Author's note: Later than I had anticipated, but personal stuff has left me quite tired and occupied well into the evening. Anyways, here is the next chapter!

Thanks to the following reviewer: 666snoopy

Warnings: Nothing in particular; maybe mentions of dead animals? And some minor time skips

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Kishimoto owns it.

I hope you'll like it!

Chapter 19

"You two are really quite adept at preparing animals, hm?" Kakashi commented, eyeing the pile of stripped carcasses in the wooden barrel.

Gaara snorted quietly, cleaning his hands in the bucket of water Sasuke pushed towards him after he was finished with it. "Yeah well, you tend to improve at a skill if you have to use it regularly to stay alive," he said dryly.

The corners of Kakashi's eyes wrinkled, showing he was smiling underneath the mask he insisted on wearing. "Well, glad we can benefit from your skills," he said cheerfully.

"You mean, you're glad we took over the nasty job so that you didn't have to do most of it," Sasuke said unimpressed, raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi sounded completely unrepented when he replied, "The benefits of being the older person in charge – means I get to boss around the younger ones."

"Means you get to live the easy life," Naruto said amused.

"However you want to look at it," Kakashi said airily and waved them off. "Go on, you're done here for the day."

"Only because there's nothing left," Sasuke muttered.

Taking apart the animals they caught in their traps was necessary in order to keep surviving, but he couldn't say he was a fan of this particular task. He knew how to do it, that wasn't the issue; he just preferred doing others things. Even killing off zombies was more preferable than digging through dead animals' corpses.

"Any plans for the rest of the day?" Naruto asked as they walked away from the stable.

Sasuke chanced a glance at the sky. It was late afternoon, inching into evening almost. Naruto saw him looking and clucked his tongue, smacking his arm.

"Don't be such a smartass," he chided.

"I didn't even say anything!" Sasuke said offended while Gaara smirked.

"I saw you looking at the sky; I know what you were thinking!" Naruto accused him. "It was a valid question!"

"Naruto-san? Gaara-san?"

All three of them stopped walking and turned around. Anko approached them, wrapped up in a thick coat. She looked somewhat pale still, but marginally better than yesterday – which well …

"Anko-san?" Naruto said confused.

She smiled weakly. "I'm glad I caught you both. Saw you passing my home," she said and rubbed her cheeks. "I just wanted – thank you. Both of you. Thank you so much for saving us all yesterday. If you two hadn't shown up … I don't want to think of what would have happened then." She took a shuddering breath and hugged herself tightly, undoubtedly thinking of that moment she had almost been raped.

"It's fine," Naruto said awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "I just got worried and dragged Gaara along with me."

"Like I would have let you go on your own," Gaara said critically, crossing his shoulders.

"Even so, thank you so much," she insisted. "I'm not sure how many people would have risked their lives the way you two did. I hope you didn't get into trouble for leaving the compound without permission."

"Technically we had permission – just not from the Board," Gaara smiled thinly.

"It's okay, really, you don't need to thank us for being decent," Naruto said, waving it off like he and Gaara had not indeed pulled off a feat that not many people would do.

Like Anko said, not many people were willing to put their own lives at risk to rescue others. Or perhaps it would be fairer to say that not many people would just go off on their own without an entire group backing them in case of trouble. Naruto and Gaara had cleverly made use of the element of surprise, using silence and the darkness to sneak up on Sakon's group, but it had still been quite a dangerous endeavour. If Sakon had been quicker with his gun …

Sasuke hid a grimace on time, not wanting to think about that particular nightmare again. That one had felt way too realistic, especially after having seen with his own eyes just how ruthless and vile Sakon and the other men had been. If not for Naruto and Gaara, there was no doubt that neither of them would have made it out alive there.

"Still, thank you so much." Anko bowed slightly. "It's thanks to you two that I'm still here. You two were incredible out there!"

"Hm," Naruto said vaguely, starting to look really uncomfortable now.

Even Gaara was a bit tensed and Sasuke didn't know whether to feel amused or sad at the fact that neither men knew how to accept praise. How long had it been since anyone had genuinely thanked them like this? They had been on their own for so long, gratitude from other people not close to them must feel like an alien concept now.

Anko appeared to sense she was making the two friends uncomfortable because she smiled and jerked her thumb in the direction of the infirmary.

"Well, I'm going to pop by the infirmary and see if Deidara is feeling up for a visit," giving Naruto and Gaara a gracious exit out of the conversation.

"Tell him I said hi if he's awake," Sasuke said and she nodded.

She smiled at them one more time before walking past them, going to the infirmary.

"You two really suck at accepting gratitude, huh," Sasuke commented lightly.

"Whatever, it's not like we were doing this to be thanked," Gaara said dismissively.

"Well, if you keep up being the hero, you'll just have to get used to being thanked then," Sasuke smirked.

"In that case, we'll just turn into selfish dicks then," Naruto retorted, sticking out his tongue.

Sasuke's smile faded when Naruto turned to Gaara to discuss what they could do tonight. Sasuke decided it was not amusing at all that neither of those two knew how to accept praise. Maybe they could get better at it if they chose to stay indefinitely at the compound.

"Hey, you coming with us?" Naruto asked, grabbing Sasuke's left arm with his two hands. "To the apartment?"

"Yeah, sure, let's go," Sasuke smiled, tangling their fingers together and earning a grin for that.

He still had a bit before he had to go home. He might as well spend some more time with Naruto that didn't involve ripping out animal guts.

Sasuke had just stood up to get himself a glass of water that evening when father arrived. He strode into the living room and took Sasuke by surprise when he drew him into a firm embrace, clinging to him with a level of intensity Sasuke hadn't experienced since mother had been killed. Even though he appeared very stern and was also not the type you should mess with, father wasn't so cold that hugs were barely given. At the same time, though, whenever he did hug either one of them, his embraces were usually not this firm. Tonight was clearly an exception.

"Father," Sasuke greeted him. He was quite befuddled at the unexpected hug, but returned it nonetheless, looking questioningly at his brother over father's shoulder.

Itachi simply shrugged, appeared entirely unsurprised by father's action.

Father hugged him for a moment longer before he breathed in deeply and pulled away a bit. He rested his hands on Sasuke's shoulders now and glanced around the room. "Naruto-san isn't here?"

"No, he's with Gaara at their apartment," Sasuke replied bemused. "Why? Did he need to be here? Is the Board going to give him and Gaara hell after all?" he demanded dismayed.

They had been at the stable with Kakashi for basically the entire day, working on the dead animals, but nobody had ever shown up to summon Naruto or Gaara, so Sasuke had figured that particular chapter was closed already. What could the Board even do? Kick them out for daring to save their own people? That would be a sure fire way to turn the entire compound against the Board if word got out about that – and Sasuke would have made damn sure the entire compound would have known the truth.

"No, they won't," Father reassured, smiling briefly before he sobered up again. "Even Danzo had to acknowledge that it would be beyond disrespectful to punish them for saving you."

"Dear god, imagine that. Danzo's not a complete dickwad after all," Sasuke mumbled unimpressed. If he was supposed to be impressed by the fact that for once Danzo had used common sense, he wasn't.

"No, it doesn't have anything to do with the Board. I just needed this," Father admitted in a rare display of vulnerability. "Whenever I think about how close you'd come to dying in that town … And the fact we wouldn't have known about it for a while until it was far too late … If Naruto-san and Gaara-san hadn't been so stubborn, I wouldn't be able to do this at all anymore. I wanted to thank them again and make sure they know they have a place here with us."

"Yeah, I'm not so sure they would deal well with accepting your thanks," Sasuke said wryly. "Neither of them are … exactly good at accepting such a thing. I think they prefer that you won't mention it again."

Otherwise they would just grow uncomfortable again, even though they were definitely deserving of the praise and gratitude they received for their actions last night.

"Well, in that case I won't. I don't want to make them uncomfortable," Father decided and squeezed Sasuke's shoulders gently before releasing him. "But I won't forget what they did for us."

"Guess that's father approving of Naruto-kun as your boyfriend, otouto," Itachi quipped with a smirk, throwing himself into the conversation for the first time since father had come home.

"Ruining a heartfelt moment, nii-san, that's just like you," Sasuke tsk'd and shook his head.

Father chuckled and walked to the kitchen. "Come on, you two. Let's see what we'll have for dinner."

Sasuke watched on as the group set about preparing the biggest truck they had when someone stopped next to him. He turned his head slightly and couldn't resist smiling when Naruto grinned at him.

"That one the group who's going to get the supplies from that town?" he surmised, jerking his head at the group in question.

Kakashi was part of the group, acting as its leader; a role he usually took on when going outside the walls. For all that the guy could be annoying with his jokes, he took runs very seriously and was one of their best fighters. People looked up to him for his ability to remain calm even in the most stressful moments and so he was automatically designated as the leader in every group he was part of.

Currently he was inside the truck, discussing with two other people how they would fit all the supplies in the back of the vehicle without overloading it and getting stranded. Trucks of this size weren't exactly a run of the mill type of vehicle so they had to be careful when using it.

It was nearly three weeks after Sasuke's group had been captured by Sakon and his disgusting cronies. A new group would set out to collect all the supplies necessary for the expansion of the compound. The Board had been heavily divided about how to proceed for a long time regarding this particular town. Father, Hiashi and Chiyo had been very reluctant to send out a new group in what could very well be a zombie infested town by now. Yoshino had understood their reservations, but had felt torn between the promise of new material and the desire to keep their people safe. Danzo, meanwhile unsurprisingly, had stated it would be a waste of Yamato's life and a disservice to his memory if they left the supplies there to rot.

Sasuke wasn't entirely certain whether Danzo really wanted to honour Yamato's death that way or whether he was just being his regular self: a stubborn dick unwilling to let go of the expansion idea.

After much arguing and a lot of late nights, they had eventually come to an agreement. They would sent out a group to test the waters first, so to speak, and get a feeling of how badly the town was infested by now. If the group deemed the risk doable, they would take as much of the building material as they could with them, leaving the rest to be picked up during a following run. If the risk was considered too great, they had orders to report back about the situation; under no circumstance, however, were they to act before they got the Board's approval.

"Yeah, they are going to check first how dangerous it is," Sasuke confirmed Naruto's assumption. "If it's safe enough, they'll bring back some of the material already."

"Suppose the old fart got what he wanted after all, huh," Naruto commented idly, scratching his cheek.

It was then that Sasuke took notice of the crossbow strapped to his back and the dagger in its faithful place against his thigh. "You leaving the walls?" he inquired; interest piqued. He tried to recall if Naruto had been put on the roster today.

He knew he himself hadn't been put on the roster today, this being one of his rare days off. He definitely was not scheduled to join Kakashi's group and return to that village. Father had been quite adamant that he wouldn't go back there. It was one of the rare times father put his foot down about what Sasuke did around the compound. Even though Sasuke had fully recovered from the ordeal by now, father didn't want him to return there and Sasuke respected his wish. Besides, it wasn't as if he was particularly eager to stride straight into a zombie mass either. Unlike certain blond and red haired men, he actually did possess some self-reservation skills.

"Yep, and you're joining me," Naruto smiled brightly. The late February sun caught his eyes as it peeked over the walls, making them glisten as they danced with mischief.

"Oh, I am, huh?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Should I go get my katana in that case? Is Gaara joining us as well?"

"Nah, Gaara's back at the apartment, catching up on some sleep. It's just you and me this time. It might be best if you take your katana with you, though. It's a bit of a trek and who knows how many dead dipshits we'll walk into?" He rested his hand on Sasuke's lower back, nudging him none too subtly in the direction of his house. "Go on, I'll wait here."

"Should I also grab some food and water for us?" Sasuke asked pointedly, referring to the distinct lack of bag on Naruto's person.

It was apparently a habit for Naruto, carrying only his weapons and not even a small bag for some food.

"Mah, if you insist." Naruto shrugged unbothered. "Don't think we'll be doing much eating and drinking, though, but you know, have at it, I'd say."

Intrigued now, Sasuke returned home to pick up his katana and fill up a knapsack with some snacks and a couple of water bottles. Neither his brother nor father were home, so he wrote a quick note, informing them he was out with Naruto. He doubted they would be gone for the entire day, but at least this way neither Itachi or father would freak out about his absence.

"Okay," he said when he approached Naruto, who was waiting in the exact same spot Sasuke had left him. "So where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Naruto smiled mysteriously and winked. He grabbed Sasuke's hand, tugging him along to the gates.

Kakashi's group had left by now and the gates were closed, but upon seeing them approach, Kiba offered a short salute and opened the gates a bit so they could slip through the gap.

"You convinced Kiba to let us out?" Sasuke questioned curiously.

Considering what lurked outside of the gates at times frivolous outings, like theirs no doubt was, weren't exactly encouraged so to speak. If too many people left the walls for no reason at all, they would risk attracting too many zombies so outings tended to be restricted to runs only. Even when people were assigned to get rid of the zombies in the traps surrounding the compound, they had a strict time limit to adhere to.

He was pretty certain Naruto wasn't scheduled for anything in particular today either, which meant that this outing had nothing to do with a job of sorts and could be considered more akin to a fun trip – if one didn't acknowledge the rotting bodies groaning and reaching out to them with feeble, stripped to the bone arms, that was.

"Just asked him if he would mind opening the gates for us, because I wanted to show you something." Naruto shrugged and made his way to the forest. "He warned me he wouldn't be responsible if I got mauled to death, yada, yada, all that bullshit. But hey, he opened the gates as you saw, so it's all good."

"I feel like I should find it concerning how easy you convinced him," Sasuke said dryly, studying the forest floor carefully.

It hadn't rained in more than a week so most of the slick had dried up by now, leaving steady ground behind. He was still careful where he put down his foot, however, not wanting to risk slipping.

Naruto turned around to face him and winked again. "Told you before: I can be pretty charming if I need to be," he said smugly. He didn't even blink or pause in his talking when he pushed his dagger straight through the decaying head of a young girl, somewhere in her mid-teens. She was cut off mid-gurgle, dropping to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Are we going to train with the crossbow?" Sasuke asked surprised when he realised they were going in the same direction of the field where Naruto and Gaara had taught him how to use the crossbow.

"Nope, though we can always do that if you feel so inclined," Naruto answered cryptically. "We're not going to that field exactly, by the way. Our destination is actually a bit further."

"You aren't going to tell me before we're there, huh?" Sasuke acknowledged with a sigh.

A hand grabbed his; fingers tightening around his own. "Now where would be the fun in that?" Naruto hummed; his eyes glittering.

Where indeed.

Sasuke blinked rapidly a couple of times when they stopped in front of a delipidated looking … Cottage was probably a bit too frivolous and nice to refer to the building built between two huge trees. It wasn't exactly a shed either, but it was clearly made by someone who hadn't had the finesse to make something really beautiful out of it. It had four walls as far as Sasuke could see and a roof which was mostly hidden behind the low hanging branches of the trees. For all that Sasuke knew, it could be riddled with holes.

It was actually almost completely covered with moss and ivy and Sasuke would have easily overlooked it if not for Naruto leading him straight to the door.

"Found this a little while ago when I was hunting," Naruto announced, juggling the doorknob. "I've come back a couple of times since then, but it looks completely abandoned. Not even a dead guy inside – or girl."

"Thinking of turning it into a vacation home or so?" Sasuke snorted, eyeing the walls dubiously.

They were entirely made out of wooden planks and several tiny gaps had broken the planks apart in various places throughout the years. He would probably be able to look inside if he bent down at the right height. Why had this caught Naruto's attention?

"Hey now, everyone needs a little vacation now and then," Naruto grinned and opened the door, ushering him inside. "Come on. I haven't seen a zombie in a while, but I'm not in the mood to test out my theory either."

"Which is?"

"That they haven't gathered here because there's nothing to find here – except for us now, so let's go inside, yeah?"

Sasuke gave the roof another dubious look, but entered nonetheless, covering his sneeze on time with his sleeve when dust twirled up, disturbed by their footsteps. The dust was so thick their footsteps were actually visible on the floor. The gaps between the planks allowed some daylight to filter through, illuminating the room just enough that he could make out the shape of a chair, a desk with only three legs and a bed covered with sheets which looked oddly new still, not yet covered in a sheen of dust like the rest of the place was.

"Have you been dragging stuff here?" he asked bewildered, walking over to the bed and testing the firmness of it by pushing on the mattress. It didn't immediately give in, so at least the mattress was sturdy enough.

"Hm, just some blankets and some pillows to make it more comfortable. We've got enough of that at the apartment anyways," Naruto replied, going to the desk for some reason. He opened one of the drawers, waggling it back and forth to pull it open properly.

"More comfortable for what?" Sasuke asked absently, pressing his hands a couple of more times on the bed.

Naruto didn't answer initially. He just took something out of the drawer and walked to the bed next, putting his crossbow and his dagger next to it on the ground.

"Pretty sure this place was built by a gay couple," he announced out of the blue, removing his jacket. He still kept whatever it was in his hand; the dimness of the room obscuring it from view.

"And why specifically a gay couple?" Sasuke asked bemused.

This time Naruto brandished the object closer to one of the gaps in the walls so that the light fell across it, illuminating the label on it.

At the same time Sasuke realised what he was holding, Naruto grinned widely and shook the bottle back and forth. "Found three bottles of this lube in the desk," he said without even a hint of shame and quirked his eyebrow suggestively. "What do you say? Want to have a little fun with it to celebrate our first shared day off?"

AN2: Naruto: "Hey you mind if I borrow some of these blankets and pillows? Found an awesome shed Sasuke and I can use."
Gaara: "I'm not even going to ask. Just don't bring them back."

Please leave your thoughts behind in a review; should you spot any mistakes, please point them out to me.

I hope to see you all back in the next chapter! Please stay safe and take care of yourselves!

Cuddles

Melissa

P.S. For more information about my upcoming and posted stories, please visit my profile.