A/N: so the plot i thought i wanted became muddled. I thought about it a lot and I plan to shift the plot into another direction. so far its a slow start but i feel as though it'll be worth it in the long run. Fingers crossed

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, shape, or form. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't write for any profit.

Warnings: it's a yaoi, which means boyxboy. I'm not twisting your arm to read this story so if you feel that this isn't your style, don't read. As the story progresses, there will emotional, psychological, verbal, and maybe physical abuse.

Rating: M for right now but it might change and I'll put any warning in each chapter if there is any.

Pairings: ItachixNaruto. Other pairings will be added as the story goes on.

"Talking"

'Thinking' or 'Text message'

Flashbacks and memories

Chapter XIV

Thinking he has been spotted, Kabuto ducked into an alley. He had followed Naruto like he was instructed to do. Kabuto followed Naruto for a while and it seemed the younger was deep in thought and didn't seem to notice him.

Pushing up his glasses, the grey-haired boy thought 'He doesn't look too bright'

Kabuto didn't see the necessity in following this child around. If nobody knew who he was then why go through the trouble? It was bad enough that he had to deal with Sasuke, now this. What could come out of following the blonde kid? He wasn't concerned about Naruto, but Kabuto wondered if that brown hair friend of his seen him.

'Although, I did hear something that could be useful. Sasuke's leaving must have affected him and it looks like it made him a little depressed. First the famous Uchiha Itachi came back around, now his friend seems pained by his actions. Despite how he acts, Sasuke looks like he's a little unstable. Maybe this blonde kid isn't so useless after all'

After waiting a few minutes, Kabuto left the alley to make his way back to Orochimaru.

It seemed that Itachi couldn't have gotten out of the house fast enough. The thought at what he almost done was weighing on him. He didn't return to where Pein and Kisame are. It was nighttime so the streets were pretty much empty. Itachi was always flawless in what he does, but this time he seemed to be losing his senses. He ended up back on the bridge he was at earlier.

'This is starting to get frustrating. I've never met that boy before but there's something about him' Itachi thought. Just then a flash of his old teacher came to his mind. 'Ah that is the logical reason. They share have similar appearances. That's all there is to it'

Shikamaru and Naruto arrived at Ino's. All of their friends were already there and the party seemed to be in full force. Shikamaru, having known Ino all his life, didn't bother knocking on the front door. He just opened the door and walked in with Naruto in tow.

"Shikamaru! You're late!" Ino scolded him as she saw him in the main hallway

"Sorry Ino-chan" apologized Naruto

Walking to grab Naruto by his arm, Ino said "its fine. Shikamaru was probably taking his time getting here. Even though I told him a specific time."

She sent a glare to her friend over her shoulder as she and Naruto went to join everyone else. Shikamaru promptly ignored her and went to find Neji.

Kiba, seeing Ino and Naruto walking into the large living room, jumped up to greet his friend.

"Blondie you're here!"

Taking his jacket off and tossing it on a chair, Naruto proceeded to get Kiba in a headlock and said

"What? Where you feeling lonely, dog-boy?"

Laughing and trying get out of it, Kiba replied "As if!"

"N-Naruto-kun" a small voice called out

Letting go of Kiba, Naruto looked to see Hinata. He gave her a big hug and said "I'm so glad to see you Hinata-chan!"

Blushing Hinata said "I-I'm glad to s-see you too"

Ino came to join the trio.

"So I have a great idea. Let's play a drinking game!"

Getting pumped, Kiba said "Hell yeah!"

Naruto chimed in "I want a rematch from last time Kiba"

"Dude, you lost last time. You won't win this time either!"

"K-Kiba-kun, N-Naruto-kun" Hinata started to say but Ino jumped in

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, they'll be fine"

Ino clapped her hands and said "Ok well we have the drinks, now we just need cards. Naruto, can you get the cards that are in the kitchen in the top drawer on the left?"

"No problem!" Naruto replied as he headed towards the kitchen

"Also, tell Shikamaru and Neji to get their asses in here!"

Naruto was in the kitchen digging around in the drawer. 'There's a lot of crap in here. Oh! Found them'

As he went to get Shikamaru and Neji, he overheard them talking in the next room.

"He seems down. It feels different when he doesn't act himself" Shikamaru said

Neji responded "I know. It's just isn't fair. Naruto should be loved by someone cares deeply about him. It's aggravating to see him in this condition."

Naruto's chest tighten. He thought about it many times, but hearing it, it sunk in. His friends were always concerned about him. It didn't occur to Naruto until now. Shaking his heading, Naruto called out before he in entered the room

"Neji! Shikamaru! We decided to play a drinking game and we need you guys" Naruto said

Two pairs of eyes turned to meet blue ones. Naruto grinned and said "Well hurry up!"

The three boys walked back into the living room, where Ino, Hinata, and Kiba were waiting for them.

Kiba spoke first" Geez, it took you long enough."

Naruto tossed the cards at Kiba and said "Shut up. There's something I want to say to you guys"

All five of his friends turned their attention to him. Naruto thought about his friends, thought about Iruka, Kakashi, and Tsunade. It was time for him to stop moping around and get back to himself. Feeling a little nervous, he started

"I want to apologize to you guys. All of you guys have been there for me and worried about me and at first I thought you didn't need to but after thinking about it, I felt that I wasn't being respectful to your feelings and-"

"Naruto" Neji interrupted "We understand and we accepted your apology"

Blue eyes widen. "W-What?"

Kiba added "Are we still talking about this? How many times are we gonna say it?"

"It's okay Naruto. The entire situation is difficult and we don't want to put you into a corner by bombarding you with questions and stuff" Ino explained

"You c-can always t-talk to us if you need to" Hinata said softly

Naruto broke into a huge smile that couldn't be rivaled. It felt good that his friends thought of him the same as before. Being around his friends and hanging out with them is just what he needed.

"Ok, now that that's over let's get to the game!" Kiba

Shikamaru groaned "Ugh not this again"

Everybody sat around the table as Kiba put an unopened can of beer in the middle and spread the cards around it.

Naruto smirked as he said "So we're playing kings? Get ready to lose!"

Everybody laughed as the game began.

"He's been gone for a while now"

"Itachi will be fine by himself"

After Itachi left, Pein and Kisame decided to see what else they could find that would let them to Orochimaru. When they seemed to hit a dead end, Pein called another one of their acquaintances. Sasori came from a neighboring town and was quite skilled in getting the information that is needed. He was smaller than the other males. In addition to his red shaggy hair, his skin was tan and smooth. Almost like a doll's.

"Why are you guys interested in finding that bastard? Sasori asked.

The three guys were sitting in Sasori's apartment discussing what led them to Suna and Sasori.

"Itachi's younger brother seemed to have ran away from home and Orochimaru picked him up" Pein stated

Sasori raised an eyebrow "He has a brother?"

"Were you not listening to what we just said?" They haven't been at Sasori's long and already Pein was staring to get irritated.

Kisame was the next to speak

"Look, we just need to find Itachi-san's brother. It really isn't about Orochimaru anymore."

Sasori thought for a moment before speaking,

"If that's true than it would explain why I've been asked to keep tabs on Itachi"

Pein and Kisame's heads turned in unison. They were dumbfounded.

Pein started "Wait a second. You've been keeping tabs on him? For what?"

In an indifferent tone, the red-hair male said "Not really tabs, but enough to make it seem like something. If anything, I'm not interested in what he does"

"Who asked you to do that?" asked Kisame

"Shockingly enough, it was a little lap dog of Orochimaru's."

The two older men couldn't believe it. They were looking for this bastard, but the whole time he had his eyes on them.

Surely Itachi wouldn't be happy been made a fool of.

"Floor!"

Everybody dropped to the ground, but Ino was the last one to do so.

"Naru! You suuuuck!" Ino yelled

Naruto chuckled "Ne, ne, Ino-chan you were the last to get on the floor so you have to drink!"

Getting up and putting his head on the table, Kiba said "this blows. How is it that Naruto isn't as tipsy as the rest of us?

"Maybe it's my lucky night." A rosy-faced Naruto laughed at he went to draw another card "oh what's this? It's an 8. So that means someone has to drink with me!" he cheered

"I feel like I have to puke" complained Kiba

"K-Kiba-kun are y-you alright?" Hinata asked

"Don't you dare throw up. Hold it in!" Ino yelled

Neji, whose face was slightly flushed and leaning on Shikamaru, said "I can't take it anymore"

"Boo" Naruto pouted "Fine. Shika, you have to drin-"

Before Naruto could finish, Kiba leaned over and threw up on the floor. Everybody immediately stood up so none of it would land on them.

Ino, stumbling to find a towel said "Kiba! Why didn't you run to the bathroom!?"

"I didn't think I could make it" he groaned as Ino handed him a towel

"Ugh, this is so gross" Shikamaru said

Hinata and Naruto helped Kiba to the bathroom in the hallway. Naruto, not missing a beat, teased him

"Well it looks like I win this time"

"Shut up, blondie. You were cheating"

"How the hell did I cheat?"

Sitting on the floor near the toilet, Kiba replied "I don't know but you just did"

Naruto laughed as Ino came into the bathroom "Why didn't you say you had to throw up?" she said

Kiba snapped his head towards her "Are you kidding me? I told you! And you said to hold it in. Who the hell holds in throw up anyway?"

"R-Relax Kiba-kun. I-If you move too f-fast, you'll t-throw up again"

Naruto slung an arm over Ino's shoulder and said "Ino-chan. I think you need to put the little doggie outside"

Knowing that Naruto was making fun of him, Kiba retorted "You're a real basta-"

Again Kiba threw up. Not being able to stay in the bathroom anymore, Naruto walked out leaving Hinata and Ino to tend to Kiba. Walking back to the living room, Naruto found Neji fast asleep with his head in Shikamaru's lap. It made him happy to see his friends together. But it also hurt.

Shikamaru spoke "Are you leaving?"

Naruto, putting his jacket on replied "Yeah, I had fun though. Are you staying here?"

Shifting a bit, Shikamaru answered "I don't think I could get him home and Hinata wants to stay with him"

The blonde stumbled a bit "Well okay, I'll see you guys later"

"Are you going to be fine walking?"

Giving his friend a smile, the blonde responded "Of course, I'm not that drunk"

Shikamaru refrained from rolling his eyes. "See you later, also I'm going to come over tomorrow"

"That's fine. Later"

Naruto walked to the main hallway where Ino and Hinata were waiting for him.

"I'm happy that you came and that you're doing better" Ino said sincerely

"M-Me too"

Giving both girls a hug, he said "Thank you Ino-chan, Hinata-chan. I'll see you guys later. Good luck with Kiba"

"Go to hell dude!" Kiba called from the bathroom

Zipping up his jacket, Naruto gave a final goodbye and made his way home

"Are you sure? Well handle it"

Itachi hung up his phone. Itachi was sitting on a bench when Pein called him. They seemed to be finally getting somewhere. Though the fact that somebody was told to watch him pissed him off. He was still in Konoha for some reason. It was annoying to him that he wasn't acting himself. Why was he here?

Getting up, Itachi started walking with no particular destination in mind.

As he was walking, Naruto thought about his time with his friends. He enjoyed himself and not once did he think of a certain person. These past months it didn't seem like Naruto had been as happy as he normally would. For the first time, Naruto wondered what his life would be without Uchiha Sasuke.

'Neji and Shikamaru are right. I deserve to be happy. There are so many things I want to do and see, but I can't if I'm worried about Sasuke. I want to love and be loved. I need to worry about myself. I won't get better if I don't.

Not realizing he wasn't headed in the direction to his house, Naruto kept walking and then a thought popped up.

'I still haven't seen what his brother looks like. It bothers me that he kept something like that from me. If I had any secrets I would've told him.

Continuing walking, the older Uchiha was thinking,

'I wonder if that boy knows about Sasuke's childhood. From the picture they were obviously close. I have to admit though, there was something in his eyes that have interested me and not because he looks like Minato-sensei'

Itachi widen his eyes at his own thinking. Just earlier he thought the only reason why that kid bothered him was because he looked like his old teacher and now he was thinking that the blonde kid was interesting.

"It's freaking cold" Naruto said to himself.

'I wonder what his brother looks like. Do they look-alike or do they look completely different? What if he has the same stupid hairstyle?'

When Naruto snapped out of his thoughts, he realized that all his walking has led him to a bridge. There was a full moon out and he looked at the small river that was illuminated by the moonlight. Down casting his eyes, he thought

'I want to know what kind of person Sasuke's older brother is'

Sensing that he wasn't alone, Naruto turned to look into obsidian eyes.