It has been a while since I updated, sorry! Sorry! Thank you so very much to all those who have reviewed :3 I'm glad people enjoy this story :D

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Naruto sat on the couch of his and Kiba's shared apartment and stared at his hand, the ink had by then completely run and all he could see was the faded outline of a small smiling face drawn at the base of his thumb where his sweat hadn't been able to fully attack it. He thanked Kiba, again and again, for taking a few snapshots of the thing while it was still somewhat intact. The brunette just smiled and said thats what friends were for.

The trouble was, they still couldn't read it. Nearly every number could be taken as a multitude of other numbers, annoyance and worry gnawed away at his mind causing his fingers to tremble as his leg bounced to release pent up energy.

"Dude, calm down! Your leg could pound open a hole through the floor and I dont think Gaara would appreciate a foot coming through his ceiling. We'll get this freaking shit figured out even if its the death of us!" Kiba laughed softly as he brought his hand down on his friends knee to still the quaking limb.

Naruto shot him a pinched smile as he nodded, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I just...I dont know. There's something about that guy that got to me!" he ran his hands through his hair as he stood and began a heavy footed pacing while staring with furrowed brows at the picture of Suigetsu's phone number.

"Alright. First number looks most certainly like a 3." He nodded, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck he squinted his eyes to stare at the next number. A minute passed before an exasperated sigh heaved from his lips.

"My turn!" Kiba shouted as he jumped up and took the phone from Naruto's hands. "New eyes always help!" he boasted while bringing the phone eye level and staring at it.

Five minutes passed as Kiba stared in squinted eye fury. "It shouldn't be this hard! But that bastard has such sloppy hand writing to begin with! It could be a 5, another 3, a retarded 8, hell a 6, maybe a 2!" He threw his hands in the air, phone clenched in his tight fist, before falling back into the couch next to Naruto.

The blond stared forward at the carpet, unblinking...eyes taking on a blank stare. He turned slowly to his roomie and patted him on the shoulder, "Thanks man. But you don't have to give yourself an aneurysm trying to help me over some guy I only met for a half hour at WalMart." with a defeated tone Naruto slouched back into the comforting cushions and began searching for the remote.

The brunette felt his eye twitch. His eye actually twitched. He thought that had only happened in anime and manga...but there he was with a twitching eye as rage suddenly filled him. He jumped from the couch, wagged his pointer finger at his friend and growled, "What the hell man? You're giving up this early! You're acting like a beaten bitch! THIS ISN'T OVER YET! You are Naruto Uzu-fucking-maki! He never gave up when times got shitty! When all hope seems lost, thats when Naru-fucking-to shines his brightest! I watched you with that douchebag! You lit up, man. It was like watching you come to life or some girly shit like that. Dont give up on him this fucking quick just because you're scared!"

Still laying back in the couch Naruto smiled up at his friend, he felt uncharacteristically lethargic even through his heart was pounding in his chest, "Why are you trying so hard for me to find out Suigetsu's number?"

Kiba snorted while putting his hands on his hips, "Because. Man, we're best friends! I've known you and you've known me since like our third 'Time Out' together in kindergarten! Haven't been apart since then! I know you like a brother, and I know you haven't acted like that around anybody before. Its like...a soulmate or some bull like that. I know you know what I mean. So I'm not giving up on this prick until I find him again!"

Naruto's heart swelled in his chest, without his command his body leap from the couch as he thrust a fist into the air with renewed vigour he shouted, "Hell yeah!"

"Lets stalk us down a douchebag!" Kiba rejoiced with him after receiving a hearty highfive.

Naruto paused and stared at his best friend, "Dont call my soulmate a douchebag, douchebag." a small smile curled up the edge of his lip as Kiba nodded seriously.

"Right, sorry. Hehe." the brunette scratched at his cheek as he sat back down on the couch and picked up the phone. "FIVE! The second number has to be a five! Look, its got a straight back! Seriously man. It starts with 35!" Naruto took a few strides forward and plucked the phone from Kiba's hand. He nodded slowly as he shrugged slightly.

"Yeah...I guess that looks right." He nodded again and allowed a cheerful grin to grace his face, "Great job, dude!"

-One Hour Later-

Sweat beaded down the blond's perplexed face as fingers fisted his hair, "I can't do this. None of it is distinguishable! I didn't look down when he wrote it the first time, he could have just wrote some alien language for all I know!"

Lazily an arm swung at his chest, hitting him just over the heart, as Kiba shook his head, "Dude. What'd I tell ya? Dont give up." He paused as he slung himself over the arm of the couch and sighed, he reached out and grabbed the paper the two had been using to write all the possible veriations of the number on. Bringing it back he rested it on his knee while bringing the phone back up.

"Time to start dialing, see if we got any of them right!"

He started at the top of the list, fingers rapidly assaulting the numbers before bringing the phone to his ear. A moment passed. "Hello?...Is Suigetsu available?" he paused before nodding, "Alright, thank you. Sorry for bothering you." He pressed end and turned to his friend. "One down, a million to go."

-One million failed phone calls later-

A strange chuckle came from Kiba as he pressed end yet again. "One more number on the list. Wouldn't that be some shit if it was him? After all those damn numbers... the last one would be THE ONE! In fact, I'd be pissed...so I'm hoping for it not being it. If it is his, I'm calling him a dick and hanging up. I'm sorry man. I'll just have to."

"Geezus. You know, I wouldn't doubt it. He just seems like the type of person where the cosmic universe would get in on him on some joke like this. Wouldn't fucking doubt it. Hell. If it is his number, I'll join you."

They stared at the list of crossed out numbers and glared at as Kiba's lean fingers began dialing the last number. Putting it on speed dial the brunette leaned closer to his friend so they could both listen, and react to the same call.

Both their hearts froze mid-beat as the line went silent for a moment, then a tired grunt sounded from the other end. They must have just woken the other.

"Yeah?" the blond's eyes furrowed as he pulled away from the phone.

"Is Suigetsu there?"

"Huh?...Uh...hang on." at that both men stared at each other in wide-eyed disbelief. THEY HAD FOUND HIM!

They quieted their sounds of excitement when they heard the muffled voice on the other end call out to unseen others. "Hey! Anyone know whose phone this is?"

Another voice from far off, "Yeah bro, that's Takashi's phone."

First voice, "Oh...someone is calling for Suigetsu or something."

"Tell them to fuck off, we dont know no Suigetsu."

The voice came back to the phone with a disgruntled tone, "Fuck off dude, dont know no Suigetsu." With that the line went dead.

"SHIIIIITTTTT!" Naruto cried out in frustration as he flung his phone across the apartment and watched the back snap off and both pieces fall to the ground. It wasn't broken, oddly enough, no matter what he did to that phone it never broke. The back cover panel snapped off sometimes, but that was the extent of the damage. Kiba called it the "Demonberry" because it never dead no matter what happened to it.

Naruto sighed, all his previous anger washing through him as he sagged into the couch and stared absently at the front door. "We should just put this to the side for tonight. Ya'know, pick back up tomorrow or something." The brunette nodded, still leaning forward on the edge of the couch as his head fell forward into his open palms as he shook his head.

"Today has been a bitch." both nodded as Kiba clicked the tv on and relaxed next to his buddy, "We'll figure something out tomorrow for sure. The brain always works better after a nights rest! 'Sides! If you had called him today, even if you told him it was because you weren't sure what his number was, it would make it seem like you were desperate or something. This way you can keep your manhood a little longer."

The blond chuckled at the tattooed man's theory, but didn't say anymore as their show finally came to life on the screen before them.

-4 AM that night-

Kiba bolted upright in bed, his eyes wide, mouth gasping as he fisted the sheets below. "I've got it." he whispered to the walls before a smile crept over his lips. "I've fucking got it!" he shouted while ripping the blankets from his sweat drenched torso and leap from the bed. "NARUTO! I GOT IT!" he slid down the hall in his ankle cut socks and nearly skidded past his roommates door before he grabbed the handle and threw the door open.

Naruto had heard his friend's first shout, and had slowly started to open his eyes by the second time, but he was hardly awake until the man threw his door open and screeched "I'VE GOD DAMN GOT IT NARUTO!" at that point the blond was upright in bed, eyes hazy, unfocused, and wide with shock at having just been ripped from sleep.

"Huh?" was all he could manage as he stared stupidly at the chuckling roommate, standing with hair tossed wildly about, and a crazed gleam in his eye.

"I know how to get Suigetsu's number!"

"What? Did it come to you in a dream? This has happened before Kiba, remember? You aren't fucking psychic, for the last time. Just go back to bed." the blond glared lazily at his roommate before flipping over and pulling the blanket over his shoulder and shutting his eyes tight.

"No man, thats not what I meant. AND DAMN IT! I am too! It only happens once in a while and everytime I've been right! But that's besides the point damn it!" The brunette fumed from the end of Naruto's bed. "I was dreaming about banging some hot chick at the mall, and then paying the security guard for the tape of it. But anyway, yeah we could totally get the security footage from when that Suigetsu dude wrote his number on your hand!"

Naruto stared at his nightstand with eyes wide. That was brilliant. "I dont fucking believe it." he exclaimed to the wall before pulling himself up and staring at Kiba with disbelief, "How in the hell did you link that to my situation with Suigetsu?"

Kiba shrugged offhandedly while a smile beamed across his face, "I'm just awesome like that."

"YES YOU ARE!" Naruto boomed as he jumped from his bed and threw his arms around his best pal and hugged him tight. "You're amazing, Kiba! Thank you!"

-8 AM, the start of Shikamaru's shift-

"The nitwit twins are here to see you." Shikamaru heard from his spot in front of a small monitor. The brunette shrugged as he waved his hand once.

"Let'em in I guess." He grumbled, still not taking his eyes from the screen. "What." he sighed as he felt the gust of wind whoosh to his left, and then to his right, and a warm arm drape across his shoulders.

"Hey buddy~" Naruto cooed, "You've always been my greatest, bestest friend." He pulled back and shook his head when Kiba shot him a look of hurt, Kiba nodded in understanding.

"Yeah man, you're like a brother to us." the dog lover grinned slyly as Shikamaru shot him an untrusting glare before turning his attention to Naruto.

"What in the hell do the two of you want?" He swirled around in his chair and lazily crossed his arms over his chest, setting his expression into one of apathy.

"Well, hey man, you remember yesterday when Naruto met that dude?" Kiba began.

"The one you said looked kinda like an anorexic sharkman?" Shika sighed.

Naruto's eyes buldged open right before awarding his roommate with a dirty glare. "Well he does damn it!" Kiba defended before turning to Shikamaru and nodding.

"What about him?" the walmart employee was starting to get annoyed already, he just wanted the two of them to spit out what they wanted already and just leave him alone.

"We need the footage of when he wrote his number down on Naruto's hand, so we can get it and blondie here can reconnect with his soulmate!" Kiba shouted.

"What the fuck do you think this is? CSI? This is Walmart dumbass. I can't just go find a moment on a tape and zoom in so you can read a number off his hand.
You two watch TV too much." Shika rolled his eyes as he turned back to his monitor.

"Come on man! What the hell! We'd do it for you! Shika!" Naruto whined as he grabbed the back of Shikmaru's chair and swung the man around, "You have, like, a degree in computer science or some shit like that! You know all about computers! You have to help!" The blond's eyes watered on cue as his lower lip trembled.

Taking in the sight before him the older of the three heaved a sigh while bringing a hand up to rub his temples, "Troublesome." he paused as he ripped his chair from Naruto's grip, "Fine. Just get out of here. I'll call you when and if I get it. I'm not making any promises."

-One hour and thirty minutes, one trip down the gaulet, two trips to the bathroom, and one trip courtesy Kiba after Naruto embarrassed him in front of a hot girl later-

Naruto's phone shouted to life from his pocket and he spared not a second ripping it from his pocket. "Shika! I thought you were standing me up!"

"Well I was for about an hour, then I saw you were still standing around waiting when I looked in one of the monitors so I figured since you were so serious about this guy I might as well not be a douche. Took me ten minutes to find the footage and read the number. Then I forgot to call you and took a twenty minute nap. Just woke up. Sorry about that."

The blond's brow ticked and he suppressed the urge to scream at his friend.

"Yeah, well anyway, that dude has some sloppy handwriting. I looked it up to make sure it was his number, got it right after the third one. So here it is." the blond hung up and input it in his phone immediately after shouting "thanks prick!"

He dialed the number with gusto, fingers a blur as they sped around the keypad and before he knew it the phone was pressed to his ear and he could barely hear the ringing over the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. He licked his lips as he swallowed heavily while shifting his weight then tightening his grip, he could hardly stand to be in his own skin at that moment.

Kiba watched on with a smirk and a thumbs up, but kept quiet and even stepped back as if the blond would need space to make a phone call. The blond would have laughed had he not been in such a nervous wreck.

"Hello?" came the uncertain tone of a very familiar voice.

"Suigetsu." Naruto breathed in relief and excitement.

A moment passed and before Naruto could let another word drip from his lips he could practically hear the smirk coming from the other end as Suigetsu purred, "Hey there. I thought I'd never hear from you again."

"Well, I had a little issue I had to figure out. You know, you don't have the greatest handwriting in the world." Naruto smiled as a soft laugh hummed through his ear.

"Yeah well we can't all be the best at everything." there was another pause before a thunderous boom screamed through the phone, making Naruto yank the phone from his ear as he winced. The next second he was shouting.

"Suigetsu? What the hell was that?"

A voice responded, but it wasn't directed at him and it seemed to be farther away from the phone then before, "Jesus...JUUGO! JUUGO!"

The next second a thunk as the phone was obviously disguarded to the ground. The blond's deafening heartbeat grew as he ran outside to escape the looks he got as he shouted into his phone, calling for the man he had just a second before reconnected with.

Suigetsu's name echoed through the parking lot as the blond heartwrenchingly cried into the phone, tears brimming in his eyes.

His heart stopped dead in his chest at the next sound. An obvious explosion from the other end caused the speaker in his phone to vibrate from it's force of sound. Naruto would have dropped to his knees had he not been leaning against a wall at the next second as a woman's ear-splitting screech came through the line.

"Suigetsu!" was her only word.

Two minutes passed the whole time Naruto shouted the other man's name in hopes of someone maybe hearing him through all the chaos, he sure as hell wasn't hanging up until he knew what in the hell was going on. Sounds of screaming, running, and the echo of sirens sounded from the line as he continued his screams for someone's attention.

Finally. Finally Naruto could hear the phone move, the whoosh of air then a panted wheeze of "Hello? Who is this?"

Naruto ignored the question and instead bellowed his own, "What happened to Suigetsu? Is he alive? What's going on?"

The man on the other end took a few more deep breaths before coming back. "Stunt went bad, car...the car...I don't know. Suigetsu ran to help Juugo right when something exploded. He went flying through the air...I dont know...I dont know...he's in the ambulance now. Someone said something about Konoha Mercy Hospital I think...I dont know anything else. I'm sorry..."

-

I'm horrible for this chapter DX It's all funny and happy then it seemingly turns angsty and sad. No worries! Even though I love angst, this story is going to have a happy ending.

D: Damn, I just gave that way, now this wont be as much of a cliffhanger :sighs: Hopefully still enjoyable, though.

I was going to draw out the figuring out of the number, maybe for another chapter but I just couldn't...I couldn't, I'm sorry if I've failed you. But Naruto just got lucky? ^^;