My oh my... we've been at this for over two years now... (Two years exactly on March 14th)... can you believe it!? I can't... damn how did I keep this going for so long. I need to start updating better, as most of you have told me several times, eheh. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Concrete Angel

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Chapter Fourty:

Naruto had reached the end of the hallway before he stopped abruptly. Something important had just occurred to him as he stared down the long, winding roads which didn't seem to end. He didn't know where he was at the moment. He'd been too terrified of crashing to be able to keep track of direction while driving with Tsunade. So not only did he have no clue concerning his whereabouts, he also didn't know how to return to Sasuke's home.

He hung his head with a loud sigh. Now he was being too impulsive. What was Sasuke doing to him? It was as though he was turning into a completely different person, just as Tsunade had said.

Looking down the road to his left, the road they had travelled on as he recalled, he wondered how long it would actually take him to walk. Or even how long it would take driving the speed limit, because Tsunade had most certianly knocked twenty minutes off that drive with the reckless speed she was moving at.

Now what was he going to do? He couldn't just stay here. Sasuke was alone in his house waiting for his homicidal brother. He couldn't believe he'd allowed Sasuke to send him away. Sure he wants to protect him but that doesn't mean he should face this alone, after what they've been through and worked through together. There was no way he could live with himself if he just idly stayed here and waited for the temperamental doctor to return.

Wait a minute... Naruto knew Sasuke's address, and no doubt Tsunade would have at least one phone book in her home.

A smile formed on his lips as he took off back across the yard and into the house. It shouldn't be that hard to find something in such an empty home. If anything she would keep a phone book out in the open like any normal. Then again Tsunade wasn't normal... but furthermore Emi wasn't normal either and she kept her phone book out on the table. So both normal and abnormal people did this, Tsunade couldn't be that different, could she?

There was nothing in the hallway that she could leave a phone book in or on, unless she duck taped it to the wall, so he started with the living room and what little spaces it had. After searching there, he moved onto the kitchen which seemed like it would prove more challenging of a search with all of its drawers and cabinets.

Little did Naruto know that most of the drawers were just the headpiece nailed to the cabinet, and those that did open were for the most part empty.

"Geez, how does this woman live?" Naruto sighed as he made his way around the room.

All together he'd counted four cups, two plates and one draw with a few forks, knives, spoons and one spork. Did she even live here or was this some sort of hide-out home?

He reached the last place in the kitchen he had to search. The counter with the jar of Tsunade's money. He didn't know anyone that kept money out in the open like that. But maybe Tsunade had so much, because she was a doctor, that she could feel secure leaving a few crumpled bills in a jar like they were spare change. Of course, twenty dollar bills as spare change seemed rather odd to him. If he had any money he would keep it safe, but then again... Naruto was more or less paranoid.

Hoping that the drawer beneath the jar would open, he pulled on the handle and it miraculously pulled out. And it wasn't empty. There was a pile of papers and books, all were scattered and looked disorganized to him. He shuffled the papers around, removed some larger notebooks and was pleasantly surprised to find a phone book underneath them all. Sure according to the cover it was two years old but at least it was something.

He moved to put the notebooks back in the drawer, it was messy enough to begin with that she probably wouldn't notice that he moved them around. However, as he shoved the notebooks back into the drawer, one fell to the floor and landed open.

Kneeling to the floor he went to pick it up but his eyes focused on the writing within the book. There was a long list of places and prices next to them. All the amounts were rather high, far beyond the hundreds, though a quarter had a cross through them, as though they had been checked off. Maybe a record of payments?

Confused, Naruto started reading through the places: ""

His eyes widened as he made the connection. This must be a list of Tsunade's gambling debts. But a doctor? He supposed everyone had problems, but this was... the amounts of many of the debts were high up in the thousands.

"That's why this place is so bare!" Naruto exclaimed, raising to his feet with the book in hand. "She's sold all of her stuff to pay off the debts..."

He sighed and shook his head, he couldn't believe Tsunade was a greedy person. She had never seen too material... and in fact she wasn't by the looks of her house. However, to get addicted to gambling, one must want money first right? Memories from his junior high P.D.R. Class flashed through his mind. That's right, people get addicted because they want to earn their money back and gain more while they're at it... but they just keep losing everything.

He glanced at the jar as he put the book back inside the drawer and it dawned on him. "That liar! She's not working, she's gambling her money away!" Naruto glared at the jar as though it was the cause of all her problems. She was so stupid to be wasting her money like this, she could have a good life. She could be eating healthy, but instead she spent her salary on machines and cards... more or less. Maybe he could get her to stop...

Naruto bit his lower lip. One problem at a time. It was bad enough having Sasuke in the situation he was in. He couldn't be worrying about a woman he hardly knew but that knew more about him than he did... He would have to talk with her more. He wanted to know his father and she was his only source. Which was why he was starting to become attached to her. Something about her personality as well subtly appealed to him. He didn't know what it was, but he felt that if he hadn't had the horrible life he had, then she would be someone extremely close and important to him.

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Sasuke started as the louder than usual beep of his answering machine. He had rigged his phone to forward the calls straight to the answering machine so he wouldn't have to worry about the ringing on the phone and having to debate over answering it. He stared at the machine as it spoke the recorded message and then beeped again.

"Learn to answer your phone little brother." A beep followed, signaling the end of the message. He glared at the answering machine for two reasons. One, it was Itachi calling him. Two, he hadn't given him any clues to the time frame when he was coming and the waiting was driving him mad. Nonetheless, his grip tighened on the switch blade in his hand.

Yes they were illegal, but he wanted a weapon that he could access as quickly as possible. Sure he was skilled at opening a normal pocket knife without pause, but any slight difference might save him and he wanted to be as level with his brother as possible. Even though that wasn't really a possibility.

Once again Sasuke jumped when he heard the slightest noise from upstairs. It was barely audible and normally he probably would have never noticed it. However, with the house and himself being so terribly quiet, he didn't doubt he would be able to hear a ninja at this moment.

Immediately he rose from the couch and crept out to the hallway, looking both ways and examining the entirety of the room and what he could see of the kitchen. His grip was tighter on the blade hidden beneath the long sleeve of his shirt as he stepped silently up the steps.

Fear was shaking through him as he approached the landing, his head looked around first to find nothing down the hallway. Inwardly he let out a sigh of relief, but on the outside he didn't dare breath.

He cautiously made his way down the hallway, his heart beating so hard in his chest that he was sure it would give his position away. He opened the first door and examined the room, empty. He repeated this several times and with each time he got mildly more perturbed that his parents had so many rooms on their upstairs level.

Sasuke had kept his own bedroom door open, so he had been watching the seemingly empty room as he made his way down the hallway, as he passed by and decided to turn left, he realized that it was completely empty, even his closet which he'd stripped bare and left wide open.

Turning left made his shiver, he really didn't want to go this way because in the pit of his stomach he imaged that as soon as he opened Itachi's door... his brother would appear before him. It was true the whole point of this was to confront him... but in truth, Sasuke wished he could never hear of his brother ever again. He just wanted to live peacefully, and hopefully with Naruto.

His hand was on the doorknob, he knew he was shaking, but swung the door open lightly and armed himself with his blade. He was presented with darkness, but for the most part it seemed empty. Carefully he reached in and switched the light on, it revealed that it was actually empty. Stepping in, Sasuke moved to the closet and was equally relieved to find it empty.

Nonetheless, even as he exited Itachi's room, he was cautiously examining the area. Just because he'd cleared the room before hand, doesn't mean Itachi wasn't going to be there now. He eyed his room and the down the opposite side hall before continuing down to the right of his room... the hall he usually refused to go very far down. The guest room was always as far as it went, and that was just a few steps down from his bedroom on the opposite wall.

He paused before opening the guest room door, the room where Naruto had been staying... when he wasn't in his own room... Again, he was greeted by an empty room. Completely empty with no cute blonde awaiting him or simply napping on the bed. It was a depressing thought but Sasuke knew he could not dwell on it. He didn't have the time to remember his beloved.

Once again he moved on, but much more hesitant this time. The only room down this corridor left, was his parent's bedroom. Which, like Itachi's, he hadn't entered since that horrible day. He hadn't even looked down the right hallway before Naruto came to take over the guest room, and even then he wouldn't glance beyond that door.

He didn't want to remember, he couldn't bare to see the deceased, murdered, bloody bodies of his parents lying at the feet of his brother's.

Now he found himself outside his parent's door for the first time in years. The door might as well had been locked, chained and boarded up for all Sasuke was concerned... but now he had to face the facts that this wasn't a separate part of the house that had been cast away... it was still part of his life, and his memories.

His hand was shaking horribly on the door... Itachi could have done anything to this room without him knowing. For all he knew... Itachi had recreated the horrendous scene with some random dead bodies of people he killed... even the bodies of his friends, the ones he cared about.

The doorknob turned and Sasuke felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. It was as though looking down on someone else, he was down the hall, behind, and in front of himself... watching but not doing. It was him but he wasn't there... Sasuke hated this feeling. It made him feel helpless, but he couldn't bring himself back to his body. He really didn't want to because when the door swung open his eyes, both body and mind, shut immediately.

It was a stupid move, made him vulnerable because when he opened his eyes he saw....

Nothing. The room was darkened by the transparent drapes having been pulled in front of the windows but he could still make out the details of the bedroom. The sight, the musty smell of the room from not being opened in so long, the faint aroma of his mother's perfume and his father's cologne. Everything hit him at once and his mind immediately sunk into the days when he was young and happy.

Tears were in his eyes before he realized it and he walked in, now fully unguarded, but he didn't care. Itachi could kill him now and the only thing he would succeed was to release Sasuke from his despair.

His body moved on its own towards his parent's bed where he stretched out his hand to feel the fabric of the blankets. He watched as drops of his tears fell onto the material left untouched for years and before he realized, he was kneeling on the floor with his head buried in the sheets.

Sasuke's memories of his parents flooded into his mind. Back in those happier days, when they were actually a family. When Itachi wasn't a psychotic murderer. When his mother would kiss him every morning and every night. When his father would encourage him to succeed in his harsh way. Not all things were good, of course, but Sasuke wished he had the chance to know what it was like to grow up with a family surrounding him. Itachi snatched what he had away from him, all because of some stupid gang and whatever psychosis he suffered from.

As he cried and screamed into the bed, making the greatest scene for Itachi if he was there, Sasuke felt his hatred for his brother grow exponentially. He despised him more now than he ever had. Not only did Itachi take away his hero – which would be his former older brother – and his family, he was also taking away his life, his sanity, and most importantly his love. He couldn't let this happen anymore. He didn't want to have lived in fear of his brother all this time to simply end.

Sasuke sniffed back his tears, choked on his cries for a moment, but soon ceased his emotional breakdown. Once he was fully recovered and the majority of his tears and other bodily fluids had been wiped from his face, Sasuke stood up from the bed, releasing his tight grip on his parent's bed sheets.

Without thinking he picked up the knife he had tossed aside and gripped it dangerously within his hand, he wanted nothing more than Itachi's blood on this blade. To be honest, that scared him, but he didn't show it on the surface. He didn't want to ever think of himself as a murderer, or have Naruto think of him that way, but this had to be done. He couldn't allow this continue and he doubted there would be any other way to end this.

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke exited his parents room, respectfully closing the door once again. He didn't bother cautiously walking down the hallway, he could sense all the rooms on the upstairs level was empty. He knew that Itachi was sicker than jumping out at his opponent from a seemingly unknown position. Itachi enjoyed psychologically fucking people over, especially his little brother. He wouldn't end him without facing him. Sasuke realized he had been foolish to check all the rooms in the first place, but at least it gave him the initiative he needed.

He walked back down the stairs and stopped on the last step, looking down with a blank gaze There was nothing but silence as he gazed at the small ledge between him and the floor of the hallway. He didn't move, didn't blink, barely even thought. He was angry and all other emotions had left his mind.

As his gaze rose, he stared straight forward, his expression as blank as it ever had been. His dark eyes were seeping with a furious red, but this emotion didn't leak into any other part of his facial expressions.

The silence was broken by Sasuke's dull but projected voice. "Hello, older brother."