Mayday

A/N: Well, it's time to introduce the conflict in the story (and you thought the plane crash was the conflict... ha! It's just the beginning... mwahahaha) because as my friend and editor Claire said, I am a puppetmaster and enjoy inflicting pain, suffering, and stabbage on my characters. This chapter is where the problems begin... -evil cackling- and I hope you all enjoy the fun.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto it would be mainly a romance, centered around Sakura and Sasuke. That annoying Karin girl would be dead, and Shikamaru (probably the coolest character) would have a WAY bigger part. Obviously that hasn't happened, so obviously I don't own Naruto. Ahh, deductive reasoning.

Chapter Four

"Oi, open up!"

Narrowed opal eyes squinted through the small glass circle and their owner sighed. Not that idiot again.

Neji let out another long-suffering sigh that he made sure his blonde "friend" Naruto heard as he painstakingly opened his door to the walking personification of exuberance and his band of morons.

Naruto stood in the hallway, a determined frown on his handsome and normally sunny face. Behind him, Kiba was trying hopelessly to get that stupid dog of his to not pee on the already shabby carpet and Shikamaru looked like he was doing an interpretive dance of Boredom. Shino was studying the carpet where a cockroach was moving along, those ridiculous sunglasses still on, and Lee was practicing different karate poses. The only surprise here was that Sasuke was missing.

"Whatever it is, the answer's no." Neji slammed the door closed again without a second thought. Naruto had these ideas of his almost every weekend, and they usually included whatever sport or activity the blonde was currently obsessed with. Last weekend, it had been skiing and the only reason Neji had gone was because at the last minute, Kiba and Lee had bailed, which cut the level of noise and stupidity in half, at the very least.

Neji could handle Shino, Shikamaru, and Sasuke any day, mostly because they were all silent except for Shikamaru's occasional complaints and Sasuke's arguments with Naruto. And Naruto was generally so preoccupied with trying to get Sasuke out of one of his sulks that he didn't have time enough to bother Neji too much. The skiing had turned into a fierce competition between Sasuke and Naruto. Shikamaru, Neji, and Shino had ended up sitting in the lodge, drinking coffee and watching disdainfully out the large windows as the blonde and his best friend tumbled down the mountain like the idiots they were.

"Hey! No way, Neji! This is important! Open up, you ass!"

Neji opened the door a crack. "You've got thirty seconds and after that I'm bolting this thing shut and cutting the phone lines. Ready, set, go." Neji hissed scathingly. Naruto pumped his fist, unmarred by Neji's rude demeanor. Most of his friends were ill-tempered and antisocial and he'd long grown accustomed to dealing with it. That was probably why he was best friends with Sasuke: the black-haired man was temperamental but inconsistent. Naruto had learned long ago that the bad attitude merely covered a guy that was actually all heart. Naruto knew Sasuke was worth the energy he had to put into handling him.

On the other hand he strongly doubted there was the same wealth of good buried in Neji.

"Alright! Okay. So, you heard about how that guy Haruno Shinji's daughter's gone missing? They think the plane crashed. And, I don't think you heard, but Sasuke's her new bodyguard."

Neji raised an eyebrow, but hesitated. Naruto was annoying but had seen a lot of sadness and death in his life. This was probably going to be just another tombstone for the hyperactive moron to visit. His especially obnoxious behavior probably was due to knowing that Sasuke was dead, deep down, but not being able to accept it.

"...You realize they are both more than likely dead."

"Sasuke isn't dead. I know he isn't. And if you don't believe me, then don't join us. But we're all going to look for Bastard. They believe me." Naruto pointed to his friends standing behind him. Neji caught Shino's eye (rather, his sunglasses) and raised an eyebrow. Shino simply shrugged. Helplessly, Neji turned to Shikamaru. If anyone was going to see that this was even more absurd than renting skis for Akamaru, it would be Shikamaru. Shikamaru crossed his arms and smirked.

"Come on, you know Sasuke would think dying so soon would be a total drag. Besides, mourning is troublesome. They haven't even found the plane yet. I'd rather wait 'til we were positive he was six feet under to start grieving."

Neji sputtered. Didn't anyone else realize how stupid this was? Certainly it was a shame that Sasuke had died, but they were acting more childish than usual in believing that the onyx-eyed young man had survived a plane crash.

"We're meeting tonight at my apartment to plan, if you change your mind. You heartless asshole." Naruto snarled. Neji cringed. He'd only seen Naruto truly angry a few times, and once it had ended in a broken nose for him.

"Whatever." He slammed the door shut, overcome with guilt.

--

"Okay, well, you think of something, genius-face." Sakura glared, folding her arms across her chest, trying to keep from full-out shaking. The fluffy white flakes that used to be pretty and mean hot chocolate and snowmen to the pink haired survivor now meant possible frostbite and hypothermia.

"You're supposed to be smart!" Sasuke yelled in exasperation. He was in one of his moods, most likely because there hadn't been any sign of rescue. He had been virtually silent and anti-social, and to top it all off, had nearly shot Sakura when hunting a bunny. It had been an incredibly slow-moving day. They were both tired, sore from sleeping on the hard ground with little cushioning, hungry for edible food, thirsty, smelly, and in a word, cranky. And now, those merry white flakes were floating to the ground, becoming denser every minute. The sad little tent they'd constructed was already covered and weighed down by the stuff.

Sakura clapped her hands over her face, trying to keep the frustration from completely bubbling over. Despite the closeness that Sakura had felt to Sasuke the night before, today the closeness was grating on her already fried nerves. They were both perfectionists, both as temperamental as her father's advisor Tsunade, and both extremely determined people. These shared characteristics had caused several blowups during the day and Sakura sensed a blowup very, very soon.

"You know, you always hear you should go on a trip with someone most like you. Whoever said that was bonkers." Sakura grumbled, dropping onto a fallen log. "Maybe for now we should just light a really good fire and stick by it all night. It's too dark to search for a more sheltered area now anyway."

Sasuke frowned but it seemed he agreed, for he began lighting a fire again. Sakura watched with amusement as he used his pocketknife, a rock, and a leaf to set fire to the sticks that were left from the night before. The fire finally blazed and Sasuke smirked triumphantly. He grabbed the blankets from inside the tent and handed Sakura two to wrap around herself. She smiled gratefully and bundled up, as did he. Surprisingly, especially in light of the events of the day, Sasuke sat down right next to her on the log. What a moody guy.

"Wanna play trade facts about yourself?" She asked after several minutes of silence. Sasuke shrugged and grunted and Sakura took that as a yes. She furrowed her brow in thought.

"Hmm... oh! I know. I've never had a boyfriend." Sakura said, blushing lightly. The firelight danced on their faces and warmed them, slightly. They watched the stream bubble and move. The banks were covered in frost and ice was beginning to form where the water moved less. Yes, winter was officially here.

It'd been a day since the bear attack, and now that night was creeping in again, the question of what animal would visit them tonight hung in the frigid air. Sakura glanced nervously at Sasuke, looking for a response. Sasuke didn't look at her, he just stared into the fire.

Sakura looked down at the ground, wishing she hadn't told him. She didn't know why she had; wasn't that on the list of things you weren't supposed to tell a cute guy? Well, that just made it even more painfully obvious why she hadn't had a boyfriend in the first place.

"Never been kissed, or anything. Pretty sad, huh." She chortled, but it was empty.

"...It isn't sad."

"Ah. ...Well I think it's your turn."

A silence so lengthy passed, she thought he might not have heard her, but just as she opened her mouth to speak again, he spoke. "I had to drop out of my prep school because I didn't have the money to pay for it. My brother stole the money that should have been mine."

Sakura blinked. Wonders never ceased with this headcase. One minute he's firing at her, the next he's spilling out pieces of his obviously dark life story. He turned to look at her, his face even more devastatingly handsome in the soft light. "I think it's your turn." He mimicked.

She grappled for something to say. "Er..." She closed her eyes, trying to think of something worthwhile to tell the scarred man. She had something, something terrible and sad, that no one ever knew. But was it worth it to tell Sasuke? What would he think of her if he knew? No, she couldn't tell him that. Besides, obviously he was the dark angsty one. "My favorite kind of food is ice cream." She said, finally. She saw Sasuke in her peripheral vision, appraising her expression with disdainfully raised eyebrows. "...What?"

"Why don't you try telling me what you were going to, instead of covering it up with stupid facts that are meaningless?"

The bluntness of his request would have been shocking, but already, even after barely two days, she felt she'd known him for years. And yet at moments he managed to surprise her again. ...How did he do that? One day she swore she'd find out. Maybe it was just a trait of hot guys, to let you think you know them, and then suddenly do something unpredictably kind and sweet. She shut her eyes tightly. "...You'd be disgusted."

She heard a scoffing noise. "Looks like we have a lot in common."

She felt her hands trembling, and she stole a glance at Sasuke. His eyes were fixed on her. When their eyes met she felt calmer, though. His eyebrows were raised witheringly, as usual, but when she looked, really looked into them, she saw understanding. She knew then that however he insulted her later, it wouldn't be real. Because he'd accept her. Even still, her voice shook as she spoke. "My hair... I kept it really long, because... there was this boy I liked. I thought he was the one for me, and I'd heard he liked long hair."

She halted when she heard Sasuke snicker. He shook his head. "No, go on."

"...Anyway, he and his friends found out about my... my crush. And he started emailing me, pretending to have fallen in love. But one day, I walked into the computer lab to find him reading... one of my emails... out loud to all his friends. My hair's actually red. I dyed it and cut it after that."

"...Is that what I'm supposed to be disgusted by?" Sasuke was smirking. "Embarrassing, yeah, but only because you couldn't see he was a moron. Pretty stupid of you, I'd say."

Sakura glared but it was half-hearted. It was certainly one of her darker memories. And yet Sasuke was brushing it off as though she'd tripped or something. "Your turn, now. And it'd better be good, mister Uchiha." She poked his arm, pretending to be scolding him, and he snorted. Somehow, the mood had lifted again. He still accepted her. He didn't think she was a loser.

"Fine." He whined. He muttered something under his breath about stupid women and their stupid games, but his eyes were bright. Sakura giggled and couldn't resist it: she moved closer to him. Their arms brushed. "In fifth grade, my best friend Naruto dressed up as a girl and tricked me into kissing him. A real kiss, too. He was just doing it to be funny—he's the biggest clown—and even though all the guys made fun of me relentlessly, it only added to my popularity with all the girls and for years all the girls tried dressing up as boys to get my attention." He scowled but there was a faint blush across his cheeks. Sakura burst into laughter that rang through the trees. It felt good to laugh and she laughed even harder when she realized Sasuke had buried his face in his hands and was shaking with laughter too.

"You know..." She said, after finally the laughter had ended, tears of mirth streaming down her face and glinting in the firelight, "we have had such opposite lives... and yet, I... feel closer to you... than anyone else I've ever known."

The words hung uncertainly in the air; Sakura realized how dumb it had been to say them. Sasuke wasn't a sappy guy and now he had narrowed his beautiful onyx eyes at her. She held her breath.

"We haven't had opposite lives." He said, looking at her like she was the most horrifically idiotic person he'd ever met. Too bad she didn't know about Naruto. It would have been comforting at that moment. Sakura looked away, thinking.

"Of course we have. I've always been an outcast, hated by everyone for my status, intellect, and ugliness, and you've been loved, for... well, everything." She said softly. Sasuke rolled his eyes at her exasperatedly. He'd been doing that a lot. She idly wondered if he enjoyed being so disdainful.

"We've both been ostracized for one thing or another. But in the end it's come down to our families. I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Sakura flushed hotly. "I am! I just--"

"And stop saying you're ugly. You keep saying it and it's getting on my nerves." He snapped. Sakura blushed even redder. She opened her mouth to disagree, but he looked sharply at her and she shut her mouth quickly. But she broke into a smile again.

"You really are a good guy, even if you want everyone else to think differently." She placed a small hand on his shoulder. His eyes moved to it momentarily and the faintest blush spread across his cheeks.

"I... hey wait, what are you-gah, get off of me you insane freak!" Sasuke choked. Sakura had thrown her arms around him and was dangerously close to throttling the Uchiha in her hug. She loosened her hold, and she smiled when she felt Sasuke's hands move hesitantly to her upper back.

The snow dissolved by the warmth of the fire and the effect was sheltering. Sakura dared to snuggle closer and she could feel Sasuke's heart beating faster as he fastidiously tightened his hold too.

They pulled away, and perhaps it was the hazy glow from the firelight, perhaps it was going crazy from hunger, or perhaps it really was something special—maybe all three—but quickly they moved closer. It would be Sakura first kiss and her stomach was doing backflips-

-CLUNK-

"OW! My nobe! Id bleedig!"

--

"Kisame, where are your manners? Please excuse him, Haruno-san."

The butler lay facedown on the floor and across the room, Haruno Shinji cowered in fear behind his desk. A devilishly handsome man with long black hair and a tired, serene face stood by the doorway. Shinji recognized him from various parties for all the diplomats, politicians, and their funders. He always wore a black suit and the man called Kisame was always with him. Kisame was as ugly as the black haired man was handsome, with skin so pale it was tinted blue and with the cold, heartless eyes of a natural-born killer.

"I'm sure you recall meeting me last year at Hyuuga-san's birthday party for his daughter, Hinata. You know Hyuuga-san of course from all those negotiations with Sunagakure. He was quite a help to you, Haruno-san, if my memory is correct."

The eloquence of the dark-haired man's speech triggered a memory for Shinji. He remembered him now. His name was Itachi Uchiha, the heir to the enormous Uchiha fortune. The Uchiha family reputation had been trashed by tragedy when the mother, that famous model, was murdered so brutally, the father had committed suicide soon after, and the younger brother to Itachi had gone missing. But Itachi had spent so many years rebuilding his family name and now had a hand in most political dealings. The man was insidious in his ability to appear nothing more than a harmless, placid little rich boy. But in reality Haruno Shinji had come to respect him for his ruthless tactics and charisma. On a good day, he was fascinated by the heir to tragedy, but at the moment he was terrified for his own life.

"Y-yes," he stammered, straightening himself and trying to appear more in control. Kisame had those horrifically cold eyes fixed on him, but even worse, so did Itachi. Those eyes... they were harrowing, for they appeared black. But every so often Shinji caught a disturbing red gleam in them that did not bode well.

"Wonderful. Well, we've caught wind of your daughter's disappearance. And I'd like to utilize my abundant resources to aid you in locating your lovely only child. I'm sure it's affecting your work, Haruno-san, to be worried sick about your dear daughter."

Shinji nodded, his mouth going dry. He was no fool; he could see the direction this was headed. Itachi was nothing if not a barbarous strategist. Shinji knew the Uchiha wanted something from him.

"What's in it for you?"

Itachi's beautiful mouth curled into a disturbingly complacent smile.

"Why, nothing more than the satisfaction of helping you, Haruno-san."

--

Ooh! Why does Itachi want to help find Sakura? Is he looking to find Sasuke? Or is it something else? Will Sasuke's nose ever stop bleeding? Will Neji help team Naruto look for the bastard? Find out in chapter five!!