Sasuke did leave for a while after making sure Naruto would be okay on his own. Granted, at first Sasuke was worried he'd find his house levelled with the ground once he came back or that Naruto would stalk him for as long as he was gone, but he hadn't seen or noticed Naruto all day.

Despite thinking he'd be gone for most of the day, Sasuke was back well before dinner and even had time to cook. He had concluded that Naruto didn't cheat and also that Naruto had been honest. It still stung, and Sasuke did need more time, but at the very least he was able to be in the same room as Naruto without feeling near tears. Progress, right?

The night passed well enough and at the end of it, they slept as they had done since the first night Naruto had stayed at his house, cuddled together. Sasuke scoffed at the idea, but sleeping without the blond glued to his side was now a restless endeavour.

The next morning Sasuke had some trouble getting Naruto to come with him to the Hokage's office, but he still managed. There were a few things that stuck out about the meeting. Naruto seemed completely and utterly uninterested in the entire proceedings of the conversation, Sarutobi didn't show anything except a fair level of amusement and Kakashi was once again absent, despite Sasuke having announced beforehand that they were coming and for that reason.

It was strange, even near the end of Sasuke's explanation Sarutobi showed little worry. He only seemed entertained by their fight. It didn't make a lot of sense for Sarutobi to be so easy with this. At the very least Sasuke had expected certain restrictions for his blond boyfriend, but instead, Sarutobi gave them a mission. Outside the village. For multiple months. With a lot of freedom. Not what Sasuke was expecting at all, but he kind of understood the purpose of it. It was supposed to be a somewhat training journey for Naruto and Sasuke. Sarutobi gave them the freedom to go where they pleased, as long as they remembered to be adequate representatives of Konoha and didn't stray into enemy territory without a good reason.

Naruto seemed very pleased with the outcome. On the way back he was zooming around Sasuke, talking about all kinds of random things and sticking to shop windows if they displayed something that would come in handy for their prolonged leave of absence. This wasn't the worst that could have happened. It was unexpected, but not the worst. Sasuke trailed after Naruto, buying the things he also thought necessary and by the time they were home, Sasuke was glad to be rid of the burdens of many bags.

"Didn't you think the Hokage had a weird reaction?" Sasuke asked Naruto while sealing things into scrolls. He looked up just in time to see a smirk vanish from Naruto's face, replaced by a smile and a shake of his head.

"No! And now we get a holiday together. A long holiday..." Naruto said cheerfully. "Where are we going first? I don't really know anywhere outside Konoha, except for the last few missions. I bet there's a lot more to see." He stopped his rambling to gasp. "I wanna see the ocean! Can we do that? Please?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes before looking back at Naruto, a soft smile on his face. "I guess we can make time for that, somewhere along the way." Sasuke said, watching the child-like glee spread across Naruto's face before his ever-restless energy took over again and he started running around the room trying to be helpful. He wasn't, really, but Sasuke just let him run around anyway. It was a good way to ensure a good night's sleep before they were heading off.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto stalled and because serious. "There will be some other places we will need to stop by. I'll let you know once we're near those locations." Naruto said, and his tone of voice left little question. This was something that they'd do, even if Sasuke didn't want to, so he nodded.

"Sure. Are you going to tell me where or what it is?" Sasuke asked. Naruto walked up to stand in front of him and started at Sasuke for a moment. Sasuke tensed and swallowed, wanting to take a step back from the sudden seriousness in front of him, but he just managed to stay put. Naruto suddenly gave a mischievous smile and put his arms around Sasuke. "Nope." Was all he said, planting a small kiss on Sasuke's nose and giggling as he hid his face in Sasuke's neck. "Is there time for me to say goodbye to Morino-san? I've been missing him." Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto's waist.

"Of course, we'll stop by the department before we go. There's no really hurry anyway and I need to get someone to maintain this place at least a little bit while we're gone so it isn't a total dump when we get back."

The smile Naruto gave him almost made him forget his lingering uneasiness with Naruto's confession. Sasuke sighed. They'd be okay, eventually, he guessed. They'd have a hell of a lot of time to work on it, anyway, and like always, Sasuke already knew he was swaying towards forgiving. Possibly even forgetting.

To make it quick, Sasuke and Naruto took to the roofs to get where they needed to be. When stood in front of the dark doors to the department, Naruto seemed a little hesitant to walk in. "Hey, Sasuke..." He said, almost in a whisper. His eyes were glued to the doors, seemingly studying every inch of them before he finally looked sideways. Sasuke looked at him with an expression that told Naruto to tell him what he wanted to say. "Is it okay with you if I go alone?" He asked. There was uncertainty in his voice. Enough so for Sasuke to feel a tug of compassion in his gut as he lowered his arms.

"Why do you want to go alone?" Sasuke asked, wanting an explanation to go with his gut feeling.

"I don't know, because..." Naruto seemed to shrink in on himself a little before he looked back at the doors and took a deep breath to steady himself. "There's a different world behind that door. A different life. I don't want you to see that, I think. I didn't like Ino seeing it either." His eyes didn't move from the door.

Sasuke stepped closer and touched his cheek softly with the back of his index finger, snapping Naruto's attention to him. Naruto was actually nervous and Sasuke had a hard time not gushing his adoration over the flustered look. "I'll wait by the door, okay?" Sasuke said, giving Naruto a small smile before stepping back and letting Naruto struggle with his thoughts.

The door seemed immense to Naruto. It looked heavier than ever before and it seemed to loom over him more and more with each step he took closer. Naruto didn't really understand his resentment towards the dark doors. It's not like he disliked the place, not really, during his stay. But the doors were a clear symbol of being confined, imprisoned. Trapped. He didn't want to be trapped anymore, but he knew perfectly well that the doors were never the part that kept him from leaving. It wasn't the building, or the shackles or even the Jutsu that did that. It was the people inside. And they'd be there. What if they decided to keep him there again?

His hand landed on the doorknobs and he twisted them without thinking. The doors cracked open to reveal the entry room behind it. It was the same as it had always been. The people behind the desk looked up and one of them smiled at him like an idiot. Naruto let his gaze settle on the man, narrowing his eyes... Definitely an idiot, but at least a familiar idiot. With a grin, Naruto launched himself at Hisato, ending in a fit of giggles.

"Hisato! Where's Papa? I need to tell him something!" Naruto settled himself on Hisato's back, knowing the male didn't mind his actions.

"You gonna ride me, Naruto? It might take a while to get there." Hisato said calmly, but Naruto felt his chest tense up like he was holding in his laughter.

Naruto moved his head so his whispers would only be heard by Hisato. "You know I'm the best to have ever ridden you. Giddy up, cowboy." Naruto saw Hisato's ears tinge red and he chuckled. While Hisato often threw innuendo around, being on the receiving end, even if it was just mild teasing, always left him red and Naruto was perfectly willing to embarrass him whenever.

Hisato rolled his eyes as a way to recover. "Whatever. Let's go." He said as nonchalantly as possible, walking towards the second door.

For a moment Naruto tensed. Behind that door was the darkness. Did he really want to see Morino enough to go back into that? There was always the off chance they'd decide to keep him there, or that he'd get lost on his way back or something... "Don't worry, no shackles this time and I'll personally guide you back out if Ibiki-san doesn't do that himself." Naruto blinked and looked down at Hisato. "You were thinking out loud." Hisato added with a grin. "In fact, you do that more often then you realise, I'm guessing. I've heard you hold whole conversations with yourself, and those actually seemed to be between different people." He added matter-of-factly.

"I do?" Naruto asked, getting a nod in return. Huh, Naruto guessed he did do that. That did explain why Sasuke sometimes seemed to seamlessly know what was on his mind... Ah, well, he wasn't planning on keeping any of his secrets secret from Sasuke for much longer. He'd have no need to anymore. Secrets were bordering on lies anyway, and he didn't lie.

Hisato strolled through the corridor leading to the least secure part; the opposite end as to where Naruto was kept. There were more torches and the doors had windows in them. There were bars in front of them, but at least the occupants had light in the room and given there was no glass, they'd have the opportunity to talk to close-by cellmates and passing guards. A familiar head of pink hair, ruffled and dirty, popped up behind a window. She smiled when she recognised Hisato. "Hey, Hisato, come to visit me again?" Hisato stopped and sighed. "Not really, no."

A giggle bordering on hysterical echoed out of the cell. "Silly, you always say that, but you always come back. I know what you want. But you can't have me. When I get out, my Sasuke will be waiting for me!" Naruto snorted, barely able to keep himself from laughing. "Ow, it's you." Sakura sneered through the bars. "Did they finally see reason and lock you back up? I knew it. Sasuke must have spoken for me, told them what you did to me. Right, Hisato? I'm going to be released, right?" As soon as she spoke to Hisato, her voice changed from disgusted to the queazy, sickly-sweet look-at-me tone she had always reserved for Sasuke alone.

Hisato pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "No, Sakura, you know the conditions for getting a new evaluation and you've shown no signs of meeting them. Come on, Naruto, lets go." He said as he started to move further down the hallway, ignoring the rant and string of curses flowing from Sakura's cell. For a second, Naruto stared at the back of Hisato's head before bursting out into uncontrolled laughter. "What?" Hisato asked. Naruto shook his head against Hisato's neck while trying to catch his breath between residue laughs.

"What?" Hisato repeated when the laughs all but died out.

"Nah, it's not even funny..." Naruto said, followed by a stray chuckle and a happy sigh.

"Tell me anyway."

"You told me to 'come on, let's go', but I'm still on your back."

"You're right. That isn't funny." Hisato deadpanned, earning a knock on the head from Naruto.

"Fine, maybe it wasn't." He placed his hands on Hisato's shoulders and leaned back as far as he could without falling, letting his head hang to look behind him. "Is Sakura alright?"

"As far as she can be." Morino answered. Naruto wanted to snap up to look in front of him but lost his balance. With the shift in weight, Hisato lost his grip on him and Naruto found himself sitting on a really sore ass, grinning up at Morino, who stood over him crossed arms after making Hisato step aside. He'd stepped out of a room close by, probably alerted by their voices.

"Hi, Papa, miss me?" Naruto smiled up at a stern-looking Morino. Morino still had his arms crossed and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"I told you not to call me that." He growled, almost glaring at Naruto. After a few seconds, Naruto's grin changed into a pout, and it didn't take more than a few seconds for Morino to cave in to that. "Fine, come here." He said, lowering his arms, knowing the boy wanted to hug him, if not use him as monkey bars, and frankly, Morino was fine with it. Or used to it, more likely. Naruto did just that, jumping up and using his natural agility to work his way up the tall man until he was situated on Morino's shoulders, revelling in the fact that he was the one to look down on the other now. "So, what brings you here? I honestly thought you'd never want to be in here again." Morino asked.

"I came to say goodbye. Sasuke and I got a looong mission with just the two of us!" He said grinning. Morino looked at Hisato for a moment and then back up.

"And both Hokage approved of that?" Morino asked.

Naruto shrugged. "Monkey-san said go. Scarecrows-san wasn't there." He avoided eye-contact for a moment. Morino's look darkened a bit at that, recognising the behaviour.

"Naruto..." Morino said, drawing Naruto back into eye contact. "Is there a secret you're keeping?" He asked.

Naruto giggled and smiled. "Yes!"

"Are you going to tell me?"

Naruto's smile turned into an evil smirk Morino hadn't seen in a long time, sending a shiver down Morino's spine.

"No." Naruto spoke the single word with such conviction and underlying thread and meaning, Morino actually had to swallow hard and take a moment before he could nod in acceptance. The piercing gaze shifted to Hisato, who nodded as well.

Just like that, the intense moment was gone, replaced with a smile and twinkling eyes. "Treat me to Ichiraku's before I go?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure, why not? It's my lunch break soon, and I can give Hisato break as well."