A\N: Chapter 2! Thanks for the faves, follows, and reviews! Mentions will be in the next chapter or the one after that. ^^ Enjoy!

Sasuke's eyes fluttered open, and he looked around until he saw Planty sitting next to him, swaying in the breeze.

"P-Planty? Where are we?"

"We got to Konoha last night, but you were tired, so we stopped a little ways off," his friend whispered.

"Oh!" Sasuke grabbed Planty, smiling widely. "Let's go, then!"

"Ah! S-Sasuke! Your pants!"

The frantic whispers stopped him in his tracks. He looked down slowly, yelping and covering himself.

"Gak! Planty! What happened to them?"

"Don't you remember, Sasuke?"

The traumatized Uchiha shook his head, his bottom lip quivering. "N-no…"

The plant shushed him quietly. "Sasuke, don't cry. There's nothing to be embarrassed about. You just had a little run-in with a wild boar. It's okay."

"I… I want pants…"

"Alright, alright, calm down and listen to me." Planty paused momentarily and then spoke again. "Go find a sheet hanging out to dry."

Sasuke turned in several circles, searching the area for a blanket. He didn't see anything at first, but then his eyes landed on a white… something... fluttering in the trees.

Grinning, he got to his feet and ran as fast as he could towards the foliage, clambering up the tree. It was a little difficult, seeing as his chakra wasn't working for some reason, but he managed to get the large white thing, and it turned out to be a large blanket.

"Perfect!"

Sasuke ran back to Planty, holding his trophy high over his head. "I got it, Planty! Now what?"

"Now cut two holes for your arms and wrap it around you. Then tie it at the waist with your purple cord!"

Sasuke did as he was told, hoping no one saw him, and when he was finished, he picked Planty up and started towards Konoha's gate.

"I don't know, Sasuke… I'm scared to go in there."

"Don't worry, Planty. I'm sure everything will be fine. We've never been here before, so why would they want to hurt us?" Sasuke ran into the village, skipping a little as a happy feeling began to fill him. He didn't know why, but this place was just… perfect. It was the special place he had been thinking of. He was getting some odd looks, though.

"Pst! Sasuke, do you see that big red building?"

Sasuke ran a little further and came to a stop, his eyes stopping on the tower. "Yes."

"Maybe their leader lives there. We should go talk to him. We don't want to be here illegally."

"Good point, Planty!"

Sasuke took off at a dead run, his dress flapping in the wind. He giggled softly, his bare feet pounding into the dirt as he made his way towards the leaderhouse. Yes, that's what he was going to call it. The leaderhouse.

He got to the leaderhouse rather quickly, clambering up the stairs and trying not to trip over his clothes. It was hard to do all this running and climbing without his chakra, but he didn't know when it would be back, so he figured he would have to manage. Besides, he had Planty. What could possibly go wrong when he had Planty?

I wonder if the leader is nice? I wonder if it's a man or a woman? Or maybe a plant! That would be good for Planty… I wonder if the leader will let me live here? Please, please, please let me live here. I know this is my special place…

He walked into the building, approaching the door slowly.

"So the robbers were apprehended?"

"Yes. One of them is in the hospital, but the other two were incarcerated this afternoon."

Sasuke felt a shiver go down his spine. These people certainly didn't sound nice.

"What did they have on them? Were you able to return the peoples' belongings?"

"We recovered everything, but only some of it has been returned. We're having a hard time finding all of the owners and a large amount of stock was damaged—probably when they were stealing it. They claimed their last victim was a delusional boy they found in the woods. We have a team out searching for him now."

"Delusional…?"

"He was talking to a plant, apparently."

Sasuke gasped loudly, holding Planty up. "Someone like me!" he shouted, completely disregarding the people beyond the door. "Did you hear that, Planty? Someone else who has a friend like you!"

The door beside him flew open, and he jumped away, heart pounding in his chest as he tumbled back onto the floor. Staring up at the blonde woman and the silver-haired nin beside her, he felt his blood freeze in its tracks. "I… I'm sorry! I didn't mean to eavesdrop!" he pleaded, getting on his knees and lowering his head.

Planty grabbed his attention, whispering gently. "Sasuke, don't be upset. Just calm down and tell them—"

"Sasuke!" The ninja exclaimed, his one visible eye widening. "What are you doing here?"

Sasuke gave him a look that meant death, stroking his precious friend with gentle fingers. "Shh… it's speaking to me."

The man blinked, slowly looking at the woman, but Sasuke ignored them. "What did you say, Planty?"

"First of all, I am a he, not an it."

Sasuke bit his lip, hanging his head in shame. "S-sorry…"

Planty sighed, but Sasuke could hear the smile in his voice. "It's alright, Sasuke. I was saying you should just tell them the truth about the situation. We're already this far in, so we'll just have to be honest and see what happens."

Sasuke nodded, swallowing hard as a fear he had never known began to permeate his body. "Uh… Ninja-san and… and Leader-sama… I…" He cleared his throat. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, and I'm looking for a very special place to stay. I… um, used to be with a man named Orochimaru, but I killed him and his assistant, Kabuto. I killed them both dead! I killed them until they died to death! And, uh… w-well… I'm sorry for stealing this blanket, but someone took my pants… and… and I was really embarrassed." Sasuke fidgeted with his dress, staring down at his lap, tears blurring his vision. "Please… please let me stay here… p-please…"

There was a long silence, and then the ninja man knelt down in front of him, lifting his chin and forcing eye contact. "Sasuke… do you know who I am?"

Sasuke shook his head slightly, biting his lip to keep it from shaking. "No… I'm sorry."

"Sasuke, I…" The man paused, still seeming lost in a state of shock and not knowing what to do. "I'm going to talk to Hokage-sama for a moment… can you wait outside the building?"

Sasuke looked between the two of them, trying to keep his legs from shaking as he got to his feet, taking Planty with him. "I… I… are you going to punish me?"

The man shook his head, smiling. "No, it's going to be fine. Just wait for me."

"Yes, Ninja-san!" he bowed sharply and then turned, running out the door and down the steps, a silly grin on his face. "See, Planty? Everything's fine!"

There was a brief silence, and then Planty swayed. "I guess it is…" Then he laughed. "This could be really fun, Sasuke!"

"I know! And did you see Ninja-san smile at me? At least, I think it was a smile… it's hard to tell with the mask."

Planty swooned in agreement. "I wonder what's under there…"

Sasuke grinned down at him. "I guess we'll have to find out sometime!"

Planty was about to reply, but the two of them were suddenly under a shadow. Sasuke looked up to see strange men wearing masks. The fear from before quickly filled him, but he tried to remain calm, sliding away carefully.

"H-hi… my name's Sasuke…" he said quietly, holding tightly to Planty.

Someone landed behind him, and he whirled around, smiling when he saw Ninja-san standing there with his hands on his hips.

"Ninja-san!" he shouted, getting up and running over to him. "You're here now, so I'm safe! Thank you, Ni—"

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. This is for your own good, alright?"

Sasuke frowned, pulling away. "Wh…what do you mean?"

The young Uchiha let out a shout when something hit the back of his head, and he stumbled forwards into Ninja-san's arms. The sickening crack of pottery breaking reached his ears.

Planty!

He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Blackness pushed at the edges of his vision, and he went limp. Everything fell into darkness, and Sasuke Uchiha knew no more.

A\N: Please leave a review! Next chapter, enter Naruto and Itachi!