Okay, so I lied a little... This chapter isn't the mix... I had forgotten that there was one more element that I wanted to add to the story, and this seemed like the perfect time.
Are you a little scared that this update has come so soon after the last??? LOL. I think I may have finally found a routine that I can fall into at school where I can write enough to update every other day or so like I originily promised.
... I just now noticed that I can't use astirix in the story for the time jumps that happen... That means that it might have been a little confusing in past chapter... o.O Gomen... I'll try to remember to fix that and use something else for now on.
Enjoy.
Naruto awoke in the middle of the night, shivering. Sure, he was snuggled up in the blankets, but his true source of heat was missing. Sleepily, he crawled out of bed, keeping the covers wrapped around him, and began searching the house.
Finally, he found Sasuke curled up on the couch, breaths falling evenly in sleep. Yawning, the blonde crawled on top of Sasuke, head resting of his chest, and, after making sure they were both covered, he fell back asleep.
-jump-
Naruto woke again; this time the sun filtered the room. Yawning and sitting up to stretch, he noticed that Sasuke was missing again. Shrugging it off on the fact that the pale boy had woken up earlier, Naruto headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.
He stopped off in the bedroom to find some clothes, and was about to give off another loud yawn when he noticed Sasuke still asleep on the bed. Quietly, Naruto found his clothes, and tip-toed out of the room, and to the shower.
It wasn't until his body was wet and soaping that Naruto realized his lover had moved away from him every time he, Naruto, had tried to stay snuggled up.
Hurriedly washing off and drying, Naruto threw on his clothes and stormed into the bedroom to find out what was going on, only to find it empty.
-jump-
Sasuke sat at a small table in the corner, absentmindedly stirring his tea. He was looking down, watching the swirling liquid so intently that he didn't notice Sakura sit down across from him.
"Sasuke." The woman said softly to call the man back to reality.
The Uchiha paused, and looked up. Slowly, he folded his hands around his cup. "Are you still mad at me?"
"What?" Sakura asked in confusement.
"For leaving; are you still mad at me?"
The girl looked down. "I was never mad at you. It just… It just hurt so much when you left, and then when we found you and you wouldn't come back… It broke my heart." At this, her hand moved to cover her heart. "I had lost a teammate, and a dear friend, and I didn't think I'd be able to go on like that."
"What about Naruto?" Sasuke pushed. "You told Sai not to talk to him; are you still mad at him?"
Sakura thought for a moment. "I guess when you look at it in comparison, it doesn't make any sense." She let out a small laugh. "Once again, Naruto is the one everyone turns against, while all that you put us through is forgotten." She paused and took a breath. "He did it for a mission, and we should all understand that he couldn't refuse orders, but I know the truth.
"When I was talking to Tsunade-sama, she told me that Naruto had requested all of this, that everyone be told he had died so that he could move around freely.
"I couldn't handle the loss of another teammate and I broke down. For a long time, I lost my sanity, and it was all for nothing. He had to have seen how it was affecting me, and he still couldn't tell me, his own teammate."
The pink-haired woman paused again to think. "Yes, I am still mad at him, and nothing will ever change that."
Sasuke remained silent, his eyes falling back to his tea which was somehow still swirling.
"Don't let yourself get caught in the cross-fire; you'll only get your heart broken." Sakura said before getting up and leaving.
