Disclaimer: Nope. It's a fanfic site

GAH…. okay, explanation for my tardiness: COMPUTER CRASH. That's all I need to say. Updates will be slow… I think we're getting a new computer, thank goodness… But not until another week I think. I once again apologize—I also had to rewrite this five times, so enjoy what I came up with.

:insert line here:

The events played through his mind over and over again, becoming more and more intense, leading him into a deeper understanding. His comrade—Sasuke Uchiha—was blank from the world. He transformed himself from a genius ninja, thinking before every action into a mindless pawn taking his mind away from his problems with violence.

Naruto chewed on a toothpick which was fitted between his lips, something like a cigarette—only he would never smoke. A long breath eased out his nostrils and he closed his aqua eyes, trying to piece the puzzle in his mind together. They've been arguing for three months… they've been married for three months… he mused, reopening his eyes and staring at the ceiling with interest—not sure why it had suddenly become so intriguing.

Flicking the toothpick out from his mouth, the blonde sat up on the couch, resting his cheek in his palm. That means they must have argued on their honeymoon… he affirmed in his mind, straining to think of at least one thing that could have started a major argument between the two. Something so… disturbing perhaps that they wouldn't want to repeat it—because it was so touchy a subject. Sakura's the touchy one—maybe Sasuke's just suffering with the aftermath? He guessed, though it didn't sound quite right to him even in his head.

Guiding his mind back into their mission, Naruto tapped his index finger on his cheek. Sasuke had ran off on his own, although they were working on their mission simultaneously—supposedly, they were a team, but Sasuke wasn't being quite the team player. Not that I could expect too much, Naruto thought, After all, I did go even though he obviously wanted to be alone—but that's the problem! He threw his arms in the air as if he was ranting aloud, portraying his clear frustration.

Not only had the Uchiha run off, but he had found their target and had already begun to chase. All without my knowledge! Naruto couldn't help but add it in. There was something different in his eyes, however. The raven did use his sharingan excessively—sometimes he would just activate it to let you know that he was upset. It became so habitual that he and Sakura had tried to break him out of it, but to no avail: it was instinct now. Even so, that wasn't the same sharingan, per se.

Sasuke had such an intense hostility in his eyes, and yet such a calm placidity in his face that the mere contrast was unsettling. His lips were shut in a perfect line, never to open and speak. His eyes were focused on one thing and one thing alone: his target. The rogue ninja wasn't allowed a moment of thought before the raven slit his throat, ending his life. He was cold—colder than he had been in years.

What's going on with you, Sasuke? Naruto frowned harshly, running his fingers through his blonde mop of hair. It didn't make sense. What was going on? How did Sakura feel about her own husband not thinking about her while he was at work—his job being to protect Konoha—namely his wife! I don't understand how he can ignore her existence with a job like this! The blonde sighed, placing the toothpick back in his mouth.

If they had argued at their honeymoon, it would have been on the very last day, because they came back with stories of the great time they had. But they never did talk about the very last day… Naruto noted, clenching his jaw as he looked down to the floor. This wasn't a one way argument—it couldn't be. It couldn't be that one person was struggling with the aftermath of a stupid comment: that would be worked out by now. This was more like something that they didn't even want to speak about already because they were both so… Freakin' stubborn! Naruto sighed in frustration, slamming his body back down on the couch.

"This is too confusing!" He whined aloud, slapping his hands onto his throbbing head. Thinking this hard on an empty stomach wasn't exactly Naruto's idea of a dream evening, but he needed to think about it sometime now that their mission was over with. Just as the Uzumaki was about to look to the clock, he heard the door unlock and a wide grin spread on his lips. "Is that my beautiful darling?" He sprang to his feet to meet his wife at the door.

"Hi, Naruto," Hinata greeted with a shy smile, pecking the man on his already puckered lips. He took her into an affectionate embrace, closing the door behind her as he led her to the couch. "You look perturbed," the young woman noted, a slight frown tainting her porcelain features. Naruto stroked her cheek gently to be rid of the frown before he spoke:

"I'm just worried about Sasuke… and Sakura, of course," he finished, giving her his own quirky form of a frown. Hinata placed her delicate hand over his stronger one, her lavender orbs gleaming as she looked into his aqua ones.

"I'm worried too…" she agreed, a feminine sigh easing from her lips. "Three months is a long time for an ongoing argument… how was working with him?"

"I almost didn't!" Naruto shook his head disbelievingly. "He hung up on me and tried to get a mission before I knew what was going on!" Hinata couldn't help but giggle at her animated husband. "But when we were on our mission, he was so… cold, distant—I mean, yeah that's Sasuke—but this was different."

"Do you think that's how he treats Sakura…?" Hinata asked gently in a hushed whisper, as if the spoken couple was in the next room over.

"I certainly hope not," Naruto squinted one eye, thinking back to how Sasuke descended menacingly on the rogue ninja expertly before slitting his throat. The blonde stood to his feet, stretching out his arms comfortably until he heard his elbows crack in satisfactory pops. "I'm hungry!" He whined an obvious hint, glancing down at his wife with a wide grin.

"Should I make dinner?" Hinata pretended to be clueless, tapping a finger on her lips in makeshift thought.

"Make ramen!" Naruto's aqua eyes sparkled with hope. Hinata frowned disapprovingly.

"Naruto… we've already talked about your eating habits…" the woman warned, her lavender eyes glowing with endearment. Naruto groaned, lowering himself back on the couch.

"But Hinataaaaa…" he whined, frowning with a pout. Hinata shook her head, but then thought a moment, deciding on a compromise.

"If you eat chicken soup today, I'll make an apple pie for you for dessert," she offered, a giggle playing in her voice when her husband's face transformed in excitement. If there was one thing he loved—maybe even as much as ramen—was Hinata's pies.

"With ice cream too?" His eyes danced with mischief as he tested the waters.

"If you eat salad too," Hinata countered, fully giggling. Naruto grinned taking her into a hug.

"Deal!" He cheered, planting a flurry of affectionate kisses on her dark, silky tresses.

:insert line here:

Her emerald eyes fluttered open as she reached an awakening in the early morning. Sakura's mind took her back to the events of the night: when her husband walked out on her in the middle of their argument. It's been a while since he's done that… she mused, recalling just how painful it could be to know that your spouse didn't want to see your face because they were so livid. She breathed out a large sigh from her nostrils, folding her hands over her chest.

Turning her head, she looked over to her sleeping husband; his peaceful demeanor let her know that he must've been having a dream—either that, or he had gotten over their argument of the previous night. All he ever thinks about is sex; I'm sure… she spat, jerking her eyes away from his placidity. Why did he have to make everything so difficult? It was his selfishness that was causing all of their tension: Sakura was sure of it.

Sure, she might've overreacted with some things they argue about now, but right then—on that last day of their honeymoon: that was all Sasuke reverting back to his selfish and impassive behavior. The things he wanted were things that just could not happen—Sakura wouldn't allow it. Not in her house, and not in their children's houses—it just would not happen.

The pinkette slipped out of bed carefully, attempting to leave her husband in his slumber; but that never worked out. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he was both a light sleeper and a grumpy riser. "Stop moving the bed…" he ordered in a mumble, trying to go back to sleep. How did he fall asleep in this position? It was way too uncomfortable.

"Just go to sleep…" Sakura mumbled back, not in the mood to deal with his attitude. After a quick roll of her eyes, she began to dress so that she could go to the hospital. She heard Sasuke grumble something under his breath and she quickly turned to face him. "What was that?"

"I didn't say anything…" he spat, the defensive underlining in his voice coming obviously from his half asleep state. Sakura, however, wasn't falling for it.

"Don't lie to me," she bossed, her voice raising only a bit in frustration.

"Just go to work," he ordered, shoving the pillow over his head as if to block out both her voice and her existence from his mind. Sakura clenched her jaw, crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot impatiently at his actions. Did he really just block her out—block his wife out? Striding over, the pinkette stole away the pillow from the raven and threw it to the other side of the bed. Sasuke growled lowly in aggravated annoyance, throwing his head back in frustration. "Not now…" he groaned, just as sick of the situation as his wife, only he was willing to brush it aside; she wasn't quite there.

"Don't 'not now' me! You started this!" She pointed her index finger at him judgmentally, her voice rose in her anger.

"You start a lot of your 'points' with 'don'ts'," he noted, his onyx orbs peering at her. She knew what he was getting at: it was a subtle way of him telling her not to boss him around; only, she really didn't feel like listening. He had lied to her and she wanted a truthful answer: was that really too much to ask for from the egoistic raven?

"And you talk to everyone like they're two," she countered, a tight smile following her statement.

"Only when they act like they're two," he retorted, propping himself up and glaring into her eyes.

"Are we really going to start with the whole 'you're a child' thing again?" She asked with pure sarcasm saturating her voice. That tone caused Sasuke's hand to clench, his knuckles turning white.

"Don't talk to me like that," he ordered.

"Oh, look who's starting their sentences with 'don'ts' now!" Sakura pointed out, pulling back away from him and continuing to get ready for work. It was as if they couldn't accomplish anything. They would argue, which would lead to more arguments and then some—all that eventually don't even relate to the original topic. Every time they spoke it was like a long rabbit trail of insults and orders.

"Am I supposed to apologize now?" He asked with an equal amount of sarcasm in his voice. Sakura's face flushed red as seething rage overtook her demeanor. Snapping her head towards him, she glared harshly, and with a raised voice yelled:

"JUST SHUT UP!" And with that she was gone, slamming her hand on the desk and taking her keys as she stomped towards the hospital.

:insert line here:

The hospital was busy: a squad from the anbu had just finished their mission and many had returned to Konoha with life threatening wounds—most of them beginning to get infected. Sakura bustled around the hospital, not truly having time to think, but she couldn't help but have those thoughts enter her mind. She would never regret it at the moment, but the aftermath of her and Sasuke's arguments hit her hard. She needed to cry, but she hadn't the time.

Her hands laid directly above an open gash on an anbu's back, blood stains dry and decorating his skin. A healthy green chakra emanated from the pinkette's experienced hands as she used healing jutsu to aid the recovery from the wound. This is when she could think—when time was frozen around her. Working at a hospital where you would constantly see anbu be rushed in near death was difficult to say the least—especially when you knew your husband was one of these anbu.

What if one day it was him who came in near death…? She mused, tears pouring down her glossy emerald orbs. He would be near death—they would have argued that morning, departing from each other without so much as an "I love you". And there the raven would be, lying on a hospital bed, breathing his last breaths as his heart beat softened until it was no more.

They would have never made amends. The arguments would have never ceased. The anger would have never subsided—he would die without forgiveness and without apologizing. The tension would remain for a literal eternity. Sakura couldn't control the sobs that tore out from her. That wasn't what she wanted: she didn't want to stay with this terrible connection she and Sasuke had obtained. She wanted things to be fixed, but it seemed near impossible.

The very thought of Sasuke dying without him ever knowing that she didn't want things to be this way stabbed at her heart, but how could she tell him? How could she possibly tell him that she didn't want things to be the way they were when whenever they would speak to one another an argument would arise? Shaking her head, the pinkette attempted to control the gentle tremor of her body from her sobbing.

"Hey, Doc! Do you need some help?" Ino spoke casually, prancing into the room after a tap on the door. Sakura wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her shoulder and turned to face her blonde friend.

"Hey, Ino; aren't you working with the others?" Sakura inquired, tipping her head to the side in confusion. She was hoping if she acted natural it would ward off the redness of her cheeks from her fit of tears. The blonde shook her head good naturedly, lifting her index finger as she spoke:

"'They are in my well trained hands!' As Shizune had put it," she quoted with a wink, "I dealt with the female anbu in the squad so I figured I would help you," she lowered her voice before continuing, "After all, you know how Shizune hates people doing her job for her…" a giggle and a quick wink followed her statement.

Sakura smiled weakly at Ino, returning her attention to the unconscious male lying in the bed. A sigh eased out from between her lips as she stared into an abyss of nothingness. The blonde kunoichi tipped her head to the side. "Hey, Sakura, what's wrong? You look so… emo," Ino scrunched her nose when she said the word. "Emo" and "Sakura" just weren't two words in the same sentence, and yet her demeanor could only be described as such.

Emerald orbs snapped over to aqua ones, giving the blonde her attention. "Um, yeah…" she responded disbelievingly, knowing that she was lying through her teeth. Ino knew she was lying as well and she raised her eyebrow at Sakura, prying for a different answer. The pinkette breathed out a harsh sigh of defeat, looking away from the judgmental waves of blue that were obstructing the emerald gloss of her own eyes. "It's just me and Sasuke…" Sakura spoke bitterly, figuring that if he could talk about it to Naruto, she had every right to speak about it to Ino.

"You're just figuring out that he's all that I said he was, huh?" Ino asked, a tinge of a smug know-it-all playing in her voice. Gracefully, the blonde descended into a backless seat and scooted it closer to Sakura so that she could continue the story while she was comfortable. Sakura nodded silently, breathing in sharply.

"He's—we're…"

"No, no, no, you had it right the first time," Ino shook her index finger, "What did he do?" Sakura looked over to Ino, a smile curving on her lips. There was someone that would side with her—someone who knew that Sasuke was egocentric and impassive.

"It's like he doesn't even love me… he never says he does—and he always pushes arguments away and never wants to finish them! Sometimes he'll just come up to me and say 'that's enough for one day'. I mean, yeah, I don't want to argue, but if we don't finish it'll just come up again…"

"He's being immature!" Ino gawked, crossing her arms over her chest. "See, what he's doing is he's trying to make it look like he's being 'sweet', but really he's just trying to control you," the blonde noted as if she had experience. Sakura's mouth opened in an interested parting. She leaned in towards the blonde, her pink brow rising.

"'Control'?" That was something she could imagine the raven trying to do. Sakura leaned her face in her palms and made herself more comfortable in preparation to hear Ino's words: Ino's poisonous, interfering words.

:insert line here:

His alarm went off and resonated across the walls. The raven groaned, slapping his hand over the alarm clock to ease his sleep sensitive ears from the annoying ring. Sitting up, Sasuke ran his fingers through his messy mop of charcoal hair. "Just shut up!" What a way to leave… he frowned, unable to end the repeating words in his mind—the words she said with such anger that he couldn't help but know she meant every bit of them.

It was just something he couldn't take anymore. Every day, it was another argument—everyday, more insults and orders. Every day nothing—nothing —changed. Sasuke breathed out harshly, his hands landing with pats on the mattress. What was he supposed to do? She was gone again. Apologizing wasn't good enough—a simple "I'm sorry" wouldn't fix anything.

His onyx eyes veered over to his night table, where his coal black phone stood. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke snatched his phone before he could change his mind, dialing Naruto's number. He waited impatiently, tapping his finger on the mattress as he continued to get the monotone beep that proved to him no one had yet made it to the phone. Pick up your phone, Dobe… He ordered in his mind, breathing out harshly through his nostrils.

Finally, after what had felt like a good five minutes to Sasuke, but was truly only a few seconds, Naruto picked up his cell phone. "Isn't it a little early for you, Sasuke?" The blonde yawned into the phone. The raven could tell the call probably woke up the lazy bum.

"Listen, I need to talk to you…" he mumbled, neglecting what Naruto had said. He heard a huff; Naruto must have wanted an answer after all, but right now wasn't the time for that: he needed to stay focused—to stay on track. After hearing the dobe mumble something incoherent, Sasuke continued, taking it as a "what" statement. "I need your help," he sighed through gritted teeth, the words being forced from his mouth.

There was a dead silence and Sasuke began to tap his finger on the mattress once again. "Are you going to say anything?" He snapped, still grumpy from the early morning.

"Oh you're done?" Naruto yawned lazily, and breathed in before continuing. "Sure, I'll help you, what's up?" He said casually, his voice muffled as if he had slammed his head back onto a pillow. The raven rolled his eyes.

"Would you focus? This is serious," he retorted to the blonde's actions, but was only answered with a casual "yeah, yeah". "Listen to me!" He ordered. "If I don't get help now, Sakura and I are going to get divorced—and I'm an idiot if I won't admit that much! We can't even have a normal conversation—ever—it's always an argument, so if you would just listen to me—"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Sasuke," Naruto spoke through the phone, catching his breath from being completely woken up by the raven's outburst. "Start from the beginning: what happened?" Sasuke breathed in sharply, calming himself before talking to Naruto.

"Which beginning: today or… when it all started?" He mumbled, obviously finding the latter question far more distasteful than the preceding one. He knew what Naruto would say: it was why he was hesitant to call him in the first place, but this is what he needed. As much as he didn't like it, Sasuke knew he needed help on this one—and if he truly loved his wife, he would have to swallow his pride and ask for help from Naruto of all people, who had been married longer than he had.

"When it all started, Sasuke. I need to hear the whole thing," Naruto actually managed to keep his voice serious, which the raven appreciated. Taking a deep breath, Sasuke began his explanation…

:insert line here:

Naruto fisted his blonde hair in one hand while his other held the phone. His cerulean eyes were shot open as he focused on the story being told in his ears. "It was the last day—I mean, should I really be thankful for that? She should've known that's what I meant all these years!" Sasuke ranted on the other line, clearly losing his temper. "Sasuke, not even I knew that's what you meant!" Naruto noted, sighing in confusion. "Okay… start over…"

"I have to explain it again?!" The voice came through in aggravated irritation.

"Do you want my help or not?!" Naruto threatened, already on edge. He had to make sure he heard Sasuke right, or else he might just understand why exactly Sakura was having an issue, which eventually may have rubbed off on Sasuke, in turn creating their mess.

"On the last night of our honeymoon, we were talking about kids." He paused; Naruto "uh huh"ed to let him know he was listening. "And, everyone knows I want to restore my clan—I've always said that. Sakura knew that, you knew that—everyone knew and knows that."

"Go on," Naruto pried, not wanting him to stay ranting on one subject for two long; he wanted to remember the story, not Sasuke's anger. He heard his best friend take a deep breath before he continued on, once again calming his nerves.

"Restoring the Uchiha clan means keeping Uchiha blood in the mix; so, it only makes sense that the Uchiha have to marry the Uchiha. That's how it always has been. Then our kids will have kids, and they'll marry their cousins and so on, until the clan is restored. See?" Sasuke spoke simply on the other line as if absolutely nothing was wrong with his logic. Naruto wanted to yell at him about how that was incest and more than likely illegal, but he held his tongue: realizing that Sakura had probably done a good enough job yelling at him. It is why they were arguing.

"So," he continued, "I told her that, and she freaked out. We went back and forth for a little bit—and then I told her that this was my life purpose, because it is: my purpose is to restore my clan. And then, she started insulting my clan—and saying that that wasn't a life purpose, it was destroying the future of our children. Okay, I'm not being selfish! I'm trying to restore what the 'oh so great' Third Hokage stripped from my family! Is that so wrong?!

"While you were all bowing to that old murderer's feet, he was sending my brother out to annihilate my clan! When I told her I was glad that that stupid man was dead, things started escalating, and soon we were both yelling at each other. Her saying that I was disrespecting her teacher's sensei—me saying that she would never understand my point of view—it felt as if we were back to square one: twelve year olds arguing over everything. Except, these things were substantial.

"Honestly, I hadn't realized how little… we had communicated—half the things she yells at me still surprise me. I think she's more bitter than I could imagine. She loves our unborn children more than me, that's why she's not letting us have them. We can't agree, and that anger remains and we argue about anything and everything to avoid the topic… That's how I take it." Sasuke concluded, sounding depressed, but masking it over with a false confidence he held in his voice.

Naruto swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut to find the right words to encourage his best friend. He could understand Sasuke's point of view: he had lived his entire life swearing revenge and striving for nothing more than to restore his clan. And yet, he could also understand Sakura's point of view: their children would have their own lives—not to mention the idea of them marrying each other was illegal enough. To actually make them do it was a different story. I guess I would have to figure out if it's really illegal… Naruto mused, but then quickly shook his head. No focus! Sasuke!

"Sasuke," the blonde began, a long eased sigh breaking from between his lips. "You and I have a lot to talk about if you want to keep this relationship going… Dost thou promiseth patient-eth…? Or whatever?" He heard Sasuke sigh in relief, a short chuckle following after.

"I swear my cooperation, but not my patient."

OooO

Sorry if it seemed slow at some points. I lost inspiration halfway through, hence the rewriting it five times. I'm sort of proud of this chapter, but I hope you all liked it anyways, despite my late… late update. But I'm alive, so we can all cheer about that. :] Maybe, keheh. Arigatogozaimasu for your support. Don't forget to R&R!

InaGaTa