So we've finally got some kissing going on here! Woot! I won't be too descriptive for a while. At least not until Naruto's a bit older. A make-out session between a 12 and 17 year old is equivalent to child molestation, in my eyes. So anyways, hope you enjoy the next chapter. And I want to apologize for the varying lengths of the chapters; some are super long, while others are short. P.S. I suck at action scenes, despite the fact I'm stealing from the anime/manga for this chapter. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN! Sorry, just building suspense. Love, WTR.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, all the guys would be gay. Except for a couple.

-x-

Their lips brushed in the most hesitant way.

"Itachi. Doesn't your mother care that you're spending so much time here?" Naruto mumbled against the lips that were pressed to his.

"Of course. I just wanted to give you some time to sleep before you told me about your mission, that's all." Itachi replied. He pulled away from the frowning blond and looked down at his cup of instant ramen. Gently chewing on the soft noodles, he nodded his head for Naruto to begin.

-x-

Sorry for the inconvenience, but being the lazy writer I am, I decided to just let you watch the Land of Waves arc yourselves. It would have taken way too long to write, plus I already feel bad for making you wait this long for this piece of garbage. So let's pretend Naruto gave this really detailed description. Now, on with the crudely written story.

-x-

"S-Sasuke... died? What?" Itachi stuttered, his eyes widening in panic. Naruto chuckled softly before finishing off the rest of his ramen.

"Not exactly. Remember, Haku was too kind for the shinobi way of life. So he only did that thing with the senbon needles, where he froze your organs or something like that for a certain amount of time. He wasn't officially dead, so calm down or I'll resort to force."

"How have you gotten so intelligent, Naru?" Itachi teased, getting up to clean the mess of a kitchen. He's always doing that. What a clean freak.

"Hey, 'Tachi? Why do you always clean my house when you're here?" He asked, frowning when Itachi mussed his hair.

"I can't stand to see you live like this. I feel bad for leaving you this way." Itachi replied, gesturing towards the sink loaded with dirty dishes.

"Sorry. I'm too busy to take care of myself properly." Naruto said, wrapping his arms around the Uchihas waist and nuzzling his face against the warm cotton shirt. He felt Itachi shiver, and decided to conduct a little experiment. He slowly snaked his hand into the inside of Itachi's shirt and gently stroked the skin beneath his fingers.

"N-Naruto. Stop that." Itachi breathed, using his elbow to nudge the hand away, as his hands were covered in soap suds.

"Itachi!" Naruto whined. He froze when he heard his pitch rise at the end of the word. "I'm... I'm such a whiner!" He said, gasping. Itachi found this highly amusing.

"Do you think I'm too whiny, Itachi-sama?" Naruto asked, rubbing his eyes with his fist.

"No, I like your whining. I do think you need some sleep though." Itachi answered. He glared at Naruto as the blond grabbed a cloth and began to dry the dishes, but couldn't glare for long. Naruto's expression was so innocent and adorable he thought he might pounce on his sunshine right there.

"I'm not going to sleep right now. I may be tired, but it's only 8. Also, you're here. Doing my dishes. I can't just sit around!"

Itachi disregarded everything the blond just said, and instead asked a question.

"How many hours have you been getting?"

"About 5 or 6 each night?" Naruto replied. He knew he couldn't lie around Itachi. Something about him made him so weak.

"Naruto. Please, get some sleep. I'm getting worried..." Itachi frowned as the blond just barely managed to catch a plate he had dropped.

"How many hours have you been getting, Itachi?" Naruto inquired. Itachi sighed at his rebellious attitude.

"Less... than that?"

"See! I knew it! You're just barely standing right now, Itachi." Naruto shouted, suddenly aware that he had put the cloth and the cutlery he had been drying down and now had his hands on Itachi's face, forcing him to look at him.

"Naruto... I can't sleep knowing that you could pass out from exhaustion at any moment."

"My thoughts exactly... except they were about you! Now, let's hurry up and finish." Naruto retorted, anger evident on his face.

"I'm sorry, Kitsune." Itachi murmured. Naruto gave a low groan in response. Once they had finished in the kitchen, Itachi gathered up his things and left through the front door. Not before his Kitsune had the last word, though.

"Itachi, you've been treating me like a child for long enough. Is it not okay for me to worry about you, too? Just because you're the oldest doesn't mean you have to shoulder all the responsibilities. Think about it, fool."

-x-

Itachi and Naruto hadn't spoken in days, and neither made the notion to do so. Sure, Itachi was secretly keeping track of where Naruto went and with whom, and alright, maybe Naruto had Sasuke checking in on his older brother frequently, but other than that, they were hardly communicating. It was made worse, however, when Naruto found Itachi in the Hokage's office, discussing a mission he was supposed to go on. The blond made sure to create as much noise as possible when he entered, disregarding Itachi's disapproving looks. Sasuke and Sakura were already there, and as always, Sakura ignored Naruto and instead clung to Sasuke's arm like a leech. When Sakura heard Naruto interrupting the Hokage, she immediately lashed out on him, and just as she was about to raise her fist to strike him, Itachi stepped in front of Naruto in a protective stance.

"Don't touch him. Ever." His voice was laced with so much venom that even Naruto had to flinch.

"S'okay, Itachi. She doesn't hurt me..." Naruto crumbled underneath Itachi's heated gaze, "That bad..."

"It doesn't matter whether or not she hurts you; I simply don't want her touching you, that's all." Itachi said clearly, relaxing his stance when Sakura let out a whimper. The Third Hokage gave a loud chuckle, bringing their attention back to him.

"We're glad you finally decided to make it, Naruto. Lucky for you, you've been assigned a C-rank mission. Even luckier, Itachi-kun here is going to be your ''Sensei'' for this mission. Kakashi's still out cold." The Third was one of the people whom knew and approved of Itachi and his' relationship.

"Ooh, ooh! What are we doing, huh? Is it something exciting? Will I finally be able to show off my-"

"Naruto-kun, I'd appreciate it if you'd be quiet." Itachi muttered. His voice still sounded threatening, but softened considerably when he spoke to his Kitsune.

"Sorry, Old man, Itachi."

"It's quite alright, Naruto. Continuing on, the mission is a simple escort mission, sort of like when you escorted Tazuna, except there won't be dangerous ninja lurking around."

"When do we leave?" Sasuke asked, shaking his arm out of Sakura's grasp.

"You'll be leaving tonight, if possible."

"Who're we escorting, sir?" Sakura piped in.

"Kenji-kun, please come in."

A teenager, around Itachi's age, maybe a year or two younger, stepped inside. He was tall, with chestnut brown hair that was rather simple, but his eyes made up for his absence of lavish good looks. They were a dark gold, and flecks of amber were littered here and there. He had long lashes and thin brows. His cheeks looked a little flushed, and he was naturally pale. He wore a pair of dark blue shinobi sweats, a large black t-shirt, a bright green vest and his arms were covered in bandages.

"Hi. I'm Kenji. It's nice to meet you." He said, bowing politely. He then looked them all over, his eyes lingering on Naruto's slim body before smiling widely at Sakura. Obviously, Itachi didn't miss this, but he made no comment on it. He has a pretty smile, Naruto thought. She smiled back with just as much enthusiasm.

"I'm Sakura, this is Sasuke-kun, that's Naruto, and-"

"Well, I'd like it very much if we could head out before nightfall. So please go get packed. I'll meet you all at the gate in two hours!" Itachi said. He wrapped an arm around Naruto's shoulders, leading him back to his apartment. He could practically feel Kenji's eyes on the back of his head.

-x-

"Hey, Kenji. You ready to go?" Naruto chirped, obviously in a good mood. He was free to run anywhere he wanted, because Itachi had graciously offered to take his bag for him.

"I'm ready, what about you?" Kenji gestured towards Naruto's empty hands, a confused look on his face.

"Oh, Itachi has my stuff." Naruto pointed at his boyfriend. Kenji followed his finger and his face turned sour when his gaze landed on the Uchiha.

"Oh. That's really nice of him." He said, trying to hide his obvious dislike of him.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? He's really great." Naruto smiled before turning back to look at Kenji. The boy had a strange look on his face, and he appeared to be deep in thought.

"Hey, Kenji... you there?" He asked, waving his hand in front of his face. He finally settled for poking Kenji's cheek.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm here. Sorry, I tend to get distracted." He said, giving an apologetic smile.

"Am I not interesting enough for you?" Naruto cried, his hands flying to his face in mock despair.

"You're actually pretty cool, Naruto." Kenji grinned at the blond before reaching out to ruffle his hair. Naruto stuck his tongue out before replying, "I know. I'm amazing. Actually, you're pretty friendly yourself."

"Thanks-" He didn't have time to say anything else, though, because Itachi came over and rudely interrupted.

"Well, if we're done making acquaintances here, we can leave."

"Itachi, rude! Sorry, Kenji. He's being extremely emotional." Naruto mumbled, his cheeks turning a bright red.

"It's probably just sexual tension." Kenji smirked at the appalled face of the Uchiha. Naruto, however, burst into laughter, and had to lean against Itachi to prevent himself from falling over.

-x-

So I felt the urgent need to update this before someone got pissed at me for taking forever and writing short chapters. I apologize. We meet my OC, Kenji! Yaaaay! He's a really fun character to write. So if you guys don't like OC's, rest easy. He'll probably only be in here for another chapter, just for the remainder of the mission. He's a generally kind person, who has a great sense of humour, beautiful eyes, and above average looks. So he's great. Haha. WOOO. ITANARU FLUUUFF. Please review, love you guys!