Sasukec: Hello my loyal readers! The impossible has come true! I have finally gotten a brand new laptop for my birthday! Which means that the writing shall now commence and continue! Please enjoy chapter 18 as I will try my best to finish up Do Ut Des!

On another note, I have made another Twitter account that I plan to keep up with. This Twitter account will update as I put anything new on Do Ut Des as well as any of my stories. If you wish to follow me on Twitter, my username is Sasukec18.

Also, I have made a Facebook page that you can like and will update as I update Do Ut Des. Just search for Do Ut Des on Facebook, and it should appear. I can't do a link on here, but if you'd like the link, please PM me. Thanks!

"Sasuke... I..." The hesitation in the blonde's voice was clear to even himself. He tried to reiterate, trying his best to put all confidence into his words.

"It was my fault." The words came out no braver, only weaker than before.

"Not good enough." The voice that responded had no fear, no reluctance, only a sure tone. The near polar opposite, as Sasuke has always been.

"You'll never be good enough now."

The face of Sasuke, which had already been surrounded by darkness, was then swallowed up by it. Moments later it revealed a Sasuke with a blood covered body, his skin, where it showed, paler than ever and his lips cracked and blue. Suddenly Sasuke's body turned to bones where they collapsed to the ground.
Naruto suddenly felt the darkness begin to engulf him, suffocating him until finally, he could no longer breathe.

"AH!"

Naruto felt his body, his real body, jolt upward as he was shaken from his nightmare by a few knocks at the suite door. Naruto sat there a moment, disbelieving his ears. Then he disbelieved his eyes as he saw Sasuke was gone and nowhere to be seen. As his mind came more away from the trance of sleep, he realized that neither his eyes nor ears were deceiving him in the moonlit room.

"Naruto! Naruto? Please, open up!"

That's... Miss Anko?

The blonde slid off the bed, grabbed his boxers and pants and slipped them on, assuring Anko that he was coming as he did so. Finally, the blonde reached the door where he oddly found it unlocked when he remembered they'd locked it. Where was Sasuke, anyway?

Naruto opened the door to see a wind-blown Miss Anko, her face full of worry and sleepless hours.

"Miss Anko? What's-"

Miss Anko quickly barged in the room without a word to Naruto. She hastily looked around the room before checking the bathroom. Sasuke let her do as she wished, seeing as she knew something he didn't.

"Miss Anko, what's going on?"

Miss Anko turned on her heels to face the blonde.

"Sasuke – did he tell you anything?"

"Anything about what?"

Miss Anko went to the large window where she looked out it, seeming to expect to find him hanging outside on a ledge.

"Leaving! Running off!" She threw her hands up into the air in frustration.

"What? Where would he even go?"

"We were hoping you knew. One of the hotel attendants said they saw a man, the very same description of Sasuke, briskly walk out of the hotel and into the streets."

"Shouldn't we go look for him?"

Miss Anko sighed then began making her way back to the door.

"Not unless we have an exact idea where he is. The streets at this time are very dangerous, and I wouldn't want to risk you or any other student as well as Sasuke out there. So, we wait till morning and see if he comes back. If not, we look for him."

Sasuke... Naruto thought to himself as he nodded a goodbye to Miss Anko. What're you doing out there?

He was just playing me... He's been with him from the very beginning of this stupid charade.

Sasuke put his hands deep into his jacket pockets, trying to keep the cold Roman air away from him. However, the atmosphere just continued to grow colder around Sasuke alone.

The Uchiha bumped into a nearby drunk, the man obviously too intoxicated to care or make a scene. The scent of alcohol was strongly emanating from the man that it also painfully reminded Sasuke of how alcohol played a vital role two years ago. He hated it now. He hated it because now he'd fallen into a false net of safety. The one Naruto had wanted Sasuke to fall into just to find out he was getting hurt in the very end.

The more Sasuke thought about it, the more the tears began to flow and his anger grew.

I don't want to believe it...

As Sasuke saw the sky light up before a clap of thunder, he turned into a dark alley, devoid of the drunks of Rome and constant lights. He rested his back against a dumpster and slid down till he was sitting. Another strike of lightning occurred before the light drops of rain began to fall, growing harder and more frequent with each passing moment. Sasuke allowed himself to soak in the rain, water mixing indiscernibly with his own tears. He could care less if he got wet, nothing could be worse than the sound and feeling of his heart shattering into pieces again.

I was stupid to think things were right.

"Well, well. Who are you, young man?"

A sly female voice emerged from the pouring rain as the question was directed at Sasuke. Sasuke thought to ignore the woman, figuring that if he did so, the woman would go away. Sasuke thought that she must've been a drunk and would eventually carry on her way.

"What's wrong, kid? You deaf?" Another voice shouted, completely on the opposite spectrum of tone from the woman.

The Uchiha felt an impact suddenly on his side which knocked the air out of him. The impact could've been harder; Sasuke knew that just from the size of the object that hit him. He looked up somewhat to see a large leg, obviously belonging to a quite stout man.

"What the hell?" The Uchiha shouted after regaining his breath. He held his hand onto the side of his body that was kicked, knowing a bruise was likely to form there.

"Oh, come on Jiroubou! You didn't even manage to knock a simple kid out!" Another voice cut in before Sasuke felt another kick to the side of his head, leaving his vision dazed and fuzzy. Sasuke next felt a thud as he realized that he'd hit the ground from the impact he'd just received. The Uchiha had a mind to find back, yet he felt as though it may have not made a difference.

Sasuke could feel himself pulling his own body back up and lunging at the nearby body. Instead of coming in contact with one of his attackers, he came in hard contact with the alley wall. Moments after, he felt a flurry of punches, kicks, and a few puncturing stabs to his abdomen. Sasuke was in such a daze, that he began to no longer feel pain as the muggers continued to ravage his body.

"Come on, you three. Just grab what he's got and let's go."

The female's voice stuck out again just before Sasuke felt one last thud to the side of his head. The Uchiha knew that he'd just been mugged and emptied of his money, but he couldn't care less. He felt as though maybe it was the cherry on the topping of tonight's events or even karma was getting one last little laugh in before his life was gone. Either way, the darkness that engulfed Sasuke was a numbness that he welcomed and wanted to stay in forever.

I can't fall asleep… It's so hard to! No one knows where Sasuke went.

Naruto continued to stare at the ceiling and let terrible visions of what could have possibly happened to Sasuke dance around his head. He first thought that maybe Sasuke just wanted to get some fresh air and everyone was freaking out for no reason. Or maybe he wanted to see what Rome was like at the middle of the night. Naruto sighed, wondering what possible alternate universe it would that Sasuke would ever be interested in anything like that. His pondering was interrupted as a loud vibration pervaded through the room.

That's not my phone… Is it?

The blonde looked over to his side of the bed and saw that his phone hadn't lit up. He then realized that the sound had come from the other side of the bed on the floor. He sat up and reached over the other side of the bed to see Sasuke's phone on the floor and lit up.

Sasuke left his phone here?

Naruto picked the phone up and opened it to find a text message from Itachi. Naruto shuddered lightly before reading the message itself: Call me back – and make sure you tell Naruto about what talked about.

What the…?

A crack of thunder startled the blonde away from the message as he heard the beginnings of rain. He sighed lightly as he hovered his thumb over the call button.

Sasuke and Itachi talked about me? When? I'm not sure if I should call the creep or no. But he'd probably be the only one that knows where Sasuke could've gone. God, I may regret this.

He hesitated a moment more before pressing the call button and bringing the phone to his ear. The blonde fiddled with the sheets before getting up and looking out the large window, listening for Itachi to answer.

"Hello?"

Naruto opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't formulate exactly what he was going to ask Itachi.

"Hello?" Itachi repeated, his tone one of thinning patience.

"Itachi, it's Naruto."

"Oh, hello Naruto. Why are you on Sasuke's phone?"

"Er… He left it in our room. When did you talk to Sasuke last?"

Itachi paused a moment, "Probably just under an hour ago… Why?"

"Well, he left the hotel and no one knows where he went. Did he tell you anything?"

"He actually hung up on me." Itachi nearly sounded genuinely hurt. "So, no. I know nothing."

"Okay, thanks then."

"No problem, Naruto."

Itachi strung out Naruto's name in a way that the blonde could barely stand. Especially after what happened he could barely take the guy. Naruto dreaded the day he'd have to tell Sasuke… Or anyone, for that matter.

"You're sick, Itachi."

And with that, Naruto hung up. Naruto knew what Anko had said, but he couldn't help but have a horrible gut feeling. Like something was just not right with the world. Like Sasuke was in some kind of trouble.

Without thinking twice, he quickly got fully dressed, being sure to dress warmly due to the pouring rain. He put his shoes on and then bolted out the door, feeling the urgency to find Sasuke rising.

Please be okay, Sasuke. I hope that my gut feeling is wrong and you're just out for a walk.

Sasukec: Yes, it's amazing! Chapter 18 has finally been completed! I apologize for it being short, but I really just wanted to get this chapter done! So, yes, I may have rushed a bit, (which means that there may likely be some grammar/spelling errors .) but I hope to make it up to you in the next few chapters! Chapter 19 is on its way.