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Stuck With You
by sweetreject

Chapter 2:
Missing

She was more than happy to see Naruto sitting in Sasuke's living room, which lead to her jumping on him, giggling. She watched, with some amusement, as his face changed expressions from surprised, to confused, then to more surprise, then shock, and suddenly he yelled out, "Sasuke-teme! Why didn't you tell me you had a kid? I can't believe you got laid before I did! Wait, you chose someone who isn't Sakura-chan? You bastard!"

At this, Sasuke walked back into the living room, his anger under control, though it was taking all his strength not to punch Naruto through the wall. "Naruto, you baka, could you have said that any louder? And stop talking about those things; she's just a kid."

Naruto's eyes widened. He grinned and started playing with Yuzu again. "But, Sasuke, I can't believe you didn't tell me. Your best and most loyal friend of all time who you would give your life for! Where was she when I came over? Did you hide her? Or was she outside in the cold, with no food, slowly dying, and—"

"I swear, if you don't shut up in the next two seconds, I am going to kill you," Sasuke's voice was almost a growl, having had too much when Naruto started to get ideas from movies. Sighing, he looked down at Yuzu, who was still in Naruto's lap, and stated very calmly, "She is not my child; the Hokage has asked me to take care of her while she finds her parents."

"You mean that old bat left you with this kid!" Yuzu almost glared at him. "Why didn't she ask ME!" At this, she couldn't help but giggle. Naruto could be such a crybaby sometimes. Calming down a tad, he raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why'd she ask you, anyway? No offence, but you have got to be the worst choice for a babysitter. I mean, you hate kids. Not to mention girls."

A vein throbbed on his forehead. "This is a mission, not babysitting."

Naruto shrugged, more concentrated on bouncing Yuzu up and down on his leg, hearing her giggles all around the room. "Call it what you want. It still sounds like babysitting to me; the Hokage might've called it a mission, but she's always lying, teme. Hey, what's her name?"

"Yuzu."

"Hello, Yuzu-chan! Nice to meet you! My name's Naruto!" He played with her a little more, while Sasuke cleaned up the mess Naruto had made. Naruto stopped moving, however, when he remembered something. "Hey, she called me Naruto before…"

"Hm? You told her your name. Why wouldn't she call you that?"

"No, I mean before I even told her my name!" Yuzu's eyes widened. What if Naruto had finally figured it out? She'd be saved! "SHE MUST BE ONE OF MY FAN GIRLS!" Yuzu almost fell over. Never mind, I give Naruto too much credit… Her eyes become dazed, slowly turning tearful. I have to make them realize it's me! If I don't, then I'll be stuck like this forever! Everyone will think I'm dead. No one will know what really happened to me...

Sasuke stared as Naruto and Yuzu seemed to be having fun. He stood up and snatched her out of Naruto's arms, receiving a, "SASUKE-TEME, GIVE HER BACK!"

He held her tighter, making her blush. "Yeah, right. So you can turn her into a loser like you?"

"GHRAA! Sasuke-teme…!"

"Well, it was fun, but I gotta go. Hinata-chan'll be mad if I'm late to train with her again!" He stood up, only to stop at the door, his hand on the doorknob. "Oh, and Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked over at him, Naruto's back to him. "Hm?" Naruto rarely ever called him by only his name; he'd regularly use 'teme' after his name. Something must be bothering him. "What?"

"Sakura-chan…they just got word from another team. The mission was a failure, they all died…found the bodies all cut up. And…" He paused for a moment. "There were two bodies that weren't found; Sakura-chan was one of them. Kakashi-sensei just went out with a search team, but they don't think she made it."

Silence.

Yuzu didn't know what to do; she began to squirm in Sasuke's arms, unconsciously biting her lower lip nervously. She wanted to know what happened to him, the one who'd 'saved' her. Naruto just said two bodies were missing, which means… Sasuke voiced the question she longed to ask. "I thought Gaara was supposed to be on this mission as well…why didn't he protect her?"

"That's just it, Sasuke. He's missing too."

Oh crap. She didn't know which was worse; knowing he could either be dead or alive, or not knowing at all. If his body hadn't been found…then maybe he went looking for her afterwards? She didn't want to believe he was dead; it would be all her fault, and she didn't want anyone to die because of her.

"I...I'm going out to look for them, too, as soon as they get word on where they could be." He paused. "Sasuke, what if...what if we can't find her?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. Without another word, he turned around and left.

He needed to get all this stress out; he needed to punch something. Of course, he had company; everywhere he went, he had to take Yuzu with him. And even if he hated to admit it, she reminded him of Sakura.

Her eyes, especially. They held that same understanding, the same look Sakura always had whenever she was alone with him. But he might not get to see that look again; there was a pretty good chance that she might be dead…He seriously needed to punch something.

Punching a hunk of wood wasn't helping the least bit. He felt tired, but nothing more. Swinging at the now poor-excuse of a tree, he cursed again. No matter how hard he tried, the image of Sakura smiling didn't leave his mind. Even if he called her annoying, it was still some kind of relief to know someone would always be waiting for him if he ever needed someone. And even if he'd push her away and tell her she was worthless, she'd still be there. By his stupid, bastardly self.

She never once complained. Not even when he showed up at her doorstep on that cold rainy night, shortly after killing his brother. He had become a nervous wreck, and the moment he'd stopped to think, he wondered exactly why it was her he came to, and not someone else. Naruto would have probably been his first choice, had he been thinking clearly. But, secretly, selfishly, he'd wanted to be with someone who'd take care of him because she loved him the way she did.

He only called her affection annoying because sometimes it was true. At times he loathed himself deeply, thinking how he just used his friends for his own well-being. But he couldn't stop; she wouldn't stop. She needed to stop loving him, or it would eventually make her into a cold heartless being. One much like himself.

The tree split in half, two more trees behind that one following suit. He was panting now, his knuckles bruised to the point where the skin was ripping off. He got back into position, and started punching away at another hunk of wood.

If she was truly dead…who would he go to? Even when he'd just unexpectedly shown up at her doorstep, all she did was stare in shock, then usher him inside as if it was just another day to her. True, she had flipped out on him when he recuperated a little, but that was to be expected, especially the (very powerful) punch. After that, she treated him like she always did, though he felt like her love for him wasn't as strongly showed as before. And in the time he'd been gone, she'd attained a few…male suitors. He'd almost lost it when he saw others obtaining her attention, making her blush, or smile, giving her gifts…He knew he would never do this, and that was because he didn't love her. She was a teammate, a friend; nothing more. Still…it made him uncomfortable to know how others noticed her as well, like Inuzuka; he was always following her around, telling her how pretty she was, always asking her out, making her blush.

Another tree went down, and he moved to the next.

So, what would he do if she was dead? It wasn't like he could replace her. Whenever he felt like something was too overwhelming, he'd go to her. And she'd welcome him with open arms, no matter if it was in the afternoon or in the middle of the night. Something only she'd seen…and that was him crying. He didn't know why, but she always made him feel better afterwards, and she only had to sit near him, close enough for him to feel her body heat against his, and he'd calm down. The same went for when he felt like killing…He'd hurt her, too. Dug his nails so deep into her skin it made her bleed. Yet she didn't complain or wince at the pain, only holding his hand tighter. Being kind to him, while he sometimes treated her like dirt…

The fifth tree went down, and Sasuke realized it was already dark outside. He turned to look at where he'd told Yuzu to stay, and there she was, waiting for him. He must have been going at it for hours; she was still in the same position he'd left her. It kind of reminded him of Sakura…

Damn it, just stop. She's not here…she's missing, while you're stuck taking care of a kid. Stopping to look back at the little girl, who had some difficulty keeping up with him, he scooped her up and continued his way home. Though this kid looks a lot like her…

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hm?"

Sasuke had given up on trying to make Yuzu sleep in the guest room, so now he had her next to him, her little hand right next to his face, holding a lock of his hair. "Rain's coming…" she whispered.

He wondered what exactly she was talking about for ten seconds before he heard a light drizzle outside, signaling the start of a thunder storm that night. Again, he was reminded of Sakura; she hated thunder storms. The thunder was what scared her. The way Yuzu's voice quivered, he guessed she was scared of storms as well. Hugging her closer, he sighed. Tonight might be a long one. Hopefully, she wouldn't cry.

Once he was asleep, she grabbed his hands, placing her little palms over his knuckles. They were bandaged, but still bruised. All she needed to do was concentrate…and done, she'd healed them. She could stay with him forever, if she didn't find a way to turn back. Maybe staying a kid…isn't so bad, after all. I just hope they find Gaara alive soon...

I should probably get up…Yawning, she scooted closer to Sasuke, only to realize her chest was getting in the way. Her eyes shot open. Wait…my breasts? Looking down quickly, her eyes widened; she was back to her older self. A grunt next to her. Oh crap… She was naked…and Sasuke was waking up.