diclaimer - I own nothing that is not mine!

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Beyond This Illusion

.::Chapter Nine::.

"Saku-chan, don't you think you should, er, lay off on the missions?"

Sakura glanced at her brother in all but blood in confusion.

"Why?"

The Kyuubi vessel sighed dramatically. "Well, I thought it was obvious."

Wow, something that Naruto thinks is obvious, Sakura mused to herself. I must be loosing it.

Sakura paused in her ramen consumption to look at him fully, waiting for him to elaborate. Naruto – who wasn't as polite – continued shoveling ramen down his throat as he continued.

"Well, you see Shakhuchanh, bheing dat – ahh, sorry. Being that you and teme are trying to ya know, do the nasty and make evil little temes running around, don't you think you outta lay off the missions a bit? I mean, it's pretty dangerous."

Sakura sighed impatiently.

"Did Sasuke put you up to this?" she asked irritably.

Naruto looked affronted. "No way! I wouldn't listen to that bastard anyway. I just think that you shouldn't risk your er, baby's life."

Sakura turned to face Naruto with a stern look on her face. "I'm not risking anything." She said, with resolute determination. It seemed she was touchy on this subject, so Naruto merely nodded and kept his mouth shut.

"Trust me, Naruto, once I find out that I'm pregnant, I'll be the first to take myself out of commission. But until then I'm not going to let my fellow ninja risk their lives without doing anything to help them."

Naruto smiled fondly. "I know you'll be a great mom, Sakura."

At first, Naruto had been opposed to the idea of her and teme having kids so young. But the reality of their positions set in, and really it wasn't that bad. His mom had been young too…that was just the reality of being a ninja. He knew that Sakura would be great. She was warm and kind and caring…and stern when need be. He envisioned her soft, and patient smile as she would pat her child's head.

Sakura loosened up and smiled back. "Thanks, Naruto."

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "No problem."

Sakura smiled wearily, and checked her watch. She had been waiting patiently at her mother's for quite some time now. She glanced around the room nostalgically, a bittersweet smile adorning her porcelain face. She missed living with her mother. Although she had never quite approved of her being a ninja, (Sakura's parents were civilians) her mother adored the fact that she had become a med-nin. And for many reasons. One, it meant she didn't have to partake in battle as much, two she'd be able to tae care of herself, and three, she was saving other's lives.

Perhaps if I'd become a med-nin a little sooner, I could have saved Daddy's life to, Sakura thought bitterly.

She was interrupted (thankfully) from her dark musings when her mother walked in. She was wearing an elegant kimono, and Sakura thought she looked beautiful.

"Are you ready? Sasuke should be here soon."

Her mother sighed and pulled out a chair. "I'm still not sure about this, dear. Doesn't it seem like the two of you are moving a little…fast?"

Sakura frowned. Not this again. She averted her gaze, muttering, "Not really."

But her mother didn't seem to hear her. "You two are so young! You have your entire lives ahead of you to spend together and build a family. Besides, you just got married a week ago!" her mother exasperated vehemently.

Sakura really hated arguing with her mother – especially on a topic such as this – but it couldn't be helped. She'd already made her decision.

"Mom, you don't understand. We're ninja. Our jobs put our lives at risk every day. We can't – "

"You think I don't know that?" her mother cut in sharply, her voice grave.

Sakura swallowed. "You think I don't know that I have to worry about you coming home every damn time they send you out?"

Sakura hid her face behind her bangs, feeling ashamed. "Then you must understand that we don't have time to wait for kids."

"I understand, that the two of you are still kids yourselves!" her mother snapped.

Sakura stood; furious. "You're only doing this because Sasuke was a missing-nin! I know you don't trust him because of that. But mom, I do. I love him." Sakura crossed her arms. "And you really shouldn't have invited us to dinner if you felt this way."

"I was trying to be polite."

"Yeah? Well next time, don't bother." Sakura spat, storming towards the door. She opened it brusquely and slammed it behind her.

Outside in a tree, a raven haired man sat, watching the pinkette with mixed emotions.

When Sakura got home, she immersed herself in her medical textbooks – her only method of coping.

She was researching a herb that would boost her fertility rate. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Sasuke was tired of 'trying'. Sakura thought that he must be gay. Something had to give. Hell, if she were a guy and she had the opportunity to have sex with someone – no strings attached – she'd go for it.

But she could feel Sasuke's distaste for the intimate act. It was almost as if he dreaded it.

Now, if Sakura were self conscious, she'd feel insulted. But she knew that even if she was the most beautiful girl in the world, Sasuke would still respond the same way. So she didn't dwell on the matter, only tried fixing it.

The herb had minimal side effects, similar ones to being pregnant. That makes sense, Sakura thought absentmindedly, while scribbling notes down.

As much as she tried to distract herself from thinking about this afternoon, she couldn't avoid the topic for long. The fact of the matter was that Sasuke never showed up. And Sakura couldn't help but wonder why? There had to be a reason for the last Uchiha to bail on her like that. He'd already met her mother before, so it couldn't have been that.

In all honesty, Sakura wasn't sure if she was angry with him or not. He wasn't even home when she got back, but she assumed he might've been out training and lost track of time. To her, it seemed like the only plausible alibi.

Looking at the clock, she realized it was getting late. "I better eat before it gets any later." She murmured, bookmarking the page in her textbook. She made herself some instant ramen, too lazy to do anything more elaborate than that.

Sakura didn't mind eating alone. The silence here wasn't much different than when Sasuke was actually around, because he never contributed to conversation. Part of her was worried that something might have happened to him, but the bigger part of her knew better. Sasuke could most definitely handle himself.

After eating, she returned to her work upstairs, and after a few minutes she heard the front door open, and sensed a familiar chakra.

"Finally," she exaggerated, checking the clock. It was half past nine. Even still, Sasuke didn't come upstairs for a while, and Sakura assumed he was preparing food for himself. Or he could be stalling.

When he finally did come upstairs, Sakura closed her textbook. "Do I even have to ask?" she began tiredly, sighing.

Sasuke – unsurprisingly – remained silent, staring at her blankly. If she didn't know better, she might've guessed that he was bored.

"Why didn't you show up?" she pried, meeting his gaze levelly. He gave a small shrug, She narrowed her eyes. "Where were you?"

"Training." He replied curtly.

"Huh," she clicked her tongue. "And I suppose training was more important than meeting me for dinner?"

"Hn."

He made a move to go to the bathroom, but Sakura placed herself in his way. "Listen, Sasuke. Don't make promises if you intend to break them." She chastised lowly.

"Move." He merely stated. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gave a slight push.

"No way. Not until you tell me why you didn't show up."

So Goddamn annoying, Sasuke glared at her. "Move. He hissed.

"No!"

"Sakura, I swear if you don't move – "

"You'll do what? What?" she dared.

"Goddamnit, Sakura. I didn't come because I heard you and your mother fighing." He snarled.

Sakura froze, somewhat in shock. "Wha…?"

Sasuke – fully taking advantage of her shock – pushed past her and stormed into the bathroom.

Sakura could only stare at the closed door as she heard the shower turn on.

There wasn't much interaction between the unhappy couple for the next week. Sasuke blatantly avoided Sakura and her suggested advances (however platonic they may be), and Sakura soon gave up. She told herself gone were the days where she would exhaust all efforts for him.

If he was content in stalling their attempts, then so was she.

Besides, their sexual encounters were always brief and to the point. They weren't so much a pleasurable hobby as a mundane chore. Despite the occasional times when he'd care enough for her to 'get something out of it' (Sakura visibly blushed at this) Sasuke wanted the act over as quickly as possible.

Their sleeping conditions hadn't changed, however, Sakura found herself falling asleep on the couch more frequently. He never put her in bed. Even if she did fall asleep before him.

Sakura was at the hospital, doing her normal rounds, when she was called to the Hokage Tower.

Quite perplexed, Sakura had no idea what she was needed for.

"Shishou?" Sakura asked upon entering Tsunade's office. Tsunade had her hands crossed, her chin resting on them lightly. Almost like how Sasuke used to sit, Sakura mused.

"Sakura, sit down please. I have something important I'd like to discuss with you."

Sasuke flung a kunai at the target with immaculate precision. He thought back to when he'd watch his brother do the very same thing, and how awestruck he used to become. Sasuke grimaced.

His thoughts never lead him to a good place, and in an attempt to not think about his brother, he found himself thinking about Sakura. Or more specifically, something he recently noticed about her.

There had been something off, that for a while, Sasuke couldn't place. But the other day, the answer hit him like a ton of bricks.

Sakura had stopped calling him Sasuke-kun.

He couldn't pinpoint exactly when he noticed the change, but it had been quite some time since he'd heard her utter the honorific. And it bugged him that he was so curious as to why the sudden change.

Of course, it wasn't like he'd ever ask her. But it still bothered him.

Sasuke paused in his training.

"Dobe." He greeted.

He turned to see the obnoxious blonde walking towards him with a sheepish smile. "Hey, teme. Guess what? I heard Tsunade is going to send Sakura on a solo mission! She's gunna be so excited!"

Sasuke considered this for a moment. "No." he objected.

Naruto frowned. "Sasuke, you can't just say no. Obviously if Baa-chan thinks Sakura can handle it, then she can."

"But she thought Sakura could handle it last time!" Sasuke snapped.

"Calm down, bastard, will you? Sakura's gotten stronger since then. You can't just prevent her from ever going on a solo mission because of what happened. She is a ninja after all."

"I don't care," Sasuke bristled, "she's not going."

Sasuke began to storm off, ready to have a few choice words with the Hokage when he heard Naruto mutter,

"You can't protect her forever, teme."

Sasuke glared ahead. "Fuck off." He growled, before speeding off.

"Really?" Sakura exclaimed happily. Tsunade nodded slowly.

"Yes. The details are in this folder." She slid over a manila file. "Sakura, I'm counting on you."

Sakura nodded furiously and grabbed the file. She stood and bowed. "Yes, Tsunade-sama. I won't let you down."

The Godaime cracked a smile and dismissed her pupil, not before warning her to be careful (which Sakura scoffed at).

On Sakura's way out, she ran into Sasuke.

"Oh, Sasuke! Hey, guess what?"

"I already know." Sasuke deadpanned, literally deflating Sakura's excited mood. "You're not going." He commanded.

Sakura glared daggers at the Uchiha. "Now what the hell makes you think you can make that sort of a decision?"

"I'm your husband." He reminded her, with authority. Sakura snorted.

"Way to use that to your advantage. It's not like you ever act like a husband. Besides, I'm still able to make my own decisions. And I decide that I want to go on this mission. There's nothing you, or anyone else can do to convince me otherwise."

Sasuke blocked her path, gripping her wrist. "Sakura – "

"Sakura, nothing! I'm going to do exactly what you did to me the other day. Now leave me the hell alone. I have a mission to prepare for." Infusing a small amount of chakra into her palm, she shoved Sasuke aside, walking away.

"Aw, Saku-chan, you better be careful!" Naruto mumbled, lifting the pinkette off her feet in a bone-crushing hug. Sakura smiled and accepted the brotherly gesture, patting the top of his head. After a few moments, Naruto released her and set her on her feet once again.

"Calm down, it's only a B-rank. Tsunade is still too wary to let me take on an A-rank alone. I'll be in Wind country and back in a week."

She turned to Kakashi, whose mask crinkled in what she noticed was a smile. She winked at him and engulfed him in a hug, which he returned.

Finally she turned to Sasuke, who remained silent. He honestly didn't like the idea of her going one bit, but Naruto had convinced him to back off. "Teme, she needs to do this. For herself, you know?"

When was it like the dobe to get all therapist and shit on him?

She stood in front of him hesitantly. They still weren't on the best of terms, but Sakura firmly believed in never parting on a bad note, just in case. She offered him a small smile, and he relaxed.

Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around him and stood on her tippy toes to whisper in his ear, "I'll be careful, I promise." He grunted in reply. She pecked his cheek lightly and pulled away.

"Well, I best be off. See you guys in a week." She gave them all a cheeky grin, before spinning on her heels and walking through the village gate. Soon, her pace increased, and she was running. She jumped onto a tree branch, and sped off into the distance. Sasuke stared at her until he couldn't see her anymore.

Something in the back of his mind nagged him that something about this whole thing just wasn't right.

He didn't want to admit that he didn't like seeing her back facing him.

It was an ironic reversal of roles, Sasuke mused to himself.

Perhaps it had been long overdue.

reviews, are like, really good sex. ps - thank you to all my anonymous reviewers, as well as my ever faithful reviewers...as well as...well heck, thank you to all my reviewers :D