Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters.

Wow, like after years of not continuing this, and one day of just rewriting both chapters, I received some emails from people favouriting this. Mainly two, but whos counting?

One review and added to fav author list. Yay :D

Thank you to everyone who added me and this story to their favourites. Although there wasn't many reviews, you've all given me more motivation to continue this. Motivation is what I need. :)

Chapter 3

Sasuke groaned as he looked at his reflection in the mirror. Poking at the bags forming below his eyes. He had slept late due to his thoughts that had kept him awake, thinking back to that live or die fight, and when he did sleep he would always wake up in a state. Sweating. Scared. Horrified. His dreams had kept showing images of a hurt Naruto. A dead Naruto. A young Naruto. A buried Naruto. They were all nightmares. One dream didn't leave his mind at all. It was of Naruto, bleeding from head to toe. Covered in blood, yelling at him. He couldn't remember the words, but just his crying face was enough.

Enough to make him feel like shit.

As Sasuke looked at his own eyes he thought about the two weeks to find clues or Naruto.

'Is two weeks really enough?' Sasuke thought. It wasn't enough, and he knew that, what had Kakashi been thinking? Did he really have so much confidence that two weeks was enough to find anything and everything?

He growled to himself. He felt pathetic and useless. Weak.

Walking out the bathroom, he shrugged on his black jumper and black trousers. He strapped on his weapons and his forehead protector. It was a new forehead protector, he had lost the one he originally had and couldn't remember what had happened to it, but he had the strangest feeling that if he did have it, he couldn't wear it anyway.

He looked around his house one more time making sure he had everything with him before he left out the door. He was hours early before he had to go to the hokages office, but he couldn't wait in his house, in his bed, his thoughts suffocating him, the slow ticks of the clock. It was all suffocating.

He walked slowly down the paths, among the workers who began to set up, ready for the morning rush. He let his feet guide him as his mind wandered off. Where to? Well, I'm not a mind reader.

"Good morning Uchiha-San!" Called a soft voice.

Sasuke turned his head to the side to see who was greeting him so early. It was Ayame from the ramen ichiraku, she was shugging on her coat just about to leave to go out.

Sasuke frowned. When he first came back to Konoha, the news had finally been told to the villagers that Naruto had disappeared, many villagers cheered in celebration which in turn caused Sasuke to break out and punch them all down. Anbus had to restrain him and he was giving a warning from the hokage. Of all the villagers (minus the ninjas) it was only the father and daughter of the ramen ichiraku who grieved and mourned for the disapearance of Naruto. Not just because he was their best customer, it was because Naruto was like family to them. He'd walk past here everyday in hopes Naruto had come back and was sitting right there. Then soon, he'd eat ramen everyday for each meal in hopes Naruto would turn up at one of them. He never did. So he finally gave up and hadn't come back until now. I guess it was just his force of habit.

"...hn.." He said as he was just about to walk past.

"Oi! Sasuke, would you like some Ramen? I just finished making some." Teuchi shouted to Sasuke.

Sasuke hesitated. Ramen. He honestly hated it, eating it everyday was just for that dobe. It was just his hope.

After hesitating for a moment Sasuke spun around and walked towards them, he pushed the curtain to one side as he stepped in, taking a seat at front of the already placed bowl.

He picked up the pair of chopsticks beside the bowl and snapped it. He stirred the ramen, lifted some up, blew on it, before slurping it into his mouth.

The taste was familiar. It was miso ramen. Sasuke stopped eating, and stared at the bowl.

'Miso ramen...," He thought 'Narutos favourite...old man, why did you give me miso ramen?"

Sasuke looked up at the old man who was smiling down at him. He held a knife in one hand and something else in the other.

Sasukes eyes widened at the weapon.

He watched as he cut some food into his bowl of ramen. Looking at the food, his shocked eyes turned to sadness. The food was narutomaki. A fishcake with jaggered edges and a pink swirl inside it.

"Old man..." Sasuke begun, "Miso soup and narutomaki...why?"

Teuchi chuckled slightly, just a hint of sadness lay hidden within it.

"I heard from Sakura-san yesterday that you all are going to find clues for Naruto again. I thought giving you this would comfort you, especially since whenever the little blond is in your mind you always seem to walk past here accidently."

Sasuke pulled a sad face to Teuchi. It might have been sad but it was also grateful to the old man, that was until Sasuke realised what he was doing and tried to hide his emotions behind his usual stotic self.

"Sasuke, don't bother with that facade. You might be a Uchiha but when you're here, just be Sasuke. It's okay to be human sometimes, ya know?"

Sasuke looked at Teuchi, giving up on trying to hide behind his facade. His eyes began to water, he knew he didnt want to cry but he couldnt help the tears that began to blur his vision.

"Thank you...Teuchi-San". Sasuke spoke his name with respect as he began his food again, this time feeling like Naruto was sitting right beside him. He no longer felt lonely.

"how much?" Sasuke asked.

"On the house." The old man replied.

Sasuke scowled, he didn't want it to be free he wanted to pay for his meal.

"How much?" Sasuke repeated.

The old man turned to face him, chuckling again.

"I said it's on the house, take it"

Sasuke sighed, and let out a smile. A small smile, but a smile none the less.

"But if you want," Teuchi began, "your payment to me, is finding Naruto". He smiled to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded. "Now that, I can do" He said with full confidence now, no doubt hidden at all in his words.

"Good." Teuchi said as he turned around, his back facing Sasuke again.

A comfortable silence filled the air for a moment.

"Thank you"

Teuchi turned again to look at Sasuke, but he realised he had already left quickly.

"Still got problems saying thank you to others? You are indeed a Uchiha." Teuchi laughed to himself.

Sasuke stood for a moment hiding just around the corner of the ramen Ichiraku. He had heard the last sentence of the man before he began to walk away. He felt alot better now, more confident, yes, he knew it now, two weeks was enough. No, just one week was perfect.

Sasuke knew he had a little while to go until he had to arrive at the office of the hokage. But, he realised he wanted to go somewhere first, somewhere he hadn't been at all. Never.

He had wanted to many times over the course of the two years he'd come back. He just never did, never plucked up the courage, I dont think anyone did. It was one of those things, that if you stepped into their home, you're admitting they're gone, as if trying to comfort yourself for a loss.

But this wasn't what Sasuke had in mind. He wanted to take some thing some this place.

From Narutos apartment.

He now stood at the door, the door that had been locked and never entered this entire time. Sasuke looked around, glancing at the things around the door. He stepped backwards and bent down. Lifting up the mat, he saw what he assmued would be there. A key. He picked up the key and stood up, sliding the key into the hold and twisting it, he heard a few clicks before the door creaked open.

"O-jama shimasu" Sasuke mumbled as he stepped into the apartment. He took a quick glance around. The floor and desk was dusty. Clothes littered the place and empty and some half eaten ramen lay about too.

Sasuke cringed.

'The dobe really lived in such a manner here?'

Sasuke lifted up a pair of trousers with his foot, before kicking it to a side.

The hokage had ordered that no one was to enter this house no matter what, not to search, not to touch. Nothing.

Sasuke wasn't breaking this rule, he was merely paying a house visit to a friend.

Sasuke rolled up his selves and smirked. "You're going to owe me big time dobe".

He began to bend and pick up things, cleaning up the three year mess.

It was soon, the dirty clothes was placed in a bag, the dishes had been cleaned, the dust had been wiped away, and fresh air was breezing through the apartment. The bed was made, the Kakashi doll was laying on the corner of the bed, and narutos sleeping cap placed on the pillow.

Sasuke wiped the sweat of his forehead and looked around at the work his cleaning abilities had accomplished.

He smirked, a clean place was what he liked the most. Second to tomatos of course.

Sasuke saw a glint in the corner of his eye, and snapped his head to it. It was a picture frame of team seven. He sighed, for a moment he thought someone had entered the room and that it was a kunai's glint.

He walked over to the frame and picked it up, looking at the four people in it.

It was a young picture of them three.

Sasuke frowning.

Naruto glaring.

Kakashi so unsure but smiling, his hands on their heads.

Sakura smiling in-between the boys.

It was all happy. What had happened? Oh yeah.

'I had been an idiot for power. I risked everything, in turn Naruto disappeared. I ruined this so called happiness.' Sasuke thought to himself glaring at the past him.

Sasuke was lost in his thoughts. He had let his guard down, something a ninja should never do, but luckily there was no intent to kill him.

Red eyes stared at him from the window. The man had originally been in the room, he would come by now and then to see if someone had entered the room but not once had someone bothered. He began to look around for a pen and paper he was writing another note to place by the previous note he had left three years ago for the Anbus that should have investigated this room. Three years ago, when he had found Naruto, he didn't know what to do, who to contact. Barely anyone knew of the real events at that time. He couldn't walk into the Anbus head quarters and tell them or the Hokages since he was ordered to be an S-rank missing nin. It was then the thought occurred to him that Anbus would search the apartment so he left notes.
He had heard the sound of the door unlocking so he quickly finished the note in a hurry and jumped out the window. Sitting there for a while, listening to he boy talk and clean.

He had sighed, of all these years finally someone had entered the room, abit late but better late than never, now someone would find the notes. He had hoped it wouldn't have been Sasuke. Some how he thought Sasuke would start to look into Itachis background now, but that didn't matter now. The man smiled, he was just glad his little brother finally came back to Konoha and entered the blonds apartment at last.

He took one more look before vanishing.

Sasuke spun, he felt it, just now, the presense of someone. He cursed to himself as he rushed to the window, looking out. Someone had been here, someone had been watching him. How had he not noticed? He panicked.

He could have been killed!

He knew that, he knew it, he knew he made a mistake. He knew he was lucky.

But what made it worse, was what if it was Naruto? What if it was a clue. He had just missed it.

In a haste, Sasuke was about to leave but then he realised. If someone had been in here, surely there was a clue in here. Without a second thought, he began looking, without ruining his hard work of cleaning of course.

This time he looked in more places. Under the bed, under the pillows, in his draws. There it was. Neatly placed in a draw with his scrolls and weapons. Two letters with a scribbled sign on it. If it was anyone but Sasuke they wouldnt have noticed that the sign was the Uchiha sign, just drawn abit badly. Sideways. Looked more like a fish...and a scribbled word. A name. Sasuke squinted.

'Danzo?'

Sasuke glared at it. He knew it immediately, this didn't belong to Naruto, it wasn't even addressed to him, and he certainly knew he didn't write it. Only one person came to mind. Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke opened the letter on top and began to read it. He noticed the writing had look hurried and unusually unneat, something rare from a Uchiha.

I'm surprised no one has been here all these years. Un-Konoha like.
Naruto Uzumaki is Alive and well. Still coma-tosed. Over the years he has woken up now and then, but the moment he sleeps again, he doesnt wake up.

Sasuke's eyes widen, Naruto was still alive. This recent letter confirmed it.
He placed that letter back down and grabbed the older looking letter.

I'm leaving this letter at this apartment. I was unable to get hold off "knowing" Anbus. Or Danzo. I found Uzumaki at the Valley of the end, condition was critical. Any minute late, he would have died. I've taken him and stabled his condition. I didn't know what else to do.
As long as it wasn't Akatsuki, Konoha is in no danger.

Anbu outside.

Sasuke frowned. Knowing? Anbu outside? Was this letter really written by his brother? Was that random blob on the envelope not the Uchiha symbol?

It would be impossible for his brother, the murderer of his clan to still be an Anbu. He was an S-ranked criminal. Unless, there was something hidden, something that wasn't told to anyone. That would have made sense about the "Knowing anbu" part.

If Sasuke didn't have his suspicions that it was his brother, he would have brushed it off as a secret Anbu known by few on a special mission. Too cool for his brother. Sasuke Mused.

His brother had thought right but didn't think of Tsunade actions. Everyone knew that if they searched Narutos home, it would have been the Anbus. Anbus choosen by none other than Danzo, so these notes would have got back to Danzo, and Danzo would obviously understand this more than he but since Tsunade didn't want anything of Narutos things disturbed, no Anbu found it.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk to himself. If he hadnt "broken" the hokages rule and "broke in" to Narutos apartment he wouldn't have found something so valuable, something that might go into something deeper. Something that might explain more to the murder and possibly a secret behind the ANBUs.

Sasuke folded back the letters, grabbed Narutos sleeping cap and folded them within it before placing it into his pockets.

He was satisfied with himself. He knew he should have been mad especially since he knew his brother was into this too now, but to know Naruto was safe. That was far better.

For once in his life since he was eight. He was glad his brother wasn't dead. Yet.

Do review?

Honestly, don't know where I'm going with this. Sorta. Kinda. Somewhere. This chapter was interesting to write. Especially towards the ending where i had to try and make sense about all those letters. It makes somewhat sense in my head, if i was a s-ranked criminal, I wouldnt bother with the letters, but with Itachi who isn't as evil as he seems, he would have tried to make contact, but having to lay low it would be fairly impossible, and to get a message to someone asap, i would have went to a place where it was most likely they should have looked. Thus how it happened in my mind.