A/N: Yes, i upload slowly-please don't kill me! Anyway, I'm using this symbol =^.^= to represent a time lapse/change of P.O.V. since it can be confusing sometimes.

I know that the yaoi aspect of the story hasn't really showed, but i felt the need to develop my plot first. But no more waiting! the yaoi is here at last!

Side note: How many of you guys have played AC3? I found this absolutely amazing story called 'Thicker Than Water' and its Connor/Haytham! I wasn't sure about it at first since its incest, but the two of them don't really have a father/son relationship anyway...The author is really good at writing and its super interesting! Give it a try! (if you don't mind the incest part)

Oh yes! the last chapter got a lot more views and reviews! i want to thank everyone for that and for actually keeping with me, even though I'm bad at updating!

Naruto lay there seething in bed the next morning, the cheerful sun the opposite of what he was feeling. So Kyuubi was just using him as a tool and an experiment, was he? Well, Naruto would show that cheeky fox that he was more than capable on his own. He certainly didn't need to rely on something that couldn't even escape from its own prison. He huffed and got out of bed, figuring he might as well meet the day ahead of him.

=^.^=

Naruto was putting his finishing touches on his persona 'Kurai' when there was a knock on the door. Naruto went and opened it, expecting to see Gaara. Instead, an elder ninja was there with a message.

"Ah, Kurai, how nice to see you." His tone was far from pleasure at seeing Kurai. "There is a dinner tonight and you are expected to come. Of course, if you are too busy doing…whatever it is that you do, you don't have to come."

"Of course I will be there, if I am expected. After all, what could be more important than the Kazekage?"

"Of course." The guard said coldly, curling his upper lip in distaste. He obviously wished to be doing other things. "Well then, if you would excuse me." Naruto nodded and the guard gave a stiff, short before leaving. He narrowed his eyes at the back of the man, displaying his similar distaste before retreating into the confines of his room.

"Hmph. Annoying bastard." He muttered, lightly kicking the bed to relieve just the tiniest bit of his frustration. The frustration! He couldn't even begin to word the annoying frustration that was inside of him. Add some anxious feeling to it, and of course, the anger. His frustration at the lack of info, the fake 'him', the unexplainable explosion, and other minor things. His anxiousness was slowly becoming worse as he worried over the safety of the village and its inhabitants, what the future held, and Gaara. The red head had seemed to slowly be distancing himself from Naruto as time passed on. Originally he had blamed it on the years apart, but surely that gap between them would have been healed by now. Apparently Naruto had been mistaken when he thought Gaara would welcome him with open arms. Finally, there was the anger at the unknown enemy for being so troublesome, and anger at Kyuubi for being so…maddening! Oh, he was also confused over Sasuke, since that particular bastard seemed to have wormed back into Naruto's mind. Naruto had never exactly forgotten about him, he just eventually began to feel maybe he shouldn't be so damn obsessive over the Uchia. So, he slowly began the heart wrenching process of burying the Uchia until the right time came. He was pretty sure that thinking about Sasuke wouldn't help his current state of mind, but now that he was back in Naruto's mind, he seemed determined to stay.

"Tch. Maybe some training would help, or perhaps meditation…" He hadn't practiced his sage mode in a while.

=^.^=

The wind whistled softly as it passed through the cracks in the rock, and the village walls creaked quietly with age. The sun was warmer than he was used to in Konoha, but not at all unbearable. The common lizard scampered over little rocks, it feet pattering and tail dragging through the dirt. The sound of happy villagers below reached his ears with no trouble, and birds twittered happily.

Naruto sat in a meditative position, clearing his mind and becoming one with his surroundings. He focused on the sounds he heard, and things he felt, tuning his mind to just them. His worries from earlier were insignificant, simply an unimportant disturbance in his past. A soft whisper of air and the smallest scent of the forests was released when his sage mode activated, signaling a successful meditation. His closed eyes turned gold, and a red, graceful curve formed above eyes. He hummed softly in contentment and opened his eyes. It seemed that he hadn't become worse in his sage mode from lack of practice.

He stood up and surveyed the magnificent town before him, full of vitality and happiness. Well, there went one more thing on his list to protect. He glanced at the sun out of the corner of his eyes and guessed it was around lunch time. He smiled in contentment and entertained himself like a child, playing with rocks and drawing nonsense in the dirt, happy with his lot in life. He may not have a family through blood, but he definitely had one through other bonds. He had wonderful friends, and he had the power to protect. The people around him had finally acknowledged him, and he was truly part of his village. He helped out others through missions, and was able to enjoy ramen quite often. Yep, he had to say that he lead a good life.

A snort of some kind awoke him from his trance and he looked around attempting to locate the source. He didn't see anything right away and frowned. Surely the desert didn't just…snort when it felt the need to. He looked again and saw something shift in a shadow. He narrowed his eyes, settling into a casual defensive stance, waiting for the thing to show itself. He didn't have to wait long; the thing decided to come out of the black and as it stepped into the light, Naruto couldn't help but let out a small gasp.

"It's you…I wasn't sure if I was just imagining it back then." The semi-large black wolf didn't seem to have a threatening presence, so Naruto chose a more comfortable position. He offered it a smile and examined it. It had silky looking, longish black fur and seemed to be in good condition. It gracefully trotted forward and stopped around a meter away, regarding him warily.

"Hmm. You can't just walk around without a name…how about…umm, let me think… Blackie? No…I know—Xuan! How about that?" Naruto looked the wolf in its eyes, grinning, and then mentally freaked out as the entire world shattered.

The sky turned to shards and rained down as the earth cracked around him. The air seemed frozen in time and he couldn't move, because of his shock or actually unable, he didn't know. His heart beat thundered in his ears and he could only stare at the wolf in front of him. He noticed its black eyes, glowing faintly red from some light within, and then everything stopped.

He stumbled forward, and was caught by a strong pair of arms. He heard a snort again, only this time it was much more refined.

"Blackie? You were seriously considering Blackie, dobe?" Naruto stiffened at the familiar voice. He was pushed back onto his own feet and stared at the person who had ruled a large part of his life.

"Sasuke?" He breathed, questioning his own sanity. Sasuke raised an eyebrow in question, and huffed when Naruto didn't say anything else.

"As much as I'm sure you would like too, dobe, we can't stand here all day with you staring at me like I'm a god." Any sense of fondness Naruto was starting to feel was immediately squashed as he scowled at the fugitive.

"What do you want, Sasuke?" Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Look, just take me to your place and I'll explain there." Sasuke tottered a little before he caught himself, cursing. He placed a hand protectively over the left side of his body, before he noticed Naruto watching and quickly let it drop.

"What?" He spat out, his tone laced with venom. Naruto inwardly flinched at the tone, but he was more worried about Sasuke's safety than his own.

"You're injured. Let me help." He said softly. Sasuke glared at him'

"I don't need your pity, Naruto. Just give me a place to stay." Sasuke was evidently trying to be threatening but it didn't work since he happened to lose his strength at that moment. Naruto saw him go weak and caught him as he fell.

"You obviously need my help, teme. Can you at least walk with half your weight on me?" Sasuke answered by slipping closure to the earth and Naruto took that as no. "I suppose it can't be helped then." Naruto picked up Sasuke in something that resembled bridal style and began the slow journey back to his room, with Sasuke putting his remaining strength into the most dangerous glare he could manage at the moment.

=^.^=

When Naruto was back in his room, he laid Sasuke out on his bed, hoping to help him. Sasuke was unconscious, and Naruto took the opportunity to look for the source of his pain. He undid the thick purple cord around his waist and loosened the odd skirt like thing. He would have to ask Sasuke about that later. He then carefully undid his grey top and slid it off the limp body. It was then that the source of his state became apparent. A bandage was wrapped messily around his abdomen and on the left side; a large splotch of blood had seeped through. Obviously, Naruto would have to fix that with his meager healing abilities. He went into the bathroom and fetched a lot of cloths, a bowl of hot water, and a bottle of sake that just happened to be in there too.

He returned to the unconscious young man on his bed and slowly stripped away the bandages. The wound underneath was a pretty clean cut, but apparently Sasuke hadn't tried to fix it very well. It was swollen and purple around the edges, and the skin was only roughly stitched together. Blood had crusted on and around the cut, and some pus was evidently leaking though. Naruto sighed. Why didn't Sasuke just do a decent job the first time healing it, and avoid all of this trouble. Naruto had no skill in healing jutsu as far as he knew, and he wasn't about to test it out on Sasuke. No, he would have to do it the long and hard way; but Naruto was no stranger to tedious work, and he was sure Sasuke could stand the pain. If he couldn't, well, he deserved it.

=^.^=

Several hours later, Naruto was dozing off in a chair next to the bed. Sasuke was either sleeping or passed out, but either way he was unconscious on the bed, his wound clean and wrapped with new bandages. Naruto slowly woke up and blearily looked at Sasuke, not quite registering him. It took a while, but he finally remembered why the long lost fugitive was passed out on his bed. A big grin broke on Naruto's face, and he finally was able to catch up with events. The Sasuke Uchia, his best friend and everyone else's enemy, was back with him. Albeit he was seriously wounded and in hiding, but that didn't really matter at the moment. What did matter however was that Naruto was missing the dinner he had said he would attend.

=^.^=

Naruto stopped outside of the door and regained his composure. It wouldn't do to simply burst in like this, slightly out of breath and eyes wild from recent events. He took a deep breath, slid on his mask, and opened the door.

Naturally, everyone stopped their conversation and turned to look at who had dared to come in late. He awkwardly stood there for a moment before Gaara cleared his throat and claimed everyone's attention.

"Kurai-san, we weren't sure if you would be coming or not. Please, sit." He motioned to a seat next to him and Naruto walked across the room to take his seat. After he sat, conversations slowly picked up again, along with a few cross mutterings undoubtedly pointed towards Naruto.

"I'm am very sorry, Kazekage-sama. Something unexpected occurred and I had to take care of it. I lost track of time while doing so." Naruto said quickly. Gaara looked at him, before nodding and resuming a conversation with someone else. Naruto repressed a sigh and turned towards the food in front of him.

"Hey! Hey, Kurai-kun!" A small smile slipped onto Naruto's face as he recognized the voice. He turned towards the person next to him, quirking the corner of his mouth upward.

"Kana-chan. It's been a long time." She nodded vigorously.

"I thought you were gonna come talk to me sometime!" She pouted momentarily before grinning at Naruto. "So, how ya been? Found any nice ladies yet?" The smile on Naruto's face grew a little bigger. He had missed friendly company like this.

"I'm doing well. Ladies? No, not yet. They all seem more fixed on stalking me than actually having a decent talk."

"Well, that's not surprising. You're gonna have to be the one to start the conversation, next time you're out hunting for some." An annoyed laugh sounded across the table from them and they both looked. The guard from earlier was calmly lounging in his chair, observing the two of them.

"So, that why the ambassador is late, is it? He was out looking for someone to warm his bed? I always wondered why the Kazekage held you in high esteem, Kurai-san." Kana nodded a cold greeting at the man.

"Kiyoshi."

"Kana. Nice to see you." His smile didn't reach his eyes. They stayed frozen, refusing to emit any warmth.

"Kurai-kun, this is Kiyoshi. He's a member of the council."

"I believe we met earlier, Kurai-san." He stretched out a hand and Naruto took it, refusing to show any hesitation. They shook once, Kiyoshi with a cold smile and Naruto with his poker face. "So, Kurai-san, why the untimely arrival?"

"Something unexpected happened. I had to take care of it immediately, and then lost track of time while doing so." Kiyoshi raised a perfect eyebrow.

"I wonder what that could be, hmm? Surely you didn't just see a girl with a perfect body strutting down the street?"

"I have better things to do in my free time than you, Kiyoshi-san." Naruto said coldly, lifting his chin just the smallest bit.

"Dear me, spitting out accusations already? Kana-chan, you do have quite the choice in friends." Kana caught the hidden meaning and smirked.

"Oh, I wash that was the case, Kiyoshi, but Kurai-kun already has a special someone." Naruto's eyes widened and he choked on the little bit of food he had been nibbling on.

"K-Kana-chan!" He cried accusingly.

"Oh, my bad Kurai-kun. Was that a secret?" Kana smiled wickedly. "Kurai-kun is quite devoted to them, so he can't go off chasing all the girls he sees."

"Oh? What off the conversation earlier?" Kiyoshi asked, clearly not believing Kana.

"Surely you don't suspect the mindless jokes between friends, Kiyoshi?" Kiyoshi gave a short, cold laugh and put his hands in the air.

"You've beat me this time, Kana-chan. I know a defeat when I see one. Anyhow, I must return to my earlier conversations. It was nice to talk to you, Kana-chan, Kurai-san." He gave on last icy smile before absorbing himself in his earlier discussion.

Kana sighed and glared at Kiyoshi. "So, what d'ya think of that particular bastard?"

"He's…good for a conversation, I suppose." Naruto said slowly. Kana gave a short laugh.

"That's true I suppose. Even if I want to strangle him after each one." Kana looked around at the fellow ninja gathered around the table. "These dinners are kinda pointless, they're just made for a show of camaraderie, to seem like we all get along. They can be fun lots of times, but that depends on who you're next to. It aint so bad now though, being next to eye candy here." She grinned, relieving the annoyed feelings. Naruto elbowed her in the ribs, smiling.

"You're not as cold as you lead others to believe, are ya?"

Out of reflex, a poker face slid onto Naruto's face. He narrowed his eyes at her, his stomach twisting from unfounded suspicion and anxiety. "Relax, Kurai-kun. It's only natural for a ninja to hide his feelings. It's what we're taught, right?" She grinned at him, but the grin lacked is former warmth. "But, you're highly suspicious, you know? The mysterious ambassador, so young and yet in such a high position, who gains the Kazekage's trust right away. I've also just found that the 'Kurai' everybody knows is a fake, in at least your demeanor. There is a high possibility that other things about you are also fake." Kana stroked her lip, deep in thought. "Ne, Kurai-kun, who are you really?"

Naruto stiffened and glared at her. "Are you naturally so suspicious of others, Kana-chan?" She laughed.

"I suppose you have a point, Kurai-kun. Well, if my suspicions are real, please explain to me when you feel ready." Naruto just folded his arms. Kana smiled, and then glanced at the Kazekage as something caught her attention. She visibly paled, and grabbed Naruto's arm, pulling him closer to her. "Kurai-kun, this is important. Take Kazekage-sama out of here and back to his room."

"Why?" He asked, confused, all of the earlier distrust forgotten. When she just smirked, he was even more confused.

"This is a secret, all right? Only certain people know. Truth is, Kazekage-sama is a dead lightweight, and it seems he just downed a glass of sake. Things could get bad." She pushed him away from her. Naruto nodded and she whispered 'good'.

"Kazekage-sama? You don't look so good." She began, voice excellently laced with concern. Everyone who could hear stopped talking and looked around. "Maybe you should go to your room to rest, if you're not well." Naruto took that as his cue and stood up. He went to Gaara and took hold of his arm, lifting him out of seat.

"I…I feel sick…" Gaara mumbled, offering no resistance.

"Kurai-kun, take him to his room and take care of him, alright?" Some new person said.

"Yes..." He muttered.

=^.^=

Naruto had managed to reach Gaara's room with no trouble, and was beginning to doubt that Gaara was actually such a bad drunk as Kana had said. He softly laid Gaara on his bed and stood up, looking at the drunken Kazekage.

"Really…You? A lightweight?" Naruto grinned and turned towards the door. Gaara didn't need anyone to take care of him. He had almost reached it when he had a second thought. Gaara would probably pass out sometime and seeing as he didn't know how to fight drunk like Lee, he would be an excellent target. Naruto wrinkled his nose disapprovingly as he realized he would have to watch after Gaara all night.

Naruto sat on the edge of the large bed and looked out the window. The sun had already set, and it was slowly turning dark. Stars were slowly appearing, twinkling brightly and the land was becoming an eerie blue, being lit up by the moon. Naruto wasn't exactly tired, but seeing as there was nothing else to do, he crawled next to Gaara and stretched out. If he fell asleep, he had enough confidence in his senses to wake him up.

Naruto closed his eyes and simply enjoyed the peaceful moment, reveling in the feel of his friend next to him. He could see the darkness grow stronger through his eyelids and smiled. Life was just wonderful. Well, maybe it could be if Gaara would just scoot over and stop breathing down his neck. Naruto frowned as he felt something wet against his ear. The only thing that could be was…Gaara?

His eyes snapped open just as Gaara licked his ear again. He rolled over to look at Gaara, frowning.

"What are you do—Mmph!" Naruto freaked out as Gaara caught his mouth in his own. Naruto was too stunned to react as Gaara kissed him, the sake from earlier evident on his breath. Gaara ran his tongue along Naruto's bottom lip, asking for entrance. Naruto instinctively complied and, shutting his eyes, opened his mouth. Gaara's tongue was immediately in it, exploring the cavern and committing it to memory. Naruto had never really kissed someone before, so when he heard himself let out a moan, his eyes flew open and he pushed Gaara away.

Naruto sat up, blushing furiously and glaring at Gaara.

"What was that about?!" Even with only the moonlight, Naruto could see Gaara just give him a deadpan stare. "Hey…" When Gaara didn't answer, Naruto assumed he was still drunk. "Tch…lightweight." Naruto made to get off the bed, but Gaara's hand shot out and pulled him back down. Naruto struggled but Gaara straddled his hips and pinned him down. He leaned over Naruto and kissed his neck, sucking on it until Naruto was sure it would leave a mark. That sent Naruto over the edge. Not being drunk, Naruto was stronger than Gaara and easily escaped his hold. He pushed Gaara to the other side of the bed and leapt off of it, glaring.

"It's not my problem if you get killed tonight." He hissed, and with that he stomped across the room and out the door, slamming it shut behind him.