Naruto entered the room an hour later and smiled softly at Sasuke, who was asleep on the couch. In his hands was the sketch pad, which looked close to falling to the floor. The drawing that rested on the page stalled any other actions in the blonde. He had to remind himself to breath after a few minutes.
The image was of Saukra, angled up at her from the floor. The colors and shading of her clothes was excellent, but her body was just a thick outline. Her hair was tied back on her head in a neat, sexy bun, which was also just a thick outline. Splashes of crimson and pink marred the extensive detail work on the floor boards and made Naruto shudder. There was a torn sandal half way under the bed. Small tumbleweeds made of hair littered the floor close to the perspective of the picture, and there was one hand laying close to them, two of the fingers were bent in ways that were worse then Naruto had ever seen.
On a hunch, Naruto leaned close to Sasuke and lifted up the too long locks. He quickly found what he was looking for – large bald spots exposed the pale skin of the raven. Being this close to Sasuke also showed something else. There were dry tear tracks running down those shallow cheeks.
Naruto smiled sadly at them and then turned to a new task – getting Sasuke to bed. The blonde easily drew the book from the sleeping hands and nestled it on the couch, closed. Naruto picked up the thin man and carried him easily to his bed, where Naruto sat him and went to find a shirt.
Three paces from the bags that still housed Sasuke's clothes, Naruto had a much better idea. He turned and plucked one of his own from the closet. It was one of the few button downs that he owned. It was given to him by Kakashi, because he hadn't had one for the wedding. That memory made Naruto smile. Turning back to the sleeping man, the fox made quick work of ridding him of his shirt and pants, replacing them with the long shirt and buttoning it all the way up. It was sad to see the garment hanging so loosely off his pale body.
Naruto lifted him once more and settled him on the futon under the window. He smoothed the dark locks and then sent himself to the living room, where he sat with a manga.
''''''''
Sasuke woke to the thick, easy scent of caramel and lavender. It was new and made Sasuke feel very at ease. The raven slowly sat up on his futon and used one hand to rub his eyes. This smell totally surrounded him and it took him a whole five minutes to deduce that it was the shirt that he was wearing. It smelled nothing like Naruto, thought, as he always smelled of musk and sweat and.. well, there was a bit of a caramel smell to his skin.
A knock came from the front of the apartment and made Sasuke jump. He was so involved with his thoughts that the sound startled him. He found one of his crutches by his bed and used it to pull himself up to his feet. Hobbling to the door of the bed room, Sasuke saw Naruto talking to someone in the front doorway. He heard one thing and it made his hair stand on end, that was, "He's not your property." Sasuke fell against the wall and closed his eyes, hiding from view. The conversation ended moments later with a hard slam of the door.
"Sasuke, come out here, I can hear you crying," Naruto called gently. Sasuke peeked out and saw the blonde standing there, a few tears in his own eyes, arms spread open for Sasuke. The raven scrambled for those arms, strong and warm, to protect him. When he got to them, he collapsed into them and Naruto easily went to the floor with him. Sasuke buried his face in a firm shoulder and cried his little heart out. Naruto hummed and stroked his hair gently. He rocked them back and forth, letting Sasuke cry his fears away. "She's not going to get you. You're here with me to stay, yea? We won't let her get you." Soft words danced over Sasuke's ears. They were a promise that he could hold on to, and that calmed him greatly. Drawing his face from the now soaked shoulder, dark locks stuck to his wet face, he smiled a small smile at his blonde protector.
"Don't let her get me," he whispered. With these words, he was giving Naruto his heart and soul. The blonde caught on to this quickly and leaned down, pushing his forehead against the wet, sweaty one. He let his eyes convey what he wanted to say. Sasuke felt his life falling back into its proper place.
Naruto smiled and pulled them back up. "Now, how about a bath, and then we'll go get some lunch?"