A/N: Okay so I'd like to take some special time to thank my reviewers who are without accounts or prefer not to use them lol.

Monkona-chan0402- Gah! You review really helped push me forward through chapter three I promise you that all of your questions will be answered in time. This story does progress pretty slowly because I like reading stories like that . Thank you soooo much for reviewing my story!

Maskedgoddess- I don't think that my cheeks have ever flamed up as much as when I read your comment. That is seriously one of the best comments I've ever gotten on my writing. Thank you so much. I feel so very special that you think so much of my writing. It means the world to me. Thanks to your comment I'm actually typing up this story when I should be asleep XD lol! I hope that this chapter will not let you down. I am trying to keep the same, consistent standard.

Warnings: Shonen-Ai in this chapter! . Very feint Shoujo-Ai (yuri) and some OOC. I'm not sure how time-skip Sasuke acts so he acts according to what's going on and what conclusions he draws in my story! . Oh and spoilers for Shippuden but if you didn't know then you really need to catch up -.-

The story so far: A grueling battle with the Akatsuki is just a bump in the road on their way to getting Sasuke back home. But what's this? He wants to come home?

Chapter 4

For a second Naruto's mind struggled to wrap itself around those words.

"Let's go home…"

Sure it had been Sasuke to say it first but it was just so un-Sasuke to say something like that. Naruto had been expecting to pick up the broken pieces of a man who would more than likely not speak, look or think about anything for the next 2 months. Sasuke had taken the number one ninja of surprises by surprise. The pale man slowly raised to his feet, almost as if every move was calculated, tallied and had been rid of all possible negative outcomes. Each step's noise sounded like some one was banging a pot against Naruto's ear drum, they were slow and deliberate just as Sasuke's rise to full stance was but the sound was giving him a headache. He pulled in breath painstakingly, so as to not upset the delicate balance that was hanging in the air between the two of them.

"That sounds like a good idea," Naruto agreed nodding away the pain throbbing behind his eyes.

Sasuke said nothing as the two of them walked to the doorway, careful to avoid the slivers of wood that littered the surrounding areas. Naruto said nothing as they walked into the hallway and down the corridor, trying to hop over the varies ninja tools that were scattered along the path. Not a word exchanged between the two. It seemed more appropriate to just reflect so to speak, on what just happened; besides neither of them knew what to say to each other anyway.

Naruto's speech to Sasuke was not needed anymore. The bulk of it consisted of convincing him to come back to Konoha and since Sasuke was the one to suggest going home Naruto thought that the speech was irrelevant.

Damn why can't I be like Kakashi?! Naruto wondered trying to look at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. He knew how to lecture…he recalled all the times he'd given Sasuke pep talks or something of the sort.

Sasuke caught the glances but said nothing about it. It would be so out of place to speak right now, he thought so at least. A swift and momentary heat spread across Sasuke's hand as Naruto's accidentally brushed against his. Out of reflex Sasuke pulled his hand closer to his body, ceasing the slight swinging that kept it occupied previous to the touch. It was like he meant to do it, it honestly was a reflex. Naruto gave a weak smile in apology but the silence was all that tried to reply to him.

Impossibly dark eyes were not fixed on what was in front of his face, but what was playing behind his eyes. All at once the scenery around Sasuke became what his memory willed it to be. There were memories of he and Itachi collecting various leaves in the autumn, and then there was a flash of blood across a nondescript wall in the hallway. Again his mind bounced back to when Itachi would help him train, and then there were Itachi's skills all halted by a quick stab to the heart by Sasuke. It was the right thing to do, there was no doubt about that in Sasuke's mind, but he couldn't help but miss what little bit of blood relations he had left to tie his family to this world.

No he took our family away from here, Sasuke thought tightening a fist until his knuckles cracked in the still hallway. He doesn't deserve remorse…

His family was finally avenged, finally. Finally avenged. What now? Was the question that rang through Sasuke's mind relentlessly. Was there anything left for him now? Or was he just a damned as he brother to be alone?

"Sakura!" Naruto yelled out when he saw the girl sitting on the floor with her legs crooked at weird angles.

The girl in question turned around and her mouth began to form words, but whatever she was thinking about saying fell away into speechlessness when she saw Sasuke walking next to Naruto. Her mouth moved in an attempt to say something but silence followed it as she ran a bloody hand through her hair. Copper-y red stained that beautiful pink hair in one swipe before the hand fell to a cold floor. Could she be dreaming again? Was this just another damn dream?!

She stood on wobbly legs, fighting to stay afloat. She used her hand to set her equilibrium in the right focus again. The first few steps were shaky, uncertain but Sakura eventually let her strength shine through when she broke into a run to her two boys. She didn't bother to slow her run down when she got closer, instead she allowed herself to crash into Sasuke. Surely if this were a dream she would have fell straight through him.

She wrapped her arms around him and let small tears fall out of her eyes, this wasn't a dream. She really was holding Sasuke. She noticed that Sasuke didn't push her away, rather he hugged her back. Even if his hold was lose.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke's expression changed from the deep in thought look to a more regretful stare. If Naruto didn't know any better he'd think that Sasuke was scared, or really hurt. Then his mind flashed to when Itachi stabbed him in the stomach. They needed to get out of here, and fast. No doubt everyone else was sustaining their own injuries as well.

"Sakura," Naruto began. "Sasuke said he's coming home with us."

Sakura let go of the boy, "…" she looked between the two of them. "Are you serious…?"

She sounded disbelieving but her tone was pleading that they weren't joking. Then again, why would Naruto joke about this? Her strong hands shook as she processed this information…this was overwhelming. All at once all their goals had been reached, it was nerve wracking.

"Yes," Naruto replied when Sasuke had looked over at him with a look that asked him to answer. For now it was okay with Naruto that Sasuke didn't want to speak.

Sakura let out a labored breath, "Come on we should go and see who's left so we can get out of here."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded and they all ran to get to the main battleground. Despite the gash in his stomach Sasuke managed to keep up with the both of them. Even though the pain was enough to make him double over he knew that there was no time for him to try to soothe the wound, they needed to leave this place. A left turn, a right turn, and straight then they were in the main room. Sasuke took the sight in, bodies strewn across the ground, furniture and leaning against the walls.

Kakashi was using a high frequency radio to call the ANBU squads in the area. A few words were buzzed in and out, mostly about how they had to come and clean up the mess before anyone else got to it. The teacher gave the ANBU the location of their new mission and then he turned to address the new additions to the living comrades. His sharingan eye landed on Sasuke but he asked for no explanation, his smiling eyes said he needed no elaboration.

"Kakashi-sensei! We need to find a hospital!" Shikamaru yelled as he and Ino helped a nearly unconscious Chouji limp closer to the man, both nearly in tears.

Team 7 walked over to the boy, hoping to help in any way possible. Shikamaru had a rather crumpled up map in his hands that detailed the city surrounding the Akatsuki. The usually unoccupied hands of Shikamaru were shaking as his eyes frantically searched the paper for any sign of hope. Sakura joined the search for a hospital. She stood next to Ino, hopefully her seemingly calm eyes could point out something.

She pointed to one on the other side of the city, "That's not close enough!" Shikamaru snapped at her, his voice climbing in intensity.

"Well we're gonna have to take what we can get Shikamaru!" Ino spat out as her face touched what looked like it could be agony.

Everyone realized that they had never seen Shikamaru display so much emotion, much less let his frustration and anger surface. Sakura cooed a few words to calm Ino down even though her own voice was trembling. She held onto Ino loosely to try to help her out.

"Shikamaru, that's the closest hospital," Kakashi told him as he took a look at the map as well. "We're going to have to make due with that," he said taking the map from his frantic charge.

Naruto had never seen the genius so shaken up; this in turn made his panic slightly. His hands felt like they were on speed, his eyes roved over the group so fast that his brain couldn't count the number of people in the room. Blond eye brows drew up into a sympathetic and pain stricken expression. All of those observations made Sasuke worry about Naruto. Shikamaru was affecting the blond way more than he knew.

For Naruto Shikamaru had always been the pillar of clam so to see him like that turned him into a nervous wreck. Sasuke couldn't stand to see Naruto like that so he reached out and gripped his hand. Much to his surprise the gesture was taken full heartedly. Naruto turned his blue eyes to Sasuke as if to say thank you without having to say it at all.

Gaara, supporting a barely conscious Lee, and Kankuro walked into the conversation with their sister following closely behind. All of the remaining ninjas soon gathered into a circle to await instruction. From the Konoha team there were no casualties, but from Suna two of the male ninjas had given their lives for this battle. Kakashi took a mental inventory of all of the casualties and motioned for the team to come in close.

"We're going to go to this hospital, but we need to be quick about it," he began. "So we're going…" for Sasuke his former teacher's voice began to distort and fade.

He placed his hand over the wound he'd accumulated moments before this meeting. A painful burst of fire felt like it swept through his body from the wound. He knew that it was because his hands were covered in grime and blood. Sasuke took his hand off and looked at it, a fresh coat of blood stood out against the dirt. He would have to get out of there fast.

"Does everyone understand?" Kakashi asked a second before the world went black in Sasuke's vision.

Beep beep beep… Sasuke wanted to smash whatever was making that sound into a million little pieces. He scrunched his eyes closed tighter as the sting of anesthetics assaulted his sense of smell and then he became aware that he could faintly taste the horrid things in his mouth. Sasuke opened his dark eyes instantly regretting it when he was blinded by the pure white ceiling that was even brighter because of the florescent lights inside of it. Closing his eyes even tighter Sasuke put his forearms over his eyes to block out the bright light.

How is this possible? He wondered sighing. The last thing I remember is Kakashi asking if everyone knew what we were going to do…Sasuke opened his eyes slowly to allow them to adjust to the brightness of the room he was in.

Sasuke rubbed his eyes to try to snuff out the headache that too much cleanliness caused. As his eyes slid shut he saw his brother's eyes widen as Sasuke stabbed his heart. Sasuke stopped rubbing his eyes, he'd forgotten about that in between running to find the team sent after him and waking up in the hospital that Shikamaru had been so desperate to find. How could he have forgotten? Was it the confusion of reunions and blood loss?

It had been hard fighting Itachi, but easy to kill him. One stab to the heart and he was dead. This meant that he really was human, not some sort of immortal being that he seemed to be when Sasuke was a child of only 12. In one forceful move Sasuke had taken his vengeance on what happened all those years ago. But where did that leave him now?

He'd killed his brother that was his lifelong goal. Even though he didn't want to think that he needed years upon years into senility to accomplish this goal he certainty didn't think that he was going to come back alive from that fight.

Guess I was wrong, Sasuke thought bringing one hand to his eyes to shield them from the burning lights.

The needle in his arm shifted slightly, but not enough to cause any sort of discomfort. With his brother gone what was Sasuke going to do? He was going to go back to Konoha, whether or not he'd be welcomed back was a totally different story. More than likely he'd be incarcerated. If he were the Hokage he'd probably lock his traitorous self up too.

Sasuke looked to his left, a vase with a bunch of plastic flowers sat on the night stand, the wallpaper was peeling and the floor looked like it had lines from the scuffles of sandals forever etched into its tile-like texture. Anyone who sat in that hospital had to be solely focused on whoever was occupying the bed to not be fed up with the poorly decorated surroundings. Sasuke let out a sigh, trying to not let his mind drift to the tacky room. Now he'd have to find something else to live for.

But where would he find something like that? Something that made him try harder everyday, that made him think and challenge his boundaries. Was there anything else out there that could do that to him? Had there ever been something like that in his life? What could there possibly be left for the very last Uchiha?

He put one hand on his forehead as he tried to think of something that could fill that space in his heart that was going to need filling when all was said and done. Sasuke thought for a moment but something caught his attention. Naruto rolled over on the hospital bed and let out a sleepy sigh from between his chapped lips. Sasuke stared at him for a second before settling down on his side next to Naruto.

That'll do…he thought closing his eyes once more and grabbing Naruto's hand as he drifted back to sleep.

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, trying to avoid instant blindness from the lights above. He let his eyes get used to the brightness before he thought about why Sasuke was holding his hand. Not that he minded at all, it was just unexpected. He moved a little to get more comfortable. The little whisper of fabric seemed to alert Sasuke, his dark eyes opened up to see Naruto staring back at him.

"Umm…" Naruto began looking around the room to avoid eye contact. "Good morning?" he greeted questioningly.

Sasuke was silent for a moment but then returned, "Good morning."

"Are you feeling any better?" Naruto asked straining for conversation.

"A little," Sasuke answered, he really wasn't helping.

"Good," Naruto licked his lips and nodded slightly. "Do you want anything to eat? I can go and get something from the vending machines," he offered letting Sasuke's grip tighten around his hand.

"I'm okay, I can get it myself," Sasuke replied as their noses brushed lightly.

"Yeah, I know," Naruto's face flushed slightly from the closeness. "But you need to be resting. Your body isn't healed all the way."

"I'm okay," Sasuke added not moving to put distance between their faces.

"But, you're not healed," Naruto returned feeling heat crawl into his ears.

"But I'm fine…" Sasuke said feeling frustration crawl into his mouth.

"But—" Before Naruto could finish his sentence the door opened up loudly and he fell off of the bed and onto the floor.

"I'm so sorry Sasuke," Sakura apologized trying to close the door quietly. It was heavy and loud so it was hard to open any of the doors in the hospital without making a ruckus. She started walked closer but heard Naruto's head bounce off of the tile.

"Ouch…" Naruto managed to get out. He was far too flustered when Sasuke was that close that he didn't think about gravity or any other laws that would send him flying to the floor if he was caught off guard.

Sakura stood looking dumbly at Naruto for a second before laughing at him, "Are you okay Naruto?" she asked between half-hidden chuckles.

"Yes just perfect," he answered standing up and rubbing his head.

"It's your fault for being such a klutz so don't get mad at me," Sakura blamed. She then turned to Sasuke to see how he was doing.

"How are you feeling Sasuke?" she asked sitting in a chair that groaned from the contact of her now, clean skirt.

Sasuke looked between Naruto and Sakura. He wasn't sure what to say so he gave Naruto the same pleading look he gave him back at the Akatsuki. Naruto let out an exasperated sigh before replying.

"He says he's fine, don't worry about him," Naruto said.

It was Sakura's turn to look between her boys, what was going on? She decided not to question it since there wasn't enough pain killers in this hospital to cure a headache brought on by trying to decipher their crazy up-down friendship-type-thing.

"Okay," she replied standing up again. "I just came to check on you two, Chouji's in critical condition right now. We're not sure if he's going to make it," Sakura informed them with a heartbreaking look on her face.

Naruto's heart sunk into his stomach, "Tell Ino and Shikamaru that I hope he makes it…" There wasn't much that he could say to make it better for Chouji's team. They'd already lost Asuma so the pain was something that, while Naruto knew pain, he didn't know what it was like to lose some one to death.

Sakura nodded to them and then walked out the door. She closed the door loudly, but of course not on purpose, behind her.

"I didn't think that we'd have to go through another threat of Chouji dying," Naruto said in the silent room.

Sasuke sat on his bed careful not to say anything. He didn't know what to say. He wasn't going to try to comfort Naruto with words, that wouldn't work well because Sasuke's social skills are that of a rodent's. He didn't want to make it worse. Naruto turned to Sasuke and sat back down on the hospital bed. Sasuke scooted over to make room for him.

"He's not my closest friend, but he does mean something to me," Naruto continued as he eased into a laying down position.

Sasuke laid on his side, careful of his wound. He reached for Naruto's hand to help physically comfort him if he couldn't verbally do anything. Naruto met him half way, holding onto the warm fingers before lacing his into Sasuke's. Sasuke could feel that Naruto was distraught by this event. Sasuke pulled him closer and rested his chin on top of Naruto's pale hair.

"Don't think about it," he tried to help out somehow.

"Easier said than done," Naruto replied hugging his unoccupied hand into their chests.

Sasuke didn't say anything, he only held onto Naruto until he fell asleep.

End of No need for lost words

A/n: I hope you liked that chapter...it was difficult to write and I have no idea why. But I like how it came out...for now. lol I thought I did a pretty good job on keeping the preview the same if anyone noticed!

Preview of next chapter: The one with his hold on Sasuke attempted to answer, "Yes, but he's an S-class missing nin..." Tsunade's face turned redder, "I told you to let them go! What part of that did you not understand?! What my ninjas do and who they bring back is my business and mine alone!"