Of Blossoms, Teachers, Foxes, and Brothers

Disclaimer: Yeah, still don’t own Naruto. *cries*

Summary: I hope to God you guys know what this is about right now. If not, wow.

Pairings: SasuNaru (equal), KakaIru, GaaSaku

A/N: I’m SO sorry for the delay! The symphonic band I play in went on tour and I was gone, and I had fifty things to do before tour and I got in last night, exhausted. So, yeah. Life gets in the way of writing. *sigh* Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

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Chapter 4
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In Konoha
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Tsunade’s shoulders were sore beyond belief. ‘I really need to get a masseuse. All of this intense work is starting to catch up to me. I may look young, but I’m not feeling it.’ For the past several weeks, Tsunade had been worrying about Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi, dealing with the elders about stupid political stuff that Tsunade thought should be thrown out the window, and the goddamn paperwork. Missions were flowing in from all over. On one hand, it was great because Konoha was making more money that planned. On the other, Tsunade’s pile of paperwork was even higher and her lack of ninja’s was really starting to take an impact. She really hoped that at the next Chuunin exams a hell of a lot more ninja’s would pass.

Tsunade was rolling her head from side to side, trying to relieve some of the tension in her neck and shoulders when her office doors burst open. Only one person would open her doors like that.

“I swear by everything holy that you’d better have a good explaina-” Tsunade was cut off by the sight before her. Indeed it was Naruto, but he looked extremely upset, dirty, exhausted, and had a bundle of something in his arms. Upon closer observation, Tsunade realized it wasn’t a thing, it was a person.

“Tsunade-sama.” OK, now something was VERY wrong. Naruto NEVER used any respectful suffixes when talking to the Hokage unless it was extremely important. Tsunade stood up quickly and rushed over to Naruto.

“Naruto, what’s going on?” Tsunade quickly recognized the chakra signature. No, it couldn’t be…

“It’s Sasuke. I found him.” Naruto wavered, panting slightly. “It looks like he fought Itachi and Itachi used his Mangekyou Sharingan on him. Again.” Naruto lowered his eyes to gaze affectionately at Sasuke. Tsunade didn’t miss the look. Then Naruto raised pleading eyes to Tsunade.

“You don’t even have to ask, Naruto. Bring him back here.” Tsunade led Naruto to a room off to the right of the office.

The room was a mini hospital room, but much cozier. There was a bed with a huge blue quilt on it and several large pillows. There were curtains hanging around the bed, to give privacy if the patient needed it. Landscapes were hanging on the crème colored walls and there was a deep blue rug on the hardwood floor.

“Lay him on the bed. You should go clean yourself up in the Jounin quarters.” Tsunade glanced at Naruto, only to see the determination fly across his face.

“No, I’m staying with him.” Naruto placed Sasuke on the bed. Then, he surprised Tsunade by climbing onto the bed with Sasuke. Instead of holding him, he just tucked Sasuke in and grasped his hand. Tsunade never saw such affection come from the demon vessel. Rather than argue, Tsunade just took a deep breath and began to work.

Throughout the process, Naruto kept a firm grasp on Sasuke’s hand. Occasionally, he would whisper into Sasuke’s ear. Tsunade couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she had a pretty good feeling it was words of desperation, urging Sasuke to wake up. Every now and then, Naruto’s free hand would brush Sasuke’s hair from his face, run his fingers through his hair and would take a cloth to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead and upper lip.

After what seemed like a life time, Naruto felt Sasuke’s hand grip his. He started and raised his eyes up to Tsunade. “He’s holding my hand.” Naruto couldn’t keep the excitement and hope from his voice. His emotions were on a roller coaster. From lack of sleep and food and finding his love again, it would have been a miracle if they weren’t. As much as he wanted to just gather up Sasuke and never let him go, Naruto wasn’t sure how Sasuke would react.

Returning his gaze to Sasuke’s face, Naruto witnessed Sasuke’s eye lids starting to flutter open. Naruto held his breath. His heart was racing, his nerves were shot, and tears started to form. Naruto blinked furiously, trying to bat the tears away. ‘I don’t want to look like a baby to Sasuke.’ He unconsciously bit his lower lip as large obsidian eyes were finally exposed.

They were bleary with confusion. After a long blink, which cleared some of the bleariness, the eyes moved to Tsunade, who smiled at Sasuke warmly. A small frown formed on his face. ‘What the hell? Why is Tsunade here? What’s going on? I can’t move my hand.’ Sasuke looked over to his left, where Naruto was sitting. The confusion seemed to come back ten fold. ‘Naruto? What’s that dobe doing here? And why the hell is he holding my hand?’ Sasuke saw the worry, the hope, and the tears that Naruto was so frantically trying to hide. ‘What the fuck happened?’ Then, something hit Sasuke hard, right on his heart. He looked closer to Naruto. ‘He looks good. I’ve missed him. What’s this feeling? I feel like I can’t breathe. NO! This isn’t good!’ Sasuke started to panic and started taking quick shallow breaths, his eyes never leaving Naruto’s. He saw the flash of panic in his before quickly hushing Sasuke and telling him to relax, that he was OK. Sasuke didn’t know why, but his body responded. It relaxed. Even after everything, Sasuke trusted Naruto.

Though the pain was still on Sasuke’s heart, his mind drifted to solve the questions in his head. The last thing he remembered was… ‘forest? Where was Orochimaru? Plans! Akatsuki, Kyuubi no Kitsune, Itachi! ITACHI!’ Sasuke shot up into a sitting position, head frantically working to pull the pieces back together. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

‘Sasuke, he’s awake!’ Naruto felt the pressure lift off his chest and shoulders. He watched as Sasuke gathered his surroundings. When Sasuke looked at him, his heart stopped. It had been too long since he’d seen those gorgeous eyes. But goddamn the man, he was still as hard to read as ever. When he began to hyperventilate, Naruto immediately calmed him down, surprised that Sasuke actually listened to him. Then he shot up in the bed, surprising Naruto into almost falling off the bed. To prevent that, Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder. Once again, those eyes met his, and Naruto was lost. He wanted to claim Sasuke right then and there. Naruto wanted Sasuke under him. He wanted the taste of Sasuke on his lips. It took everything Naruto had to control himself. He did not want to show his affections for the first time in front of Tsunade. It was a very personal thing between the two of them. And if Sasuke did not feel the same, Naruto did not want to be shot down in front of the Hokage. That would just be embarrassing.

At Sasuke’s look, Naruto swallowed. There was such intensity, Naruto couldn’t bare it. ‘Wasn’t he going to say anything?’ Naruto looked down, accepting that he should go, before he actually did jump the man. He didn’t know why he felt hurt; he wasn’t expecting Sasuke to leap for joy once he saw Naruto again. He was more than happy that Sasuke was alive and safe.

Naruto slid off the bed, nodded to Tsunade, and left the room. He had a lot to think about. But first, a nice hot shower and some ramen sounded great.

In the room, Sasuke looked at Tsunade. Tsunade answered the question she knew the Uchiha was thinking. “He’s had a very long journey with little rest. The stress of his current mission and seeing you again, he needs to be alone right now.”

Sasuke nodded and opened his mouth. “Godaime, there’s something you need to know.”

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Later on top of the Hokage Monument
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He needed to get back to the group, but the Hokage insisted that he stay for the night and rest. She told him there had been new developments and would expect him later that evening to discuss the issues at hand.

So, here he was, at his favorite place. He had showered and his tummy was happy and full. His body was exhausted but his mind was racing, prohibiting the man from sleeping. Naruto had found himself heading toward the monument and he decided that that was a great place to think. As he reached the top of the Yondaime’s head, the sun was setting beyond the village, throwing everything into an orange and pink haze. Sunset in Konoha really was a beautiful sight.

Sasuke. He was back. He was safe. What had happened in those seven years? What had Sasuke been doing? Did Sasuke think of him at all? Why was he in the forest? The questions kept hitting Naruto from all sides. He finally groaned aloud and pulled his legs to his chest, resting his chin on his knees.

Lord, he’d missed the bastard. And he looked good too. Granted, he had just survived a fight with his brother and looked exhausted, but he was still beautiful. Naruto smirked. Sasuke would probably hit him if he knew that Naruto thought of him as beautiful. The large black eyes, the soft, thick black hair, the pale skin. If anything, these seven years had made Sasuke into a beautiful sex god.

‘What am I going to do about him? Where do we stand?’ Naruto’s doubts and questions kept hitting him and he buried his head into his knees.

All those years ago, right after telling Sakura about his feelings for Sasuke, Sakura, at every chance she had, would leave the two boys alone or arrange for the two of them to go out somewhere. Picnics where Sakura conveniently forgot to show up, training with each other, lunches, dinners, movies. Naruto doubted Sasuke even thought of them as dates, after all, they were friends, rivals. Every time, Naruto had been so close to letting Sasuke know, and every time, he had backed away from that ultimate step, saying that there would always be a next time.

Until there wasn’t another next time.

Now, it was too late. If Naruto wanted Sasuke to know, he’d have to wait to see where they stood. Were they still friends? Naruto doubted that. After trying to kill him, Naruto doubted that Sasuke felt anything for him other than hatred. Naruto had been able to live with that for most of his life from the villagers and eventually from his classmates. Though, with all of that experience, he doubted he’s survive if he knew that Sasuke hated him as well. Naruto couldn’t imagine the pain he would feel knowing the one and only person he’d ever loved hated him.

The thoughts kept coming, and Naruto grew more and more anxious. What was going to happen to him?

Suddenly, Naruto felt the all too familiar chakra presence. His back straightened as the source of the chakra drew closer and joined Naruto on the monument, sitting with his legs crossed.

The energy sparked between the two men. Old, forgotten and not-so-forgotten, memories were brought back to life before both of their eyes.

Images of Sasuke laughing, smiling, frowning, yelling, they all flowed through Naruto’s mind. He was the only person Sasuke had ever fully opened up to. Naruto knew so much about the Uchiha and with the knowledge came the respect and the love.

Finally, after several very long minutes, Sasuke spoke.

“You look good, Naruto.” Naruto’s head whipped around to face Sasuke.

“I look good? I look GOOD?!” Naruto was flabbergasted. After seven years, that’s all he had to say? “That’s it? What about explaining to me what the hell you were doing for seven years? What about explaining to me why you decided to follow that goddamned snake bastard instead of staying with your teammates and your friends? And how about explaining to me why you needed to kill me? Call me stupid but I find it very hard to believe that you needed to kill me because I was your best friend.” Naruto took a deep breath. The anger that had been put on hold while Sasuke was in trouble boiled back full force. “You asshole.”

Sasuke just sat there, staring out at the village. He had expected this from Naruto. He knew he had some explaining to do and he also knew that Naruto wouldn’t settle for bullshit answers either. Sasuke took a deep breath and continued to look out at the village. The village that had respected and feared the Uchiha clan. The village that hated Naruto, his best friend. The village he grew up in. The village he deserted in search for more power. It was such a small and peaceful place, yet so many things happened everyday.

“Yes, I’m an asshole. I deserve any and all ridicule you and everybody else decide to throw at me. I betrayed everybody here. I went after that snake bastard hoping to become stronger than my brother so I could finally avenge my family. Little did I know that he was only preparing me as his new body. Oh yes,” he continued as he caught Naruto’s incredulous look. “Orochimaru has this immortality jutsu that allows him to inhabit any body he wishes and he’ll live forever. I thought that I would learn all I needed to know to defeat Itachi. Instead, I was being prepared, like a damn meal.” Sasuke took another deep breath. “As for trying to kill you seven years ago, I had to. Or I thought I had to. You already know about the Sharingan. And you also know now of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Do you know how one acquires the Mangekyou?” Naruto shook his head. “One must kill his best friend in order to develop the Mangekyou.” At this, Naruto’s eyes widened. He opened his mouth, but Sasuke beat him. “I need the Mangekyou to defeat Itachi. Or so I thought. I’m not so sure I am willing to make that sacrifice now.” At this, Sasuke lowered his head, his hands clasped in his lap.

Naruto continued to observe the Uchiha. What the hell did that mean?

Sasuke’s head snapped up and burning eyes met Naruto’s. “It means that I’m not willing to kill you, one of the only few people I have left in this life, just to kill a murderer. What would that make me?” Naruto hadn’t realized he had spoken allowed. At this, Naruto calmed a bit. So, Sasuke still thought of him as his best friend? After all these years? How did that work?

“Sasuke,” Naruto began, looking uncertain.

“No. Naruto, I realize now what I did was wrong. Very wrong. Looking back, I realize that I would have gotten just as strong, if not stronger, had I stayed here. It just made me so angry when I realized that you were catching up to me in strength seven years ago. I was jealous. I couldn’t believe that the dobe would surpass the Uchiha heir. I thought everybody would gladly leave me for the chance to train you.” Sasuke paused. “I was young and hot headed. I was so goddamned stupid!” At this Sasuke stood up, looking ready to leave.

Naruto wasn’t sure what did it, but suddenly, his hand was on Sasuke’s shoulder again. This time, Sasuke just stood there, facing away from Naruto.

“Don’t go,” Naruto whispered. “I didn’t realize…”

Sasuke turned back around. “Nobody expected you to. It was my fault. I was threatened, and then Orochimaru and the Sound Four made an offer that any 12 year old threatened avenger would love. I really was weak if I was that tempted. You were so strong, coming after me.” Sasuke’s eyes unfocused, as if he were looking back in time.

“Sasuke…” Naruto breathed. Sasuke’s eyes refocused and seemed to look into Naruto’s soul.

Naruto’s heart raced. So much information to comprehend, yet none of it weakened his love for Sasuke. If anything, it made Naruto love Sasuke more. There were so many sides to Sasuke, so much to love. He was so afraid to tell Sasuke. But he didn’t want to wait for next time. He knew now that next time probably wouldn’t happen.

Looking at Naruto now, that same pressure came back to Sasuke’s chest. Sasuke saw things that he hadn’t before. Naruto really did look good. But, in a different light than what Sasuke was mentioning before. He was taller, showed off more muscle. Sasuke didn’t understand why, but his mouth watered at that. Naruto’s buff arms and tanned skin looked very appetizing to him. Sasuke looked into Naruto’s eyes. Those deep, bright blue eyes. In those eyes, Sasuke saw a swirl of emotions. He saw hope, cautiousness, fear, and something else he couldn’t describe. It was like Naruto was looking deep into Sasuke. As if… admiring?

At that, Sasuke jolted. That was it! That was what this pressure on Sasuke’s chest was. The reason why Naruto looked so delectable. When had this happened? When has Sasuke started to lust after Naruto?

He didn’t know when it had happened, but he did know that Naruto felt the same. He could see it in his eyes.

Before Sasuke could ponder it further, Naruto took a deep breath and met Sasuke’s eyes. “Sasuke, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Sasuke was captured in Naruto’s gaze. How could eyes be so blue? Naruto’s hand shifted on his shoulder. At the touch, Sasuke shivered involuntarily. He had a sudden image of Naruto’s hands stroking him everywhere; his chest, his legs, his back, his stomach, everywhere.

Naruto noticed the shiver. ‘He shivered at my touch? His eyes, they’re so deep. There’s something there.’ Unexplainably getting a burst of courage, Naruto dropped his hand from Sasuke’s shoulder. He didn’t want to make the Uchiha feel like he was trapped.

“Sasuke, remember seven years ago, after the Chuunin exams, when Sakura started to ditch us at training, or those picnics? Remember when we’d have lunch or dinner together, and the movies? Every time Sakura ditched us.”

Sasuke nodded. “Hai. I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was a relief to me not to have her around.” Sasuke gave a small smile. Naruto laughed nervously.

“Hai. Well, don’t you find it odd that she would do that when she supposedly loved you?” At this Sasuke frowned, thinking.

“Hai. Where is this leading, dobe?” The old nickname slipped out. At this, Naruto’s heart soared.

“Ah! Don’t call me that, teme!” Naruto smiled though, absolutely no heat behind the words. “Well, she left you alone because…” ‘Kuso! How do I say this without sounding stupid?’ Naruto frowned.

“What is it, Naruto?” Sasuke saw Naruto frown. Why was Naruto talking about Sakura’s behavior in the last few months before he left? Did it have something to do with Itachi? With Orochimaru? At that thought, Sasuke’s thoughts darkened and he wasn’t prepared for what Naruto was about to do.

“Well, umm, she found out that, ah…” Naruto looked away, blushing furiously. Sasuke was thoroughly confused.

‘What the hell.’ Naruto thought and took a step forward. His voice lowered an octave. “Sasuke,” he whispered huskily.

Sasuke’s eyes widened. That voice. It sent chills up and down Sasuke’s spine. Sasuke finally realized what Naruto was getting at. He could see it plain as day. Naruto’s eyes were heavily lidded, his eyes intense with longing and lust. His cheeks were rosy, and he licked his lips and bit the bottom lip unconsciously. Damn, he looked so sexy. Naruto looked like a man who was promising hot, rough, passionate sex. Sasuke was surprised to find himself responding similarly. A hot ball of something landed in his gut and spread throughout his body; concentrated mainly in the groin area. Sasuke’s eyes grew heavy as his primal mating instincts kicked in.

Naruto saw the change in Sasuke, and knew that Sasuke was just as aware of him as he was of the brunette. Sasuke’s dark eyes got impossibly darker, long lashes veiling them. The look of such intensity nearly brought Naruto to his knees.

“Sasuke,” Naruto whispered again, drawing nearer. There were mere inches separating them. Their breath mixed together and they each inhaled each others scent. Naruto raised his hand and brushed it through Sasuke’s dark, thick hair. Sasuke’s breath caught and he closed his eyes, reveling in the small comfort. Naruto brought his hand back and cupped Sasuke’s face. Sasuke opened his eyes at Naruto’s soft command.

“Sasuke,” Naruto couldn’t get enough of saying his love’s name like this. It spoke volumes of Naruto’s bottled up feelings. Naruto brought his head closer to Sasuke.

Sasuke was very much aware of what Naruto was doing. As soon as his name was whispered huskily from Naruto’s lips, he realized that Naruto had been lusting after him for some time. Sasuke found himself thrilled at the prospect of having Naruto.

Sasuke felt Naruto’s hand slip back into his hair again. This time, however, it cupped the back of his head. He also felt Naruto’s free hand slip around his waste, closing the distance between the two. Sasuke slowly closed his eyes as he saw Naruto’s face draw closer, his blue eyes fluttering closed.

As a warm, soft pressure touched Sasuke’s lips, he gasped. The “hot ball of something” in his gut erupted, spreading like wild fire throughout his body, crawling on his skin, enveloping him in a delicious heat. His heart was racing, but Sasuke didn’t care. All he cared about was finally being able to kiss his dobe.

“Finally?” Maybe he had been lusting after the blond for longer than he thought.

Naruto presses his lips against Sasuke’s and felt the brunette gasp. He also felt him shudder and melt. Naruto sighed in pleasure at finally holding his love, finally kissing him. He rubbed his lips against Sasuke’s, probing. Naruto’s emotions were running wild. He couldn’t believe it. He felt one of Sasuke’s arms rise between them and wrap around Naruto’s neck, the other arm wrapping around his waste, pressing them even closer. At this, Naruto groaned. Oh god, he was finally holding, kissing Sasuke. Impatient, Naruto nipped a little at Sasuke’s bottom lip. At his open mouthed gasp, Naruto delved his tongue into the hot cavern of Sasuke’s mouth.

Naruto melted. Sasuke even tasted like sex. Hot, heady, dark. Naruto’s tongue roamed, discovering each crevice, each tooth, stroking Sasuke’s tongue. He felt Sasuke shudder and moan at Naruto’s actions.

‘His tongue is heaven,’ was the thought that was going through Sasuke’s mind. He pulled the blond impossibly closer, rotating his hips upward, grinding against Naruto. His developing hardness encountered Naruto’s. He wasn’t that surprised to find Naruto hard already, but Naruto’s reaction to Sasuke’s grinding left Sasuke wanting more.

Naruto broke the kiss suddenly at Sasuke’s rubbing. He was panting. He felt Sasuke’s hand drop from his waste to his hip, rubbing around to the back to grab his ass. He felt Sasuke grip his ass hard and grind even harder into Naruto’s stationary hips. Naruto threw his head back and groaned, loud and long. Sasuke took the opportunity to attack Naruto’s neck. He kissed, bit, licked, and suckled, marking his territory. Naruto went wild when he realized what Sasuke was doing. He grabbed Sasuke tighter.

“Ah, Sasuke!” Naruto gasped. “Sasuke, I’ve wanted you for so long. Ah!” Naruto lost his train of thought as Sasuke rubbed again and bit simultaneously. He moaned, long and low.

“Dobe, Naruto. Please. Tell me. Tell me that I still matter to you. Please tell me that I didn’t lose you.” Sasuke felt desperate.

At the sound of desperation in Sasuke’s voice, Naruto pulled away slightly, still holding onto Sasuke. The blond met his dark eyes. “Sasuke, you matter so much to me. I’ve loved you since our first kiss.” At that, Sasuke laughed.

“Ah, I remember that day quite vividly. You looked like punching bag after the girls were done with you.” Naruto smiled and brought his hand to Sasuke’s lips to silence him.

“As I was saying, Sasuke, I love you.” Naruto looked deeply into Sasuke’s eyes. He saw a flash of something, he wasn’t sure what. “Sakura knew. That’s why she always left us alone. She was hoping I would make some sort of move. But I was too late.” At this Naruto dropped his eyes and continued, whispering, “I never forgot about you, Sasuke. I worried about you for so long, and then I realized that I couldn’t waste my energy by worrying about you. I went after you, but you wanted to kill me. It hurt me so bad.” Naruto squeezed his eyes shut, preventing the tears from falling. “It hurts so bad to be wanted dead by the one person you’ve ever loved.” At this, a tear slipped by Naruto’s defenses. Without thinking, Sasuke licked it away. Naruto opened his eyes, tears making his eyes seem bigger. “I’ve never stopped loving you Sasuke. I knew you left for a reason. When I saw you in that clearing,” Naruto stopped, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “All of us were following the path that Itachi plainly left for us to follow. I felt your chakra first. I knew you were nearby. I ran ahead. I was blinded by the fact that I could find you, take you back, and keep you safe. I saw you in that clearing. My heart nearly stopped. I thought you were dead. I don’t remember much of what happened next, all I remember is finding out that you were still alive and thinking that your goddamned brother used that fucking Mangekyou Sharingan on you again.” Naruto spat the last words.

Sasuke didn’t know what to think. Naruto loved him. After all the pain Sasuke put him through, Naruto still loved him. On one hand, he felt like the scum of the earth, putting Naruto through that. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but feel relieved that Naruto was giving him a second chance. He rested his forehead against Naruto’s.

“Naruto, I’ll never forgive myself for the pain I put you through. However,” he continued when he felt Naruto take a breath to talk again, “I’m not about to let you go, not when I finally have you. Not when you finally have me. That is, if you want me.” Sasuke held his breath.

“Sasuke, I’ll always want you.” Naruto closed his eyes, relaxing. “Will you have me?” he whispered.

“Dobe, you know the answer.” With that, Sasuke tilted Naruto’s head back up and kissed his blond thoroughly.

Naruto’s heart soared. He met Sasuke, tongue for tongue, teeth for teeth, and stroke for stroke. Soon, both men were panting, trembling, wanting more. Rising from the depth of the kiss, Naruto looked at the sky. The sun had completely set. He needed to see the Hokage.

“Sasuke, I need to go see Tsunade baa-chan,” he said as he extracted himself from Sasuke’s arms. At this, Sasuke sobered. “I have to go back to my team, I have to get Sakura.”

“Naruto, Tsunade has instructed me to go with you. There have been some developments to the situation.” Naruto looked at Sasuke.

“Hai, she told me this too. I’m to go to her now and get the details. Then I, or I guess we, leave in the morning.” Naruto nodded to himself and turned to head toward the Hokage’s office. He looked over his shoulder to Sasuke. “Well, common handsome! Are you coming or not?” Naruto smiled. At Naruto’s prodding, Sasuke sprung into action.

Faster than Naruto expected, Sasuke was in front of him again and grabbed him. Sasuke kissed him long and deep. Once Naruto melted, Sasuke let him go and took his hand.

The two shinobi walked toward the Hokage’s office hand in hand.

TBC…

Coming up next: Naruto finds out the “new developments”. Probable lemon the night before the boys head out to the group again in the morning. We’ll flash to the group, who are hot on Itachi’s trail. Possible danger for Gaara. You get the idea.

A/N: Again, I’m SOOO Sorry for the delay! @.@ After coming back from tour, my best friend came to visit. Many of you authors may know of him. His name is Writer’s Block. And yes, he’s a guy. ^-^ So, I’m sorry… The characters seem a way bit OOC, I’m going to use the excuse that I want them this way and I’m writing this. I may come back to this chapter before writing the next and seriously revamp it. I just wanted to get this out for you guys. I feel really bad for the long wait. OH!! And this story broke 500!! I’m so excited!! Please review! *sigh*

*passes out*

Review Responses:

*To both Bookworm and Nathaniel: I’m glad you two are kissing and making up! Heh. ^-^ I’m partial to you too since you’ve been with me since the very beginning*

Bookworm: I’m glad you appreciate my explanation of Itachi’s thinking regarding Sasuke. It makes since like this to me at least. I hate the very far fetched ideas that some people come up with. And! There will definitely be more Gaara next chapter. Sorry the lack of him in this one.

Nathaniel: Oh I hear you on aff.net being a bitch sometimes. But they are fixing the whole problem. It’s taking them a while, but I can’t imagine fixing this whole website with sixty thousand stories in JUST the Naruto section is going to be easy. I commend them for doing such a good job already. It must be tricky. Annyway, sorry for the OOC-ness of Itachi and Gaara. In the manga/anime you really don’t get a good sense of what they are like. They hardly talk at all, no real character development with dialogue, though there was that whole section with Gaara’s childhood. I knew Itachi was going to be OOC cuz I really don’t know much on him. So, if you didn’t notice my trickiness, I stated that Sasuke could read his brother very well, and vice versa. I figured that the slight facial expressions would add a lot more to the chapter and the explanation I had planned. Blah, it’s really hard! And yes, we have Good Friday here, (California girl) but we kinda throw that in with Spring break and/or winter break. And it was really due on the 17th, but I was going to be gone. ^^ AND! I got an A on my exam! Thanks for the luck!

Raven-chan: Here’s more! Sorry it wasn’t soon…. But I’ll try better next time!

Mija: I LOVE your enthusiasm!! You make me feel soooo good. ^-^ heh. I’m sorry it wasn’t that soon, and this chapter prolly sucked with the SasuNaru thing.. but I’ll fix it! I just wanted to get it out there. I hope you enjoy it anyway! Please let me know what you think!

Arryelle: You know, Itachi and Sakura crossed my mind too. I may do it in another fic. I just felt bad for Gaara because I’ve never really seen him with anybody other than Naruto, Sasuke, or Rock Lee… since the first two are taken, and the third just makes me cringe, that and I had to make some sort of connection with Gaara into the whole story and the reason why he would personally want to go after Sakura. (SHIT! I’m reveling my ways! Hmmm)

Thanks for all of the reviews!! It really helps me get my ass in gear and I do take them seriously. OOC-ness happens, and it’s more prominent when I have writer’s block… but I’ll fix it.

Enjoy it anyway! And I’ll write a very hot lemon for all of you! *wink*