Sasuke blinked open his onyx eyes, yawning slightly. He took a few moments, just sitting there, waking up and taking in the new day around him. Eventually, he left his bed and padded silently to his closet. Sasuke had just thrown on a dark blue shirt and black sweatpants when there was a knocking on his door. Itachi stuck his head in.

"Get Naruto up. We all need to have a talk." Shit. Itachi was mad. He walked down the hall and into the other boys' room. Naruto, as usual, was sprawled across the entire bed, clutching a pillow to his chest.

"Naruto." Sasuke said quietly. "Get up. Itachi wants to see us."

"All hail... the ramen king." Sasuke blinked. Well that's a new one.

"C'mon, dobe. Time to wake up." Naruto mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep and rolled over.

"Wake up, baka!" Sasuke said, this time poking him. This time, Naruto's eyes shot open.

"Wha- oh, it's you, Sasuke." The boy yawned and rubbed at his eyes. "Whaddya want?"

"You should ask Itachi that, he wants to see us." Naruto's azure eyes widened comically.

"Damn. You don't think it's about what happened on Thursday, do you?" Sasuke sighed.

"That's exactly what I think it's about. Now come on, dobe, get dressed." A few minutes later, Naruto stumbled out of his room, still yawning. He had thrown on an orange shirt and black sweat pants. Silently, they headed downstairs, each apprehensive of what was going to happen next. Sasuke calmly sat down in his seat, while Naruto slid nervously into his seat.

"So." Itachi began, after clearing his throat, "Would anyone like to explain why I got a call from Kakashi at one this morning?" His dark eyes narrowed at the two teens. Sasuke looked away, scowling, while Naruto sank lower in his seat. "I'm waiting."

"We… May have sortof destroyed the construction site down by the road…" Naruto mumbled. Itachi just looked at them incredulously.

"Of all the stupid things you two could have done, you did that?" Itachi sighed. "Naruto, we talked about this."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Sometimes we need to destroy nature, etcetera." Itachi then focused on his younger brother.

"And you, Sasuke, I would expect this from Naruto, but from you?" Sasuke felt the need to speak up here.

"I didn't want to do it, but someone had to cover for Naruto with genjitsu." Sasuke internally winced at how whiny that sounded, but it was the truth.

"You didn't cover all of the men. You know you still have a lot to learn, little brother." Itachi was silent for a moment, reaching into the refrigerator and pouring himself a glass of blood. Sitting down at the table, he took a long drink before addressing the teenagers in front of him.

"We're going to have to move. The SCA will be arriving shortly, we were lucky that Kakashi was able to tip us off. Everytime he does he risks being found out." The two teenagers had of course heard this lecture before, but both knew better than to interrupt Itachi when he was in one of his moods. "Also, we're running out of hiding spots. Money of course isn't a problem, since I own a large amount of the Uchiha fortune, but there are only so many places we can go to and it takes time to move. You two have to start taking more responsibility. I really hate to do this, but I'm going to have to ask Kakashi if we can stay with him for awhile, while I look for a new spot."

"Where are we going next?" Naruto asked.

"Konoha." Itachi answered simply.

"What?!" The demon exploded, knocking over his chair as he stood up. "We can't go there!" Itachi turned to the blonde, glaring sternly.

"Naruto, you must be prepared to face the consequences for your actions! You and Sasuke brought this upon yourselves." Naruto collapsed back into his chair, shaking slightly.

"Itachi, I know what happened was my fault, but please, anywhere but Konoha! I can't stand to go back there, back to that place…" Itachi's eyes softened slightly, but he stayed firm.

"We're going to Konoha, and it's final. Go begin packing."

Naruto was half panicking, half sulking as he packed what few things he owned. True, it had been around twelve years since he had been to Konoha, but the memories still lingered. There were a few books, his clothes and a small stuffed fox he had found. The blue crystal necklace he had been given remained securely around his tan neck. Leaving his backpack on his bed, he snuck downstairs and out the back door. Running into the woods, he relished the feeling of the old leaves from last fall and grass against his bare feet. The trees towered over him, as he closed his eyes and enjoyed the scents of this patch of nature for the last time.

"Konoha…" He murmured.

"It'll be different this time." Naruto cracked a blue eye to see his friend. The blonde smiled.

"Yeah…"

Thank you for reading, I really appreciate it! Just so ya know, I do read stories written by people that favorite/follow and review my stories. *Hint hint* Anyway, thanks again!-RU