Chapter 11

Naruto and Sasuke moved up the path, heading towards Orochimaru's hideout, they were both scanning around them constantly, checking for traps and watching for any henchmen that might show up. Sasuke wasn't sure exactly what they would be met with. He had killed Orochimaru, but he wasn't sure if word had reached this far or not, or how the people here would react to the news.

They came upon the entrance, pausing to check out the surrounding area. They saw no movement, so they proceeded into the entrance.

"Do we know where we are heading?" Naruto asked quietly from Sasuke's side.

"I have a pretty good idea." Sasuke replied, reaching out to brush Naruto's hand as they walked. He felt Naruto brush his back in response, bringing a small smile to Sasuke's face.

"Alright, well lead the way then. Let's find him and ditch this place, it smells like a dead snake in here." Naruto said, wrinkling his nose. Sasuke chuckled, picking up the pace a little and taking the lead.

Finally, they came upon a door that Sasuke stopped at, they hadn't come across anyone yet on their way through the hideout.

"I think this is it." Sasuke whispered. He had only been here a couple of times with Orochimaru, but he was pretty sure this was the correct door. Naruto went to open the door, only to be stopped by Sasuke's hand on his arm. Naruto looked at Sasuke.

"Wha-" His words were cut off as he was pushed against the door, Sasuke's mouth on his. Sasuke felt Naruto tense at first, then his arms wrapped around Sasuke, pulling him close. He felt Naruto's tongue at his lips, so he parted them, allowing Naruto's tongue to move around his mouth, drawing a moan out of Sasuke. He ran his hand through Naruto's hair, grabbing a handful from the back and pulling, making Naruto gasp into his mouth.

Sasuke released Naruto's hair, moving his hand to the side of his face and pulling back slightly, simmering down to soft kisses. He put his forehead on Naruto's with his eyes closed for a moment.

"It's going to be a while before we are truly alone again," Sasuke whispered. He caressed Naruto's cheek. "I just wanted to kiss you one more time before we constantly have an audience." He opened his eyes, looking at Naruto as he moved back.

He could see that Naruto was grinning, which made him smile a little. Naruto moved forward, catching Sasuke in an embrace, his face in the crook of his neck, he could feel Naruto's breath on his skin, sending shivers down his spine. He wrapped his arms around Naruto, his chest feeling becoming tight again. He inhaled Naruto's scent, pulling back.

He kissed Naruto softly one more time before he turned towards the door, opening it and stepping through, his hand on his sword.

Slowly moving further into the room, Sasuke looked around the room, nodding. This was the correct room. There were giant tanks of water everywhere and thick powerlines hooked into computer banks. After they cleared the room to make sure no one was there, Sasuke stood in front of the biggest tank of water, knocking on the glass.

After a minute, there was a disturbance in the water, but nothing appeared.

"Sasuke, well I guess better late than never, huh? You finally following through on your promise?" Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I could always leave you here, Suigetsu. Don't test me." Sasuke said as he turned to Naruto. "Naruto?" Naruto looked from Sasuke to the glass and back, flashing him a smile and nodding, but with a questioning look in his eye. "My lightning style is his weakness, so Rasengan is better." Sasuke said.

"Oh! Kakashi was telling me something about that! Not that I remember most of it." Naruto said, a little embarrassed as he walked towards the glass. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto completed the hand sign, creating a copy of himself. They began working together. "Rasengan!" They both said.

Sasuke found himself staring at Naruto. As Naruto had finished the signs for Shadow Clone Jutsu, he had glanced at Sasuke, holding his gaze for a moment, a glint in his eye, smirk on his face. It gave Sasuke shivers down his spine, and he could feel a tightening in his crotch. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what Naruto had in mind, but this was no time to be distracted by that, so he shoved that line of thinking to the back of his, reaching down and adjusting himself a little. A move that Naruto did not miss, smirking a bit more as he turned towards the glass.

Naruto shattered the glass, jumping backwards and onto a computer bank to avoid the rush of water spilling out. Sasuke followed suit, hopping onto the one closest to him. Morphing from the water was a man, he was stretching as his body formed all the way. Suigetsu finished stretching and walked towards Sasuke.

"Thanks for finally getting me out of here, Sasuke my man." He said, raising his hand up to put it on Sasuke's shoulder, stopping only inches away from contact when Naruto's hand stopped him.

Naruto was standing somewhat in front of Sasuke, facing Suigetsu. Sasuke placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, catching his attention. Naruto turned slightly, glancing at him. Sasuke had never seen that look in Naruto's eyes, they were almost like cold steel. As soon as he made eye contact with Sasuke, Naruto released Suigetsu's hand and broke out into a wide smile.

"Hey, Sharky! I'm Naruto!" He said brightly, covering up his earlier hostility almost instantly. He offered his hand to Suigetsu to shake, head cocked to the side, almost daring Suigetsu to challenge what had just happened.

"Wow, where did you find this one, Sasuke boy?" Suigetsu said, taking Naruto's hand and looking him up and down. "He's pretty damn cute! Plus, he thinks he's all that, just how I like 'em!" Suigetsu smirked at Naruto, leaning close. Sasuke moved forward, putting his hand in Naruto's.

"He is mine, Suigetsu." Sasuke said, looking straight at him. Suigetsu's eyes widened slightly, smile fading just a bit. Naruto squeezed Sasuke's hand slightly; Sasuke squeezed back.

"Of course he is!" Suigetsu laughed, letting go of Naruto's hand, putting both hands up to show that he was defeated. "So, what's your plan?" Suigetsu walked around the lab, picking up anything he thought was interesting.

"To kill my brother." Sasuke said simply.

"Oh, you mean your crazy strong older brother, a member of the Akatsuki? How are you planning to do that?" Suigetsu chuckled.

"You'll see. Let's go." Sasuke said, motioning for Naruto to go in front of him and move towards the exit.

"Okay, but we need to make a stop first. There's this sword I want. I might follow you after that, but definitely not before." Suigetsu said.

"First we are grabbing Karin and Jugo." Sasuke said, still moving to the exit.

Suigetsu's eyes widened. "Ugh, you really want Karin on the team? She's obnoxious! Plus, I have a feeling that your boyfriend here isn't going to like her very much." Hearing Suigetsu call Naruto his boyfriend made his breath catch. Recovering quickly, Sasuke turned and gave Suigetsu a hard look, saying nothing. Suigetsu put his hands up. "Okay, okay, just checking, that's all." He put his hands up again. "Then you should probably know that they all got moved here a while back."

Sasuke shrugged. "That makes our job easier then." Leaving the room, they began searching for the other members of the team.

They found Karin first. Sasuke was the first to enter the room, hand on his sword. Glancing around the room he saw that only Karin was there. She was sitting behind a desk, shuffling paperwork. She saw him enter and jumped up, immediately running to Sasuke, embracing him. Sasuke tensed up, growling. She always did this, hanging on him anytime she was near him. She was more annoying than Sakura was, if that was possible.

Sasuke removed her arms from around him, holding her at arm's length. "Karin. Don't act so familiar with me." He released her. "Take us to -" He was interrupted by Naruto grabbing Karin by the throat and slamming her ass up against the desk, hands on the surface of it and eyes wide as she stared at Naruto.

Naruto was leaning over her slightly, face close to hers. "He. Is. Mine." He growled at her.

Sasuke sighed. This wasn't going to go well. He wasn't sure what was going on with Naruto, he didn't seem like a jealous person, but then again it had been a long time since Sasuke had been around him, so maybe that he changed. He remembered what Kabuto had said about Orochimaru's and his encounter with Naruto. Maybe this wasn't so out of character for him.

Either way, this needed to be handled. Walking over to Naruto, Sasuke had his back towards Karin, standing right next to Naruto. Sasuke placed his arm across Naruto's chest, resting his hand on Naruto's opposite shoulder.

"Release her, Naruto. Now." His tone left no room for discussion. Naruto looked at him, his eyes a little wild, but released Karin's neck so that she could breathe.

Sasuke crossed his leg behind Naruto's and pushed with his arm, dropping him to the ground. He straddled Naruto, hand at his throat. Naruto was looking up at him, a little shocked but also with a glint in his eye that Sasuke knew well at this point. He lowered his mouth to Naruto's ear and kept his voice low, murmuring in his ear. "I am yours. But you cannot attack everyone who touches me." He came back up, looking at Naruto to see if he got the message.

The hard look in his eye had almost faded and he looked a little apologetic now. "Yeah, I hear you. You're right. Sorry." Naruto mumbled, looking away. Sasuke sighed, leaning down and pressing his lips against Naruto's. He froze for a second, surprised, but quickly returned the kiss, his arms moving around Sasuke's body, pulling him closer. Sasuke moaned softly into the kiss, being careful so only Naruto could hear it. Naruto clutched him tighter in response. Sasuke ran his thumb along Naruto's jawline, pulling back a bit to look at Naruto, their foreheads touching.

Looking intently into Naruto's eyes he whispered. "I am yours, and you are mine." Naruto's eyes softened, the last of the steel fading away as he nodded, putting his hand against Sasuke's face, caressing his cheek. Sasuke gave him one final kiss before getting up, holding out a hand to help Naruto up as well.

Sasuke looked at Karin and Suigetsu. "I will not stop him the next time." He looked from one to the other, making sure that the both of them understood the situation completely. "Anyone have a problem?"

Both shook their heads, eyes wide, Karin reached up touching her throat where Naruto's hand had been.

Karin still had her hand at her neck.

Naruto looked at both Karin and Suigetsu. "It won't happen again." Sasuke could hear a little steel in his voice still and his eyes were hard again, giving them a warning besides Sasuke's own. Sasuke saw Karin swallow, nodding in response.

"Karin, take us to Jugo." Sasuke said. Karin started, looking at Sasuke like he was insane.

"Why do you want to see him? He's crazy!" She exclaimed, looking a little frantic.

"Lead the way. Now." Sasuke said, leaving no room for argument, gesturing towards the door. Karin sighed, stalking out the door. After Karin and Suigetsu had exited, he could hear Suigetsu giving Karin shit about having no concept of personal space.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, walking over and putting his hand on his cheek, looking into his eyes. "Are you okay, knucklehead?" He asked softly. Naruto placed his hand over Sasuke's.

"Yeah, I'm sorry Sasuke. I got carried away. I don't know what is up with me today. Lately actually, I keep filling up with rage over the littlest things." He sighed, closing his eyes. Sasuke embraced him, holding him close.

"Forget about it, knucklehead. Just trust me, I don't want anyone but you." He held Naruto a little tighter. He felt Naruto nod.

Releasing each other they followed the other two, catching up quickly.

"Well, you haven't changed a bit have you, Suigetsu? Just as annoying as ever I see, though I guess what was I expecting from a guy like you?" Karin was saying. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 'This is going to be fun.' He thought sarcastically as they continued to bicker.

They walked for a while before Karin stopped in front of the most reinforced steel door Sasuke had seen yet. "Oh, shut up. We are here." Karin said. Sasuke felt Naruto glance at him, gave him a reassuring nod and moved forward to open the door. Nodding at Suigetsu to help him with it while Naruto hung back, getting ready.

After they had unlocked the door, Suigetsu moved to open the door, just as it slammed open, catching him between the door and wall, his body liquifying to absorb the impact.

A figure rushed past Sasuke, going after Karin, Sasuke quickly stopped the figure by wrapping a snake around the figure, holding him in place. Sasuke walked in front of him, seeing that it was a red-haired humanoid whose body seemed somewhat altered. Motioning for Karin to get out of the way, he saw that Naruto had a shadow clone out and was preparing a rasengan.

Sasuke waved Naruto off. "We need to talk to him, not fight." Naruto nodded, releasing the jutsu but keeping the shadow clone. Sasuke turned his attention to Karin as Suigetsu began to solidify once more. "This is Jugo?" He asked.

"Yeah - yes that is him. I told you, he's crazy! Now do you believe me?" She started to get up to go to Sasuke's side but one look from Sasuke stopped her.

"Jugo, join us." Sasuke said to Jugo, standing in front of him.

Jugo threw his head back, cackling. "You want me to join you!? HAHAHAHAHA Gods! I'm going to kill every single one of you! Including that cute blonde hiding behind you. I will save him for last though!" He screeched at them, struggling against the snake that was binding him.

Sasuke could tell that the snake wasn't going to keep him in place much longer. Doubting that he was going to be able to talk Jugo into joining them with words alone, he turned to Karin.

"Karin, how does the curse mark affect him?" Sasuke said, activating his sharingan to study Jugo.

"He's a whole different person when it takes over, he becomes a homicidal maniac. You can't reason with him." Karin said, eyes glued to Jugo. "But it works about the same as yours Sasuke."

"Okay. So, this should work then." Sasuke turned, looking at Naruto, who had read his mind and was already preparing a rasengan. "Don't kill him."

Naruto nodded, using his shadow clone for a leg up, hitting Jugo from above and knocking him out. Once he lost consciousness, Sasuke saw Jugo's body transform into a normal looking guy. Naruto caught Jugo as Sasuke released him, picking him up and placing him back in the cell. It seemed like a good idea to start in there, just in case they needed to utilize the heavy door.

When Jugo began stirring, Naruto and Sasuke were standing over him, weapons drawn while Karin and Suigetsu were standing by, halfway out of the door, ready to slam it shut if necessary.

Sasuke moved forward a bit, crouching down to eye level with Jugo just as his eyes opened. Sasuke patiently waited till it seemed like Jugo was more alert. Sasuke sensed Naruto tense up as he crouched.

"Jugo, join our team." Sasuke said again. Jugo started, looking at him quickly, almost looking frightened. This was a big change from before. Sasuke stood up, moving back to Naruto.

"Didn't you just see that?! You need to get out. Please! Please leave this cell! Lock me back in!" Jugo scrambled to the corner furthest from Naruto and Sasuke, trying to get as far away from them as he could.

"Sasuke, I don't know that this guy is going to be able to help us in his current state. And the alternative isn't much better it doesn't look like. I say we get out of here." Suigetsu said, leaning against the door jam.

Jugo's head swung to look at Sasuke. "Sasuke?" He calmed slightly, staring at him. "You are Uchiha Sasuke?" He came a little closer. Naruto took a step forward, towards Jugo who stopped himself, raising his hands.

"You are the one that Kimimaru went after. He believed that you were the correct one to take his place as Orochimaru's vessel." Jugo said, seeming to calm down. Sasuke heard Naruto growl a little at the mention of Orochimaru's name.

Sasuke gauged Jugo quickly. He was obviously frightened of losing control again and for some reason Kimimaru calmed him. He thought back to what he knew about Kimimaro. He was supposed to be Orochimaru's next body but ended up getting sick. If he remembered correctly, he could use his own bones as weapons.

"Kimimaru helped you keep control. Didn't he?" Jugo nodded. Sasuke stepped forward, putting his hand on Jugo's shoulder, making Naruto tense up more than he already had. "I will help you now."

After they had collected Jugo, they exited the hideout, traveling a ways away to make camp. Orochimaru's hideouts were always a draw for people looking to pillage things, not that they ever got far with all Orochimaru's traps.

They had gathered supplies from the hideout, so they set up the tents, each having their own aside from Naruto and Sasuke who shared. Naruto got the fire going while Sasuke was preparing the food to cook. He was making a simple stew since there were now more people.

While he was cooking, the others began talking amongst themselves, all except Naruto who was sitting to the side, watching Sasuke cooking with a small smile on his face. His smile got bigger when he caught Sasuke's eye. Sasuke smiled a little and shook his head. 'Knucklehead'

"Did you hear what happened at Konoha?" Karin was asking Suigetsu who shook his head.

"I've been in a tank of water, we don't really get current events in there, Karin." Suigetsu stated, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, shut up!" Karin said, smacking him.

"What about Konoha, Karin?" Sasuke interrupted before they could start really getting into it. Glancing at Naruto he could see that he had gone still, the blood draining from his face.

"Um, Sasuke! How about that stew, when is it going to be done? Why couldn't we have ramen instead?" Naruto called out to Sasuke, seemingly to try and distract him from the conversation. Sasuke's gaze slid over to Naruto. 'Why is he trying to avoid this topic?' Sasuke thought. Everyone in camp was still.

Sasuke stirred the stew again, throwing in the last of the ingredients into the pot before getting up and walking to Naruto. "Either you can tell me, or they can." He said, squatting down in front of Naruto. "I would rather hear it from you, Naruto."

Naruto looked away, biting his lip, his eyes glistening. Sasuke took Naruto's hand, squeezing it. "I don't want you to think of me any differently." Naruto said quietly, shaking his head, he pulled his hand from Sasuke's, getting up and stalking out of camp. Sasuke sighed, looking at Karin.

"Explain." He said, steel in his voice.

Karin started talking hesitantly, not sure what was happening. "Well Pain from the Akatsuki attacked the village." She was looking from Naruto's retreating figure to Sasuke, trying to figure out what was happening. "Um, it seems that the nine tails Jinchuriki lost control in the middle of the fight and some people ended up dying. Namely one of the legendary Sanin."

Sasuke watched Naruto as he listened. 'So that's what happened.' Though Sasuke knew that couldn't be the whole story. He figured he would give Naruto a few minutes before following, so he got up and stirred the stew.

"Watch the stew, it should only need a few more minutes." He said to no one specific as he walked the direction that Naruto had walked.

He had walked about fifty feet from camp before he came across Naruto leaning against a tree. Sasuke could see his shoulders shaking. He walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Naruto shrugged him off, moving away.

"Why do you think that would make me view you differently?" Sasuke asked, leaning against the tree, not moving to close the distance.

"Why couldn't you just leave it alone, Sasuke!? Why couldn't you just trust me?!" Naruto yelled, facing Sasuke.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto. 'Why is he getting so worked up about me knowing?' He pushed off the tree, walking towards Naruto. "I asked a question. Why would it bother me, Naruto? I'm a rogue ninja, remember? I might not have killed anyone, but I did desert Konoha." He raised his hand to touch Naruto's face. Naruto smacked it away so he let it hang at his side instead.

"Just leave me alone, Sasuke." Naruto said bitterly.

Sasuke watched him, working through what he knew. Pain had attacked. Naruto had faced him, at some point the nine tails had taken over. Naruto had come to find Sasuke to avenge Jiraiya's death. A legendary Sanin was dead. His eyes widened slightly.

"You killed Jiraiya. When you went nine tails. Didn't you?" Sasuke breathed. Naruto froze. Sasuke had assumed that it was the fifth Hokage, Tsunade. But this made more sense.

"It's none of your business, Sasuke!" Naruto screamed, becoming very agitated and advancing towards Sasuke. Sasuke backed up a little, getting clear of the tree. Naruto threw his fist at Sasuke, who easily dodged the blow. Naruto kept coming with punches that Sasuke dodged easily, infuriating Naruto more. He drew a kunai, holding it backwards into a readied position, rushing Sasuke and slicing at his throat with the Kunai.

Blocking it with his own, he tried to reason with Naruto. "Naruto, calm down. It's okay." He really didn't want to fight Naruto, especially not like this. He needed to find some way to stop him so he could talk to him calmly.

'This might not go well.' He thought, dropping his kunai with a thud. Naruto's eyes widened as he hesitated, dropping his blade a little. Sasuke took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed his hand with the kunai, pushing it to the side and tackling him to the ground.

They rolled around for a minute, each trying to get the upper hand. Finally, Sasuke landed on top, grabbing Naruto's wrists and slamming them into the ground above his head, holding him still. Naruto tried to buck Sasuke off him to no avail. He kept struggling, tears streaming down his face until he finally laid still, looking away from Sasuke.

"Finally. Could you look at me now please?" Sasuke said, a little breathless from the scuffle and trying to hold Naruto down. Naruto suddenly called out, clenching his eyes shut, his face pinching as if he was in pain. When they opened again, they were not the oh so familiar blue that Sasuke was expecting, instead they had been replaced by gleaming red eyes, the color of fresh blood, full of hate and disgust.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"What do you care?" Naruto growled at him, lifting his head up and barring his teeth at Sasuke. "You left the village, left Naruto on his own. Oh, but I guess as long as YOU'RE happy and get what YOU are looking for, nothing else matters. Right, Uchiha?"

Sasuke's eyes were wide. 'This is not Naruto.' He thought, his eyes flashing angrily. There could only be one reason for that. "What did you do, nine tails?" He said through gritted teeth. "Where is Naruto?!"

The nine tails laughed, making Naruto's whole body shake. "He's here, listening to everything. He's pretty upset, Saaaaaas." The nine tails smirked, drawing out his name.

Sasuke took hold of Naruto's shirt, pulling his torso up and hissing in his face. "DON'T call me that. You had better let him out. Now."

Throwing his head back, the nine tails laughed out. "Whatcha gunna do, Saaaaas? Hurt me?" Sasuke tightened his grip, beginning to complete chidori but instead relaxed his grip, realizing that he really couldn't do much to make him. He closed his eyes.

"Naruto. Come back." Sasuke whispered. "I'm sorry that this happened to you, but I don't view you any differently than before. I WILL help you get Pain." He leaned down, pressing himself against Naruto's body, wrapping his arms around him as much as he could. "Please."

The nine tails laughed, "You really think that's going to work? He's not going to listen to you - " He abruptly cut off. Sasuke felt Naruto's arms snaking around him, holding him close, almost desperately. Sasuke noticed his body shaking. 'Naruto.' He was back. Sasuke held him till his body stopped shaking.

Slowly Sasuke sat up, looking at Naruto who was wiping his eyes. Sasuke moved off him, sitting next to Naruto so he could get up. Naruto sat up and looked at Sasuke, his eyes were red from crying. But it was a normal red. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief. He sat with his knees up, arms wrapped around them.

Sasuke sat quietly, thinking about what had just happened while giving Naruto a chance to figure out what he wanted to say. Sasuke was worried to say the least. The nine tails had been able to take over Naruto's body without transforming into the nine tails. That could be troublesome. He kept his eyes on Naruto, waiting for him to talk.

"I - I. I didn't mean to. Pain had destroyed the whole village. He. He had me pinned with these metal bars. Hinata came to try and free me and - He, he stabbed her. I lost it. I lost control. Jiraiya tried to stop me before I killed anyone from the village and….." He trailed off, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Sasuke brought up his hand, wiping the tear from his cheek, caressing his cheek. "...And you killed him." Sasuke whispered, dropping his hand. Naruto nodded, putting his head down on his arms. Looking down, Sasuke took a deep breath. "Well. Let's make sure it doesn't happen again then."

Naruto lifted his head up, peeking at Sasuke, who smiled. He lifted his head a little more. "I mean. I guess we could let you loose on my brother." Sasuke acted like he was thinking about it, the corner of his mouth twitching as he side eyed Naruto. Naruto's eyes went wide as he panicked.

Sasuke burst out laughing at Naruto's expression. His eyes were wide, his mouth open, flabbergasted. "I'm kidding! You should see your face!" Sasuke wrapped his arms around himself, laughing.

Naruto stared at him, in awe. "Sasuke? You laughed." He broke into a grin as Sasuke calmed down, wiping tears from his eyes.

"You're a knucklehead." Sasuke laughed again, raising his hand and tapping Naruto's forehead with two fingers. "Let's go back to camp. I'm sure you're starving by now."