What Happens Now...

Hey guys!! I would like to give a tip to anyone who is writing any kind of story. It is a bad idea to hand write a chapter and then decide to type it up all in one shot. If a computer is available, use it!! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, even though it is shorter than usual.

(Naruto’s POV)
This isn’t how I pictured my life at the age of sixteen. In my little world, I would have been living happily with Sasuke, hanging out with all my friends, accepted by more of the village, and training to become the next Hokage. Reality had another plan in store. My current life consisted of my boyfriend almost killing the man that nearly killed me, my best friend Sakura killing the very same man, most of the village is blaming me for what Sakura did, and I haven’t trained at all in the last month. Why did things have to turn out this way? Sasuke had allowed me to walk back to the apartment, keeping his arm around my waist and my own arm around his neck. Our walk was silent, neither of us willing to converse on the events that had just taken place.

I look over at him and feel my gut retch in protest. Not noticing before, Sasuke was covered in blood. I know he didn’t kill Kizu but, the evidence on his shirt didn’t help convince me of his innocence. If he didn’t kill Kizu, then what the hell did he do? I tried to chase the question away, telling myself that I should just be happy that Sasuke was here, but....it just kept haunting me.

“What did you do at Sakura’s?” I ask quietly, breaking the tense silence of the night. Sasuke stops walking, bringing me to a halt as well. His eyes are focussed on the ground in front of him, avoiding my gaze. Sasuke’s arm drops from my waist.

“I only wanted to protect you Naruto, you have to understand that.” His fists clench at his sides. “That bastard almost killed you and didn’t even get caught.” Suddenly, Sasuke grabs my shoulders and looks directly into my face, desperation visible in his eyes. “I couldn’t give him another chance! There was no way I was going to risk losing another precious person!” His gaze returned to the ground, his grip on my shoulders tightening. “I would have killed him Naruto. I know you would have been ashamed of me or even hated me if I had done it. I just couldn’t...” He starts to shake and I realize he’s crying. I wrap my arms around him, knowing how hard it is for him to show his emotions so openly.

“It’s my fault. I should have told you about Kizu earlier.” I bury my head into his hair, wanting nothing more that to be close to him. “Please, promise me that you won’t do anything like that again.” Sasuke looks up and puts a little distance between us. His hands come up and hold my face, his touch gentle.

“I can’t promise you that. If someone was to hurt you again, I wouldn’t regret any actions I took to prevent them repeating what they did to you.” There was nothing I could do to change his mind, I knew that. If our roles were reversed, I knew I wouldn’t hesitate to do the very same for him.

“Then promise me that you’ll try anything else before you decide to kill.” A small smile appears on his lips.

“I promise Naruto.” He then leans forward and presses a heated kiss onto my lips. Maybe my life isn’t as bad as I thought.
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(Sasuke’s POV)
I never expected Naruto to forgive me so easily. He always surprises me with how much he accepts me. I want to always be with him, so I will try not to jeopardize our relationship again. Now that I look back at that night, there were so many other ways I could have dealt with Kizu. None of that mattered now. I had Naruto by my side.

The sun had risen by the time we returned to the apartment. Both of us were beyond tired, stressed by what happened to Kizu. Somehow, we had managed to make it to Naruto’s bedroom, falling ungracefully onto his bed. Unfortunately, Tsunade-sama had limited our sleep due to our mission in the afternoon. It was ridiculous that we would have to go on a mission right after what happened. I knew Naruto needed rest after going through the few past weeks, they were stressful. There was nothing I could do. We were ninja and we had to follow our Hokage’s orders.

The time to leave came too soon. It had felt like only seconds before that we had fallen asleep. Luckily, it didn’t take me long to wake up. Naruto was another story.

“Give me a couple more minutes Sasuke, Obaa-chan can wait.” As much as I wanted to agree with him, I knew how impatient our Hokage could be. I was going to have to be cruel if we were going to make it to Tsunade-sama’s office on time. Swiftly, I whipped back the covers from Naruto’s body, causing him to curl into himself.

“Bastard! What the hell did you do that for?” He looked pissed, but that just made me smirk. Only Naruto could go from barely awake to raving mad in a couple of seconds. Deciding to take advantage of the situation, I place my body on top of his. His eyes shoot towards mine, a deep blush covering his entire face.

“Sa...Sasuke...what are you do...doing?” He stuttered, obviously flustered by my advances.

“Trying a different tactic on waking you up.” I ghost my lips over his before kissing him. I feel his breath hitch. No longer being able to deny him, my lips meet his eagerly. Naruto parts his lips quickly, allowing me to deepen the kiss. This kiss was different from the others. Naruto didn’t fight me for dominance, just allowing my tongue to explore him fully. This excited me. Having control over Naruto felt good. Sadly, a tiny voice in the back of my head kept nagging me about our appointment with Hokage-sama. Regretfully, I pull back from my blonde. His eyes are glazed over in lust, half mast from the broken kiss. A smirk crosses over his beautiful lips.

“I think I’m awake now.” He says in a husky tone. At this point, I seriously reconsider our meeting with the Hokage, being more than happy to stay in bed with my dobe. To my annoyance, the damn voice of reason in my head wouldn’t leave me alone. Groaning, I pull myself off the bed and head towards the bathroom. If I was going to understand Hokage-sama at all, I was going to need a cold shower.
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(Naruto’s POV)
Frankly, after my encounter with Sasuke earlier this afternoon, I had no desire to receive a mission from Obaa-chan. Yet, somehow Sasuke and I were still waiting in her office. Shizune had told us that Tsunade obaa-chan would only be a couple of minutes, using the excuse of filling our paperwork. We had already been waiting here an hour and I was starting to loose my patience. While Sasuke sat cool and collected in a chair in the corner of the room, I paced in front of the desk. “What the hell is taking her so long? She’s the one who made this mission sound urgent!” My mind just couldn’t stay in one place for long. What was this all about? Why were both Sasuke and I needed?“Naruto, calm down. Pacing isn’t going to make Tsunade-sama come any sooner.” Sasuke was right of course, but it wouldn’t be me if I sat still like him. I settled for sitting on the corner of her desk, drumming my fingers on its surface. Just as I was about to grab Sasuke and go home, Tsunade obaa-chan burst through the door, balancing papers under her arm.

“Thank you for waiting you two. I was just finalizing your mission.” That was odd to say the least. Usually, Obaa-chan just barged in and shouted the mission’s details. My eyes following her, she sits behind her desk. I can tell that she’s tired, her shoulders are tense and the dark circles under her eyes are enough proof.

“Are you ok, Obaa-chan?” It wasn’t like her to get this way unless something of grave importance was involved. She looks up at me and gives me a weak smile.

“I’m fine Naruto. We just had to rush getting everything together for your mission.” I hop off her desk so I can face her, Sasuke joining me by my side. Folding her arms on her desk, Obaa-chan gives us a stern look. “I know you two have been through a lot since you have returned to Konoha. I also know that you both may still be trying to recover from last night’s incident. Sadly, you two are the only ones I can trust with this particular mission.” She closes her eyes for a brief moment, as if she was bracing herself for what she was about to say. “I need you two to escort Sakura to the Sand.” Shock rattled through my frame. I could feel Sasuke tense at the mention of the girl’s name.

“Hokage-sama, I thought she was exiled last night. I saw her being escorted by ANBU.” Sasuke had a point. Even though I was still in denial about what Sakura did, I saw the high-level shinobi remove Sakura from Obaa-chan’s office last night. She should already be outside of the village. Obaa-chan sighed.

“It’s true. Sakura was placed outside of the village last night. After you two left my office, I went out and found Sakura before she got too far. I told her to wait in a secret location. That’s where you will find her.” She slides a folder in front of us. Sasuke picks it up and flips it open, reviewing its contents. I turn my attention back to Obaa-chan, desperately wanting some answers.

“Sakura will be a great loss to Konoha, but I will not let her talents go to waste. She can still become a great medical-nin in the Sand, though it pains me that she can’t do so here in Konoha. Naruto, you’ve been to the Sand on many occasions and have very good relations with the Kazekage. Sasuke, you are one of the best shinobi at adapting to difficult situations and your sharingan eye can detect traps from a mile away.” She pauses. “I also want you both to stay in the Sand for a while. The hostility from some of the villagers is very real and I can’t predict their actions. I think its best for you both to lay low for a little while.” This wasn’t fair. I couldn’t blame the villagers for hating me, but why were they against Sasuke? He had done nothing to garner their hate. It’s not like he forced Sakura to kill her father. Sasuke deserved to be liked by the village, not hated. “When do we leave, Tsunade-sama?” I was ready to leave. I loved this village with all that I am but, if they can’t accept Sasuke right now, I couldn’t stay.
“As soon as possible. There should be information in that folder on the whereabouts of Sakura’s location and the quickest route to the Sand.” Tsunade obaa-chan stands. “Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, you are dismissed!”

“Yes, Tsunade-sama!” We said in unison. Exiting her office, I look over at Sasuke to see his reaction to our current situation. I grasp his hand, gaining his attention.

“Sasuke, are you going to be ok?” His face was hard, almost unreadable.

“I don’t know if I can ever forgive Sakura for what she put you through. I never saw that kind of pain on your face until last night, and she caused it.” Looking over at me, his face softens a bit. “I won’t let my feelings affect our mission. Don’t worry; we’ll get Sakura to the Sand. I promise you that.”
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Oh the plot thickens! What will happen when they finally meet up with Sakura? Decided to add another moment between Sasuke and Naruto. You know, I've learned from writing this fic that I much rather read lemon/make out scenes rather than write them. When I go back to reread my chapters, all I can do is giggle like an idiot when I get to those scenes. Review please! Reviews make me happy and wanting to write a new chapter every week. If you didn't see the previous mention in the last chapter, I do read all of your reveiws, I just delete them afterword so I can tell what chapter you all are reviewing. Well, until next time kiddies.