GAH! SUMIMASEN! I like… completely forgot about this story! I feel horrid!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So here's the next incredibly progressive chapter to try and make up for being such a horrid updater! YAY FOR AN ACTUAL PLOT (finally)!!!!!!! :D More then a year of nothing! GAH! I feel so horrid, but here's an uplifting message… I think my writing style has improved! –Le GASP- xD

R&R

Disclaimer: Hnnn…. Nothing here is mine my friends…. NOTHING. Not the characters, the show, the molecules in the air. Nope. None of it. Not mine. Sad Mitchi.

Naruto squirmed some as he awoke, sore all over his body. It was like trying to move through molasses as he lifted his arm up just enough to throw back his covers. Why was it that it seemed like a dream whenever he and the Uchiha fucked?

He didn't even want to think about that as he set about the seemingly impossible task of forcing himself to sit up. Tsukyoumi was a dangerous technique, even when used for pleasure only purposes it could drain chakra and energy easily. He blinked and looked beside him at a slight rustle. "Itachi." He observed aloud. The man didn't stir at all.

So the blonde had been right, the technique drained the Uchiha even more then it did him. Sighing he slipped back down, easily eavesdropping on the aimless conversation between Kisame and Deidara, and Tobi's snored from the next tent over. He couldn't fall back asleep, but god it hurt too much to move. He liked being here though, his lover's arm over his waist and the rhythmic breathing constant beside him. It was a pure bliss he had never experienced before.

Ignoring the little voice in the back of his mind that said he should get up and join the other two at the breakfast fire, he snuggled against the bare chest and sighed, eyes fluttering shut as his lips breathed out a single sentence. "Itachi… I love you."

There was a slight bit of tension in the chest Naruto slept on now as black eyes studied the tent ceiling above him. Was he supposed to say that three word sentence in return to the sleeping teen? Did he even know that he had been awake, not sleeping? He didn't know.

Wow.

Something the genius didn't know. He shook his head and pulled the gennin closer to his body, burying his lower face in the golden locks of the Uzumaki. Love. Was he even ready to let Naruto that far into his heart? To love him, like he could tell the blonde loved him? No. He couldn't love him like that, not yet… the placid frozen surface of his heart wasn't ready for that. No. Not at all.

But something was changing. Every time the boy would smile he felt his heart manage to produce a small frozen, stiff beat, cracking the ice with a sickening sound. How would love affect him when he was ready to accept it? . . . Would he ever accept it?

Pushing the thought from his mind he closed his heavy eyelids, begging for sleep to take him again before his mind got too far in the thought process for him to analyze his lover correctly. Sleep didn't take him though, its clear refusal to spare him the thought process was a nagging annoyance to the criminal as he cradled his angel. He liked the sound of that… his angel.

Kisame knew better then to wake the two. Surely death would accompany such an action. So he waited, making mindless chatter with Deidara, the second blonde in the traveling group. It was nearing noon and he was starting to worry. Surely one of them would be awake now, no? Standing with a groan he walked over. "Hey. You guys alive?" simple. To the point. And even a groan could answer that one. Two grumbled replies met his ears and he smirked and unzipped the tent enough to peek in. The two were entangled together; eyes closed and in each other's embrace. How sweet. But a quick analysis of their physical condition by eye only showed that neither was able to move today.

They would be late for their Leader, and of course neither male would be willing to be carried by someone. However, Pein was awaiting them, and keeping him waiting wasn't a good thing. So with a sigh he unzipped the tent flap fully and through a clean set of clothes at each other them. "Get dressed, I'll bring some food. We're leaving once you eat." No opinions were voices as Itachi waved a hand in partial agreement and Naruto snored lazily. Kisame simply chuckled.

Itachi was the first to speak. "I don't think I can move." Naruto snickered some.

"I know I can't." It was Itachi's turn to chuckle.

Kisame felt his eye twitch some and he shook his head. "Just… figure out how to get dressed, there is no way we're doing that for you dumb asses." He said, shaking his head some more before letting the tent flap fall back into place, cutting off the direct sunlight and replacing it with a slight glow of yellow through the water resistant canvas.

The Uchiha was the first to move some, grabbing the clothes and managing to bring them up to his pillow. Attempting to unfold them proved difficult with only enough energy to utilize one hand at a time and he ended up stuffing them under his head and re-closing his eyes. Naruto was next, forcing himself into a sitting position and tugging on his pants in slow painful movements, buttoning them with shaking hands. He might be able to go without a shirt. "'Tachi. You need pants at least." He said softly, his lips brushing over the other man's skin softly, like butterfly kisses against porcelain. Itachi grunted in recognition of the declarative statement and pulled the pants out from beneath his groggy head. The blonde snickered and flicked them open, shooing the covers from his way. "Lift your legs I'll help." He muttered absently, the Uchiha already maneuvering to a position in which his angel could tug the black fabric up over his boxer clad hips and fasten it.

It was with a sad recognition that both boys realized that any form of love making would be out of the question for a long while. Sighing Naruto flopped back down to the sleeping bag gracelessly, a small huff of air escaping from between his lips as his back made contact with the hardened surface that felt so comfortable for some reason. Most likely exhaustion. Groaning he turned to his side, slipping an arm around Itachi's waist and scooting himself close, inch by inch, until his forehead was pressed against the slender shoulder before him, and their legs resumed their previously tangled position.

They had been hoping for at least another half hours rest, but that was too much to ask for as Toby and Kisame pulled open the tent flaps and grabbed each one a tad bit roughly, flinging them over shoulders and walking them out to the dying fire, it's embers red and bright, even in the sunlight that faded it's true luster. Slightly burnt sausages were pushed into their hands, the grease making them slick and slimy, and small wooden cups of purified water thrust at them next. "We don't have long. We're behind as it is you two, un." Deidara stated with a slight scowl, his crayola yellow hair glistening some in the sunlight as he shook it free of its now broken red tie, pouting at hit with a slight curve of girlishly plump lips.

So what if they were late?

Naruto and Itachi had sure enjoyed the trip thus far.

Grumbling with a bit of disdain for being forced to move in such painful and pitiful states the blonde swallowed a little bit of his ego and opened his mouth for the sole purpose of consumption, taking in the slightly charcoaled nutrients that lukewarm breakfast meat had to offer. After this, they were being carried to the next camp site.

It would be a really bad time to be attacked if they had no strength and only three capable men to protect two others who had enough issues with having the energy to chew long enough not to choke at the current point in time. Traveling over the land of rice was not going to be pleasant, most likely bringing with it many levels of paranoia and painful memories to the Uzumaki boy. Memories he had wanted to forget once Sasuke returned to the village, but now that he was running from it, he understood some more of what his best friend had been feeling at the time, though not the hatred and feeling of desperation that the other had harbored inside his heart for so long.

Something heavy pressed against his shoulder and Naruto's eyes widened before the blue orbs flicked to the corner of his eye and he caught sight of Itachi's head resting against him for support. His lips twitched upward some and he turned his gaze to the ground, relishing the feeling of being loved and trusted enough that the Uchiha would willing display such affection for him, whether it be exhaustion driven or not.

Itachi shifted his head some, the raven locks grinding against the boys course black jacket as he nuzzled him, drawing warmth and comfort from the contact. So that was why couples seemed to enjoy snuggling so much, it brought so much comfort that he was actually enjoying it, mentally, emotionally and physically. Sighing he winced internally as he heard a proverbial groan of ice melting and shifting, cracking the surface. Such a blemish on an otherwise perfectly solid area, allowing for an insight of the depth below it, the emotions and weaknesses that he had trained so hard to repressed and rid of.

Fingers found each other, twisting and intertwining ever so loosely, the slender flanges fighting for the comfortable grasp and universal sign of love that they had been growing together over the time since Naruto's capture. There were no needed words anymore as Itachi tilted his head up some, his lips resting against the cartilage re-enforced ridges of the teen's outer ear and whispered a small sentence.

Three little words that changed Naruto's life forever. Something so small, he gasped and looked up from the ground with wide, fear filled eyes.

"Sasuke's behind us."

Dropping his lovers hand he twisted with surprising speed and almost feel backwards off the log as he came face to face with the youngest Uchiha. Where had the other three gone?

Laughing some Sasuke ruffled Naruto's hair, only to have his pale hand pushed away with a growl. "Hey Dobe, found you." He said arrogantly, like it was the best thing in the world.

Naruto knew the truth though. This was one of the worst things that could happen, for the most emotional of his pursuers to approach them, and catch his ex-lover holding hands with the brother he vowed to kill. Pretty much, it was exactly what it looked like, and the two were screwed, in the non-conventional meaning of the term of course.

Unable to fight back, or even run, both of them found rough gags being pressed between their jaws, chocking back insults and protests as scratchy ropes bound their wrists and ankles, wrapping around their bare torsos and restricting their already limited mobility. Seriously, where the hell had the other three Akatsuki members gone? The answer was apparent as Kisame winked at Itachi from high in a tree, pulling back and melting into the shadows.

Naruto growled low in his throat; great, it was a strategy thing. Fuck that, he didn't want to have to wait, he wanted to get away. But that was next to impossible in his state if he wasn't bound. The ropes simply ensured one thing, that he and Itachi were going to be stuck until their either recovered, or someone let them free.