Naruto might not complain about Sasuke holding his hand, but that didn't stop someone else from voicing her concerns. The blissful bubble was crudely punctured by a shrill voice sounding her disgust, but she was soon silenced by Ino, who covered her mouth, hushed her and continued to glare at her until she settled down somewhat. In all honesty, Naruto pitied her. He really did destroy her life, along with her sanity, it seemed. Which got him thinking, that's something they have in common. Maybe he could use that. But he did need to make sure not to make any of it any worse. His eye gleamed red as he watched her, concocting ideas to at least make peace with the pink haired girl. When she caught his stare, she glared at him again, but he didn't respond in any way to it, just kept watching her, thinking of how to go about it.

Sasuke tugged at his hand, drawing his attention away from Sakura and back to him. "Stop staring. That's not helping." Naruto blinked, not having realised just how long he'd been looking at her. Shikamaru had walked up to them and was now standing next to them, along with Choji. Choji was more focussed on keeping an eye on Sakura per Shikamaru's request. He was to be peacekeeper in their group until they got home, with Ino in the role of direct guard to Sakura, and Sasuke to Naruto. Hopefully it was going to be enough to prevent another clash during this mission. Shikamaru sighed. That this was going to be the first and final mission Naruto and Sakura had together was almost a given at this point, but that didn't make the situation any less troublesome at the moment.

Shikamaru let Naruto tell his story. He patiently gave Naruto the time to recount it all. As Naruto worked through his emotions that went with the happenings, his eyes kept shifting from blue to red, making the story incoherent, as though a writer switched point of view every few sentences, but with some guidance from Shikamaru and Sasuke, they got a good idea of the situation. Miraculously, it matched Sakura's story for the most part as well. The only part that clearly deviated was that Sakura had made it sound like Naruto had attacked her first, while Naruto's story started with Sakura standing over him and screaming her head off and lashing out at him first. Either way, even in Sakura's account it sounded like Naruto was not the aggressor.

Shikamaru sighed. This was going to be one big troublesome report to make to the Hokage, not to mention the road back to Konoha was going to be troublesome as well. All of them were going to be on constant alert, even if on the surface they weren't going to show that they were.

Shikamaru rubbed his head and let out an aggravated growl, almost feeling a headache coming. "Argh... this is definitely going to have consequences and it's going to be troublesome..." He mumbled and then sighed again. "Okay, well, camp's been packed up. We might as well get a move on and see if we can make it back within two days."

Sasuke lingered close to Naruto during the entire trip, intent to stay in between him and Sakura, but for the duration of the trip it turned out to be unnecessary. Sakura had taken to completely ignoring Naruto to the point it almost seemed she truly didn't see him. Sasuke noticed this and wished for the love of Kami Sakura had listened to him sooner on the point of ignoring Naruto. A lot of grief would have been spared. A new development was the glare she gave Sasuke from time to time. Not that he was mightily impressed by it or anything, but it felt like her disdain for Naruto was leaking towards anyone on friendly terms with Naruto. Shikamaru sighed again. He couldn't wait for this troublesome mission to be over and go cloud watching with Choji somewhere. Just laid back and relaxed as time dragged by, away from anything troublesome.

Their return was less than grand. Even at the gate the guards picked up on the deadend mood of the group, letting them pass without making any bigger a deal then necessary about it. The grim atmosphere of the group was still very much present when they entered the Hokage's office, leaking over to the Hokage as well. Sarutobi and Kakashi shared a look when the seriousness of the group bled into the small room. Sarutobi sat back, prepared to listen to the account. None of them seemed to be injured, nor were any of the party missing. He half expected Shikamaru to report a failed mission, seeing no other obvious reason for the grim mood, but that was not the story that was laid before them. As Shikamaru and Sasuke recounted their parts of the mission followed to completions, Shikamaru told them how they found Sakura unconscious and in some sort of pain afterwards. Sasuke then proceeded to tell about how they found Naruto clinging to a tree for dear life while bleeding out. The room seemed to get darker and colder at every word as both Hokage also grimmed in mood. Both Hokage had a sullen expression on their face.

Shikamaru proceeded to report Sakura's account and than Naruto's account of the part that only they knew about, noting the differences in their stories and when he finished the room was left in an eerie silence.

"That's quite something... This is very serious." Kakashi was the first to break the silence. "Naruto..." Naruto looked up at Kakashi, looking a little worried. Was he going to get punished or were they going to blame him for what happened? Despite the reassurance from Shikamaru and Sasuke, in the end it would be up to Sarutobi and Kakashi to determine the course of his life once again. "Are you alright?" Kakashi asked, his voice laced with genuine care and interest. Naruto perked up at that, smiling a little. Maybe he wouldn't be judged to harshly after all.

"I'm fine. Ino healed me. She's really good, not even a scar left. It's a shame about the clothing, though. I really liked them." He said, looking down and pulling at the tattered part of his shirt. Despite washing them in a stream as best he could, you could still make out the outline of the blood stains a little. It still didn't sit well with him that Sasuke had spent money on him and he ruined it within a few days. Not to mention, he usually earned gifts like clothing in the department by helping out on occasion, but he had just asked Sasuke without really giving anything in return yet, so he felt a little conscious that he still needed to pay Sasuke back.

"Good, and Sakura?" Kakashi continued. She looked up, a little wide eyed and bordering on a panic of some sort, and shook her head before looking down again. She was not alright, far from it. And still she was in the same room as him. She hated it. She couldn't handle it, the way everyone seemed to be so easily swayed by Naruto and now they were looking at her like she was to blame for anything that had happened during the mission? It was unfair and she didn't know how to handle any of this. Ino stepped up next to her and rubbed her back trying to comfort her. She was still like a sister to Ino in the end and Ino felt like she needed to show at least some support for Sakura. When it remained silent, it became clear Sakura wasn't going to say anything, so Kakashi hummed as he studied her reaction.

He looked at Sarutobi. "What are we going to do with this?" Kakashi asked. He was at a bit lost. In his relatively short cariere as Hokage he had yet to experience an internal case like this. This could escalate to insubordination in the best case, and to attempted murder in the worst. Either way, it couldn't go unpunished and action needed to be taken.

Sarutobi hadn't taken his eyes of Sakura yet. There wasn't so much anger in them as there was contemplation.It took more than a few moments before he spoke up. He took a deep inhale like he had forgotten to breath for a while. "We will talk to them both, in separate meetings, joined by Yamanaka-san. We'll also talk to the rest of the team." He said, focussed on Kakashi, and then looked back at the team. "Get your payments for the mission at the desk and go home. Sakura, you are forbidden from leaving your house after you get back. Ino, you make sure she goes home straight away. There will be an ANBU watching you. And Naruto, I'm afraid the same will go for you. It could take a couple of days and until everything is sorted out, you are both under house arrest." Sarutobi took a deep breath and shifted his focus to Naruto. "I'm sorry, but until this is properly sorted out, this is the very least we need to do." Naruto was glad Sarutobi looked at him as he said the last part. It gave him some hope that Sasuke and Shikamaru were right and that it all would be alright. "Until I call you again, you are all dismissed."

After collecting their pay, the group broke apart, Sakura and Ino left together, Shikamaru and Choji walked for a while with Naruto and Sasuke until their paths split up. "Naruto, don't worry." Shikamaru said. "With our statements and yours, they don't have a case against you. Just honour the house arrest, okay?" Naruto nodded and Shikamaru and Choji left after that.

"Hey, Sasuke." Naruto said. The money he just got was in his hand and he was looking at it. It wasn't a great amount of money and it barely covered the price of the clothing Sasuke had bought Naruto, but it was all he had and he felt like he needed to give something to Sasuke, so this was a good start. He looked at the money in his hand before holding it out to Sasuke. "Here." He said.

"What? Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Well, because you bought me clothing and I'm staying in your house, eating your food and stuff, so..." Naruto said, looking away from Sasuke a bit, almost shy.

Sasuke looked at Naruto for a while. He loved the happy glow in Naruto's blue eye. It meant Naruto was happy, which Sasuke loved, but it also meant that Naruto was a little easier to handle then when the red eye was gleaming. He couldn't help but appreciate that Naruto acknowledged what he had done for him. It was gentle and kind and Sasuke really like that. At the same time, the brash and impulsive side Naruto showed which Sasuke associated with his red eye, Sasuke also liked that. It gave a depth to Naruto that made everything a lot more interesting. Sasuke nodded. "Alright, thank you." He said as he took the money and gave Naruto a small smile. "Well, I guess I'll have to keep taking care of you, then. How about we drop by a clothing shop yo replace your ruined clothing before we go home?" He asked, holding his hand out to Naruto. Naruto froze at that, looking at Sasuke with big eyes. "What? Sasuke asked, unsure why Naruto was suddenly frozen in place.

"Home?" Naruto asked with a small voice.

"Yes, home."

"As in, my home, too?" Naruto asked, swallowing hard and attempting to blink some tears away. It wasn't helping.

Sasuke turned back to fully face Naruto again. "Yes, your home, too." He said smirking, watching Naruto's face break into a grin and grab Sasuke's hand.

"Really? Are you serious?" Naruto asked again. Sasuke pulled him a little closer.

"Yes, dobe, I am serious." He said in a certain voice, looking Naruto dead in the eyes. "Come on, let's go home."