Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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Two Heads Are Better Than One (Until You Have None)

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Chapter 4

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"What are you doing here?"

It comes out ruder than he means but he doesn't exactly regret it. Naruto-san takes a sort of self-conscious step back and curls his shoulders in as if trying to make himself smaller. Sasuke blinks. Once. Twice. They stand in clearly uncomfortable silence. His ANBU guard makes a show of moving the leaves in the distance and Sasuke clears his throat awkwardly. "Right then… uh…"

Despite the late hour, he's just woken up, still dressed in the pajamas he'd borrowed from Kakashi-sensei. His hair is a mess. His breath tastes like death. And most of him wants to climb back into bed and sleep the day away like he has for the past several. If his stomach hadn't woken him there wouldn't have been anyone to open the door for Naruto-san.

Perhaps that would have been for the best.

Naruto-san clears his throat and tries for a smile. "Is Kakashi-sensei here?"

"No."

And… okay, now Sasuke feels guilty when Naruto-san's smile falls and the tree rustles just a little harder. "Would you like to come in and wait?" Sasuke offers as he silently wills Naruto-san to say no. It's not that he dislikes Naruto-san… He just doesn't want to be around people. Not even Sakura.

Besides… Being with Naruto-san makes him homesick.

(He wonders what Benjamin would think of him now before burying that thought.)

"Sure!" And now Naruto is smiling the same way Benjamin does when Sasuke remembers his birthday or that he likes cherry cola even though it is an abomination upon this earth and okay… Sasuke feels even more like crap than he has for the past few days.

Sasuke would smile in reply if the idea didn't make his cheeks hurt. He steps aside and lets Naruto-san bound in. By the time Sasuke has finished locking Kakashi-sensei's door, Naruto-san has already removed his shoes and begun digging around the humble kitchen. Sasuke follows at a much more subdued pace.

"So… how have you been?" Naruto-san offers to break the silence, and Sasuke is so very thankful that Naruto-san must be used to Uchiha's silences. Sasuke shrugs, but Naruto-san carries on. Back turned as he grabs a few water bottles from cabinets and packing them into the duffle bag Sasuke has just noticed. "I've been good. Managed to catch up with the others. It's crazy how much shit changes in three years, ya know… Well…" Naruto-san amends, tossing a look over his shoulder and smiles a little sheepish.

Sasuke doesn't react. Perhaps Uchiha would be able to understand what Naruto-san felt being away from home for so long. But to Sasuke, everything is new in a familiar-alien sort of way, not new in an aching sort of way. Maybe if he ever gets back home he'll…

Sasuke glares down at the tabletop. His heart aches. If I ever get home , Sasuke thinks, bitterly, not when. If .

Naruto falls silent and Sasuke looks up to see the other nin staring at him. Sasuke glares harder. "What?"

Naruto looks away. "I… I'm glad you're home, Sasuke."

No, I'm not , Sasuke's mind screams. I'm a fake. I'm a lie. The Sasuke you want is happily running around the country for a man who was framed for the murder of his family and I'm here. Lying . But he says none of this. How could he? Instead, he grits his teeth and nods. Turning his glare back to the tabletop, he hears Naruto sigh.

In the beginning, it hadn't hit as hard. The knowledge that he might never get back home. The knowledge that this might be his life. Instead, he'd been so caught up in trying to get stronger that it hadn't mattered. And then he was here, in Konoha, and ready to discover the truth. He'd thrown himself into the books and the streets, learning everything as best he could so he could think, plan ahead, and keep from getting caught. And it'd almost been fun. The sneaking and lying just enough to keep from getting caught. The need to think three steps ahead. Not that it had been hard letting the others think what they wanted and agreeing when they needed confirmation.

At one point, he might have even considered that Konoha, of all the places in this world, would be where he'd settle if he had to choose.

And then he learned he'd been a fool.

Konoha is no more a haven than Sound. This whole terrible world raises children for slaughter without batting an eye. Any other way of life might not even make sense in this strange, alien ( wrong ) world.

He wants to go home. He wants to see Benjamin instead of Naruto. He wants to see his family instead of graves and an empty home. He's tired in a way that has nothing to do with sleep. And he feels like an idiot. A complete and utter fool.

An almost-scream of "Sasuke" and a pair of strong hands jolting him forward brings Sasuke back. He reorients and finds himself back in the kitchen of Kakashi-sensei's minimalist two-bedroom apartment and Naruto. "Bastard," Naruto-san growls, shaking him again. Sasuke jerks back, removes his hands and gets up from the kitchen stool he is sitting on. "Where the fuck did you go?"

Sasuke looks away. From the heat, he knows he's blushing and that only makes him blush harder. "Sorry," Sasuke finally manages, catching Naruto's eyes for just a moment before looking away again. "Sorry… I'm just…" He makes a gesture to his bedroom and makes a run for it before anything else can happen.

God… He's such an idiot.

...

"Okay." Kakashi-sensei says suddenly into the quiet of their living room before slamming his book shut. "That's enough."

When Sasuke continues to just stare up, blankly, Kakashi-sensei makes an annoyed noise and gestures violently for Sasuke to rise. Which he does after a moment of general confusion. Kakashi-sensei grins, his one exposed eye smiling as Sasuke marks his place and sets his book on a brief history of internal-Konoha clan politics to the side. "We're going out," Kakashi-sensei says with an unnecessary amount of glee.

Sasuke frowns, raising a single eyebrow.

Kakashi-sensei just points to his bedroom with the express order to be ready in five or else. Sasuke goes. He's not above admitting he's curious. Still, wearing anything other than house clothes or pajamas is a little strange after two week of refusing to leave the house. But it's Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke can do this for him.

It is only when they start to reach their destination that Sasuke feels a certain amount of dread. He stops walking. Kakashi-sensei sighs as if he was expecting this but Sasuke cannot make his legs move forward. "Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei urges, reaching out and tugging at his shoulders.

Sasuke looks up, pleading. Kakashi-sensei's face softens, his smile becomes delicate, his eye impossibly kind. Suddenly the world blurs and when Sasuke blinks he finds himself standing at the gate of the Uchiha compound, the beautiful white and red fan lovingly worn by the elements, the rest of the compound standing in the same state of worn and yet somewhat maintained. Though who would bother to maintain such a ghost town?

When Sasuke takes a step backwards, Kakashi-sensei reaches out again, pulls him close so he's standing just before the entrance. Sasuke swallows, hard. "I…" Sasuke wants to tell Kakashi-sensei he can't. He can't go in there. He can't. It wasn't his family's home, but it was. It wasn't his parents but it was. It wasn't Itachi but it was. And he can't deal with that right now. He can't handle the yes and no, the confusion, the fact that this is his life, but it's all very much a lie. His knees go weak and there is Kakashi-sensei supporting his weight while his mind just screams NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo .

"Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei urges and yet his voice is still soft, kind, delicate. Sasuke feels delicate. He feels brittle. Kakashi-sensei pushes him one step, two. He's standing in the compound. The world is silent except for the birds in the distance. No people. "I don't know what you remembered," Kakashi-sensei says, "But we can't ignore our past."

"But…" Sasuke starts. Kakashi-sensei looks at him again with that smile and Sasuke feels tears forming in the corner of his eyes. "I don't know what to do," Sasuke confesses, because he needs to tell someone. Even if they don't really understand. Even if he doesn't really understand it himself. The world feels like it's constantly moving and twisting and turning and he just can't keep up. "Nothing makes sense anymore."

He can't help but think if Itachi was here he'd know what to do, would know how to make things right. (Itachi had always just seemed to know things.)

"I know," Kakashi-sensei says as if he did, but how could he? "I've lost people to. But…" He looks away and up, up into the sky above where clouds roll by. "We can live on for them. We can make things right."

Sasuke swallows, hard. Looks away from Kakashi-sensei to the compound that once held his family. If he stares he can see them here, his mother and father. His brother. His aunts and uncles and far too many cousins living here. The same but different like Uchiha. A little harder. A little worn. Slightly different morals, but the same in the ways that are important. "Okay."

He… he doesn't really mean it. Sasuke is self-aware enough to know that (he thinks Kakashi-sensei knows too). But it's a step. Towards something. Acceptance, maybe? Of this reality. Of this world. He takes a few more steps into the compound and turns to Kakashi-sensei. "Okay."

He takes a deep breath.

...

(Karin yawns, loud and open mouthed. Utterly unladylike, she thinks with a certain amount of glee. Besides her, Sasuke stretches, working out the kinks in his back. She spares him a glance and tries not to drool at the tantalizing skin. Really, it is unfair how attractive the other boy was. And it didn't help that he was so powerful, she thinks, remembering the battle from yesterday. A whole gang taken out without a drop of blood spilt. His chakra a steady siren call as he took out enemy after enemy with a pointed shock to the chest, just enough to lock the muscles and restrain.

It's enough to get a girl going. She giggles.

"Hm?"

She smiles at him, all pointy teeth, "It's nothing, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke gives her a look that screams disbelief, but he lets it go. "So where to next?"

She breaths deep and spreads out her senses, allowing the earth's chakra to lead her to her prey. Suigetsu feels like cool, crisp ocean air on overheated skin, the sense of unease you feel as you watch the ocean shore recede before a tsunami, the wave just building and building,the helplessness you feel in the knowledge that there is nothing you can do to stop it or save yourself. He , she concludes, is not a man built for peace . Not like her Sasuke who for all his large amounts of chakra carries a warmth and steadiness like summer grass beneath bare feet and a mother's hug. Peace, Karin thinks, could suit him if he gave it a chance.

She almost, for a moment, feels guilty about her plans to send him back to Orochimaru. Peace does not last in Sound. It does not belong.

When she returns to herself, she is still standing. Sasuke has come closer as if to catch her and she tries not to blush. How thoughtful! "That way," she points. "He's two days' journey west and hiding." She turns to him and her grin turns vicious. "He's hiding in a village of sorts, but I doubt that'll be a problem."

He remains impassive and unimpressed, but there is a sparkle in his eye. Maybe peace wouldn't suit someone so in love with battle , she rethinks. But that is what makes them similar. She loves to watch. He loves to fight. It helps that she loves to watch him fight. It is only then you really see strength.

"No, it won't." He says finally, shrugging on his jacket and pack. The cave they'd made camp in had been kind to them. She will remember it fondly as they set off.

On their way, they run into another group of bandits. They are oddly persistent in these parts. After a few moments of battle, she finds herself almost bored. She wants to see Sasuke fight, really fight. These opponents are weak and so they are useless. So while Sasuke is beautiful in his grace, there is no need for him to showcase his power. Yes, she thinks, how boring.

At last, he activates his Sharingan, perhaps annoyed and bored himself. The leader of the bandits gasps. "Impossible," he roars, charging forward. Of the group, he has the most skill. But Sasuke dodges his sword with an insulting amount of ease. "Sasuke Uchiha has returned to Konoha. Where have you gained your eyes?"

What , Karin thinks, frowning.

Sasuke pauses, beating another bandit to their knees. If he had the mind for it, the field would smell like blood at this point. For now it smells like fall. "How do you know that?"

The leader laughs, "Everyone is smart enough to keep tabs on the Uchiha Murderer," he sneers. "People say he's returning to Konoha so he can finally finish the deed."

Sasuke cuts him down then. His speed is incredible. It takes a few moments for her to register what the leader had said before he died and then to realize he has died. As the other bandits run with their tails between their legs, she turns to Sasuke, "What did he mean?" Clearly he hasn't returned to Konoha. He is here.

"Don't think of it," Sasuke orders, leaving no room for question. "It doesn't concern us now."

She frowns, but lets it go. She'll find out eventually. After all, information gathering is what she is good for.)

...

The walk through the compound is almost pleasant. Almost okay. Kakashi-sensei is graceful enough to not say anything, to let the silence sit until they get to the main house. Uchiha's house. It is humble. A sort of traditional style home like his grandmother's. But bigger. Different from the city-like houses and western-ish style houses that dot the other suburbs of Konoha. When Sasuke opens the door, it falls off its hinges, crumbles, and kicks up a cloud of dust.

For a moment, he thinks about taking off his shoes. Instead he forges onwards, climbs up the three steps and enters the house. Tries not to panic the minute he sees the living room. Kakashi-sensei offers him a steadying hand on the shoulder and Sasuke takes another deep breath. "I…"

"I'll wait here," Kakashi-sensei says.

Sasuke nods. Thank you .

The house is eerily quiet. He doesn't know why he's surprised. Doesn't know what he expected. There are leaves on the floor, dust in the corners. The stairs creak as he climbs. The wood groans when he walks. The house shows signs of its age and its abandonment in the scruffs on the floor and the water stains on the wall. It is a ruin as much as it is a shrine. When he comes to the first room, he is surprised to see it was the room of a child's. Uchihas? Probably . There are toys, old wooden ones and marbles in the corners. The bed is covered in leaves and twigs. There are probably animals living in the vanity.

It holds no real impact on him. Unlike the rest of the house, it is easy to draw the line, to see where their upbringings differed. His childhood room had been vibrant, filled with soft toys instead of wooden ones, and many, many drawings on the walls. This room looks too… barren to be his. Too empty of things children should have and he has a feeling it is not simply because much must have been lost to time. It is the first time he wonders how their parents might have differed beyond the obvious.

The next room is a study and he makes a note to come back to it later. It must have been Uchiha's father's. If it hadn't been scrubbed clean it might hold some answers for him. But he isn't here for that.

The next is his parents. He doesn't even open the door.

Across from the master bedroom is another bedroom. It doesn't look any different from the others on the outside, but it is the last room on the second floor. It must be Itachi's. The first thing he notices is there is a futon on the floor instead of the western style bed in Uchiha's childhood room. He doesn't know why this strikes him as wrong. And he can't stop his feet from carrying him forward to the edge of the bed. The room is just as worn as the others. There is a smell of must and mildew. But there are no leaves in this room. The single window is closed. The glass is not broken. There is no struggle or signs of battle. There hasn't been anything like that in the entire house. It is as if one day everyone got up and simply walked away.

A complete ghost town.

"And it doesn't even have the ghosts," Sasuke jokes, under his breath as he toes at the sheets of the futon. His toe lightly snags at a loose board and he hums, curious. Pushing away the futon and trying not to cough from the dust that gets picked up, he's surprised to see not a floorboard loosened with time, but a piece of wood with a small hole that someone could stick a finger in to use to pick up. Itachi… Sasuke's Itachi had always been a fan of hiding places. Hollowed out books hiding leftover Halloween candy to drawers with false bottoms to hide his guilty pleasure books. Sasuke had always had fun as a child hunting those hiding places out and surprising Itachi with his goods. Itachi would pretend to get furious before sharing whatever Sasuke found. The memories make him smile.

He pops open the floorboard. Inside is a small wooden box with an engraved golden Uchiha fan on the top. He takes care to pick it up. It is dusty and worn. But not just from time. This box has been handled often. Perhaps an antique? A family heirloom? Opening up the top, he's surprised to see not food or books, but pictures. Hundreds of well loved photographs. Photographs of… him. Uchiha. Each one labeled on the back. First day of school. First steps. First words. At an ice cream parlor. At a dango shop.

He's not surprised when the tears start to fall. He's not surprised when his vision starts to blur. He doesn't know how long he sits there, sorting through pictures. Finding photos of his parents, of his cousins. Of his aunts and uncles arguing and laughing and playing around the compound. But mostly of Uchiha. Uchiha sitting on the back porch and Uchiha laughing up at the camera. At some point Kakashi-sensei finds him, puts a hand on his shoulder and doesn't say anything when he turns around to cry into his chest, sobs choked by fabric.

When they return home, Sasuke takes the box with him.

...

That night, Kakashi tells him as he finishes cleaning the living room that Team Seven is coming over for dinner. This consists of more people than he expects.

Yamato-sensei is a hard man. You can see it in his face and the way he carries himself, all straight-backed and controlled. In a way he reminds Sasuke of his grandfather. Old and wrinkled and with smile lines along his face. But who'd fought a war on the losing side. He had a stance like that, a control like that. Yamato-sensei is a military man, more so than Sakura or Naruto, more so than even Kakashi. Sasuke could see it in his chakra the way it laid smooth along his skin like a shield and in its color: military green.

Sai… Well now it looks like Sasuke knows who his ANBU guard is and Sasuke doesn't know if he feels safer or not. Sai has the same wild, red chakra that is always just barely restrained like he has to fight for the control Yamato-sensei handles with such ease. But his outwards appearance is blank. If Sasuke could not see his chakra, he would have to wonder if the other boy felt anything at all. It doesn't help that his smile is terrifying. Of course, Sasuke has better sense than to say this. Instead, he asks as he finishes off his second shot of sake, "Is it boring following me around all the time?"

Sai smiles that same fake smile. "I don't know what you mean, Traitor." And then he picks up his drink and joins Sakura on the couch. Sasuke tries not to take offense to the name. After all, he called Sakura ugly even though she obviously isn't. Perhaps he means it as a joke. After all… his chakra hadn't felt vicious. Not like Kabuto's.

Turning to Kakashi-sensei, he asks, "Should I have… not said that?"

Kakashi just sighs and hands him a ceramic bowl full of spicy beef. Right, then.

Naruto is the last to arrive. By then, Sasuke has started drinking in earnest. He expected sake; he finds he loves gin. The only problem is that they clearly expect him to be better at drinking then he is . Genin were allowed to drink , he remembers. But Uchiha had never picked up a glass when Sasuke was around and his mother would skin him alive if she knew he was on his third glass of gin. His father would kill him for drinking without eating. At least it was watered down, of course, because he's not an idiot. But… it tastes really good.

With Naruto is an older, white-haired man who looks oddly familiar, but it is only when he sees him smile that Sasuke realizes. "You're the man from Orochimaru's picture," he blurts out before the older man can properly introduce himself and suddenly the room gets two degrees colder. Clearly, Sasuke mourns, his people skills have decreased in the last two years. He blames it on the alcohol.

Sakura sighs so hard it sounds like a groan.

"Sorry," Sasuke cuts in before the older man could say anything, slightly panicking, "I forgot. Not supposed to eh… um…" He groans. "Oh my god… I am so bad at this."

Kakashi looks amused. At least someone is enjoying this.

The older man stares at him and even Yamato has come towards their little group by the door. Curious, maybe?

Naruto chuckles awkwardly, "Sasuke, this is Ero-sensei. We traveled together while you were… er…away."

"Is this one of those moments where the participants attempt to ignore the 'elephant in the room?'" Sai asks rather suddenly, "In which case, I do not understand the social benefits. It would be easier to simply address that Sasuke ran away to live with one of the worst traitors of the village. At least then we could move away from the door."

For some reason, this works.

Dinner is delicious because Sasuke had helped cook it and he announces it without shame when Sakura asks Kakashi how he learnt to cook. Naruto backs him. Ero-sensei (and he still needs to find out his name because Sasuke knows Ero means pervert and he doesn't want to know how he got that name) says something along the lines of him making a good wife. "Orochimaru taught me," he says after a moment, taking a sip of his gin. "Because the cook got sick... or killed, I don't know… and Kabuto can't cook. U-" He catches himself before he mentions Uchiha. Looking up from his plate, everyone is staring at him with various degrees of shock and awe. Except for Sai who doesn't seem to react to anything.

"What was your time like in Sound?" No one has asked Sasuke this before. Perhaps Naruto is the only one brave enough to ask.

Sasuke thinks about this question for a moment, mulling it over. The depression and the confusion. The starvation in the beginning only to be followed by the stress of needing answers. The backbreaking work, long hours, and training. The darkness. The way he was escorted everywhere even if he didn't want to go. Here he could walk around and Sai was kind enough to give him the idea of privacy. But… Sound had given him Uchiha, had taught him how to fight. Even Orochimaru, in the end, had been kind, as kind as he could be. So he says, "Terrible," with a smile and goes back to eating.

...

(Naruto corners Kakashi in the kitchen as Sakura and Sasuke say 'good night' to Ero-sensei. Sai and Yamato had left earlier before dessert, probably off to report to Obaa-chan. Not that they'd learned much. Even drunk, Sasuke had danced around their questions with frightening ease. "Did you plan that?"

Kakashi doesn't say anything, just shrugs, and finishes rinsing the last cup. In the other room, Sakura is laughing and he can hear Sasuke's slur but can't make out the words. "If I did," Kakashi-sensei says in an oddly monotone voice, "it didn't go very well, now did it?"

Naruto thinks he understands.

Together they finish putting away the remainder of dinner: home-cooked spicy beef, cardamom rice, and pickled vegetables. Apparently, Orochimaru had taught Sasuke how to cook. Or maybe Sasuke had said that just because. You never really knew what someone will say when drunk. Finally, Naruto says, "If Obaa-chan wants information so bad, why doesn't she just send him to T&I." Not that Naruto would allow it. It was too easy for accidents to happen with the Council wanting Sasuke… if not dead then at least out of the way. He hopes Konoha is better than that, but he's traveled with Ero-sensei for two years and he's seen the world. He likes to think he isn't as naïve as he'd been as a child.

"Yamanaka Inokchi is still in the hospital with recovering chakra deprivation." When Naruto says nothing, Kakashi adds, "He did it on instinct. No hand seals. One second he's cooperating and the next Yamanaka-san is screaming… T&I won't work."

"The Council wants Sasuke locked up," Naruto says because Kakashi-sensei can help. Sakura had kept her ears open in the past week, but there was little change. The Council was stubborn. Obaa-chan was stubborn. And Sasuke wasn't making life easy for himself with all the secrecy, Naruto thought, a little bitter. Anyone with eyes knew he was hiding something.

Kakashi-sensei doesn't seem surprised by this. But then again, he's reporting to Obaa-chan, isn't he? That's why he'd held the party. That's why he'd invited that asshole, Sai, and Yamato-sensei so they could collaborate. But he's not really giving them anything , Naruto concludes. Team Seven protects their own, after all. "Yes, they are."

"What should we do?"

In the other room, Sakura has started complaining of cheating as Sasuke cheers far too loudly. Alcohol has a strange effect on his friend. Kakashi-sensei sighs. "Be smart, Naruto," he warns. "I'll keep you informed if I can."

Naruto accepts. There isn't much more he can ask for. Not just yet. )

A/N: So I totally jinxed it! I bragged that I hadn't missed a week and then BOOM a whole month goes by. But seriously, this chapter gave me some serious writers block. Three versions of this chapter were created and even now there are some sections I removed because it just wasn't flowing right. Next chapter might be extra long because of it.

Karin continues to be a fav to write. I hope I'm capturing her creep levels properly. And finally more Naruto! I didn't forget about you, my beautiful ball of yellow sunshine.

Please let me know what you think. I always appreciate your feedback.

Shout out to my beta: TheMaelStromWrites