Disclaimer: Nope, do not own Naruto.

Chapter 1 - The Morning After

The sun shone brightly through the hospital window onto the clean white bed and its occupant who was now stirring, slowly waking up. His deep black eyes shot wide open as his body flew into sitting position momentarily.

Breathing rapidly the boy placed the palm of his hand onto his forehead wiping away the cold sweat in attempt to get a hold of his involuntary trembling body.

'What happened? Where am I? Naruto... Kyuubi', his thoughts raced in chaos.

The boy struggled to remember what had happened between him and the Kyuubi holder and how he got to where he was. His mind swirled remembering only bits and pieces of what had happened. He was afraid, he recalled. He saw the demon face to face, he remembered the tremendous power and it made his body shudder.

' "I shall grant you this power" ' the voice rang in his disturbed mind over and over, voice filled with terrific power. Yes, he remembered handing himself over to the demon, he remembered the predatory and sinister look in those blood filled eyes of an animal.

Sasuke's body started shaking uncontrollably as his mind relived his memories. He took a deep breath and shattered back onto the pillows trying to gain control over his body once again.

"Naruto..." whisper escaped his lips as he closed his eyes.

Moment later he heard footsteps nearing his room. Louder and louder they became as he tensed hiding his face under a mask of nonchalance and annoyance. Then the footsteps stopped abruptly in front of his door and a shy knock was heard. He did nothing to give away his presence but the door cricked open nonetheless.

Sakura cautiously stepped inside the white room holding one flower in a small vase at her side.

"Sasuke-kun!" The blur of pink rushed towards the bed, where the boy was almost scowling as he saw who his visitor was.

"Sasuke, are you ok? I was so worried about you, I...I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come back!"

Tears were streaming down her gentle face but the prodigy felt nothing for the pink-haired girl who was trying to embrace him. He roughly pushed her aside giving her the annoyed Uchiha glare.

She slightly stumbled backwards awkwardly, hurt flashed in her green eyes momentarily replaced by concern. She slowly walked towards the window and a small table to place the flower on it.

"How did I get here?" He finally said his first word in Sakura's presence in emotionless tone and cold voice earning girl's thoughtful gaze.

"Kakashi found you and Naruto in some valley that looked devastated. He said it looked like it was struck down by some disaster, like a tornado or something. You were both unconscious when he found you, so he brought you here"

"Hn" The boy slightly nodded agreeing with Sakura's story, so far everything she said made sense to him.

"Kakashi said that you had no serious injuries and that you should be able to go home very soon"

Only then did the boy looked over his body noting that indeed his body felt mostly fine, he was only able to detect minor cuts and scratches. However, he remembered having much deeper cuts and even broken bones.

'How did it heal so fast...', the boy wondered.

"How long was I in here?" he asked.

"About a day… Sasuke-kun, do you feel ok?" Sakura noticed that the already pale boy had paled even more and looked a bit stunned for a moment before his face became once again unreadable.

'Could it have been? Even a full day of rest would not heal broken bones and internal damage.. Kyuubi.. It must have been the demon...but why would it care?'

Sasuke's internal discussion was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder which he pushed away by a reflex.

"Sasuke?"

"I'm fine Sakura. What happened to Naruto?"

"Ohh, I haven't seen him yet.." The girl hung her head low in shame for not even checking on her teammate who brought her love back as he had promised.

Sasuke felt disgusted with the girl before him, knowing well that she had not even once thought of Naruto's well being during this whole incident. Just then the door slid open and their sensei's head appeared in the room.

His one eye smiling as he saw that his student was awake and well.

"Yo"

"Hello Kakashi-sensei" the girl mumbled and itched closer to the door under the piercing glare of the infamous Uchiha.

"Well, I see you feel better now, ne, Sasuke?"

"Hn" A nod.

"As you know what you did is considered to be an act of betrayal, but since you were returned here, Hokage will consider letting off this one and forgiving you if you agree to stay here on your own will."

Kakashi's indifferent stance didn't give away any emotions that he felt but Sasuke knew his teacher was anxiously awaiting his answer.

"I will stay here by my own will" the raven-head boy finally said just as indifferently, watching Kakashi's eye as it filed with relief and curved into a smile. Sakura was beaming a bright smile now as well, all guild completely forgotten.

"Well, then I suppose welcome back, Sasuke. You can go home as soon as you wish just stop by Tsunade's office first. See ya" and their teacher disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone.

"I guess I better get going, I sill have to go visit Naruto" she said in a quiet voice as if asking for forgiveness but was interrupted by a loud voice at the door.

"Heh, Sakura-chan no need to visit me! I'm more than fine", the blond walked into the room with a wide grin on his face, just as if nothing has happened.

"Sasuke bastard you feeling better, ne?" he turned towards the pale boy smirking cheerfully, while the said boy just stared at the blonde trying to associate this loud idiot to the demon that he had encountered.

"Umm, well then see you guys later" Sakura said quickly and left the room closing the door behind her.

Naruto stood in the middle of the room facing the window and staring into the distance, all the cheerfulness wiped off his face in a flash when he heard the door close.

Sasuke feeling a bit uncomfortable now slid onto the floor and start dressing himself glancing over to his blond teammate from the corner of his eyes.

Naruto kept silent the whole time which was very unusual for the loudest mouth of Konoha. Sasuke didn't think he could take it any longer.

"Naruto", he began "I .." He didn't know why he felt a need to say something and even something that would resemble an apology but before he could utter any more words Naruto spoke.

"Dont worry about it, Sasuke" blonde's voice seemed distant almost melancholy, which struck Uchiha and he didn't even bother to hide his astonishment when he looked into the pure sky pools of Naruto's eyes searching for an answer.

"You want to defeat Itachi no matter what it costs, am I right?" Naruto's voice held an air of maturity and seriousness that just seemed like it didn't belong to him.

"Yes" there was no use in lying or averting answers when he practically gave himself to the being that stood in front of him and the demon in him. No use in denying the need and want of Kyuubi's power, he had already thrown away the last of his pride.

A soft sigh escaped blonde's lips as he strode over to stand only a few feet away from Sasuke and said,

"As promised, I will help you, just remember Uchiha that now you are mine" at the last words the blue eyes downed in deep red, mesmerizing the raven-head and sending shivers down his spine.

When the spell broke, Naruto was no longer there. It took a second before Sasuke exhaled the breath that he was holding and collapsed onto the white floor as the words echoed in his mind making him dizzy.