Hello! Yes, another late update and a semi-short chapter! I've been busy working with school and my military stuff, not to mention some more personal things. I'm working on other chapters, though, so don't worry. I'll hopefully be posting more chapters soon.

Please R&R! Thanks! Disclaimers in profile!

"Sasuke, wait, we shouldn't do this."

"What on earth are you talking about?" He'd never felt this kind of contact before. He found himself becoming more and more surprised as his hands explored her soft skin. "There's nothing wrong with what we're doing."

"But… Orochimaru-sama…"

"Don't think about Orochimaru," he hissed. "This isn't about him. This is about you and me, and what is happening between us." He found what he was searching for and pinched lightly. Her cries echoed throughout the room.

"Please, he'll kill us both," she whispered, her breathing heavy. "It's all over for us if-" His lips quieted her protests. She seemed wet enough to him, and he carefully positioned himself over her. He kept his hand over her mouth.

"Try not to make much noise," he whispered against her jaw. "I promise I'll be as gentle as I possibly can. We can't get caught, not right now."

Sasuke awoke to an empty bed. He shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. Last night had been familiar enough that he had dreamt about the night he'd taken his wife's virginity. How scared and worried she'd been if the Sannin were to find out about their actions that night.

He'd snuck into her room, he remembered, and confessed his attraction to her. She'd blushed, speechless for the first time since he'd met her. When she had confessed the same, he'd acted on his many fantasies he'd based around her.

The next day had been interesting as well. They didn't see each other all day, as Orochimaru had sent Haru away on a mission to the Land of Birds for some research. When she'd returned nearly a week later, a few scratches here and there, Sasuke had decided he wanted Haru to be his girlfriend.

Sasuke got out of bed to jump into the shower. Their early relationship had been anything but normal. The only time they spent any real time together had been during meals or training. Every now and then, though, one of them would sneak into the other's room. This had only taken place when Orochimaru was away, leaving Kabuto to care for the teenagers.

He laughed at the thought. Kabuto hadn't been much of a caretaker for either of them. He'd let the two run wild as they pleased, so that he could do his own research and experiments.

The hot water hit his back and he groaned. Hot showers had always been his haven. He continued his thoughts of his and Haru's secret relationship until he walked outside, being greeted by a smiling Naruto and a very hyper Ichirou in the yard.

"What is it, Hokage-sama?" he asked, rubbing his eyes. He was still sleepy, even after sleeping so well.

"Don't be so formal," the blond said with a grin. "I'm here to visit. Talk to Haru about a few missions and such."

"You have a mission for her already?"

"There are things that only she qualifies for, Sasuke. So those are the missions that I will send her on."

"What sort of missions will you send her on, then?"

Naruto grinned again. "Those are top-secret."

Haru came rounding the corner at this time, a lazy smile on her face. Sasuke smirked at her. "Haru-san!" Naruto called, and ran toward her, causing Ichirou to spin slightly. Luckily, Sasuke bent down to catch the toddler before he fell and caused a ruckus. Haru greeted Naruto with a small nod, her smile widening slightly.

"I have a mission for you!" he said.

"Oh, must be important, if you came all the way out here to bring it," she answered with a laugh. Naruto brought a scroll from his Hokage coat pocket and handed it to the kunuoichi. Haru opened it with ease, obviously not expecting anything difficult.

After reading for a moment, her eyes widened. "You want me to what?" she growled, rolling the scroll up and shoving it in the blond's face. "You must think I'm stupid! Why on earth would I do something like-"

"Let's talk about this in my office, alright?" Naruto interrupted, his face growing stern. "I understand that this is going to be difficult for you, but you'll do fine. You've had to do something like this before."

"But do you understand how far I'll have to take this?" she half-yelled. "This isn't a normal type of-"

"Once again, my office," he interjected again. "I think it's best that this stay between you and I."

As Naruto turned to walk away, she called, "Who suggested this to you?"

The Hokage shrugged, turning back to grin at her. "We all did. Two weeks ago."

Haru stared at Sasuke, who just looked confused. He had no idea what that dobe was talking about. He instead looked toward his son, who was now trying to get off the wooden deck to go play with the flowers in the garden. Haru helped him down.

"Did you know about this?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I have no idea what's going on," he answered. She looked at him with disdain for a moment, but then her gaze softened. And she sighed softly.

"Oh. Okay, then." She kissed him on the cheek. "After I make lunch, I'm going to go see Tsunade, alright?" she said, her smile returning. "We should get her to babysit and go out to eat tonight."

The Uchiha smiled back at her. "Of course," he said, and stretched. At least he didn't have to deal with that nanny's cooking for a whole week.

"What?" Tsunade exclaimed, her empty bottle of sake falling to the floor. Haru retrieved it before her son could get his paws on it, replacing it on the table. "They really want you to seduce that pervert for information?"

Haru was blushing a dark red. She nodded. "It won't be that difficult," she replied. "He already knows that I have to do whatever he wants, no matter how much I protest. We've already-"

"Don't tell me you've-"

"Oh, hell no! We've just…. Done a few things. That's all."

The retired Hokage grinned. Haru sighed. Tsunade was the only one that she could trust with this kind of information.

Konoha, naturally, thought that the Sannin was up to no good. Since they noticed his obsession with Haru, they thought it would be best if she got as intimate with him as possible. Sexually, even. The scroll had said to give all information that she could gather. All she had to do was bat some eyelashes, gain his trust, and lose her bitter attitude toward being his prisoner for three weeks at a time.

"I don't want to do this," Haru said quietly. "It doesn't look like you have a choice, Haru-chan," the woman replied. "I'm sure that you'll be fine if you give it a shot. Just act like you enjoy what he does to you."

"But that wouldn't be an act."

She gave her a funny look for a moment. "Then act like you enjoy being there with him."

Haru became ashamed of herself. "There was a moment in the past month where I did enjoy it, very much."

"Are you serious?"

"Dead serious." She began to think about the day she'd attacked Orochimaru. "The day I returned to Oto after bringing the finished contract to Konoha, I tried to kill him. He'd forgotten to seal my chakra. And I almost had him, Tsunade." Her vision blurred as she felt her eyes moisten. "I almost had him… At least, I thought I did. But I stopped myself."

"Why?" Tsunade just looked concerned, not a hint of that legendary rage on her face.

"I don't know." Haru felt a sob coming on, but bit her lip to hold back. "Something just felt… Wrong. I didn't want to kill him anymore. And I stopped myself. My body acted on its own, apart from my mind."

"That's odd. You don't think you're getting attached, do you?"

"God, I hope not…"

They played with Ichirou for awhile, trying to focus on something other than the conversation about the Sannin. Haru didn't tell Tsunade about the awkward foreplay with Sasuke. She just felt the need to be alone. Naturally that would be impossible with her son around, but that was alright. She had missed Ichirou and was more than willing to spend every second of the next seven days with him.

Night had fallen long ago. Ichirou was sleeping soundly. Everything was quiet, except for a few birds chirping every now and again. Haru hadn't come to bed yet. Sasuke sat there reading a very boring book for awhile, but it wasn't occupying the Uchiha at all. He was too curious about where in the compound his wife was.

He stood, slipping out the door quietly. He couldn't hear her at all, but he could sense her chakra close by. She was still in the house.

He walked slowly to the room where he'd often bowed before his late father, where all the meetings between parent and child took place. It was hard to believe that maybe one day he would be sitting in the same place.

Her chakra was below. His eyes widened. He didn't remember showing Haru that place. That place that his older brother had told him about years ago. The floorboard was already moved. He crept down the steps with ease. Her presence was getting stronger. He paused at the sight of a frozen spider hanging on a frozen web. Even the moth that had gotten caught was frozen in the web as well. He wondered what would have caused Haru to do such a thing.

He continued at a slower pace. It was growing cold. As he neared the familiar stone altar, candles already lit to bring in some light, he saw his wife sitting in the center of the room, her long black hair combed straight. He noticed that her blood-red highlights were gone, where they had been only hours ago. When had she dyed it back?

He stayed silent. She was concentrating deeply. Chakra was almost visible as it flowed around her. Everything was cold. He could feel the air grow thin and crisp, like winter.

She was doing that training. She must have chosen down here because the air had plenty of moisture, being underground. He remembered when she'd had to carry a water canteen just to use her Kekkei Genkai in the desert. It was a problem she'd encountered only once. But she didn't need to use her skill anyway. She had other fighting talents that didn't require her water or ice releases. But pulling the very water molecules from the air was something she'd never been able to accomplish, due to lack of patience and concentration. She would rather be out practicing attacks.

Orochimaru had constantly scolded her for not trying hard enough. Was he doing the same thing now, or was Haru finally realizing the benefits of using that ability?

The air moved around them in a soft breeze. She must have heard him coming, for she turned around, her eyes barely open. She had a small grin on her face.

"It's not ice yet," she said, her gentle voice almost a whisper. "Watch."

He could feel the humidity decrease. Bright ivory snow began to fall. As he reached out his hand, he noticed that it wasn't melting. Another gift of the Kekkei Genkai; the ice hardly melted even when faced with extreme heat.

He smiled softly at her. She was making progress. She never could even accomplish this whenever she stayed with the Sannin years ago.

"What's bringing this kind of training on, eh?" he asked. His voice, though quiet, seemed to echo throughout the room.

"I'm not sure," she said. "It's peaked my interest."

"You've frozen almost everything in here; there must be something else behind it all."

"No, not exactly," she said quietly, and turned to face him. "I'll be in bed soon; I want to see what kind of progress I can get in one night."

"You don't have the concentration to make it much further; you might not be able to do more than make it snow."

She turned her back to him, facing the Uchiha crest on the wall again. "I know. But I'd still like to try."

"Is Orochimaru mentioning it to you again?" he asked. That bastard would try and torment her by taunting her inabilities. "You don't need to worry about it; you don't need that kind of power."

"That's not what you used to say," she said. "What if I get sent to Suna? I don't want to have to use my drinking water."

"Use the water inside your enemy's body."

"I plan to work on that next," she answered through gritted teeth, turning to face him again. "I have to get better at this, you know. I have to become a better Shinobi."

He hesitated before responding to her, but he had to say it. He didn't know what had happened in the past three weeks, but it couldn't have been good if she was trying this. She'd abandoned it when they left that snake… together. They had been together. "So he'll acknowledge you?"

"Shut up," she snapped back. Anger flared in her eyes. The snow fell hard to the ground and began to come together to form ice. A few ice senbon appeared between her fingers. "I don't need to be acknowledged by him."

"That's not what you used to say," he said the words with as much venom as he could. So he had said something to her. He wished he'd found out about his existence sooner. She would be the same as she was before she left, not practicing pointless jutsu he knew she couldn't learn.

"I don't crave his attention like a little kid," she hissed. "I'm a grown woman with a family to think about. Excuse me if I'm thinking of new ways to protect myself."

"You should worry about your heat strokes; take two canteens of water to Suna if you ever go. One can be used for jutsu if you ever need it."

"Heat strokes are the least of my concerns!"

"They should be; you used to faint all the time if you got too hot."

"I'm sorry I'm from a naturally cold place and the heat is still foreign to my body after twenty years!" she shouted, turning away and plopping back down onto the wooden floor. He sighed. He'd messed up. Pissing her off sent her into a nearly unbearable tantrum sometimes. It wasn't something he felt like dealing with.

"I'll sleep on the couch tonight," he said, turning away to go back up the stairs.

"Don't bother," she stated. "I'll be in here all night."

His onyx eyes turned to meet her almost-hazel ones for only a second. He shrugged slightly as he ascended the steps, not going to argue.

He waited until she'd fallen asleep to move her into the bed. He moved to the couch. In the morning, he knew, she would be in a much better mood.

"The things I do for love," his voice echoed into the room, draping his arm over his closed eyes. The couch wasn't terribly uncomfortable to sleep on, but he did prefer the bed. Sleep came soon for his exhausted mind; he had a mission early in the morning anyway.