AN: And Now I'm getting twisted.

WARNINGS: OOCness (that's a given); strange drama

Title: Realities Away
By: SukiAme
Entry: 08 – Tell me because I need to know

The icy evening breeze stung on Sasuke's pale skin. The numbing chills hit him fully as he dropped to one knee, unable to keep himself upright any longer. His dark blazer whipped about him as if the wind carried it. His eyes were filled with an unconcealed surprise and horror as he tightened around the letter in his fist.

Shit, he thought in disbelief, It can't be true.

The paper slipped out of his grasp and flew away, dancing in the wind.

Forcing himself up, he mechanically walked, not quite knowing where he was going but resigning to the unconscious thought that he will meet with them. They must have lied because Naruto was not capable of doing such a terrible, terrible thing. His innocent, pure, and undefiled angel was just not capable of such a thing. Angels didn't hurt others, rather they saved people.

But the little voice in the back of his mind questioned, why can't Naruto do something like this? If he lived alone, struggling through the harsh bitterness of his life, why couldn't he do something like this?

-

"Naruto," Sasuke said, "is this true?"

"What difference would that make?"

"Answer me!"

"What can you do if it was true? Nothing," Naruto spat cynically turning away from him, "I don't try to pry into your past so leave mine alone."

"But you-"

"Do you love me?" Naruto interjected, his voice raising in a demanding question, "If you do, love me for who I am because I love you for who you are. I don't care about the past and I don't try to bring it up, some things are best left buried, Sasuke."

"But they tried to threaten me," Sasuke retorted, "Isn't that enough for me to wonder what I've gotten myself into when they use you against me!"

"I'll take care of this," Naruto said in a soft and controlled voice, "Just trust me."

Sasuke watched Naruto's retreating back. He let out a frustrated sigh as he turned and walked away wondering how to cope with the twisted feeling in his chest.

Sasuke's eyes flew open with an unvoiced gasp lodged in his throat and his heart racing. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, making out the shadows on his ceiling as he breathing calmed his heart. His hand made way to his head and he covered his eyes.

'A dream,' he thought, 'No; it was not a dream, but a memory; not even an old memory.'

Rolling over, he tried to fall back to sleep but it never came. As the rosy dawn peaked beyond his window, Sasuke sat up and pushed aside his blanket. Sitting at the end of his bed, he watched the sun rise.

-

Standing before the Fifth Hokage, Shikamaru took unusual care to stand properly and stare straight ahead.

"-completed with minor injuries. Hyuuga Hinata performed well enough to have ensured Uzumaki Naruto's stable health until we returned." Shikamaru paused thoughtfully before he continued, "I would also like to point my concern at Uchiha Sasuke's performance on this mission. Though he successfully retrieved the scrolls, his movements were awkward and he slowed down after a few days into the mission. It may be due his body not having completely healed on his previous mission in which Naruto had informed me therefore I think it would be in his best interest if he be put on sabbatical to give time for his body to heal."

"I understand what you're saying, Shikamaru; I'll think about it. You may go now."

Shikamaru opened his mouth and looked like he was about to say something when he snapped his mouth shut and nodded before leaving the office.

Tsunade gazed at the papers that littered her desk but she didn't see it. Her mind was elsewhere thinking about the blond haired boy who was laid unconscious at his home. It was only unconscious and she thanked the other Hokages that it was not more. For a split moment, she had thought that he was going to slip into a never ending sleep but he didn't. Though how long that boy was going to sleep, she really didn't know.

But the point is Naruto was going to be fine; the problem at the moment was Sasuke. It was obvious that Sasuke had seemed reluctant to go on the mission as Naruto had told her before he had left. Oddly enough, she had felt that Sasuke would be needed on this last mission and she had told the blond to convince the brunet to accept the mission. Now that she thought about it, when Naruto protested in concern regarding Sasuke's wellbeing she had thought it as his ruse to not have to work with him.

Previously, he had protested on the grounds that, in his words, "Sasuke is a show-off who takes every chance he gets to insult me. I don't want to work with him anymore." Of course, Naruto had said that while whining like the brat he was, so she had not taken any notice of it. But perhaps he was right, and right now she was paying for it with her anxiety over the brat's welfare.

I'm going to kill him when he wakes up, she thought with a feral grin marring her face. She frowned and turned her thoughts to a few other things that recently plagued her mind.

The Hyuuga family had reported an attempted break-in to their compound. To say she was surprised was an understatement. No one dared to break into the Hyuuga house for fear of many things. But aside from the Hyuuga's famous taijutsu and Byakugan, their house contained many valuable objects not just of their property but from all over the village. Some people entrusted their sacred belongings to the family for sake of security due to the Byakugan.

And if someone was trying to break-in, and be able to get away, this was no ordinary item.

The Hyuuga family refused to give their inventory list but they assured her that nothing was missing.

-

Neji watched Lee pull three books off the shelf and pile them into the large stack in his arms. The dust particles floated in the air causing a musky odor of age to linger in the room. "Lee, you really don't have to rush this. No one cares whether Uchiha can get back home or not. Frankly, I don't care."

"This isn't about Sasuke-kun," Lee replied as he eased the stack onto the beautifully furnished mahogany table. He plopped in the chair besides Neji and took one of the books off the stack and eagerly opened the cover. "I'm in the Hyuuga Library. This place is as old as the village itself; I'll never get another opportunity like this!"

"You do realize that if you just persuaded Hinata-sama, you'd have complete access to this building."

"Yeah, but Hinata-san-" Lee seemed to have caught himself as he silenced and idly flipped the pages of the book, skimming the printed words.

The unfinished sentence caught Neji's attention as he turned to look at Lee with a peaked curiosity. "But Hinata what?" At Lee's uneasy laugh and sped up page turns Neji's attention was completely taken, not even aware that he'd drop the polite suffix he attached to his cousin's name, "Well? What did you intend to say?"

"Nothing," Lee laughed as he closed the book in his hand and picked up another manuscript and began skimming, "Really. I don't know what you're so paranoid about."

"I'm not paranoid about anything; why won't Hinata let you come here?"

"I never said she didn't."

"You implied it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lee, you-"

The sound of a door opening silenced Neji.

-

"I deem your mission a failure, and I'm not paying for you to fail. How don't care how you do it but I want that scroll and if I don't get it soon, I'll have you killed."

"You want to kill us?" An un-named ninja laughed cynically, "Don't make me laugh. Without us, you wouldn't be able to even get near that scroll let alone take it."

A snarl caused the ninja to flinch with his small team hovering behind him. The Ninja glared defiantly at the man, "I'm not afraid of that stupid pet of yours."

"I'm afraid it's not Ao that you should be frightened of." He murmured, petting the ebony panther by his side.

A moment later a loud snap came from the ninja along with a tortured scream of agony.

-

Alter-verse

"You're not Him. You look and sound like him, but you're not."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke muttered in quiet frazzle, his heartbeat increasing at a considerable rate when Naruto shifted in his seat and faced Sasuke's profile.

"You don't respond to me at all. And I feel nothing when I'm with you. Tell me who you are?"

Sasuke pulled his coat closer to himself as he walked to Naruto's house. He had not seen Naruto for a few days because Naruto was apparently sick. He didn't know what to do, wondering whether he should just tell Naruto and be done with it. But things are never that simple.

First of all, if he was to tell the blond, there was a chance that he might think that he's insane. Heck, it's currently his life and he finds it surreal. Then provided that Naruto doesn't think of him as mad, he'd have to convince him that he's really a ninja which really shouldn't be that hard. Then he'd have to see whether Naruto knows anything that could help him.

But that was the problem. He had no clue as to how he was supposed to tell Naruto when he finds everything unbelievable. And considering his name was exactly the same as this other guy's, Naruto being Naruto might just get confused and result in being a useless waste of air and space.

Stopping in front of a house with the name "Uzumaki" in front, Sasuke paused and considered what he wanted to say and in what order. After standing in deep thought for ten minutes, he rapped the door.

Moments later, the door opened to a man who looked like Naruto with unruly blond hair and aqueous blue eyes, but the man's face was more chiseled and held a strong look of dignity and pride. For a split second, Sasuke thought he recognized this man but brushed the thought away, reasoning it impossible; he would have remembered this face, even in his world.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?" The man asked, his eyes narrowing at the boy.

"Good Evening. My name is Uchiha Sasuke and I'm from Naruto's school. Is he home?" Sasuke recited in an almost robotic manner.

"Yeah, please come in," the man moved aside for Sasuke to enter and while Sasuke took his shoes off, the man closed the door behind him, calling for the younger blond, "Naruto! A friend's here!"

Leading Sasuke to the living room, the man told Sasuke to sit while he went to get Naruto. Sasuke complied and sat down.

Glancing around, he noticed that the home was a lot smaller than the one he was currently living in but it was larger than his apartment. Sasuke looked around the room, taking in the homeliness of it all. His eyes caught photographs on the shelf and he stood to examine them.

In one picture were the blond man and a brunette woman holding hands in western wedding attire. The two glowed with a certain type of brightness and looked very much in love. Next to it was a photo of Naruto giving the victory sign as he held out a medal dressed in his dirty soccer uniform. Beside that one, was one of the man, woman and Naruto having a picnic at what Sasuke was assuming was Hanami. Then there was a picture of the woman standing in a floured apron with a mischievous grin on her face.

"She's dead you know," a familiar voice came from behind him.

Turning around, Sasuke saw Naruto looking at him in miffed questioning. He stretched a little causing his white t-shirt ride a little before he dropped his arms to settle down, as he peered at Sasuke. Lowering himself on the quilt that covered his leather couch, he pulled his legs up, sitting in a cross-legged position still looking a little groggy.

"Why are you here? I was enjoying my sleep."

"Your father looks like you," Sasuke commented as he returned to the couch to the left of the one Naruto decided to occupy.

"He's not my father," Naruto replied with a yawn, "He's my uncle. So why are you here?"

Sasuke unconsciously nodded, "You are right," At Naruto's confused expression, he continued, "I mean, back on the train, what you said was correct. I'm not that person."

"Then who are you?"

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. Ninja rank: Chuunin; Home: Hidden Leaf Village in Fire country. I am a ninja and I have no idea as to how I got here, if you'd like I can-"

"Prove it?" Naruto supplied, cutting off his words, "No need. Even if I don't want to believe you, doesn't mean I'm going to make you defend yourself. You are you, if you want to lie, I can't exactly stop you."

"…" Sasuke frowned in frustration, "No, you're not supposed to say that! You were supposed to-" He stopped at mid-rant, realizing that he was doing Naruto's whining, the one that he had always hated, "Never mind. You don't think I'm crazy?" Naruto shook his head and Sasuke sighed, "Then will you…" The dark-haired boy twitched as he tried to force the last word out, "Help me find my way home?"

Humming, Naruto's finger tapped his chin thoughtfully.

A soft ticking of the clock slowly grew louder and louder. Sasuke was getting anxious about what Naruto would say and the stretching quiet was hurting him a bit more than he was willing to admit.

"Okay."

Letting out a breath that he didn't even know was held, he looked over at the boy who had rearranged himself to lie on the couch. Sasuke gripped the edges of the mocha leather couch and pinned his eyes on the glass coffee table.

"So, what can you tell me about," Sasuke wrinkled his nose a little bit, frowning in distaste at having to say his own name in a case other than introducing himself, "that guy," He finished.

"What do you want to know? Or rather, what would you like to know?"

"Anything you know about him up until the time you gave me," A nasty piece of that memory hauled itself to the top of Sasuke's mind of that particular event, "that tour."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, nodding his head. "I suppose you know of my relationship with him; mind you, it wasn't intimate in the physical aspect but…" Naruto trailed off for a moment before he continued, "Well, I don't really see anything of great importance. He was an interesting character and he surprised be quite a bit with some of his life. Sasuke works doing something, I'm not quite sure what it was; I never asked him and he never really told me.

"But his job probably involved some fairly strange things. He was getting involved in something he probably should've left alone."

"What was it?"

"Sasuke, he-"

To be continued…

AN: I know, it's a little short this time around isn't it? Well, I just felt they were good places to stop until I write the next chapter. I'm considering updating the middle of this month for many reasons. Erm… The main one is because well… it's the holidays and the 24th is my birthday, heh. So I'll update then to make up for this short chapter.

I hope you got the really subtle stuff in this chapter. My weak attempt to show that Sasuke does feel an attraction to Naruto but you must realize that he's in a crisis at the moment; no time to think about love!

Thanks for your reviews: QianYun (Ara, you've changed pennames! Happy you enjoyed the train scene though I should remind you, it didn't happen in the fic. And regarding Neji, we'll just have to see what happens), Kaelas, animelvr4evr, Danya2, Gi wo mite sezaru wa ya n (I can't even picture myself writing that. Just leave it to the imagination; well... I can try but rest assured, it's not going to happen in this fic. Maybe another one), mkh2, Shiomi (Wai, it's Shiomi-san! I'm speechless XD I cannot believe you read my drivel, wai.)

Thank you everyone. And remember, looked for an update on the 24th of December!