Chapter Fourteen-

"I'm huuuungry! Can we go eat ramen?"

Sasuke looked up at him like he was crazy. Which he wasn't. Well, not really.

"Do you want to get this cleaned up or not?" he asked, gesturing to the floor of his apartment. They had been working for nearly three hours and were almost done; or so Sasuke said, but Naruto wasn't going to trust him for a second.

The three of them, with the help of his and Sasumi's Kage Bushin, had managed to clear all his ruined stuff off to the side of the room closest to the door. The part of the room that they had cleared off had then had been moped and now Naruto and Sasuke were working on the wall. All this was done with minor casualties. Naruto had a few scraps on his arms and hands, and Sasuke had cut his calf on a stray piece if wood that Naruto had not thrown at him. Why would he do a thing like that? And maybe he was a little guilty. Maybe. Naruto scrubbed harder at the hateful words painted on his wall from where he stood on a makeshift ladder that he and Sasumi had constructed. He glanced down at Sasuke who was holding a bucket up to him so he could dip the sponge in every time he used up all his water. Nah, he was fine.

"What the hell are you looking at, moron?"

Yep, he was definitely fine.

Naruto was about to make an angry retort when Sasumi walked in from wherever she had gone with two cans of off-white paint and a brush. Naruto's first thought was how awkward it was that she was carrying both cans and the brush in one hand, while the other was limp at her side. Wait, what was up with the paint? She put her load down and carefully opened the lids still with that same hand. Naruto shrugged. Sasumi was Sasumi. Except he still didn't know what she was doing with the paint.

"Err…Sasumi? What ar-"

"Repainting your apartment," she answered him, even before he finished asking his question.

"Oh…errr…why?"

She lifted her head and raised an eyebrow, "Have you made any progress at all in cleaning off those walls?"

"Err…no, but we don't need to paint them over!"

"Actually, that's a good idea," Sasuke said, putting down the bucket, "But we should probably get rid of all this junk first."

"Hey, that's my junk!"

"We'll need a bunch of bags," Sasumi said, completely ignoring him.

"Thick ones, with all that broken glass and pottery. I'll go get some."

Naruto stared open mouthed as Sasuke walked out of the room.

"Oi, who said I wanted my apartment to be painted over?"

"We did," Sasumi answered.

Dammit, they were ganging up on him again! But they wouldn't get away with it. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Two Hours Later

"Oww…I hate paint!"

"You were the one flinging it around. It's your fault you got it in your eye, you idiot."

"Uzumaki-san, hold still. If you keep moving around, I won't be able to get it out."

Naruto gasped as Sasumi pulled her hand back, "Is it gone?"

"Yes."

Naruto's stomach growled. He was so hungry! He wanted food. Right now!

"Alright, get up, moron. We have to finish this wall."

Naruto sighed and stood up. He would never admit it, but he was really glad that Sasuke and Sasumi were here. There was less work for him to do, but he wasn't sure if he would have been able to do it on his own.

With the help of the bags that Sasuke had found, the three of them had cleared up the wreckage of nearly everything that had belonged to Naruto and thrown it in the dumpster outside. They had painted three of the four walls and were halfway through the last one. Originally Naruto thought they were just going to paint over the graffiti, however, Sasumi had brought so much paint that they ended up painting the entire wall. Naruto was just glad that no one had mentioned the ceiling. They alternated using the brush and when not painting they made sure that none of the paint dripped onto the floor. Naruto covered the last part with a flourish.

"Hahaha! We're done! Finally!"

"And I suppose you're just going to sleep on the floor."

Naruto scowled. That bastard just had to ruin everything, didn't he?

"I'll figure it out later, but right now I want ramen! Ramen, ramen, ramen!!!"

And Goddammit Sasuke was giving him that look again!

After Naruto wouldn't stop talking, Sasuke finally gave in and let the moron have his way. Just this once, of course. He scowled. This was almost as bad as when Kakashi told Naruto that he couldn't wear his orange jumpsuit anymore because they were Chuunin and had to wear a uniform. Naruto threw a fit because Sasumi didn't have to wear the uniform (she did anyway) and called Kakashi a sexist as well as a bunch of other names Sasuke wouldn't repeat. Now, he was deeply regretting ever agreeing to eat dinner with the blonde, he would just not stop eating. And talking.

"Another bowl, ojisan! Hey, Sasuke don't you want anymore?"

Sasuke found it below him to answer such a question.

"Fine, be that way. How about you Sasumi?"

"No, thank you."

"Geez, you guys are weird."

Sasuke inwardly sighed and turned his attention away from the blond and out onto the street. Ever since they had left his apartment that morning people had constantly been staring, pointing, and whispering wherever they went. As the only remaining Uchiha, Sasuke was used to being stared at, however, not to this extent. And they weren't only staring at him, but Naruto too. Sasuke scowled. He wouldn't have been surprised if they knew what had happened to his blond teammate's apartment. The whole matter was confusing him, though. Why on earth would someone go to the extent they did on ruining all Naruto's things? Surely they had better things to do. And there was no way Naruto could have done something that would make them that mad. Pranks were one thing, but Sasuke had yet to see Naruto perform a prank that actually hurt anyone so badly that they would wreck his apartment. It was driving him insane. Sasumi knew, but wouldn't tell him. Sasuke could understand why, but he was Naruto's teammate too! Didn't he have the right to know? Kakashi also knew, Sasuke could tell. Sometimes he wondered if he was the only one who didn't know whatever 'it' was. No matter how many ways he looked at it, it all boiled down to the same thing. Naruto was hiding something. All the villagers seemed to know…but, wait. Did anyone his age or younger know? While Naruto had never been popular among the other students at the academy, as far as Sasuke could tell, it was only because he was loud and annoying. Was Sasumi the only person his age that knew? Or was it merely a coincidence that none of the children seemed to regard Naruto with the same hatred that their parents did? And then there was the matter of what had been written all over his teammate's apartment. There were a lot of insulting words in general, but one stood out to Sasuke. The word 'monster.' Now why on earth would they call Naruto a monster? Naruto was a stupid, loudmouth, who had no sense of subtly. Calling him an idiot made sense. Not a monster. But, nonetheless, the word 'monster' had not only been written once on his walls and door, but fifteen separate times, more than any other word. To Sasuke it made no sense. It couldn't just be a coincidence, but he couldn't see how any of it connected to Naruto. He would have to ask Sasumi again. Maybe she would be more willing to tell him now. And if she didn't, Sasuke woul-

"Oi, Sasuke, are you alive?"

Sasuke looked back to see Naruto and Sasumi standing at the door of Ichiriku's.

"We're leaving, unless of course, you want to stay here."

Sasuke scowled and stood up, "Where are we going now?" he asked as they exited the shop.

"Er…I forgot…what was it called again, Sasumi?"

"The office of the Committee of Public Welfare. They'll compensate you for your belongings that was destroyed."

"Oh," Naruto said, "Er…what does compensate mean?"

No, he defiantly wasn't Sasuke's definition of what a monster was. He was way too stupid for that.

The second they entered the building Sasuke noticed that Naruto seemed more uncomfortable than he had ever seen him. After a fifteen minute wait they were escorted into a short, balding man's office. Although, Sasuke had only been here once or twice because his family fortune covered all his expenses, he remembered his way around. Naruto sat down in the chair in front of the desk and Sasuke and Sasumi waited by the office door. Sasuke would have thought that Naruto would have loudly greeted the man, but he sat quietly, chewing on the inside of his cheek. After almost five minutes Sasuke was sick of waiting and cleared his throat. The man looked up at him immediately.

"Uchiha-sama, what a surprise! Why don't you…" The man caught sight of Naruto and frowned, "What are you doing here, Uzumaki?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the man's condescending tone, "I have a client now and I don't have the time for games."

"I'm not playing games," Naruto said through gritted teeth.

Sasuke's hands formed into fists. Not another one. But he was slightly confused. If anyone else said that to Naruto, he would have yelled at them or something. Why was he holding back?

"Then what are you here for? Hurry up, I have more important clients than you."

That did it. "I'm just waiting for him," Sasuke said, barely disguising the anger in his voice, "Take as long as you want."

The man looked confused, "Are you sure?" he said, "I can finish this up-"

"I'm fine," Sasuke said, holding himself back from punching the man.

"Er, yes. Well, what do you want, Uzumaki?" he said, turning his attention back to Naruto.

"My apartment was trashed," Naruto said shortly, "All my money was stolen and stuff ruined."

The man raised an eyebrow, "Well, what am I supposed to do about it?"

Naruto glanced behind him at him and Sasumi, looking vaguely helpless.

"Isn't it a policy of yours that if one of your client's property and possessions are destroyed in a way that isn't a result of an error of their own judgment you will reimburse them?" Sasumi said calmly from his right, but he barely heard her. He was still trying to figure out why Naruto hadn't snapped yet.

"Er…well," the gray haired man said, obviously flustered, "Well, how can I tell that he isn't lying? How do I know that he isn't just making this up?"

"You have my testimony," Sasumi said, glancing at him.

"Mine too," Sasuke said decisively.

"Now look here," the man said angrily, "I can't just believe yourstory! You could be in on it!"

"I think it would be to your advantage," Sasumi said softly, "To reimburse him."

The man's eyes widened, "Are you threatening me?" he hissed.

"Of course not," Sasumi said in that same calm voice, "However, it would be unfavorable for your company to find out the truth about the money that disappeared three years ago, true?"

The man froze and Sasuke looked in surprise to Sasumi. How did she know…oh, right, Kekkai Genkai.

"We would have no need to inform your company of this unfortunate incident if our requests are granted," Sasumi said tonelessly.

The man stared at her open mouthed and then swallowed, "Well if you put it that way…well, I-I suppose I must comply to your…how much money do you require?"

Sasuke looked from the man to Sasumi and back again. He barely heard Naruto naming the amount of money. He was still in deep thought as they exited the building. This was the first time that he had actually seen her ability in action. Well, maybe not the first time, but the first time he actually knew that she was using it. He swallowed and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and then turned away. This was nothing new. He should be used to it by now. Sasuke scowled and ran headlong into Naruto.

"Owww! What the hell was that for bastard?"

"Why'd you stop, you idiot," Sasuke hissed through gritted teeth, rubbing his head.

"It's all your fault, I was just looking over to see something and you ran into me!"

Sasuke was about to break his arm…or maybe his jaw, when Sasumi interrupted their fight.

"Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san, we have to hurry otherwise the stores are going to close."

"Stores?" said the blond on his right.

"You can't sleep in an empty apartment," she said.

"Err…wait, you don't have to help me buy stuff, I can do it myself," Naruto said, turning red.

Sasuke snorted, "I doubt it."

"What's that supposed to me?" Naruto asked angrily.

"What do you think it means?"

"Argghh! You bastard, you're insulting me, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"Oh, you want to fight? I'll definitely kick your ass this time!"

After all, who knows what the idiot would buy?

It took an hour or so for the three of them to buy everything, and Sasumi was just glad that the old man was the only one she had to threaten. There were a few shopkeepers who looked like they would like nothing better than to throw Naruto out, but didn't only because Sasuke was there.

Even when buying furniture Sasuke and Naruto found things to argue over. Naruto wanted to buy basically everything in bright orange and the two of them spent nearly half an hour arguing over what color Naruto's new sheets should be. They finally lugged it all over to Naruto's apartment and haphazardly assembled everything. When they were done Naruto's room was a huge blotch of orange, black, white and navy blue. Sasumi had never seen Naruto so happy.

A few weeks passed after the incident, and they got more interesting missions; mostly involving helping rebuild people's homes that had been destroyed in the attack. Sasumi would have thought that the rebuilding should have been done by now, and it mostly was, but the Godaime Hokage was more interested in repairing relations between the Sand and the Leaf. Sasumi had seen her once or twice, but hadn't gotten close enough to see. Sasumi had bigger things to worry about, though, because one of her teammates was becoming more and more distant.

At first, Sasuke had seemed fine, well, as fine as one can be after meeting their homicidal brother for the first time in six years. However, as time went on he became even quieter than he had been before and spent more time alone. Sasumi was debating whether she should find out what he was thinking. One on hand, if he was thinking of doing something stupid, it would be better to find out as soon as possible, On the other hand, however, using her Kekkai Genkai on him would be a betrayal of his trust in her. However, before she could come up with a decision, something happened that caused her to not need to make a choice after all.

It was nine o'clock when Sasumi knocked on Naruto's door. Naruto opened it slowly and then swung it open when he realized who it was.

"Hey, Sasumi! What are you doing here? Do we have a mission tomorrow or something?" he said happily.

"No," she said softly, "We need to talk."

Naruto's grin faded and was replaced by a serious look that Sasumi rarely ever saw.

"About what?" he asked curiously.

"Uchiha-san," was all she needed to say.

Sasuke leaned against the back of the tree trunk from a branch he was sitting on. He stared listlessly out at the trees that surrounded the border of Konoha. Ever since they had started getting missions again Sasuke had thought a lot more about Itachi and his revenge, and he had found that he was beginning to take less pleasure in being around not only his teammates but people in general than he had before. They were holding him back, he knew. If he really was going to kill Itachi, he had no time to waste. At first, he had been distracted because of Sasumi's Kekkai Genkai, but now it didn't matter anymore. He had tried to divert his attention away from Itachi, because he knew it would make him angry and depressed. However, if he never thought about it, he would never kill Itachi. And he had to do that.

Sasuke wasn't stupid, he knew that no one could stop Itachi in the entire village. Sasumi had come close with the help of previous knowledge of how Itachi fought and her immunity to Genjutsu, however, he was still stronger than her, otherwise she would have made sure he couldn't get away. Sasuke was sick of hiding. He was sick of pretending that one day he would get his revenge and leave it at that. Which left Sasuke only one option. Forgetting about his revenge was out of the question, as well as staying in Konoha because there was no way that he would be able to get stronger than Itachi if he stayed. Which meant he had to leave. But where would he go? If he became a missing-nin he couldn't get access to many things and would constantly be on the run. Sasuke was stuck and what made it worse was that it seemed he had a time limit. Kakashi had left several hints questioning his intentions and Sasumi seemed to be observing him closely, with her Kekkai Genkai or not he didn't know. Even Naruto had appeared to have noticed something different about him and was constantly badgering him about sparring with him.

Sasuke closed his eyes and then opened them suddenly and sat up straight. There was chakra in the air and it definitely wasn't coming from Konoha. Sasuke scrunched up his face in concentration. What was with this chakra? It was weird, but for some reason it seemed slightly familiar. Where had he sensed it before? It reminded him of trees for some reason, and something far more sinister than that. Trees, trees, trees. The Chuunin Exam! It was from the Forest of Death! No wonder it was so familiar! Which meant it was…

"Hello, Sasuke-kun. It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Sasuke automatically whirled around his hand on his kunai holder. Nothing. He looked to the left. Nothing. Right. Nothing. Below him. Absolutely nothing.

"Where are you?" he said loudly, forcing himself to think clearly, "Show yourself!"

There was a rustling of leaves to his left and he spun around to see a tall man with long hair wearing what looked like a bow around his waist standing on a branch of a tree opposite of him. Orochimaru.

"You!" Sasuke gasped. What was he doing here? He swallowed and drew his kunai. After the incident during the second part of the Chuunin Exam, Sasuke had gone to the library and looked at some old record that were open to the public. He had found that originally Orochimaru was a Leaf nin who had betrayed the Leaf and had disappeared nearly thirty years ago. The record also mentioned that Orochimaru had been caught doing illegal experimentation on human beings prior to leaving the Leaf for good. At this thought he was forcefully reminded of Sasumi.

"You look surprised to see me? Did you really think I wouldn't return? It seems your teammate hasn't told you much," Orochimaru said with an eerie smile that made Sasuke uneasy.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke said, edging away from him. He needed to get away and fast. He may have tried to take him on before, but if even the Third Hokage hadn't been able to defeat him…

"You don't know?" the Sannin said, "How interesting."

Sasuke was about to question this, but suddenly he realized that he was in deep trouble. He wasn't strong enough to defeat Orochimaru. Much less his brother. He just wasn't strong enough.

"You're so weak. Still not enough hate, huh?"

Sasuke's eyes widened and then narrowed angrily. He wasn't weak! He would defeat his brother and no one could stop him. And he would prove it too. He would prove it to Orochimaru and most importantly himself. He drew a few shuriken and threw them at him of them. He immediately dodged and Sasuke quickly made a few hand signals.

"Katon! Goukakyou no Jutsu!

The entire area was set afire Sasuke jumped up onto a higher branch. He felt a strange rush and he realized that it hade been several months since he actually fought anyone. He smirked as he watched the trees burn.

"Impressive Sasuke-kun," said Orochimaru from a different tree, "However, it doesn't seem like you've improved much."

Sasuke scowled and noted contentedly that Orochimaru's clothes were singed. He wasn't that strong after all. If he could get a good shot of Chidori at just the right place, maybe he could disable him and finish him off. He had begun to make the hand signs for Chidori when Orochimaru spoke again.

"I have an offer for you, Sasuke-kun. Why don't you come with me, and I'll make you stronger."

A/N: …Okay, my goal for next chapter is NOT to make it end with a cliff-hanger. I'll try, I promise. Wow, most of this chapter as from Sasuke's point of view. And don't worry, he won't join Orochimaru, he may think about it, but I promise he won't. I'm trying to steer away from the original plot right now. And I think I've come up with an ending! Hurray! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and my awesome beta (even though you're mad at me for not making this story have Yaoi in it) Please review and I'll give you…a hug? And I know, the Chapter Title is horrible. I just couldn't resist! XD