*Author Note:* I haven't finished all of the manga or Shippuuden's yet so I'm not sure what happens with Sora really especially after Sasuke has marched on Konoha, although, I have heard something about him switching to the bad guys side. :shrug: I have a habit of flitting back and forth through the story. Anyway, he's in the story for now only to cause extra angsty goodness for Sasuke the hard ass, so deal with it. Enjoy!

Oh also! This is shonen-ai and yaoi, which means guy on guy, so if that sort of thing isn't your cup of tea steer your way out of here. Plus, I don't really care if you don't like it, so if you say so, it shall fall on deaf ears. XD ~It also contains spoilers of things in the story, so don't be mad if you find out something you didn't want to know. Okay, I'll shut up now.

You Can't Stay Mad Forever

1- Twin Heartbeat

She slowly leaned down to kiss him and he froze, panic turning his blood to a boil. She wasn't really going to be this bold was she? Surely not sweet, innocent little Sakura-chan? He expected this kind of behavior from the rest of the squealing fan girls that followed him around night and day, especially since he had come back – a 'hero', but not from his own teammate, who he thought had matured into a more sensible woman over the years.

He took one step backward, but it was a big step backward, his back brushing a tree. Feeling like a cornered animal his voice broke just slightly, "Sakura, w-what are you doing?"

She stared at him with those big doe eyes she got when sad and brushed absently at the light pink locks in her face, which he remembered as one of her nervous twitches, "I-I, just thought…" she suddenly was bold and slightly arrogant again. "I'm not sorry, Sasuke. I remember pouring my heart out to you five years ago. You know I've always liked you and… well, deal with it!"

The emotions flickered across her face one by one, and Sasuke was astonished by just how much women could feel. This wasn't what went across his face late at night when he couldn't sleep was it? When all he could think about were hands running delicately across his bare chest, lips slowly, unbearably following, while soft moans and cries fell into the air between them, moans that he had a sneaking suspicion were his own-

Realizing where he was, he pulled out of the blissful reverie quickly before his pants got any tighter.

Sakura let a single tear slip down her face before angrily brushing it away. They were still standing in the middle of the forest, Kakashi-sensei and Naruto having left to head to Ichiraku for a steaming bowl of ramen a while ago. Sai and Sora had been watching them train and had followed suit, Naruto and Sora bickering as usual. For some reason he got the impression that they were at that same point that he and Naruto had been at when they first were rivals.

While he had been trying to collect all of his shuriken and kunai from the surrounding trees, Sakura had slipped up shyly behind him and metaphorically pounced.

"Look, I don't mean to upset you. I just… I'm sorry; I don't really feel for you in that way. I never really have."

She looked thunder struck, "W-What? You mean like there's someone else that you like?"

"Uh… that's not exactly what I meant…" he said in a quiet voice, eyes averted pretending to search for any more stray kunai knives that might unexpectedly walk across his path.

Suspicion moved fluidly in a wave of confusion over her beautiful face. She knew him too well. Damn. "Really, Sasuke? Are you sure?"

"You like that Ino-pig don't you!?" She accused him, fists raised. Wow, Sakura had gotten really hostile while he'd been away.

Putting both his hands up in a display of surrender at the jealous rage she was getting into, he quickly assuaged her fears (not to mention violence), "No, no, it's nothing like that. No need to get all worked up Sakura," the look on his face was purely comical, complete with two silly half moon upside down U's for eyes, in an attempt to say, 'please don't kill me', in his cutest Sasuke-ish way. Nothing he'd seen on all his travels was scarier than a woman who hath been scorned.

"Oh… well then who? One of the silly girls in your fan club?" She was curious now, despite being a little hurt that he had rejected her advances. Obviously, she didn't remember that she used to be one of those silly girls in his fan club, which he wished would disperse to the point that he was contemplating threatening them to get them to leave him alone. But he didn't mention any of this to her.

"Not exactly. We really don't need to get into this right now," he looked uncomfortable with the current subject matter to say the least. Wait, Sakura knew things when it came to emotions. She seemed to understand how matters of the heart worked. He quirked an eyebrow – that was showing a lot of emotion for him, usually. Should he let her know enough in order to ask her opinion? The question weighed heavy on his thoughts, his stomach filled with lead bricks it seemed. "Although…"

"Yes…?" She seemed excited only in the way females get when offered the promise of potentially juicy gossip even about a crush's possible love life, in spite of it not involving them.

Sasuke inhaled. Letting out a sigh, he said, "It's nothing, Sakura. I wouldn't want to have to involve you… I doubt you'd take it lightly."

She blinked.

That was Sasuke's way of politely declining. And here Sasuke thought that he had forgotten how to be civilized. No longer in the clutches of Otogakure, maybe he didn't have to keep his guard up around those he had come to trust so long ago. After all, what did he really have to be worried about? Orochimaru no longer plagued his thoughts, although admittedly he was never much of a threat to begin with. And now that everything had been settled forever between… himself and Itachi, the last true anchor that weighed him into a life of hatred was gone. He still despised the elders, and he still vowed to have his revenge on them, but when Naruto had stopped him that day from taking the destruction of Konoha as his revenge, he had lost his purpose only to gain something more. A new purpose, but also hope for the future, which seemed to be slipping farther through his grasp every day.

Hope. That was the word that his mind couldn't wrap itself around, the word that if tried to be spoken aloud, caught in his throat and choked on its own hilarity. Since when did he know anything of hope? All he knew was hatred… but he was beginning to wonder if that could change. Was there someone who could shed light on the darkness that had long ago consumed his heart? How cliché. He'd prided himself for so long on the seeds of hate that he'd fostered to bring him power enough to defeat his brother, only to find that Itachi had loved his little brother dearly – more than anything, more than his clan and village. Even enough, to only find death – and peace, from the Sharingan's toll – by his little brother's hand.

Now Sasuke was overwhelmingly confused, although he would never outwardly admit to it, or even show it. Still too tough to talk to anyone, aren't you, baka? He inwardly chuckled that he would insult himself, but, god he was confused and stubborn. It was a dangerous mix.

Sakura look at him then shrugged, "Eh, whatever. If you want to keep bottling it up that's fine, but don't say it's because I'd be jealous. You're just being your usual brooding and scowly self. While you were gone, I've been thinking about taking Lee up on his very gentlemanly offer of a date. He's rather sweet, you know."

"I doubt I'll ever say anything to anyone, least of all to the person in question."

More quietly he said, "I'm happy for you that you have Lee."

"But, Sasuke!? Why would you do that? There's nothing worse than walking around with something like that hovering over your shoulder," she said horrified. "Take it from someone who knows. Look how stupid I was acting again just because you're here. I don't make goo-goo eyes at anyone. Love does strange things to otherwise sensible people."

"So I had noticed."

She scowled at him.

"Easy, calm down. Maybe, and that's a huge maybe, I'll say something to them."

A smirk popped onto her face.

"What?" he said instinctively.

"It's just nice to see the shoe on the other foot this once. I think you'll make a cute drooling fangirl!"

It was his turn to scowl this time. She didn't realize just how much truth there was to her words.

***

Hands cupped the sides of his face, gently stroking long thin fingers down his jaw. Lips brushed against his own with the barest of touches, igniting fire throughout his body. The lips returned, asking for a small, but no less hungry, kiss. He let out a low moan swallowed in faint pale hair as the mouth slipped down his throat, sucking, licking, and biting at very specific intervals, knowing exactly where erogenous pleasures were to be found. It's like… ahh.. like- he knows just where to touch me. Hands slid up his shirt, to gently stroke the fine planes of his chest then slipped down further to the tightening muscles of his stomach. A knee strategically placed itself between his legs giving a firm but gentle nuzzle to the throbbing in his pants. A hand moved from its resting place on his abdomen to slip fingers silently into the waistband, fingertips bestowing a small touch to the top of an awaiting erection. As the touch brought anticipation to a new height, he thrust his hips upward as another more insistent kiss claimed his open mouth. This time the one administering the kiss did not stop until the pale, moon-drenched man underneath him could no longer suppress the desperate moan that entered the air between them, swallowed up by the givers mouth.

"No more… teasing. Please". He half panted and begged, trying to catch his breath, head thrown back, eyes unfocused.

His companion took pity on him and straddled his waist in order to gain leverage enough to sit without falling over to swiftly pull his shirt up over his head. A lusty groan filled the space between them, and was surprised to find that it had emitted from himself. It still felt strange that noises such as those were capable of coming from him.

One of his own porcelain hands reached out to stroke the defined chest that was now exposed, fingers brushing over unexpectedly soft skin. He felt a heartbeat, slow and steady and laid the other hand on his own heaving chest. A twin heartbeat. Two hearts beating in tandem to a rhythm that could only be cured by a lustful display of uninhibited desire. Muscles constricted as his hands moved lower, and lower still. His fingers dipped into the band of the pants at each of his partners' hips, pulling slowly downward, suddenly emboldened by the raw passion he was experiencing. He needed to find more flesh. Needed to find some way to return the feelings he felt.

He leaned forward, a silent request for his lover to lean back onto the disarrayed sheets and trust him to do whatever he may. Eagerly, his partner moved to sit back, propped on elbows. The pants that he had been gently tugging on stripped away, revealing a beautiful expanse of skin, all for the taking. Almost unable to contain himself, he was inclined to run a hand up each thigh from where he was crouched in between, palm brushing at the sensitive area that seemed to be growing harder with every touch. Leaning down, he brushed lips against the tip, bestowing an otherwise chaste kiss to the throbbing flesh, before he tentatively ran his tongue down the length of the underside. Coming all the way back up, he deigned to take the head to his lips, the tight, scorching heat of his mouth coercing a husky groan to escape his lover. After exploring every inch with his tongue, he satisfied himself with a slow, tantalizing rhythm, his companions fingers entwined in his hair – not pulling or guiding, but rather just feeling, just needing to hold onto anything within reach.

He was gently pulled away from his careful ministrations, and not-so-gently thrown onto his back, possessive hands caressing every inch of his toned body. His own remaining clothing was stripped away, leaving so much ghostly-white skin to glow in the light of the moon outside his window. Hands stirred over hips and thighs and came to rest on his ass; his partner in crime drew nearer to grin deviously, like a predator with its next meal in sight. Leaning forward, the devious one pressed two fingers gently against his lips, demanding entrance. He sucked hard on them, swirling his tongue in small circles, giving the other man steaming, erotic eyes. His lover pulled his hand away with a whimper and he could feel his companion's fingers brush between his spread legs as another kiss was planted firmly on his lips, his grunt of protest stifled as one finger was silently slipped inside of him, stroking and teasing until he was crying out in pleasure yet again. Then two fingers when he asked for more.

Ah, god…. More. Please. More, more. I need you, please. Was that really his voice shamelessly begging to be taken like this? How embarrassing… except, he didn't feel embarrassed. He felt like that was exactly what he wanted, to give his body over into his lover's hands and just…finally let go. The other man positioned himself in between his legs and very gently pushed until he was sheathed completely in the body shuddering beneath him, then stopped.

Squirming enticingly and digging his nails into the hips of the man above him…inside of him, he silently indicated his readiness for the other to proceed. The room changed to a flurry of sighs and whimpers. The building pressure in his gut determined to spill out white hot fire at any moment. In a sharp intake of breath his vision exploded in a haze of multi-colored spots. In that moment, back arched, eyes wild and thrown toward the ceiling, he came screaming his lover's name.

NARUTO!!

He awoke then, drenched in sweat. As the last remnants of the dream clung to his conscious he understood what has happened… again. Damn it. These dreams were going to be the death of him, he thought wryly, and then winced at the stickiness he felt as he tried to roll over. Groaning, he pulled himself out of his lonely bed, through the deserted hallways of Uchiha house, and toward the bathroom.

"I'm going to need a cold shower now," he muttered to himself, and yet, he couldn't shake the image of tanned skin and blonde locks that kept invading the privacy of his thoughts.

***

"Hiyyyyaaa, Sakura-chan!!" The blonde bounced in front of her, goofy grin set in place. She smiled a genuine smile back at him, "Good morning, Naruto."

Naruto had passed through 17 years of his life and he still acted like a complete idiot, but Sasuke smiled nonetheless. He did notice that they had changed some though, especially Sakura, mostly to handle the extreme form of ecstatic her goofball friend displayed every day. His Naruto-tenshi had changed as well, and physically –which is what Sasuke was shamelessly studying right now – he had grown as tall, if not slightly taller than he was and had well defined muscles in all the right places, making him muscular but not bulky. He was more thin and lithe than ever. Cascades of lovely and somehow fairer blond hair partially shielded his beautiful blue eyes. He was clad simply today, not as stringent as he was as a kid. One of the hardened and sheer mesh-like ninja shirts went seamlessly into the loose black pants that stopped just below his knees with comfortable looking sandals to complete it. Sasuke sighed inside his own mind. Staring was certainly not going to help his demeanor any.

As he placed his hitai-ate onto his forehead, pushing his hair back some, Naruto hardly acknowledged Sasuke, but turned to say hello to Sai and even Sora, who he had surmised the blonde didn't really like, but put up with. Sasuke had been the outcast since he had returned, defeated. He had attacked Konoha and lost. To Naruto. The shame. Actually, he was a little miffed but did not feel defeated. He could never lose gracefully to anyone but Naruto. It was a testament to how strong the boy he had known had come to be and Sasuke was ashamed to admit that most likely Kyuubi had probably hardly helped. He had been too careful to not hurt his blonde friend, his comrade, the only one who had really understood him, despite what he had told Naruto before he left in search of greater power. Truthfully, no matter how hard he had tried, the bonds they shared were never truly broken; it seemed fate had woven a red thread between them.

Sakura moseyed over to him, looking serious, "Still not talking to you, huh?"

"Hn. He's hardly said two words to me this entire time. You'd think he'd be lording it over me that he kicked my ass," he winced at the admission. Sakura raised eyebrows a little.

"You've never been one to admit Naruto beating you at anything," she stated.

He pouted, if you could call it pouting. The way Sasuke did it, it was more like brooding, "So?"

"So…maybe you missed him a little more than you care to admit."

"You've got to be kidding me! That blonde knuckleheaded, bumbling idiot?!" he said incredulously.

She simply shrugged, as if to say, 'if the shoe fits'.

Scowling – yet again – he turned on his heel to go continue his training. He had no doubts that he would pass through the exam he was set to take to gain entry to the illustrious ANBU Black Ops., however he didn't want Sakura to pry into the matter anymore.

Maybe he would offer to take Naruto for ramen as a peace offering…