A/N: Maa someone suggested I try making the chapters longer so this is for them. Enjoy!

When he awoke after his nap Naruto was able to watch Sasuke sleep, a rare occurrence that he was taking full advantage of. Sasuke usually slept so lightly that he would wake as soon as his sixth sense felt Naruto's gaze. He knew the lazy morning was due mainly to severe magickal exhaustion but here in Evergreen Forest Sasuke seemed to have relaxed, just slightly. The Sasuke back in Konoha would never have consented to sleep outside of his set routine even in order to regain his strength. Naruto almost wished they could stay here on some surreal extended holiday, but he also itched to be back in the city. The promise of being allowed to walk above ground like a free man again was so exciting after months away from civilisation.

Naruto watched the dappled light of the midday sun reaching into the forest from overhead play over his partner's peaceful features. It was a beautiful sight that filled him with a kind of deep longing accompanied with a calming realisation that this man had just agreed to stay by his side for the rest of their lives. It hadn't quite sunk in and Naruto didn't think it would for quite a while. Sighing softly Naruto lay back down on his stomach, careful not to disturb the sleeping man next to him. They had slept in Sasuke's cabin again. Naruto had invited himself in again and he suspected Sasuke hadn't thrown him out simply because he was too tired to argue. It made him glad that Sasuke had acquiesced to sharing his bed, Naruto didn't much feel like being alone at the moment when having a partner had seemed so utterly important.

Smiling secretively Naruto pulled his new pendant out of his shirt collar and rested up on his elbows to examine it's swirling depths. He wasn't sure if he imagined it but the crystal looked brighter this morning. It was a strange thought that he was looking at his and Sasuke's magick entangled in it's purest, silvery form. He had been shocked to find out that he was to carry Sasuke's own pendant, the gesture was touching and Naruto was honoured that the proud Uchiha would trust him with something so special. Besides that it somehow seemed very... personal. He really had stumbled into the strangest world imaginable and soon he would be back in Konoha City, fighting to defend it.

Brrriiiiiing!

Next to him Sasuke sat bolt upright, eyes snapping open, peaceful illusion of relaxation irrevocably shattered. Naruto glared at the shrill bell next to the cabin door. It wasn't the meal time bell that was for sure, that one only rang in the evenings.

"Clan meeting," grunted Sasuke by way of a morning greeting.

They were both outside the main house within ten minutes, Naruto scowling after Sasuke had berated him for leaving his weapons in his own cabin so they had to make an extra stop. The two of them were met by Sakura and Ino as they stepped inside the large traditional house. There was a quick argument over which way the meeting room was but thankfully Shikamaru turned up mere seconds later to point them in the right direction. He seemed less than his usual, unconcerned self which they took as a warning sign.

The meeting room was large and bare, with a high ceiling, tatami floors and no windows. The standard Hyuuga insignia adorning the door and an ancient looking mirror provided the only decoration. A few of the people from last night's celebration were sitting in orderly rows amongst the many pale eyed Hyuugas but most had left already. Naruto sat next to Sasuke and looked to the front of the room where Hiashi sat ready to lead the meeting. When the last few people had filed in he cleared his throat and any whispered conversations ceased.

"I have just received an urgent message from Tsunade toumoku(1) calling a conference. We will now make contact."

Naruto didn't understand what he meant but he knew that 'urgent' couldn't be anything good. He watched in nervous anticipation as Hiashi moved to kneel before the ornate old mirror. The perfectly polished glass surface reached nearly to the ceiling and measured three of Hiashi in width with a frame of burnished silver intricately carved with lunar patterns and old lettering that Naruto suspected he couldn't have read even if it had been legible; it didn't look Japanese. Still, despite the antiquity of the frame, the mirror itself shone with such clean radiance that Naruto began to suspect magick was at play here.

His thoughts were confirmed when Hiashi placed his palms on the surface and said loudly, "Senju Tsunade!" as though he were calling to someone far away. (2)

Not one of the Hyuuga clan members deigned to look surprised when the mirror image of Hiashi rippled to reveal the Konoha coven leader mimicking his position. The mirror's surface around her was a mass of swirling silver magick.

Tsunade scowled at Hiashi, "About time too. Who is with you?"

"Everyone, like you asked," replied the Hyuuga leader.

"Good, that will save repeating myself." She looked harassed as she glanced over her shoulder and briefly snapped at someone, her voice sounding far away and illegible until she turned back to address the congregation. "Last night the coven was attacked," Naruto's chest went cold and there were several gasps that Tsunade didn't hear as she continued. "We have long expected this, our weakness as it is during the demon's hour. It appears they finally felt confident enough to press their advantage. They breeched our defences via the club, Tenzou was on door duty." Naruto glanced sideways at Sasuke who's face was momentarily tense and wondered again why Juugo had come to Evergreen Forest. "He raised the alarm and we were able to barricade the entrance sufficiently. But unfortunately the attack was coordinated at the very beginning of the demon's hour and it was obvious we could not hold off their numbers for long even with the Hunt watchers congregated. We have been forced to flee."

"The tunnels?" asked Hiashi quietly, he was apparently also in shock.

"Yes, the sewer escape routes were probably what saved our lives. We have dispersed among the city's safe-houses for now. The labyrinth is on full magickal lock-down so any sensitive material should be safe until we can regain our ground. I am recalling all coven bound hunters to the city. I respect that you must guard your own borders and flesh, Hiashi, but I need your assurance?"

Naruto looked intensely at the part of Hiashi's face he could see, as everyone waited for his answer in tense silence. The stoic leader looked both thoughtful and pressured. "The Hyuuga clan will answer your call should this situation... escalate."

Tsunade nodded, "Thank you. For now ensuring the safety of civilians is our top priority, our second being to strike back. We must not appear weak, a shift in the balance could prove fatal for hunters further afield than our own coven. I have alerted a large portion of the network, the news will be spread along the correct channels, hunter's all over the city will be on their guard."

"Exactly how spacious are your safe-houses?" asked Hiashi somewhat stiffly.

For the first time Tsunade faltered, "They will suffice."

Naruto felt Sasuke stiffen at his side but when he studied his partner's solemn features they gave away nothing. Still Naruto had the feeling his brain was working overtime, his eyes had the glazed effect of someone who was rapidly analysing information and even... scheming? Naruto resolved to ask him later and restlessly waited for the meeting to end.

As soon as Hiashi let go of the magickal mirror at the end of their conversation Tsunade faded out of sight and the regular reflection of the room swam into view. From that moment everyone burst into action. The hunters split in the directions of their respective cabins to pack their bags and Naruto saw Neji disappear into the corridors of the Hyuuga home with Shikamaru and Hinata in tow. The Hyuuga clan were also doing everything they could to help, the men helping to carry luggage and several of the women disappearing into the kitchen to prepare bento for everyone to replace the breakfast and lunch most where missing by now.

Naruto slung his laden bag over his shoulder and nudged his dagger back into place, a habit he had developed since carrying the weapon. As he was leaving the cabin for the last time Sasuke hurried along the path past his house. Naruto rolled his eyes and ran after him, he bet the bastard wouldn't have bothered coming to find him if they didn't happen to be ready at the same time.

-0-

Sasuke's mind was racing. Just when he was beginning to feel slightly positive about his future the city faced a threat stronger than any he'd seen. The force of the demon's attack last night must have really been something for Tsunade to back down. He knew she was a very strong hunter as well as a downright stubborn leader, it must have killed her to admit defeat.

He had been waiting in anticipation for the day they would return to the city, free hunters, ready to fight, but now the prospect was eating at him. Sasuke didn't want to think that something so permanent as the coven, had changed. So many hunters relied on that place, it was a safe-house, a place of refuge and a comfort zone. Yet in one night its pristine reputation had been besmirched by demon scum. Sasuke felt a surge of anger; that place was sacred, dammit!

His fingers clenched around the hilt of his sword; he couldn't wait to give those bloody demons the painful deaths they deserved.

Sasuke forced himself to let go of his anger as they reached the Hyuuga house but swore to call on it again when the time came to fight. Outside on the porch three hunters were having a rather heated argument, or at least it was heated by Hyuuga standards; Neji was bristling in anger, Hiashi was cold and determined and Hinata looked intensely uncomfortable.

"Your clan needs you," Hiashi was saying firmly.

"Not as much as Tsunade does," replied Neji, facing up to him in an aggressive manner Sasuke had never before witnessed him display.

"You would abandon us in this dangerous time?!" asked Hiashi, drawing himself up to his full, and very impressive, height.

"You are in very minimal danger; this place is as safe as it always was. We are needed in the city, I suspect our unique talents will be most useful."

Hiashi looked ready to forcibly forbid the pair from returning to the city when Hinata stepped between them. "Father," she said firmly, taking his hand in both of her own. "You know we must go, we are bound to the coven and our leader calls us to her service. I am sorry to leave you but I assure you, should our home be attacked, we will be the first to return."

Sasuke turned away as Hiashi looked from Hinata's pleading face to Neji's as he nodded in confirmation of her promise. Beside him Naruto was wearing a small smile. While Sasuke himself was less than interested in the complicated politics of the Hyuuga family he could see that Naruto had taken a liking to them even before their stay here. Sasuke did however know a little of the difficulties of juggling his own family's responsibilities; Itachi had often seemed torn between hunting for the Konoha coven and living at the Uchiha Estate. Their father had frequently spoken to him harshly when he had decided to stay away for nights at a time. At those times, Sasuke had missed him bitterly.

But Sasuke had been unwillingly freed from those responsibilities and harboured little sympathy for Neji and Hinata; they were taking far too long to say goodbye. He sighed impatiently and dodged as Naruto tried to elbow him in the side. Sasuke suppressed a smirk when he felt Neji scowl at him. Still they seemed to suddenly realise how long they'd been saying their touching goodbyes and the hunters were soon walking down the long path to the river with Hiashi watching from the entrance of the Hyuuga home.

When they reached the dubious bridge Sasuke carefully detached himself from his surroundings staring intensely at the messy way Naruto's hair stuck up at the back in every direction rather than straight like his own. Anything to avoid looking at the crashing river, half frozen but as relentless as before. All in all it was a relief to climb into the van that Juugo had driven here.

It was a spacious vehicle and Sasuke had seen it used for various hunting missions. They would drive up to the targets' hideout surveying the area through blacked out windows and then simultaneously throw the doors open and unleash an assault of armed hunters. Though Sasuke had always preferred to fight alone it was quite thrilling to watch a coordinated raid being pulled off with the utmost deadly precision.

Of course it was a sight rarely seen. They weren't the armed forces and therefore had no authority to carry out these 'raids' and that meant that to outsiders their 'for the safety of the people' raids looked more like sophisticated gang attacks. Still, Sasuke suspected that Tsunade's eventual plan to 'strike back' against the demons would involve a few of these raids and he was damn sure going to be a part of them. For once Tsunade would not be able to use the 'unstable' excuse to exclude him from any real coven business. Sasuke had never felt more centred and in control of himself. The minute he got back to Konoha he planned to talk to Tsunade.

-0-

"No."

Sasuke held back a snarl that was itching to break loose. He was standing in a tiny room that Tsunade was treating as her temporary office in one of the inner city watch houses. She was sitting at a computer desk piled with miniature models of old cars. Admittedly he had expected some resistance to his idea but he had hoped she would at least consider.

"Why not?! This is a perfectly logical suggestion. I mean come on, the watch houses are meant for the watchers, that's two people per tiny apartment, they are not built to hold the bulk of the coven residents. And besides the cramped living conditions we have no centre, no control base and definitely nowhere to train."

"It is a temporary measure until we can regain our territory!"

"Yes, but it doesn't need to be! My way would work, we would have room to regroup, plan, train and there are a lot of security measures on that place."

"Not if any demons took an interest when it was abandoned and you can bet they did. Give up, we will manage. Final answer: no. Send Sai in will you, I need to send updates to our people."

Sasuke opened his mouth to point out that Sai wouldn't be exhausted from sending his magickal animals as messengers if all the Hunters were together, but was immediately silenced and pushed out of her 'office'. He stood scowling in the hallway for a moment before stomping into the lounge where far too many people were sitting on one sofa and several more huddled on futons. He was almost crackling with angry electricity as he gave Sai the briefest 'get in there' hand gesture he could think of and left the ridiculously small apartment. She couldn't honestly expect them to live this cramped together for any period of time without going insane and killing one another.

Maybe it was just him. Maybe other people didn't need personal space.

"I assume it didn't go well."

"What tipped you off?" asked Sasuke sarcastically as his partner (it was strange to think of him like that) came and leant on the rail next to him.

Sasuke sighed as they watched the rain pour from an unseen sky into the tiny closed off courtyard that was designed to brighten the dingy tower block where Kotetsu and Izumo lived. Sasuke expected every one of the apartments here were as small and depressing as their particular one. It wasn't that he looked down on their meagre home he simply thought it was illogical to cram everybody into the pocket size apartments most hunters occupied when living above ground, when there was an abandoned settlement the size of a small village just outside the city. Not only was the Uchiha Estate completely empty, but it was spacious, hidden and since Sasuke owned the place; completely free.

"Want to blow off some steam?"

Naruto perked up immediately. "Sparring?"

"Idiot. We can't spar in this place, and goodness we can't even go hunting for 5 hours at least. I fancy going for a run."

"Really? Like running along roads, in shorts and a tank top, all sweaty, with people looking at you?"

"What do you do to work out then?"

"Er... I swim," said Naruto awkwardly.

Sasuke nodded as they both remembered the bridge incident and avoided each others gaze. He was glad Naruto was smart enough not to directly mention his more-sinking-than-swimming issue.

"So you have a problem with a tank top but not a Speedo?" Sasuke chided.

"I don't have a problem with a tank top, I have killer guns!" Sasuke's eyebrow twitched. "But I'm not so sure on the little shorts. Also, I don't wear a Speedo... they're boxers."

"1. I don't care if there is an actual gun, never say 'guns' again, 2. The shorts prattle was totally hypocritical when you just admitted to wearing tight little swimming... boxers and 3. Only really pretentious assholes wear those disturbingly tiny shorts. I wear sweats, especially when it's winter. I cannot believe how much time I just wasted on this conversation, go swimming if you want, I'm going for a run."

Naruto gaped a little, "You know for a quiet guy, you bitch a lot." Sasuke glared and turned back to the apartment. "You'll get soaked if you go out right now," Naruto pointed out.

"It's more fun in the rain."

Ten minutes later when he'd finally managed to change in the privacy of the bathroom Sasuke emerged to find Naruto stood exactly where he had been before. He was wearing a Cagoule and certainly wasn't going to reveal that underneath the waterproof trousers he was in fact sporting cycling shorts. It was a matter of comfort after all. He also had his tantou strapped to his thigh but he wasn't going to reveal that either.

"Have fun finding a place on that couch," he said cheerily giving a careless over-the-shoulder wave as he headed for the stairwell.

Sasuke knew he was being overly mean to Naruto right now but he couldn't bring himself to care too much. He had only just gotten back to this city and already any calm and balance he had felt back in the high altitude reaches of Evergreen Forest were completely lost. He felt more uptight and bad-tempered than ever. So Sasuke did what he always did, he ran.

Running had always been a method of relaxation for Sasuke. He found it therapeutic to just run at a steady pace for as long as he could. He didn't force himself to move at any particular speed though he was quite confident that, if need be, he could outrun practically anyone, aside from Lee. Sasuke took a deep breath and tried to get his bearings, he didn't know this part of the city but they had passed through the suburbs to get here which suited Sasuke fine. He soon found himself in the quite suburban neighbourhood he had often run through. Sometimes it was nice to pretend that he lived in one of these houses, that he knew nothing about the war being fought over these streets, that life was simple.

But maybe that was wasn't for him. Sasuke's childhood had been far from normal; he knew nothing of school life, having been taught at home, he'd never socialised with normal kids and he'd been taught to fight for his life from the very beginning. Sasuke halted on the windswept pavement as rain pounded down on him. Looking at the quaint family homes he wondered what his life could have been like. Would his father have bought him his first bike, or would he still have been cold and dismissive? Would he have talked to the neighbours and made a friend? Would his brother have helped with his math homework? The life he could have had... maybe he'd have learnt to play an instrument... he'd always fancied the piano...

Sasuke shook his head and tore his eyes from what could have been. Where was all this coming from? His life hadn't been so bad... except the part where everyone had died. But still, he'd learnt to ride a bike eventually and Itachi had always helped him with his studies. And what was stopping him from learning the piano? He started running again, feet slapping against the wet pavement as he headed downhill. Maybe he would take up the piano some day, when the fighting was done. The trouble was, the fighting never stopped, it was an ongoing war. The only way it would end for him would be if he died in battle because Sasuke downright refused to opt out just because he wanted to have a life. After all, he still had someone to kill.

He had thought long and hard about Naruto's offer of help in his hunt for Madara. He appreciated the offer but the fact remained that he had no idea where Madara was, there was no way Sasuke would sit around in the coven if he knew where the bastard was. He had always seen this as his own personal mission, as the last Uchiha it was his duty to succeed where Itachi had failed. His desire to return to the Uchiha Estate was not merely fuelled by a need to be at home; he hoped to find some clue to Madara's identity there. The man was an anomaly. Try as he might, Sasuke had been unable to find any mention of him in the extensive coven records, nor had he appeared in any Hyuuga account, in desperation Sasuke had even trawled the city library. But according to every record Madara didn't exist. It was frustrating but Sasuke felt if he only had the man's surname he could find him.

In that respect Naruto's help was rather useless. It didn't matter how interesting he was or how strong a fighter he was sure to become; the guy wasn't good with books or research. If Sasuke managed to find his target, he may well take Naruto along. Sasuke had grown over the years and he knew that strong as he was, he wasn't indestructible. Much as it pained him to even think of admitting it, an extra fighter would probably help. Besides he was supposed to trust Naruto now, right?

By the time Sasuke reached the city park where he was headed the rain had almost stopped. He slowed to walk absently along the pathways beneath dripping trees. Most of the trees were bare for winter but the park still had the fresh scent of recent rainfall. Sasuke breathed deeply, this was his favourite place in the city, it was a peaceful haven in the middle of a grey and polluted landscape. He made a note to bring Naruto here, he would probably enjoy it and on brighter days it was one of the best places in the city to see the sun. The park big enough that the neighbouring skyscrapers never really managed to cast a shadow over it's centre.

Sighing softly, Sasuke checked the time. It was still several hours before he could really go hunting. Time to go back to the flat, take a shower and have a rest before setting out. He didn't feel comfortable taking a nap in front of anyone so any tiredness he felt from switching back to nocturnal life would be put on hold for now. That wasn't so hard; the city had filled him once more with restless energy.

-0-

Naruto had decided against sitting around the small flat. Interesting as it might be to try and overhear the planning going on nearby. Shikamaru was deep in discussion with the watchers, Kotetsu and Izumo, and Neji who had just arrived after making sure Hinata was safe in Kakashi's apartment. Kakashi had also appeared with him and had been ushered into Tsunade's makeshift office. Still the most interesting thing Naruto had found to watch had been Sai and Karin sending out Tsunade's updates to the coven's hunters hiding all over the city. He hadn't seen Sai's power at work yet but it was utterly strange. Naruto had watched as the pale man drew the form of a cat in simple lines of pure silvery magick with just his fingertips in midair. The strange creatures he created were solid beings of glowing magick until Karin touched them. Apparently she could use her power on others because the various animals he drew changed instantly to look like real cats, dogs and rats before running off to deliver their messages. Naruto wondered briefly if the creations talked.

"That would be a sight," he muttered as he walked out of the crowded apartment.

As Naruto wandered downhill towards the east side of the city he thought about Sasuke. He was curious to know where Sasuke had gone on his run. Naruto had always thought of running as a very boring sport, all that repetition. A lot of the time he found swimming too repetitive, he only really did it to keep in shape and for the funny weightless feeling he gained when underwater. Naruto was the kind of person who needed variety and excitement, which was exactly why he skateboarded. Problem was his skateboard had been consumed in his 'house fire'.

He would have to ask Sasuke what hunters did to earn a bit of cash. Naruto had noticed that none of the people at the coven seemed to have jobs outside of their hunting duties. But he would dearly like to buy a new skateboard. He could go down to the skate park and tear it up a little, maybe even see some of his old friends. They had rather lost touch after Jiraiya's death had forced him to take on extra work.

Naruto stopped and checked his watch. Plenty of time. With a sudden grin he altered his course. The rain had nearly stopped and sunlight was peaking through the cloud cover. He had time to kill and Naruto planned to make the most of this; the first time he was allowed to walk above ground in the city, like a free man. He patted his dagger through his coat, he was safe. Sasuke had told him to run if he came across a dangerous opponent but it was still daytime and he was nowhere near the overrun coven, he was unlikely to meet anyone.

The skate park was familiar and just the sight of the graffitied obstacles made him smile. This place was a piece of his old life. Naruto had spent so many afternoons after school hanging out here. He ran up the side of the half pipe and propped himself against the railings at the top.

"Hey! You better pull out some wheels dude, this is a skate park!"

Naruto looked around, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Lend me some?"

There was a shrill cry of, "Naruto-kun!" and Moegi reached up to hug him from behind through the railings.

"Long time no see, boss man."

"You too Konohamaru. Where's Udon?" Naruto asked, noting the absence of the snivelly kid.

"Says he can't deal with the rain," said Konohamaru dismissing his missing comrade with an eye roll. "Where you been? You just completely disappeared, so not cool."

"Yeah we missed you!" added Moegi climbing up next to Naruto.

"Ah, I had a few things to take care of, been working hard, you know..." he said awkwardly, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck.

"Must have been earning a fair bit," said Konohamaru, tugging on Naruto's leather coat and eyeing him up and down.

Naruto was suddenly glad he'd worn his old converse shoes rather than his boots. He'd never been able to afford clothes like these before, usually wearing second hand stuff that never fitted quite right.

"Heh, yeah I've been doing okay," he said quickly changing the subject as he grabbed Konohamaru's skateboard off him. "What you guys been up to?"

"Oh nothing much," said Konohamaru as he watched Naruto drop in. "Done with koutougakkou(3) now so I'm working for gramps down on the docks."

"That's good."

"Yeah, I got a pretty sweet deal. Got my own place over one of the small warehouses, rent free too since I'm there as 'security'," he said with air quotes.

"How about you Moegi?"

"Eh, I opted to take a year out before uni but I'm not sure if I'll bother going back to education. I got a pretty cool job spraying cars down at Cheng's garage."

"That Chinese guy? Cool, you always were the artsy one."

"Yeah. Hey did you see Gaara while he was in town?"

Naruto tripped off the skateboard and narrowly avoided kissing the concrete. "Gaara was here?!"

"A few weeks back, he did say he'd look you up."

"Er... yeah, I've been a little out of the loop. I suppose he's back in Suna by now?"

"Yeah, he left you his number though," Moegi dug a rumpled post-it out of her wallet and handed it over. "He said you guys have been out of touch for a long time."

"Yeah we have..."

"Didn't have a bitch fight did you?" asked Konohamaru with a wicked grin.

Naruto flushed red with memories of his last encounter with Gaara. "No, we just drifted apart and decided against carrying on. The distance was hard on both of us."

"Aw," cooed Moegi.

She had always found Naruto's relationship with Gaara touching, whereas Konohamaru thought it a topic worthy of teasing comments at every opportunity. It had been a long time since they had eventually decided it wasn't working anymore. Their 'relationship' had been dysfunctional from the word 'go'. Gaara had been suffering from severe insomnia which tended to make him just a tad bad tempered and psychopathic. It had taken a while for him to realise that Naruto wouldn't be scared away by his hard ass attitude and even longer than that before he'd actually hold a conversation. In the end they didn't bother with a lot of conversation.

"Well I should get going," said Naruto, handing back the skateboard with some regret.

"Already?" whined Moegi.

"Yeah sorry sweetie, I've erm, got the night shift," lied Naruto.

"You haven't even told us what you do yet!"

"Another time, I really got to go," he said, walking away from them.

"Fine! But don't forget to call Gaara!" she shouted after him.

Promising he would, Naruto gave the pair a last sad wave. It had been nice to see them again but it reminded him that his hunter's oath had also bound him to secrecy. He'd have to think up a cover story if he wanted to bump into them again. Naruto fingered the dagger at his hip; he supposed this new life had it's up and downs, like lying to his friends. He'd call Gaara some other time; he didn't feel like lying again right now.

(1) Toumoku : leader, chief, head

(2) Yeah I know Tsunade's surname isn't really Senju, but since that's her grandfather's name it's the only one I've got, I didn't really want to revert to using 'Sannin' as a surname.

(3) Senior High School ages 15-18

A/N: Like, Yay or Nay? I make no promises on chapter length they really just come out however long they go on for ^^;

-Yasu