Naruto was running through a tunnel. The darkness was so dense he could almost touch it.

He was blinded, but nevertheless he knew where to and why he was running, always running. His lungs ached. But he knew he couldn't stop. He would lose track.

With all his inner agony resonating in his voice he screamed.

One word. One name. "SASUKE!"

Chapter 4

Awakening

With the comeback of his consciousness, the pain also returned.

Yet it was a pain in a minor key, not like the waves of living fire which had devoured him earlier.

Wait, pain? He was not dead?

Slowly, Naruto opened his eyes. He turned his head and noticed that he was lying in a double bed.

Where the hell was he? Carefully, he pulled the sheets away and sat up.

He grimaced as his body sent him a stronger sensation of aches. He shouldn't move too much. God, his head was going to explode.

Anxious he looked downwards, but surprisingly his reopened wounds had been healed properly. The only thing left were scars, shimmering silvery in the light of an oil lamp, placed on a table by the bed.

At least they had not doffed his linnen pair of trousers.

Curious he inspected the rest of the chamber with his gaze. It was about five metres broad and of the same length.

In front of the bed, at the other side of the chamber, there was a white sofa. Next to the sofa was placed a bookshelf.

So Sasuke had caught him after all. He was surprised by the fact that he was still alive.

That Sasuke obvisiously had spared him from death couldn't mean any good.

He had to get away... Although it would be difficult in his current condition.

He swung his legs out of the bed and cautiously placed his feet on the red carpet covering the floor. Charily he let go of the bed and tried to stand up. His legs were like jelly.

He stumbled towards the door, clinging with one hand to the cold stone wall.

His sore muscles protested angrily under the exercise he was forcing them to.

Naruto pressed the door handle down. Unlocked. Relieved he peeped through the door chink. Nobody was to be seen.

He tumbled into the empty hallway, which was lighted by some torches, attached to both sides of the corridor. He chose the left direction.

Moving forward slowly, with many stops in which he held up to the walls desperately, he soon reached the first turnoff. Then the second. He picked his route randomly, busy no to collapse and keep consciousness.

It was so confusing... All the corridors looked the same. The next turnoff, he just chose to just keep straight on.

His footsteps were swallowed by the thick red carpets. The hallways were all in deep silence, when suddenly a door a few paces ahead of him was pushed open.

Paralized he watched as Sasuke stepped into the corridor and closed the door behind him. There was absolutely no hiding place far and wide. Naruto heald his breathe when the raven noticed him.

In the dim light of the torches he looked like an angel of perdition, dark shadows on his face. But for sure the most beautiful there had ever been.

Naruto swallowed. "Ehm... The toilet..." He stammered.

"Now, now!" Sasuke said, examining him top down. "Look who we got here. We both know you were not looking for the toilet." He continued with a streak of irony.

"I must say I am surprised you're able to walk..." Naruto didn't know what to say.

He made a pace sideways to lean against the wall. His legs were about to give in.

"So what's your plan, Sasuke?" he asked. "Torture and kill me right after? Pump me for information? Hand me out to Akatsuki?" He paused.

"Or has it something to do with the Kyuubi?" Sasuke's face hardly twitched before he regained the control again. But Naruto had seen it. He had hit the bullseye.

"You bastard!" He screamed. His natural reflexes ordered him to lunge at his counterpart and smash his face into a thousand pieces. He pushed off from the wall and made an attempt to jump forward.

Too late he remembered his fisical condition and a convulsion provoked by the pain that suddenly flooded him made him stumble.

He gasped for breath as he fell forover, face first. As if put in slowmotion he watched the ground come closer.

That's gonna hurt. He thought.

He heard the noise of rustling fabric, a few, quick steps.

Then he was caught in the arms of Sasuke, which had stopped him from falling.

Their faces were only inches away and he could feel the raven's bare skin, since his white kimono was as always slightly opened. "You are so reckless." Whispered the raven.

His sweet breath touched Naruto's face and made him go dizzy. He stared into the dark eyes, endless pools of impenetrable blackness. Their faces were so near, so near.

God. Naruto thought. This is tearing me apart. Carefully, he tried to free himself of Sasuke's embrace.

But instead of letting him go, the other lifted him up and walked back into the direction of the room Naruto'd come from.

"Oi, put me down already! I can walk on my own." Objected the blond, struggling to escape. "Yeah, we just saw that..." The raven murmured with a straight face.

Soon Naruto gave up resisting and, with a sight, leaned his head against his former comrade's shoulder.

I must be heavy. He thought, a little worried.

But if he was, Sasuke didn't let on about it. He carried him as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Shortly after they reached the room the blond had woken.

Cautious the raven laid him down on the bed. Naruto didn't dare to move. Too precious seemed this moment, this very moment in which Sasuke was looking down at him, making a thoughtful face.

Frowning, as if he was not sure about doing the right thing. Naruto's mind was full of thoughts, full of a thousand reasons why he should not allow his feelings to get by.

He knew he should move away, or at least avoid the raven's piercing look.

But when Sasuke bent down and gently placed his soft lips on his own, all worries and concerns instantly got swept away.

The raven left his mind in blank, erasing all excuses, all lies. Erasing including himself. To leave only the truth.

HorsesRain: Yeah, I wanted to make it not that obvious :D! I'm glad you liked the chapter. :) x CharityBell