Omg, you all must have forgotten about me!! It's been so long! Sorry about that… . ..but it was literally one thing after another in my house. The weekend I decided I was going to finish the chapter I had to leave unexpectedly because my cousin had committed suicide, and now everything's all screwed up, my mom's all worried and keeps trying to "prevent" me from "having negative feelings" Sorry, but if you all could just sort of bear with me here…

EVERYONE this is the REAL chapter! The last one was a PREVIEW of this chapter! A lot of you didn't catch that….

Chapter 9 Of Old Friends, New Friends, and Recoveries

Kakashi led the team to the hotel at which they would be staying. It was nothing special to the other three, but compared to Naruto's small, cramped apartment, it was amazing. However, he wasn't allowed to explore. Kakashi told him that as soon as they had settled into their rooms, he was to go straight to bed, despite the fact that he had slept all day and wasn't the least bit tired.

"Rooms 12, 13 and 14, sir," the clerk said handing Kakashi three rusty old keys.

"Sakura, you're in 12, I'm in 13, and Naruto and Sasuke will share 14."

"WHAT?!" Naruto yelled into Kakashi's ear (Kakashi was still carrying him), and the older man winced at the shrill pitch of the voice.

"We can't afford four rooms. Sakura gets her own room because she is the only girl. I get my own room because I say so. So that leaves you two to a room," their sensei explained calmly. The blonde continued to complain as Kakashi carried him up to his room. Sasuke looked none too happy either, but chose to remain silent. Sakura retreated to her own room, ready to retire for the night.

When Kakashi unlocked the door, Sasuke was irritated to see only one bed. Never mind that it was a large bed, there was still only ONE bed. He glanced sideways at his roommate to see the look on his face. However, Naruto didn't have a look of horror on his face. In fact, he wasn't even looking at the room they were to occupy. His face was twisted up in pain. Sasuke sighed, half frustrated, half exasperated. This was NOT going to be a pleasant night, nor a restful one, he could tell. Kakashi set he burden he was carrying down onto the bed.

"You weren't hurting this bad a moment ago," he commented. Naruto glared at him.

"Yeah, well, that was BEFORE you nearly scraped me off your back on the door frame," Naruto said in a pained voice. Kakashi's expression didn't falter at the malice in his students' voice. As soon as Naruto was settled (well, settled meaning in bed and unable to get back up), Kakashi made his exit.

Sasuke, grumbling, set himself to the task of readying for bed. Once he was done getting undressed, he flicked off the light and climbed into the bed beside Naruto. As he closed his eyes, he said quietly, "Better not kick me, dobe."

Naruto 'hn'ed, or, at least, attempted to mimic the noise Sasuke often made in response to anything and everything. Instead it came out more as a pained grunt, suggesting that it would be too much effort on Naruto's part to kick the Uchiha.

It was only a matter of minutes before Sasuke was asleep. Naruto, however, couldn't will his body to fall back into sleep. He lay for what seemed like an hour. He turned his head to glance at the cheap digital clock on the bedside table. It had only been about fifteen minutes, he guessed. He knew they hadn't gotten to the hotel THAT early. An involuntary groan escaped his lips. It was going to be a long night.

Naruto's eyes snapped open, and short painful gasps fell past his parted lips. He must have drifted off at some point in the night, only to awake again in unimaginable pain. He tried to draw a deep, calming breath, but pain stopped him short 1. Panic settled on him like a sheet of ice. He couldn't breath properly! His breaths came so fast that he began to hyperventilate. The dark room spun. He felt movement beside him.

"Naruto?" Sasuke voice said. Naruto closed his eyes to block out the twirling room and clenched his teeth. He just wanted the pain to stop. Fire was coursing through his veins, tearing him apart. Poison was seeping through his skin eating his flesh. Burning ice filled his chest where there was supposed to be breathable air. It was all suffocating him.

Naruto wasn't aware of Sasuke getting up off the bed and rushing out of the room, returning not even a moment later with Kakashi. The Jounin turned to Sasuke.

"Go find the night clerk and tell him to bring a mug and a kettle of hot water to this room." Sasuke gave a short nod then left to fulfill the task. When he got to the lobby, the night clerk was sound asleep, much to his dismay. On his fifth attempt to wake the infuriating man up, Sasuke was losing his temper quickly. Finally, losing all regard for other occupants of the hotel, he screamed at the man to wake up. Startled, the man jumped, looking around frantically. His eyes fell on Sasuke, who was irritated that he had to resort to making any sort of loud noise.

He quickly told the man what was needed and where to bring it. A few short minutes later, the items were delivered to the room. Naruto was obviously in a lot of pain. His breathing was still erratic, coming in shot pained gasps. Yet he refused to make any sort of noise. Sasuke figured that Naruto didn't want to look weak, especially in front of him, his rival.

As soon as Kakashi got the items he requested, he produced herbs from his pocket. Sasuke recognized them as the same herbs that his sensei had used before. Tea was made and, somewhat forcefully, sent down Naruto throat. A bit after that, Naruto fell back into a restless sleep, more drug-induced than anything else, and Kakashi left for his own room, leaving Sasuke standing in the middle of the room, while more and more questions about this whole situation floated through his mind.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. Naruto cracked an eye open. He was sore. Sore like he had spent the entire day doing strenuous exercises. However, all the sharp pains were gone. He was defiantly feeling better. He turned his head and saw Sasuke staring at the ceiling, still in bed. Sasuke shifted his gaze to the other boy. "Dobe," was all he said.

"Teme!" Naruto yelled back, his whiskered face scrunched up in anger. "What was that for?!"

Sasuke glared. "For waking us up last night. Dobe," he added again, just to spite the boy. Naruto growled low in his throat.

"I'll kill you!" he hissed, rolling over, intending to get up. Sasuke snorted. Naruto glared at him.

"What?" he snapped. Sasuke shook his head.

"You never learn, dobe, that you can never beat me." Sasuke said coolly. Naruto huffed.

"Just you wait Sasuke-teme, I will kick your ass one day." Sasuke ignored him and got out of bed to get dressed.

Naruto huffed. That bastard was so irritating sometimes. He got up also and tugged on his jacket and pants. Sure, he still hurt, but he was done with displaying weakness in front of Sasuke.

The said Sasuke glared at Naruto.

"Dobe, Kakashi said you should rest today, and that if you're feeling well enough, you can go out tomorrow." Naruto was outraged.

"WHAT?! Stay inside?! I am FINE Sasuke-bastard!" He yelled loudly. Sasuke winced.

"Keep your voice down!" he hissed, "Other people could still be sleeping!" Naruto's face angered.

"Don't tell me what to do! You're not my father! Well, if you were anyone, you'd be the mother…" Naruto said, trying to irritate the boy. Sasuke twitched. Mother?! He took a deep breath. He would NOT be baited by Naruto antics, especially this early in the morning. Without saying another word or even sparing Naruto a glance, he walked out of the room, fully intending to get some breakfast.

Naruto growled low in his throat. "Teme! Don't ignore me! Get back here!" He leaped off of the bed and flew at Sasuke, who easily sidestepped the obvious attack. Naruto went flying instead head-on into the wall opposite their room.

"Ow…" he complained, rubbing a bump on his head. Sasuke snorted at the pathetic boy on the floor in front of him.

"C'mon dobe, let's go get something to eat." He proceeded to walk down the hall, leaving Naruto to scramble to his feet and chase after him.

They entered the small restaurant in the inn having their usual arguments. Well, it was rather one-sided. Naruto was making all of his usual threats and challenges, and Sasuke was ignoring him. They found Kakashi and Sakura sitting at a table together, breakfast already on plates in front of them. Sakura was glaring at Naruto.

"Baka! Stop bothering Sasuke-kun!" She fwapped him over the head.

It seemed to rattle Naruto's brain.

"Ow Sakura-chan! My head still hurts!" They proceeded to argue with each other, creating so much noise that some of the Inn's other occupants were moving to tables farther away. Kakashi sighed and rolled his eyes. His team was too much sometimes.

"Naruto, you should stay in today," Kakashi commented lightly over his book. Naruto stopped arguing with Sakura to look over at him, infuriated.

"NO! Why does everyone want me to stay in today?! You all hate me don't you! You're trying to get rid of me! I knew it!" this led to a rant, which no one really paid attention to, and Kakashi gave Naruto a look. Must the boy be so loud?

"Fine!" he said, interrupting. "Just don't complain to me about anything for the rest of the day." Naruto glared at the man who dared call himself their sensei.

After breakfast was over and done with, Naruto decided to go exploring a little bit. He left to hotel and began to wander the streets. After a dew minutes of walking, he came upon a park. There were slides, swings and a nicely sized sandbox next to the swings. He bee-lined for an empty swing and sat down, moving to and fro slightly. His big blue eyes watched the children play with their friends.

Naruto hard the jingle of chains next to him and he looked over to discover the empty swing next to him had been occupied by a small girl. She was very pretty, with short brown hair and bright hazel eyes. She swung higher and higher, the wing sweeping her hair back and forth. Suddenly she lost her grip on the swing and fell. He began to cry and was holding her arm.

Naruto jumped up and knelt beside her, looking around.

"Shh…it's okay…where's your mother?" he asked. He didn't see anyone looking his way. The girl shrugged and looked at him with her large tear-filled eyes. He gazed at her face. Gently he took her injured arm into her hand to look at it. It was scrapped and bleeding in a spot, but no real harm done.

"Aww, it's not that bad." He reached into his pouch and took out a short length of bandaging and wrapped up the scrape. The girls' tears stopped.

"There, is that better now?" he asked, giving her a small smile. She nodded. At that moment, Naruto heard frantic footsteps behind him, and he moved out of the way for the girls' mother. She looked flustered. He got up to walk away. Parents didn't like him around their children.

"Wait," he heard her say. "You didn't give me the chance to thank you." Naruto turned, his large eyes questioning.

"Who, me?" he asked, making sure she was talking to the right person. Why in the world would this person thank him for anything? The woman smiled.

"I don't see anyone else." She extended her hand. Naruto stood there for a second, contemplating this. After a moment's hesitation, he extended his hand also and shook with her. He was unused to the touch, but he instantly liked the softness of her hands. He had never known the touch of a mother's hand.

After a warning to her child to be more careful, she said another thanks to Naruto then walked to sit on a nearby bench. Naruto was about to walk away again when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Looking down, he saw a little hand wrapped around the fabric, attached to a little arm, which led to the little girl.

"You…you wanna come play with me?" she asked. She didn't sound older than five. Her eyes were hopeful and she was just all around too cute. It occurred to him at that moment how naive and trusting children were. Here he was, a complete stranger who had only helped her when she fell, and she wanted to play with him. He grinned and ruffled her hair.

"Sure! Where to?" He held out his hand, and she grabbed it, leading him over to the sandbox. 2

From up in a tree, Kakashi smiled under his mask. This was why he had brought Naruto here. The boy had to realize that there were people out there who didn't know about him and the Kyuubi; Kakashi knew the boy was less likely to be judged in this town. Naruto needed to start enjoying his life like a kid. Sure, he was a ninja, but that didn't make him an adult. He watched as Naruto showed the girl how to build a sand castle. After one was built, they would destroy it, laughing, and then start the process all over again.

Kakashi leaned back against the tree and looked around. The sun was up and it was a beautiful day. The sky was dotted with puffy clouds.

Naruto looked up at the said clouds and was instantly reminded of Shikamaru. He was willing to bet the boy was lying atop a hill watching the clouds. Kaisou, the little girl, squealed in delight as she added little sticks and rocks to her sand castle as decorations.

Sasuke was walking through the village, looking around. He would never admit it, but he was looking fro someone. That person….from all those years ago…He was walking down the street and spotted a park. A loud orange color caught his eyes, and he saw Naruto plating in the sandbox. He scowled. Why on earth was he playing in a sandbox? The dobe needed to grow up. He strode across the lawn, fully intending to get the dobe back to the hotel. He could at least be training his chakra, or something useful.

"Sasuke, matte," a Kakashi's voice said from up in a tree. He stopped and scowled at his sensei.

"Why?" he asked, irritated. "The dobe isn't three. This isn't a vacation. It's a mission." He looked up. Kakashi's eye was curved up, indicating he was smiling. Sasuke twitched a bit.

"I'll explain later. Let him have a childhood." Sasuke scowled some more. He didn't understand Kakashi sometimes. The time for a childhood was over. They were Genin of Konoha now. They were on a mission, and there dobe was playing with a little girl in a sandbox. He continued to walk toward Naruto, intending to ignore Kakashi, when he felt someone grab the back of his shirt.

"Sasuke, come walk with me," Kakashi said. Before the dark-haired boy could even answer, Kakashi was dragging him backward out of the park. Once they were on the street, he turned the boy around and they walked together.

"Sasuke, for Naruto's teammate, you don't know him very well. Is he not allowed to have some pleasure in life?" He looked at the clouds as he walked.

"Aren't we all entitled to some happiness?" Sasuke spat out. "The word doesn't revolve around him you know." Kakashi laughed lightly.

"I know that. But think. Naruto has never had parents, or a single friend. I'm going to tell you more then he wants anyone to know. Can I trust you not to say anything?" Kakashi looked over to Sasuke, his expression (from what Sasuke could tell) was completely serious.

"Hn," was the reply. Kakashi was silent for a few minutes.

"You should know that Naruto has never known his family. Never. He has never had a true friend, or someone to look up to, up until the time he became friends with Iruka. Still, even then, Iruka was more of a brotherly figure than anything else."

Sasuke wanted to know where this was going. "But I'm sure he had caretakers, foster parents. I don't see why he is any different than I," Sasuke stated. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head a bit.

"What I'm trying to get at is…the main difference between yours and Naruto's childhood was a loving, accepting household. I'll let you make your assumptions…It's really not my place to tell. While you were able to enjoy the carefree mindset as a child…Naruto was forced to grow up far too fast. His childhood is one big painful memory," the masked Jounin said, repeating the words he had said to Inari a while back. Sasuke still wasn't convinced.

"And no one else in the world has painful memories?" he snapped.

"No! That's not what I meant at all. Please don't get angry at me. Just listen. Up until your early childhood, you had a family, friends, and happiness. Naruto had none. Even after your clan was killed, people still watched out for you. People all over were willing to take care of you because they respected your family, and you. Naruto was passed from caretaker to caretaker. He had a hard life. Even when he did nothing wrong, people despised looking after him. I can't tell you why, it's not my place," Kakashi cut Sasuke off. He had known Sasuke would ask why.

"My point being," Kakashi said, "is that he never had the chance to experience any type of childhood. I specially requested this mission. The person we're here to get is someone I know personally. And old friend, I guess you could say. This mission was not just to retrieve him. There was a sub-mission…one I made up for Naruto myself. I wanted him to make a friend. Someone who didn't judge him. He needs to see that there are people out there he can place trust in."

Sasuke was silent. He was going over all this information in his head. He hated remembering the night his clan had been killed. He figured It was better to not know what you missed, instead of having it, getting close to it, then losing it. He voiced his opinion to Kakashi, in his deadpan voice.

"Sasuke, I'm sure Naruto would say the exact opposite of that. I'm sure he would give up everything he owned, everything that he held dear to him, for parents that loved him. Did you see how happy he looked back there? Now he knows that there are places he can go and be treated like everyone else. You can't tell me that you've never noticed the villagers' treatment toward him." Kakashi stopped talking and lapsed into silence. Sasuke didn't say anything either.

They looped around the block and ended back up at the park. Naruto was pushing Kaisou on the swings. Sasuke stopped and looked at his teammate's face. The smile on the boy's face seemed different…so…

Genuine.

1 Have you ever had those sudden sharp pains in your chest and you can only take little breaths because it hurts? Or am I just weird? Lol, anyway, that's sort of what I'm comparing it to.

2 Whenever I meet my friends little brothers and sisters, they always want me to play with them. Well, basically any little kid I meet. I'm like…a kid magnet…O.O

ok…this chapter was absolute CRAP….it should just die…. . If no one wants this story to continue, I'm going to declare it discontinued. If you guys want me to keep going, that's fine…demo…I'm not really liking how it's turning out… . …oh well. If you guys want more, I'll keep writing.