Disclaimer: I own nada recognised as belonging to someone else.

Next chapter is the beginning or the Chuunin Exams and the return of Kohaku and this team of ickle Genin.

A head of golden hair lay nestled against the bare left breast of Lady Jubei, listening to the consistent beat of her heart. Flung across her waist was an arm belonging to the dark-haired Inari, who was sleeping in the crook of her right shoulder.

The three naked figures, hair unbound and sheets tangled around their forms, lay in a patch of bright moonlight; two sleeping, one wide awake.

Naruto just couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he was he was just too restless to sleep.

He gently disentangled himself from his lovers and pulled on the pale grey sleeping yukata. He glanced back at the two figures on the futon before quietly slipping out of the room.

(space)

An hour later, Naruto was still wandering the Main Compound, prowling along the tops of the whitewashed garden walls around the personal living spaces for guests like a grey ghost in the moonlight, occasionally flicking a handsign to the sentries in the shadows.

After some time meditating whilst moving, he finally caught the thought that had been teasing him for a while.

Uchiha Sasuke hadn't known Naruto had been exiled. The only reason Naruto could come up with that the council would lie to their beloved Uchiha was if said prick had come back because of Naruto. Or at least expecting Naruto to accept and forgive him.

Either way, Naruto hadn't had much interest in Konohagakure, so he'd kept his nose out of their affairs.

There was only one person he could thing of who was logical and unemotional enough to give him the answers he wanted.

So here Naruto was, leaping quietly down into one of the gardens and approaching the veranda door.

He rapped sharply then took a large step back.

Nara Shikamaru opened the screen door, his hair uncharacteristically loose, shirtless and with a kunai held loosely in his hand.

"Yo." Naruto greeted his ex-comrade.

(space)

The two regarded one another across the low table and their cups of green tea.

Naruto quietly sipped his tea, totally relaxed now that Shikamaru had commented his presence with 'Mendoukusai.'and a shake of his head, obviously knowing better than to try to attack the blonde on his own turf.

"So," the lazy young man started, "What brings you to my room so early in the morning?"

Naruto sighed, not out of any emotional reaction, but simply because he hadn't been breathing deeply enough. "I wanted to know what, exactly, they've been telling people about my departure from Konohagakure all those years ago."

The blonde shinobi could just see the little hamster in the Nara's head running as fast on its wheel as its little legs could carry it.

After a long moment of silence, Shikamaru began.

"It was leaked out that you had become unstable after your failure to bring Uchiha back to Konoha after your battle at the Valley of the End. After your recovery, you, according to reports from several ANBU, broke into the Hokage Tower, stole several jutsu scrolls, burnt out your apartment and ran, killing several Chuunin and a team of fresh genin on the way out. Hunter-nin were sent to bring you back alive, but failed to return. Their bodies were found a few days later, torn apart."

Naruto had sat back and was frowning deeper and deeper as the story went on.

The Deer Summoner regarded the quiet and powerful man his once loud and annoying classmate had become. The Nara had always suspected that there was more to it than just becoming unhinged and running off to retrieve the Uchiha without permission. Especially since the 'unhinged' missing-nin proved to be just as insane as most other career shinobi he knew, he was thus more than willing to listen to Naruto's version.

And if it was different to the version from the Elder Council's, he was definitely breaking out the emergency Sealed Communications Scroll given to him by Tsunade-sama.

Tongue in cheek, Naruto put down his now cool cup of tea, eyes fixated on the leaf stem floating upright in his tea, wondering at the irony of it (1).

"As soon as I was capable of leaving my bed, but not really be discharged from the hospital, I was taken by ANBU to the Council meeting chambers where, by majority consensus, I was banished from Konohagakure, stripped of my shinobi rank and told that if I ever set foot in Hi no Kuni again, I'd be executed. My banishment was effective immediately. I had an hour to get out of Konoha and two days to get out of Hi no Kuni. I tried to get to see Tsunade immediately, but she was in surgery and wouldn't be out for hours. I then went back to my apartment only to find it blazing already. If all their plans had went accordingly, I would have been left with nothing but the hospital pyjamas I was in. Fortunately, since I was used to my stuff being trashed, I had several emergency caches stashed away around Konoha. Three had been found and destroyed, but I managed to find two on my way out of the Village. I was run out by various ninja and a mob of civilians. I have no idea what happened to the ninja I supposably killed on my way out, nor the Hunter-nin, but I would suspect Danzou's Root unit since he's the reason Tenten had to run for it. I made my way here to Nami no Kuni where I knew I'd be accepted for my involvement in the Bridge Building Incident, but I was intercepted by Iwa Hunter-nin and attacked for my resemblance to the Yondaime Hokage. I was picked up by Jubei and some of her Clan who had been hunting the Hunter-nin and I set out to help create this Village. The rest is History and frankly none of you business."

By the end of Naruto's monologue, Shikamaru was pale but was obviously recording, analysing and storing the information as it came.

Shikamaru's dark eyes met Naruto's, serious and spooked. "Tsunade-hime must be made aware of this immediately."

Naruto tilted his jaw in acquiesce. "I'll sign the message in blood."

(Space)

After leaving Shikamaru to his serious thoughts as he went over Tenten's report, Naruto found his feet taking him to the Detention Facilities in the very centre of the living area, making virtually impossible to escape without someone noticing.

Still in his sleep-wear, Silence drifted through the false-dawn light, passing a few early risers and sentries coming in from the shift change.

He wandered down into the underground, three-foot iron enforced cellblock. The doors were enforced metal that went into time-lockdown if an alarm went off and no consecutive doors were open at any one time. The lighting was red fluorescent that allowed adequate vision but enabled the prisoners to sleep.

Uchiha Sasuke was in an open-barred cell on the first level. The two guards left at Naruto's nonverbal order.

He was, surprisingly, still asleep, so Naruto settled down cross-legged against the wall opposite the bars and studied the man.

Naruto vaguely remembered loving to watch Sasuke sleep when they went on missions. He had just been so pretty and innocently doll-like when they were younger, but now there was a tiredness there that was present even when he slept. Faint lines marked his face, similar to Itachi's. The face had matured from an unspeakably pretty child to a darkly beautiful man. His skin was still pale as alabaster, but his silky raven hair had grown, framing his face with silky fly-away locks and flowing over his shoulders to mid-shoulder blade length. His fingernails were longer too, red as his Sharingan with a spot of black in the middle of each nail.

And yet for all the comparisons, Naruto found the raven less in every way when compared to Itachi, and even Koji. The blonde vaguely wondered, philosophically, if it was because he knew that Itachi had saved Sasuke out of love when he was ordered to murder his clan, showing a depth of emotion that Naruto honestly doubted Sasuke was capable of; Koji, however, was simply stunning in his dainty beauty, and his frankly obsessive infatuation with Naruto, coupled with his patience to learn, made him much more trustworthy in the blonde's blue eyes.

Naruto knew, had known for some time, that he had once loved Uchiha Sasuke, had since fallen in love with Uchiha Itachi to an extent, and would probably fall in love with Uchiha Koji.

There was something about Uchiha's that drew him to them.

Naruto was brought out of his increasingly depressing thoughts when the raven shifted his eyes fluttering open and, after a moment, recognising the blonde form seated against the wall.

Those dark eyes widened with surprise before softening with what Naruto now recognised as love and lust.

"Naruto…" Sasuke breathed, eyes drinking his beautiful dobe in.

Naruto stared back indifferently, now knowing for certain that he truly didn't care for this man anymore; neither as friend or even as a person.

His voice was detached and rang clearly into the Uchiha's ears, shattering his heart like he had shattered Naruto's long, long ago.

"Steel and Stones are hard on Bones/ aimed with Angry Art./ Words can sting like anything/ but Silence breaks the Heart." Naruto quoted the child's ditty and stood. "Let go of the past and look to the future."

He gave one last look at the frozen man and walked off, his words drifting back.

"Yours is a future I have no interest in being a part of."

Sasuke came out of his stupor and threw himself at the Seal-enforced bars, screaming at the retreating back, "Naruto? NARUTO?!"

Silence kept walking until he returned to the futon with his lovers, his heart closed to the distraught man screaming his name over and over in the holding cell until the guards sedated him.

1. A tea stem floating upright in tea is considered a good omen.

Cheers! ;D