Disclaimer: sadly, I don't own the Naruto characters; Kishimoto has that honor.

A/N: Sorry for anyone who was waiting for the next update of the story. Sorry again! I just came back from Washinton D.C. for two months and I just wrote this story out quickly. Please tell me your thoughts and opinions! I'd appreciate it so much. Also, OOO means flashback! Now, on to the story and enjoy!

Back to Where We Were

by: lady-rouge

Chapter 2

The moment that Naruto became conscious of his surroundings, he knew that something was wrong. Very wrong. For one thing, all he could see when he opened his eyes was total, utter darkness. The only hint that he got to being blindfolded was the feel of the rough cloth rubbing against his skin whenever he moved slightly to the side. Secondly, he could not move his arms or legs for that matter nor could he form chakra out. Feeling a prick of dread forming in the bottom of his stomach, he let his other senses take over while he calmed his frantic breathing. Now was not the time to panic even though the unknown was what scared him the most. He had no idea of where he was or whose hands he was in. He had to remain calm and find a way out. Naruto forced himself to still his breathing as he leaned against a cold surface. A brick wall, he presumed as he shivered at the freezing feeling. Somewhere in the distance, Naruto could hear some faint talking and laughing. Tilting his ears a little closer to the source of noise, he tried to listen to what they were saying, but they were too far away.

"Look who's awake," a low voice said, surprisingly near to Naruto. Naruto had to fight the urge to jump slightly. For some reason, he had not been able to sense that person at all. Damn it.

"He's awake?" another voice said.

"Yeah," the low voice said again before letting out a chuckle. "I bet he's going to wish that he had never come here in the first place," the voice said with another chuckle.

"They think too low of us," the other voice said in an agreeing tone that made Naruto imagine him nodding his head readily with the other man. "Well, look where that got all the other ones who underestimated us." They both let out loud laughs that got closer and closer to Naruto as he sat there and listened. "Let's see how tough this man is," was the only warning Naruto got before he was hauled roughly up and against a hard stomach. He stumbled slightly, but the man held him firmly so he would not fall. "Na-uh, we can't have you injuring yourself on us when we have things planned for you." The man tsked at him before grabbing his arms roughly. "Now that you're up, it's time for you to meet our legendary king. By the end of the meeting, we will see how good you really are."

Naruto tried to protest angrily with words, but only heard smothered sounds coming from his mouth instead. His mouth had been covered as well, he thought with a feeling of sickness. Now that his attention was on the cloth, the smells that tinted it came into his senses at full blast and he fought the nausea that rose up. It smelled like old vomit—like they had used this same cloth on every ninja that had the misfortune of being found by them. Breathing deeply, he tore his attention from the cloth and moved it towards the two men just as they both readjusted their grips on his arm. Getting a firmer grip on his arms, they gave a harsh jerk that sent Naruto reeling before they pulled him to walk the same pace as them.

Throughout the walk, they cruelly twisted his arm as a signal to turn a certain way but not enough as to break it. Only injure—that was what they liked. Naruto didn't mind the long walk and twisting at first, but as time wore on and with each step he took, he began to feel the after effects of having most of his senses shut down or blocked and he began to walk more sluggishly.

"Walk faster!" a big hand hit the side of his head and Naruto let out a growl as his blood began to boil. "We don't have all night!" the impatient voice said again before yanking him to go faster. Naruto almost stumbled, but their arms held him firm in place as they moved quickly over the soft yet firm ground that Naruto assumed to be the ground outside. After what seemed like an eternity of walking to Naruto, they finally came to a stop.

"Who is it?" A voice that could only belong to a female said in a curt voice.

The man with the low voice replied, "Kiba and Kankuro reporting with the trespasser for the King."

"He is in the main room." And with those words, Naruto could hear the sound of a heavy door sliding open before they started to walk again. But silence did not meet his ears like the former trek. This time, the sound of music and laughing could be heard in the big room that they walked through. Embarrassment flew through him at the knowledge that they all could see him in this humiliating position and he flushed but only straightened more with pride. He may be in a bad position, but he would not go down easily.

"Hey Kiba!" voices shouted in laughter. "Another prisoner again?"

Another . . .? Naruto's heart sank at that but he shook it off as so-called Kiba and the silent Kankuro stopped.

"Yeah," he answered in a bored voice. "But this one seems like he's going to be an easy one to break. You remember those other fiery ones 3 weeks ago? Well, they're not so hard to control anymore."

Naruto felt anger at those words but he did not try to argue. It was useless.

The voices with laughter in their voices spoke again: "Hurry up and come play cards with us, Kiba and Kankuro."

"Hai, Hai," Kankuro finally spoke before Naruto felt the tug on his arms again and they began to walk again towards the main room. Panic was now rising within him. Was the King really that harsh? And what happened to the others who had gotten the same idea as Konoha to come search for the vial in Sound Village? All the harsh possibilities came at him like a huge tidal wave and he knew without a doubt that any of them could happen to him. Five years ago, he wouldn't have been worried, but now that their alliances had grown weaker along with their trust in each other, no village trusted another anymore. It was one for oneself now. Shivering, he stopped as they pulled a door open to step in.

Before he could do anything else, the blindfold that kept him in darkness was ripped off and he stumbled at the blinding light that cut into his eyes. Blinking rapidly, Naruto waited for his eyes to adjust. When it did, he turned his head quickly to look at his two captors. They were both tall with short dark hair. The one named Kiba on his left sported red painted markings on his cheeks while Kankuro on his right wore an outfit purely consisting of black colors. At the moment, they were talking quietly to each other—too busy to pay attention to him—so he gave the room a quick look over.

Beautiful rugs covered the marble floor along with the dark drapes that gave a stylish tone to the room. Oak tables decorated the side of the room while a big throne sat at the center of one of the walls. All in all, the room was beautiful, but Naruto couldn't help giving a shiver at the dangerous tone that it held.

"The King is not here," Kiba was saying to Kankuro and Naruto turned to listen to them.

"I'll go get him," Kankuro said quietly before disappearing out the door that Naruto assumed that they had entered through. With that, Kiba turned back to him.

"What are you looking at?" he taunted at Naruto. Naruto only gave him a defiant look and Kiba chuckled. "You can give me all the ugly looks you want, but they won't upset me. I recommend you to save the energy because they won't work on the king either. Man, I'll probably say he has the most intimidating looks I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure the prisoners will agree with me on that too." He laughed again and pulled Naruto with him towards the throne. "We were expecting the King to be here, but he's not, so we're going to have to wait just a little longer, ne? Although I did want to get this over as soon as possible so Kankuro and I could go play cards," he said wistfully. His eyes glazed for a while before they focused on Naruto and Naruto could see that his eyes had lost their amusement. They now held seriousness along with this voice as he spoke again. "Did you come here for the vial too?"

Naruto's eyes widened a fraction, but he made no other movement to show the validity of the statement. Kiba scrutinized him for a while before nodding swiftly. "Yosh, I think so. That has been the only reason that the other trespassers have come here for and so you can't be any different." Naruto's eyes shot sparks of anger at him for hitting the spot so quickly, but he didn't do anything for fear of making it too obvious. Kiba just shook his head before standing up in front of the sitting Naruto. "The King is coming," he said solemnly just as the door opened and the sound of light footsteps could be heard.

"Where is he, Kiba?" a low, familiar voice spoke and suddenly Naruto felt a pain shoot through his heart. It couldn't be . . .

"He's right here. We were just talking," Naruto could hear the leer in his voice, but paid no attention to Kiba. All he wanted to—no, needed to see was the voice of the stranger that threatened to be no stranger. Feeling his heart racing, Naruto closed his eyes for a second before opening them to see Kiba move and felt his whole world stop and then tilt crazily as blue eyes met dark onyx ones. Heart lurching, Naruto watched as an emotion that he could not place a name to flit across the hauntingly beautiful eyes before it disappeared, leaving the eyes as expressionless as before. Nothing gave away his surprise to see Naruto except the widening of his eyes for a fraction of a time.

After all this time . . . Fate was so cruel . . .

"Naruto," his cool, uncaring voice broke the silence that had started to feel suffocating to Naruto.

Hearing and seeing him being so calm, so uncaring, broke his heart all over again and brought a raging anger inside of him that quickly went away as it came, leaving a burning sadness in his heart. He would not let Sasuke see how affected he was by his aloof demeanor. A defiant glare met an emotionless one. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto could see Kiba shoot Sasuke a surprised look. Not getting an explanation from Sasuke, Kiba turned to Naruto instead, but Naruto paid no heed to him.

Before Naruto could react, Sasuke had covered the steps between them and ripped the cloth from his mouth. Feeling the pain burning in his mouth from the movement, Naruto waited for the pain to ebb before breathing deeply to get fresh air into his lungs. Even in the action of ripping it from Naruto, Sasuke had shown no emotion and Naruto felt a pressing need to cry—to shout in anger. Why?

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke spoke as his dark eyes burned into his.

Naruto kept silent as his mind raced to find an excuse. If he had gained anything from Tsunade, it had been that keeping the mission goal from the enemies was essential to protecting their village. Let them stay in doubt, Tsunade had always told him. In this case, he knew that they would probably know, but if he did not confirm it, they would stay in doubt.

"It's for the vial, isn't it?"

". . ."

When Naruto didn't answer, Sasuke came to him and gripped his shirt roughly. "It is, isn't?"

Naruto struggled against the taller frame, but with his arms tied, his resistance was futile and he chose silence instead. Up close, if possible, Sasuke had grown more handsome—dressed in an outfit of black pants and blue shirt with the Uchiha symbol that reflected his dark eyes and hair. His pale skin was still pale—maybe even paler than before and his black hair—there was still no comparison to that dark shade of midnight. Naruto felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest.

"If he is so adamant to keep it to himself, Sasuke, should I throw him into the first prison cell? It won't be too long before he tells us, I assure you," Kiba said to Sasuke before giving Naruto a nasty look.

Sasuke acknowledge Kiba's remark with a tilt of his head, but did not answer him. Giving Naruto a long look that he could not decipher, Sasuke finally spoke to Kiba. "Take him there. I'll be coming there in a couple of days to question them again."

With a satisfied nod, Kiba harshly grabbed Naruto's bounded arms and dragged him to the door. "Move faster," he said before pulling harder. Giving Kiba an angry look, Naruto straightened up and did as Kiba ordered without giving a backwards glance at Sasuke although he wanted to do it so badly. Even when they were out of the building, Naruto could still feel like there were eyes burning holes at his back and he shivered unconsciously.

As the image of a big, dark building loomed up in front of them, Naruto knew without a doubt that this was the prison that Kiba had been talking about. They walked through the door without any problems and with one left and a right after going down a long stairwell, they finally entered a room with many cells. As their footsteps echoed off the walls, Naruto could hear the shuffling of bodies across the cemented floor and soon faces started peering at them as they walked down the corridor.

Naruto glanced curiously at them but otherwise did not say anything. He was in no position to be conversing at the moment.

Coming to a stop in front of a large cell, Kiba stopped and took out a set of heavy keys. Looking carelessly at them, he chose a large copper one and inserted it into the keyhole. While Kiba turned the key several times, Naruto tried to examine beyond the iron bars, but it was too dark. With the loud click that indicated the opening of the door, Kiba pushed open the door with a casual push and tilted his head to indicate Naruto's entrance.

Giving the dark room a wary look, Naruto complied with his orders and stepped in as Kiba spoke.

"Take whatever cot is not occupied," came his quick orders. "Do not converse too much because they will come wake you up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to work." Then the sound of the door shutting and being locked was heard.

"Wait," Naruto protested. "Where are the bathrooms?"

Kiba let out a snort. "They are all at the end of the corridor. Just knock on the cell door and the watch guards will let you out to use them." With that sentence, Kiba left and Naruto was left in the darkness of the cell. The light from the corridors did not help illuminate the settings of the cell one bit and glancing nervously around, Naruto began to feel his way around cautiously. He did not get very far when he was startled by a voice.

"You're a newcomer, ne?"

Jumping slightly at the voice that seemed to come out of nowhere, Naruto turned sharply around in the direction of the voice. Despite the fact that the voice was a soft, feminine one, Naruto did not let his guard down. It took Naruto two turns to finally spot the figure sitting on the floor in the corner and he warily approached the woman with precaution. Seeing his suspicion, she let out a soft chuckle that seemed too loud for the quietness that surrounded their cell and all the cells around them.

"Don't worry, I don't bite," she said with a tone that spoke of a grin on her lips. "My husband Lee, can vouch for that, ne?"

There was a small, endearing snort before another figure sat up next to the woman. "No, I can't," he said, "but at least I can vouch that her bark is worse than her bite."

Within the darkness, he heard a light smack on the head before laughing ensued as they began to tickle each other playfully. Naruto tried to follow what happened next, but it was too dark. The woman's giggles could be heard softly as they tried to best each other. Despite the circumstances that they were all in, Naruto felt a smile turning his lips as he watched the couple. He could feel their love towards each other and he felt elated for them but in the deepest depths of his soul, he felt a burning envy for what he would never have again. It was not too long before she half-choked and gasped, "Okay Lee, I give up! You win!"

Their scuffling finally stopped and giving a triumphant cheer with a thrust of his fist into the air, Lee let out a small victory sign. "Ah, the fun of youth! What more can you ask for?" He said this before pulling his wife next to him to get settled. "Come and take the cot next to us," the man said, finally turning attention back to Naruto. "So we can talk quietly."

Nodding, Naruto ambled his way to the duo and sat where Lee pointed. Trying to find a comfortable position, it took Naruto a minute to sit himself down before he spoke to the couple. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto," he said before raising his hand towards them in greeting.

"Rock Lee here and this is my wife Rock Sakura. Nice to meet you," Lee said to him before shaking his hand firmly. Sakura nodded as well and shook his hand after her husband. Under other circumstances, Naruto would have thought they were guests at a gathering meeting acquaintances but his sadistic mind did not allow him that illusion. "What village are you from?" came Sakura's question.

"The Hidden Leaf Village," Naruto said with a quick glance at them. "You?"

"We are both from the Hidden Rock Village," Sakura's voice said proudly. "Have you ever been there?"

Naruto thought about it for a while. "No, I haven't," he said after a moment of thinking.

"It's one of the best and strongest villages out there," she said and he could hear the pride behind her voice. "Even after that damn bastard Orochimaru attacked our village, we were able to pick up the pieces and rebuild our village to be close to its former strength and glory." There was now a sorrow in her voice left after the traces of anger fled. "Many people that lived on the outskirts of the village died of course, but at least we were able to stop him from attacking any further into the center—at the cost of a man."

Naruto's eyes widened at their story. "Did you," he started slowly, "did you know him?"

Sakura looked at him before shaking her head. "He was not anyone that carried that kind of importance, you know, but . . . somehow he got chosen to be on the receiving end of the Orochimaru's curse. Ever since that day, our village ninjas have searched the other hidden villages, but to no avail, we could not find the vial. This was my last mission with Lee before I was going to stop, but it was bad luck that we got caught." She let out a sigh before leaning against Lee for support. Slinging his arm around her shoulders, he comforted her with a soothing pat.

"Your last . . .?" Naruto gave her a confused look. "You mean that you're giving up on the search already?"

She gave him a startled look before letting out a protest. "Of course not!" she exclaimed. "I wouldn't stop doing these missions with Lee but the village made me. You see . . ." she gave a warm smile to Lee before turning it on him. "The thing is . . . I'm pregnant."

At that, Naruto became speechless and he sputtered. "Y-You're pregnant!" Feeling that grin widen at his bewilderment, he just stared at them both. "But isn't that dangerous for the baby if you're doing missions?"

With that question that hit upon reality too close for comfort, they both nodded grimly at him. "That's true," Lee said softly with regret and turned to Sakura. "I knew you shouldn't have come along, Sakura. It's all my fault!" he said in a tortured voice to her, but Sakura pulled him close to her and whispered something to him. He calmed down, but he still looked miserable

"We all knew it was and they did tell me not to participate in the missions anymore but I couldn't just sit there and let the deadline slowly approach. There's only six months left for Pete's sakes and only one vial. What are we supposed to do when there are nine other Hidden Villages searching for the exact same thing?" She looked with pain at him. "I don't' want anyone else to die, but that's the way that bastard planned it. I feel so confused as to why we are all playing Orochimaru's game, but I also understand that we don't want to lose any more from our villages if we can help it." Her voice began to tremor and he could hear it shake. "I just wish there was another way," she said before falling silent.

"What about you?" Lee asked him when his wife did not speak anymore.

"Me?" Naruto asked him. Lee nodded at him. "I also came here to search for the vial as well but . . . as you can see, I did not succeed." His voice got lower, "One minute I was cooking a fish on the edge of the inside border and the next I was blind, confined and chakra-less."

Lee nodded. "Yeah, all the prisoners receive that small welcoming gift from the Hyuuga clan, Neji and Hinata," he said with a grimace. "Lovely, isn't it?"

"The Hyuuga clan?" Naruto asked.

"They are one of the strongest clans in the Sound Village and most likely one of the strongest clans out of all the Hidden Villages as well."

Naruto gulped and nodded before speaking again. "What do we do now? Is there any way to escape?" By the look of their grim faces, Naruto lost any hope for the moment. "How do you plan to get out of here?"

" . . ."

Naruto felt despair washing over him in thunderous waves as he watched them look at each other hopelessly. "We've tried once, but . . ." Sakura drifted off, "but they know about our baby and have threatened to hurt him or her if we try again." Her voice choked with emotion at that. "I wouldn't mind if they hurt me, but to hurt my baby is despicable. These guards will stop at nothing to try to hurt us. We were hoping that they wouldn't figure out about my pregnancy, but Neji saw the baby's life force when he was sealing my chakra with his Byakugan."

They all fell to silence and with a small yawn from Sakura, she sighed again. "Best get your rest Naruto. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked her.

Her eyes darkened. "This is their time to break our spirits and put us in our place. The cell that we're in is for the ninjas who won't put their pride down and tell the Sound Village their mission. There were other ninjas in the cell with us last week, but they left to the other cell on the other end. That other cell is for those who have given in for whatever reasons. But I don't get why they would tell when we all get the same treatment from the guards. They just get to leave the torture a little bit earlier—a concept which I do not believe a ninja should be deceived by."

At the words 'torture', Naruto paled. "Torture?"

Sakura nodded, like it was a statement of life that she had long ago resigned herself to believe as a fact of life. "They make us clear the wild land in the southeast side of the village," she said in a flat voice. "It has not been touched since the last five years and now, they have decided to make us clear the overgrown weeds, trees and stalks for the construction of a military storage place."

They were quiet for a moment and when Lee moved, Naruto wondered what happened. "Sakura fell asleep," he explained to Naruto. With gentleness, Lee moved his wife to lie horizontally on the cot. With a quick kiss to her forehead, he lay down next to her and Naruto mimicked his actions of lying down on his own cot. Comfortable silence surrounded them alongside the light breathing of Sakura and as Naruto was beginning to feel the toll of sleep on him, Lee spoke again, startling Naruto.

"At first, I did not think it would be that hard to cope," Lee spoke softly in the darkness. "But we have been here for almost a month and we have hardly made much progress from our starting point. All the guards do is watch you and whip you with chakra-filled whips that hurts like a hot iron if you do not work as hard or fast as they want you to. The breaks they give you are too short for any comfort and lunch consists of meager portions that do not give you any boosting energy at all. At first, I had hope for the three of us to leave safely, but now, I just want Sakura and our baby to escape. Everyday, the guards know that I try to protect her from overexerting herself and so they separate us. It breaks my heart to see them hit her, that I have begun to be bitter from my helplessness." There was a slight movement and Naruto could see Lee turn his head towards him. "I comfort her everyday and reassure her that we will get out of here before she is due, but the cold hard truth is slapping me in the face everyday as we work and every night that we go to sleep and worry keeps me up. Naruto, as a fellow prisoner and hopefully as your friend, please take Sakura with you if you are miraculously able to leave this place."

What are you saying, Lee? We'll all get out of here, I promise, he wanted to say, but it wouldn't come out of his mouth and so he just nodded before he let sleep overcome his tired being.

Naruto was dead tired. He had been working all afternoon since school let out at two in the afternoon. It was now nine and he had yet to have supper. At that thought, Naruto's stomach gave a loud growl and he quickened his pace to reach his apartment. All around him, the sound of children laughing could be heard and he let a smile flit across his face as he slowed a bit to watch the children play at the playground, watch them leave reluctantly with their parents and that smile slipped for a bit before he picked up his pace again. It was those times when being an orphan hurt him the most.

Silently slapping himself for thinking that way, Naruto continued on. When he got home, he planned to cook some ramen before taking a cold shower and then crawling into bed. That plan sounded appealing to him and the smile back in its place, Naruto headed closer to his home. He could see the apartment building in the far distance already and within four minutes, he was in front of the door, inserting the key into the hole and turning the knob hurriedly. Succeeding, Naruto went inside, threw his things on the couch and headed into the kitchen to fill a pan with water. Halfway finished with filling the pan with water, a pair of arms suddenly encircled his waist tightly and a face nuzzled his neck.

"I missed you," the voice said softly. "Why didn't you tell me that you had work today?"

Letting the sensations of being hugged wash over him, Naruto turned to him with, "Sasuke, I didn't know you were here, you bastard!" His words were angry but there was no anger behind his words though. A warm feeling had filled the emptiness that he had experienced earlier and now it was threatening to overfill him. "You startled me," he said before turning back to turn off the water. Naruto reached to place the pan on top of the stove, but Sasuke stopped him with a hand.

"I brought some food," he said before beginning to trail kisses along Naruto's neck. "I knew that if you came home late, all you'd eat was ramen, so I made some food at home instead and brought it over. It's in the refrigerator. Do you want it now or later?" His mouth moved from Naruto's neck to suckle on the shell of his ear and Naruto let out a small moan as Sasuke's tongue hit its sensitive spot. As Sasuke's mouth moved over his ear, his arms trailed slowly, but deliberately down Naruto's front and Naruto gasped as his legs buckled unwaveringly before reaching out a hand to clench the sink counter with whitened knuckles.

Feeling the smirk behind Sasuke's sensuous lips as he slid a knee in between Naruto's legs and rubbed his groin, Naruto fought the urge to buckle again and rapidly turned Sasuke around against the counter to slam his mouth against the raven-haired man hungrily. He gave him a long, deep tongue kiss before pulling up for air. Seeing Sasuke's half-lidded eyes filled with hazy passion, Naruto smirked in return.

"Later, you bastard," he said before encircling his arms around the man's neck and tugging him towards him for another kiss . . .

"Naruto, get up." Someone was shaking him and as the dream of that day began to fade away to reveal reality, Naruto groaned before getting up and looking hazily at the person. "Naruto, this is Lee. Remember me?"

Squinting at him, Naruto nodded lazily before his mind cleared up and he threw the thin blanket aside. "What are we doing, Lee?" He said as he got up hurriedly. Looking around, he saw that they were alone. "Where's your wife, Lee?"

"She left to go to the women's bathroom. I was waking you to see if you wanted to go wash up now. They already dropped off breakfast five minutes ago and in about twenty-five minutes, they'll be coming to take us to work."

Nodding, they rapped on the door and headed towards the restroom when the guard let them out. Out in the corridors, the dim light that the torches provided illuminated Lee for Naruto and for the first time, he saw what Lee looked like. With a bowl-cut shaped haircut and a tight green outfit, Naruto had never seen anybody like Lee. When Lee turned around to show him where the bathroom stalls were, Naruto saw that the pair of bushy eyebrows was something unique about him too.

When they stepped out of the bathroom, He and Lee saw two other guys walking towards them for the bathroom. One had dark, almost black hair and carried a lazy scowl on his face while the other who was a brunette talked with crazy gesticulations. As they passed each other, they gave a look of curiosity towards Naruto before nodding hello to Lee and entering the bathroom.

"Who are they?" Naruto turned to Lee when they were gone.

"They are the other prisoners who have given in to the Sound guards and have told their mission to them. They tried to explain to us their reasoning but me and Sakura do not see it that way. So, if you change your mind, you'll move into the cell where Shikamaru and Chouji who we just passed reside with Tenten, another ninja from another Hidden Village."

Naruto nodded as he pondered Lee's words and they stepped back into their cell where Sakura was already sitting and eating the meager breakfast that they had received.

"You guys were taking so long that I thought you guys got lost on your way to the men's bathroom or something," she said with a laugh. "I was about to call the guard to come fetch both of you guys."

Giving a sheepish laugh, Naruto rubbed his sore head and followed Lee to where the breakfast plates were. Breakfast was nothing like he had ever tasted and Naruto found it hard to finish his plate but Sakura and Lee forced him to, saying that he needed his energy for the long day. Knowing that they were right, Naruto closed off his senses and with one gulp, finished the contents of the bowl that the prison labeled as food.

Right after that, a brisk knock came on their door, the cell door slid open and a huge, massive guy stepped into the entrance. "Time to go to work," he said in a loud voice.

Naruto looked at the duo for guidance in what to do and was surprised to see that the air of cheerfulness had disappeared and in its place, a looming depression and acceptance had taken place. As they stood up to follow the guard, Naruto stumbled after them, confused to the sudden change. As they got into the hallway, Naruto saw a trio that consisted of the two men from this morning along with a woman following another huge guard who met with their guard in the center. Their guard took lead while the other stayed behind to lead the back of the group. As they walked, Naruto examined the group members. Sakura had short pink hair and when she turned back to give him a reassuring smile, he saw her sea-green eyes that held a faint sparkle that was one tenth of what he suspected used to be there. The other group was completely quiet while they walked. The other woman had dark hair that she tied into two twin buns in the back and when she looked up, their gazes met and she let a small smile of greeting tilt her lips before looking away.

Not knowing to do, Naruto stayed quiet until they reached a huge, expansive field covered with weeds and trees of every kind. The entanglements of the nature growing there was incredible and the rotting remains of homes that used to be filled with life stood empty, littering the field every now and then in the far distance. Looking at their current spot, Naruto could see that they were presently working on taking down an old green home with weeds surrounding it.

"Get to work. When we say so, you may take a break and have lunch. Until then, we better see you guys working hard." As they finished speaking, they moved away and hearing sighs of relief, Naruto turned to see Lee and Sakura give each other a squeeze on the hand before walking to work side by side. They all worked quietly next to each other and Naruto found the job strenuous, but relaxing in the sense that it took his mind off of a particular person and his dream last night. Why did he dream of that day . . . of the past that was best left forgotten . . .? Naruto shook his head angrily. That dream had stirred up feelings and memories that were best left dead and forgotten. Naruto sighed, wiped his forehead free of the sweat accumulating on his upper lip and turned to examine how the group was working. Everything was quiet save for the talking of the two burly guards under the shade of the tree.

He turned to look at everyone and was surprised to see that everyone was working efficiently—not pausing yet in their work even though five hours had passed. Feeling the toil seeping into his bones, Naruto rested slightly, keeping his eyes on the guards before continuing to work. To his left, Naruto could hear Lee talking quietly to Sakura and upon listening, Naruto could hear his words of support and encouragement spilling from his lips. Looking more closely at Sakura, Naruto was not surprised to see the weary lines in her body and the weariness that radiated from her bent shoulders and her slightly bulging stomach.

Feeling worry take over for Sakura, Naruto moved closer to them and gave Sakura's right arm a slight squeeze. "Sakura, are you okay?" he asked her. She nodded gratefully at him and he sighed with relief but with one look at her face, he knew for a fact that she was not okay. Her face had paled an impossible shade of white—almost to the point of gray and Naruto gave them a worried look.

"Lunch break for thirty minutes," one of the guards called to them.

"Thank God," Lee said softly before taking his wife's arm and leading her towards the shade. Naruto dropped his tool and followed them to where the food was. As they sat and ate the lunch provided for them, Naruto found that the food that had tasted so bad that morning was suddenly tasting like the most delicious meal in the world and he finished it quickly. When he reached the bottom all too soon, he let out a sigh of dissatisfaction and set the utensils aside before stretching out under the cool shade.

"Break is over! Get back to work and I better not see any of you slacking away!" The guard's sudden shout startled them all out of their tranquility and Naruto jumped slightly in response.

"Sakura are you feeling better?" Naruto could hear Lee talking to Sakura and hearing her inaudible response, Naruto hurried to the field so they both wouldn't get in trouble.

Unlike the morning, the afternoon passed slowly by them and as the sun beat harshly on their back, so did the tiredness of Sakura increase. Her body moved slower and slower as the seconds ticked by and no matter what Lee did to comfort her, she began to droop in posture. Her arms looked like lead holding the tool. Naruto gave them both a worried glance before turning to do his work. It was sometime, when Naruto heard the yelling of a guard that he looked up to see that Sakura had fallen on her knees and the guards were yelling at her to get up and continue to work. Despite Lee pulling her up with all his might, she couldn't get up and the guards were quickly approaching.

"Sakura, get up and go back to work now or you will the taste the ends of this chakra whip!" One of the guards raised their whip to threaten her. Impossibly, her face had taken on a shade of sick gray.

"Lee," she whimpered. "My legs won't move. I'm so tired, just let me be."

"No, I won't let it happen again," Lee said fiercely before trying futilely to pull her up again.

As the guards came up to them, Lee tightened his arms around Sakura and tried to shield his body over her trembling one. One of the guards laughed. "This is getting too old, don't you think Lee? Shouldn't you try to protect her in a different way? I mean, this method fails every time." With that said, they pulled Lee away and despite his efforts, they separated the two. While the other held Lee, the other took the whip and told her to get up. She tried to and as tears ran down her cheeks, Naruto felt a burning anger inside of him grow. "Fifteen lashes for you, Sakura," the guard said and as Lee gasped in outrage, the two guards laughed wickedly before the one in front of Sakura raised his hand to strike.

"It breaks my heart to see them hit her, that I have begun to be bitter from my helplessness." Lee's words came rushing back to him and with the push of his own anger, he rushed onto the field to shield Sakura from getting hit from the whip. He closed his eyes and expected the pain to come, but it didn't.

"Well, well," the guard said sneeringly, "who do we have here trying to be the valiant hero?" The guard gave him a dirty look and tried to push him out of the way to get to Sakura but Naruto refused to be budged. With growing frustration, the guard raised his whip. "Obviously you are a newbie. In that case, you have never been on the receiving end of this baby," he said lovingly to the whip. "If you really want to protect her, you will take these fifteen whip lashes like a true man. Only then will I leave them alone for today. What do you say," the man sneered. "Or are you having second thoughts?"

"No, Naruto! Say no!" Sakura yelled behind him.

Naruto gave her tear-streaked face a small reassuring smile before turning grimly to the guard and nodding. The instant he agreed, his head exploded with a crushing, hot pain and Naruto raised his hands to steady himself as he felt his skin go numb from the constant, throbbing pain that seemed to come from all over his body. Over the roar of the increasing pain, Naruto could hear screaming, yelling and laughing that seemed to swirl together and become a loud blur of a hideous sound that seemed to tear at his senses. He felt the world tilt dangerously and for a moment, he felt like he was flying . . .

He had always wondered how it felt to be flying . . . too bad Sasuke wasn't with him like they had both promised . . .

OOO

"Ne, Sasuke?"

They were both lying side by side on the rooftop of Sasuke's house together watching the clouds roll by lazily. It was evening and they had just finished dinner earlier. They had only been on the rooftop for half an hour and Sasuke was already falling asleep on him!

"Ne, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto said in a bristled tone as he looked at Sasuke.

"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke said tiredly. "Can't you shut up for once?" A smirk curved his lips right after the words left his mouth.

"Teme!" Naruto said before reaching over to hit the raven-haired boy and settling back down. "I just wanted to know . . . ah, forget it."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me, dobe."

Letting out a sigh, Naruto relented. "I just wanted to know if you've ever had the urge to jump off a building and fly into the horizon—to feel the breezes through your hair and to finally feel free from society," Naruto said with a long look at the setting sun. Naruto turned to see Sasuke looking at him deeply with a contemplating look.

"Are you," Sasuke said slowly as if it pained him to say the words. "Are you not happy living with me?"

Naruto's eyes widened as big as saucers. "No, Sasuke. Sometimes I don't think you are as smart as you claim to be," Naruto said with a laugh before bending over to give him a peck on the cheek. "I used to feel that way a lot when I was younger and I saw how alone I was in this village. That was before I met you and fell in love with you, teme! I don't think I'd ever want to fly anymore. If I ever were to, I'd want you flying next to me."

"Promise?" Sasuke's look was teasing, but there was seriousness behind those words and eyes.

"I promise," Naruto said, turning on his stomach to face Sasuke more fully before giving Sasuke a grin. In return to his smile, Sasuke gave him a light smack on his behind. "Ow, teme! If I had known that you were this mean, I wouldn't have agreed to move in with you and your selfish reasonings!"

"Selfish reasonings?" Sasuke leaned over to straddle Naruto and kiss his jaw line. "Call me selfish from not wanting you to work six to seven hours a day at that grocery store that makes you so tired and makes you eat unhealthy food everyday." His lips kissed hot trails down Naruto's bare stomach and Naruto inhaled rapidly. "Call me selfish if I don't want you to work so hard." Sasuke's hot breath moved intoxicatingly over Naruto's stomach as he dragged a path with his tongue, licking and suckling each and every part of his abdomen. Naruto bit back a groan and arched his back in response to the kisses. "Call me selfish if I'm not happy with the amount of hours that I can't spend with you due to work." His hands moved down to work the buttons of Naruto's pants. "Call me selfish if I do all that I do because I love you." With that, Sasuke pulled Naruto's pants down, released Naruto's shaft and bent over to take Naruto into the cavern of his warm mouth . . .

OOO

TBC