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

A/N: Yes, I'm still alive . . . just a little worn out from school and family events, but otherwise than that, I'm back! Sorry for the slow update, I've never updated so slow in my life and I apoligize. Blame it on school and my family if you please. Now, on to the story and to see who the possessive "owner" of Sasuke is . . . hope you're not too surprised!

Back to Where We Were

by: lady-rouge

Chapter 4

"So you're the one who stole Sasuke from me last night."

The doors pushed open all the way to reveal a petite busty blonde woman in the doorway. Her chilly blue eyes appraised him suspiciously as she looked him up and down. A frown fell upon her lips as she observed him carefully.

"I—what?" Naruto choked on his words as she glared icily at him. "You heard," she said angrily before narrowing her eyes at him and taking a step closer to him.

"Don't mind Ino," another voice spoke out and Naruto jerked in surprise to see another blonde woman step out from the wall across his door. Unlike Ino, this woman was tall and while Ino had her long blonde hair down, she held her short blonde hair up in four ponytails at the back of her head. "She's just jealous that Sasuke didn't show up for her entertainment last night like he usually does."

"Temari," she growled. "You know that he has never stood me up like this before and I demand to know why. Is it because of this uncouth boy here?" Her eyes coolly looked him up and down. "I don't see what is so special about him. Sasuke must have just wanted something new to taste." Her tone was spiteful as she spoke to him. "He'll get tired of you soon and then he'll come back to me and he'll throw you away like the garbage you are." A slow, spiteful smile rose in her mouth.

"Look lady," Naruto said irately, "I don't know who you think you are, but I don't appreciate it one bit."

"You want to know who I am?" She looked rudely at him. "I'm going to be the future wife of King Sasuke," she said with a toss of her long hair. "As soon as I can get him to sleep with me in his bed and in his room, I know for sure that he'll marry me," she said with confidence gleaming in her eyes. "So far, he'll only have me in my room—never his room—and that is why I'll know that he's thinking of going further when he allows me to go into his room and his bed," she smacked her lips hungrily at that thought.

Feeling sick at the talk of her sexual activities with Sasuke, Naruto backed weakly into the room. "W-Why are you telling me this?" He said softly as he looked at the both of them.

"Because I want to know how YOU of all people," she said 'you' like he was a bug in a disgusted tone, "was able to persuade him to let you stay in his bedroom." Her eyes were shooting daggers at him now.

"His . . . bedroom?" Naruto broke off weakly as the knowledge hit him like a ton of bricks that he didn't have an answer for.

"Yes, his bedroom," Ino hissed. "And right there is his bed," she pointed angrily at the bed that stood proudly in the center of the room . . . the bed that Naruto had slept in last night . . .

"I," Naruto fumbled for an explanation. "I was only brought here because I was injured. Nothing else happened," he prayed that she didn't hear the tremble in his voice that betrayed his lie. "I'll be leaving soon as soon as I'm better," he said softly as his eyes traveled around the room, "back to the prisons," he said in a quiet voice.

"The prisons?" Ino let out a delighted chuckle. "This is rich," she said in an amused tone. Immediately, her amused look disappeared and she looked fiercely at him. "No matter that you deny any involvement with King Sasuke, I will not go easy on you if you threaten my relationship with King Sasuke." With that said, she turned around and left the doorway without another word.

"Don't pay much attention to Ino," the tall blonde who had remained silent most of the time spoke out to him. "She's just afraid that there will be one more person vying for Sasuke's affections and the place of his heart. Although, right now she is the most popular of the servants, so she does have more to fear," Temari said thoughtfully. "By the way, I'm Temari," she said with a small smile.

Feeling more comfortable with the turn that the conversation was taking, Naruto stepped forward to the doorway and shook her hand. "I'm Naruto," he said with an identical smile.

"Sorry about the whole incident that just happened, but that wasn't our purpose of coming up here. Usually King Sasuke doesn't let anyone come into his wing unless he says so personally, but we really needed the extra hand in the kitchens and upon hearing that Sasuke had brought in someone yesterday, we decided to see if you could help. The thing is, some of the kitchen workers must have ate something wrong and today, they couldn't get out of bed and work. We usually don't do this, but we're desperate." She looked at him pleadingly and he nodded reassuringly.

"Let's go then," he said before stepping out, closing the door and walking with her. Along the way, Temari pointed out the essentials of the Castle to him; showing him the main halls and the main staircases before leading him into a room that clanged and clashed loudly.

"What is this?" he said with an amazed tone. There was steam all over the place while people ran around busily carrying big loads. He was surprised that no one was crashing into any one yet as they swerved in and out of each other dangerously; intent on carrying out their tasks.

"The kitchen," Temari answered with a fond smile. "You begin to love this place after working in it for a while."

"Oh" Naruto said as he gazed at the scene in front of them. "So, what do you want me to do?"

"That's for the head cook Iruka to decide," she said with a laugh before heading towards a man who was busily shouting orders to people over the roar of the cooking fire. Finished with it, the man with chestnut brown hair tiredly turned around when the group dispersed and with a sigh, began to pick up a pail of water. Upon seeing them, he stopped in mid-action and rose to greet them happily.

"Oh thank you for agreeing to help," Iruka said happily to Naruto. "My name is Iruka and yours?"

"Naruto," Naruto said with a smile to the lively man. He was positively glowing with relief as they shook hands.

"Oh! Temari, can you start the mix for the bread?" Iruka said, as if it just popped in his head. Temari nodded and waving at Naruto, she left them. Iruka smiled and turned to him. "So, Naruto, how much experience do you have with cooking or cleaning?"

Thinking for a while, Naruto gave a sheepish smile. "Hardly any," he said before laughing at Iruka's surprised expression. "I usually ate out at a Ramen shop back where I came from. I never cooked for myself since I lived alone."

Iruka thought for a while before speaking. "How about you help me cut the vegetables for the dinner dish? I'll show you how," he said quickly; afraid that Naruto would decline the task.

Naruto agreed and after Iruka showed him how to align the vegetables in the right angle to create the specified cuts, Naruto nodded happily before chopping away at his board. Seeing his enthusiasm, Iruka laughed before going to his own board and beginning as well. And as they both worked silently at their boards, Naruto noticed that there was hardly any talk in the busy kitchen and almost as if sensing his thoughts, Iruka spoke.

"It's usually not this quiet in here," Iruka said with a laugh. "If you could call it that amongst all this clatter of pots and pans, but we've fallen behind due to the lack of workers and now everyone has more tasks than they can handle." He finished talking and stopped his chopping. "I'm going to check on the other workers, I'll be back." And then he was gone.

Naruto chuckled at how hard Iruka was working and continued to chop the bundle of vegetables that was slowly decreasing with time.

-

Sasuke cursed loudly as his eyes roamed through his empty room. Where could Naruto be? He thought that they had established that he couldn't go back to the prisons yesterday but it looked like Naruto had lied. With a quick spin of his feet, Sasuke closed the door loudly and left the wing and in the direction of the prisons.

Sasuke stormed to the prisons and to anyone who was in his path, they made sure to move quickly as he moved past them without so much as a glance. Sasuke had just come back from a long meeting with the Hidden Village of Sand. He and the king from there had been trying to settle a contract about being allies, but the king of sand was just as stubborn as he was and so they had not gotten anywhere. And so they had decided for the king to come over tonight for dinner and they would all talk about it with the Hyuuga family and the other prominent families. Growling at the remembrance of their latest encounter, he ran a hand through his hair as he entered the prison. Going down the steps of the darkly lit room, he walked until he came upon a guard.

"Is Naruto here?" He asked in a bristling tone. Surprised at his sudden appearance, the guard shook his head fearfully.

Surprised at the answer, Sasuke began to feel inklings of worry as he rushed back out and into the castle once more. If Naruto did not return to the prison, where was he?

Just as Sasuke was about to go towards the east wing to look for Naruto, a voice stopped him.

"Isn't it time for dinner, Uchiha?"

Sasuke turned around and saw Neji, the head of the Hyuuga clan in their village.

"King Gaara of the Sand Village is coming tonight, ne? You wouldn't want to be late."

Scowling, Sasuke nodded and followed after Neji. Neji was right, if he was late, Gaara would be in a foul mood—thus, ruining the negotiations between their villages. Naruto would have to wait. With an odd tightening in his chest, Sasuke headed towards the dining room.

-

Naruto was beginning to feel weariness creeping into his bones as he finished cutting the strawberries into circular shapes for the cake they were making and so he stopped and leaned against the table slightly to rest.

"Naruto, are you done with the strawberries?" Iruka's voice carried loudly through the noise in the kitchen.

Yelling an affirmation, he sneaked a piece into his mouth and hurried towards Iruka with the bowl in his hands. "Got it here," he said after swallowing the piece. It was delicious and Naruto bent to put another piece into his mouth.

"Naruto," Iruka chided with a laugh. "You're getting off task young man," he said with a chuckle.

"Sorry Iruka," he said sheepishly.

Iruka just laughed before grabbing the bowl and beginning to place the strawberries onto the cake. After he finished, Iruka turned to give Naruto a grin. "How does it look?"

"Delicious," Naruto said, beginning to grow hungry. To emphasize that, his stomach growled loudly and Naruto blushed. Iruka just laughed again.

"Don't worry, we can have dinner after we finish serving and clean up. It won't be that long," Iruka reassured him before turning to everybody who had begun to gather around.

"Okay servers, line up right here and I'll dish out the main plates for you to bring out. Remember that the King of Sand is also here, so be on your best manners." As they lined up, Iruka turned to Naruto. "Can you help as well? It'll make the process go faster. It's pretty easy to serve. Just follow the person in front of you and give the plate to the person on the left of the person who just got served, okay? It's a pattern, so you won't mess up."

Nodding, Naruto went to wait in line and it was not too long before he was handed a plate by Iruka and following the woman in front of him. Upon entering the dining room, he was astounded by the huge table that stood magnificently in the center with people sitting around and conversing. They all looked to be among his age and as a young woman with pale eyes and dark hair looked up to see him, Naruto smiled widely at her and with a blush staining on her face, she looked away from him to her plate.

Naruto blinked in confusion before a tap on his shoulder told him to continue walking and he obliged quickly. As he got closer to the front of the line, Naruto sighed with relief. The heat from the plate was starting to get uncomfortable that even when he switched the plate back and forth between his hands, it didn't help anymore.

When the woman in front of him left, he went immediately to the person on the left and placed it carefully in front of a man with dark red hair. The man looked up in surprise when the plate appeared in front of him and saw Naruto. Naruto gave him a small smile, but the man just continued to stare intently at him with unwavering eyes.

Feeling uncomfortable, Naruto didn't know whether to turn around and go or ask if the stranger needed anything. The man finally tore his look from Naruto and turned to speak to someone on his left. Seeing this, Naruto sighed with relief and began to walk away. He had gotten about a couple of steps when a voice rang lowly towards him.

"Naruto?"

In the middle of deciphering the look that the red-haired man had given him, Naruto turned back distractedly to see the man on the left of the red haired man.

Sasuke.

Naruto's eyes widened and gave a double take as he saw Sasuke next to the red-haired man on his left who was again looking intently at Naruto. How had Naruto not notice Sasuke there?

Naruto took a hesitant step towards Sasuke but stopped when Sasuke pushed his chair back abruptly and started to walk towards him with strong, purposeful strides. Naruto froze with embarrassment when Sasuke took his arm and led him angrily out of the room, out of view of the curious, peering faces at them. His face flushed at what they must have thought and when they had made it into a corridor that was clear of any butting gazes, Sasuke finally took his hold off of Naruto to look at Naruto with a glare.

"What the hell are you doing down here and helping in the kitchen for that matter?" Sasuke hissed at him. "Don't you know that you are injured and therefore you must rest? Damn it!" He cursed to himself before looking back at Naruto who was now looking slightly angry.

"Are you hungry?" He said in a surprisingly gentle voice as he put two fingers to soothe a headache that was coming on and becoming bigger with every minute. "If you are, I'll ask someone to send some dinner up to you. You could eat dinner down here, but we're in the middle of a contract dinner and so I don't think you should be down here."

Naruto had been about to argue, but suddenly seeing Sasuke looking so weary, a cold feeling overcame his heart and Naruto found that he didn't have the strength to fight back. Nodded compliantly, Naruto headed up the stairs and back into his room with resignation.

Taken back by the ease with which Naruto obeyed him, Sasuke sighed with relief and turned to go back into the dining room. As soon as he entered the room, inquisitive eyes were upon him, but he ignored them and continued back to his seat. While he was gone, the food had finally been served and was waiting in big plates of meat and vegetables that Iruka had cooked. He sat down next to Gaara once more and they began to speak of their contract.

-

"No," Gaara said calmly for what seemed like the thousandth time that evening and Sasuke pursed his lips tightly before letting the huge sigh that he wanted to give come out in a small, unnoticeable whoosh. They had been sitting in the dining room for what seemed like an eternity and they were not getting any closer to finishing the contract than they were two hours ago.

Sighing wearily and suddenly feeling more tired than he had ever in the past couple days, Sasuke rolled his head slightly to the side in an effort to release some of the strain and stress he was feeling, but it was no use. "Then what do you want from me to secure this alliance?" Sasuke half-growled with irritation as he looked angrily at the red-haired king of Sand.

"It's not about what, Sasuke," he said with a smirk. "It's about whom."

His eyebrows arched slightly in surprise as he waited for the answer.

"I want Naruto."

-----

A/N/N:Well, what will Sasuke say? Until next time, see ya later!

Comments:

RuByMoOn17 – Are you surprised that it was Ino or were you expecting someone else?

ky0kichi: He is, isn't he? LOL Sorry for the slow update!

Hiero Kaze: Wow . . . thanks for your compliment, I hope you like this chappie as well!

animeperfect: Yeah, he makes me mad too . . . about their past, it will come in due time. Patience is a virtue . . . :grins evilly:

Shanna: Well, it makes me glad to hear that, but I'll be leaving before you discover that I left you guys with another cliffie :sneaks away:

Heather-Hezzer-and-Honaluki: It's driving me crazy too . . . so much tangles to untangle . . .

xMisoL sorry for that cliffie and while I'm at it . . . I'll apologize for that last cliffie as well. . . :grins evilly:

darkbebipanssj4: Thanks again for your compliment! About Washington D.C., I loved it and actually rode the underground subways for the first time in my life and boy are they fast! If I may ask, where are you from because you should definitely visit the US. It's fun! I'd also like to travel overseas, especially Asia since I'm Asian and my parents always talk about their childhoods there and how they miss it. So, I decided to take things into my own hands and I will be traveling to Asia for study abroad next year!

Hiei Girl 003:

SapphireC: Thank you soo much for that comment. It mad eme happy to know that someone took the story the way I wanted them to: the mystery surrounding their past and such! Thanks!

Fleaur: Wow, this review seriously is going to make me cry :Bawls: LOL Thanks for your compliment because I was disheartened from the lack if interest in this story, but that wasn't the main reason I didn't review. Blame it on school! Seriously, thanks for your comment, it made my day!

SarcasimGrl

PupyPryde: Hey there! J I know I haven't updated in a month and I apologize. It won't happen again (I hope) and thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it.

CammyK: LOL your comment made me crack up! That's another way to look at this fic! J Well, hopefully things will clear up between them soon . . .

TBC . . .