A.N. Once again thank you so much for all the reviews. This chapter took me a bit longer then the others. I got caught in a few places, but over all i'm satisfied with it now. I'm just going to call it quits here with this chapter, otherwise I'll go nuts. I don't know how many changes I have made to it so far. So I'll quit rambling for now and let you get to the fic, enjoy! I hope ^__^

'Italics' - A persons thoughts
--Italics-- Flashback or memory

Chapter 3
Mixed Feelings


Naruto sat quietly across from his captive. Daylight had finally come, giving him a chance to look at Sasuke for the first time in four years. His heart pounded against his chest. Sasuke was everything that he had imagined and so much more. The dark-haired Shinobi had filled out well. He had grown taller, broader. His hair fell loosely at his shoulders reminding Naruto of the time he met Haku. But it was Sasuke's face that held Naruto's attention; Sasuke was just as he remembered him. He still held those pretty boy features that attracted many people to the mysterious boy in the past. He may have a stronger jaw line, but Sasuke was still Sasuke... a natural beauty.

Naruto paused on the forehead protector that Sasuke wore, and narrowed his eyes in anger. "Damn sound spy." Naruto growled. His eyes stung as he fought the urge to let himself get any more emotional about the matter. That sound head protector was like a slap to the face. Sasuke had truly turned his back on his friends, on his village, and went into the arms of their enemy.

That meant everything Sasuke had done to him mere hours ago had been to trick him! The traitor had been up to no good and tried to play with his feelings to complete whatever wicked plan Orochimaru had sent him here for.

Naruto continued to glare at the symbol as thought he would be able to melt it away. "Sasuke, you bastard." He had to insult the whole village by giving his allegiance completely to another, and paraded around with the proof right on his forehead. Naruto's hands clenched in anger, Sasuke would be executed for sure for such an act.

The blond shook his head and lowered his eyes, unable to look at the boy before him any longer. His goal all along had been to bring Sasuke back, to get him help. He didn't want to see him killed. But he knew once he handed the dark-haired nin over, it would probably be the last time he ever saw Sasuke again.

A groan from Uchiha signaled the youth was waking up. Naruto slid on his Anbu mask, then pulled the hood of his cloak over his head. He had a few questions to ask the "traitor", but first he wanted to see him sweat. Sasuke's dark eyes opened and focus on him almost immediately. Naruto smirked behind the mask, satisfied that Sasuke's eyes had widened in surprise. 'Good.'

Naruto raised his right hand, gathering a visible amount of chakra in it. It was a technique the Anbu use to knock out their opponent if they had questions later, but if it was used the right way it could easily kill. "Why are you in Konoha? Where is Orochimaru? What were you plans with Uzumaki Naruto?"

Sasuke threw himself against the ropes that bound him. "Where's Naruto?"

Naruto felt his heart lighten a bit, Sasuke had asked for him! Uchiha was tied up and in the presence of an Anbu, that could be there to kill him, and the first thing that Sasuke asked for was him? Could that mean....... 'No! Sasuke doesn't care, he never did!'

--'You, Sakura, Kakashi, and everyone else in Konoha mean nothing to me!'--

"Damn you, answer me!" Sasuke clenched his teeth together and fought against the binds that held him down.

"You're in no position to make any demands, Jerk." Naruto lowered his hand, letting the chakra diminish.

Sasuke froze, his dark eyes locked with the blonds. "Naruto?"

"Don't bother, you're not going anywhere. I've gotten much better at tying knots."

Sasuke smirked. "I can see that." He then relaxed in his chair, closing his eyes while still keeping that smirk on his face. It was as though he were lost in some memory.

"They'll be coming for you soon, so don't get comfortable." Naruto stood up from his chair and glanced outside his window. 'Damn, where is he?'

"Are you really an Anbu? Or are you just playing dress up?" Sasuke's eyes were upon him again. Damn those eyes! He felt so weak under his gaze.

"What's it to you?" Naruto snapped then removed his cloak and mask. "They don't go around passing Anbu gear out to just anyone." Naruto laid his cloak on the back of the chair he had been sitting on and his mask on a table that was nearby. He didn't feel like questioning his prisoner any further, it's not like he would have gotten Sasuke to talk away.

Sasuke remained quiet, his dark eyes still watching him. 'Damn you stop looking at me!' He could only guess what the older boy was thinking as he stared at him in his Anbu gear. Hopefully the jerk was worried about his fate because he had every intention of finishing what he planned to do with the traitorous nin when he caught him.

"Why.... Why would you?"

"Hn?" Naruto raised his eyebrow in curiosity.

"It's not required to serve in the Anbu to become Hokage."

Naruto snorted then crossed his arms. "That's none of your concern."

"The fatality rate of the Anbu is high, you could get killed. Your dream...."

"Shut up!" Naruto pointed at the other boy. "Don't even act like you're concerned, traitor!" There, he saw it! That same flash of something in those dark eyes he saw on that day four years ago, when he called Sasuke a traitor for the first time. His fist clenched, then dropped to his side.

A knock on the door sliced the tension that was unbelievably thick in the room, causing both boys to glance in its direction.

"About damn time." Naruto mumbled as he moved to open it.

"Naruto! Listen to me!" Sasuke pleaded. "I need to see the Hokage!"

"Hokage?" Naruto froze in step and glared at the boy. "Over my dead body!" He snarled then shut out Sasuke's voice as the other boy continued to speak. What Sasuke had to say wasn't important; he had no right to an audience with the Hokage.

He finished crossing his small apartment to open the door and about sighed in relief once seeing his guest had finally arrived. He didn't know how much longer he would have been able to hold out being alone with Sasuke. "What took you so damn long?"

"I'm sorry, you see on my way here..."

"Cut the bull, Kakashi Sensei. I think I've heard just about every excuse you can come up with over the years."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened slightly, then took in his appearance. "Quite formal today aren't we, Naruto?"

Naruto glanced at a passerby, who paused to look at the two of them. Not wanting to draw any more attention he invited his guest in. "Come in Kakashi Sensei." He opened his door wide enough for the older man. Naruto sighed as he closed his door, he couldn't wait for this day to end. He was so confused, about his feelings, about what was going on. He found Kakashi leaning against the wall not too far from where Sasuke was currently tied up. Kakashi's hands were shoved in his pockets as he stared at the other "guest" that was sharing the small apartment with them.

"Ah, I see we have company."

"If you can call him that."

"Have you contacted your Anbu captain?"

Naruto remained quiet for a few moments then shook his head. "No." He still couldn't figure out why he hadn't done so. Sasuke was listed in the Bingo Book, even though he wasn't an S-class criminal. Anyone within those pages had to be dealt with according to the law that was laid out. He glanced over at Sasuke to see a small smile on the boys face. 'Damn!' It was easy to imagine what was going through the mind of one Uchiha Sasuke.

Kakashi crossed the distance to dark-haired boy. He crouched down in front of Sasuke so he could be eyelevel. Naruto could tell his Sensei was smiling at his former student. "The Hokage filled me in on your... situation. She will be by shortly."

"Good, I need to speak with her immediately."

"I take it your work is complete then?"

"It was starting to become too risky, I had to cut things short."

"I see." Kakashi stood up and pulled out his kunai. He moved behind Sasuke's chair and sliced through the ropes, setting the Sound nin free.

"Huh?" Naruto stood in total shock, watching the Uchiha heir rise from his chair while rubbing his wrists. Did he just witness what he thought he saw? Did Kakashi just set their enemy free? Naruto growled in disagreement and pulled out the kunais he had strapped to his legs and sprung toward Sasuke, swinging a lethal strike toward the traitor's neck and side. What he didn't expect was Kakashi to block the blow he was about to lay on the dark-haired Shinobi.

"What in the hell are you doing, Kakashi Sensei! Let go, dammit! He'll get away!"

Kakashi's hands held onto either kunai tightly, not giving Naruto a chance to break out of his grip. "Now hold up Naruto, let me explain."

"Explain! What is there to explain!? You're helping the enemy escape because you have a soft spot for him!"

"NARUTO!"

Naruto paused in his attempt to free himself from his Sensei's hold, Kakashi had never yelled at him before. A few seconds of total silence passed before Kakashi finally released him, taking the kunais away. Naruto let his arms drop to his sides as Kakashi spoke up in his normal calm tone.

"Sasuke has been on an A ranked mission ever since he left...."

"No." Naruto cut him off, shaking his head. "I don't believe that." Naruto glared at Sasuke. "A teammate... a friend, would never say or do the things he did."

"I had to make it believable, dobe. I was being watched."

"Liar!" He took a step back, how could this be happening? It couldn't be. Sasuke, a mission? A hand clamped down on his shoulder from behind. He turned to find the Hokage standing behind him.

"Tsunade...?" Naruto questioned her with his eyes, when had she gotten there?

"It's the truth, Brat." The fifth smiled at him. "Sasuke was the only one who could penetrate Orochimaru's forces, I used that snakes desires to gain knowledge to protect this village."

"So, Sasuke was a spy?"

"A very clever one." Tsunade patted his shoulder.

'He's not a traitor... he's a spy.' Naruto's eyes narrowed as he watched the Hokage take Sasuke's hand briefly in her own, welcoming his safe return. 'A spy.' His eye twitched as Sasuke took the Sound Headband off and handed it to Tsunade. He wanted to believe, but how could he just shove aside the past four years and act as though Sasuke never left? What if...? What if everything wasn't as it seemed?

"How can you trust him?" Naruto directed toward the two people in the room whom he trusted. He could see Kakashi's eyebrow rise in curiosity. "He's been with our enemy for four years now. How do you know that Orochimaru didn't get to his head like he did in the past? How do you know that he's not spying for that monster?"

"Naruto, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. And I'll answer all...."

Naruto shook in anger, cutting off Sasuke before he finished. "The Sasuke I knew never would have acted the way he did last night! He never would have done that to me!"

Naruto stormed out of his apartment, ignoring Tsunade's call for him to come back. He glanced briefly at the Anbu guards outside his door before he took off toward his quiet spot in the woods; he needed to be alone to think.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sasuke wanted nothing more then to chase after the blond idiot that flew out the door, but for some reason his will to do so is what held him back. Naruto was angry, and in the past when the blond blew up it was best to just let him be. He was back to stay, therefore he had plenty of time for everyone to adjust. Sasuke knew there would be numerous mixed feelings amongst the villagers, and his former friends. He could easily imagine what it would be like thanks to Naruto's reaction.

"What did you do to him... hum, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at his former Sensei and shook his head. "Nothing, I don't know what that dobe's talking about." He only knew too well what the blond was upset about. He had been unable to control himself last night; he had to touch him to make sure that Naruto was really there.

The past four years he had been put through a lot, Orochimaru had tired his best to get rid of his feelings for his friends, to sway his mind. But for some reason memories of a happy and rambunctious Naruto never left his thoughts. He would train excessively during the day to please the man who wanted to gain his power, but always saved the nights for dreams of the blue eyed boy who had managed to sneak his way into his heart.

Four years, for four years he had been able to do nothing more then dream of how Naruto may had grown. And grow the loud mouthed blond did. He was taller; all that childhood fat had turned into muscle. His face was more matured; those blue eyes were so much wiser. And those gold locks were just a couple of inches longer giving the blond a wilder, yet sexy look.

"Sasuke?"

"Yes." Sasuke flushed when he saw the huge grin on Tsunade's face. "Hokage-sama, my apologies." He hadn't realized until that point, she had been speaking to him the whole time.

Tsunade chuckled. "It's been a rough day. Why don't you get some proper rest and then see me later to give me your report." Sasuke nodded. "You can stay with Kakashi until I can deal with all the necessary arrangements to release all Uchiha property back into your care."

He could see Kakashi stiffen after hearing Tsunade's orders. 'So he doesn't want me around either.'

"I'll leave Sasuke in your hands, Kakashi." Tsuande slipped out of Naruto's apartment, the guards posted at the door followed behind her.

He knew that coming back wasn't going to be easy. He couldn't expect everything to just go back to the way it was as though he had been here all along training with the rest of team seven. "Kakashi-san, you need not worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Sensei." Kakashi visible eye crinkled. "I expect my students to call me, Sensei."

"Sensei." The corner of Sasuke's mouth lifted slightly. Perhaps he had read Kakashi wrong.

"Come." Kakashi moved past him. "My apartment isn't far from here."

Sasuke warily followed Kakashi, closing Naruto's door on the way out. Being in Naruto's home had been like a sanctuary from the streets of Konoha. At the moment it was around lunch time and the streets were filled with patrons. He could feel people stare at him; hear the whispering as he followed Kakashi.

He glared at the silver-haired Jounin's back 'Damn him, he's taking the long way.' He knew well enough that Kakashi didn't have to take this way. He could have kept him out of the limelight, but instead he had to flash him around as though he were some sort of prize.

Sasuke came to a stop when he caught sight of Ichiraku's Ramen shop down the street. Did Naruto still frequent there? Could he be there now?

"Sasuke, let's keep going."

Shoving his hands in his pockets Sasuke continued, ignoring the stares, the comments. It would only be a matter of time before the whole village knew that Uchiha Sasuke was back.