Here's 9! 10 is soon to follow, i know Sasuke is kinda d-bagish but gotta see it from his side for a minute and yes he's still a butthead but at least it's a little understandable? anyway plz review and ENJOY!

Chapter Nine

I couldn't wait to return home, to return to him. I hadn't heard from my Naru in weeks, god how I hoped he was okay.

I'd been gone for almost five months, wishing every second that I had never left. I'd missed him so much, even more once his calls had stopped. If Ibiki has hurt his perfect body I swear I will kill him; that man just doesn't deserve to live.

Coming as a slight surprise, I found Kisame waiting for me at the airport alone. I thought Naru would be here. What was wrong with Kisame's eyes? He had his smile as usual, but there was emptiness in his eyes; something was wrong.

"What's wrong Kisame? What happened?" his stature worried me but his speechlessness worried me even more. "Damn it Kisame, tell me!" fear gripped me; his eyes were pleading, begging me not to ask any more questions.

"Wait until we get back to your house please. They…they will tell you there." His voice was softly quiet and incredibly sad.

"Wait? Why?" I wasn't sure what to think.

"Please?" the pain in his voice honestly hurt my heart.

"Oh...kay."

The short drive home was silent; the air heavy. I called Naruto's phone at least a hundred times; each time only getting his voice mail.

It hit me as soon as I walked into my parents' house; something just wasn't right. I saw my little brother Sasuke sitting on the couch looking as if he hadn't eaten or slept in days. What was going on here?.!

"Sas? Sasuke what's wrong…?" I was almost afraid to ask – almost.

He looked at me with a pain in his eyes that I had never seen before…and then…then he began to cry. His lithe frame shook to the point I was afraid he would literally fall to pieces in front of me. And for the first time since his sixth birthday I held him; I wasn't sure what to do but I could tell he needed me.

"He…he's…gone…Itachi. Gone." what was he talking about?

"Who Otoutou….who's gone?"

"N…Na…" his sobs were choking in his throat so badly that he couldn't get any words out; he just sat there in my arms shaking; only confusing me further.

"Who?" I had to get to the bottom of this.

"NA…NARUTO!" his sobs ripped out of his shaking body as he said the name of my Naru.

"Wha…WHAT? Gone? Gone where? What happened?.!" I was asking everyone in the room the question that in my heart I already knew the answer to. That bastard Ibiki is gonna die! I swear if I ever catch him I'll kill him!

Kisame finally broke out of his awkward silence and told me what had happened over the last few weeks.

"Damn Naru and his pride! He should have told me over the phone…I would have come home…" as I spoke to them my heart was breaking. I knew now that I would never see him again. Never again see those bright blue eyes or his perfectly tanned skin. "Why didn't you call me? Why wasn't I informed?.! I should have been there…I should have known…I deserved to have been told! Who's idea was it not to tell me?.!" I was furious, and for plenty of reasons I sure as hell deserved to be.

"His…" a small voice from the corner whispered…barely audible.

"What?" I turned then, to see a small, pink haired girl – Sakura I believe her name was – sitting in the corner…I hadn't seen her more than once before, but Naru had told me once that they had been close friends in elementary school. My eyes followed her pointing finger; she was pointing at the shaking body in my hands. "He said that he didn't want you to see Naruto that way, in that much pain. He said he was going to tell you all about" she inhaled deeply "…about it once Naruto got better." Her voice had started as a confident whisper, but the longer she spoke the harder it was for her to keep back the tears.

"He was supposed to get better…Itachi. He was supposed to…recover. We tried to call you…many times…but every time he told us no…he said 'Naruto will get better…I'll tell him when he comes home and then he will only be able to get mad at me for keeping this…secret.'"

I couldn't bear to hear her words any longer. Sasuke? My brother told them not to call me? I couldn't believe it. I couldn't comprehend my Otoutou was capable of this deception. Apparently he'd found his inner Uchiha; He should have told me.

"Damn it Kisame! You were supposed to be watching him! How could this have happened? Why didn't you go against him and call me? Or at least have called me after…after Naruto….he…" I couldn't bring myself to say it; to say that word.

"Died?..." Sasuke's voice had gone from agonized to furious in no more than a few sobs. He pushed away from me; I'd forgotten I was still holding him. "Yes Itachi, Naruto is dead…DEAD! It's no ones fault but Ibiki. He did this to him…to us…Don't you dare blame any of us for not watching your precious Naru, when YOU should have been home!" The disgust was evident was he spat that name into my face…I admit I had forgotten how much Sasuke had loved Naru…almost as much as I did. "He never wanted to die. He never wanted you to leave!" something new flickered into his eyes. "IF YOU'RE GOING TO START PLACING BLAME PLACE IT ON YOURSELF FIRST! YOU ARE THE ONE," his voice was beginning to falter, "the one that left him alone. No one had told me before; I could have done something if I had known…" his body began to shake again, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks in anger and in sorrow, two emotions that should never be mixed. "You kept a secret from me…you left us…if you were so concerned that he wouldn't contact you then why didn't you just come home?" the whispered words cut straight into my heart.

"Sas…" I still couldn't completely understand what was going on.

"Don't. Don't you dare say that you are s-sorry." Would he ever run out of tears to cry for my Naru? "Why don't you just go back to America…back to oblivion? I don't want you here ruining my memories. GO!" his voice was so cruel; I just stared at him. But instead of fleeing the country like he told me to, I surprised both of us by holding him. I pulled him closer to me and held him tighter than I ever had before. I held him while he punched me and screamed profanities at me; I held him until he began to cry again, and then I continued to hold him, only now I too, was crying. I leaned down and whispered in his ear, "It wasn't my fault he died Sasuke. You know I would have come back if I had known. YOU kept me away so you have no reason to be angry with me. I can tell you are only angry with me because I had his heart." I knew it was cruel to be this blunt with him but I couldn't – didn't want to – stop my words from flowing. "I didn't tell you about Ibiki because Naru didn't want you to know. He was afraid for you, he saved you when he couldn't save himself." My tears were flowing freely now.

Sasuke's bloodshot eyes bore into me – searching for something. "GET OUT." He stood slowly then turned to look at his friend Gaara. "Make sure he's gone before I get back." With that he walked upstairs and loudly closed his door.

I looked at the others around me, knowing they had no authority over me, and seeing the dilemma of Sasuke's request fill their faces. "I'll go see Iruka and give Sasuke some time to cool off." They all nodded as I left, knowing they wouldn't follow me. Walking toward the site of Naruto's pain I could only repeat one thought over and over and over; dead?

please dont hate me! trust me, all will be understood! btw including epilogue theres 8 more chapters on the way!