Darkness

A/N and Disclaimer: Again, no owning Naruto. Also /'s denote thoughts. And *'s denotes Inner Sakura speaking. ^_^ Also.. if this chappy sucks.. Blame my bloody tiredness... Which is why it's not taking a half hour to an hour to write it.. XD And if there are typos... well sorry about that as well... Hope you enjoy and remember this.. And please vote and review.. I need all the encouragement to continue this story.

Chapter 5:Sweet Bitterness

Sasuke let the warmth of the running liquid cascade over his bare chest as he starte dto scrub with the soap. He could see the visible dirt dripping off into the water, and down the drain. But then again, when he took the bandages off his stomach he also saw that his wounds were healing a bit better and had some dirt in them as well. Sasuke winced as the warm water ran through the open cuts, but it didn't matter now, though he had this sense that something was wrong. Very wrong.

Outside, in Naruto's bedroom/living room, Sakura had walked in, not even knocking. She thought that Naruto might be sleeping and would just leave him be if so, but as she looked around the room, she noticed that no one was there. Looking down at the ground, she saw a piece of paper. /Maybe I shouldn't/ She thought. *COME ON SAKURA! READ THE DAMN THING, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!* Her inner self yelled at her. She shrugged an picked it up, reading through it. The moment that she read the last few words, she was beat red with anger, jelousy, and embarassment. "SASUKE AND NARUTO!?" She yelled at the top of her lungs, loud enough to even surprise Sasuke himself in the shower.

Sasuke dropped the soap, and it trailed down his chest across his open wounds. He winced and cried out as the pain was a bit more intense then he could think of. His barriers were down, and he couldn't stop himself from dropping to one knee, holding his stomach and crying a small bit. Sakura had heard the scream. She came running into the bathroom, to be embarassed herself, seeing her love on one of his knees, naked in the shower. Her face turned even more red as she fainted backwards, falling down onto the ground.

He turned just in time to see Sakura fall and immediately ran towards her, catching her even before she fell to the ground. "Damnit. What's with people collapsing now?!" He said a bit angrily and jokingly to the air about him. He brought her over to Naruto's bed, only noticing that she had the note in her hand. "Great..." He muttered as he laid her down, before entering the washroom again, to get a wet towel. Draping it over her forehead, he got back to cleaning himself, trying to finish as quickly as he could.

With a bit of disgust and happiness, he put on Naruto's clothes, tossing his boxers in with the dirty clothes. Looking at himself in the mirror, he chuckled and impersonated Naruto with his wry smile and his 'V' hand seal. "I'm going to be Hokage one day!" He chuckled at himself, for the half-assed impersonation that he had just done. /Foolishness, guess it does rub off of him./ Sasuke thought as he walked back into the bedroom. He stopped and stared at Sakura, before sitting down in the same chair he did before.

About a half hour passed, before Sakura had started to come back to reality, though she felt as if she had just been beaten to a pulp. Her gut turned about, but she didn't throw up. Out of nowhere, she bolted up and looked around. "W-where am I?" She asked about, seeing a bit of blurry images. Looking to her right, she saw that Naruto was sitting there. "Na-Naruto?" She asked.

He grunted and chuckled. "Sorry Sakura, I'm not Naruto."

She blinked for a second, and her vision cleared. "S-Sasuke?" She gulped a bit, and remembered the sight she had seen. "My goodness!" SHe blushed and looked at him again. He was in clothes, but those clothes were those of Naruto. The bright orange gave it away that it was his. "What happened, Sasuke?" She asked so politely, faking amnesia.

"You know what happened, Sakura." He glared at her. "I know you do, because you looked for that note in your hand." He held up the note that he was talking about. She blushed and looked down, though anger coursed through her veins.

"I...I thought you LOVED me, Sasuke." She said to the covers, as she clenched them. "I thought we'd be together and marry." Sakura looked up at him, with tears in her eyes. "I thought we would always be there for each other!"

Sasuke stopped her from speaking any more by interjecting. "You may have thought all of that, but I didn't. I may have respect for you, Sakura, but I haven't and won't love you. I love..." His eyes became distant as he thought of what had happened previously that day. "..Naruto." A smile crossed Sasuke's face, as he continued to think of Naruto.

"Anyways, about what you read." He tapped the note against the air in front of her. Sakura's eyes were drawn to it, as she watched him hold it. "I would like it if you keep it quiet for a little while. I want.. Naruto to reveal it to people, not you or me." He looked at the note and breathed a little fire, incinerating it. "And now, you have no proof. Because we can deny it. And who would believe you, saying Sasuke and Naruto are lovers?" He chuckled and stared at her, with that same death gaze he usually gives.

Her lips quivered as he spoke. Every word, every syllable seemed to be like a knife to her heart. *SAKURA! Tell him that he crushed your heart and that you hate that. That you won't ever forgive him!* Her inner voice was saying, but her mind couldn't let those words pour out. She would forgive Sasuke, she knew that, but she also knew that now, she would never be with him. Never have him to comfort her.

"Then... promise me this...Sasuke." She looked away from him, back out the window. "Please...keep him safe... and me safe... as if we were all family." She frowned and looked back down to the covers, her hands still grasping them tightly.

Sasuke grunted. "I'll decide that when the time is right. For now, I'd like it if you disappear before my koibito walks through that door. And since it's been almost two hours since he left, he's due home." He gave her another death gaze, as if he meant if she wasn't out of the house before Naruto came home, he would have to hurt her.

One last tear fell from her face, as she jumped out of the bed and ran out the door. Her dry sobs echoed through the streets, as she left from Naruto's apartment. "I should have...done something sooner." She said to herself as she left.

/I hope that Naruto-kun is alright./ Sasuke thought as he let Sakura leave. He leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling, thinking back to the first kiss he had with Naruto.

Outside of the Leaf Village, a Snow Ninja looked over the town. "This is too easy. I will be able to destroy this village no problem." She chuckled and disappeared, letting the snow continue to fall.

Naruto ran back to the house, noticing that finally it's been a couple of hours since he left. "I have to get home to Sasuke. I have to get home to Sasuke." He panted out as he finally got to the street that he needed. In the distance, he heard quiet sobs, but didn't let that phase him. Now, the only thing on his mind was his lover. "I hope he's awake by now." Naruto said to himself as he found the door and opened it. Sasuke was awake and sitting in the same chair, gazing off into space while still looking up at the ceiling. "Hun.. I'm home!" He looked about and Sasuke jumped, falling backwards.

Naruto chuckled and smiled at him. "And usually I'm the clutz." Sasuke snarled and jumped at Naruto, tackling him to the ground and giving him that same death glare.

"Don't think that just because we are lovers will mean that I will put up with your jokes!" He said coldly, as if the winds finally changed. The nice and lovable Sasuke morphed into the Demon Sasuke that hated everyone's guts.