I'll set the record straight immediately by saying drinking doesn't solve anything - all it does is fake the confidence you've had all along.

Well that's what I was told :P

Howdy! :) how is everyone? Thought I'd input a little wisdom before I greeted you all, see if anyone takes it in :D also it refers to the chapter so its fine.

Stay tuned, and see if you like the update - I have a feeling you might be happy, yet unhappy with the contents of this but please, tell me how you feel with a review! (Not hinting at all :P) xx

Chapter 9

Sasuke

I've been such a fool. All this time. I've been ignoring everything because of a hatred that had no basis. Yet he… he's been trying his best to avoid the past to concentrate on the present, on the future, and it has even allowed him to advance further in life. I've been stuck living in my own world, only thinking of myself. All the pain he's suffered and all I did was make it seem like it was nothing. I am the worst… and I don't deserve to be loved by him the way I love him…

Naruto

Its strange. That hatred I had for him, its…it has just evaporated. Gone. Its disappeared and its been replaced by feelings that I haven't experienced with someone like him before. Its weird, and a little sick. He's my temporary guardian - that's almost like a step parent and that's off limits. Why am I getting so nervous about it anyway? Its not like anything is going to happen. Jiraiya is going to make me go, I'll never see him again. I just have to hold out until I leave and then I can let go. Even if I really don't want to…

Naruto lay on the bed in his room, it was very early in the morning, but after a restless sleep of only a few hours, the blonde was not in the mood to try and fall back in to slumber. He was too busy thinking about Sasuke - and the events of the other day. It was as if it had been a sparkle of clarity for him, everything made sense. Suddenly he knew how he felt, he wanted to express how he felt, he wanted to make sure that he was not beaten by that man. And Sasuke was the centre of that plot in more ways than one.

How strange that they would actually grow to care about each other more than he would have ever imagined. The two started off with such a thunderous relationship, and now it had grown - apart from the fight - in to something so much more. Who would have guessed it would have come to this?

Certainly not him. He was leader of the Anti-Uchiha movement after all.

Naruto sighed.

What was he to do?

He was saved from his thoughts when he heard noises atop of the staircase and saw Sasuke had come down to see him. He sat on the stairs, and hadn't seemed to notice that Naruto was awake. He played with his hair, which made Naruto inwardly giggle, and took a deep breath. He was dressed in some loose pyjama bottoms, no top and an undone dressing robe. His hair was stuck up so unusually it looked as if someone had electrocuted him.

What was he doing down here at this time? Did he do it regularly? Check up on him to see if he was still there?

Naruto had to admit that he knew his door got locked at the beginning of his stay, as he had tried to get out at night a few times. But lately it wasn't, as he had been desperate for the bathroom and had to check. So there was at least some trust that had been built up, so what was the Uchiha doing in his room at an ungodly time? Naruto wanted to get up to ask him, but he was warm under his duvet. He turned his head that fraction of an inch to get a better glimpse of Sasuke to see that the guy was staring straight at him.

Then he smirked.

"I know you are awake".

Naruto, annoyed, groaned and sat up slightly; "What are you doing down here you freak? Stalking me now?"

Sasuke gave a single 'HA' before reaching inside his robe pocket and pulling out a small glass bottle of some kind of alcohol. He had a swig before he offered some to Naruto.

"Are you drunk?"

"No, but its rude not to offer".

"Sweet I'll take some of that then".

Naruto brought his duvet with him as he sat down next to Sasuke and took the bottle. He necked a little of it, wiped his mouth and handed it back to the raven. After shuddering a little at the warm sensation and running his tongue all around his mouth to savour the flavour of the amber liquid, he then licked his lips and poked Sasuke before repeating his earlier question.

"Every now and again, I come down to see whether or not you are here and still alive. Its my job".

"Well, why don't you wake me up and have a chat. Get's a little boring down here at night if I'm honest".

"Because you need to sleep, you have school, and I don't want to be on your floor with you on top of me again - which seems to happen more than I would have thought".

Naruto laughed. "Don't like being bested? Please. You are talking to a professional here".

"And so are you".

"Okay you've had the training, I've had the experience - I think mine is more crucial".

Sasuke said nothing.

"Sasuke".

"Hn?"

"What is the real reason you are down here?"

Sasuke said nothing.

"Its because I'm not going to be around much longer isn't it?"

Sasuke took another swig.

"Are you depressed that I'm going to be leaving?"

"Wow. One track record aren't you? Stop being so self-involved", he smirked.

Naruto looked at him sadly. "You are allowed to be honest Sasuke". He poked the raven again and realised that he was shivering a little. Naruto put his duvet around him and pushed him playfully. Sasuke fell almost right over before quickly recovering, only to look a little embarrassed at Naruto laughing at him.

The two of them remained seated on the stairs wrapped in Naruto's duvet in silence - every now and again the two of them would swig from the bottle. Sasuke was amazed that Naruto could handle his booze, especially as he could do it much better than he could.

Naruto was having fun, despite the oddity of the situation; drinking in the dark with Sasuke, especially as they had had a serious fight just the other day and they had barely spoken to each other since then - it was like there was nothing else left to say, or they just couldn't find the words they wanted. In mid thought, Naruto felt Sasuke's head fall on to his shoulder, and rest there for a bit.

And then the blonde did something without realising, without thinking about it, with no prior knowledge that he could even do it.

He kissed Sasuke on the head. And the two of them realised it.

Was that the first move? What was going to happen from there? Especially since the two of them had been drinking on and off without speaking for the past hour. Sasuke looked up at the blonde, and Naruto looked down at him.

The two of them broke apart instantaneously, both mumbling unintelligible words under their breath, looking away from the other. Naruto got up and stood in the middle of the room, leaving the duvet with Sasuke. He crossed his arms and refused to look back at the raven behind him. He was shivering; he was only dressed in his t-shirt and shorts and the basement was quite chilly.

That was until he felt the duvet being wrapped around him. He turned to see that Sasuke was there, a weird look on his face - as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. He whispered goodnight before walking off.

Again without any forewarning. Without realising. Naruto reached out his hand and grabbed Sasuke's. Turning around to see his face, a kind of confused smile - something that Naruto had never seen before. It was obvious what he wanted to do.

And almost as if they were thinking the same thing, the two walked closer together and kissed. A sensation so warm and feeling so good, that Naruto realised it was right; this was what he had been feeling, but this was -

Naruto sat upright, eyes wide awake and staring at the ceiling. He felt his head and sighed as he thought about what happened.

It was only a dream. A DREAM!

The blonde sighed. He felt annoyed that it was all a dream, something made up in his imagination - something that good. But it was also a good thing; after all, they weren't supposed to be doing anything like that. What if Jiraiya found out?

"Just a dream", Naruto muttered under his breath.

"What was just a dream?" a voice next to him spoke. Naruto stared fixedly ahead, before slowly turning his head to his side to see Sasuke was sat next to him, leaning against the wall, his hair sticking up at odds and ends; the smirk he wore on his face was such an insolent smile. The raven turned to him, raised one eyebrow before reaching in to his pocket.

And pulled out an empty glass bottle, shaking from side to side.

Naruto turned bright red.

"Umm, uhm, umm…" Naruto for once in his life was completely and utterly speechless. What the hell was he going to do? He had to get away, he needed to leave, to get away, to rid himself of the humiliation and that smirk.

That smirk was going to be with him for the rest of his life.

Sasuke just sat there, still holding the bottle, still wearing the trademark expression that was burning in to Naruto's soul. His ruffled appearance only made Naruto want to stay and wipe the smirk off him by doing something naughty.

"Well, we had an interesting night. Did you wanna hear about it?"

"No".

"Come on, I can add in all the juicy bits with lots of detail".

"No".

"Come on, you just want to have your memory jogged, I mean its so very interesting".

"I said no!"

Sasuke laughed aloud, and got up from the bed and walked toward the staircase.

"Naruto, you don't have to worry about this. You don't have to do anything you don't want to, and anyway, who said it wasn't just the booze - we did have a lot of it". Sasuke winked and walked up the staircase, leaving Naruto all alone in the basement, probably for the first time in a while.

- - - - -

Sasuke shut the door to his room, pressed his back against it and stared at the wall in front of him.

What the hell had happened last night? All he knew was that the two of them were… they were doing something Jiraiya had strictly forbidden. Being rebellious, like a teenager again, made Sasuke laugh, but remembering that Naruto was a minor and wasn't going to be around for much longer was also a factor he needed to consider.

What was there to consider? That the fact that he let his feelings take over from his responsibilities? With alcohol involved as well? The fact that he ruined his chances with Jiraiya to ever be trusted with something ever again? What if he had to do this sort of thing again in the future? Would he ditch Naruto for someone else? What the hell was wrong with him?

He picked up his phone that was lying on a table next to his door and glanced at the screen. He had a missed call and a message from his brother; weirdly one of the only people that could talk to him about what he was going through.

He pressed the redial button and placed the device to his ear, moving on to his bed.

"Hey Itachi, its me".

"Hey little brother, what's up?"

"You know I was talking to you about Naruto, that kid that is living with me?"

"Yeah".

"Well something happened between us last night, which I'm not exactly completely proud of, but bloody hell enjoyed".

He heard his brother laugh at the other end of the phone and waited for the giggling to die down before he explained to him all the details of the events that happened last night.

"Well, Sasuke", Itachi eventually replied about ten minutes later, "I think you've only got one option here. Go for it. Talk to the kid, make sure he know's what he is getting in to - let's face it, you aren't exactly the best company - and then screw him".

"Itachi".

"Fine, fine, I'll be supportive and informative in the conventional way". Itachi sighed, Sasuke could hear him flip a pancake over, swear, lick his finger before replying to him once again.

"You've got to wonder what is really going to happen between the two of you. Is it just a passing fancy? What's the history? Can you take on a kid like that, who, for one, is about five years younger than you, and not out of school. Isn't he in some kind of trouble? Can you handle that trouble? Can you examine your feelings from his perspective?"

Itachi continued to list of these rhetorical questions off, in which Sasuke contemplated the answers. What was he going to do?

"Well, it would be nice to meet the guy, and for you to find someone to be happy with. I'm fed up with you being boring, and angry and depressed and everything. Makes me feel bad that I'm having the time of my life, going on exotic holidays, meeting extremely hot male strangers and having sex all the time. Plus, I've tasted some fabulous cocktails in my time - both kinds, wink, wink - and you are sitting in your basement drinking whiskey out of a bottle and wondering whether or not to feel up a blonde seventeen year old".

Sasuke sighed, face palming himself.

"This is my own fault, it really is. I should never phone you when I need serious advice".

"Oh Sasuke darling, I'm only joking-"

Sasuke hung up and threw the phone, hard, at the bed.

Fucking brother. All he did was mess around.

The phone rang next to him but he ignored it. It rang again, and again but Sasuke couldn't bring himself to pick it up. Eventually there was the beeping sound of a text message sounding instead. Sasuke decided to read it as it meant he wouldn't have to listen to his brother's voice.

Sasuke, listen. You know how you feel about this kid right? Help him. Push your feelings aside for now and help him get back on his feet, away from the pain that's being forced on him. Then think about what you should do. Remember, its his life as well. Itachi x

Sasuke looked at the text again, rereading it over and over until it was all a blur.

Well, maybe the idiot had some good advice to give every now and again.

- - - - -

Naruto and Sasuke were waiting at the bus stop, ready for their transport to arrive. It was cold, raining and Naruto in particular was getting fed up.

"Let's just go back".

"No. You promised to show me one of the destinations of these keys and I have picked one. So let's go".

"But…!"

"No buts. We are already out of the house, stop complaining and get ready for the bus as its pulling up now. You don't want anyone else to hear anything do you?"

"No".

"Good, then let's get on. I'll pay".

"Well how the hell am I going to pay?"

Naruto got on the bus and sat at the very back, away from everyone else as Sasuke waited to pay for tickets. There were only a few elderly people on the bus, all sat at the front. Two of the nosier ones, elderly women sat together just behind the bus driver, stared at the blonde and then began to whisper.

"Oi! What are you talking about? Shut up", Naruto yelled at them, arms crossed and glaring at the old biddies.

Sasuke sighed. He noticed the bus driver about to say something, so he flashed his badge at him and shook his head. The bus driver understood, turned to give Naruto a dirty look before proceeding to shut the door as Sasuke walked to the back of the vehicle towards Naruto. The bus driver was elderly, and quite 'proper' in etiquette which was probably why he took an instant dislike to Naruto, who had the disposition of a moody teenager who didn't care about anything.

Sasuke knew what it was though, that was going through the blonde's mind. He was scared in case someone found them. Which was why they had planned this elaborate scheme to wonder around until they knew they wouldn't being followed.

They sat on for quite some time, before getting off the bus at the town station; Naruto sighing because he knew the destination was nowhere near where they were now. But hell, Sasuke didn't know anything did he? Naruto stuck his tongue out at the women who were still on the bus at that point and they looked affronted. Sasuke noticed the driver point something out, whispering and they silenced themselves immediately. The blonde seemed to notice this as well, which made Sasuke smirk.

They walked around for some time, wondering in to book shops in which Sasuke became so deeply immersed in that Naruto had to physically pull him away. Then Sasuke had to return the favour when the blonde entered a gaming store. They were actually having a genuinely fun day, messing around in the shops, before grabbing a hot drink and sitting down in the café.

"So where is this place then? Can I expect anything important?"

Naruto sipped his drink and avoided the raven's gaze.

"Come on give me a hint. We should start making our way over there soon or it will be too late. Wait a minute, that was your plan all along!"

"Calm down Sasuke, that was only partly my intention".

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

"Well for starters you can shut up".

"You nervous?"

"Yes".

"Why?"

Naruto glared at him, before it melted in to something that resembled his fear. He hadn't explained what was at this place after all, what it meant, the significance and all other details. It was just the place the key opened.

Sasuke drank his coffee, looking around the fairly crowded café to see if there was anyone around that he had recognised from anywhere else. Apart from a young group of teenage girls who were in one of the shops that they had gone in to, nobody obvious popped out. It seemed like no one has figured out that Naruto was around.

It was strange. His house was the safest place for Naruto, as none of the people after him had found where he was staying yet.

Well, so they thought.

Sasuke heard his phone ring, and slowly went to pick it up. He answered it with a sort of smile looking at Naruto. When he heard the reason, his expression immediately hardened. He reached in his pocket for the money, told Naruto to quickly pay and that they were going to have to get moving. When the blonde had returned, he asked the question he knew he was going to ask.

"I'm sorry Naruto I really am".

"What is it? What is it Sasuke? I need to know".

"They found something on my front door that wasn't exactly pleasant".

Naruto's eyes widened before they narrowed and he sighed.

"Let's go. Now. I will show you later on", the blonde stated.

Sasuke didn't say anything, but he had the feeling the blonde already knew what was going through his mind. And it crushed him.

They returned back to the house not that long later, seeing a few policemen and Jiraiya at the scene. Sasuke refused to look at the door, but when Naruto saw it he gasped and then began swearing violently, kicking and breaking a fence. Apparently Jiraiya had stopped by to see them and saw the scene, and called for back up.

Red paint that looked eerily like blood, dripping down the door and creating a pool of that hideous substance - it seeped under the door. It displayed a threat of death to Naruto on the door, one that equalled the death of his mother and father and it made the blonde want to be sick. It had gone in to great detail, the handwriting gruesome. It looked abominable. Like someone actually had been killed just to write that threatening message.

Naruto sat down on cross-legged on the floor and stared at it, ignoring everything around him. Jiraiya and Sasuke were stood some distance away from him talking.

"Do you see now? He's moving".

"He is safer with me".

"Can't you see what that is? They have found him. Now that they have found him, there will constantly be attacks at the house trying to take him away. I suggest you lock up everything precious to you, and I will be taking Naruto to go and live with Yamoto".

"Why don't you ask what he wants? He has an opinion. You would never have got this far on the investigation without me, and now you are just throwing me aside?"

"The kid's life is in danger; that overrides everything - including your responsibilities towards him. And plus, I know there is more to this relationship of yours then meets the eye and this is a good way for it to finally be stopped. Now, I'm going to grab the essentials and we will be back to move the rest of it soon".

Sasuke tried to argue back but there was nothing he could do. He was just being selfish wanting Naruto to stay. After all, if he did and then he was killed, Sasuke could never live with himself.

He looked over to the blonde again. He was sat cross-legged but he turned around to look at him so quickly that it made Sasuke inwardly jump. His eyes darted to see Jiraiya heading inside, and the blonde quickly jumped up to stop him.

There was a short heated discussion before Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders and walked away. The old chief walked back to Sasuke, who muttered that the blonde wanted to get his stuff and then properly say goodbye.

And as an afterthought the blonde had added that he needed at least some privacy respected, which made Sasuke wince a little - it was obvious a slant at him.

Some time later, after the other police and forensic officers had finished with the scene for the time being, Sasuke waited inside his house; Jiraiya was in the car waiting, for Naruto to finish packing.

It was very silent.

Eventually the blonde trudged up the stairs. They had at least been given a moment to spend together before he left.

"Well, this is it. I am finally free of this house", Naruto said in a joking way - but it was easy to pick up on the sadness that it caused him. Sasuke nodded and said nothing.

"So you aren't going to say anything?"

"Well, I've had my orders. I have to follow them - even if I don't like it. At all".

"I'll see you around though. Its not like I won't ever see you again".

"Yeah".

"Listen, straight after I've gone, can you check around my room? You know - in case I've left something there as a reason to come and see me", the blonde stuck his tongue out. He placed his bag on the floor and hugged Sasuke, who reciprocated it wholeheartedly for the first time.

With a smile from the blonde, he then walked off down the drive, Sasuke watching from the liquid soaked door and he waved him goodbye. The blonde waved from the car, and Sasuke watched that fake-joyous expression finally turn in to the misery he was really feeling, sat in the back of the police car. Jiraiya pleasantly waved goodbye, shouting he would see him at work and Naruto remained silent. It looked like it was too weird to watch himself leave so he did nothing.

The car started, and then they left.

Even after there was no sight of the car anymore, Sasuke still stood there and watched the direction in which it had gone for at least a little bit longer. Sasuke sighed before shutting the door and walking in to the middle of the hallway.

Now what was he supposed to do?

Sasuke thought about how unfulfilling his life was before the blonde had entered. Sure he was annoying as hell, but he livened the place up. They had their ups and downs, in which there was so much that it brought about pain, tears, smiles and laughter. It wasn't boring anymore.

Now he couldn't live without that.

But it was weird those words that Naruto had said just before he left.

If there really was something he had left behind, he would have taken it right?

Sasuke walked in the direction of the basement room, and walked down the stairs. Apart from it was emptier than before, it looked exactly the same. He had some stupid feeling that the blonde had really left him something.

Maybe it was important.

If it was important, it would be…

Sasuke turned to face the brick wall and began digging in it, taking pieces out. The original mystery box had gone but there was a letter inside that was left behind. He dusted it off and took it out - it was heavier than he expected.

He then felt it. Attached to the letter was a key and a key card. He pocketed them quickly before looking at the writing on the letter.

Sasuke. Its now up to you - I can't tell you directly, but I can give you the clues. Then no one will know you know the secret. Memorise this letter and then burn it to get rid of the evidence. The sooner you solve it, the sooner you can see me again. I have faith in you.

Naruto.

Sasuke read the rest of the letter, utterly confused. However, a grin spread across his face. A challenge. And a great one at that.

Could he solve the clues to figure out the secret the blonde was hiding once and for all?

There was only one way to find out.

- - - - -

Reviews would be appreciated. Beezelneff has been fed up with the fact we have had no internet access this past month and a half, having to attempt to use the temperamental library internet, so please cheer him up with your lovely comments :D xx