I do not own Naruto.

Author's Notes: All I can say is this: Yes, it's short. Yes, I took a long time. But, just think! It could have been only a hundred words, and you could have waited a year for it. And I'm promising faster updates as soon as The Dreaded School ends. See? Not so bad.

oOo

Siblings. That state of being wherein you can being fighting homicidal urges one second, and in the next be wondering if you should give them a hug.

oOo

"I want to know where Sasuke was, who he was with, who he talked to, what did this to him. Preliminary report in one hour. …Make it enough time. …You better get started then. Good man! Talk to you soon."

Naruto ended the call and hit the speed dial for the next name on his list, barely paying attention to the road as he weaved through traffic. "Nara? …Yeah. …I know it's early. Listen, I need to know the recent movements of all our—yes our—enemies. Where they've been, what they've been up to, if they've been in the NY recently. …Yeah. Call me when you've got something. …Yeah. …Thanks. …Good. Doing real good. …Alright, thanks. …Bye."

Naruto had to punch in the next number, and jazz music had him on hold for ten minutes before someone even answered the phone. He bounced in his seat with nerves and impatience. If Sasuke knew he was calling his brother… Finally, a woman's voice asked: "Hello?"

"Anko?"

"Ugh. Not you again."

"Me again. Can I talk to your boss?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it's the middle of the night you-"

There was a scuffling noise, a beep, and then Itachi was on the line.

"Hello?" His voice was deep, scratchy from sleep.

"Hi, it's Naruto."

"Ah. What did he do?"

"Don't know yet! But… you might wanna come see him."

"…Does he want me to see him?"

"Would I call if he didn't?"

"Yes."

"You should come."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Great! I'll talk to you later then. Tell Anko she's a scary snake chick for me?"

"I'll do that. Thank you for calling."

"Yeah. We totally need to hangout sometime!"

"Hn."

"I'm taking that as a maybe."

"Hn."

"A definitely?"

Beep.

Naruto frowned. Itachi had hung up on him. Not nice. Not nice at all.

But, the phone call had actually gone better than he had expected. Sasuke and Itachi had been on rocky terms ever since the "incident" and Naruto didn't want to rock the boat too much just yet. One Uchiha mad at him was bad enough, but two with a wish to use his head as a wall decoration? No. Way.

He pulled up to a red light and turned right, relaxing a little as Ichiraku's neon sign glowed just ahead. Something good and hot to eat was exactly what he needed. He needed to slurp up ramen-y goodness and forget the way Sasuke's gray skin had glowed beneath Tsunade's healing hands as she tried to rebuild his organs. Forget his scratched and bruised face against the tabletop. His scream, when he had woken suddenly…

Naruto shook his head, and turned into the drive through. What he really wanted to do was call Hinata, but that would probably be just a little desperate if he called only six hours after their date, at three o' clock in the morning. Might even be taken as weird and rude. Yeah. He shouldn't do that.

But maybe whatever had attacked Sasuke had attacked her.

No, he was being stupid. He had watched her go into the building. Baki had called to tell him she had made it to her apartment and was safe inside. No reason to call.

He stared down at his phone, finger hovering over the buttons. Two little buttons and he could talk to her, make his mind go numb on her calming silence and smile at her little stutters. Two buttons, and all his worries would be gone…

His phone buzzed, and the screen lit up.

Call from: Hinata Hyuuga.

Naruto sighed, smiling, and pushed Talk. She was so perfect.

oOo

Author's Notes: Which means, Sasuke's not going to die!

I'm sure that is very exciting for you all.

Thanks for reading, and please review!