could feel the mixture of soft and rough of Naruto's lips. He closed his eyes and moved his lips against Naruto's.
Naruto smirked into the kiss and decided to be more daring, his tongue swept across Sasuke's bottom lip. Sasuke shuddered slightly and parted his lips.
Sasuke felt intoxicated, the heat radiating off Naruto, the feel of him pressing him into the wall, holding one of his wrist against the wall, the feel of his lips pressed against his own. He tried to supress the shudder that ran through him when Naruto's rough tongue swept across his bottom lip.
Naruto moved the hand he had placed on the wall to Sasuke's shoulder as his tongue explored every point of Sasuke's heated mouth. He could feel Sasuke's skin heating under his hand, his usually cold skin was heating under his touch as he moved his hand down Sasuke's arm.
Sasuke felt a moan rise in his throat suddenly when Naruto pulled his tongue into his mouth by sucking on it. He felt Naruto smirk and press into him even more while at the same time his mouth released his tongue only so that his tongue could run along the underside of Sasuke's. He managed to coax Sasuke's tongue into his own mouth, and Sasuke, refusing to be outdone, explored his mouth eagerly. He could still taste the ramen from dinner in Naruto's mouth, but that was a taste he expected coming from Naruto.
He jumped when Naruto's hand finally made it's presence very well known by squeezing his ass. Then he felt himself shudder again when Naruto's hand smoothed down the back of his thigh and then pulled his leg up to rest on his hip.
Naruto then ran his fingers along Sasuke's forearm and pulled it to wrap around his neck. Before Sasuke could do much else his wrist was released as Naruto's hands cupped his ass and lifted him so that both of his legs and arms wrapped around Naruto to keep from falling.
He moaned into their kiss when their erections brushed together through their clothes as he was pressed into the wall again. Naruto broke the kiss and pressed into him more to whisper huskily in his ear, "I guess you do feel."
Sasuke felt blood rush to his groin, Why does he effect me this much? He couldn't even think straight and he felt content letting Naruto have control, it was relieving in a way. He shuddered when Naruto licked the shell of his ear, then that mouth was trailing kisses down his jawline and to his neck. He felt another shudder pass through him and his moved his hand to bite down on his clenched hand as his head moved on it's own to give Naruto more access to his throat when Naruto's tongue swept over the skin where the curse mark used to be.
He couldn't believe how sensitive that spot was, his blood was drumming in his ears and drowning out his pants and the muffled groans from Naruto nipping and licking at his skin.
His other hand moved to dig his nails into Naruto's shoulder when Naruto bit down on that sensitized spot. Naruto smirked and then pulled away from that spot, he pulled Sasuke's hand away from his mouth and noticed he'd broken skin from biting down on his hand so hard. He locked their lips again, this time kissing Sasuke hard enough to leave bruises and then he pulled away and Sasuke was leaned against the wall trying to calm his breathing.
Sasuke groaned when Naruto cupped his erection through his clothes and then he shuddered when Naruto whispered in that husky voice in his ear; "I think we'd better save the rest for a more private atmosphere teme."
Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up and in frustration shoved Naruto back. Naruto chuckled agains and pulled Sasuke by the hand out of the alley. Sasuke calmed himself down and followed Naruto back to the inn.