Author's Notes: I'd like to thank everyone who left me a comment and who put this story in their favorites. I really appreciate it and I can't thank you enough for the support!

I'd also like to thank "Smiles D" for pointing out that "Uzumaki" meant "whirlpool" and not "maelstrom". I've fixed it, so hopefully the story's more accurate now :)

Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter 4!

Chapter 4: A Pair Too Many

Sasuke leisurely strolled down Konoha's streets with his usual blank expression. The sun was shining down brightly on the stony pavement and the warmth of the air had many hurrying back to their house or stores. The merchants stayed under the shadows provided by their stalls and fanned themselves as the customers purchased their goods without the usual chatter.

The Uchiha, however, was not bothered in the least. Being accustomed to using fire as his main element, the raven rarely felt the heat anymore. He was, however, more sensitive to cold and needed the aid of a few warming seals to get through night flights. It was a little inconvenient to carry around the seal tags, but the comfort they brought were worth it. He had wondered whether he could find a Seals Master to simplify the hassle, but had not met one yet. After all, there were only so many in the world.

As he continued to trek his way through the thinner than usual crowds of customers and workers, Sasuke began to think about his blond charge; the man who would soon be sharing his home for the next two weeks or so.

He still had a lot to learn about the fox's Kyuubi inheritance and had already paid the Uchiha compound a short visit to raid its libraries of any pertinent content. Of course, he had stayed discreet and was very glad he had not encountered Itachi or any close family members while there. He also had the time to deposit replacement scrolls, in case anyone bothered to check. The Hokage had wanted the Kyuubi's presence to be a secret and the agent would take every precaution.

Sasuke could soon make out the outlines of Konoha's imposing hospital building and slowed his pace. He did not like hospitals due to his numerous stays and tried to delay the inevitable, however childish the thought might be. Before long, he reluctantly trudged through its large doors and made a bee-line for the reception, where a young brunet was furiously scribbling away on various documents with furrowed brows. As he approached her desk, the woman paused in her work and glanced up before giving him a shy smile.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" she uttered in a well-practiced voice.

Sasuke greeted her with a curt nod before grunting a short "Naruto Uzumaki's room" in his usual detached tone. He clearly did not want to be there and glared at the wall on his right.

The brunet blinked at his short instructions before registering his words.

"O-One second please," she stuttered and quickly scanned through a nearby sheet, "room twenty-five on the third floor."

"Hn," he said and briskly left, leaving a slightly baffled receptionist behind.

The raven arrived on the third floor fairly quickly, despite the numerous stairs separating each floor. He passed by many patients and medic-nins, but paid them no mind. He had stayed in the hospital often enough to get used to the bustling of activity it contained within its walls and had no affinity with offering comforting smiles. Instead, he preferred to ignore anything with no direct link to his person.

As he approached the blond's room, he suddenly heard a familiar laugh thrilling down the hallway; the same obnoxiously loud giggles that always brought chills down his spine. Right away, he knew who had been put in charge of the young fox and shivered. It was just his luck that a certain pink-haired nurse had a shift at the same time he'd decided to come visit.

Carefully inching closer to the closed room, he wondered whether he wanted to face his pink-haired almost-friend. He'd refused to visit the hospital for his suggested check-ups and she would surely hound him about his health choices…again.

'Maybe I should wait it out,' he reasoned with himself and conveniently ignored a few pointed stares from other patients and nurses, for he was blocking the hallway. 'I could shunshin in when she leaves," he nodded at his decision and crossed his arms.

Right as he leaned against the wall near the door in preparation for the wait, he heard a loud "d-duck's b-butt!" and bristled. He'd never liked those two words and for a good reason. Ever since he could remember having hair, Itachi had teased him about its natural tendency to spike up at the back. It was also a coincidence that their demon heritage had avian roots.

"Ducks," he grumbled under his breath and clenched his fists. They were unpleasant memories indeed, but he decided to give Sakura the benefit of the doubt. Maybe objects other than his hair resembled…unfortunate things.

He slowly relaxed back into his position at his reasoning when he suddenly heard the mention of his name and froze.

"…if Sasuke-kun heard this –" he immediately bust the door open without another thought and glared.

"If I heard what?"

Inside the room, Sakura stifled her laughter and Sasuke glowered at her anyway. The girl guiltily looked away and drew circles with her foot, pretending to whistle without making a sound. The raven glared at her for a few seconds more, just because he felt like it. He then turned his fuming to the silent blond sitting on the hospital bed before his gaze fell upon enthralling cerulean orbs and silence ensued.

Beside the two men engaged in an impromptu staring contest, Sakura quietly picked up Naruto's charts and signed his discharging papers while drawing a small X where Sasuke was to leave his confirmation. She then silently thrust the sheet into the distracted Uchiha's pocket and walked out the door, the other two none the wiser.

'Boys,' she thought and rolled her eyes. She then shrugged her shoulders and went off to her next patient.

Back in the small hospital room, Sasuke took in the blond's appearance and noticed, for the first time, the two auburn fox ears protruding from his golden strands. Similar to many of the fox tribe, the tips were a shade darker than the rest, but instead of the typical black, Naruto's was a deep crimson red. It made a nice transition of warm colors and Sasuke found them strangely pretty. However, their presence signified something quite telling about the fox's condition and the raven was instantly suspicious.

"Ears," he pointed out and carefully watched as the blond's brows furrowed in confusion. 'So he doesn't know,' Sasuke promptly assumed and crossed his arms. 'This might be problematic.'

Indeed, as a general rule, anyone having gone through their coming of age at sixteen would gain the chakra control to mask their demon traits. Unlike children who were unable to hide their ears or tails and other appendages, adults had a better command over their energy expenses and were able to refrain from wasting chakra over keeping their features out. It was a strange concept, but was reasoned to be a change brought along by human blood. It also conveniently explained why one's use of their demon powers involved a certain degree of strain after too long.

Naruto's ears twitched at Sasuke's intense scrutiny, but he otherwise stayed quiet despite the slight discomfort. Meanwhile, the Uchiha continued to openly glare at the appendages as if personally offended by them. He simply did not know what to make of them.

The fox seemed to be his age and yet he did not have control over his demon traits. It was almost unheard of, especially within those of shinobi ranks, which Sasuke assumed the man was. If not for his charge's impressive constraints over his Kyuubi induced killing intent during their first encounter, the simple knowledge of his relation with the Subakus nearly guaranteed ninja training. The well-known racoon demons were famed for their strict educational system and it was very unlikely that any pseudo family members would be exempt from it.

Back to the problem at hand, however, Sasuke was having a hard time understanding the blond's predicament and was internally debating whether the fox would be of any use in their search for the snake bastard, otherwise known as Orochimaru. Being unable to mask one's ears meant abysmal chakra control, which in turn implied weak jutsus. 'Maybe he excels at taijutsu,' the raven supplied and glared harder at the fox ears when a small cough interrupted his thoughts. He blinked and glanced towards its source and into curious blue eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Naruto ventured to ask with uncertainty laced into his voice.

He was quite used to being stared at, seen his unusual coloring and the lack of fox demons in Suna. There was also the fact that Gaara's favorite hobby was to glare at anything within sight, but even that bothered him less than the raven currently drilling a hole through his skull. His crimson-tipped ears twitched again when the other man diverted his intense gaze to a nearby wall.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and uncrossed his arms. He then reached into his leg pouch and pulled out a scroll, automatically handing the object to the blond. He had decided to analyze the situation later when he found more time. 'Or ask Hokage-sama,' he added in his mind.

Naruto stared at the offered scroll for a second before taking it. He was quite used to receiving one syllable answers, but meeting someone as taciturn as Gaara was quite rare. He shrugged off his surprise after a while and swiftly opened the letter.

As he scanned its content, he soon learned of his future stay at the Uchiha's home and paused at the particular family name. 'A raven,' he deduced and remembered a striking expanse of dark feathers. Despite having lived his whole life in the Land of Wind, important clans such as the Uchiha were famous worldwide. Not only did they possess their respective demon powers, but their human blood also provided their members with additional skills that many revered.

'Sharingans,' Naruto recalled from his readings and glanced up at the quiet raven staring blankly at the wall ahead. His eyes were currently as dark as onyx, but the fox knew from memory the beautiful crimson red they turned when activated. 'The snake would have killed for them,' he remarked in his head and frowned when he remembered his stay in the criminal's dark underground lab. The thought made him shiver and he quickly got back to skimming through the scroll's instructions.

Sasuke carried on his senseless wall-glaring activities for a while longer, but soon got bored of staring at plain white and the occasional specks of beige. With a nonchalant quality to his move, he turned his gaze back towards the fox once more and immediately noted the contemplative look on the latter's face.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience," the words fell out of the blond's lips and Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the sincerity in the other's voice.

"No problem," he answered in a curt tone, somewhat feeling obliged to say more than his usual grunt.

Naruto looked up at his future host and took in the inquisitive glint shining through his dark eyes. The latter stood at a fairly tall height and was unusually pale despite Konoha's abundance in warm seasons. His hair also happened to be shaped like a duck's bottom, but had a nice flair to its style that the fox found strangely cute. The thought of petting the soft-looking spikes soon entered his mind and a smile curled his lips.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the innocent grin forming on the blond's face. People never smiled in his presence…unless it meant something bad, such as being offered hideous green one-pieces. His shoulders stiffened when the fox's expression suddenly hardened and he readied himself for the unexpected.

"What happened to your partner?"

The raven faltered in his stance and stared blankly back at the fox in confusion.

"You know," Naruto clarified with a little difficulty. He only remembered claws and growling, "The dog-like one."

Thoughts of Kiba getting tossed into the deep woods as easily as a rag entered Sasuke's mind and he cringed at the memory. "Badly injured, but recovering," he answered the fox and watched the other man's expression fall.

"I'm sorry," Naruto softly muttered and looked down at his bandaged hands.

He looked so remorseful and crestfallen that the raven almost felt a little sorry for the fox. However, being an Uchiha, he refused to let his emotions show and stayed stoic despite the small tinge of sadness he felt. Being reminded that his almost-friend was badly wounded did not exactly bring up his sour mood.

"You should apologize to Kiba yourself," he said instead in a neutral voice. "He should be accepting visits in a week or so."

The blond nodded at that and took a deep breath. Sasuke watched as the other collected himself and waited until the fox's bright blue eyes gazed back into his direction.

"Ready to go?" he grunted in his usual tone and the other nodded again.

Naruto shifted to stand up and slightly winced when it pulled at his injuries. He didn't remember too much about that fateful night, but he knew that he'd lost control over his powers. It had never happened before, but he always knew how unusually large his chakra reserves were. 'Later,' he thought and decided to mull his condition another time.

As the fox stood up with a little difficulty, the bed covers slowly pooled down to his feet along with a few loose bandages. Dark onyx eyes widened at the sight of the lightly muscled body with a slight pale complexion. The blond stood at about the same height as himself and had a well-build stature made for combat. As the raven noted these observations, he unexpectedly felt his cheeks tinge pink and immediately averted his gaze, coughing into his fist.

"I'll get you some clothes," Sasuke declared and pivoted his steps towards the door, which he opened with one sharp tug.

"You said you could cook," Sasuke grumbled and glared at Naruto as the blond walked over from the kitchen to the dinner table.

"I did," the blond huffed and slammed a bowl of noodles down in front of the scowling raven.

"Ramen isn't food," the Uchiha objected, but picked up his chopsticks anyway.

Naruto gasped and moved the bowl away from the raven, broth sloshing to the rim without spilling out.

"Ramen is food for the gods, you mortal!"

Sasuke snorted and tried sneaking some noodles from the bowl without any success. He was hungry and didn't feel like arguing with the idiot anymore.

"Hn, fine," he relented and was rewarded with warm ramen, which he dug in right away.

The blond rolled his eyes at his host clearly savoring the flavor of the noodles and sat down in his own chair. Some people just couldn't speak their minds out properly, he thought with a shake of his head. He knew he made good ramen and by the way the raven subtlety gulped the food down with haste only proved his unsaid point.

Puffing his chest with pride, the fox ate his supper and savored the rich taste. It may have been a simple miso flavored ramen with chicken, but it was worth the hassle of dragging the raven shopping.

Sasuke's fridge had been barren when Naruto had first entered and no matter how great tomatoes were, the fox could not imagine himself surviving on it for days on end. It took some convincing, but the Uchiha had eventually relented and brought the fox to the local market. It was near the end of the day and most stalls had already closed their business. However, a few vegetable and fruit merchants still had their remaining produce out for a last call, though most customers had already gone home for supper.

It took mere minutes to gather the needed ingredients and the next moment, Naruto was busying himself in the kitchen, engrossed in a treasure hunt for cooking equipment. Sasuke tried helping, not without some verbal initiative, and the two finally completed the task.

Naruto slurped the last of the noodles and settled back in his chair with a happy sigh. On the other end, Sasuke rolled his eyes and picked up his dishes. He made his way over to the blond and grabbed the latter's finished bowl and chopsticks, putting the whole into the sink once he reached it.

The cleaning task went by quickly and the raven wiped his hands with a black clothes marked with a red and white fan. He then glanced up at the wooden clock hanging on his kitchen wall and noted the time.

"It's getting late," he grunted nonchalantly and gazed over at the blond slouched against his living room couch.

Naruto blinked and turned his head towards the other man, "Time to sleep?"

"Hn," was all he got and the Uchiha let him to the guest room situated down the small hallway. The room was painted in neutral colors and had a simple square-shaped window at the end. Soft flowing curtains framed the glass and a decent-sized bed occupied most of the space.

Naruto entered the room and glanced around with slight wonder. It had been a while since he'd last been in as bare a room. Being a very colorful person himself, he usually made sure to have at least a few orange-tinted articles lying around. It seemed he would need to refurnish, he thought as a grin curled his lips.

Sasuke noticed the mischievous smile stretched across the blond's face and decided to ignore it. He walked into the guest room and grabbed a pair of simple pyjamas he had folded and left on top of a drawer before the fox's arrival.

"Here," he handed the clothes over and directed the blond to the washroom beside to the guest room. The blond opened his mouth to say something, but Sasuke closed the door on him before he could utter a sound.

Smirking at nothing in particular, the raven made his way back to his room to get ready for the night.

A/N: I can tell you now that their night is far from over. Things are always quite eventful when those two are involved ;)

In any case, reviews and favorites make my day!