"Hokage-sama!" The door of Tsunade's office burst open and in came Shizune running, panting, almost out of breath. Tsunade stood to her feet frowning slightly.

"Um…Shizune? What in the world…?"

"Oh it's bad," she said quickly. "Sand Village…Naruto…"

"Wait. Slow down Shizune. Now what happened? What about the Sand Village? Is everything alright?" Shizune shook her head.

"No Hokage-sama. They…Naruto's been taken…"

"WHAT?!? HOW?!?! WHERE WAS GAARA?!" she yelled.

"Uh…they got him too," she winced.

"Dammit! Who sent word of about this?" Shizune held up the scroll that she's been carrying and Tsunade snatched it from her.

"The letter had been signed by Temari. There was one other thing in the letter…"

"Sasuke. They had a run in with Sasuke too?"

"Yeah but according to the letter, he supposedly had nothing to do with it. In fact, they said he was there to fetch the kit but when he got there, Naruto was already missing."

"Ahh…I see," she said softly. She continued to read over the letter with a grim expression on her face. After a while, she looked up biting her lower lip.

"Ho…Hokage-sama?"

"They seem to think it was Itachi and when you think about how it was done, I suppose it makes sense to suspect him but…" Tsunade stood to her feet and started towards the window. She looked out over her village twisting her brow as if in deep thought. Does he really have the power to accomplish such a feat? To have kidnapped both jinchuriki on his own…Uchiha Itachi… Tsunade suddenly turned to Shizune.

"Go and fetch Jiraiya and Kakashi. We have to discuss this right now. In the meantime, send word back to Temari that I will be sending a group to meet her in three days time. We're going to have to take action. Dismissed!"

x-x-x-x-x

When Naruto came to, he realized that he was not in the Kazekage's room. He looked around the dark room and noticed that it was quite small and bare. He made way to stand to his feet but then he realized that he couldn't move. What the…? He was sitting in a chair made of wood that had been positioned against the stone walls and he was chained to it. His ankles had chains around them and his arms had been chained behind his back to the wall. Dammit! How did I…? But then he remembered making his blood boil. Itachi. Uchiha Itachi. The room was dimly lit and as he studied the room, he realized that it was like a mini jail cell. There were no windows; only a door, a potty, a small bed, and a small, square shaped table with a single candle that had been lit.

"You're finally awake." Naruto jumped at the sound of the Uchiha's voice. It was like he all of a sudden just appeared in the room. Naruto looked up at him and frowned. Itachi let out a low chuckle as he approached the blonde. He stood ominously over him staring at him with his piercing red eyes.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked.

"I already have what I want," he answered softly.

"Yeah well you know I won't be here long right? That pervy sage will come for me."

"And so will Sasuke but do you think I care?"

"Sasuke?" What does Sasuke have to do with this?

"Oh yes. When Kabuto informed him about your disappearance, he practically lost his mind. Now he's out there somewhere desperately searching for his beloved Naruto," he chuckled. Naruto stared up at him his eyes filled with malice.

"You lie." Itachi just shrugged.

"Why would I lie to you? It's not like I'm the one head over heels for a no talent shinobi such as yourself. Besides, I highly doubt this bit of info matters to you anyway. Since you have connected with Gaara in a way that you and Sasuke have not, I'm sure my little brother is the least of your concerns."

"Why you…" Naruto wanted to lunge at his enemy but alas he could not. He was chained tightly to the chair and wall so he could barely move at all. Itachi just smirked as he kneeled in front of the kit, his eyes gleaming playfully.

"Did I touch a nerve…Naruto?" Naruto only turned his head angrily, staring at a spot on the wall. Itachi grabbed the kit's chin and jerked his head around, forcing the kit to look at him. "You are all my brother thinks about you know and then you go and sleep with someone else. You should be ashamed."

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT MY RELATIONSHIP WITH SASUKE AND YOU NEVER WILL! IF ANYTHING…IF ANYTHING IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT HE LEFT TO BEGIN WITH!"

"My fault?" he scoffed.

"YES YOUR FAULT!" Naruto was nearing the point of tears yet he didn't know why. He loved Gaara. That he was sure of but at the same time, the very thought – the very mention of Sasuke's name - was still enough to awaken emotions that he'd buried deep beneath his feelings for Gaara. Itachi slapped Naruto across the face and then smirk.

"Get a grip you pathetic little worm. My brother came out of hiding to search for you and for what? If he does somehow manage to find you without being killed first, he's going to find that you are with someone else."

"What's it to you?" Naruto spat. "You never once cared about Sasuke. If you did, ou never would have slaughtered the very people who…" Again, Itachi drew back and slapped Naruto as hard as he could in the face. Then he took out a kunai and quickly grazed the side of his face drawing blood. Naruto saw Itachi's eyes flash dangerously and for a moment he felt terrified to death.

"You know nothing about my past. You only know what you think you know because of what you've been told." His voice was cold and filled with malice causing the blonde to shudder a little. Itachi reached over and ran a finger across the blood stained cut in his cheek and scoffed. "My brother's out of hiding risking his life to save a simpleminded brat like yourself and what thanks does he get?" Itachi cast him another cold glare before disappearing from the room. When he was gone, Naruto threw his head back and cried. He had no idea why he was crying but for some strange reason, he could not help himself. And so he cried…and cried until he soon fell asleep again with Sasuke on his mind. Sasuke…

F-L-A-S-H-B-A-C-K

Naruto sat in his swing and just stared at the ground sadly. All the other ninjas in the village were too busy to do anything with him. He'd asked Sakura to hang out and maybe do some target practice but that went terribly wrong. She assumed that he wanted a date and proceeded to scream at him for no apparent reason in public embarrassing the hell out of him. He made a mental note to never ask Sakura for anything unless he was dying. He wandered around the village and helped a few older ladies with their groceries and earned enough money for some Ichi Raku Ramen but he wasn't in the mood to eat. All I want is someone to talk to… Naruto had no idea how long he'd been swinging. In fact, he didn't recall ever kicking off the ground but he was swinging. The swing swooped back and then he was off again, swinging high into the air for someone was pushing him. He never turned around to see who it was. After a while, he began feeling a little nauseated and then came the chills from the cool air. The sun was setting and he figured it was high time he got back home. He suddenly sneezed and then the swing stopped; his -somebody- having stopped pushing him in the swing.

Naruto stood up and yawned. He was getting sleepy now. When you've been bored all day sleep just seemed to come naturally. Naruto turned around to say goodbye to his…whoever it was and found Sasuke standing there staring at the ground. Naruto opened his mouth to say something but then closed it just as quickly. He had no idea what to say to Sasuke and thanking him would seem…weird. Sasuke looked up and spoke softly.

"I'll walk you home." Naruto nodded and then they started off down the familiar path to Naruto's place. Both boys remained silent during the short walk. When they finally reached Naruto's place, they both stopped in front of the door and paused. Naruto looked over at Sasuke who was staring off into the distance. Well…we've both always been sort of loners. He lives alone and I live alone so…I wonder if I should…

"Um…well, I know you and I don't always get alone but…I guess I ought to thank you for keeping me company today," he grinned nervously. He reached up and scratched the back of his neck nervously while staring at the ground.

"It's cool," was all he said. "Well, I guess I'll get going. Good night Naruto." Sasuke started off into the night and for the first time in his life, he realized that he did not wish to be alone tonight.

"Uh…say Sasuke?" The boy stopped in his tracks and glanced over his shoulder. Naruto hesitated for a moment because he was afraid. Still it wouldn't hurt to ask… "Uh…it's a long walk back to your place and uh…I was thinking maybe you could just…crash here for the night? I mean, you don't have to," he added quickly. "I just…"

"I'll stay." Naruto looked up and their eyes met. For some reason, Naruto felt his face flush but he dismissed the feeling. He unlocked the door and led Sasuke inside the nearly empty apartment. There were empty ramen packs scattered about the living room floor but other than that, the place was fairly clean. Naruto led Sasuke up a small set of stairs to his desolate looking room. Inside the room was an inflatable bed, a dresser, one window that had a small vase with a daisy in it sitting on the window sill, and a small bedside desk. Sitting on the desk was a lamp and one small picture frame. Inside that frame was a shot of team seven after their first successful A rank mission. Naruto turned to Sasuke and grinned.

"Uh…well, you can take the bed if you want. I don't mind sleeping on the floor."

"Naa, you take the bed. I'm cool." Both boys began peeling off pieces of clothing until they were both just in boxers. Naruto handed Sasuke a blanket from his top drawer and then both boys settled in for the night. Naruto took the bed and Sasuke made a pallet on the floor next to the bed. Naruto turned off the lights and both boys just laid there trying to get to sleep. After a while, Naruto was finally dozing off to sleep when he heard something. It was small coughs, almost like hiccups coming from the floor. Naruto rolled over and looked down at the floor where he saw Sasuke twitching. Naruto eased off of the bed and crawled over to Sasuke shaking him lightly.

"Sa…Sasuke? Sasuke what's wrong?" Sasuke was curled tightly in a ball and he was…crying? Naruto had never seen Sasuke so defenseless and just looking at him made Naruto want to cry as well. Naruto managed to peel Sasuke's arms apart and the raven haired boy sat up. He didn't think about what he was doing. He just grabbed Naruto and threw his arms around him, crying on his shoulder. Naruto slowly returned the embrace and then cried as well. It was like he could feel Sasuke's pain and it was rubbing off on him.

After a while, Sasuke's crying was reduced to small sobs and he managed to pull away from the blonde. They were both trapped in an awkward silence, neither quite knowing what to make of the situation or what to say of it for that matter.

"Na…Naruto?"

"Uh…hmm?"

"Can I…sleep…with you?" The sudden question took him off guard but he didn't have the heart to say no.

"Sure," he managed. Naruto climbed onto his bed and slid all the way over to the end where he turned to his side to face the wall, doing his best to leave Sasuke as much space as possible. Sasuke crawled in under the covers after him and it was feel of the warmth that took the kit by surprise. Sasuke fit his body behind the kit's and tossed an arm around him. He breathed in the scent of Naruto as he pulled him closer.

"Thank you Naruto."

"Anytime." Sasuke buried his face in the back of Naruto's neck and a few minutes later he was sound asleep.