Last Time;; The car slowly pulled away at first, backing up out of the parking slot it had once occupied, then chugged into a forward drive out of the university, disappearing as it turned smoothly into a turn.

And far away, a pair of clear, almost blind-like eyes watched carefully, face blank but with an apparent amusement underlying the almost invisible smirk. The long, black hair swished slightly as the figure turned away, a small spring in his steps. 'Today wasn't a complete waste, after all…'

Instalment 6ix;;

Garnet…

One day until a full week was up, and both Naruto and Sasuke were lounging about in the living room, the former with the remote while the other read a magazine he'd found outside his door. So far, no one had come to visit them from the Research Lab, which both were more then fine with, enjoying the serenity between each other that had come only after dealing up with the problems that the first day at Uni had brought. Naruto was flicking through the channels, stopping now and again on something that caught his eye, flicking through it again once his interest died. Sasuke had already warned Naruto how annoying the sound of the flicking channels were to his ear, but obviously his threat had fallen on deaf ears. On deaf tanned ears. It seemed that every part of the blond idiot was tanned, despite the fact that the thing [Sasuke had to remind himself constantly that it was a robot] wasn't real, and had only 'lived' for six days so far. His 'tanned skin' knowledge came from the embarrassing, awkward, first time when the Uchiha had to teach Naruto how to bathe.

Seriously.

Just remembering it brought an unfamiliar [and highly unwanted] stir in his loins.

--flashBACK--

"C-Can't I just bathe myself?"

"Oh stop being a wimp and take it off."

Incredible. How was Sasuke able to keep his cool with a naked Naruto in front of him? The toned, athletic body, the tanned, tanned skin, the feint but present outlines of muscles, especially on the stomach were a six-pack was as distinguished as the blonde locks that swayed slightly, still not wet - it should have all been too much, although for whatever reason that was the elder teen had no idea. Said elder teen was already feeling a slight nose bleed coming on, having by now accepted that he was experiencing some physical [no way he could care for that obnoxious attitude] attraction; because by god the A.I. had a nice ass.

Because by god he did.

All that was left was the boxers, black once more, strange since orange had been declared and fully understood to be Naruto's favourite colour, but nevertheless a godsend to Sasuke's eye candy, to Sasuke's Naruto. 'If he's my A.I., then goddamit he belongs to me.' And all the little Uchiha's in his head vehemently agreed. The pair were in the Sasuke's bedroom, in his en suite toilet which was a clash of light and soothing colours, much to Naruto's liking. Naruto was shivering slightly, having been putting off removing his boxers for the last, good, ten minutes; much to Sasuke's growing annoyance. The Uchiha himself wore merely pants, loose pants, with no shirt, not wanting any other clothes to get wet, just in case. For all he knew, Naruto could become a whole lot more trouble to bathe then he expected, and the arguing wasn't really helping.

"But it's just water! I just have to use the soap don't I?!" Naruto's eyes were wide, panic written bluntly on them, quite obviously not wanting Sasuke to see him anymore naked then he already was. All he had to do was just turn on the shower using that tap, to the right if he wanted it more cold and to the left for more warm, and then use the soap across his body making sure to wash it off afterwards. "It's not like if I'm going to drown or something!" The showerhead wasn't going to spit out that much water, was it?

"Yes it is." 'Oh god, what the fuck kinda showerhead is this?!' "I wouldn't put it past you to somehow slip on the wet tiles, bump your head, fall unconscious and slowly drown yourself to death. Now take off your boxers, or I'll pin you and take it off for you."

… Mmmm, 'pin'. Such an interesting choice of words.

Naruto almost choked on his own tongue, blushing furiously, his cheeks flaming red, glad that Sasuke was behind him and only able to see his back. Reluctantly, ever so reluctantly, he hooked both his thumbs into his boxers ridges, each thumb at is sides, feeling the searing pressure of eyes on his butt. It made the blonde grow even more nervous, feel edgy, because lately it seemed that Sasuke had been goggling him any chance he got, which was a ridiculous concept to Naruto, but not to Naruto's sly subconscious voice, which had taken to speaking very dirtily lately. 'He'd love that, wouldn't he? Pinning you so he could violate your tight ass.' Oh god, he could feel blood rushing to his face and hear it swirling in his ears, causing him to squeeze his eyes shut tightly.

The action brought a wave of nausea over the lad, something that had happened twice before over the almost complete week, bringing stars to Naruto's closed sight. A dull ache in his brain foretold the comings of a headache, another strange recurring symptom that slightly worried the blonde. And it seemed that each time they came, that each time Naruto became either dizzy, got a headache, maybe a stomach ache, his subconscious voice would get stronger, becoming an entity of its own rather then a part of Naruto that should have played a minor role. Each time it seemed that the voice became stronger, silkier, almost husky, deep, sadistically melodious as well as stronger. In fact, Naruto still had no idea how he had even come to Sasuke's room, an hour ago he's been in his bedroom when a sudden headache so strong had caused him to blank out, only to come too to find himself in Sasuke's bedroom.

Maybe he should tell Sasuke about this…

"Hurry up, dobe." The voice broke through his thoughts, an annoyed huff leaving his mouth as he heard the term Sasuke had gotten used to calling him lately. But being annoyed allowed Naruto to muster up some courage, and was just about to pull down the boxers in one swift move as well as throwing a insult back at Sasuke when a paaaaiiinnfffuuulll yank took hold of his stomach, pulling him down to the bathroom floor, the cold tiles ignored by the escalating pain.

"Shut up, Te--!" It was easy to notice that the stomach ache the idiot had been complaining loudly about the past few hours wasn't just due to bad food. Sasuke kneeled down to the already crouched Naruto, muttering words such as "breath" and "careful" while rubbing a soothing pattern on the tanned expanse of the A.I.'s back. The pain seemed to soften, at least at first, catch up again and once more go easy, the blonde's expression showing every bit of emotion that he felt. Sasuke was just about to suggest going back to watching TV, what they had been doing before Sasuke had caught a wiff of Naruto's week-old scent, when the obsidian-eyed teenager came to the realisation that his blond counterpart was… Frankly put… Asleep.

The dobe had passed out.

--/flashBACK--

And thus ended the bath-event. At that time, Sasuke had been able to drag an unconscious Naruto to the hallway when the idiot had woken up. An hour after the initial incident, Sasuke had allowed Naruto to go bathe himself, though he kept a vigilante stand outside the bathroom door just in case he heard the sound of a body hitting the floor. Of course, Sasuke had been hell bent on calling up the nerds at the Research Lab, but Naruto's begging persuasion and bribery of cooking Sasuke's favourite food [the Uchiha had become especially keen on Soba[1]] damped that hell bent into being keen, and more idiotic begging and promises of week-long Soba's pretty much… Annihilated any form of contacting the Research Lab at all. Maybe Sasuke was being stupid. Naah, impossible. The Uchiha had just logically come to the conclusion that the benefits from Naruto's side outweighed the disadvantages.

Still, even as the idiot continued to flick through the channels, the occasional pause and painful grunt were worrying the pale teen. "Oi, if it hurts that much, go eat some painkillers and sleep." Naruto turned to look at him, his expression and eyes blank for a split second before a weak grin plastered itself onto his face, the boy agreeing and getting up slowly.

"Guess you're right, where do you put the painkillers?"

"Kitchen cabinet right above the sink."

Naruto stumbled off, the sound of the tap turning on as the rattle of the pill bottle being open annoyed the Uchiha. Minutes later, the A.I. stumbled back into the room, waving a "Night, night, Sasuke~" and walking off to his room, hopefully falling asleep quickly.

Sasuke sighed, putting the magazine he wasn't really focusing on at the coffee table, picking up the remote and flicking the channel to a news channel, anything would do, preferably Al Jazeera International[2]. Something about a foreign company and the logo always caught the Uchiha's attention.

That damn blonde idiot better be asleep.

***

Birds were singing outside his bedroom window, waking the blond male from his deep slumber, a loud yawn opening tired, cerulean eyes. Naruto groaned loudly, grabbing at his stomach as he rolled of his bed, making note that the stomach ache from yesterday had yet to leave him, not to mention that his head hurt like hell. It had been about a full, good week from his first day at the University, everything had gone smoothly since the awkward first day, and things have returned to normal between Sasuke and himself - or as normal as things could get. Yesterday, back in the bathroom being stripped naked, things definitely couldn't have been called 'smooth'. Kneeling slightly due to the pain in his abdomen, Naruto squabbled out of his room to the toilet, which was now perfectly clean [it required professional cleaners, Naruto had outright refused to even enter it], exiting it minutes later, looking quite possibly worse then he had when he'd entered. His hair was even more outright messy then it usually was, catastrophically angled in illogical directions, each strand quite literally a strand of it's own. His cerulean eyes were dull, not the usual bright enigma that they would usually be, deep bags underneath them indicating that both the stomach pain and headache had kept the A.I. awake most of last night. There was the stuffy nose to count too, the extremely annoying tickle in his throat that would cause Naruto to cough, one cough turning into about a dozen cough, each one leaving him wheezing at the end. No matter which way you looked at it, this morning, Naruto was most definitely sick.

But that wouldn't stop him from making breakfast, something he had learnt throughout the week to be enjoyable [cooking that is], and today morning a simple breakfast of toasted bread would do. Toasted bread and orange juice, of course, the fridge had been filled with random goodies on the second day of Naruto's stay. Sasuke entered the kitchen, his hair slightly wet from the shower he'd just taken, bumping slightly into Naruto as he walked in. The bump made Sasuke look up straight into Naruto's face, almost instantly noticing that the young blonde wasn't looking good at all. At first, the pale teen decided to keep silent about it, the usual Uchiha voice in his head saying 'Not like I care about the dobe', since Naruto wasn't complaining anyway [over the week, it turned out Naruto was a loudmouth, a lot like that Inuzaka brat back at the Uni].

A pale arm grasped Naruto as the blonde suddenly doubled over, almost tripping in the act, clutching at his stomach in pain, Sasuke immediately deciding that the blonde really wasn't feeling all too good today. Sasuke carefully manoeuvred the still aching blonde towards one of the kitchen stools, the obedient Naruto accepting the stool graciously. Sasuke's hands were on either one of the blonde's shoulder, the A.I.'s head level to the obsidian eye's stomach. Today was a University today, only two seminars though, so instead of dragging along a pained Naruto, it would be much simpler to make him sleep, right?

Naruto on the other hand was pretty much confused as to why his stomach was hurting him, as to why his brain was throbbing with each second, his nerves split on ends with electricity coursing through them. Nobody had told him about falling sick, true he still had about three to two days until he would be as strong as the average male, but that had nothing to do with whatever Naruto had been coming down with for the past two days, more or less. Maybe there was some sort of virus going around? One that the lab workers hadn't gotten round to making Naruto immune too? He continued to think along the same lines, trying to come up with a logical explanation when one of Sasuke's palms gentle ['gently?'] touch the blonde's forehead.

"You're running a fever. Stay home today, go sleep."

"I can't! It's Uni today! Who'll write my---" Pain. Everywhere. "W-who… Who'll write my notes? And you'll go right? Don't stay here b-because of me!" Sasuke 'cheh'ed, obviously annoyed at being argued against, just like that damn bathroom time. He was just about to speak again when he noticed that the shoulder underneath his right hand had relaxed, slumped slightly, and that the blonde's head was leaning slightly against his left palm. It was as if the blonde had suddenly fallen asleep. Curious, Sasuke bent down slightly, folding his knees to get to eye level with the seated A.I., peering into the cerulean eyes to see what was going on.

They were blank.

Blank in the sense that they were a dull blue, just blue, completely and utterly normal blue, almost similar to those Hyuuga's blind-like stare. Naruto's whole posture had become similar to when he'd first arrived at Sasuke's apartment [which was a whole lot clean and presentable now], but back then he'd pretty much been asleep, and the eyes had been closed - now it seemed as if Sasuke was looking at the results of a victim of some mental trauma.

"Naruto…" Colour had begun to return to the eyes as soon as Sasuke had muttered [for Uchiha's don't whisper] the boy's name. "You need to sleep."

Blink. Blink. Blink. The dull, faded, blue eyes returned to their bright cerulean, sprinkles and sparkles, similar to the ocean on a bright, sunny day, shined under chaotic blonde locks, still slightly droopy due to the obvious fever. The younger teen was about to start complaining, but shut his open mouth as soon as opening it on seeing Sasuke's stern expression telling him to shut up. Two arms helped the blonde up from the stool, and the pair began walking out of the kitchen, across the hallway to the opening of the second bedroom, where the door was ajar ever so slightly.

It creaked slightly as Sasuke pushed it open with his foot, his arms occupied with holding the slightly unbalanced Naruto, who couldn't help but lean in much more closer then he usually would have just to get some of the heated body warmth that radiated from the Uchiha due to the bath he had taken. 'The water must have been really hot…' he thought absent minded, noticing that he had been placed on his bed, sheets tucked around him by still gentle hands ['Am I dreaming already?'] and the same command given once more, just for clarification. His subconscious voice couldn't help but snicker.

"Sleep."

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk slightly as the ceruleans eyes suddenly vanished under the eyelids, Naruto's soft lips ['soft lips?'] parting slightly as the boy breathed in and out deeply, steadily, smoothly. He placed some medicine onto the table that was close by, not quite sure whether they would work on Naruto or not, but if the blonde had been able to get sick then he should be able to get well too. Remembering how Naruto had told him not to stay for his sake, Sasuke left the bedroom, closing the door slowly, perplexed by its creaking. While it might have seemed cruel hearted to leave Naruto all alone [because even Sasuke knew what was right and what wasn't] there was the fact that if both Uchiha and Uzumaki [one might as well accept the surname] were absent, many wouldn't just see that as a coincidence. With his bag ready, his car key found, the youngest Uchiha left the apartment, closing the door behind him carefully, out of habit taking one last, long look at the living room before he left.

His house was perfect.

Three hours later, after two long, lecturing seminars concerning the muscles in the neck and shoulders, Sasuke was standing outside his apartment door, casually taking his keys out of his pocket and locating the right key to enter the lock. With a quick turn and a paranoid glance to both right and left to see if anyone was watching him [he was paranoid, dammit], Sasuke opened the door and entered his home, removing his shoes first and placing his bag on the shoe rack lazily. As soon as the shoes were also placed on the shoe rack, he picked up his bag again, since obviously the shoe rack wasn't the place for bags full of medical books and knowledge, and took his time to look up at his living room.

His house had been trashed.

The sofa's had been thrown sideways, their pillows seemingly ripped apart so that the insides were visible for the world to see. His plasma screened television, which was freakin' 32 inches, had been thrown onto the floor, it lay tilted, showing nothing but the static of white, grey and black. The table were one could place their foot on, or put a cup of coffee while watching TV had literally been broken in two, literally, leaving Sasuke to gape, thinking only one thing; 'What the fuck happened here?'

Immediately on thinking so, Naruto popped into his head, a surge of panic rising up within him as thoughts of kidnapping and hostage-taking scenarios popped up in his head. Someone had robbed Sasuke, so far nothing seemed taken [someone would have definitely taken his TV rather then break it], meaning they had come for one thing and one thing only; An A.I. Throwing his bag to the side, Sasuke began scouring every inch of the living room, just in case Naruto had come in here afterwards and had hidden somewhere. He checked the balcony, a place where in the past week Naruto had grown accustomed to staying out on, yet no sign. He moved onto the kitchen, checking everywhere [even the cupboards] yet no sign of the blonde haired, blue eyed teenager. Next Sasuke checked his own bedroom, the toilet, the storage room, yet no sign of Naruto anywhere. Finally, the only room left was Naruto's. The door creaked open slowly, eerily almost, not soothing Sasuke's panic-stricken nerves at all, the door opening to reveal that this room too was just as messed up as the rest of the house had been, including Sasuke's bedroom.

But there was still no sign of Naruto.

Sasuke's belief had grown stronger now, he was definitely going to get killed by Itachi, because Naruto was definitely not anywhere around, he had definitely been kidnapped. While thinking 'How do I explain this to that man…?' Sasuke walked further into the room, just passed the door, as if to fully understanding the situation he was in. It was while his brain was overloaded with worst-case scenarios [all of them strangely including Naruto tied to a bed] that the eerie creaking of the door reached the obsidian's ears. Before he had even thought to turn around to see whether someone was there or not, one arm had snaked it's way from behind Sasuke, from across his right shoulder to his left, the hands and fingers clutching at the left shoulder in a one-armed embrace. A husky, deep, almost melodious voice softly whispered into Sasuke's left ear, the hot breath ghosting over the shell, an uncharacteristic shiver coursing through the Uchiha's body. Sasuke stiffened, his body thick with tension, his mind completely blank. His mentality had taken the wrong reaction, to freeze like this was something Sasuke would have never done.

The youngest Uchiha was fairly knowledgeable in the art of defence, due to the nature of him being an Uchiha meant that he was very much either hated or loved by the general populace. There had been many kidnapping events in his childhood, even some now, so while a bodyguard would do perfectly, knowing some self-defence had always been vital. Despite this, despite the fact that Sasuke was a very skilled Martial Artists, every single lesson he had learnt, trained, flew out of the window the moment the door shot. Because the voice, the tanned arm around his shoulder holding Sasuke firmly [almost viciously] in place could only and did only belong to one person.

"Glad you could join me~"

Naruto.

How could this make sense, it didn't make any sense. The youngest Uchiha was glad, no relieved, that the A.I. was safe, but 'what the hell is going on…?'. The one arm on his shoulder's grip strengthened, using the force to spin Sasuke around 180 degrees, the grip moving to lay a stretched out palm across Sasuke's chest, pushing him instantly against the wall facing the bed. The impact threw all of Sasuke's sense out of the window, the shock causing him to slide against the wall to the floor, Naruto's figure looming on top of him for a split second before said teen crouched down to be eye-level with the Uchiha. Naruto was fucking strong. As soon as reaching down, Sasuke's eyes fixated on the sight in front of him. What he saw was an almost feral looking Naruto, his blonde hair seemed more orange then blonde, with reddish tips, the teens cerulean eyes now a deep maroonish colour, almost red but something else, almost garnet. A glance to the hands that had now moved to either side of Sasuke's shoulder, gripping them fiercely to hold the black-haired in place, were home to sharp, long nails, similar to those you might see vampires with, the fingers long and skinny [something Sasuke had never noticed before]. It was all probably to make sure to keep Sasuke in place, to not have him struggle at all, to defeat and destroy any logical thinking the awe-stricken Uchiha might have had. Which it did.

Garnet eyes inspected obsidian ones, a dangerous glint in the former, a wary glint in the latter. Sasuke winced slightly as the hands strengthened their grip on his shoulders, the nails protruding into his skin through his shirt. The holder of the Garnet eyes cocked his head like a puppy slightly on noticing the wince, his hands alternating between strong and weak, a small smirk beginning to stretch itself across the tanned face. In one smooth motion, the shirt Sasuke had been wearing, a simple yet tight black t-shirt, was ripped apart, almost with an animalistic grace, thrown hazardously to the side, both hands returning to the pale teen's shoulders gripping them with an iron force until Sasuke gritted his teeth, pain barely kept from visibly etching onto his face. With sadistic pleasure blatantly apparent on Naruto's almost demonic face, the hands suddenly moved, one lone finger with sharp nails breaking the skin on his stomach in a large spiral, beads the colour of ruby, dark contrasts against the even-more-paler-then-usual skin, trailing after the nail in a taboo marking.

The obsidian eyes were dazed by the beauty of the Garnet's, transfixed, unable to look away. If something didn't change soon, if Sasuke didn't grab a hold of things soon… What exactly would happen…?

***

'What… Have I gotten myself into…?'

The sky outside had become dark, it was obvious by the amount of time that Sasuke feared had passed, and the fact that Naruto had come in and flicked on the lights to Naruto's bedroom, were both in, explained that too. Sasuke had been tied up to Naruto's bed, using strands torn from the already destroyed black-shirt, the Uchiha's chest bare while his trousers were dangerously low riding [they were supposed to be low riding, but in this certain situation, it wasn't a good thing]. Now and again, Naruto [or whoever was inhibiting the damn body] would come in and out of the room, seemingly agitated, troubled, hurt even, but Sasuke had yet to speak directly to him since it seemed that the teen wasn't all too stable to talk to. What the Uchiha had been able to get out of all the hours of confinement was that Naruto still had the stomach ache, and apparently a head-splitting headache too, due to the times when Naruto was in the toilet vomiting or in the room nursing his aching head, rocking slightly like a child.

It almost pained Sasuke to watch.

Once more, the door abruptly opened, the creak completely gone - as strange as that was. The wild eyed teen entered the room, pacing slightly as he looked around, now with a new idea to fling everything out of the cupboard and table - papers, clothes, pens, everything. Offhandedly, Sasuke noted the black boxers Naruto had been wearing that time when he'd tried entering the room among the items thrown. But no more waiting for the A.I. to calm down, no more. The Uchiha had his reputation to keep up.

"What the fuck is this, dobe?"

How strange, when Sasuke had been worried Naruto had been kidnapped, most of the scenarios that had popped up in his head had been Naruto tied up to a bed, most probably unclothed to an extent. Instead, it was the obsidian-eyed teen who was tied up, practically shirtless [unclothed to an extent], and if Naruto had been an animal, a fox presumably, then Sasuke could have described that Naruto's ears perched up the moment he spoke, and after hearing him his head slowly turned to face Naruto, the deep frown slowly, ever so slowlyyyyyy, turning into a smmmiirrrrkkkk.

It was fucking frightening.

There was no longer any sign of agitation, the hurt itself was no longer present, all there was now was pure and utter amusement plastered onto the face that had once been childish, once been so utterly naïve and bright. Over the hours, one could say that Naruto's features had slowly… Sharpened, so to speak. The small remains of baby fat around the cheek and jaw had been smoothed into a sharp jaw -almost feminine [almost Uchiha-like]-, the wide cerulean eyes that sparkled like the ocean had been transformed into narrow, garnet-coloured visions of pure seduction [the truth, no matter how lewd, must be said], and that left little imagination for the body. Before, Naruto had always seemed to have a normal body, like any other teenager, clothes looked good on him, some looked terrible, but now, over the hours Sasuke could very much say that the probability of looking good and not looking good had been annihilated.

With the way Naruto looked now, he would steal every single one of Sasuke's fan girls and the hearts of males, be them haters or lovers. Before, Sasuke had made the observation of Naruto's nails looking very much similar to vampires… Hours later, it seemed everything of Naruto was very much similar to vampires, his eyes, his beauty, and most definitely his teeth. Because ladies and gentlemen, Naruto had fangs. Slightly long, upper canines that ended in a sharp, dangerously pointy, tip, almost begging to be sunken into the unsuspecting neck of a target. Sasuke would be damned if he were that target.

He repeated what he said again, trying to exude self confidence despite the fact that he was still very much wary. The smirk on the other's face grew longer till it almost stretched his face, a deep, eerie, almost frightening aura radiating off the younger male. Naruto stopped on reaching the bed, his head cocked slightly in mock pondering, as if wondering whether to answer or kill. Shut the victim up and then suck his blood. Sasuke's hair was already standing on end. With the thinking time up, the expression of thinking was replaced with another ssssllloowww sssmmmiiirrrkkk, so achingly slow that you wondered when it began and when it ended. Naruto leaned across the bed, the weight denting it slightly, Sasuke's eyes widening a fraction in shock as the other body moved into his personal space. Now Naruto was on top of him, face level, Sasuke tied up while either one of Naruto's palm on either side of Sasuke's head. The lips parted slightly, in an open smirk, and one of the palms moved down to trace the full spiral scar Naruto had inflicted Sasuke with.

"It looks good on you…"

God, everything looked good on him, from the ripped remains of the black t-shirt tying Sasuke's hands up to the low riding jeans, loose and ever-so-low. Naruto licked his lips, a move that had Sasuke's eyes widening more, ever-concealed panic flashing behind the obsidian eyes, an expression Naruto just couldn't get enough off. He stopped his moving palm to lie on top of the still sore wound, his victim wincing at the discomfort due to the skin still being hyper sensitive. Oh-so-many thoughts and actions ran through the garnet-eyed beauty's mind, none of them would be welcomed by the Uchiha and all of them could be summarized in one word; violate.

"You… Thought I'd been kidnapped…"

Sasuke noticed that Naruto spoke slowly, as if thinking through each word before speaking it, choosing his words carefully - something the normal Naruto would have never done. This wasn't Naruto, it couldn't be Naruto, his Naruto had cerulean eyes, wide and thoughtful, never thought before speaking. His Naruto had become friends with all those loser bunches back at Uni, had pretty much become loved by everyone in every class, even become Kakashi's favourite past time target for his teasing. Whoever this was was an impostor, maybe some sort of failed A.I. project, whatever this was must have caught some sort of goddamn virus!

"Yup~ A virus I am."

A virus that could read minds. 'Holy…!' With each and every passing second, Sasuke was losing his characteristics, his bloody Uchiha-ness, with each and every passing minute this… This… This…!

"… Kyuubi…"

This thing was taking control of the situation! With newfound vigour, Sasuke pulled at the binding threads, pulling them and grunting slightly until strong fingers wrapped around his tied wrists, stopping them completely. Naruto's face came in closer, ever so close to Sasuke's own, so close the latter could feel the former's hot breath, strangely a mix of cinnamon and oranges. The smirk transformed into a rudely polite, equally large, smile, Naruto's head twisting slightly so that it occupied the slight space between the nook of Sasuke's shoulder and neck, once more reminding the teen of vampires. Suddenly, right before Sasuke was going to speak, something wet smeared itself across his neck, from shoulder to his ear, disappearing to allow the deep voice to resonate in Sasuke's ear.

"You thought… That whoever had kidnapped me… Would do this, right?"

Kyuubi licked along the shell of his victim's ear, loving how Sasuke tried pulling away, how Sasuke's breath almost quickened, how Sasuke let out the smallest of a gasp due to shock, though if it was only due to shock Kyuubi had the pleasure of not knowing. His victim quickly regained his composure, back under the Uchiha control that Kyuubi was enjoying to break. The figure underneath him was so incredible weak to Naruto's power, no, Kyuubi's power, but nevertheless that same, annoying little voice that had been bothering the garnet-eyed teen right from the start spoke up, whispering refusal, pleading to stop.

'--Stop this… Don't hurt… Him…--'

That coward, that fool.

Did he not understand that he was a slave to this human? Did he not he get it, that he could be so much more if he only allowed himself to be? The garnet virus snapped his neck towards the door, as if someone had arrived, though no one was home nor was expected to be. It would just be Sasuke and Naruto, just the two of them. Thinking that, a low growl left the canine-teethes, and to much of Sasuke's pleasure, the self-named 'Kyuubi' got off the bed, stalking his way out of the room, slamming the door so hard that it opened right up again.

Soon after, a giant crash resounded from somewhere that Sasuke could only guess was his living room.

He pushed the thought away, refusing to bother thinking long on it, only in getting the hell out of there, so he began struggling like a mad man, hearing a loud scream [or was it a roar?] rippling through the air, followed by another large crash signalling that something else had been thrown. The wound on his stomach hurt like hell, almost reopening with the frantic Uchiha's movements, a silent mantra repeating itself in his head; 'I am no longer an Uchiha, I am no longer an Uchiha, I am no longer an Uchiha.' He vehemently believed that he had failed pathetically as an Uchiha.

After a couple more pulls and tugs, Sasuke found the ropes to have loosened considerably, and he was now able to free himself with ease. Another large crash [just what the hell was that monster doing to his property?] resonated, small earthquakes shaking the apartment and most probably the neighbouring houses. With the amount of noise coming from the crashing alone [never mind the bloody shouts], Sasuke knew that he'd be getting hell from the landlord, and the Uchiha wouldn't be looking forward to it.

Now a free man, the young adult made his way stealthily across the bedroom, reaching the ajar door and slipping through it; singing praises for the 'virus' and his ridiculous strength. The hallway was eerily quiet, even the living room [where he believed IT to be] had now settled into a tranquillity that felt as fragile as a thin, lone, thread. Quickly, he was able to make quick work of the hallway, checking silently into the kitchen, confirming that it was empty; just as he had thought, IT had been in his living room trashing the house even further.

Before he carried on, he turned back to the hallway, entering his bedroom and grabbing a mobile phone he always kept there, just in case. Speed dialling, he tried calling Itachi, knowing full well this wasn't the time to be messing around. It seemed Naruto had really caught himself a virus. Of all things. The phone kept ringing, only being picked up by the operator lady stating that "The person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Please try again". He did. And got the same response. He tried five more times, then decided to barrage his elder brother with text messages, furiously typing away at the small pad, three simple messages [that was more then enough] that went along the lines of;

NARUTO. TROUBLE. NOW.

VIRUS? HOUSE TRASHED. CALL NOW.

DON'T BOTHER CALLING. GET HERE. NOW.

Following it up with the same three text messages to Misato, he exited his bedroom and returned to his previous position, his black socks making no noise on the carpet as he carefully made his way to the living room, only a few steps away, feeling oddly like a ninja, a Shinobi. If he had ever experienced a previous life as a Shinobi, he'd have definitely been part of the Uchiha Clan, a clan that would have been most famous in whatever country he called his abode. Since ninja's held a tendency to have the elements at their bay [at least, that's what those damn anime's kept spewing], Sasuke couldn't help but marvel at the obvious fact that the Uchiha Clan would, first and foremost, be skilled in the art of fire, flames, fire. What an amusing thought.

A black strand dropped into his field of view as he tipped his head over the entrance to the living room, scanning the place once with his obsidian eyes, and then doing another sweep over before he spotted a flash of blonde huddled in a corner, tanned, still lethal-looking, hands holding-- no, cradling the head as if in immense pain. Sasuke still couldn't be sure who exactly it was that had control over the body - he'd noticed the other's eyes fighting between a deep garnet and an astounding cerulean, oddly wondering how he'd never noticed people's eye colours before.

A sudden jerk of movement made the Uchiha watch as the blonde fiercely crashed his own head against the wall he had been huddled against, a horrible CRACK reverberating off the walls, which rippled slightly under the sudden attack. Naruto's face winced in pain, but not of shock, the eyes closed tight before opening slightly, the orbs a hazed cerulean. Soon after, almost an instant later, the blue eyed figure bent to place his head on his bent knees, his fingers once more threading into his blonde locks, the body rising slightly in shuddering breaths, a strange noise making across to Sasuke's ears. He could only recognise it for what it was after a particularly, heart wrenching, muffled cry.

The younger teen was racked with sobs.

The Uchiha couldn't catch much of what Naruto was saying, because he now knew it was Naruto, his Naruto. Not the damn virus, not a mixture of both, but his goddamn Naruto. Straining his ears, he gave up as soon as he started, finding himself slowly taking a step closer, out of the safety of the entrance to the room, followed by another step, and another. Naruto hadn't yet noticed his presence, but looking around one more time, Sasuke could now see the full extent of the damage done to both his house and his A.I.

His house really had been trashed.

Nothing had been spared, absolutely nothing. His television, in all it's previous glory, now lay broken cleanly in half, still somehow showing static, though the Uchiha didn't linger too long on it to wonder why. He had actually liked that Plasma. The sofa was in countless pieces, what had previously been just another clean cut [at least IT held some elegance] now resembled the result of a pack of hungry, hungry wolves. Or some hunter dogs that had caught the whiff of a fox in his sofa. Or a raging bear. Or a rather carnivorous hippopotamus. It all fit splendidly into what he was now looking at. Of course, the glass wall that led to his balcony had not been spared. It lay, broken into a thousand shards, some of them nearing and even passing where Naruto lay huddled, Sasuke worried whether the teen had trampled all over them and sat on some too. He also couldn't help but worry about exactly what had been thrown out of said window - he doubted it had been simply broken. Nothing in the house was simply broken.

"P-P-P-Please… I d-didn't… Didn-n't… Mean t-t-too…"

His stomach lurched involuntarily as he looked back at Naruto, noticing the tremor that shook along the whole body, along the delicate shoulders, the fingers that continued to be threaded through vibrant blonde hair that seemed strangely a tad bit duller, along the bent knees, even the feet that wore no socks. Another breathless cry of an anguished soul got Sasuke's legs moving, until he lay hovering over the younger adult, just as IT had hovered over him maybe hours ago, maybe minutes.

Maybe it had been the shadow that suddenly lapsed over him, or the mere sensation that he wasn't alone, but it seemed then that Naruto finally recognised Sasuke's presence, staring up from his fingers hesitantly, flinching visibly when he saw that it really was Sasuke, burying his head back into his knees, the fingers at his hair pulling tighter, as if the repressed figure welcomed the pain.

Sasuke was trying to get closer to him, Naruto could feel it, but he could also feel his subconscious rear it's ugly head back up, the blonde struggling hard to keep consciousness, knowing full well that when he fell into the comforting black, it would take control. It would h-… It would hurt… Hurt Sasuke again… He couldn't bare to do that again, to see the widening of eyes, the wary stare, the glint of not comprehending the situation-- he couldn't----

--- "Naruto…"

'W-Why…?' Why was Sasuke leaning down now, on his knees, slowly wrapping his arms around him…? W-Why did his arms feel cool, pleasantly so for the blondes fever-ridden heat, his fingers prying the Naruto's fingers out of his hair? Why wasn't Sasuke angry? Screaming at him, shouting at him, telling him how much he despised the robot. Maybe he thought… Maybe he… Maybe he was showing some sort of mercy, not wanting Naruto to see the hatred, hence why the Uchiha's palm was on his blonde head, which was still buried in his knees? 'I.. I can't let him g-get h-h-hurt again…'

"D-Don't, S-S-S-Sas… 'Ke…" His voice trembled like a tight rope being played with. The blondes throat ached horribly, making him have to take a gulp of whatever saliva he could muster in his dry mouth and swallowing it before he could continue saying Sasuke's name. "I d-don't… Want to h-h-hurt… You…"

The arms around him slowly applied pressure, as if giving Naruto the chance to refuse the offer, though why he would do that was beyond him. The boy felt so warm, so hot, and Sasuke could tell now, what with the close proximity, that the boy really was a bit too warm. His blonde hair lay dampened against his scalp, not possessing the volume it usually did. Simply being close to the boy made Sasuke no longer feel any cold, for he was shirtless, and it actually happened to be winter in Japan. Winter's in Japan were not forgiving.

'Where is that damn Itachi..?' Sasuke mentally ground out, throwing all the questions of why he was hugging the blond out of his head. He could deal with them later, or not deal with them at all. They weren't really important, were they?

The pair stayed there, Sasuke removing an arm from around Naruto, who shivered slightly, to carefully brush at the glass shards that were around them, seating himself properly next to the blond once he was satisfied, his arm snaking it's way around him once more. The sky outside was bordering on dawn, the elder of the pair [by a measly months through the "official" records, though years due to the technicality that Naruto had been made and not born] watching the outside sky through the broken glass wall as the sun began rising, the night now fading to give way to day.

Naruto soon began to nod off to sleep, exhausted both mentally, emotionally and physically from the whole week. At first he fought it off, feeling the need too, but then gave in when Sasuke pushed his own knees into the other, causing the blonde to lean more into the Uchiha, obviously being told to sleep. Of which he did. Deeply.

Sasuke, on the other hand, stayed awake, a deep twirl in his stomach resting heavily, pooling at the bottom of his gut, as if warning him that the day had not yet ended. It was obvious that something was wrong, not with Naruto -though definitely with him too- but with Itachi and Misato. They should have picked up their phones to begin with - Sasuke rarely called unless something off importance, so they always picked up, especially Misato who took it as an opportunity to bug the boy. If he wasn't going to pick up, Itachi would send a text message explaining why; because sometimes one couldn't pick up a phone from your little brother in a business meeting.

Yet hours passed, the dawn began turning to noon, then to afternoon, then evening. Dusk was befalling on the pair, and still, not a word.

Uchiha Sasuke was beginning to panic.

[TBC]

Oh god. Oh gawd. I know it's the fifth of January of 2010!! So I dunno, I missed Halloween and Christmas, maybe I was in time for New Years despite the fact it's five days late? I'M SO SORRY THOUGH. DX I had written almost all of this, to the bit where Sasuke goes "Wtf is this dobe", but then got... Stuck... I didn't know how to carry it on, WHAT to carry it on with, I even began forgetting where I was planning this whole damn story to go. [Honestly said, I still can't really remember... XD] But then I finally got down yesterday and finished it off, and then was able to make it sorta smooth itself to the next chapter, which there's no preview for BECAUSE OF TEH SUSPENSE. *horror song*

So you're reviews are absolutely HEARTWEARMING, hate to have made you wait so long, and please do review and leave me a message, I know this chapter is actually pretty bad, choppy and not flowing. Hopefully, next chapter, number seven, will be better, na~? Hopefully... D:

[1]Soba: Japanese noodles - a Japanese dish of buckwheat noodles.

[2]Al Jazeera International [The Channel] is Copyrighted to Al Jazeera and all it's rightful owners. I merely find the logo very, very, pretty.