The Guardian

A/N: weird chapter….I have no idea what I’ve written. Feed back would be good… tried hard with the grammar but I’m really sorry I don’t have the time to edit this though I do edit pretty good!

lindsey82: This in reply to your review...the het was necessary for my plot. If you cannot understand that then maybe you should quit reading this story because when something is essential I will use it. And then another thing...I am not a machine! If I say it'll take a while it's because I am a human being and as much as I want to live in a world of only fanfiction, I have a life...too bad ne?

The rest of you...thank you so much for review!! please read the author note at the end, arigato minna!! Cookies to all! I hope you like this!! Oh and this all that I'm done with so you'll have to wait for chapter 11 which will be done in a a while...cos college begins again soon!!

Chapter 10:

Sasuke’s eyes widened as he saw Naruto walk away. He pushed Karin off and made to follow, but she held him back. He whirled around glaring at her. “I have to tell him! It’s not what he thinks it is!”

“No. Stop it! He was angry and that’s good!” Karin smiled at him. “He doesn’t know we aren’t going out! And he doesn’t seem as happy as he thought he’d be!”

Sasuke shot her a look but then sat back down beside her. Karin patted his shoulder. “Sasuke, you’re a bastard at heart! Make use of that! I want you to swagger, develop some backbone! Why don’t you get it? Naruto might be your guardian and the love of your life and all, but you have a life of your own! You don’t have to dance to his tune all the time! And you need this too…not to make Naruto jealous, but just for you. This is to make you more confident and happy.” She stood up and brushed her lips against his. “We ain’t done with you yet. You’re going with Suigetsu day after and he’ll teach more about kissing…”

Sasuke watched her leave and stood to shut the door after her. It made sense though…how long was he going to kowtow to Naruto just because he liked him? Didn’t Naruto like Hana for hr spirit and backbone? He thought about the past year and a half…he’d been such a sulky, moody baby! No wonder Naruto couldn’t look at him like an adult! Yes…he had to grow up!

Watson had come downstairs…he had his own doggy room, but he always knew when Sasuke was down in the dumps. He followed Sasuke who made his way to his room, the internal rant in his head picking up more speed and fuelling a whole lot of determination. He stopped for a moment at Naruto’s door, but he couldn’t hear a thing. He went back into his own room and flopped down on the bed, the dog flopped down beside his bed. Sasuke was still While kissing Karin had been fun, kissing Naruto was so much better. He wondered if letting Karin teach him how to kiss had been a good idea…Naruto walking in on them hadn’t been part of the plan. But then again, wasn’t Naruto always spouting bull shit about adapting to any situation? Well then it was a good thing…he’d adapt what Naruto had seen to this situation.

Sasuke leaned into his pillow, pulling the blankets around him in a cocoon. What happened would happen and things with Naruto would be sorted for better or for worse. Right now Sasuke was too tired to change let alone think about it. He knew he’d be uncomfortable in the morning; sleeping in these clothes.

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Naruto was struggling to keep himself calm. He’d told himself a million times throughout the night that h really didn’t care that Sasuke had kissed Karin. Yeah right…ok…that was his conscience which kept popping up to remind him that self deception was not a good course to follow. Every time that picture of them kissing popped up, (which was all the fucking time) he felt waves…literally waves of anger and jealousy…which in turn spiked the guilt he felt. He shouldn’t be jealous over Sasuke!

“You know what? I’m not jealous! This is that mother hen feeling…you know the one where I feel like I’m losing him because I have to let go…all adults face this as their children grow up…” Naruto smiled at himself in the mirror.

Then his conscience popped up again and said ‘Firstly…you’re no mother nor are you an adult! And secondly…you’re just trying to fool yourself into believing your own bull shit…’ and then Naruto firmly booted his conscience to the back to his mind and glared at his mirror. He glanced at the clock and decided to wake Sasuke up.

He made his way to his ward’s room and tried to calm down before he entered. Upon opening the door, (after fifteen minutes of glaring at it and beating it into submission…however that was possible) he found Sasuke…still in his leather pants, sprawled out on the bed. The maroon shirt had ridden up exposing those washboard abs and perfect six packs, that Sasuke had magically (according to Naruto) acquired.

Naruto found his eyes riveted to the creamy skin, stretched over hard muscle…it made him want to run his hands all over it. It was only Watson’s wet nose burrowing into his foot that made him yelp and come back to his senses. He shook his head hard for good measure and grasped Sasuke’s should, shaking him. The dark haired boy shifted and groaned.

“Piss off Karin…I’m sleepy!” Sasuke wondered why the girl wouldn’t let him sleep…he’d been working out for so long!

Naruto felt all that rage come back again and grip him like a vice. He’d said ‘Karin’… he was on his mind even when slept! What the hell? He shook him harder. “Sasuke! Wake up!”

The younger boy shifted and opened his eyes blearily. “Naruto? Is it morning all ready?”

“Yeah, get up. Bathe, dress and come get your breakfast.” Naruto said, in a clipped voice before disappearing downstairs. Watson followed him and was rewarded with dog chow. He headed for the kitchen to make some scrambled eggs and toast. He hoped Sasuke would come down quickly…he had to finish some work for Uni. It was half an hour to forty five minutes before the dark haired boy came down. Naruto was fuming…just because Sasuke had a holiday didn’t mean that Naruto didn’t have work. And it was a Friday damn it! Naruto wanted to get it done with so he could relax.

Sasuke liked his eggs with ketchup, so he added a generous amount of it. Mixing his eggs up, he began to eat. He didn’t even bother to look up or apologize like he would normally do. He had nothing to say to Naruto. The blond watched him for a while.

“You were in really late last night…”

Sasuke barely glanced at him focused on his own thoughts and the food he was eating. “Hm? I did tell you I’d be late…that’s why I asked you to give me my own set of keys remember?”

Naruto frowned. “Look at me when you speak to me! And I don’t know if you going to parties is okay…I mean…what if you had another one of those attacks?”

“Oh please Naruto…I haven’t had one of those in ages. If I do, Karin or Suigetsu will be there to help.” Sasuke looked up and carelessly met Naruto’s eyes. “And I like partying its fun. Yesterday we danced from the time we go there all the way to the end. The only annoying bit was these fan girls…and some fan boys, who wouldn’t leave me alone. Karin had to chase them away! Don’t worry though…I didn’t get drunk or anything…though I hope to change that with the party tomorrow night. Suigetsu will be my date for then…”

Then Sasuke stood and stretched. “Hey I’m going to Juugo’s house. The gang’s meeting up there…I might bring them back here. We have a project or something…”

Naruto sat still watching Sasuke grab his coat and walk out. Somehow Sasuke seemed so distant these days…before it used to be Naruto who used to be the centre of his world. The blond felt left out…he felt…lonely. He shook the thought off. He shouldn’t be feeling lonely. At least not right now. He decided to get his work done and shoved Sasuke thoughts to the back of his mind. He turned to Watson.

“I’m leaving now so you better be good…one speck of drool and no doggy chow for you!”

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Hana finished stuffing the chicken and turned to Naruto who was frowning at his bowl of cream. The blond’s mood had seemed to be getting worse and worse over the past few days. They were cooking for Sasuke and his gang now, they’d come over again. She felt pleased that Sasuke had friends…the boy had blossomed and seemed so confident and happy. She saw that Naruto still hadn’t done anything but stare into the bowl.

“Naruto do plan to finish whipping that cream today?”

The blond jerked out of his stupor. “Uh…yeah.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing! Just leave me alone will you Hana? You’ve asked me that same bloody question about 20 times!” Naruto started to whip the cream annoyed.

Hana frowned. “Don’t snap at me, I’m just concerned.” She pursed her lips as Naruto said nothing. He just looked even more sullen.

Sasuke stepped in holding a few coffee mugs. He’d had fun; Gaara had come over too, so it was a pretty big get together. He stopped short as the tense air enclosed him. He looked at Naruto murderously whipping the cream and at Hana who was shoving the chicken into the grill.

“What’s going on, you guys?”

Naruto didn’t deign to answer. Hana forced a smile. “Naruto’s just being a big baby…”

Before Sasuke could say anything, Naruto turned to her with a snarl. “I AM IN A BAD MOOD! And you’re not making it any better with your nagging! Why can’t you just let me brood…and leave Sasuke out of this ok? Humour with me being the butt of it isn’t going to cheer me up!”

Hana lamed the grill door shut. “I am going out for a bit. I have no patience with you and your fucking bad mood has been going on for weeks. I expect you to have cheered up a bit before I get back!”

She walked out leaving a gaping Sasuke staring at a fuming Naruto. The raven set the mugs down in the sink and turned to the blond. “Naruto?”

“What? I’m no going to apologize, if that’s hat you want me to do.” Naruto shoved the bowl aside and got down a tin of maraschino cherries. He turned to Sasuke, the anger with Hana held back just enough to make his look softer. “Go back to your friends Sasuke…”

Sasuke made his way back to his room upstairs. Naruto had jut gotten him a X-Box 360, so Suigetsu and Karin were competing all the time. Sasuke wondered if they could ever get together, though they did molest him a lot. When he entered, he saw Juugo separating the two and Gaara looking a tad bit amused with Watson next to him watching with interest... Karin had her hands around Suigetsu’s neck.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Karin attacked Suigetsu because he called her a whore…”

Sasuke rolled his eyes and picked up the fallen controls. He asked Gaara to play with him, but his mind was on Hana and Naruto. He’d never seen them this mad at each other before, though they had been bickering for a long time now. Before he knew it he heard Naruto calling them down to dinner. And Sasuke’s playing had sucked because he was unable to think of anything else…

They went downstairs to see Hana and Naruto laying the table. Sasuke knew at once that their smiles were fake, pasted on firmly. They all sat down and immediately Hana and Naruto began to converse with the guests. They hardly even looked at each other.

Hana though, was keeping a subtle eye on Naruto. She really had no idea what was going wrong…it was then she noticed how Naruto tensed when he talked to Karin or Suigetsu. Nor did she miss the way her boyfriend’s eyes constantly flicked towards Sasuke. She could see Naruto was trying not to look at Sasuke but there was no mistaking it.

As she began to pay attention, many more things came to light. She also caught the looks Sasuke sent towards Naruto when he thought no one was watching. The boy’s apathetic mask slid off when he looked at the blond, his eyes softened completely and a small almost smile appeared on his lips. She watched them both a while longer until her stomach dropped…everything clicked into place.

Naruto’s anxiety, Sasuke’s moods, Naruto’s dismissals and Sasuke’s depression. Hana looked at the blond who was looking away from his ward with steadfast determination. They were in love…and Naruto was in denial! Oh God….

Karin’s voice caught Hana’s attention. The girl was looking at her a little concerned. “Could you pass the chicken please, Hana?”

Karin wondered why the woman suddenly looked so pale. She didn’t miss the sharp breath Hana drew in as she passed the chicken. She just smiled at the older woman. “Thank you…”

Hana wanted to ask Naruto…ask him out right about what was going on…but she wanted Sasuke and his gang to leave first. She watched how Suigetsu kept trying to engage Naruto in conversation, but seemed to be failing miserably…mostly because he had a hand on Sasuke thigh and was leaning over the boy to talk to Naruto. She saw how Naruto glared at Karin when she wasn’t looking. She also saw the slightly worried looks Sasuke was shooting at her and Naruto. She smiled and shook her head at the boy.

Why didn’t Sasuke hate her? If she guessed right then Sasuke was in love with Naruto long before she came along…before she stole the blond right out from under Sasuke’s nose. Bu she hadn’t known! She wondered if Naruto had known that Sasuke was in love with him…Hana made up her mind to talk about it tonight. She would get the truth tonight.

Sasuke left with the gang after dinner. They were going to hang out together at the park for a while and then go home. Hana and Naruto had retired to the kitchen to do the washing up. The kids had helped for a while but Hana had shooed them out and told them to go enjoy themselves. But now she had no idea how to begin the conversation. She took a deep breath and licked her lips…the tension from before was back.

“Naruto…” he didn’t dare turn and ace him yet. “You’re in love with him aren’t you?”

Naruto, who’d been cleaning one of the fruit salad bowls, almost dropped it. It clanged against the sink. He picked it up and went on wiping it like nothing was wrong. “I don’t know what you mean…”

Hana turned around at that, a weird expression a mix of anger and sadness on her face. “You know perfectly well what I mean. You’re in love with Sasuke aren’t you?”

Naruto just laughed. “Hana…wherever did you get that idea? He’s my ward…I do love him; I’m not in love with him. I mean really…is this because we had that argument earlier? Come Hana, you know I love you…why would you….”

“Stop it.” Hana’s fingers clenched on the counter. Her voice was still calm. “Please Naruto, I’m not stupid. I know you love me. I do. But you’re IN love with Sasuke, aren’t you? Don’t try to convince me otherwise…it’s like you’re trying to convince yourself. Please just tell me the truth…I want to know…did you know Sasuke is in love with you?”

Naruto put the bowl aside and gestured to the living room. They sat down, him on the couch and her on the armchair with the dog at her feet. He fidgeted a little. “I…had an idea…well you see…” and then he told her all that had happened before he’d found her. Since Sasuke had told her bits of the school incident with Kabuto, everything Naruto told her finally clicked into place. She was silent for a while.

Naruto sighed. “I didn’t try to use you. You have to know that. I just cannot fall in love with Sasuke. And you know what? Usually it works. You transfer attention to someone else and the other love goes away…it does! I can’t Hana…he’s my ward. He’s too young…and knowing me…I’ll fuck it up.”

There wasn’t anything she could say to that really. “You know Naruto…whether you wan to love him or not, that’s something you have to decide. And well maybe you’re right…maybe Sasuke doesn’t love you anymore…maybe it was a phase. But then again, you have to figure that out. Thanks for telling me. You will understand won’t you, if I want to break up?”

Naruto nodded, he looked up surprised when Hana kissed him. Then she smiled. “I’m not mad at you kiddo…yeah it’ll take a while for me to get past this, but I’ll be back to make your life hell at some point…but I’m going now ok?”

He walked her to the door. “I’m sorry…”

Hana shook her head. “It happens to all of us kiddo…if you need me I’ll still be around Naruto…” then she revved up her car and left. Naruto shut the door and looked at the empty house. He had never felt this lonely. He ruffled Watson's head.

“We’ll miss her, won’t we boy? Oh well…there goes another relationship…”

Hana parked her car someway off and leaned into the steering wheel. Then she let herself cry it all out. Once she was sure she was done, she straightened and drove back with a smile on her face. She hoped Sasuke would finally get what he wanted.

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Sasuke waved to the rest and made his way back home. He wondered if Hana was still there and if they’d both made up. Actually he felt really confused. He liked Hana a lot…she was a really great person…but he still wanted Naruto. Sometimes when he caught Naruto looking at him he’d feel horrible for taking his attention away from someone like Hana. But he did love Naruto…he couldn’t help it.

He adjusted his jacket and pulled it a little closer to him, it was getting quite cold. Winter would be upon them soon…the year had passed so quickly. He opened the door and made his way into the hall. Naruto was lying on the couch, thinking of something.

“Naruto?” Sasuke asked as he petted Watson who was all over him.

The blond turned looking tired. “Hm? Oh…hey Sasuke…”

The dark haired boy looked at him a bit worried. “So where’s Hana? Did you guys sort things out?”

Naruto nodded. “Yeah we did…um…would you like some hot chocolate? I could do with some…”

Sasuke tried to will away the feeling of foreboding and disbelief that was slowly looming up in him. “Yeah sure…”

Naruto went to the kitchen and go out two mugs. He added all the necessary things into it and dumped them into the microwave. Once they were done he handed one to Sasuke. They sat on the couch and stared at the blank TV screen, each one absorbed in their own thoughts. Naruto contemplating his next move and Sasuke still wondering what had happened with Hana o put Naruto into a mood like this one.

The thing was that Naruto wanted to just talk to Sasuke about it all. But then again, what was he supposed to say? He was sure that Sasuke didn’t like him still…no Hana was wrong…Naruto was in love Sasuke but he didn’t know if it was just lust or love…. He did like him a lot though and that was the truth. He was attracted to Sasuke more than ever and that was also the truth. So what was he to do?

“Naruto…you haven’t answered my question about Hana…she was supposed to talk to me about Watson’s next set of injections…” Sasuke said, burying his hands into Watson's deep black fur.

“She said she’ll talk to you later.” Naruto tried concentrating more on the TV.

“Just tell me what the fuck happened…”

“We broke up all right?” Naruto frowned, fine then, he couldn’t drag it out any longer.

Sasuke stared at Naruto feeling joy and sadness at the same time. It must have shown because the blond raised an eyebrow. “You did? I‘m sorry…”

“You sure about that? You look pretty relieved…happy even…” Naruto heaved a sigh. “All right then…just hear me out. I like you Sasuke…I love you but I don’t know if I’m in love with you. I am attracted to you and I cannot deny it any longer. But I’m confused…I have no idea what you want…not anymore at least. This might not be the right time since Hana and I just broke up, but she’s right…I have to do this sooner or later...”

Naruto smiled then…a tired but genuine smile. “So what says you, I take you out tomorrow? There’s this new restaurant a few blocks away I want to try it…shall we make it a date?”

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A/N:

If that seemed awkward it was meant to be…I’m sick of writing stuff where Naruto suddenly comes around and declares undying love.

That seemed like a good place to end it…so Naruto asked him out…I just hope you get the complex feelings here. Naruto wants to make sure this thing he has will be ok for them both and not just a fling. Whatever….I have no idea what I’m writing!

Ja na

Taka

Please review…I spent four hours thinking this up and writing it continually just for you!