Blue eyes fluttered open as the blonde boy on a huge bed woke up after a deep, dreamless night. He rubbed his eyes and blinked whilst staring in a daze at an unfamiliar ceiling of his room. With his mind still fogged by sleep, the boy cannot comprehend why the ceiling was clean and beautiful with little cupids relaxing on clouds, and his bed and comforter felt softer than before. Looking around, he noted that he was in a spacious room painted in white and gold as its frame. There was also a bright yellow, small couch facing the bed, along with two miniature armchairs that flanked the said couch. And, there was also a low rectangular coffee table made of semi-transparent, blue fibre glass; the corners were softened to fit a child. And then, the boy's eyes flew to the window to his right that occupied the entire wall and beyond it was a balcony.

"Where am I?" the little boy mouthed. His eyes had never left the balcony. It was bright outside that reminded the young one of the first day of spring without snow piling up to be shovelled. Pulling off the covers, the blonde boy slid down the comfortable bed and padded toward the balcony only to run straight on the glass that made him fall back on his rear, startling him.

Just then, without any knock, the door that lead out of the room he was in, opened. Turning around, Naruto saw the man from before and it dawned on him that he came with the said man in the huge house.

"Good morning, I see you're awake." greeted Sasuke who was clad in white button up shirt and black slacks, and black shades covered his eyes.

Putting on a grin, Naruto mouthed a 'morning!' forgetting for once that he had no voice, which saddened him and the man, who had settled on the edge of the bed facing the boy, who then pulled his self up.

"Come, I've prepared breakfast." said Sasuke, as though he had not noticed the boy's expression.

It had not been a day yet. It was only last night that Sasuke brought the child with him, but for some unfathomable reason, he wanted the boy to take care of and protect. It could be because of his conscience telling him he was guilty of the deed he had done on Naruto's parents a long time ago, but then again he had been feeding on humans until they died of blood loss without remorse though he stopped killing after first encountering the baby he made voiceless. He had asked his self since then as to why he was feeling remorseful towards the baby, and compelled. Not finding the answers after too much time spending on thinking, he had long given up. Now, all he wanted to do was to give Naruto a life he deserved to fill the void in his aching heart.

To others, Sasuke appeared to be a kind-hearted person.

But, it was only a kind lie for he was a selfish one.

He only wanted to fill the void in him.

Nothing less, nothing more.

Sasuke sat at the head of the table while Naruto sat to his right. Everywhere the blonde looked, all he saw were expensive and elegant things. Thus, he did not know how to behave and chose to sit still. The man at the head snapped his fingers, calling two maids in that pushed trolleys of breakfast. The maids placed the meals quietly in front of Sasuke and Naruto, who watched in awe as the scene played.

The boy only knew of maids from the fairy tale his late guardian used to read to him before retiring for night.

As the maids left, Sasuke deftly picked the utensils and ate as though he was of royalty while Naruto only watched, mesmerized at how it seemed like he was in a fantasy book his old guardian had given him on his third birthday.

Noticing the lack of movements from the boy, Sasuke looked up from his plate and to Naruto, who blinked upon seeing a pair of dark eyes focused on him. "Is something the matter?" asked the man in which Naruto shook his head. "Well then, eat your meal Naruto." the man then resumed his eating.

Naruto looked down on his own set of utensils. He had never seen such a small spoon, a handy butter knife that was not sharp, a fork that reminded him of a snake's tongue, and a napkin in a glass. Why's there a handkerchief in it? Isn't water supposed to be in there? The young boy wondered. He remembered the man picked the knife and fork, and so he mimicked it. Looking back at Sasuke, Naruto noticed how the man used it to slice a tender meat, and then he noted the cloth in the glass was replaced with water. Naruto observed the man for a while, before he did the same.

Sometime after breakfast, Sasuke had ordered a maid to bath Naruto, who was now wearing the man's old and outgrown royal blue polo shirt and white shorts that almost fit perfectly his small frame had the shirt not fell a little off to the left. The man was in the living room, reading a book, when the boy came in with a maid following close behind. The woman bowed down at Sasuke, and inched away before turning her back and leaving Naruto with the man.

Snapping his book close as he straightened his legs, Sasuke stood and approached Naruto. He eyed the boy, noting that the young one was barefoot and was fidgeting his toes because of how cool the floor felt on his soles. "Naruto." he called, catching the boy's attention as the said boy looked up. Kneeling on his knee, he said, "We're going out to buy you new clothes and footwear. We'll be going to the hospital, too, to have your throat check."

Naruto's young mind had processed the information he was told, but only one thing remained in his thoughts.

Will I be able to speak?

The thought put a smile on the boy's young face, and Sasuke took noticed of it believing because they were going out shopping like most children would like on a daily basis. Standing on his height, the man held out his left hand to the boy, who took it and was led farther inside the house.

Sasuke was quiet as he walked Naruto, who only noticed how graceful the man was, through the hallway. They reached a door that seemed to be unused a moment later. Opening the said door with his right hand, Sasuke gently pried his other hand off Naruto and told the boy to stay out. The blonde could only watch as the dark haired man walked into the dark room. He squint his eyes, wanting to see through the dark, but Naruto found it difficult. He would have step in as his curiosity was getting the best of him had the man not blocked his way, making him stumbled back.

"I didn't find my old shoes, but you can use these socks to at least protect your feet." said Sasuke, kneeling on a knee before Naruto. He took the boy's hand, and placed them on his firm shoulders. "Hold on me." he told the young one, as he put socks on his each foot. Naruto did not ask, but Sasuke felt like sharing a little. "I got these from riding an airplane." Looking up, Sasuke was not surprised to see those pair of big and round eyes to be bigger. "Had you ride in one?" he asked in which the boy shook his head. "Well..." he trailed off as he straightened up with a grunt. "If you're lucky you'll ride in an airplane soon." he smiled a little.

Naruto was pretty excited. He grinned so wide, fisted his hands and pulled them close to his chest, and bounced on his heels. He had seen airplanes up in the sky before, being the last was only the day before yesterday. He always daydreamed of sitting in an airplane, opening the window and catching some clouds, and see stars up close. And now here was the man who took him in, telling him he would experience riding in an airplane.

"Excited, huh?" Sasuke chuckled. "Come along now, Naruto."

The blonde boy was carried by the man as they made their way out to the angel's fountain where a black, luxurious car was parked nearby with a butler holding the door to passenger's seat open. Sasuke went and sat the boy on the seat. The man buckled his little charge up before rounding to the driver's seat as the butler closed the door.

"Take care of the manor." Sasuke commanded his butler, who gave his nod, before taking off.

Naruto had been in town countless of times that it became usual to him seeing things outside, but he had never been in a part of the city where buildings towered each, colourful stalls lined the sidewalks, parks filled with children, adults, and pets, and many more that he was left gaping. The flow of traffic was smooth unlike to where he used to often where occasional accidents occurred.

"Never been here?" asked Sasuke, looking sideways at Naruto, who turned to the man and shook his head. Putting on a small, almost invisible smile, he said, "Well, from now on you'll be coming here often." They stopped at the junction as the traffic light turned red, and Sasuke pointed to a specific building that can be seen from their current location. "See that building? That one with my face on that big piece paper?" he asked, and Naruto, following the man's finger, nodded despite the older of the two not aware of it. Sasuke continued, nonetheless. "That's mine. I work there."

It turned green, the traffic light. Sasuke moved forward once again while Naruto resumed gaping at the passing scenery outside until they pulled to a stop not ten minutes later. "We're here." he heard the man informed him.

Sasuke unbuckled his and Naruto's seatbelt before opening the door and stepping out to get the boy. "Come'ere, Naruto." he called the boy, who crawled toward the man. Picking Naruto up, Sasuke closed the door and unlocked his car.

Everywhere he looked, Naruto gaped. He had never seen so many beautiful things in one place like he and Sasuke was in. As soon as they entered the mall, food carts that lined up in the middle greeted them. On the sides were fast food chains and clothing boutiques. What caught the boy's full attention; however, was the mini Ferris wheel at the centre of the entire ground floor of the mall. Seeing the fascination in those blue eyes, Sasuke asked, "Wanna ride in there? It's fun."

Naruto turned to face Sasuke with wide eyes, trying to see through those dark shades as though inquiring if it was alright in which the man assured with an encouraging nod and smile. The boy returned the man's encouragement with his own uncertain nod that went unnoticed by either of them.

As Sasuke approached the operator of the mini Ferris wheel, Naruto looked at the moving thing. From his seat in the man's arms he could see children his age enjoying the ride, and Naruto thought it must be fun to be inside.

"Come. Let's get you in." said Sasuke, snapping Naruto out of his amusement.

The Ferris wheel gradually stopped, and children got out of their seats one by one as their parents went to get them while others got in for a ride. Naruto watched the scene sadly. He longed for a mother or a father, but looking at the man he was with he told his self that he was not alone anymore.

Because Sasuke found me. The boy smiled at the thought.

It was Naruto's turn to take a seat. Sasuke placed the boy carefully inside and the operator pulled the metal bar down the child's lap for safety precautions. Ruffling the blonde hair, Sasuke told Naruto to enjoy the ride before stepping back and letting another parent to put her boy in.

"Hi!" greeted the boy that was sitting across from Naruto with a wave of his right hand and a big smile on his pale face. The boy had short and unruly reddish-brown hair, a pair of sharp-looking chocolate eyes, and pouty pale lips. He was six years old, but was short for his age. And apart from that, he wore thick olive green jacket with a hood, blue jeans, and a pair of white rubber shoes that lit up whenever he take a step.

Naruto looked toward the older boy, not paying mind to Sasuke who wave at him as the door closed. Slowly, their compartment moved higher and stopped again.

"My name is Creon. What's yours?" asked the boy, now named Creon.

It was the first time another child around his age had talked to the blonde boy, and Naruto wanted to make a good first impression. But, how? I dun' have a voice to speak. Thought Naruto as he shied away, looking down.

"Ey! Don't be shy. So, you are...?" Creon prompted.

Peeking through his crown hair, Naruto saw how expectant Creon was of finding a new friend that made the blonde frown.

Their compartment moved higher again, but it was an abrupt move that startled the boys and they both looked down to see their guardians smiling up at them. Turning their attentions back to each other, Naruto tried telling Creon of his disability by placing a hand on his throat and shook his head.

"Ah! You can't speak? Maybe you screamed so loud yesterday that you lost your voice? I myself experience that. I was singing so much that I lost my voice the next day, but it returned a week or so later. So, don't worry okay? Your voice will be back soon!"

Naruto only smiled, hoping to hear his voice after visiting the hospital.

The Ferris wheel moved slowly, and Creon pointed out to Naruto that they were going up higher. The blonde looked out through the window, seeing Sasuke became smaller and smaller that scared him. He did not want to go up anymore. But then, they gradually moved lower, which brought relief to the boy. However, their compartment moved higher once again, and lowered after a few moments. The routine repeated for multiple times and Naruto felt like his soul left whenever they move up as they moved faster by second, and that thought alone scared him enough to start crying.

I wanna go down! I wanna go down!

"Hey..." Creon trailed off. He was frowning at the crying boy in front of him. "What's wrong?" he asked.

The blonde only shook his head whilst wiping his tears furiously.

"C'mon tell me."

Naruto shook his head again.

If he had a voice, he would have been wailing already.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had been watching the boy with Naruto interacting with the blonde. The man was happy for Naruto. Somehow, he felt content and happy, which he had never felt for a very long time that he had forgotten the beautiful feeling until he met the boy. He wanted the feeling to last longer; he wanted to bask in the light. The interactions between two boys continued although only one of them was talking, but it was good enough so far as long as Naruto was enjoying the ride. But then, even though he could not see Naruto's face with the tinted glass window of the compartment and his shades, he can feel the boy's distress. Knitting his brows in concentration to pinpoint the cause of the blonde's worries, Sasuke decided to take the boy back.

"Hey, you!" Sasuke called the operator that was at the controller booth as he walked toward it in fast strides. "I need to take..." he hesitated. "I need to take...my son. He's crying. He's in the orange compartment."

"Okay, sir. Just wait a moment." replied the operator.

Sasuke then turned to the Ferris wheel, and watched as it slowly came to a stop. He headed to it and opened the door. Not waiting for the operator to unlock the metal bar fastener, Sasuke wrench it up and took the silently wailing boy in his arms, leaving the broken part of the Ferris wheel and the gaping people. "I'll pay for it. Don't worry." he said before the operator could utter a syllable.

Sasuke found his self sitting on one of fancy, green bean-shaped benches in the mall watching his little charge beside him eating his rainbow ice cream. The boy had offered the man to have something to eat that Sasuke politely declined by saying he was still full from their breakfast. And, Naruto had shrugged it off as he had resumed on licking his ice cream that had already melted down. Sasuke saw it dripped down the boy's hand and immediately wiped it with tissue.

"You calm now?" inquired Sasuke in which Naruto gave an enthusiastic nod. "Good. No hiccups?' he asked again, and the boy shook his head. "Very well. Finish up your ice cream, so we can go buy you clothes, okay?"

Nodding his head, Naruto bit on his ice cream as fast as he could that Sasuke chided him lightly to slow down a little, which the boy did. Once the ice cream was gone, the man picked the boy up and went to the men's room to tidy up the blonde little one.

It was not long before Sasuke and Naruto got in the clothing section.

The boy in Sasuke's arms occasionally reached out for something that had grabbed the said boy's attention and the man would asked if he wanted it in which he would nod his head. And so, Sasuke would pick it up. Soon, their basket was oozing with colourful apparels. They then fell in line to the counter, waiting patiently for their turn. As they waited, Naruto would turn his head around in astonishment while Sasuke would smile a little knowing that the boy wanted more but was restraining his self since he already had so many.

"We're paying for your clothes now." said Sasuke as he settled Naruto atop the counter, and placed the basket next.

The cashier, who was in her maroon uniform, glanced between dark haired man and the blonde boy in what she thought a subtle way, yet Sasuke noticed it and opted to say nothing. The woman then proceeded to swipe the items one by one while her companion folded and put it all in a bag. "It's 256, 034. 25 ryo all, sir." said the cashier.

Sasuke fished out his wallet that was in his left back pocket. He flipped the black, leather thing, and pulled out his credit card. The woman offered him a small device that he used to insert his card and entered his pin number. Taking the card back, the cashier gave him his two bags of clothes saying, "Thank you, sir. And, come again."

It was not until quarter to five p.m. that Sasuke, with Naruto on his lap, found his self sitting in the waiting room along with other parents and their children in one of the most excellent hospitals in town that was closest to his residence. The man waited patiently, and watched idly as a female nurse poked her head out of the door that was across from him and called for the woman that was next to his right. The woman was a little fat, but one can tell she was beautiful especially if she were slim with her waist-length black curly hair, fair skin, and full natural pink lips. Sasuke looked with mild interest as the woman picked her ill daughter and walked in the room where a nurse was waiting for them.

Meanwhile, Naruto had been flipping pages after pages of magazine he had, having fun with the small wind it produces that caressed his neck and silently giggling. The boy was aware of what they were going to do in the hospital, but he seemed to have forgotten it. Not fifteen minutes later, Naruto got bored with the magazine. And so, he closed it and threw it on the coffee table, but it slid off to the other side, and he groaned noiselessly.

"You shouldn't throw things, Naruto." Sasuke chided lightly, making the boy looked up at him only to see him looking at the wall clock that hanged up the door. It'll be evening before we're done here. He thought. Feeling the stare on him, he looked down and met a pouting blonde boy. "It's bad, Naruto." he said, believing it was enough to erase the pout on the boy's young face.

But, Naruto refused to let his pout disappear. Instead, it intensified as his brows furrowed more and his eyes narrowed to slits as though his facial expression would convey his message.

Apparently, the dark haired man did not understand. "What're you trying to say?"

I just want the smooth papers back on the small table. The blonde boy wanted to tell his guardian, but he settled on huffing and crossing his arms in which the man only rolled his eyes at.

"Mr. Uchiha?"

They heard the nurse, who was now poking her head out of the door again, from before called out. Sasuke stood up gracefully as he hefted the boy in his arm, and said, "That's me." as he followed the nurse in.

Sasuke was led into a room painted with green grass, trees, and varieties of friendly-looking wild animals. There was a small, single bed at the far right corner of the room, a chest of drawers next to it, and across from it was a desk where a woman in her early to mid twenties sat behind.

The woman, who wore white blouse and black slacks and had her blonde hair in low pigtails, behind the desk was half obscured by those piles of papers atop the table. Upon hearing two pairs of footsteps, she stood up, and rounded her desk to meet her client halfway.

"Welcome." she said as she shook hands with Sasuke. "My name is Tsunade Senju, a paediatrician and an otolaryngologist. Have a seat." she gestured toward her the small bed.

Sasuke sat Naruto on bed, and remained standing while waiting for the doctor to come with all her necessary things.

Placing her things atop the chest of drawers, Tsunade spoke. "I can tell he has no fever like most of the children I had encountered. Could it be he has some problems with his eyes? Ears? Throat?"

"He couldn't speak." said Sasuke.

"Oh. Very well, let's go over here." Tsunade led Sasuke, who picked the boy up once again, out of the room and in to another where various type of body scanner and other equipments were. Inside, Naruto was being examined, his throat mainly by Tsunade. And, after twenty minutes or so, they returned to the previous room where Sasuke sat Naruto back on bed, regarding the doctor.

"So...what's the result?" asked Sasuke.

Tsunade flipped her hair back, saying, "We won't know until the x-ray is out, but...based on what I've seen so far...it's nearly impossible to cure the boy's disabilities."

"But, there's a chance right?"

"Yes, there is, however small."

"I'm going to take that."

"I have no qualms to that, but don't get your hopes up. Anyway, we still have to see the x-ray result."

"When will we see that?"

"In about an hour." Tsunade paused. "But, I guess you don't have time to stay here longer since it's already way pass five. So, I suggest coming back here at three in the afternoon."

"Thank you."

The day had been long, and now Sasuke was watching the sleeping boy in a moonlit room from his seat on the edge of the bed. With the earlier events, he had no time thinking about the blonde boy. With what he had found out of Naruto, he was fairly certain that the boy was the baby he had the opportunity of killing the parents and leaving the baby voiceless. Why he took the boy now, it was only to fill the void in him.

But why? He still asked his self. I feel like I'm forgetting something here...

Dismissing the thought with a sigh, Sasuke stood up and walked out of the room, leaving the door ajar to allow some light in. He then headed straight to his room that was next to Naruto's.