Tempest

Chapter Ten

-Complicated-

"And I think that should be fine to keep the borders free. I'll handle it myself if need be." Natsumi explained, pointing to the areas she had circled. This new version was more geographically complete than her makeshift drawing, but she still remembered where they planned to place everyone. "If there are any complications, I can handle an area alone. I am fast, I don't take prisoners, and I can kill many at one time." She stood straight then, watching Naruto and Shuhei evaluate the plan. Gaara simply nodded, since he never doubted Natsumi. She was one of his and Toshiro's strategists, second only to Shikamaru. "The Konoha ninja can keep the borders with Mist under control, and Suna will make sure the west is taken care of." She gestured to each area, brushing some dirt from her diagram.

Satomi just leaned against the back wall. She was never interested in the war meetings and the planning. She just went to the hospital anyway and took care of their injuries. Gaara turned to the dark haired man beside him, "What do you think Akito?"

"It makes sense to me. With our combined forces they won't be able to penetrate our defenses easily. And Natsumi will have a premonition before they attack anyways." Akito said.

"How is it again you can see these things?" Shuhei asked a bit doubtfully. He had never actually seen her have one of these premonitions. But he had heard every time she had one it always came true to her specifications.

Natsumi blinked and stared at the younger blonde, a bit irritated. She wasn't used to people doubting her. "My mother thinks its intuition amplified. Both my mother and father had dreams of one another when they spent time together at Sasuke-sama's execution. Dreams that turned out to be one dream in the same. Not to mention it came true. I can't explain it, it just happens."

He nodded, this being sufficient enough for him. "Well, sounds like a plan. We will be sure to keep in constant contact." Naruto clapped his hands together. "Excellent work Natsumi, you Akito, and Satomi did a wonderful job."

"Thanks Uncle Naruto, well if that's all I'm off." She waved and left the room in a hurry, grabbing Akito on her way out.

"Well now that that's over with I'm leaving." Satomi said, walking out of the room. Gaara stared after her and sighed, he looked back at his friend and the annoying blonde clone.

"Hey Gaara, how come Natsumi isn't the Kazekage?" Shuhei asked, leaning his hands on the table and taking in the battle plan.

The redhead took in a deep breath. "Because Natsumi doesn't care about politics. Toshiro is better with that sort of thing, and he enjoys people, since he cares about everyone. I don't know if you noticed, but Natsumi is very selfish."

"Oh…" Shuhei looked up and then ran around to the old Kazekage. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey Gaara!" suddenly Gaara's sand rose and he was gone in an instant. No way in hell was he going to deal with that. Shuhei let out a loud whine. "Awwww! I was going to ask him if he wanted some ramen!"

Akito and Natsumi walked out onto the streets. She attached herself to his arm and smiled up at him happily. She looked past his head as a shadow passed over her face, and noticed that there were quite a few dark clouds in the sky today. "I hope it doesn't rain." She shivered. "I hate the rain, I can't ever do anything." She laughed and snuggled into him more. She let go and grabbed his hand tightly, not able to resist any longer, but she knew he would be too embarrassed to do such an act in the middle of the busy street. She dragged him towards a back way and shoved him against the wall. Before he could even question her actions her mouth was on his, kissing him deeply.

He gripped her waist and returned her kiss in kind. Suddenly he stiffened and pulled away. At her look of confusion he sighed. "What does this make us?" he asked her. He had thought about this on their return journey, and decided that he needed to ask her. He knew that he loved her. He always had and he always would. But he needed to know how she felt about him. Anything less than caring for him and loving him would only be considered him taking advantage of her. And he would never do that. Plus, when he made love to her it would be exactly that. They would both be in love with the other, and together, they would make love between them.

She searched his eyes for some hidden meaning. "I don't understand." She said truthfully, running her hands through his dark hair in a soothing manner. "What do you mean? We're us."

"No, I mean, what exactly is our relationship? I need to know." He clarified, rubbing her hips with his thumbs.

Her brow scrunched in confusion. She really didn't understand why he was asking such a thing. "I don't know," she laughed, starting to seem very awkward with the conversation. "Why does it matter?"

He dropped his hands from her waist. "It matters to me. I love you, but I need to know how you feel about me."

"Akito, I…" she stopped. She couldn't lie, not anymore. After being with him for so long, she was feeling like her old self again. But she couldn't. She could not allow herself to love him…too late for that. But she wouldn't let him know…she couldn't. Her head started to hurt. She could not stand much more of this strain. She let her hands lower from his hair and stared at the ground. She didn't know, and thus she couldn't say anything.

Pain flashed across his face as he mistook her silence for a negative. He had thought that she at least cared on a personal level, not just on a possessive one, but he had been wrong before. "I see. You know Natsumi, eventually people get tired of being used. Think about it." He said, before disappearing in a puff of smoke. He couldn't be around her any more, it hurt too much.

She went wide eyed, pressing her hands against the wall where he had just been. Did he misunderstand her lack of answer? She touched over her heart and shut her eyes tightly. Her pain was renewed, but for a new reason. She had seen pain on his face, the pain of rejection. She knew that must have been the look he saw when he had left her in his hotel room. She sunk to her knees, still touching the wall, and began to cry. She wanted to chase after him, get angry and tell him he was wrong, but he was right. And that hurt the most. She did use him. He catered to her needs and gave her the reactions she wanted, and did so only because he knew it would please her. Because he was trying to show her how much he loved her. While she had taken it and absorbed it, giving him nothing but spite in return. She was bad for him, just like Sasuke had said.

She couldn't keep her sobs silent any longer, and let her voice break. She loved him, she knew she did. Even after everything he had done to her. That was when she realized she had forgiven him. Now she was just being a coward and hiding from the one thing she wanted most, because it was the only thing that could hurt her.

"I'm sorry Akito…" she whispered sadly, leaning her head against the wall.

Akito let his front door slam as he made his way to his room. "Akito." He heard from one of the living room chairs.

He halted in his steps and turned slightly, seeing his father reading a book about sword techniques. "Yes Father?" he asked wearily. He really just wanted to go outside and hit something. When he was upset, he didn't allow himself to just sit there and wallow in it. Instead, he got rid of it through exercise. Plus, if he did that, then his father was pleased that he was training.

"Do not take your upset out on the house." Sasuke said simply, turning the page.

"Yes Father." He replied, resuming his walk to the backyard. He would cause too much damage to use the room they had in the house.

He began a series of taijutsu moves, intent on perfecting them. As he went through the motions, he thought about Natsumi and grew angrier. He knew that if she were to come to him wanting something he would give it to her, even now, because he couldn't deny her anything. Suddenly his father was behind him, attacking him with his own set of taijutsu moves.

Grateful for the elder's moment of understanding, the two Uchiha sparred each other, both equally dodging the other's attacks. When they heard a rumble in the sky they stopped and bowed respectfully to one another, as was their custom. Sasuke walked over to his son and placed his hand on Akito's shoulder. "Do not trouble yourself over such trivial things. You must let her come to you."

Akito smiled slightly. Was his father, the unemotional Uchiha Sasuke, trying to give him advice on women? "Yes Father." He said, feeling a bit better.

Sasuke began to walk back towards the house. When he reached the door, he looked over his shoulder at his son. "She has nice bone structure." He said, entering their abode.

Akito stared at the door, dumbfounded. Had his father just complimented Natsumi? What was the world coming to? He shook his head and made his way inside as well. Dinner needed to be made, and once that was done he was going to go to bed. He always slept extremely well when it rained, and after that last few days, he could really use it.

It was close to midnight, and the rain was pouring down hard. Natsumi walked through the downpour, not caring that she was soaking wet. Not even her horrible memories could make her feel worse than she already had. So now…the rain did nothing but make her wet. She stopped and looked up at the large Uchiha house. It was dark and lifeless, so they must both be asleep. She went through the gate to the backyard, and hesitated before stepping up to one of Akito's windows. What if he didn't want to see her? She held back the wave of sadness that threatened more tears to her eyes. She wouldn't be able to handle his rejection a second time.

She raised her fist nervously and tapped on his window three times, hoping that would be enough to wake him. Not even a second later the window opened and Akito looked at her with unsurprised eyes, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers. He had felt her coming about a mile away.

Seeing that she was soaked, he lifted her into his room and carried her into the bathroom. He wordlessly set her down on the tile and handed her a towel. Then he left, reappearing with one of his shirts and a pair of his boxers for her to change into. "Put these on." He said, holding the clothes out to her. He didn't want her to get sick from walking in the rain. Then he left, shutting the door behind him so that she could dress in private.

His kindness hurt a lot more than she thought it would. She almost would have preferred if he rejected her and slammed the window in her face. At least that way she could feel good about herself. But that wasn't the case…and now she only felt worse. She really was a terrible person. She unzipped her shirt and then took off her bra, drying herself with the towel. She didn't even bother getting up from the floor as she took her shoes off along with her skirt, shorts, and underwear. She decided to take all the time she needed drying off her body. She had to plan what she said, she couldn't mess up this time or who knew what would happen. Once she was dry and her hair was as dry as it could be, she slipped on his shirt, not allowing herself to dwell in its feel or its wonderful smell. She got up and put his boxers on as well and then hung her things to dry.

With a deep breath she came out of his bathroom and walked over to his bed, not really knowing if she was welcomed or not. She could say what she needed and then sleep in a spare room. She knew which ones were available.

Akito looked up from his sitting position on his bed, his eyes trailing over her body. His father was right, she did have nice bone structure. He almost smirked at the thought. But she looked like she had something on her mind, and given the fact that she had walked so far in the rain he decided it must be important. "What is it?" he asked softly, wanting more than anything to reach out and touch her.

She looked down at the dark ground, unable to meet his gaze in the darkness. The sound of the rain was only making her more nervous. "I thought about what you said…and I wanted to tell you…that…I forgive you…well I forgave you a long time ago...and I'm sorry for how I was." She said, finally looking up and locking her eyes with his gaze.

His eyes widened at her statement. He had waited five long years to hear her say those three words, and he would wait five more to hear the others. But this in itself was big. His father was right, he needed to wait for her to come to him, and come to him she did. And now she was in his bedroom, looking completely alluring in his clothes, telling him that she forgave him.

He stood slowly and took her hands in his. "I forgive you." He murmured, before kissing her softly. Then he pulled her onto the bed with him, indicating that she was allowed to stay. She fell back with him and embraced him lovingly. He lay down on his back and stared up at her. She was hovering over him, on her knees and lowering her face to his.

"Akito…" she took a deep breath and kissed his cheek. "I love you."

He stared up at her, completely wide eyed. He knew what he had heard, he just couldn't believe it. So overcome with joy was he that he sat up and kissed her passionately, placing his hand on the back of her head to keep her there until he was done with her. When he pulled away, it was with a true, genuine smile. "I love you too squirt. I always will." He said, resting his forehead against hers.

She was wide eyed, caught off guard by his abrupt action. She stared into his eyes and smiled back, her old beautiful smile. She had always loved his smile and when she saw it, it made her heart flutter. "I will always be yours," she said sweetly, placing her hands on his legs and leaning into him. "And I will always love you until the day I die."

He sighed and closed his eyes in contentment. She had absolutely no idea how happy she was making him. "Then you'll have to love me for a really long time, because I won't let you die on me anytime soon." He said, opening his eyes once more.

She laughed and pushed him down, snuggling into his arms and resting her head on his chest. "That's good. Because I plan on making you the happiest man alive. I'll make you smile every day." She promised, closing her eyes and letting out a content sigh.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, inhaling her scent. "Deal. And in return, I will treat you the way you deserve. As my princess." He mumbled, closing his eyes and becoming really sleepy. She couldn't keep the smile off her face, she was so at peace. Something she hadn't felt in a very long time. The two fell asleep then, complete amity between them.