Mine

Before I get yelled at for updating this twice before Identity Crisis, don’t worry; I’m working on that fic too. It’s just I haven’t been able to get much time to write recently, and I already had a part of this chapter written awhile ago since I don’t always write everything in order. I actually already have part of the next chapter written out from before I finished writing chapter three, so there might be another chapter on this out before Identity Crisis. And now - on to the story! :-)

Mine

Chapter 5: Something's Up

Sakura shook her head, feeling as though a veil had lifted from her eyes. She put a hand to her head and gently massaged her temples.

"Are you alright?" Naruto asked her, concerned. Sakura blinked, and looked at him.

"I just felt like we got back here all of a rush from Ichiraku ramen," Sakura said slowly, her mind trying to catch up with herself. "My head aches from something."

"Sakura-chan, you need to just lighten your load at the hospital, and take it easy," Naruto said, smiling at her. Sakura smiled back, thinking that if she had tried to tell Naruto to cut back on his duties, that he would flat out refuse to do so.

"Hmm, perhaps, but you and I should spend some more time together if I have more free time," Sakura said, smiling widely at him.

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto chirped happily.

Outside of the small house where Sakura and Naruto called home, Sasuke stood with his back pressed against the wall, his head near the window but out of sight as he listened to their conversation. It seemed that Sakura had been slightly confused upon waking from his sharingan genjutsu, but it hadn't caused problems. He rubbed at his eyes deciding that he would need to go home to rest and then think of how he was going to tell Naruto about what had been going on for the past three years.

It would take some careful thought on his part of what to say, how to say it, and when to say it to reveal to Naruto the truth. Sasuke had been half tempted to explain to Naruto his predicament by having Naruto wake-up cradled in his arms, but he wasn't sure that Naruto would like that so much. It was a little bit too vulnerable, and Sasuke knew that Naruto would not like being reminded that Sasuke's sharingan could so easily over power him when Naruto wasn't trying to defend himself. Sasuke was also wary that Naruto wouldn't want to see him any more before he got his entire explanation out. His sharingan would only go so far to capture Naruto to force him to be compliant. At the moment, Sasuke was banking on Naruto’s trust. Naruto was a skilled ninja, and if he expected Sasuke to use his sharingan, Sasuke feared Naruto would be able to stop him from placing him in any more genjutsu since he'd always be on edge. To think that Naruto was so at ease with him, to think that Naruto trusted Sasuke enough to not even guess that Sasuke would ever abuse his sharingan on him, made Sasuke feel ever so slightly shamed.

Upon returning to his home, Sasuke rubbed at his eyes again, blinking them as he cursed softly to himself. His vision swam slightly in and out of focus. Having a blood limit eye technique had its perks, but it also had its downfalls: one of the sharingan's being its tendency to cause blindness. Even his brother had suffered the same ailment.

The idea that he had anything in common with his brother, even if just blindness, disgusted him, and he stormed upstairs to his bed - his room still smelling slightly of sex from earlier - to lie down. Sasuke lied down on his bed, and closed his eyes to try and go to sleep, but it didn't help. Sasuke often had trouble sleeping, and laying in a room the scent of having sex had not yet disappeared did not help him relax. A few minutes later, the smell of sex seemed to become stronger rather than lesser, and he found himself becoming aroused again. Without bothering to open his eyes, Sasuke slipped his hand inside his pants, massaging himself, imagining it was Naruto's hand wrapped warmly around his shaft...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

The moonlight outside of the Uzumaki household filtered in through a small window, illuminating two people. One slept peacefully, the other was wide-awake. It was pretty obvious to Naruto that he was not going to be able to sleep tonight with all that he had on his mind.

Naruto groaned, and sat up in bed. His return home from Wave country had been awkward. To see both Sakura and Sasuke waiting to greet him on his way home had been odd. They had both said that they had wanted to see him, but they both had had slightly guilty faces while waiting for him. They seemed to tense when he had said something to catch their attention, and he had the distinct feeling that they had been talking about him before he had gotten there. Sasuke's bizarre behavior to then not come with them and meditate in the middle of the road had raised some warning bells in Naruto's mind. Sakura hadn't even seemed to find anything odd about the situation, and Naruto knew that his wife was very intelligent; she would surely have said something about the odd behavior, so Naruto could only concluded that Sakura was purposefully not saying anything to him. And then Sakura's insistence to go to their home to make love had been - strange.

Not that he would ever turn down sex, but something about her insistence had made him sure that something odd was up. She was hiding something, and Naruto knew it. The question was: was Sasuke hiding something as well? And if so, what and why?

Naruto tore the covers off of himself and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He propped his elbows on his knees, and put his head in his hands to think. He knew he wasn't the smartest guy around, but he wasn't oblivious either. Something was up.

Sighing in frustration after a few minutes of thought that led nowhere, Naruto got up and began to pace his room, his bare feet padding across the carpet. He stopped his pacing after another few minutes of fruitless thoughts as to what might be up. Naruto looked over towards his wife, as though just by looking at her he would be able to get his questions answered. The small amount of light from the window made Sakura just visible underneath the covers, her chest breathing slowly in slumber, yet still not answers came to him.

He was half a mind to wake her up, to ask what was going on. His thoughts chased each other, and the more he thought, the more he had this strange feeling that Sakura and Sasuke were having an affair behind his back. He clenched his fists. It was the only thing that he could think of, but something about that didn't feel right. Firstly, he felt as though he were missing some key piece of information to make that conclusion fully, and secondly, he just couldn't see either one ever doing anything to hurt him like that.

Sasuke had had his chance with Sakura, and Naruto was pretty sure his feelings for Sakura hadn't changed. And Sakura genuinely seemed happy with him. Naruto knew he was a good husband, damnit, so that didn't make sense either. Unless he had some other question to ask her, Naruto didn't feel justified waking Sakura up to ask her if she and Sasuke were having an affair, especially since she had seemed to have a headache earlier; probably from all her work at the hospital - or from keeping the secret she and Sasuke seemed to share. Naruto shook his head, trying not to think like that. He knew he needed answers tonight or else he wouldn't sleep and the ideas that would come to him would only get worse. Dressing quickly, Naruto decided to see if Sasuke, being a semi-insomniac, was up, and ask him questions.

Leaving his house, Naruto's anxiety only intensified. More and more thoughts seemed to manifest themselves, none of them good. Had Sakura just wanted to have sex with him because she had felt guilty about thinking that about Sasuke instead of him? Why had Sasuke not come with them to Ichiraku ramen? Did he really want to spend time with Naruto – or had just wanted to see Sakura? Had something happened between the two of them when he had left early on the morning he went off to Wave country? Had the two of them talked without him there? That usually didn’t happen, but Sasuke hadn’t left the house right after him, now that he thought of it. All of them had been teammates, and they were allowed to talk to each other. Still, Naruto was jealous. He was jealous that their attentions seemed to be on each other rather than on him.

Naruto had fought for years to get Sasuke to recognize him. If Sasuke went behind his back, it was as though he implied that Naruto was beneath him. Naruto had likewise fought for Sakura's affections for so long. Had she started to change her mind? Naruto clenched and unclenched his fists, grinding his teeth, as he fought the tears that sprang to his eyes. He felt foolish for mistrusting them both, and he quickened his pace all the more to get to Sasuke's house to get his questions answered – or to spar with Sasuke to at least alleviate his frustration.

The funny thing about most shinobi is that doors don't seem as appealing any more after learning the ability of how to climb roofs and use chakra to stick to the side of buildings. Naruto, of course, shared the belief that windows were a much faster means of entering a place, and so that was why he found himself standing on the windowsill to Sasuke's bedroom. Before he and Sakura had started dating, he used to come visit Sasuke randomly just to make sure that he was doing okay. He didn't want his friend to slip into another one of his isolated emotional states like when he first returned to Konoha and had often come into Sasuke’s house this way.

Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself before entering just in case he started yelling right away. As much as he would like to yell at Sasuke, he wasn't even sure if he had anything to be angry about. Naruto knew it wouldn't be fair of him to yell at Sasuke or Sakura without talking to them first. Smiling wryly, Naruto decided if he didn't get the answers he liked, then he would start yelling and fighting to get answers.

Naruto knocked on the window. He frowned when Sasuke didn't answer. He tried opening the window only to find it locked. "Bastard. Who locks their windows anymore?" Naruto asked. He pressed his face up against the glass, peering inside the dark room. By squinting his eyes he could make out Sasuke lying on the bed, his chest moving slowly. Naruto frowned even more when seeing Sasuke's ever pale skin seem to be even more pale than normal, the contrast to his hair and to the dark sheets evident even despite the poor light.

Tapping his finger lightly on the glass of the window, Naruto sighed, wondering what he should do. He knew that Sasuke needed sleep when he got it, and he knew that Sakura needed the sleep, but damnit, he was tired too and he needed to talk to someone so that he could get to sleep. Naruto tapped his finger some more in thought, just coming to the conclusion that they were shinobi, and that they should all be able to go without sleep (despite the fact that he himself was trying to avoid losing sleep) when the window suddenly slid open.

Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he watched Sasuke wipe at his eyes tiredly. It was one of those things about Sasuke that had always amused him; Sasuke did not like to be woken up.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, looking around him as though a problem was trailing behind after Naruto.

"Couldn't sleep," Naruto said as he slipped in through the open window. "Needed to talk to someone," Naruto explained. He walked over to Sasuke's bed and flopped himself down, making himself comfortable in the warm spot that Sasuke had just occupied. Naruto looked up at Sasuke expectantly, expecting some sort of remark about why he would wake him up at such an indecent hour, or about why he was now lying down on Sasuke’s bed. Naruto wanted to yell at someone or something, and needed a justifiable reason. Surely Sasuke would yell at him first for waking him up and lying in his nice, warm bed. Naruto could always count on Sasuke's and his spars - verbal or otherwise - to relieve any anxiety he felt. However, instead of Sasuke yelling at him, Naruto was surprised to see Sasuke's face an emotionless mask, staring at him lying on his bed. Naruto began to feel slightly uncomfortable when Sasuke didn't say anything, and just stared at him. "Geeze," Naruto muttered to himself as he moved out of the spot that Sasuke had been in. "Your bed's huge. Don't you know how to share?" Naruto asked as he scooted over, slightly annoyed that he had been unable to bait Sasuke into an argument. Sasuke really knew how to use his eyes to make people feel uncomfortable, and Naruto didn't want to be made to feel uncomfortable right now. He wanted answers or a way to get his anxiety out of his system.

"Why, are you here, lying on my bed?" Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto looked at Sasuke again. There was something in Sasuke's tone that seemed strangely tormented, as though lying on Sasuke's bed was somehow putting Sasuke through some excruciating agony. Naruto had planned on bugging Sasuke for a while, but decided that with the way Sasuke was looking at him, now wasn't a good time for it.

"I'm tired from my mission, but all I can think about is you," Sasuke's eyes flashed red for a moment, "and Sakura." The momentary flash of red died just as quickly, and Naruto sat up on Sasuke's bed. "I can tell there's something going on. I thought about waking Sakura up, but she's been getting all the late shifts at the hospital the past couple of weeks. I thought you'd be up anyway, and I could talk to you. What’s going on? Something's up between the two of you," Naruto said accusatorily to Sasuke. Sasuke shook his head and sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I'm surprised to see you here so late," Sasuke said, not answering Naruto's question.

"I used to come over all the time before Sakura and I got married, remember?" Naruto said, somewhat hurt that Sasuke didn't seem to remember that.

"I remember every visit," Sasuke said quietly.

"Er, right," Naruto said, wondering why that sounded so creepy, and if it was actually true that Sasuke remembered every visit. Then again, Sasuke did have the sharingan so maybe he had really good recall? "Listen, I know you and Sakura wouldn't, but I just have to ask because the way the two of you were acting early. You two aren't going behind my back or anything, are you?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke's face went blank again, and Naruto almost gulped. He knew that look, and he knew he had just pissed off his friend, but part of him was glad. Just an angry reaction instead of a guilty one meant that there really was nothing going on.

"Never have I, nor will I ever go behind your back in a relationship with Sakura," Sasuke said in a very unemotional voice. It sent chills down Naruto's spine. He hated when Sasuke seemed to shut down emotionally because it always reminded him of when Sasuke had returned to Konoha. Naruto had spent years of his life trying to get his best friend back, and then to have him return and shut down – Naruto had felt even more helpless than when he was trying to bring him back.

"I know, I know. Stupid question," Naruto said, but it made him feel better nevertheless. It felt as though a weight had lifted from his shoulders. "Just this weird nagging feeling that wouldn't go away." Naruto said, yawning as he stretched and made himself comfortable on Sasuke's bed as his thoughts finally calmed down. If Sasuke said it wasn't so, then it wasn't so. Naruto felt more at ease as he stretched and pulled Sasuke's sheet over him.

"Comfortable?" Sasuke asked raising an eyebrow.

"Real tired all of a sudden. And you're bed is comfortable," Naruto murmured, his body feeling suddenly heavy. He closed his eyes sleepily...

"Naruto?" Sasuke said, walking over closer to his bed. He stood staring at Naruto who was lying on his bed fast asleep. "Naruto?" Sasuke growled again, but still no response. Sasuke balled and unballed his fists. He had finally just gotten to sleep when he heard a tapping noise on his window. He had woken up again, looking at his clock, realizing that he must have fallen asleep for less than ten minutes. Sasuke had been watching his clock tick by meticulously, and there was a ten minute gap of time from when he awoke and from when he last recalled looking at the clock. He really hated being woken up, but he'd been surprised, to say the least, to see Naruto standing on his windowsill looking as though he was pondering how to get into his bedroom.

Who was Sasuke to deny Naruto a chance to willingly come into his bedroom? He had quickly grabbed a robe to cover the fact that he slept naked and opened the window to see what Naruto had wanted. He hadn't expected Naruto to come into his bedroom, much less expected him to then lie down on his bed. Sasuke's heart had sped up when Naruto had said that he couldn't stop thinking about him that he almost hadn't heard Naruto add Sakura's name as well. His hopes died instantly realizing that of course Naruto came to talk about Sakura. He knew Sakura was Naruto's wife. He knew that. Yet why did he still feel as though Naruto were the one cheating on him instead of him being the other person?

Watching Naruto find instantaneous relief at his words had been somewhat comforting. Seeing Naruto then fall almost as instantaneously asleep on his bed had been less...comfortable. For some reason, his penis seemed to connect an unconscious Naruto with sex. And Naruto was on his bed to boot. Why was it always so erotic seeing Naruto on his bed? Was it because their first time had been here? Was it because his room and his bed were things in the Uchiha complex that felt untainted from his murdered family?

Sasuke contented himself to just watch Naruto sleep - to really sleep. Not forced sleep, but actual sleep. He seemed so different somehow. His mouth was opened slightly, and Sasuke had the urge to kiss Naruto's lips and slip his tongue in to Naruto's mouth to close the gap.

He was sure that would be a great conversation starter on to the fact that Sasuke had been screwing Naruto for about three years. Sasuke disrobed again, his cock hard. He gave himself a few slow strokes just to do something with his hands before walking over to his dresser to find some pajama bottoms. Slowly he climbed into bed next to Naruto, feeling on edge. He had slept next to Naruto numerous times after sex, but never before had he slept so intimately next to Naruto while there was a chance that Naruto would wake up. Sasuke felt daring. So what if he accidentally groped Naruto in his sleep? He was going to tell Naruto soon anyway. He might as well enjoy what little chances he had left. Besides, Sasuke sincerely doubted he’d fall asleep again tonight anyway.

Despite not thinking that he would be able to sleep with Naruto lying next to him, it was only a few minutes later when Sasuke too drifted off to sleep...

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura awoke feeling colder than usual. She opened her eyes sleepily and noticed the time on the clock and grumbled. She inched back on the bed, expecting to run into her normal source of warmth aka Naruto, only to find herself scooting up next to nothing.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked blearily, still partly asleep. She turned around, her hand reaching out blindly in the dark to where Naruto should be, only to connect with cold sheets.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked again. She propped herself up and looked around. A quick glance of the room told her that he wasn't there, and a few moments of adjusting to being awake let her know that she couldn't feel Naruto's chakra anywhere nearby either. Sakura bit her lip, wondering if Sasuke had taken Naruto away from her as she slept, but decided against that thought. He would have had to wake Naruto up to make eye contact with Naruto to use the sharingan. Surely Naruto would have made enough noise being rudely woken up, right? But Sakura doubted this thought a moment later. She hadn't woken up when Naruto had left the bed, so it was very possible Sakura could have missed Sasuke sneaking into her home and waking Naruto up. Sakura hastily dressed and headed towards the Uchiha complex.

Like Naruto had just an hour before, Sakura sat perched on Sasuke's window, peering in at the bedroom. Sakura felt her breath catch, and a cold weight settle throughout her entire body as she saw Sasuke holding Naruto in an endearing embrace.

Yet why couldn't she feel anger right now? She couldn't quite put into words the feelings it gave her to see her Naruto with Sasuke. Sakura knew without a doubt that Naruto loved her. Yet why, why did it seem like she'd be doing Naruto an injustice to keep him from Sasuke?

What was she thinking? Naruto was her husband!

Sasuke and Naruto woke to the screeching of wood splitting open.

"Wairzeattack?" Naruto said sleepily as he rolled off the bed, pounced to his feet and looked around him. Sasuke laid in bed, glaring right at Sakura, having quickly assessed the situation. She glared right back.

"So sorry," Sakura said smiling sweetly as she slipped through the window she had splintered apart on the right side. "Guess it was locked."

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Sakura turned her glaring eyes from Sasuke to look at Naruto. She had expected Sasuke to ask her that question, not Naruto.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked of Naruto.

"I couldn't sleep. Thinking too much. I didn't want to wake you since you had a headache early. Sasuke-bastard's a part insomniac, so I figured I would pester him instead," Naruto said. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess I fell asleep though. His bed is soooo comfy,” Naruto smiled at Sakura apologetically for obviously making her worry. “Sakura-chaaaaaan, can we get a bed like Sasuke's? Try it!" Naruto said as he flung himself back onto the bed.

Sasuke wasn't sure whether to be more angry or amused at the current situation. He was angry because Sakura had literally broken into his home, and now Naruto was showcasing off his bed as though he weren't there lying in it. He was also amused for the exact same reasons.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm not here. Go right on ahead to do your bed shopping in my house," Sasuke deadpanned. Naruto turned his head from where he had been lying face down to grin widely at Sasuke.

"This is a new bed since I've slept here last," Naruto said as he looked at the bed. Sasuke mused to himself that since Naruto had been sleeping in his bed earlier that day that no, that wasn't the case. He would have to tell him that later though. "Why did you get a new bed Sasuke? You only had the other one a few years," Naruto said. Sasuke also decided that he wouldn't tell Naruto that the reason he had gotten a new bed because they had broken the other one last month when Sasuke had been a little too exuberant to fulfill his mission.

"Wanted one," Sasuke said. It was true. He wanted a new bed since his old one had broken. Sleeping on a couch or the floor wasn’t fun.

"Naruto," Sakura hissed.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I was worried about you," Sakura said, and even Sasuke felt slightly guilty at the truly concerned and abandoned look Sakura wore. Naruto rubbed the back of his head apologetically.

"Sorry. Uhhh, I guess we should get going?" Naruto said. Sakura crossed her arms and nodded.

"My window," Sasuke hissed at Sakura, reminding her she had broken the wood paneling on the side as she had gotten in. There'd definitely be a draft. Without a word, Sakura gripped the dangling piece of wood and rammed it back into place with her monstrous strength.

"Better?" Sakura asked, not bothering to keep her tone sweet. Her accusatory glare also told Sasuke that Sakura didn't believe Naruto's story about coming to see him, clearly thinking Sasuke had had a hand in Naruto's disappearance.

"Much better. Naruto," Sasuke turned to look at Naruto as he spoke, purposefully moving his body to exclude Sakura from the conversation, "if you ever need to talk again, I'm here." Naruto nodded slowly looking back and forth between Sasuke and Sakura.

"Is everything alright between you two?" Naruto asked, his tone now slightly miffed.

"Fine," they answered a little too hastily and in unison. Naruto made a sound of his disbelief.

"I'm going home. I'm tired," Naruto said, deciding to drop questioning the two of them – for the moment. He glanced at Sasuke and then at Sakura before walking out of Sasuke's bedroom, Sakura glaring at Sasuke before following Naruto.

Sasuke shook his head. It had been a bizarre night. First Naruto had come to him thinking he and Sakura where having an affair. Second Naruto had willingly slept in his bed. Third Sakura broke his window to get to Naruto. Fourth, and this was the most disturbing, Naruto clearly knew something was up. Sasuke knew he would need to get a move on quickly to tell Naruto – before Sakura did.

Next Chapter: The Truth

Reviews greatly appreciated, especially during finals week. ~ Jelp