A/N: Not a particularly long chapter. I just had some things to get through before I unleash the next plot bomb. Haha.

Chapter Stats:
Rating: PG-13 for an angry Sasuke's use of the f-word
Pairings: Mentions of SasuSaku

Naruto. Don't own it.

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Chapter Ten: A Night of Tension

The clock chimed once.

"Where've you been, Sakura-chan?" Naruto said gently just moments after his fiancée walked through the front door of their home. "One in the morning… that's a lot later than usual." He stood up from his place on the couch.

Sakura sighed sadly and closed the door behind her with clammy hands. "Naruto… we really, really need to talk."

"Yeah, we do." He motioned to the bedroom, but Sakura shook her head. "Then where?"

"Here. Right here, right now. I spent this evening walking around Konoha… and I've made my decision." She took a deep breath. "I know where Sasuke is."

"Really? Where, 'tebayo?" he asked enthusiastically, but Sakura's forlorn face did not change.

"He's locked up at the Hokage tower. He turned himself in this morning."

Naruto couldn't suppress a mild grin. "That's out of character for him."

"Yeah… and… he's left it up to me to decide on his punishment."

His grin faded abruptly. "…why you?"

This is it.

She stared into the Kyuubi boy's concerned blue eyes.

I'm telling him now.

"Because he and I--"BANG BANG BANG.

A loud knock on the door made both shinobi nearly jump out of their skin.

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Strong hands clasped tightly on ringing ears.

Snore…

It's just my fucking cursed luck that I'd get stuck…

Snooooooore…

in a rancid jail cell…

Snore…

beside a guy who sleeps louder than Naruto yells…

SNOOOORE!!

whenever I try to do the right thing! GOD DAMNIT!

"URUSAI!" He slammed his foot down on the floor and pounded a tight fist against the wall for the umpteenth time that night, trying desperately to silence the man in the cell next to him, who would surely be Chidori'ed to hell the moment the infuriated Uchiha was released.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE! URUSAI, URUSAI, URU--"

"Uchiha Sasuke, if you don't shut your damn mouth this instant I'm going to beat your egocentric skull into dust!"

He turned his head sharply, and was greeted by a night-dressed Tsunade, the only thing illuminated in the dark room. A lantern swung lazily from her arm.

He gazed at her nonchalantly from his lying position on the floor. "I'm trying to sleep here."

"I can hear you from my bedroom. That's five stories up, mind you." She walked closer to his cell. "It doesn't matter though. I wanted to talk to you about something else, anyway."

He rolled over, facing away from the Hokage. "I thought we dealt with all of this earlier."

"I know for a fact that you've been staying with Naruto and Sakura for the past month or so."

The Uchiha froze. "I won't deny it."

"And I also know that you've been… spending a lot of time… with Sakura." Her words sounded almost snakelike.

A strange sound came from Sasuke, something like a gasp, and the two remained in silence for some time, discounting the relentless snoring of a soon-to-be-killed man.

Tsunade couldn't take it anymore. She cackled. "You know, that doesn't surprise me one bit. You and Naruto have always been rivals…"

"It has nothing to do with Naruto," he snapped.

"Did it not start out that way?"

The dark-haired teen was suddenly on his feet, glaring at Tsunade through the metal bars, Sharingan activated and glowing menacingly in the shadows. "You don't know anything."

She smirked. "I know that those are Itachi's eyes." The red began to swirl violently. "Relax, relax. I'm just here to talk."

"And what if I don't want to talk to you?" His voice dripped with venom.

"I'll get to the point… I just came here to ask a favor of you." He remained silent, but she knew he was listening as his red-eyed gaze never left her amber one. "Should my student let you live… do not hurt her."

Sasuke's face was suddenly less angry. Tsunade turned around gracefully and began to walk out of the room, her slippers making a sliding sound on the concrete floor as she departed.

"She really does love you…"

In the darkness, Sasuke dropped to his knees as the Sharingan faded to onyx.

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"Kaka-sensei?! What are you doing here so late?" Naruto barked. "Why can't you come see us at a reasonable hour like NORMAL people do?"

The jounin grinned, though it was unseen due to the mask that eternally covered the lower half of his face. "Well, you see, I was going to be here around dinnertime, but there was this old lady…" His voice trailed off as he noticed Sakura's unusually pale face. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"Nothing." Her clouded eyes told Kakashi otherwise, but he shrugged it off.

"I did come for a reason, though… I wanted to know if the rumors were true."

"Rumors?" Naruto asked.

"About Sasuke's return…"

Sakura nodded. "He's in the Hokage Tower…"

"That's what I thought." He ran a hand through his silver hair. "How did you know that?"

"It's a long story…" she said tiredly. "Can we save it until morning?"

Normally, Kakashi would have had a remark for her, but the spiteful gleam in his former student's eyes made him feel like quivering.

He bowed his head. "Of course… sorry for showing up like this…" He laughed nervously. "I'm just going to go now."

The door closed loudly, and Kakashi was gone.

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They basked in the silence for a long time, only to be interrupted by two chimes of the clock.

Naruto observed Sakura hesitantly. Normally pretty skin was drained of color, and dark circles were obvious under her eyes. Her posture was crumpled and she looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. He wanted to go to bed like nothing else, but the blonde was afraid to leave the girl for fear that she might collapse, or worse, eat him alive.

"What's going on… Sakura-chan?"

She looked at him with half-lidded eyes.

I've never seen her so drained of life.

"I think… I'm going to sentence Sasuke to death."

Naruto gasped. "Why?! I thought he was your friend, Sakura-chan!" Her face began to don a green shade. "I refuse to let you do that! The teme might be jerk sometimes, but he doesn't deserve to die!" he fumed, his face framed with fury.

"Naruto…"

"What?!"

Sakura could hear her heartbeat throb in her ears as she uttered the following sentence:

"Would you think the same way… if I told you that I'm in love with Sasuke?"

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A/N: Woohoo! Cliffhangers are fun. x3

I promise the next chapter won't disappoint.

Review!