Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (either manga or anime!); the wonderful Masashi Kishimoto-sensei owns all rights. However, the plot and Namiko Uzumaki are mine!

Chapter 22: Are You Happy Now?

"I don't think our little redheaded kunoichi is too comfortable in her cell. I think the best place for her would be to stay with you."

Namiko blinked at the snake sannin's comment. Staying with Sasuke? What was Orochimaru planning? Her head was still a little fuzzy after passing out from the chakra exhaustion and her ordeal with the kyuubi.

However, Sasuke froze as he tried to keep his face as neutral as possible. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, my dear Sasuke-kun, since you seem to be able to control the kyuubi with your Sharingan, I believe it would be beneficial for Namiko-chan to stay in your room with you," suggested Orochimaru. "That way she has a friend and doesn't have to feel caged like an animal, along with the benefit that I don't have to worry about the kyuubi or jinchuriki getting loose." He leaned over and removed her hip pouch and kunai holster before he snapped the chakra limiters back on her wrists. "Though I will request those stay on for the time being, Namiko-chan."

Namiko stared at her wrists and tried to formulate some sort of a plan in her mind. Before she had a chance to verbalize anything, Sasuke spoke up, "Fine."

'Fine?!' Namiko shook her head. "Absolutely not! I don't want to be anywhere near him. Just let me go back to the cell…"

"I'd rather have Sasuke babysit you than have to do it myself," interjected Kabuto. "You are friends. I don't see what's the problem."

She steeled her nerves. "We are not friends! And I don't trust him, that's the problem! I'd rather be in the cell."

Tension filled the air. "No," said Sasuke with a tone of finality. Her eyes snapped to him in bewilderment.

"Kabuto-kun will make sure you two have what you need. Why don't you show her around, Sasuke-kun?" The sinister smile on Orochimaru's face only grew wider as Sasuke grabbed Namiko's wrist and practically dragged her out of the training room.

The second they were out of sight, Namiko wrenched her wrist from his grip. "Stop it! What the hell makes you think I'm going to agree to share a room with you?!"

"Stop being ridiculous," snapped Sasuke. "You really would rather be imprisoned than share a room with me? I'm not thrilled with it either, but if it keeps you safe then…"

"Don't!" she interrupted, holding her hand out as if to create a barrier between them, "…don't act like you actually care about me or anyone from Konoha. You walked out on everyone."

He turned away from her and started to walk down a hallway. "I did what I had to do. Just drop it."

She scoffed, putting her hands on her hips, and firmly planting her feet to the floor. "There you go again, walking away. It's what you do best."

He whirled back around, taking five large steps to close the gap between them. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Just…follow me."

She glared at him, her eyes filled with fury as she looked him over. His features were more intense now that he was older. His hair was still the same but his jawline was sharper, no longer holding any of the childlike softness. He was easily a head taller than her now and wearing baggy blue pants with a purple rope belt and an open white shirt, revealing lean muscle underneath. As he turned away again and started walking down the hallway, she noticed the familiar small uchiwa on the back of his shirt near his neck.

He stopped a couple of meters from her before turning his head to call over his shoulder, "It's easy to get lost down here." When she didn't move, he added, "Come."

Namiko rolled her eyes. "I'm not one of Kiba's ninken."

"Please," he said with a small sigh of frustration.

She reluctantly started to follow him. He led her down winding hallways, every door looking exactly the same. He finally stopped in front of a door and pushed up his right sleeve, tapping the seal on top of the black wrist guard covering his forearm and part of his hand. A key appeared in his hand and he used it to open the large wooden door.

The door gave an audible creak as he pushed it open and entered the room. He walked over to the desk near the door and used a small fire jutsu to light the candle on the desk. Namiko stood in the doorway, refusing to come in further.

Sasuke walked over to his bed and sat down at the end, leaning his forearms on his knees. He glanced up at her. "I'm not going to bite."

Namiko scoffed but walked inside, allowing the door to close behind her, and leaned against the wall. "I don't know what you're like anymore." She snapped, still irritated at him. "Who knows what you've done in the nearly three years you've been gone? You could've killed hundreds of people for Orochimaru."

"You couldn't be more wrong." He said as he straightened his back. "I haven't killed anyone ever. The only one I need to kill is Itachi."

"So, you're still planning on killing your only family left?" She paused as the first part of what he said finally connected in her thoughts. "Wait…you've never killed anyone? At all?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I have no need to take the life of someone who may not deserve it. I don't want that sort of sin on my conscience." Sasuke noticed her behavior change and couldn't resist commenting, "You have taken a life, haven't you?"

"That's none of your business." Namiko avoided his dark eyes, suddenly finding the floor very interesting. "Things happen on missions…" she whispered.

He eyed her carefully. "What kind of mission were you are when you found me?"

She shot him a glare, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's none of your business."

Sasuke lowered his voice. "Did you purposely abandon your mission to come after me?"

Namiko's eyes darted around the room, refusing to look at him again. "…yes, but we were on our way back to Konoha."

"Why would you be so stupid to come after me? Especially coming after me alone?" he pressed as he stood up, taking a few steps toward her.

"I came after you because you're a missing Konoha shinobi," she paused, hesitating before continuing, "and because you almost killed my brother, yet somehow the idiot wants you back home."

"He was alive when I left. You were there. You had every opportunity to stop me from leaving then. Do you feel responsible for letting me leave or something?" Sasuke paused, voice slightly curious, "Why did you let me leave?"

"It was your choice," she said as she turned to face him. "If I stopped you then, you'd only resent me."

Sasuke scoffed. "So, you let me go only for you to turn around and hold a grudge about me leaving for the past three years? Sure, that makes sense." He shook his head as he turned his back to her.

A knock sounded at the door and Sasuke walked over to open it. On the other side, Kabuto held a futon and Namiko's backpack that she had been wearing during her mission. She swiftly snatched her bag as Sasuke took the futon from Kabuto, leaning it against the wall.

"I'll bring by some dinner for you both later," said Kabuto as he made a swift exit, closing the door once again behind him.

Namiko set her backpack on the desk as she searched frantically through it. A few short moments later she found whatever she was looking for and let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She closed her bag and flopped down in the desk chair.

Sasuke smirked. "Find what you were looking for?"

"None of your business."

"Is that your answer to everything? When did you become so hostile to everyone?" he quipped.

"Not everyone, just to assholes who abandon their village," she said, returning his earlier smirk.

'Being stuck in here is going to be miserable for the both of us if this keeps up…' thought Sasuke as he sank back down on the end of his bed.

"Ugh! Who does that prick think he is?!" groaned Naruto. "Why does he have to be Sasuke's replacement? Team Kakashi is fine with just the three of us." He and Sakura had just met their newest team members, Sai and Yamato, and were on their way to pack their things before starting their mission to Tenchi Bridge.

Sakura smiled softly at her teammate and friend. "He is rude…and he's got a foul mouth, but there's something familiar about him. His face…his voice…they kind of remind me of Sasuke."

"Not at all! Sasuke's way cooler!" shouted Naruto.

Sakura giggled. "You're right, Sasuke is a little cooler."

Naruto stared at her incredulously. "More than a little! Sasuke is a million times better!" His face suddenly became serious. "Do you think she's okay, Sakura?"

"Namiko?" She raised a pink brow in question as they stopped walking. "Naruto, you may not think about this because you've been gone so long and because she's your baby sister, but she's stronger and smarter than you think. She'll find a way out, and if she doesn't before we get to her, then we'll make it our mission to make sure we bring her and Sasuke home."

"You're right! We won't fail!" said Naruto enthusiastically. "Let's hurry and pack, then we'll meet Yamato-taichou at the gates!"

Sasuke sat staring at his hands; the kyuubi's chakra had done a number on them when he had grabbed Namiko's wrists earlier and they were starting to get pretty painful now that any adrenaline had worn off.

Namiko noticed and finally broke the silence in the room. "I did that, didn't I?" she said with a hint of regret.

Sasuke looked at her. "It was when I grabbed your wrists earlier. It's nothing though."

"You say that, but according to Kakashi-sensei, it hurts like hell to get burned by kyuubi chakra if you aren't a jinchuriki. I burned him pretty badly the first time the kyuubi chakra took over. Thank goodness we were in one of the training grounds near the village, so Tsunade-sama was able to heal him quickly." She bit her lip before continuing, "I could try to heal that for you. Tsunade-sama made sure every shinobi got enough medical ninjutsu training to seal at least small cuts in order to not leave blood trails. I was horrible at it at first, but Sakura actually helped me. She's a prodigy when it comes to medical ninjutsu."

"Are you trying to gauge my reaction by mentioning those in Konoha?" he questioned, looking back at his hands.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I'm trying to offer help."

"Why try to offer help when you hate me?" queried Sasuke as he looked back at her.

Namiko sighed. "I…don't hate you, I'm just really mad at you, and I don't like seeing people in pain." Her mouth tensed as she walked over to him. "You'll have to earn your way back into my good graces, Uchiha."

Sasuke smirked. "I'm just Uchiha now? No Sasuke? No -san or -kun?"

She gave him a haughty look. "No, you'll have to earn that back too." Her eyes darted around the room as her voice quieted, "So…do you want my help or not?" she asked raising an eyebrow. She shrugged. "I'm sure you could always ask Kabuto for help instead…"

"No," came his firm reply. "I'd much rather have you do it."

Namiko had a hard time reading his expression as he offered his hands to her, palms up. She knelt in front of him to examine his hands carefully; his palms were red with angry-looking blisters and darker red web-like streaks. "It might hurt like hell, but it's not nearly as bad as it could be. It's just barely a second-degree burn. I'm not great at this, so you'll probably have some tenderness afterward."

He didn't say anything, just pushed his hands a few centimeters closer to her. Namiko swallowed before placing her hands above his, their palms not quite touching. She avoided looking anywhere but his hands as she started to switch to using healing ninjutsu.

Sasuke tried to hide a grimace at the uncomfortable feeling of his skin being healed, cell by cell. He could tell she definitely wasn't an expert at this, but while Kabuto's medical ninjutsu always felt cold and biting, Namiko's felt almost uncomfortably warm.

Sasuke watched her hands for several moments before finally looking at the girl before him. No, he couldn't exactly call her a girl anymore; she was a beautiful young woman now. Her deep red hair was still loose from earlier as it tumbled to the ground around her. Her eyes were the same blue-violet that he remembered, but her freckles had lightened ever so slightly.

He allowed his eyes to scan over the rest of her while she was focused on healing his hands. She was still petite, both in height and frame, and probably around fifteen centimeters shorter than him. However, he didn't miss the slight curves she now possessed. His eyes finally registered the cut on her right shoulder; her jacket was black, so he didn't notice the blood at first from a distance. "You're hurt too."

The green glow of her hands faltered and sputtered out as her head jerked up to look in his charcoal eyes. She froze as she realized how close their faces were. A breath later, she broke eye contact to glance at her shoulder. "Oh…honestly, I didn't even realize it happened; it'll heal quick enough thanks to the kyuubi." She nodded towards his hands. "Anyways, it's not perfect but it should cut down on the pain and speed up healing. It's probably similar to a sunburn now."

"Thanks," came his stoic reply.

She stood up to distance herself from him and tried to get a better look at her shoulder. She unzipped her jacket and shrugged it off, revealing a cropped white t-shirt underneath, the sleeve ripped and bloodied in the same spot as her jacket. "Damn, I liked this jacket too." She pressed her lips together as she searched through her backpack before looking at Sasuke again. "Um, is there somewhere I can clean up?"

Sasuke stood and walked over to a smaller wooden door around the corner from the desk. He pushed open the door and lit another candle with fire jutsu. Namiko followed and poked her head in the doorway. Nothing spectacular, just a simple bathroom with a toilet, shower, sink, and mirror. Sasuke backed up to give her some space. "There are towels on the shelf."

"Thanks," she replied as she quickly grabbed her backpack off the desk and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Fifteen minutes later, Namiko emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a clean regular t-shirt and another pair of black shorts, squeezing the ends of her hair with a towel as her bare feet patted against the stone floor. Sasuke looked up from his current position sitting at the desk with a bowl of rice and some fish and vegetables. "Kabuto brought food and an extra chair."

She gave a small sigh as she sat down. "Is Orochimaru really going to keep me locked in here with you until further notice?"

Sasuke made a noise of indifference. "I don't know. He's often difficult to predict."

"What's your best guess then?" she asked as she started eating her own meal.

"Play by his rules. While I won't kill, neither Orochimaru nor Kabuto have the same beliefs. They don't hesitate to eliminate anyone who doesn't serve a purpose."

She hummed in understanding. "That's why you can get away with talking down to them and being an asshole. Orochimaru needs your body and so he'll let you do anything you want."

"Aa," he said as he nodded, "but you…you need to be careful. You're a jinchuriki and he'll probably want to…experiment on you. Try to resist, but if you can't, lean on the kyuubi. If the kyuubi takes over, I can always get you out."

"So, the Sharingan really can control the kyuubi…" she whispered, seemingly to herself. 'I don't want to ask him for help, but if the kyuubi keeps up his tactics of mental torture, I may have to depend on him.'

"It appears so."

"Wait, you mean you used the Sharingan on me without knowing if it would work?"

Sasuke gave a half-shrug. "It's not like I ever used it on you or Naruto before. How would I have known?"

"That makes sense." She let out a puff of air as she pushed her empty dishes away and turned to dig through her backpack. "Sorry, my brain hurts. After the kyuubi takes over, I always feel awful. Tsunade-sama says it's like I get hungover without the fun part of getting drunk." She rolled her eyes at the memory of when the sannin said that. "So, on that note, I'm going to get ready for bed." She pulled out a toothbrush and headed to the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

Hinata had been on her way back from visiting Kurenai when she noticed a familiar sight of blond and orange. Naruto had a backpack slung over his shoulder as he jogged up to her. "Hey Hinata! I'm glad I ran into you! I wanted to let you know my team is being sent out after Namiko and Sasuke."

"Oh, Naruto-kun!" She smiled softly before suddenly averting her eyes. "I wanted to apologize…"

"What on earth do you have to apologize for?" he said with a perplexed look on his face.

"Namiko…" she said as she looked back at him. "I knew she was planning on going after Sasuke."

His eyes softened as he smiled at her. "How could you know that? Namiko has a mind of her own!"

"I could see it on her face. She's my best friend. I knew she was going to use Flying Raijin…I should've grabbed her, anything to stop her—"

"Hina," came Naruto's soft voice as he laid a hand on her shoulder, "you couldn't have known! You know as well as I do that once her mind is made up, that's it. If anything, I should be apologizing to you. She only went after Sasuke because of me and Sakura; she knows how much he means to us." He smiled brightly as he let go of her shoulder. "Okay, I'm off! I'll be back with Namiko and Sasuke before you know it!"

He darted away without another word, leaving Hinata standing in the middle of the street, her face bright red. 'Hina? Naruto-kun gave me a nickname?' Her head started to feel fuzzy and light.

Kiba saw Naruto run past him as he walked up to the Hyuuga and caught her just as she passed out. He shook his head and laughed, "Oh man, Hinata, you got it bad for him…"

Sasuke sat on his bed, reading a scroll laid in front of him as Namiko came out of the bathroom. She unrolled the futon across from the desk, her head facing so she could see the door. She took her brush and brushed her nearly dry hair, starting at the bottom.

Once she finished brushing, her hands expertly went through the motions of braiding her long hair. "Are you happy?"

Sasuke's brow furrowed ever so slightly as he glanced at her before quickly refocusing on the scroll. "What kind of question is that?"

"Are you happy? You left Konoha to pursue power so you could kill Itachi. Do you really think killing him will make you happy?"

Sasuke shrugged slightly. "Happiness doesn't matter."

"It doesn't matter? Or you don't think you deserve happiness?" She tilted her head to look at him in curiosity.

"Why bring this up out of nowhere?" he asked, his tone showing slight irritation.

She finished the braid and tied off the end. "You know what? Never mind. I'm going to sleep." She laid down on the futon and pulled the blanket around her tightly, pressing her back against the wall and closing her eyes.

Sasuke watched her for a while before her breathing evened out, signaling she was asleep, and leaving him alone with his thoughts. Did he deserve happiness? He rolled up the scroll finally and placed it back on the shelf above the desk.

Namiko didn't budge from her place on the futon. Most ninja would automatically move and wake when someone else moved around them, but it seemed like between having her chakra cut off and her exhaustion from dealing with the kyuubi, she was sound asleep.

He snuffed out the candle with his fingers and walked back to the bed, untying the purple rope around his waist and removing the wrap underneath, leaving him in just his open shirt and pants. He laid on his back listening to Namiko's quiet breaths in the silence as he let his own mind wander.

He never in a million years expected anyone to come after him, let alone her. He honestly felt a bit relieved having her near him where he knew she was safe. No Akatsuki would dare come after her here, especially since he was able to guard her. Orochimaru's hideouts were practically fortresses; most of them were in-depth mazes that he was only able to memorize thanks to his Sharingan. If anyone attempted to come after her, it would be almost impossible to find her. They'd have to search room by room which would take time and manpower.

But what if she wanted to return to Konoha? Should he let her go back on her own? It wasn't safe for her to travel by herself, she was a single kunoichi and a jinchuriki. That made her one hell of a target. No, she couldn't leave unless she was with someone, whether it was him or it was another Konoha shinobi.

He looked over at her sleeping form, Sharingan slowly stirring to life. She had grown to be quite beautiful, and something stirred inside his heart as he stared at her face, so peaceful as she slept. Nothing like the fiery woman who had talked back to him all day long. She had changed…but so had he.

He mentally groaned as he rolled over with his back facing her. He'd had more social interaction with her today than he'd had with anyone in weeks, possibly even months. However, he didn't mind talking with her, even though things were still tense between them, but he was definitely socially exhausted.

'Maybe tomorrow will be better,' was his last thought as sleep overcame him.

Morning arrived, or at least Namiko could assume it had. Sasuke was nowhere to be found, but his bedding was disheveled, so he must have slept. It was impossible to tell the time of day without windows or a clock in the room, but the candle that had been lit last night seemed to have been relit and hadn't gone down much. She stretched and stood up, deciding that going to the bathroom was the first thing to do.

When she came out, she noticed a note and an apple next to the candle that she hadn't noticed before when she was sitting on the futon.

Went to train. Be back at lunch. -Sasuke

She sighed heavily. 'Well, I guess I'm alone for the time being. Not sure if that's better or worse than Sasuke being here.' She grabbed the apple and her bag and sat back down on the futon. She searched through her bag and pulled out a notebook and pencil.

She let the pencil wander over a blank page, sketching what came to mind: Naruto. 'He's probably worried beyond belief right now. I'm sure he'll forgive me once I'm out of here and back home. But…how am I going to get home? This base is massive and I doubt Sasuke would help me escape…or maybe he'd just let me free just to get me out of here.'

"Argh! I can't figure him out! He's a stubborn ass, but he's also being…kind of nice?" She slammed her notebook shut and flopped back flat on the futon. A sharp knock at the door made her gasp as she sat back up. She eyed the door carefully. 'Oh man, what I wouldn't give to have my chakra sensing back right now. It's obviously not Sasuke because he would've just used his key.'

Namiko slowly stood and walked over to the door. She cracked it open carefully to discover Kabuto on the other side. Her face relaxed but she still kept up her guard.

"Oh, good, you're awake. Orochimaru-sama would like to see you please," said Kabuto as he adjusted his glasses.

"Um, sure. Give me just a moment." She closed the door and changed into a white short-sleeved cropped undershirt with a sleeveless black cropped shirt over it. She quickly took out her braid and twisted her hair in a bun, then slipped on her shinobi boots before reopening the door.

She stepped into the hallway, closing the door to Sasuke's room behind her. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good, let's go."

Namiko followed Kabuto closely down the twisting pathways. She seriously had no idea how any of them knew their way around when every door looked the same and they were spaced equally apart. She bit her lip nervously. "So, Kabuto…where are you taking me?"

Kabuto turned his head to look at her as they walked. "To Orochimaru-sama's laboratory of course," he said with a smile.

Panic flooded every cell in her body. She was going into the belly of the beast.

A/N: Oh my goodness, thank you all so much for your support! I've gotten several amazing comments/reviews this week which make me so happy! (A special thank you to the AO3 reader who took the time to find the story on FFN and review it there; you're amazing and made my day.)

A quick reminder that I do try to post every Friday or Saturday night (I'm in the USA) and so far I've stuck to that minus the Time Skip break when I took an extra week. I'm determined to see this story through and I promise I won't leave you guys hanging.

I hope you all liked this chapter and please let me know what you think! I love hearing your theories and comments about characters. It gives me life! ;)

See you all next week!

-Eriisu