Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Naruto Universe

Summary: Sequel of The Ultimate Weapon ~ Two months after waking up, Naruto struggles to return to his ordinary life. Meanwhile, the condemned elders help Danzo's pursuit of Hokage by controlling the Jinchuuriki once more.

Two months.

It had been two months.

Two months since Sasuke had returned to the village.

Because of his key involvement in revealing that his Naruto was being controlled by that fucking bastard and those fucking 'elders' and in bringing him back to the people of the village as well as his proof that Itachi had been innocent and his killing Orochimaru, it was decided by the new council—much aided by Tsunade—that Sasuke would be able to not only return as a citizen of Konoha but be allowed to reapply as a ninja.

Granted, he would be on probation for two and a half years—six months for every year Sasuke was gone—but Sasuke was not complaining in the least as it was more than he could ever expect when musing about returning during his absence.

Two months since that fucking bastard Sai and those fucking bastards were arrested.

Unfortunately, all that had happened to those FUCKING BASTARDS was that they were all demoted, suspended for an indefinite period of time, would be put on probation for an indefinite period of time when they returned to active duty, and would stay in jail separated from one another for an indefinite period of time.

It aggravated Sasuke and those who knew exactly what those fucking bastards did to no end that they were not hanged for their sins, but they would tell no others the reason for their enragement.

Honoring Naruto's dignity, they did not say the nature of the abuse done to Naruto while he was controlled; only that it was that fucking bastard who had used the mind control jutsu that had since been decreed forbidden and that the rest of the fucking team not only knew this but mistreated Naruto knowing full well that he did not consciously know what was happening around him.

The new council had been rightfully angered by this and had set the punishment rather quickly, believing the mistreatment to be occasionally beating Naruto because he was the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Tsunade had wanted them all to be stripped of their ranks and discharged from being ninja, but the council had out voted her, reasoning that they were talented ninja that would still be useful if not needed in the field.

Two months since the elders were dismissed from the council.

Because this entire ordeal was caused by those two pompous, narcissistic son of a bitch and downright bitch to the core, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were officially dismissed from their positions as heads of the council. Along with their positions, they were formally relieved of their status as high elders as well as any perks or privileges the two had enjoyed for so many years.

Instead of being properly and publically arrested, Tsunade had chosen—backed up by the new council who had agreed with her—to place the two under house arrest while being banished to a remote cottage in an isolated area on top of the Hokage Monument.

Tsunade had chosen this knowing full well that the two had openly mocked how archaic the Sand Village was for using such a method with their own high elders who had retired, and how the two had reveled in the narcissistic notion that they were superior to the Sand because they had demented themselves into believing in their utter superiority since they had not retired and still played an 'active role' in Konoha's affairs via meddling and controlling others, namely Naruto.

Forcefully banishing and isolating them like the Sand elders had chosen to do was the perfect punishment for them, Tsunade believed.

Of course, their banishment was not publicly done, yet the whole village knew of it. Tsunade had allowed word to spread that the 'elders' were the ones responsible for taking Konoha's beloved Number One Most Unpredictable Ninja and hero away from its citizens so any support that the two pompous bitches could hope for left faster than the fabled Yellow Flash as soon as word had gotten out.

There were also rumors surrounding Naruto's now imprisoned team where it was said that they had allowed Naruto to get critically injured during their last mission and Sasuke had saved Naruto while the team had fled, leaving Naruto behind while scorning him for being the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki. So that was why they were arrested, Sasuke was back, and Naruto was in the hospital.

Two months since Naruto had awoken from his controlled state of mind.

The day after Naruto Uzumaki had been awoken from his controlled state of mind, he had been transferred to a private room in the long-term residence area of the hospital.

Like his first day in the hospital room the first day he had awoken, the only people allowed to visit his room were the members of team 7, Tsunade, and Shizune. He had stayed there in near isolation for an entire month, not because of any injuries or by choice, but because of the repercussions of being controlled for so long.

Because of the extended period of time he had been subjected to that damn mind controlling jutsu without any break, his mind was simply not used to being conscious for longer than a few hours anymore so he spent many hours of the day sleeping or in a complete daze as his mind got used to being conscious again.

Simultaneously, Naruto's brain had been bombarding his now conscious mind with the memories of what he had been forced to do on his missions while being controlled. Because of the sheer amount of memories during those two years and the amount of pain associated with each of them, Tsunade had thankfully prescribed Naruto memory suppressant pills.

Thanks to the pills, Naruto was—mostly—able to deal with new memories during his daily therapy sessions. Some days were worse than others as the pills unfortunately could not completely slow down the pace of the stream of memories. Still, they were the best solution on hand as many people were weary of allowing people direct access to Naruto's brain; even trusted comrades for recovery reasons.

Besides, the only side-affect that slightly bothered Naruto was the extra drowsiness it caused.

Mental recovery from the extended period of being controlled was not the only reason Naruto was staying in the hospital, though. Naruto's mind and body still physically reacted to assumed danger whenever a person comes too close to him.

It had taken near constant strain and pushing himself, but Naruto had managed to reduce his automatically tensing and switching to his 'attack' mode from ten meters to only a single meter and that was only sparingly with the members of team 7 and Tsunade, who could actually touch him briefly given enough warning and time; though he still tensed and almost or sometimes switch whenever Shizune or anyone else comes near him.

Tsunade, Shizune, Sakura, and Kakashi had all tried to convince him of how truly amazing his recovery rate was considering that two months ago he would automatically try to attack anyone that came within ten meters of him, but he would have none of it.

Naruto was determined to return to his normal life and was convinced that he was unable to recover faster was because he was weak, an idea self-reinforced by the idea that his weakness was the reason for being controlled in the first place.

Respecting Naruto's desire to return to a normal life as soon as he possibly could, Tsunade had allowed Naruto to be discharged from the hospital as long as he returned every day for his therapy for his memories as well as his physical therapy for reducing his meter radius. He would also have to agree to rest while at home and to not try to push himself too much.

Naruto had agreed to the conditions immediately, eager to leave the hospital as always. However, he was devastated to learn that his apartment had been sold more than a year ago during his time being controlled.

Anticipating this, Sasuke had the perfect solution he had worked out with Tsunade as soon as Naruto had started showing signs of wanting to leave the hospital. He had gotten permission from the Hokage to break into that fucking bastard's apartment—after already doing so—and taking everything of Naruto's that had been wrongfully moved there.

He also indulged himself in drawing the Uchiha crest on every painting inside the apartment.

After taking everything of Naruto's from the fucking bastard's apartment, Sasuke had quickly moved everything—rightfully—into the his house near the old Uchiha District that he had been given charge of again upon his return to citizenship.

Naruto had no furniture as those were all taken care of by that fucking bastard and now Sasuke, so all of Naruto's belongings were of the personal kind and was no trouble at all in moving into Sasuke's mansion.

Naruto was completely flustered when he had learned that he would be moving in with Sasuke as soon as he would be discharged from the hospital. He had demanded to know why, insisting that he could find a new apartment and did not need any help.

His efforts were in vain as Tsunade had already agreed with Sasuke that Naruto would live with the Uchiha.

Sasuke had convinced her because out of everybody, he was the only one who could safely approach Naruto without the blonde tensing, and that he was the only one who could calm Naruto from a painful memory or self-berating without fail.

She had told Naruto to suck it up because her decision was final and explained that with his mind still recovering he needed someone to watch over him.

Naruto had insisted that he did not need a babysitter but Tsunade had told him that it was either he move in with Sasuke or he stay in the hospital because she absolutely would not leave him alone.

Naruto finally caved after she had told him that her greatest fear was that something would happen to Naruto so soon after coming back to them and there was no one nearby to help.

After Tsunade had left Sasuke and Naruto alone, Naruto had immediately called Sasuke a bastard and accused him of manipulating Granny Tsunade, to which Sasuke had smirked and asked if Naruto was not happy with his new living arrangements.

Naruto had huffed, replying that he was NOT happy and that he could take care of himself.

Sasuke's smirk widened as he sat next to Naruto, placed his arm around the blonde's shoulders, and had told him that he was happy because now he got to live with the one he loved.

Naruto had shown Gaara's flaming hair shame with the ferocity of his blush and pushed Sasuke off the bed, stuttering that Granny Tsunade was the only reason Naruto was agreeing to the living arrangements.

Then, Naruto had declared loudly that the two would be sleeping in different rooms.

Sasuke had hidden his inner disappointment, having already moved all of Naruto's personal belongings into the master bedroom with his own things.

Naruto had then mumbled—while stuttering on Hinata's level—that even though he was thrilled to hear that Sasuke loved him and acknowledged that he loved Sasuke too, Naruto was still trying to come to terms with the fact that he had been controlled for over two years and did not know about being boyfriends so soon.

Sasuke had given his stuttering, blushing, nervous, and adorably embarrassed love a gentle smile reserved only for him and assured him that he would wait for as long as Naruto needed, understanding that mentally, Naruto was still sixteen years old and was still trying to process waking up to learn not only had he been forced to do many, many unpleasant and inhuman things while controlled, but that he had woken up to two years in the future where Sasuke not only returned him to the village but is in love with him.

He was mentally cursing himself for making such a promise since he had waited long enough and wanted his adorable usuratonkachi for his own, but the glowing smile he received as thanks made his heart skip a beat and had reassured him that he had made the right decision to wait.

So here he was.

One month after Naruto had moved in with him.

Sasuke was waiting outside of the hospital in an isolated nearby garden with Kakashi, his self-proclaimed 'probation officer'.

Due to the terms of his probation, he would need a Jounin supervisor for every mission he took part of for the next two and a half years. He was allowed to go on high rank missions, but only when he was needed so for now he had to pay dues with D-rank missions; something Kakashi had found extremely amusing to oversee.

Especially since about once a week he and Sakura—now a Jounin as well—would take it upon themselves to imitate their old Genin days, without Naruto, complete with Sakura pretending to fawn over him and Kakashi arriving late.

It also amused Naruto to no end when Sakura or Kakashi retold the day's events when they were allowed to see him, so Sasuke did not—openly—complain.

But he did hope that Kakashi would not try to retell this week's Team Seven Glory Days Reenactment. Kakashi had insisted that he only wanted to visit Naruto, but Sasuke had his doubts.

Neither man spoke while they waited for Naruto to finish his therapy session. They had already discussed a few topics with each other, spending the majority of the day together with Kakashi 'supervising'—reading his little orange book—Sasuke on his numerous D-rank missions and felt no reason to interrupt the tranquil atmosphere outside the hospital.

It was a few minutes after the usuratonkachi's therapy session was supposed to end, but that was normal for Naruto. It was either the blonde pushing himself to his limit or spending extra time afterwards socializing with Tsunade and Shizune since these were the only time they could see each other since Naruto was only allowed to go to the hospital or stay at home until he was able to stay around people again.

So Sasuke quickly realized that the time the session was merely a suggestion instead of a deadline.

Finally, after a few more minutes, Sasuke saw bright blond hair in the corner of his eye exiting the hospital, escorted by pink hair. Sasuke turned to face Naruto, catching Kakashi's attention who turned as well.

Sasuke noticed that Naruto was not sporting his usual smile whenever he was around Sakura, but rather a rather somber expression. The expression was immediately dropped as soon as Sakura had pointed to Sasuke and Kakashi in the isolated garden nearby the hospital; an area they had chosen so Naruto could have the opportunity to speak to Kakashi in an open area that was not in the hospital or Sasuke's and Naruto's home.

Now sporting a large smile, Naruto waved excitedly at the waiting duo and Kakashi raised a hand in response as the two men's expression softened; it was always nice to see Naruto smiling after not being able to see him for so long.

As soon as Sasuke and Kakashi were in hearing range, Naruto excitedly shouted, "Look! Look at what I did today!" jogging towards the two men.

Smiling from beneath his mask, Kakashi called out, "What?" in reply.

Instead of answering, Naruto picked up pace so he was now running towards Kakashi with a determined look in his blue eyes.

"Eh? Naruto?" Kakashi asked, smile now gone and replaced with a nervous confusion, his eye wide.

As a response, Naruto dove for Kakashi and wrapped his arms around the other man's torso, tackling him to the ground.

Sakura laughed loudly while Sasuke scowled. What had Kakashi done to deserve a hug?

"Uh, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, still on the ground.

Naruto laughed and grinned widely as he sat on top of his old teacher and all but shouted, "Did you see that? I got near you and touched you without losing my mind!"

Sasuke's scowl lessened, appreciating the significance for Naruto to be able to approach someone at an accelerated pace and touch them without stopping and without switching to his 'attack' mode.

"Naruto was also able to allow Shizune to approach him!" Sakura exclaimed, taking her place next to Sasuke.

"Mmhmm!" Naruto confirmed, smiling up at Sasuke, expecting praise.

"Great job." Sasuke congratulated, offering Naruto a small smile as praise; something he normally would not allow when around other people like Sakura and Kakashi, but this was a special occasion.

"Yes, excellent job, Naruto." Kakashi agreed, "Now, can you please get off of me?"

Laughing once more, Naruto nodded as he reached up to grab Sasuke's offered hand, who was all too happy to get his usuratonkachi off of Kakashi.

"So does this mean that you are almost done with your therapy?" Kakashi asked after he had stood up, voicing the question both he and Sasuke were wondering earlier during the day.

It was Sakura who answered, "Not yet. He still needs his daily therapy for the memory suppression, but he is almost done with the physical aspect. The next step for him will be for him to be around more than five people at a time."

"So Sakura is going to invite everyone for me!" Naruto interrupted, "I really want to see everyone! I feel like it has been forever!"

Kakashi gave a gentle smile, "I'm sure they feel the same way too."

Sakura nodded before smiling once more, "Well, I'm off! I'm going to Ino's flower shop so we let everyone know by tomorrow!"

Kakashi also bade them a farewell, "I'll be off as well. Good job on your accomplishments today, Naruto." He ruffled Naruto's hair before Sakura gave Naruto a hug; both approaching him from in front of him so he could see who was doing what.

The two left after giving Sasuke nods, which he returned, inwardly elated that the two had decided to not stick around and recount this week's Team Seven Glory Days Reenactment for Naruto.

Sakura and Kakashi headed for one direction while Sasuke and Naruto left in the other direction, headed towards home.

The two took the back roads, occasionally pausing whenever they sensed anybody pass by so they would not be noticed. While Naruto was making an amazing recovery rate, he understood that there was a high possibility that he could accidentally slip into his 'attack mode' if approached by somebody he was not used to being around and seriously hurt someone.

So he had agreed with Tsunade when she told him to avoid the villagers until he was sure that he was comfortable being around a crowd of people since there would no doubt be a crowd that would want to welcome their village hero who had disappeared for two years not a month after saving them from Pain.

Sasuke had already made little appearances around the village here and there after it was publically announced that he had returned. He did all the errands for himself and Naruto which included grocery shopping as well as shopping for new clothes for the both of them and things for their house.

But being an anti-social creature by nature, he did not mind and even enjoyed avoiding people when walking Naruto to and from the hospital.

It had depressed Naruto at first, initially reinforcing his idea that he was weak and at the same time reminding him of the days in his childhood when he would avoid the villagers when returning home in fear of being beaten or having open hostility launched at him for something he couldn't control or understand.

Noticing this, Sasuke had turned avoiding people into a game of hide-and-seek with the unknowing bystanders; something that had cheered Naruto up to play a part of. The two hid from the villagers for about a week and a half until Naruto had decided to stop and enjoy the scenery of the back roads since the last time he remembered walking through the village, it had been a bunch of wooden house frames and not the fully finished village presented to him now. He had also begun to appreciate the simplicity of walking with Sasuke to their house like Sasuke had appreciated greatly.

Halfway through their walk home, Sasuke had grabbed Naruto's hand. Naruto had asked what he was doing and Sasuke had deadpanned that he was holding Naruto's hand.

Naruto had looked away, warning him to not get any 'funny ideas', but he did not let go and even squeezed Sasuke's hand back when the Uchiha interlaced their fingers together.

"So will you tell me why you were upset at the end of your therapy session?" Sasuke asked, referring to the somber face he had seen on the blonde as he left the hospital before noticing Sasuke and Kakashi.

Naruto winced and asked, "Upset? Who said I was upset?" in a fake confused voice and with a huge—fake—smile. Sasuke turned his head to face Naruto while they still walked, not saying anything and waiting for the blonde to cave.

Naruto had valiantly kept looking forward, but started to get nervous and sweat as a minute passed and Sasuke was still staring at him. He tried to keep staring forward, but the silence and staring were getting to him so finally he exclaimed, "GAH! Fine! I was. . .a little upset."

"Hn." Sasuke said as he looked forward again, urging Naruto to continue.

Naruto mumbled in a small voice, "I had another memory today. . .one about a reserve mission I went on when I was. . .yeah."

Sasuke did not say anything, but he moved a little closer to Naruto and squeezing his hand to let him know that he was there for him.

"I'm not sure exactly what it was for, but we were sent to exterminate a group of rogue ninja before they did anything to the village." Naruto whispered 'exterminate', truly horrified by the word.

The two were near their house, but Naruto was too focused on recounting his memory to notice. So Sasuke was leading Naruto through the gateway.

"When we got to their camp, they. . .they were eating dinner! Nothing bad! Just dinner!"

Sasuke opened the door for the both of them, never letting go of Naruto's hand which Naruto was squeezing.

"Without warning Akimo had hit the campfire they had with a large fireball and caused it to explode! He set the whole campsite on fire! While they were trying to figure out what was going on and trying to save everyone, Zima, Kohaku, Sai and I slaughtered them! Those who tried to escape were either placed in a genjutsu by Takumo or were taken out by Akimo as they ran. They didn't have a chance!" Naruto explained, halfway to hysterics.

Sasuke had led the two of them to the living room and had sat Naruto down on the couch, squeezing Naruto's hand back and rubbing his arm as Naruto's misty eyes filled with tears.

"They. . .they were asking for mercy! They screamed for help! And I-I. . .I didn't do anything to help! I just killed them! Like a. . . like a. . ." Naruto cried, unable to continue as the tears spilled over.

"It's alright, it wasn't your fault; you weren't you," Sasuke soothed, rubbing his arm faster with his free arm.

"LIKE A MONSTER!" Naruto screamed, pushing Sasuke away and curling into himself.

Wanting more than anything to just pull Naruto into his arms and take all of his precious person's pain away from him and protect him from all the hurt in the world, Sasuke knew he had to hold himself back.

He wanted to pull Naruto into a hug. He wanted to pull those tan arms away from his face and kiss his pain away. He wanted to wipe those tears away. But he couldn't.

Despite his leaps in recovery, whenever he was emotionally vulnerable like now, Naruto did not have the concentration to hold himself back and would more often than not automatically switch to his attack mode whenever someone other than Sasuke got near him. And not even Sasuke could place more than a hand on him.

Each sob coming from Naruto cut through Sasuke like his katana; it hurt him to his core to hear his love in so much pain and unable to do much for him.

Kneeling in front of Naruto who was curled up on the couch, Sasuke placed a single hand on Naruto's knee carefully.

When Naruto did not tense, Sasuke began rubbing circles on the knee; waiting for Naruto realize he was there.

A minute later and more slashes to Sasuke's core, Naruto dove for Sasuke and started sobbing into Sasuke's chest.

Knowing that it was safe now, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto.

Sasuke used one hand to hold the back of Naruto's head while the other was wrapped around the other's torso. He was rocking the two of them back and forth in a slow, soothing rhythm.

"It's not your fault." Sasuke told Naruto with conviction in his voice, "You were not in control of your body nor your actions. It was not you."

Naruto did not reply but burrowed himself further into Sasuke's chest, seeking comfort.

And Sasuke provided all of the comfort Naruto needed. It took more than an hour of rocking back and forth and whispering sweet words of comfort, but eventually Naruto had calmed down.

For the rest of the afternoon, Naruto was in a rather subdued mood, his recently unrepressed memory still on his mind. Normally, Naruto would try to force a smile on his face and pretend that things did not bother him as much as it did, but Sasuke had put a stop to that when Naruto had moved in with him. Sasuke had sternly told Naruto to not pretend around him, and had agreed to not pretend around Naruto as well. He said that they would be honest with each other.

Lifting Naruto's mood became Sasuke's mission for the rest of the day. He and Kakashi had dropped by Ino's flower shop earlier in the day and bought the flower seeds that Naruto had mentioned that he wanted and Naruto's mood had lifted when presented with them, surprised that Sasuke was actually paying attention to his earlier babbles.

The two of them had planted—Naruto planted while Sasuke kept him company—in the garden outside and went through the house while Naruto had pointed out where he thought that plants or other decorative things would look nice; all the while Sasuke held his hand when in the house.

Sasuke had made pasta for dinner, but he had included a small cup of instant ramen, intent on spoiling his blonde. Naruto had been ecstatic to see his favorite meal on the table, his mood completely lifted by then.

The two had enjoyed their dinner together as well as a ramen dessert. After the two had finished everything and had washed the dishes together, Sasuke had suggested that they spar in the backyard.

Naruto had immediately agreed. He was warned by Tsunade to not try to seriously fight anyone until later in his therapy, but Naruto had been relentless and Sasuke had agreed to begin practicing with him as long as he followed Sasuke's guidelines.

The main rule was that Naruto was absolutely not allowed under any circumstances allowed to use chakra, and neither was Sasuke or anyone nearby. Naruto was also required to tell Sasuke as soon as he started to feel tired or out of breath.

Understanding that the rules were set as a precaution for the very real possibility that Naruto could slip into his 'attack' mode, Naruto had agreed without any complaints like he normally would. He had no intention of returning to such a state, but was not used to slumming around all day and needed something more physical to do than planting seeds in the garden.

They could not officially spar with each other, but rather played an intense game of tag and simply called it sparring to list Naruto's spirits.

Naruto had been utterly delighted—and frightened at the same time—when he discovered that he was faster than he remembered and had little problems keeping up with Sasuke.

He was delighted because he was the reigning Spar-Tag Champion, never to be dethroned. But petrified because he did not remember training his body to become that fast. He was a firm believer in doing the work himself and not taking any shortcuts—other than utilizing his shadow clones while training, but he did not count that since technically he was doing all of the work—and felt like he had cheated his way to his rather epic throne.

Sasuke had explained to him that he did do the work, whether or not he remembered it, so it was not cheating.

While Naruto had accepted that logic, he feared what he was now capable of and at times felt like a stranger within his body.

After half an hour after the sun had set, Naruto had told Sasuke to stop 'sparring' because he was starting to feel tired.

Understanding, Sasuke had agreed and gave Naruto a wide berth while the two returned to the house to wash down just in case Naruto accidentally dropped his barriers and would slip into his 'attack mode'.

While Naruto took his shower, Sasuke had hoped that he had succeeded in tiring Naruto out.

Naruto did not notice it, but every time he remembered any mission that that bastard team took him on, later that night he would remember their horrid activities afterwards.

Sasuke hoped that if his traumatized blonde wore himself out, then he would dream a dreamless sleep and be able to avoid having to remember those memories.

While the usuratonkachi was still showering—and Sasuke's rather vivid imagination ran wild—Sasuke pulled out Naruto's extra-large futon, just in case. He had spoiled Naruto so that the blonde had both a large futon, for his tossing and turning needs, as well as an extra-large futon for nights when Naruto would be plagued by his resurfacing memories.

"You made my bed? Does this mean I'm making yours? Or are we switching rooms? 'Cause I have no problem taking the big room."

Sasuke turned around and saw Naruto in a towel leaning against the door frame.

"How many times have I told you to take your clothes with you so you aren't traipsing around in just your towel?" Sasuke applauded himself for not staring and getting a nosebleed.

The shirtless blonde shrugged and said, "Enough times that I could quote ya and STILL ignore you at the same time."

"Usuratonkachi!" Sasuke was trying really hard not to openly worship the body that was in front of him and simply lavish it.

Naruto waved him off, "Yeah, yeah. I'm getting' changed, alright?"

"Good." Sasuke managed as he walked out of the room, trying to get to the shower before a certain blood flow became truly painful.

His shower was very quick and very, very cold.

When he was finished and had gotten changed—in the bathroom—Naruto had already fallen asleep.

Sasuke smirked as he leaned on the doorway to Naruto's room. His blonde was sleeping peacefully.

His plan must have worked; the usuratonkachi was not tossing and turning the way he would when he was dreaming. What the idiot dreamt about, Sasuke did not know. All he knew was that apparently it required a lot of moving and very little sheets.

Sasuke's smirk widened into an actual grin as he observed his sleeping love; Naruto really did look adorable.

Blond hair was covered by the old sleeping hat that Naruto relied on for a good night's sleep. The usuratonkachi had glomped Sasuke in elation when he saw that Sasuke had salvaged it from boxes that fucking bastard had kept filled with memorabilia that the pale son of a bitch deemed unimportant, but Naruto did not need to know that last bit.

The rest of Naruto's body was covered, save for his shoulder and arm since they were thrown over his head while the rest of his body was under the bedding.

Naruto was also actually sleeping quietly for once. Sasuke had becomes accustomed to snoring coming from Naruto's room, so the silence was somewhat eerie, but comfortable. Sasuke hoped it was because Naruto was having a very restful slumber.

It was quite calming to watch Naruto sleep; hearing slow, even breaths, watching the blanket above his chest rise and fall with each breath, observing that serene expression. More than once, Sasuke caught himself wishing that Naruto would hurry up and be comfortable with their relationship so they can sleep next to each other.

Maybe it was selfish, but Sasuke didn't care at the moment.

He sighed, about to go across the hall to his own bedroom. But first, he wanted to have one more look at his slumbering blonde, wanting to be able to take in the beauty and serenity while he still could.

He knew very well that despite finding great comfort and happiness in knowing that Sasuke loved him, having the Uchiha—lovingly—stare at him made Naruto extremely nervous and somewhat paranoid.

Mostly it was because the adorable naivety of the blonde made him believe that Sasuke was staring at something on his face or clothing, but there was also an underlying hatred for stares from the days of his imperfect childhood.

So Sasuke enjoyed these moments when Naruto was sleeping like this; unguarded and completely lovable.

After staying a few moments more than he had originally intended, Sasuke turned away from the scene with an honest to goodness smile on his face.

The smile was quickly wiped off his face when he heard whimpering behind him.

He whipped around; hoping that he was merely suffering from a terminal head injury that caused him to hear what he refused to believe was a whimper.

It was not a whimper! It couldn't be! Naruto only whimpered in his sleep when—

"No," the man in question groaned.

Sasuke froze, observing the changes in the blonde's sleeping face from just moments before.

Before, Naruto's face was calm; serene.

Now, Naruto's eyebrows were hunched together in a grimace of pain. His eyes were squeezed shut, as if hoping that would help block whatever unpleasant thing that was marring his slumber. His teeth were bared, grit together from stress. Escaping from that locked jaw every so often were whimpers.

Whimpers from nightmares.

Sasuke rushed to Naruto's side, hoping against hope that the nightmares were of either of them turning into monsters and devouring the innocent or something else that was as equally frightening to Naruto.

"N-no! Get away from me!" Naruto called out in his sleep, using the arm above his head to push away an imaginary being from in front of himself.

There was still a chance! Hopefully there was a terrible monster about to slash through Naruto!

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Naruto screamed, trying to huddle into a protective ball.

Something sank in Sasuke's stomach. It was painfully clear: Naruto was remembering being gang raped again.

"No, no, no, no. . ." Naruto whimpered, curling into himself some more.

There was no time to debate possible consequences about waking Naruto up. Sasuke frightening him be damned; facing the memories alone would be much more detrimental than with Sasuke.

Positioning himself carefully next to Naruto—he had learnt that apparently that fucking BASTARD quite enjoyed taking SASUKE'S Naruto from behind—and pulled the trembling ball into a sitting position.

Naruto stiffened when Sasuke's arms wrapped around him, then resumed begging to not be touched.

When Naruto was properly seated, Sasuke placed one arm around his shoulders to balance him while he used the other to shake him.

"Wake up, Naruto!" he urged while shaking him, "It's a dream, only a memory!"

Naruto jerked a little, and cried out, "STOP IT!" referring to those bastards in his memories.

Sasuke shook harder, desperate to wake his love up so he could help at least a little, "It's only a memory! Just a memory!" he chanted, trying to reassure both himself and Naruto.

Naruto started to wake up from being jostled awake. When his eyes finally opened, they frantically searched the surrounding area to assess where he was, breathing too rapidly to be considered calm.

"Naruto," Sasuke squeezed the other's shoulder to let him know that he was there, but loosened his grip because he knew what was going to happen next.

Like Sasuke predicted, Naruto started to thrash around frantically, trying to escape the clutches of someone from his memories.

"Naruto, its Sasuke! Sasuke's here. Sasuke's got you." The Uchiha whispered in a soothing voice, pulling the frightened blonde into a warm embrace. He did not care that he was referring to himself in the third person; Naruto needed to know who was touching him.

The frightened ball froze, then a small, panicky whisper repeated, "Sas-Sasuke?"

"It's Sasuke." He repeated, placing a chaste kiss atop blonde hair and pulling Naruto closer to him.

Upon realizing that he spoke the truth, Naruto uncurled his arms away from himself and twisting his torso so he could grab hold of Sasuke; his knuckled strained white and his entire body trembling.

"I—they—they—I—" Naruto's voice cracked and broke several times as he tried to explain himself, burrowing himself into Sasuke's chest.

"Shhhh, Sasuke's here." Sasuke repeated, rubbing Naruto's back and pulling the other arm around the other's body and placing his hand on the back of the blonde's head.

"WHY?!" Naruto cried out before sobs overcame him as he pounded a fist against Sasuke's shoulder, "WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?!"

Sasuke's face remained impassive as he asked himself the same question.

He could not give an answer, so he merely allowed the abuse to his shoulder to continue as he rocked his tormented love back and forth in a soothing rhythm as his precious one sobbed into his chest.

Hating himself more for what he was about to say than he ever did when he thought about his terrible decisions of the past, Sasuke forced himself to ask, "What did they do?"

Naruto completely froze mid-sob, choking back on himself, when he heard the question.

The blonde frantically shook his head no, refusing to say aloud what he remembered.

He held his love closer, hating himself more and more with each passing syllable, Sasuke said, "Tsunade said that talking through these is the fastest way to process them."

"I don't WANT to process them! I WANT TO FORGET THESE MEMORIES!" Naruto shouted as he grasped tightly onto Sasuke's shirt, sobs renewed.

"Not talking about this won't make you forget them. I will cause these memories to fester and haunt you." Sasuke reasoned, wishing it weren't so.

"They already haunt me!" Naruto choked out between his sobs.

The words, the truth behind it, and the knowledge that more memories like this would resurface tore at Sasuke to his very core, though he did not allow that to be shown in his stoic expression. He needed to be strong for his Naruto.

"I'll listen to everything you tell me. I won't judge you for what they did, nor will I stop loving you." Sasuke assured the other in a firm voice.

Naruto shook his head in the negative again, though with less determination than before.

Sasuke kissed the top of his head again and whispered, "I love you."

Naruto's breath hitched, then shakily asked, "Ev-even though I-I…they…"

"I love you." Sasuke repeated.

Naruto was silent for a moment, still taking in shaking breaths as he was still crying. "Promise?" he whispered, and tensed as he waited for the rejection he assumed would follow.

In response, Sasuke took the hand that was holding the back of Naruto's head and slid it between them so he could hold Naruto's chin and pull it up so the two were properly facing one another in their embrace.

"I promise I'll still love you." Sasuke whispered before leaning forwards and placing a chaste kiss on those trembling lips before him.

The kiss was a small, short kiss. It was meant as a reassurance of Sasuke's love rather than a preview for his lust. He made sure his kiss was gentle and significant, rather than the urgent, sloppy, and disgusting 'kisses' in his love's memories.

Naruto stared at him in a shocked wonder, before he nodded once slowly and re-burrowed himself into Sasuke's broad chest.

As Naruto hesitantly, and with many breaks for escaping sobs, recalled what he was subjected to as his bastard team 'celebrated' their successful mission, Sasuke held him close.

He did not comment, save for an occasional gentle prodding to continue, reasoning that the faster they get through this—together—the faster Naruto can forget about it all.

Throughout Naruto's sporadically hesitant or rushed description of his newest recalled memories, Sasuke felt a burning abhorrence for that fucking bastard and that bastard team of his. Fuck imprisonment and lower ranks! Those sorry excuses for sons of whores deserved worse!

They deserved to be stabbed through the heart for every sob that escaped Sasuke's Naruto's lips. They deserved to get a Chidori in the gut for every time Naruto flinched away from someone. They deserved a burning coal down their throats for every doubt in trust or love Naruto had for those who truly cared about him. They deserved a rusty pike shoved through their spinal cord for every nightmare Naruto had because of them.

They deserved to die in the most brutal of ways for what they did to Sasuke's Naruto.

By the end of the description of the most recent memory, Naruto was exhausted. Instead of burrowing himself into Sasuke's chest for security and comfort, he was slumped against it for pillow usage. His face was still tear stained, not because of renewed tears but because he did not have the energy to wipe them.

"And that's it?" Sasuke asked in a gentle tone.

Naruto wearily nodded his head, "Then S-S-Sai. . .Sai tucked me into his sleeping bag a-and he. . .he held me and made me sleep."

As Sasuke digested this, he made sure that none of his anger for that fucking bastard would be apparent for his tired love.

Using his hand to again tip Naruto's face, Sasuke gave his love a peck on the forehead and whispered, "I love you." Showing Naruto that he had kept his earlier promise.

Naruto gave him a sleepy smile and mumbled, "I live you too."

A slight chuckle escaped Sasuke's lips as he smirked and repeated, "You 'live' me?"

"Shut up, bastard." Naruto slurred, letting his head droop against the hand holding his chin, causing Sasuke to widen his grip.

"Alright, let's get you tucked in again." Sasuke picked Naruto up to place him in his usual place on the futon.

"I loff you too." Naruto attempted again.

"I can feel the 'loff'." Sasuke smirked again as he stretched out Naruto's legs rather than let him stay in a ball.

"Loaf?"

"I do enjoy bread, thank you." Sasuke humored Naruto, enjoying how adorable he was when the usuratonkachi struggled to pronounce 'love' in his sleepy haze.

"No! I looooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooove you!" Naruto drawled, wrapping—throwing—his arms around Sasuke's neck.

Sasuke's smirk grew into a smile and wrapped his arms around his precious love, "And I love you."

"I know that S'ske!" Naruto slurred, with a wide, exhausted smile on his face.

"Well do you know that you have to go back to sleep?" Sasuke asked in an amused tone, making note to himself to one day—when Naruto wasn't mentally a sixteen year old—soon to get this adorable man drunk since he was positive that he would be a happy drunk who would be highly amusing to watch.

"Night night?" Naruto asked, blearily looking back at Sasuke.

"Night night." Sasuke confirmed, taking Naruto's hands in his own to disentangle them from his neck.

"You're staying with me, right?" Naruto asked, still in a sleepy slur, but clearer than before, showing that he truly did not want to be left alone tonight.

Sasuke gave a small, reassuring smile and whispered, "Of course."

Naruto smiled back at him and allowed Sasuke to rearrange them both comfortably under the covers, the reason he had brought out the extra-large futon. As soon as Sasuke stopped moving, Naruto had melded himself against Sasuke's side and used his shoulder as a pillow.

Naruto was asleep in seconds and Sasuke would forever wonder just how he did it.

After Naruto was asleep, Sasuke slightly shifted his position so that Naruto's head slid onto his bicep. Once that was accomplished and the usuratonkachi stayed asleep, Sasuke leaned onto his side and swung his other arm so that he was protectively holding his precious one.

As he held the other, Sasuke stroked Naruto's whiskered cheeks.

How did those fuckers not realize how badly they were hurting his precious love?

His hand clenched in a fist as he pulled Naruto closer to him.

Those fuckers will pay for what they did to Sasuke's Naruto! He would make sure of it.

And that was the long-awaited first chapter.

I liken reviews after a chapter to reviews during an intermission of a play.

It's kinda like the writer of the story is the playwright of the play (obviously) and while the actors and characters cannot step out to visit the audience during the intermission, the writer can. While waiting for the next segment with the audience, the playwright is eagerly awaiting to hear what the audience thinks. Do they not like it so last minute changes can be added to the next segment? Do they have questions other people have so the answer can be included later for those wondering? Do they like it? They playwright is eager to find out!

The playwright would always be excited if they are approached and someone tells them how much they are enjoying themselves. They'd even be excited if someone offered them some constructive criticism because it shows that at least the audience member took the time to approach them. But people ignoring their hard work and just waiting for the next segment despite the playwright knowing they are watching the play with at least some interest can get depressing.

And those who approach the playwright demanding for the next segment can get irritating. They appreciate the audience member taking the time to approach them, but it's like, just wait a little bit, I'm on my break.

Well, now that I am on the subject, I can tell you guys that I will update this story once a month due to chapters getting kinda long-ish—at least in comparison to the first chapters of the original story—and because of commitments to my other stories. If I miss a month, that just means double-update the next month.

Haha, I just realized that I sounded kinda whiney and demanding for reviews. Well, I am demanding a little, but that wasn't the point of that playwright thing. I'm just moving into my new dorm around this time so don't have much to say other than lamenting summer. So I decided to opinionate about how I see reviews and show why I almost always review for the stories I read and at the same time urging others to follow my example lol.

Thank you!