Author's note:

Here's the next chapter everyone! I hope you enjoy it.

I want to thank everyone who has read and reviewed. They are greatly loved!

DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT OWN NARUTO AND CO.

Last time:

Pushing out of his hold gently she looked up at him. "Hey, Sasuke?"

"Hmn?"

"Can you get me a glass of water?"

Smiling at his dobe he only nodded his head before getting up and walking over to the sink.

Chapter 10: Food

After being in the hospital for a few days due to Tsunade's worry over Naruto's health, the blonde decided that it was time to leave and got Sasuke to help her escape while the nurses were on their lunch. Sasuke wasn't taken back to his cell since Tsunade had deemed he wasn't really going to do anything unless someone was stupid enough to harm the blonde, and it probably would have been more of a headache than was necessary separating the two of them. Sai had decided to show up everyday she was there which caused both Sasuke and him to engage in glaring matches. Naruto left them to it, too tired to care really. Recovering from the poison was taking longer than she expected but Kurama told her that it was because her body's accelerated healing couldn't do anything for the wounds that were created from weapons with the poison. They would just have to heal like everyone else's body would. He didn't know why just that it was so.

Sai would always make a nasty comment after a while towards Sasuke that would cause Naruto to tell him to leave before Sasuke decided to kill him. It would take a few minutes for Sasuke to lose the look in his eyes that promised bodily harm. But he always seemed smug when she would finally tel Sai to go, the bastard. Then sometimes she'd catch him staring at her and her cheeks would become hot forcing her to look away.

Karen, Suigetsu, and Jugo all came to visit as well, the big guy blushed like crazy when Naruto thanked him for his help, Suigetsu whom Naruto decided to refer to as just Getsu, simply shrugged his shoulders. Karin, well she just sat in the corner looking like she wanted something really bad but was too afraid to ask for it, so Naruto let her be for now. They would talk to Sasuke and hang out for a little while before the nurse would come in and chase them out, except for Sasuke who just glared til she left.

The three other members of Sasuke's group were staying in the village and were managing to get along pretty well with the rest of the rookie nine, among others. Tsunade even offered them small jobs here and there to keep them busy, always under the watchful eyes of the Anbu of course. She couldn't have unknown ninjas running around unsupervised. That would be foolhardy, hell the council was already having cats and dogs about Sasuke being back and not locked up. That took her days to get them to understand even a little bit that Sasuke wasn't going to do anything to the village or the people that lived there as long as nobody harmed him or his. Namely the village's beloved knuckle-headed blonde ninja.

Sasuke brought Naruto a change of clothes and stood outside the bathroom door while she changed, asking periodically if she needed help, to which she just growled.

Getting out of the window without being noticed was easier than they thought it would be, considering you know, it was Naruto and Sasuke. They thought for sure there would at least be some Anbu posted below her window just in case of Sasuke trying to leave. But no, there was no one. Then they thought maybe just maybe a nurse would scream at them from the window or something to get back inside... but that didn't happen either.

Sasuke took them to the Uchiha compound, sure that they wouldn't be bothered there for a while, until they found someone stupid enough to go into Uchiha's back yard. Naruto tried to keep up the best she could but about half way there Sasuke just threw her onto his back and carried her the rest of the way while she laid her head on his shoulder. Being injured sucked, but if she got to be close to Sasuke, it wasn't too bad she guessed.

It didn't take long to find his way to his home and for the memories that were pushed to the back of his mind to resurface. Playing with his brother and being taught simple ninja skills, his mother's cooking and her laugh. His father's voice and smile when things were done right. Most of all the soft whisper of feeling fingers on his forehead.

One of his hands reached up to touch the spot absently while he walked into the house carrying Naruto, who remained silent as he made his way through the empty building. Sasuke was surprised to find that things were in better condition than he expected, furniture had dust coverings on them, windows were closed along with doors. There was a thick layer of dust over everything but nothing looked touched or destroyed.

"I covered everything up about a year after you left."

Turning his head to the blonde on his back he looked at her. "Why?"

"Because I wanted your home to be as you remembered it when you came back." she whispered before yawning in his ear.

Fighting off a yawn of his own now he responded "Don't you mean 'if'?"

"No, I knew you would come back," Yawning again she snuggled her head into his neck as he began to head towards his old room. "It was a matter of when. I knew you needed to find yourself first." she mumbled, his hand on the door to his room now, a warm feeling filling his chest at her words.

"Thank you." She only hummed in response too tired to give actual words. "How do normal people find the energy to do anything while injured?"

"Most people, if they had bled for days on end with wounds that wouldn't heal and a raging fever would have died."

"Kay..." Naruto smiled softly in her sleep as Sasuke removed the cover from his bed and laid her on it, promising himself he was going to change the sheets and blankets later.

He left the room as quietly as he could and decided that the house was in major need of dusting and cleaning after being neglected for over six years. As he cleaned he was surprised to find everything as he had left it so long ago. Except the fridge and cupboards were now empty, probably having been cleaned out when Naruto covered everything.

He got the cleaning done after a couple of hours, leaving his parents room alone for now, not wanting to go in there. He didn't want to face their memories today anymore than he had to. Once he finished wringing out the mop one last time he decided that he should probably go to the store, they were going to need to eat after all.

So after putting the mop back in the closet he went to check on the blonde to see that she was still out wrapped in his old blanket and snuggled into his old pillow. Seeing her curled up with his things, no matter how long ago he had seen or used them caused the warmth to come rushing back into his chest. He smiled.

Looking towards the night table by the bed he opened the drawer to find a piece of paper and a pencil and he quickly scratched out a note telling her that he went out food shopping and would be back soon. Leaving it on the table he went to get his shoes and left, making sure the door was closed behind him.

He didn't notice the four man Anbu team hidden within the Uchiha compound that was watching as he left to go into town. The Hogake had tasked them with keeping an eye on Sasuke and Naruto since, without a doubt she would be with the Uchiha. They were to make sure that with the new threat to the blonde that nothing happens to her and that if Sasuke were to leave for any reason while leaving Naruto behind they were to split up so that two of them were watching each at a time. The Hokage didn't want anything to happen to either of them, she knew that if Sasuke were to be attacked it could become a huge problem, but if someone hurt the blonde while Sasuke was around, someone was going to die. And that was something Tsunade didn't need right now. She was having enough problems with people finding out that Sasuke was back and coming up with an answer as to why he wasn't locked up.

Sasuke made it to the market in only a few minutes when he ran into Sakura. She was carrying a couple of small bags with groceries in them in one hand while the other was out to her side to help keep her balance. She smiled at first when she caught sight of him while he inwardly groaned and winced not really wanting to deal with her right now.

"Oh, hey Sasuke. What are you doing here?" she asked looking confused.

Looking around at the various stalls he realized he had no idea what Naruto liked besides ramen and he would be damned if that was all he was going to buy for her to eat, he was going to make sure she ate something healthy. Or at least not ramen. "I need to buy food, but I don't know what to get, let alone if they'll sell anything to me. Tsunade told me to start a tab in Naruto's name and that she would make sure that it got paid for." he placed his hands in his pockets and stood there looking off to the side. Maybe he could get her to help him, since she's had the whole time he was gone to get to know what the blonde liked to eat and what not.

Sakura's eyes seemed to lose some of the happiness at seeing him at the sound of Naruto's name.

'Naruto so owes me for this. Coming back to Konoha is one thing, but interacting with everyone... this soon? Not sure I want to do that. Where's Jugo or Suigestu when I want them?'

"Yeah that sounds like something she would do, she set up an account for Naruto a few years ago at Naruto's request and puts half of her earnings from missions in it. I take it you have Naruto?" Sasuke only 'Hnned' in response. She switched her groceries from one hand to the other. "The nurses were looking all over the hospital for her this afternoon. Would you like some help?" She gestured to the various vendors and stalls, "Naruto loves ramen still, but she has learned to eat and even like other things also." She laughed at her own half hearted joke.

"Help would be great thanks." Sasuke motioned for her to lead the way.

He was right to be wary of them selling to him with the looks they were giving him even though it was Sakura placing the items on the counter and telling them to charge it to Naruto's account via the Hokage. Most of the vendors didn't even seem to want to let him into their stalls and shops. Half way through the market something caught Sasuke's eye. They just past a shop full of random items in the windows and on the shelves when a small figure of a fox stuck out at him.

"Hey Sakura, hold on a minute." walking closer to the shop he noticed that the fox figurine had nine tails like Kurama. Though unlike Kurama the figurine didn't look angry, it actually looked clam and peaceful. Smirking at the idea of that giant ball of anger being calm in any way, he thought maybe Naruto would like it. No way was he going to ask Sakura to buy it for him to give to Naruto, he wasn't a moron, asking a girl who liked you to buy a gift for another girl was asking to get killed. Maybe he'd ask Jugo about it later, people liked him.

"What did you find Sasuke?" she asked coming up behind him and peering over his shoulder.

"Nothing, thought I saw something but I was wrong." He turned back towards the other shops so they could finish up shopping and he could go home.

Sakura provided an endless amount of chatter about anything and everything that had happened since he had left. She even filled him in on some of the things Naruto had told her about her travels with Jiraiya, and things she had accomplished while he was gone. She even let slip in how she was single and hadn't thought of anyone else but him the whole time, not that she hadn't been pursued, cause she had.

They were making their way back towards the Uchiha compound with their arms full of groceries and she was still talking.

"So when we all found out that Naruto was a girl of all things a few years ago we were really shocked. I mean Naruto, a girl." she laughed. "Ino was pissed that Naruto was and is prettier than she is, "

'She's prettier than you too.' Sasuke thought.

"Hinata was so shocked she fainted then refused to talk to anyone for weeks afterwards from embarrassment, and the guys! Don't get me started on them. Oh my god Kiba was.."

We had arrived at the porch of the my house when Naruto opened the door leaning heavily on the frame when she saw us. "Oh, hey Sakura, wasn't expecting to see you." she sounded tired as she slowly moved aside for them to come in. They looked like they really needed to put their things down. "Want some help?"

"Hey Naruto! Thanks for leaving the hospital without telling anyone, I got a lot of shit for that."

Shrugging her shoulders Naruto followed them into the kitchen, watching as they began to set everything on the table and began to put everything away. Sasuke had to steer her towards a chair at the table for her to sit in where she slouched forward with her elbows on the table and her chin in her hands. He told her he didn't need her help putting things away and that she should just sit there and watch.

Sakura left about an hour later saying she was needed at the hospital while Sasuke had started cooking something that smelled wonderful. He tossed in some vegetables and some meat, then he would add some water and noddles and leave it to simmer. Adding a few spices here and there, tasting it every so often and nodding in agreement with the taste.

Naruto was content to sit and watch as he moved around the kitchen that hadn't seen life in years. Who would have thought just a few hours would make an empty building full of dust into a warm home again.

She was surprised when she woke up shortly before he got back to find him gone with only a note on the night stand telling her he went to get food. She slowly made her way out to the living room to find that he had cleaned while she was sleeping and removed the covers from the furniture. The once dusty floors now shone with a cleanliness even her apartment didn't get a chance to see. That thought brought a smile to her face as she heard voices coming towards the house.

So she made her way to the door just as Sakura was opening her big mouth about the guys of rookie nine and their reactions to her being, well, a girl. She opened the door, effectively killing that line of talk and catching the slight look of ire in Sakura's eye at her being in Sasuke's home, when everyone knew she had a thing for him. Naruto would be damned if she was going to go through everything she did to bring him back for Sakura to dig her filthy hands into him.

Sure they had remained friends for a while after Sasuke left, but once her gender was out to the public things slowly went south. Naruto learned quite a bit about the pink haired ninja that made even her skin crawl and she had a demon living in her. Lets just say Sakura wasn't as 'innocent' as she claimed to be. They still talked every now and then and sometimes did missions together, but when it came to protecting a certain Uchiha, Naruto wasn't letting her anywhere near him.

Naruto was lost in her own thoughts, slowly drifting off to sleep again when Sasuke appeared before her causing her to blink her eyes to focus. Smiling softly she looked at his face tracing the lines of his cheekbones and jawline when she noticed his mouth moving. "What was that 'Suke?' she mumbled.

"I asked if you were awake enough to eat." he looked a little concerned as he watched her sway a little as she breathed. "Naruto?"

"I'm ok. And yeah I'm hungry." she smiled lazily at him. "But I am tired too."

Smirking at the blonde before him he scooped her up into his arms and carried her over to the couch. He set her down and grabbed the blanket he placed on the back earlier, covering her up, before going to grab the plate he fixed for her. Tsunade told him she was going to be tired like she never had been before due to the fox not being able to heal her wounds this time, but this seemed extreme to him. Naruto never acted this way before.

He handed her the plate and sat down next to her, propping his own feet up on the coffee table. Taking a few bites he watched as she ate her food one bite at a time not at all as fast as she would ramen.

"How is it?" he asked dying to know what she thought.

Looking over at the eager Uchiha next to her she smiled. "It's really good, thank you."

And the warmth that filled his chest earlier came flooding back, glad that she liked his cooking and he was able to place that smile on her face. "Hhnn, you're welcome."

Author's note:

Sorry I took so long to update, I was sick for a while there, and had a bit of writer's block. Wanna know a good cure? Anime and more Fanfiction! lol

PLEASE REVIEW!