A/N: This chapter should have been up earlier, but it took some time before I could finish the last bit, seeing as I was working on a gallery piece since a few days ago.

Chapters might be shorter from now on, only by a little though. It helps me upload faster!

Thanks SO MUCH for all the support you have given me up to here! I have nearly reached 100 reviews, which is a milestone for someone like me! You guys are just fantastic, with your alerts, faves, and ESPECIALLY reviews! Please keep going, you don't know how much I smile when I read them! :D Even if it is just one word!

DEDICATED TO meantimegirl FOR BEING THE 90th REVIEWER!


Chapter 7

Nervousness was gnawing at his every sense as he sat impatiently, fingers dancing a fierce tango on the polished wooden table of his office at his house.

He couldn't believe his situation!

He couldn't comprehend what devils rode him into doing what he did right now.

Which was simply put: waiting.

And it might sound logical and rational had the idea come from some expert or psychiatrist or whomever.

But it didn't.

And that was the crack point.

Of all people Sasuke sat there, taking advice from, it had to be from Naruto.

Retarded, stupidly over-joyous Dobe Naruto.

Best friend since childhood.

Important business ally.

Father of two beautiful girls and a clever little boy.

Number one in being the last to realise.

Naruto.

Sasuke tried to suppress the heated sigh which escaped rapidly through his barely opened mouth, causing a near to piping sound.

"Sasuke, stop acting so riled up and calm down."

He felt a twitch in his left eye.

Oh God, that couldn't be a good sign, now, could it?

He was suffering from dementia or insanity or something dangerous.

And Naruto? He was acting spot on serious.

His face was a broad plane of no wrinkles betraying a smile or grin, but rather a flat, thin line for some lips and unwavering, yet still large, eyes.

"You need to listen to me."

"Right, why should I?" The raven-haired man shot back venomously.

"Because I know better how to deal with women that you." The answer was equally devoid of any emotion.

Like a cloned Naruto sat there.

Not quite himself.

The emotions-box had been cut out, stolen, destroyed, sealed, whatever.

As if he were mimicking Sasuke.

And Sasuke himself was seething.

The whole situation felt ironic. There was a curt moment where the Uchiha had to bite back a sneer and chuckle.

Naruto, the grand Dobe, was giving him advice. Him. Prodigy Uchiha Sasuke.

Who was being a dick right now.

And an idiot.

And felt like running against a wall five-thousand times simply because he doesn't know where else to go.

Even though Sasuke was a magnet for women of all kind, had dealt with various women, mainly in a business kind of style, had been married to Sakura for quite a few years now, he was so utterly lost.

His only hope was, shockingly, the Uzumaki.

"I'm finding this whole idea idiotic. Why shouldn't I at least call her?" He tried to calm his burning voice, pretending he wasn't quite as mad as he actually felt.

He wasn't sure if it worked.

"Because" Naruto began plainly, "you need to give her time to rest and think. Stop caging her. She is no item."

Sasuke glared at him darkly, but Naruto's indigo eyes just through the stare back.

"It wouldn't do you any good contacting her right now. Nor letting her know that you found out where she is." He sighed, "Which brings me to my next point. It would be a mistake to go to Ame now to see her-"

"Why?"

"Because you two would just start arguing again! God damn sake Sasuke, trust me once in your life, will you!?" The blond roared, not regretting his exaggerated volume.

Not like anyone was near to hear them.

Well, with that voice the Dobe owned, maybe the neighbours heard.

Even though the Uchiha mansion is ridiculously massive.

But it's Naruto we are talking about.

A long breath left Sasuke's lips. He searched within Naruto's usually so bright and colourful eyes for the exact reason he should ignore his wife.

Why he shouldn't let her know he was bothered by the fact she was gone. That he had noticed and taken it bitterly and missed her and wanted her back.

"Won't it hurt her?" he spoke a lot calmer now, his voice quite low.

"Of course it will. But it won't inflict her more pain that she hasn't already received."

Sasuke frowned upon those words, slightly tilting his heads.

"How do you feel right now?" The question came out like harmless small-talk with some kind of hind-thought.

Sasuke knew Naruto was gaining the upper hand on him.

It freaked him out.

"What do you mean?"

"Answer the question."

"It's no time for stupid talk-"

"Answer."

He swallowed, watching his best friend for a couple of seconds before he directed his onyx eyes towards a corner of the obscure room (it was well after ten in the evening).

"I...feel shit."

"No, properly describe it."

The frown returned, and the Uchiha felt like turning, shouting, telling Naruto to stop asking nonsensical questions and take the situation serious himself instead of mocking him.

But he couldn't help but know he'd lose that fight.

"I feel like...someone's stabbing me in my chest continuously without stop. I cannot concentrate properly and feel confused."

"That's not enough."

He turned to Naruto, about to inquire what else he wanted to hear, but his expression had changed, surprising him.

Naruto's facial contours smoothed, his eyes displaying clear bitterness and sorrow and a deep and dark sense of disappointment.

He was disappointed.

Sasuke disappointed him.

"It's simply not enough yet."


Naruto was infuriated.

He was aggravated, near to ballistic, boiling with frothing foamy water which threatened to splash over the border and stain its surroundings for life.

The urge to grab Sasuke by the collar and beat him into unconsciousness was large, but he managed to fight against it and keep his cool.

Even though all joy and happiness left him.

When Sasuke had texted him about the fact that Sakura had gone wordlessly, to Ame, as the Uchiha prodigy soon concluded thanks to his unwavering brilliancy, Naruto had stormed out of the house without much of a word to stop the idiot before he actually managed to get to the rainy town in time.

He could not believe how incredibly brainless his best friend was right now.

Sasuke was destroying his relationship with Sakura and he didn't even seem to care.

Well, that would be a lie, the latter remark.

Naruto, unlike many million other human beings, could tell Sasuke's most inner thoughts and feelings even when his stoic visage presented him with nothing but monotonous callousness.

He knew Sasuke was battling with himself about something no one but him would understand.

Not even Naruto.

But it was unforgiving nonetheless.

He was hurting Sakura unknowingly and that was the grand mistake.

Now the blond took it upon himself to teach the Uchiha a lesson or two, to show him something he would find horrible.

Something that would maybe destroy a part of him he cherished much.

Yet it was needed.

He was going to stamp some love-sense into Sasuke's brain and make him realise.

And he would do this for Sakura, of course, too, for he loved her like a sister and felt like such a brother who needed to protect her from too much harm.

Even if it meant they both would suffer terribly in the meantime.

He would make Uchiha Sasuke understand.


Going to the bar had become a ritual she enjoyed very much.

She loved the tranquillity the atmosphere presented her with, giving Sakura space to ponder and consider.

And to simply switch off.

Now she needed to turn her turbines down every once in a while.

She never used to be the calmness-sucker in first place though.

She loved adventures, being crazy, doing crazy things; loud and active and radiant in every way and form possible.

Never suppressing her feelings, she would roar and shout when she felt like it, cry when it overcame her, and dance with glee and joy when it was her swing of mood.

The rosette questioned herself if Sasuke actually ever enjoyed that trait about her vibrant being.

The lively one.

He, being so stoic, calm, cool, preserved and withdrawn, to be attracted to her?

Now come on! She was the kind who loved to sing out loud in her shower, when she felt like it.

Could he really love someone so opposite to him?

Someone prepared to give him the cold shoulder the way he always did with people of disinterest?

Probably not.

If he ever had or hadn't suddenly became a question with an answer so unclear and illogical that it freaked her out.

Shouldn't a partner know if their lover was actually into them; if what they possessed had value, was real?

Shouldn't it, according to some cheesy author and other worse, melodramatic romantic movies, be obvious from the very first moment of eye-contact? Of love-consultation?

Then why was it Sakura felt insecure about that?

She tried to push the querying thought to the back of her mind and lock it there, at least until she considered herself ripe and brave enough to face it honestly.

She did not quite know when that would ever be.

Things in her life liked to look complicated at the moment.

Let's ignore the fact that she was within this small, drowsy village since nearly a month now.

That she hadn't heard anything from her beloved, loyal husband.

Sakura checked the newspapers like a frantic everyday, just to see what covered the front page; she was partially glad to see that her having gone visually from Sasuke's side didn't seem to rouse anyone.

Yet also, so she felt, it was depressing.

In such moments she was desperate to know what haunted Sasuke's mind at that precise minute.

What did he think of the whole situation? He must be angry at some stage of all the happening, enough to call her and tell her how much he hated her, or whatever.

She felt as if in a vacuum of time.

Even though the days passed, with a rising and falling sun and people interacting and living on normal lives, all outside this idyllic little place seemed to have stopped.

As if waiting for her to exit the place and thus allow time to flow once more.

As if everything was frozen, motionless, like an evil queen had cursed all movement to still, leaving a circular space around a tiny little village, with the key figure being a rosette-haired woman.

All she needed to do was return to her old life, to step over the border of Ame, and time would gush at her like a river and tear her along violently.

The thought unnerved her more than any other.

Well, if the world hadn't noticed her being absent, and if Sasuke didn't seem bothered by it, and if other, higher tiers weren't exasperated about it, or simply hadn't taken it into account, then she wouldn't worry.

If no one missed her, then she needn't go back right now.

Sakura was prepared to stay right where she was, for she liked it very much.

It was refreshing, calm, with no emotional turbulences and fears and further what if's to consider.

The door chimed as someone opened it.

"Morning!" The bar lady sang as she turned to prepare a coffee; a standard guest, so it seemed.

She was pretty accustomed to the people entering and exiting this bar every so often, if only by faces.

Maybe it was the young boy who liked to pick up his bento lunch here before heading to school.

Or the old farmer who came in for a good cup of coffee and a slice of bread before hurrying to work.

"Mornin'." A deep voice rang.

She frowned, not recognising that tone.

Sakura glanced over her shoulder to inspect who it was.

But what she saw froze her to the core.


A/N: Uuuh oh...

Now whom did Sakura see to cause her to become so chilled? All I will say: it was not Sasuke.

Who is going to get some harsh treatment, the poor dude.

Who believes Sasuke actually noticed the ring missing?

And what higher tiers do you believe she could mean!? XD

All will be resolved, and faster if you review! :D

Next chapter will be dedicated to the 100th and 105th reviewers!