Chapter One

He felt it, a tightness in his chest that was always there when Naruto was in distress, and came to full wakefulness. He was never asleep to begin with, not with their impending threat looming in on them, more like in mediative state. His eyes opened just as his body leapt forward his hand reaching for the flute he had placed on the beside table. He scanned the place with his eyes and senses. There was nothing out of the ordinary. The sky was still dark and the night quiet. But the tightness was still there. He looked down now at the body writhing next to him. Why he had not immediately noticed it was probably due to his always expecting external attacks forgetting the ones that come from inside.

He reached out a hand to pull the blonde boy up into his arms, dropping the flute on the mattress they both shared. "Naruto" Sasuke frantically tried to snap the boy from his nightmare. He held the small face of the boy and slapped lightly on it.

Naruto's body shook in his arms and his mouth opened to gasp for air. "Naruto!" Sasuke slapped him harder. Unlike the first this happened it had gotten harder to wake up the boy. Sasuke did not want to think what this might mean.

The blue eyes he wanted to see snapped open and Sasuke shook with relief. He hugged the still shivering body to him. He did not know what he expected but every time he felt Naruto's distressed he always wanted to be able to handle it just like he used to do when the Naruto was small. All he just had to do was take away the problem physically or destroy it. With this he had no power. This was something inside of Naruto he couldn't reach no matter how much he wanted to.

Sasuke pulled back when he felt the hand on his chest start to push him away. He settled his eyes on the flushed face of Naruto.

"wh-what happened" the blonde stammered and tried to get up from Sasuke's lap. This was the second time he has woken up to find himself in this position. It was embarrassing as hell. It was bad enough Sasuke treated him like a child now he had to be having a problem that ended up with him on his lap? Naruto felt chagrined that every time he was always needing Sasuke's help.

"you had another nightmare" Sasuke said. He reached out a hand to touch Naruto's forehead curious as to the flush on his face. Naruto slapped his hand away, which would have hurt if it had not been happening more and more lately. He missed the little boy who would always come to him at the slightest problem, needing his reassurance, his protection.

Naruto frowned. "another one? I don't even remember it" he said with a frown. Always like this but now more frequent. He had dreams, nightmares, whatever that Sasuke said cause him to cry at night but Naruto could not remember."what did i do this time" he asked.

Sasuke could see Naruto was displeased."you were just crying. I thought you were hurt" he replied."you don't remember?"

"of course not." Naruto said irritably. Sasuke did not understand why the boy was upset but it was nothing new. Ever since they started living this life Naruto had started to become an enigma to him. It hurt, he felt like he was losing touch with his baby brother but this was the prize he had to pay to protect him. Sasuke felt his resolve stay in place."why are you angry" he asked.

"i'm not angry okay." Naruto kicked the quilt from the bed and got up. He wasn't angry just confused as hell. There was so much about himself he didn't know. He knew he was causing trouble for Sasuke, always. He was the little brother who had the problems that cause his brother so much trouble. Always, he needed Sasuke and... Sasuke never needs him. This strange dreams just one more thing he should add to the growing need he needed help with. He hated that. Why couldn't he be strong and dependable.

Sasuke had followed him. Naruto saw him through the mirror on the shelf in the bathroom. His brother had leaned against the door post. His pyjamas was hardly rumpled, his hair neatly pulled back, his skin glowing pale and his eyes... Naruto realize he was checking out his brother and hurriedly looked away at himself. His blonde hair was poking out everywhere, his skin was tanned and hardly smooth. His eyes were blue and wide unlike his brothers almond shaped eyes. They were brothers but...how could they be so different. Like night and day different.

Sasuke stood nonchalantly to his right but Naruto could see the tightness in his eyes. He was very familiar with it as it was always there when Sasuke thought he had done something wrong to upset him. Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. He was not that fragile but the way Sasuke went about trying to take care of him sometimes got on his nerves. "i'm fine Sasuke" Naruto finally said breaking the silence. "just a little frustrated."

Sasuke did not say anything. He could see that there was more Naruto had to say.

"i just don't understand half the things that happens to me. First i loose my memories, everything." his brows bunched together and Sasuke felt the ache in his chest. He could see the distress as well as feel it but he could do nothing about it. No, that's not right. He could but he knew he shouldn't. He was the reason why Naruto had so many questions." i don't even remember you, who you are to me just your name and.." he looked up at Sasuke then down " your face." he remembered it. Waking up that day, he couldn't remember the place or the people there just the...need to see that face.

Naruto sighed "forget about it. I'm sure it would pass over" he said with a grin. " the doctors said that there are good chances i would get my memories back so i'm hopeful. These dreams, nightmare whatever would pass and it would be all good. Don't worry ni-san"

Sasuke knew Naruto was putting on a brave face for him but he wished the boy didn't have to, he wished like before the boy would show him all his emotions. But all wishes can't come true.

"Naruto i know it's been hard living without any memory i'm sorry" he said.

Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He turned and walked towards his brother and placed his head on his shoulder. Sasuke did not even flinch. He reached out a hand to caress the blonde head like he used to do when the boy was small. The boy would place his head on Sasuke's lap and demand to be patted for hours. Sasuke loved doing it.

Naruto hated it. This unexplained dependence on his brother. Was this normal? This need to want to feel your brother's touch all the time. Naruto practically couldn't go without it. It embarrassed him a lot but he needed it to be held like this by his own brother. Perverted idiot. Disgusting bastard. He cursed himself plenty of times but what could he do. He needed it. Like an addict needed his drugs. Naruto hated making this comparison but it was the truth. It wasn't normal, it certainly wasn't normal that he shared this same bed with his brother even though they were both sixteen. " i have football practice tomorrow i want to go back to bed" he said into his brother's neck.

Sasuke was glad for the contact. After feeling Naruto's distress, if he couldn't hold the boy he always felt cranky and out of sorts. It was the kind of bonding the shared from when Naruto was still a baby. Sasuke never let the baby on his own. He had already grown used to touching and holding him either to calm him down or to reassure himself. Still he knew that Naruto hated it so this might just be his way of ending the conversation. "Okay " he said and led Naruto back to the mattress. Naruto separated from him to get into his side while Sasuke did the same and then after a strange pause Sasuke didn't understand he pulled Naruto closer and hugged him hoping the boy would sleep peacefully this time.

To Be Continued.