Hey, I've finally updated! I hope this was worth the wait. I struggled a little with the title of the chapter, but it'll have to do. I'll cut the crap and go right to the story now since you're probably already sick of waiting.


Added Complications

He can sense that she's still there, but he doesn't lift his head to acknowledge her. Hideo needs to finish his mission report and lately, Kanae has made it her job to disturb him at the most inopportune moments which leave him in a rather annoyed mood. To make matters worse, Akari is waiting patiently behind him while his old teammate stands in front of him after complaining about the other ex-member of their genin squad. The thing that annoys Hideo most, however, is that both these women somehow entered his home without him letting either inside. He makes a mental note to change the locks and set up other ways to keep unwanted visitors out of his home. Perhaps some booby traps that involve freshly sharpened kunai or several katana.

Kanae growls in irritation as she slams her hands down on Hideo's table in an effort to shift his attention from his report to her instead. Sighing, the young man lifts his head and stares back at her impassively.

"Fine," Kanae grumbles. "If you're not going to say anything, I'm going to just force you to help me."

Hideo quirks an eyebrow while at his feet, Toshio cocks his head in curiosity.

"You're going to force me?" the raven haired man asks. He finds this threat ridiculous. Kanae couldn't possibly force him to do anything.

Still, the woman nods and a smirk comes across her face. Hideo watches her carefully as she straightens and walks around the table to stand beside him.

Leaning forward, Kanae whispers in his ear, "You will help me, Hideo-kun, because you won't be able to stop me."

Any confusion that Hideo is feeling doesn't make it to his face. His expression is completely void as Kanae ruffles his dark hair as if he were a child before departing. Glancing down at Toshi, the raven haired ANBU finds that his canine companion isn't able to offer any help.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, Hideo closes his eyes and massages his temples to ease his headache. Unexpectedly, hands come to rest on his shoulders and try to work out the tension. Thinking the Uchiha had forgotten about her, Akari is making her presence known.

"What's wrong Hideo-kun?" Akari purrs in his ear.

Hideo groans. He really doesn't need this right now. "Not now Akari. I'm busy."

He can practically see the young woman's smile as she wraps her arms around his neck from behind. Her fingertips just brush the fabric of his shirt and Akari notices the muscles in Hideo's jaw twitch from her feather light touch to his chest. He's growing even more annoyed by her actions, but the medic can tell that beneath that he's finding pleasure in her ministrations, whether he likes it or not. When Akari slowly moves her hands into his dark hair, Hideo squeezes his eyes shut as she starts massaging his scalp.

'Damn that feels good,' Hideo can't help but think to himself as he bites down hard on his lip.

Then, Akari's hands slip out of his hair and gently brush his shoulder as she comes to stand before him. Opening his black orbs, they lock with Akari's blue ones. Her mouth forms a coy smile. The same one that he taught her in their lessons. But right now, he's regretting teaching it to her because it's causing his heart beat to increase ever so faintly and make a strange feeling settle in his stomach because it looks so…

"Sexy," Akari breathes as she studies his newly ruffled hair.

Naughty. That's the only word that he can think of to describe Akari at the moment. That plus the fact that she's just called him 'sexy' brings a slight hue to Hideo's cheeks. Insignificant if it was anyone else, but the reaction pleases Akari.

Continuing to smile at the young man, she slides onto his lap so she's straddling him. Squeezing his eyes shut again, Hideo fights back a groan as Akari nuzzles into the crook of his neck. The soft nip to his sensitive spot sends him into an internal frenzy. She's so close and her scent is invading his senses. Akari's lips move slowly along his neck as if begging him to join in and return the affection. A tiny voice in the back of Hideo's mind tells him this is wrong and he needs to stop her, but the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach is overpowering. He needs her to get even closer.

A bite is delivered to Hideo's leg which makes the Uchiha snap back to reality long enough to give his attention to Toshi. The dog has yet to move out from under the table. Desperation is seen in the canine's eyes as he tries to convey a message to his partner. Realization grips the Uchiha in an instant and he momentarily wonders when his hands came to grip Akari's hips before getting back to the situation at hand. He clears his throat.

"Why are you here, Akari?" he forces out.

Pulling away, the jounin smiles at him. "I'm getting better," she announces although she doesn't need to tell Hideo. "I actually got you to blush and you're all flustered and-"

"What are you here for?" Hideo asks again, cutting off his friend from saying anything more.

"I just got back from my first mission," she exclaims.

Hideo finds her enthusiasm a bit puzzling. "You've gone on missions before," he remarks dryly.

"But this was my first seduction mission and it was a success!"

Oh. That makes sense. "Congratulations."

The brunette rises from her seat on his lap and crosses her arms. "That's all you have to say?" she asks as she gives him a half-hearted glare.

The Sharingan user shrugs as he picks up his pen to continue writing his mission report. In response to his indifference, Akari rolls her eyes.

"Well, my comrades thought I did a good job," she mutters. "Hyuuga Joji is even going to treat me to barbeque."

Hideo's pen immediately freezes. "Hyuuga is taking you out?" he questions.

The brunette misses the faint disbelief in the genius's tone and responds without wavering. "Yeah, I believe that's what I just said. You want to come?"

"I'm busy," the raven haired ANBU nearly huffs. "Besides, I don't think Hyuuga would be pleased to suddenly have to treat someone to whom he never even extended the invitation."

Toshio inwardly groans at his companion's statement. Hideo always seems to resort to speaking in what the dog sees a strange manner whenever he tries to make it appear that nothing's bothering him. He speaks in an overly professional manner and his words sound as if they're being stringed together by someone with nothing better to do. Akari doesn't seem to take any notice however.

"Okay, I'll see you later then," she remarks before leaving the room.

The moment the front door closes the pen in Hideo's hand snaps in two and Toshio flinches as his companion's writing utensil falls to the floor.


"You're going to burn a hole in the wall, Nissan," Hoshi states as she observes her brother's glare.

All Hideo does in response is grunt and continue trying to kill inanimate objects with the daggers shooting from his eyes. It's actually startling that the older Uchiha's sharingan hasn't activated yet.

"Jeez," the jounin mutters before turning to Hayato who is standing beside her. "You'd think he wanted to get revenge for someone putting Toshi up in flames."

Although Hayato barely tenses at the mention of revenge, Hoshi catches it. She knows her father's story and she's not surprised that Hayato is still affected by certain words. The brown haired ANBU witnessed her uncle become consumed by revenge and try to destroy his bonds with his friends. Hayato knows the consequences of seeking vengeance and doesn't want it to grip Hideo.

The Tsuki family had come over for dinner since it'd been a while since they spent time with the four Uchiha. The younger of the twins, Suzume, is in the kitchen helping Sorami cook while Hana tries to help as she argues that she can cook just fine. Meanwhile, Kane is discussing various jutsu with Hayato and Itachi both of whom become a little uncomfortable at the mention of revenge. This leaves Hoshi and Kazuki to deal with Hideo. The dark haired ANBU is currently leaning against the wall and his glare is unwavering. His companion, who is ever present by his side, is spending his free time lounging at Hideo's feet. Toshio is not nearly as upset as his master. Hoshi assumes that the two are disturbed by the fact that one person is still missing from the two families.

"Dinner is almost ready," Kazuki murmurs as he peers up at his partner. "Someone should probably find Akari-chan and bring her here so we don't have to wait for her and let the food get cold."

"Hn," Hideo grunts as he pushes himself off the wall. "I'll do it," he mutters before passing the other and heading out to search the village for his friend.

Hoshi smiles to herself before sharing looks with the other females. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Once Hideo and Toshio get outside, the Uchiha makes the necessary hand signs to perform the shadow clone jutsu. Several puffs of smoke appear before dispersing and revealing five identical Hideo's excluding a Toshi by the side of four of them. One of the five dark haired ANBU gives the others a nod and the four are gone in a flash, leaving the real Hideo behind with Toshi.

Toshi remains silent as Hideo unconsciously tilts his head thoughtfully. His dark eyes seem to study the area around him very carefully before he mutters something unintelligibly under his breath and starts walking to the exit of the Uchiha compound. Sighing, the midnight blue dog trots after him and falls into step beside his partner. Toshio observes his master as the two silently wander through the streets of the village. Hideo's eyes are distant and unfocused but at the same time, the man is fully aware of his surroundings. Whatever the Uchiha is thinking, Toshio can see a touch of anger just below the surface.

Suddenly, the raven haired man comes to a stop and heaves a sigh as he closes his eyes and tilts his head back to look up at the sky. The sun is low in the sky as night approaches with each passing moment.

"She's becoming rather annoying, Toshi," Hideo murmurs. Although the ANBU addresses his companion, he seems to be speaking more to himself. "She's getting reactions out of me and awakening my hormones. If she keeps it up, I may do something we both will regret. I'm starting to lose control and I hate it."

Toshio looks down at his friend's leg sorrowfully. The same leg he'd bitten to bring Hideo back to reality.

"I know," the canine response softly. "You hate that she's forcing you to experience unwanted feelings and that it's wrong because it's making your relationship appear to be more than friendship, ne?"

Hideo pinches the bridge of his nose. "It's difficult for me to explain, but yes, that's the idea. But it's more than that too."

Toshi tilts his head and waits patiently for the Sharingan user to continue.

"I shouldn't have just let Akari leave like that when she told me about Hyuuga treating her to barbeque." The canine can hear the anger in Hideo's voice. Anger aimed at himself more than anything. "I'm supposed to watch out for her and she's been gone for hours. Who knows what could've happened to make her stay out so long. Her family doesn't know where she is and it's my fault because I should've kept an eye on her."

The dog nods in understanding. "You're afraid Hyuuga took advantage of her."

Hideo looks down at his partner when he recognizes that Toshi made a statement, not a question. Then, Hideo's head snaps up to look somewhere to his right. One of his shadow clones has found Akari.

"Let's put it this way," Hideo murmurs. "If anything happened to her, I'll be getting an earful from my aunt for sending someone to the hospital in critical condition."

Toshi chuckles before the two take off in the direction Akari was spotted. When they near the area, the duo slows to a walk. Hideo sends chakra to his nose in order to assist Toshi in sniffing out their female friend. After a moment of tracking, another familiar scent reaches Hideo's nostrils causing him to cease his search briefly.

"Hey, they're right up ahead," Toshi announces when he sees Akari and Hyuuga Joji walking a several feet before him and Hideo.

When the raven haired male doesn't respond, the canine glances behind him to find Kanae clinging to the Uchiha's arm. Hideo regards his ex-teammate with a bewildered expression.

"What are you doing, Kanae?"

A false smile is plastered on the woman's face as she slips her hand into Hideo's larger one.

"I told you. You're going to help me whether you like it or not," she states quietly so only Hideo can hear before raising her voice so the few people still walking the streets can hear her. "Thanks for taking me out, Hideo-kun. I had a lot of fun."

Before Hideo can protest, Kanae swiftly kisses his cheek. Caught by surprise, the Uchiha can't suppress the red hue that quickly spreads across his cheeks due to his embarrassment. Kanae giggles at his expression.

"You're so cute, Hideo-kun. I'm glad I agreed to go out with you," she continues. "But you could at least show some affection in public."

Hideo looks down at Toshi with wide eyes before Kanae places another kiss on his cheek. This one lingers a bit longer than the first though.

"We'll work on it. See you later, Hideo-kun," she states before waving at her incredibly mortified friend and leaving him dumbfounded in the middle of the street.

Hideo blinks dumbly a few times as his mind is thrown into overdrive to figure out what just occurred. His thoughts are disrupted, however, when someone calls his name.

"Hideo-kun!"

The sharingan user turns his head in the direction of the voice to see Akari coming towards him with a somewhat reluctant Hyuuga Joji following close behind. It seems that Hideo's mere presence is enough to tear Akari away from the other male. She'd rather hang out with the Uchiha than anyone else, a fact of which Hideo makes a mental note. The genius also finds himself rather pleased to find that Joji doesn't appear to be happy about his sudden arrival.

"Hyuuga," Hideo greets with a polite nod as Akari comes to stand beside him.

A muscle twitches in the other male's jaw as his eyes follow the brunette leaving him for the Uchiha's company. Hideo raises an eyebrow at Joji.

"Uchiha," the byakugan user finally murmurs in response.

Akari rolls her eyes at the behavior of the two males before giving Hideo her attention.

"So what are you doing here Hideo-kun?" she asks with a smile. Hideo notices the poorly hidden resentment beneath the Hyuuga's composed mask. He fails to see why it's even there.

"You've been gone for hours and no one had a clue where you were," Hideo response with a hint of annoyance in his voice. "Someone needed to come find you so you'd be made aware of the dinner our parents set up for both of our families."

Akari smiles at him. "And you brought it upon yourself to make sure nothing happened to me. That's very sweet, Hideo-kun," the medic teases.

"Whatever," the Uchiha grumbles almost inaudibly. Toshio sniggers at the comment.

"We're going to be late, Akari," Hideo mutters in annoyance to his friend.

Akari rolls her eyes again before turning to Joji. "I had fun today, Joji-san. We'll see you later," she says as she gives a friendly wave.

The Hyuuga smiles softly in return. "It was my pleasure, Akari-san."

While the brunette turns to walk away, the two males become locked in a staring contest. When Akari calls Hideo's name, the ANBU hesitates momentarily before moving to follow her. His sharp hearing catches Joji utter something under his breath and in an instant, the Uchiha's head snaps back to face the young man. His eyes are blazing with the sharingan and Toshio snarls angrily. All this causes the Hyuuga to recoil involuntarily.

"What did you call me?" His tone is dark and intimidating.

Joji hesitates, but gathers himself enough to repeat the name. "Manko." (1)

Toshi snarls again and snaps his teeth viciously as Hideo's glare intensifies.

"That's a bit uncalled for, don't you think?" Hideo questions.

Joji shrugs. "There are so many other things I could've called the son of a traitorous bastard. Why don't you just do us all a favor by running off like your good for nothing father and not defiling women such as that old teammate of yours and Akari-chan with your asinine activities or by attempting to satisfy your sexual desires?"

The result is instantaneous. The ANBU has already armed himself with a kunai before the Hyuuga even had time to blink. Meanwhile, Toshi is waiting impatiently for his partner to give him the signal and allow him to rip the other ninja to shreds.

"You know, I try to see your point of view on things so I can understand why you regard me in such a hateful manner, but…" Hideo growls. "I can't get my head that far up my ass."

Before Joji can react and anything else can happen, the Uchiha senses Akari approaching to see what's going on and forces himself to let the insults go for now as not to make a scene.

"We'll settle this some other time," he reluctantly states as he slips his kunai back into his weapons pack.

Turning on his heel, Hideo walks over to a bewildered Akari. Seeing the barely restrained rage on his face, the brunette follows her friend as he storms passed her and asks what happened. Once they turn the corner and the Hyuuga is no longer in site, the raven haired man takes a deep breath in an effort to calm himself. However, Toshi is still riled up and doesn't even pause before answering their friend's question.

"Baka yaro (2)." Try as he might, the Uchiha can't manage to calm himself enough to prevent anger from seeping into his tone. His sharingan is still spinning due to his fury.

"I don't understand why you two can't be civil towards one another," Akari utters quietly.

The ANBU's dark eyes flick in her direction. "I was perfectly civil until he began insulting me. Our clans have never really been on the best of terms either."

The gentle touch to his clenched fist startles the sharingan user, but he hides it well as he comes to a stop. His glare melts away and is replaced by disappointment which Akari can see despite the raven haired male's blank mask. He let the other man get to him and bring out the worst in him. Understanding why he's disappointed in himself, the brunette tries to cheer him up.

"I'm actually surprised that you were able to walk away, Hideo-kun." The young man glances over at his friend again while Toshio tilts his head in curiosity. "It must've taken every ounce of your Uchiha blood to keep your Inuzuka half from lashing out, no matter how much Joji deserved it. Your self control is amazing. You never fail to impress me."

A hint of surprise shows on Hideo's face while Akari just smiles up at him. As the compliment sinks in, a light blush creeps onto the Uchiha's face for which he mentally scolds himself and looks away. Although he senses Akari moving in front of him, he doesn't react until he feels something touch his headband. Confused, Hideo looks back at Akari to find the jounin lifting up his headband to reveal his forehead as she stands on her tiptoes. His still red eyes widen as they register what she's going to do before it even occurs. Although he's read her movements, Hideo can't bring himself to move as the medic gently kisses his exposed forehead before readjusting his headband and taking a step back.

"What was that for?" he asks.

"I'm just proud of you," she replies. "Could you please deactivate your sharingan though?"

Smiling slightly in embarrassment, the Uchiha allows his eyes to return to their normal onyx. Then, Akari's friendly expression quickly twists into a teasing one when she suddenly remembers something.

"Actually, I'm saddened that you and Kanae are now an item. I can't believe you'd go behind Norio's back like that and go on a date with the girl he likes."

The ghost of a smile on the raven haired man's face is gone instantly. "You know that's not what happened. Kanae is trying to piss off Norio off and now I'm gonna have to go on an extended mission just to avoid Norio and stay away from Kanae. Those two are dragging me into their little "non"-lover's spat. To make matters worse, Hyuuga saw us. He's going to jump on the opportunity to stomp my reputation into the dirt and turn my friends against me. And to think, you just went on a date with the guy."

"I didn't go on a date with Joji!" Akari protests.

The sharingan user smirks at this and the medic can see the bitterness behind it. "He treated you to lunch hours ago. Afterwards, you two wandered around the village doing Kami knows what. You enjoyed the time you spent with him which I think it's safe to assume was mainly polite conversation in which Hyuuga was nicer than usual and even smiled a few times."

Akari gapes at her friend momentarily before the fact sinks in. "No way. How could I not have realized?! Thank Kami you came along or who knows what would've happened! Why didn't anyone tell me?!"

An arm comes around the jounin's shoulders in a comforting fashion causing Akari to cease freaking out and turn her attention back to her friend. His expression is surprisingly warm.

"Everyone probably figured it was rather obvious. Hell, I wasn't even there and I knew exactly how that bastard behaved. But, don't worry. It's part of my duty to make sure nothing happens to you and I don't intend to throw my obligations out the window. "

Noticing they've been standing around far too long, the two begin walking to the Uchiha compound for dinner while Toshi leads the way. As they stroll down the streets, Hideo's arm doesn't move from its position Akari's shoulders giving the medic a feeling of security. She feels as if her big brother is protecting her while Hideo finds his ghost of a smile returning because once again, he feels as if he's needed and his friend's presence provides him with comfort.

Feeling Akari staring at him, Hideo sighs. "What now?"

"Nothing. It's just…" She trails off for a moment to gather her words. "I like you so much better this way. Showing your emotions. It reminds me of your half that you hide from the world, but I know is still in there somewhere. I wish I got to see this side of you more often, that's all. I really miss the old you. The one who always had that special flicker in his eyes. I haven't seen it in so long."

Hideo's eyes had been following Toshio's movements, but now they've fallen to the ground and they flash with something similar to shame. His gut twists as he's torn between what's best for the village and what makes his friend happy. He's grown so accustom to keeping his emotions secret and bottled up that it's become foreign and strange to express them. Yet when he does, it seems that his presence becomes more enjoyable. But at the same time, his reputation takes a blow because of it.

As they approach his parents' house, Hideo lets his arm fall from Akari's shoulders and the young woman immediately misses the warm. Even as they enter and join in the gathering. Even as Akari laughs with Hoshi and share jokes and stories with her siblings and friends, a part of her remains a bit cold. Throughout the meal, her blue eyes would come up to glance at Hideo only for their eyes to lock. Obsidian clashes with cerulean before Kane addresses Hideo, forcing the Uchiha to break the connection.

Before they know it, dinner is over and it's time for everyone to go their separate ways. Just before Akari leaves the compound, someone seizes her wrist.

"You weren't going to leave without telling me good-bye, were you?"

The young woman peers over her shoulder at Hideo who's expression has changed slightly unlike over the course of the meal. It's friendlier and almost mischievous. Then, his phantom smile appears and her body becomes warm once more. Happy, Akari turns around to face him completely before catching the male off guard and wrapping her arms around his torso in a hug.

"See you later, Hideo-kun."

Seeing no witnesses, the Uchiha allows his features to soften as he places a hand on top of Akari's head.

"Aa." For a moment, nothing else is said. Then surprisingly, Hideo is the one to break the silence. "Can you do me a favor?" he asks quietly. Feeling his friend nod against his chest, he continues. "Please don't go on another date with Hyuuga."

Akari giggles and lifts her head. "Jealous now, are we?"

A teasing smile finds its way onto Hideo's face. "So what if I am?"

"Trust me, Hideo-kun. I don't want to date Joji. I have no interest in him." Akari looks away from him, afraid to meet his eyes. Hideo is confused by her behavior, but mentally shrugs it off because her reply satisfies him.

"Thank you." Deciding to get payback for earlier, Hideo leans down to place a friendly kiss on the medic's forehead. His lips linger a little longer than probably should, but he doesn't care at the moment. Since it's dark, the Uchiha misses the blush that takes over the brunette's face when he pulls away. "Good night, Akari-chan."

Akari is vaguely aware of the sharingan user pulling completely out of her embrace and heading into the compound in the direction of his home with Toshi trotting slightly at his side to keep up with his companion's long strides. She stares at the red and white fan on the back of Hideo's navy blue shirt. The medic blushes an even deeper shade of red when she realize she's wondering what that fan would look like on her own back. Such thoughts are ridiculous, but for some reason, Akari still finds herself smiling at them.

"Are you still going to deny that there's something between you two?"

And just like that, the moment is broken.

"Shut up, Hoshi."


Yeah so there was a bit of name calling in Japanese. I feel sort of paranoid typing it in English now because my family can understand it if they just happened to be reading over my shoulder.

(1) Manko – to put it bluntly, Hyuuga Joji called Hideo a pussy. Then he goes further to bring up the whole traitor thing to piss of the Uchiha even more.

(2) Baka Yaro – in an attempt to vent some of his anger, Hideo says Joji is a stupid bastard.

Oh and Kami means God for those who aren't aware.

By the way, I've got a poll up on my profile. You'll probably have no clue who the character is that it concerns, but if you want to throw in your opinion, be my guest. Not many people have voted which to be honest is more than a little aggravating. If you have an interest in reading my other works, I suggest you read the Maximum Ride series. It's really good and so far the only other fanfics I've written are for those books. Anyway, I'll update when I can.