Shortly after he left a it began to rain, but Sasuke hardly took notice. He just needed to get away from Sakura and calm down. Not caring where his feet took him, Sasuke wandered around aimlessly. He paused only after realizing where he'd ended up: Naruto's childhood apartment. Sasuke gasped lightly as he took in the sight that laid before him. The building was shabby with cracks running along the sides, and doors and windows were boarded up. His feet brought him towards Naruto's room. Even with the boardings present, Sasuke could see that the window was broken.
"Sasuke?"
Sasuke turned sharply; he was so enthralled with the apartment that he didn't even sense anyone walking up on him. "Hinata... What are you doing here?"
She eyed him warily, "Shouldn't I be asking you that? Where is your watcher?"
"I was just taking a walk to cool off. What happened here?"
Hinata hesitated before answering, "There was a disturbance around so it was abandoned a few years ago."
Sasuke looked confused, "What? Even so...it shouldn't be this bad. There are places close by that's full of people."
"It's not like anyone wanted to leave their homes here. But he made them go. This place isn't allowed to exist."
"Who is 'he'?"
"Who else could I be talking about? Naruto-kun of course, and I do mean Naruto and not Uzumaki-san. "
Sasuke stood still for a moment then murmured softly, "What happened after I left?"
A strange, harsh laugh escaped from her, "You're asking the wrong question Sasuke. The question you should be asking is 'What happened because you left?'"
He looked at her, "What do you mean?"
"What else could have done it Sasuke? Everything started to go wrong after you left that second time."
Sasuke started to become frustrated, "What are you talking about?! I didn't do anything to him!"
She faced away from him, "Yes, you did."
He groaned and reached out to grab her arm, "What! Just what exactly did I do?!"
Hinata shook off his arm and turned to face him. Her eyes narrowed angrily and her hand came down swiftly across his face. "You broke him." She said softly, but coldly, and Sasuke's eyes widened. She smiled cruelly at him, "Are you happy Sasuke? You managed to the one thing this village couldn't do in 15 years in just one simple act. You, Uchiha, Sasuke broke Naruto-kun's spirit with your rejection of this village and ultimately himself." Sasuke looked at her in disbelief, and her eyes grew hard with anger. "Why did you come back to Konohagakure? What reason do you have to be here?! The village finally forgot about you! Even though Naruto-kun may never return, we still keep hoping. But now you're here. You, Sasuke will only hurt him all over again."
Her hand was poised to strike him again, but Sasuke didn't budge. He was to shocked at her words. //Naruto is like this because of me? It was my fault that Naruto broke down?// His gaze dropped to the wet ground beneath his feet, and stood there waiting for her hand to reach its destination. -Smack- Sasuke distinctly heard the sound of skin against skin, and his body was thrown off center...but there was no stinging sensation across his face. A small gasp came from Hinata. He looked up and saw Naruto between himself and Hinata; his head turned slightly to the right. After a moment Naruto turned to face him, and Sasuke found himself looking into the blond's eyes. There he was it. The same sea-blue eyes from his youth: full of sadness and pain, but smiles all the same. His eyes widened in disbelief and he reached out to touch Naruto's face. Naruto gave a small, sad smile and reached up to cup Sasuke's hand. "Welcome back, Sasuke." Then he was gone in a poof of smoke. Sasuke's hand grasped at the air where the blond once stood.
"Hinata!" A voice called out.
Hinata and Sasuke turned towards the voice. Just a few feet away stood Neji. Behind him was Shikamaru with an unconscious Naruto thrown over his shoulder.
"Hinata-sama, I believe it is time for you to return home now." Neji said sternly.
Worry etched on her face as she weakly protested, "B-but Uzumaki-san-"
"-Will be taken care of properly. Now please go home." he swiftly interrupted.
She threw another concern look towards Naruto then reluctantly hurried off towards the Hyuuga Household. After she disappeared Shikamaru called out to Neji, "Hey, if you're done sending her off what do you suppose we do with Sasuke?"
Neji sighed, "I'll take him with me. Just let Hokage-sama know where he is and that he can stay with me until Naruto recovers."
"Gotcha, well I'll be off then. I'll come over tomorrow and give you an update on the situation."
After Shikamaru left Sasuke quietly followed Neji back to his apartment. Once inside he led Sasuke to an empty room and handed him a set of towels. "This is the guest room, across the hall is the bedroom, and there's and extra set of clothes in the closet. I suggest you take a shower then rest. If you want to talk it'll have to wait until tomorrow."
TBC... ----- Well the fic is progessing rather quickly. Ah well if I make it drag out longer I may never finish it. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next chapter! and as always pleas review.