"… Naruto, you must eat," Iruka cajoled, but even his urging did not work. He sighed and set down the tray of food, offering it to Naruto's turned back. "I'll come back later, but please eat, Naruto…"

Iruka stood up slowly and left the room.

Healers had tended to Naruto's remaining wounds, but now he was back inside of his new room. Ever since that incident he had not left that room except to go to the bathroom. He scarcely ate anything no matter how many times it was offered, pressed against his mouth, and by some impatient servants, thrown at him.

Because of his selective breeding, and maybe something else, his wounds healed incredibly fast. But he still was not allowed to go anywhere yet because of his mental state. He was also incredibly weak and light, due to his reluctance to eat.

Sasuke and Sakura's wedding is tomorrow. I wonder if they will be happy? Naruto thought absentmindedly. He closed his eyes and stopped staring at the wall in front of him.

---

He had woken up in his room. He felt no pain. But there were some things that was constricting his movements. He sat up stiffly and examined his limbs. Bandages.

What had happened? he immediately wondered, completely disorientated for a while.

Then he remembered.

Shit, was the only coherent thought he had in his mind as he stumbled up from his futon and ran toward the door. When he flung his body outside, he collided with none other than Iruka.

"Naruto! What are you doing out of your room! You should be resting!" the man protested, catching the fox and keeping him from falling.

"Sa-Sasuke! Where is he?" Naruto interrogated the teacher viciously, his fear coming out as pure anger.

Iruka flinched a bit at the harshness of the question. Naruto's nails were beginning to penetrate even the many layers of robes that he was wearing. "Calm down, he's fine. Everyone's fine."

Immediately, he slumped in his teacher's arms. "Good…"

Suddenly, he found himself beyond exhausted. Not a sleepy, pass-out sort of exhausted. Mentally exhausted. So many things to know and care about. He didn't even realize it when Iruka had taken him back to his futon and covered him up with the blanket again.

"Iruka-sensei… Where is he right now?"

The man hesitated. "With Sakura-san."

Unbearable silence wrapped itself around Iruka's throat and constricted his body.

"I see…" Naruto's eyes glazed over. "When is their wedding?"

"In two weeks, Naruto."

"I see." And with that, he turned away from his teacher.

Iruka ignored the rude gesture and stayed in the room for a while longer. When he realized that Naruto was not asleep but not speaking, he left the fox alone with his thoughts.

It was then when Naruto simply refused to eat and drink. The only time he ate was he was forced to swallow food with a tube shoved down his throat, as it was a command from Sasuke. And that was never pleasant. That was done every two days just to keep him alive.

All day long he thought.

I couldn't protect Sasuke. I couldn't protect him. It was my fault that he was hurt. My fault… Sakura will treat him better, I'm sure… he always thought. Never anything else. Everything was his fault now. And he fell into a semi-depression stage.

He wanted so badly to apologize to his owner for his inadequacies, but he was forbidden to leave the room in such a state. And Sasuke was forbidden to visit Naruto since his wedding was only a short while off. So both of them were cut off from each other after that drastic fight.

That was a week ago. Now it was—

---

—one day before the wedding. And Naruto was certainly not invited.

Lately, he has been thinking a lot. That power he had during that fight. What was it? He didn't know. He wasn't familiar with it. It was strong, yet ever so painful. It felt feral and wild, untamed and terrifying. But he wanted more of that strength. He knew that, somehow, that abhorrent power could protect Sasuke.

But still…

Sometimes he would decide it was too much to think about and would stop. And sometimes there would be someone to distract him from such thoughts.

Hinata had come over on several occasions to visit him and tell him about the things happening outside. On those times, he would politely draw himself into a sitting position and lean back against the wall. Her words were often too soft or broken for him to hear, but just her presence was good enough. He didn't feel lonely when she was around.

And her smile. That ever gentle smile that would refuse to leave her face. Naruto often found himself gazing intensely at her placid face until she turned red and looked away. He liked the way her long hair fell past her shoulders and sprayed against her soft robes. He liked the way her mouth moved when she spoke. And when she shyly looked at him, it was rather cute, he discovered.

And when he felt that way, that warm fluttering feeling, another emotion would blast it into a void. It hurt him, he realized. That emotion made his heart clench terribly, like when it does when you suddenly remembered that you had an important test you had to take, but forgot to study for it. Or when you realize someone has caught you red-handed for stealing the last cookie. But it wasn't a pleasant feeling. It made his heart clench terribly hard.

And when he felt that way, his heart would clench and he would feel the adrenaline flow through his body. It was then when he would avert his eyes and clench his hands together tighter. He didn't like that feeling. But it felt familiar somehow.

He always thought of that feeling. It took him a very long time to understand what that feeling was. He remembered it. He had asked Iruka.

He had asked Iruka what 'love' was. And he received a very vague answer. But he believed that what he was feeling was 'love'. It was familiar. This specific type of love. He had felt it before. He couldn't figure it out.

But this type of love he felt toward Hinata right now… It didn't seem right.

"TenTen has been at the Hyuuga palace a lot more often now… I don't believe you've met her yet, Naruto-kun… She's really nice. Neji-nii-sama seems to enjoy her company as well…" Hinata said serenely, not quite looking at Naruto, but at the floor in front of her.

Naruto looked up from his empty task of staring at his hands. He admired the curvature of her soft lips before uttering, "Hinata, do you love someone?"

"I-I… Uhm… I…" she stammered, suddenly turning red again. Hinata quickly glanced away from him.

He looked at her with curious eyes. "Does it feel good? To be in love?"

She murmured some more incoherent things before she decided, "Yes…"

Naruto grinned widely at her. "I apologize for asking you such an intruding question, Hinata."

The girl shook her head gently. "It's fine, Naruto-kun. Are you tired now? I'll leave you so that you may rest then…" she said politely, sensing that he wanted some alone time.

During his two weeks out of commission, he had not smiled, much less grinned. For him to do so all of a sudden must have meant that he was in a state of utter mental chaos.

She stood up quietly and exited the small room.

---

Sakura could not get it out of her mind. That strange scene. Had she heard it wrong? Did she see it wrong? No, she kept saying to herself, it didn't happen. It was just her imagination catching up to her. After all, she had decided, she was so frantic, she might have seen and heard the wrong things.

Yes, she had concluded. The things she saw and heard that day were not true. Sasuke did not apologize to Naruto. And he certainly did not kiss Naruto. After all, they were not even the same species. Such a thing is too gross to think of.

Yet still, she could not understand why Sasuke had become even more listless than he usually was. He barely even seemed to notice her being there or even her talking. He always breathed out an absent "Hn" at her, as if that would fill in their empty conversations. He had been getting steadily weaker as well. Day after day, their meetings became more frequent as their wedding drew closer, but they did not draw any closer. If anything, they seemed to be getting farther and farther apart.

Sasuke loves me, the pink-haired girl would think. She reassured herself of his everyday just to be sure. After all, she debated with herself, if he did not love me, why else would he propose to me like that? And so suddenly too. He must really love me to be in such a rush to marry me. Her girlish mind worked in strange ways as she came up with the explanation to Sasuke's listlessness as "anxiety for the wedding."

But many doubts came to her mind. Like when she informed him that he could not visit Naruto, she swore she saw his face darken. And sometimes, when she would call out his name for the billionth time in her high and sweet voice, so sweet it seemed sticky to many, she noticed that he started to look irritated and snapped at her often. When she inquired him of his well being, he would sigh miserably and reply, "Fine."

Lately he hasn't been around to hang out with her either. He always said that he had "something to do with Kakashi" and left her alone with that. It was terrible, but she thought that he could have been hiding a secret surprise for her of sorts. How naïve she was!

And when she thought of Kakashi, she became perplexed at how the man could have known she knew how to heal. She had been extremely secretive about the training, and was sure she hadn't told anyone. There was no way that he could have known…

But tomorrow was their wedding. There was no time for complex thoughts and questions like those. She was happy. Very happy. No doubts.

Sasuke and I will be able to live together forever now. And maybe we will have children. Oh, I wonder how handsome and pretty our children will be! she giggled to herself as she went to sleep that night, quite excited.

---

Damn it, Sasuke cursed to himself that day. Damn it, damn it, damn it!

"Oh, Sasuke-kun?" he remembered Sakura calling out to him. "Itachi-sama informed me to tell you that you cannot visit Naruto until after our wedding. He said that he didn't want you to be distracted by useless things…"

She began to ramble on about other things, but he only listened to the first part and began to curse. He had wanted to see how Naruto was doing too… His own wounds were completely healed over by healers, but he was still rather distressed.

The moment he was back in the palace, servants nearly tore Naruto's limp body from him and began to fuss over his small scratches. In the confusion, he didn't even realize Naruto was roughly taken to his own room.

That day, he had sat in his room, feeling empty and useless. He felt as if he couldn't protect anyone. Such a desolate feeling he had. All he wanted to do was to hold Naruto and hope that he would be forgiven. Waking up to see that Naruto was in such a ragged state… It was horrendous.

On the next day, he sought out Kakashi and demanded that he helped him become stronger so that in future days if anything like that ever happened again he would be prepared. What he was taught was something he could have never thought of.

"Sasuke," Kakashi had addressed him, "remember two days ago, when you suddenly could see things very clearly? As if everything had slowed down?"

Sasuke had been in shock. How could Kakashi had known about that? But all he did was nod uncertainly.

"Sasuke, what I'm about to tell you is absolutely forbidden, and if it was found out, I would be executed… But I believe that you will now tell on anyone and there is no one here right now."

At this point, Sasuke had grown somewhat paranoid.

"This is an absolute, top-secret thing that not many people know about."

A secret? How many secrets were kept away from me? the Uchiha thought darkly. Three years ago, Iruka had lied to him. Does this mean that Kakashi was lying to him as well?

"The Uchiha clan," the silver-haired man began, "is unique in their own way. They possess a power that nobody else has. They have the power to see. That day, when you saw, you acquired something called Sharingan."

"Sharingan?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes. Those eyes allow you to see enemies' actions before they attack you. It also comes with another power… But first, let me show you what Sharingan looks like…"

Then, Kakashi had removed the cloth covering his left eye and showed it to Sasuke. When asked about how he received it, Kakshi merely laughed and covered his eye again. He then went on to teach Sasuke about some mysterious power embedded in him, which he could mold and form at his will, with some practice.

Everything was very vaguely described, but Sasuke never inquired further. He never asked how the power came to be, why the power was there, orwhere that power came from. He only accepted it as something that was there. There was no true explanation, and he deemed it too trivial to know about at that time. He only wanted to earn that strength. Everything else could come later.

It took them two hard, long weeks, but eventually, Sasuke mastered summoning Sharingan on his will and learned something he called "Chidori" which was adapted from Kakashi's "Raikiri."

Kakashi had marveled that Sasuke was a true prodigy in having learned so many difficult tasks in the time period of only two weeks. Sasuke was not proud. He simply wanted to learn it in order to be able to protect, something he was not able to do before.

He had instructed for Iruka to check in on Naruto every now and again. He was also told to inform Sasuke of Naruto's well being. Each time Iruka came to him, it was never good news. It was either, "He hasn't been eating," or "He's refusing to talk now." But it was always, "His wounds are doing very well," and "His physical health is in perfect shape." Yet it was never, "His mental health is fine," or even, "He misses you."

And now it was the night before his dreadful wedding. And he was having a nightmare. Or dream. Or was it a memory?

"Sasuke… Are you okay?" a familiar voice asked him.

He could see that he as in a dimly lit room, illuminated only by short candles. His vision blurred and sharpened until he realized that Kakashi was speaking to him. A younger-looking Kakashi.

Behind him stood Iruka and three other people he did not recognize and one whom he could not see too clearly. The room was so dark and small, he could barely see anything.

A man with long, white, and spiky hair. He had distinctive red lines down his cheeks. His arms were crossed as he gazed at Sasuke with an intense glare. He was frowning deeply at him.

A woman with brown hair and overly large breasts. She was leaning on a wall, looking at him with the same expression of either distaste or pity.

Another woman with short, black hair. She stood close to the brown-haired woman. She appeared to be rather harried at the moment.

Behind her, he could see a blur of bright yellow. What was it? Hair. Yes, it was hair. And orange. Just a tinge of orange. It was so blurry, he couldn't really tell what it was, but he could see some colors.

"Sasuke? Sasuke?"

His vision blurred again.

He woke with a start.

What was that?

---

The wedding was so complex and formal.

Sasuke was seated next to Sakura and everyone was watching them, rather happily. With some effort, Sasuke managed to look serene, and not like he was about to wring out Sakura's life with his bare hands. He barely paid attention to anything, but concentrated on looking decent and not murderous, a hard task indeed.

Itachi had looked very smug indeed, but nobody seemed to notice. He concealed his smugness with a faint smile. He busied himself with everyone, running to and fro to check if everyone was content and happy. Everybody except his little brother.

Of course, Sakura was beaming and looking slightly flustered at all the excitement. She looked so beautiful that day, everyone agreed. Certainly, she looked very pretty for one who was marrying someone she loved so much.

All of the guests were pleased that the Uchiha clan would probably soon receive a new heir. For some strange reason, Itachi had never found an interest in finding a spouse, but focused on raising his little brother well. But, they had thought, it was normal, since his entire family was murdered. It was natural for an older brother to be sacrificial and try to raise his little brother to have the best life. They had all nodded agreeably and said that Itachi was a good older brother indeed.

The ceremony, everyone said, was beautiful. All the guests were very happy with the new couple. Many even began to light-heartedly bet on the gender of their first child. It was then when Sasuke began to pay attention and grow slightly sick.

He had never thought of having a child with anyone. Anyone at all, much less Sakura. In fact, now that people mentioned it, he felt slightly strange just thinking about touching a woman. Sasuke had never paid attention to this, thinking that it may have been Naruto's presence that made him uninterested in girls, but now he realized that even before Naruto, he never paid attention to the girls.

The reason may have been, Sasuke now thought, because all the girls who liked him were insane. Yes, insane stalkers of evilness. Was there ever one that was actually normal? No, he couldn't remember.

But by now, surely he could have found a girl that was decent, right? Then why didn't he? Was it just Naruto that made him like that? Or was it something from before? He wondered now, but he didn't find an adequate answer.

---

Yesterday, he had been dying to see Sasuke and apologize. But today he felt as if he never wanted to see him again. He heard that the wedding was very nice. He heard that Neji was in fact invited to attend it. And he did. He heard that everyone attended the wedding that day. And he heard that everyone was happy.

He heard that it was wonderful. It was very sweet, he heard. Yes… And he felt a bittersweet happy.

Whatever I cannot provide for Sasuke, Naruto thought that day, still staring at the wall, I'm sure that Sakura will be able to.

He rolled over and faced the closed door. Somewhere out there, he knew that Sasuke and Sakura would be together, thanking their guests for their gifts and well wishes. The fox felt his lips turn up into a faint smile. Then he felt something warm and wet go down his cheeks.

---

On that night, Sakura had shyly gotten on the futon, waiting for Sasuke. But he didn't go to sleep. Instead, he sat by the table, his hands laced together, placed in front of him. And when she beckoned to him, he only replied, "I'm not tired yet."

And she was disappointed. After all the small jokes of their first child, Sakura had gotten more and more embarrassed about how openly they were talking about it. But now she was disappointed. She waited for him, trying to stay awake, but he still did not sleep. Eventually, she fell asleep, but Sasuke continued to sit at the table, thinking.

That dream of his… It felt familiar. Why would Kakashi be inquiring about his health? Why was the question, "Are you okay?"? It was almost as if it were a faded memory of a sort. But he could not remember.

Eventually, he had to give up and go to sleep. Alas, he could not find the spare futon. It was not in the closet, where it was always, always kept. And then he cursed.

He cursed, "Damn it, this sucks."

And he was forced to sleep in the same futon that Sakura was situated at. Sasuke was very careful to keep away from her. He slept on the far side of the futon, and hoped he would stay there. After all, when you sleep, you move.

But it may have been a restless night for him, because he had that dream again, but this time it was clearer for him.

"Sasuke… Are you okay?" Kakashi knelt in front of him.

He felt fear. He felt anger. He felt… useless.

He could hear his own whimper as he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came from his throat.

"Kak'shi?" Sasuke heard a tentative voice ask. It was a childish and shy voice.

The silver-haired man turned around, revealing a small boy around the age of seven. Something was different about him though. He had some blob of orange amongst his yellow hair. Something marred his young face, though Sasuke could not tell what it was.

"What is it?" the man asked gently.

The young Uchiha stared at the boy as he was pointed at.

Iruka crouched down by the yellow-haired boy and murmured something to him.

Suddenly, Sasuke's vision swirled and the colors became more vibrant.

Blue. Effervescent, bright blue. Blue, so deep and inquiring it nearly hurt him.

The boy's mouth moved, but he heard nothing come from it.

When Sasuke came to, halfway between asleep and awake, his senses were overcome with a floral scent. He was used to waking up to Naruto's slightly musky smell, but this was completely different, invading almost.

His eyes snapped open and he found himself face-to-face with his wife. His pupils dilated and he back away slowly, carefully trying not to wake her. Looking down, he realized that it was not him that moved, but her. Sasuke crawled out from under the sheets and stood up. He sighed and went to the bath. The paranoid boy made sure to lock the door and began to remove his clothing.

Nostalgia overcame him momentarily as he stared at the bath, where he and Naruto had always used. He chuckled lowly, berating himself for missing Naruto even though he wasn't gone. At that prospect, he brightened. Technically, the wedding was over. That meant that he could visit Naruto again.

Quickly, he bathed and dressed in fresh clothing. He exited his room quietly, seeing that Sakura was still asleep.

"He didn't eat yesterday, Sasuke. I doubt he will eat today either," Iruka informed him, before his wedding.

His robes made a graceful, large arc as he turned the corner abruptly. Sasuke was beginning to fear for Naruto's health. If he was always force-fed this way, his health will get no better. A frown fixed itself on his face.

"Naru—Eat, damn it! If it wasn't for Sasuke-sama's special orders, I would have left you to starve already, fox!" Sasuke heard when he neared Naruto's room.

There were sounds of a small scuffle, then some gagging sounds. Whimpers and the sound of chopsticks scraping against bowls could be heard. Violent coughing followed.

Sasuke quickened his steps and burst into the room, where he was met with the sight of Naruto being held down by one servant while the other forced food down his throat. His eyes blazed dangerously.

Both servants stopped and widened their eyes. "Sasuke-sama!" they exclaimed, quickly bowing to them.

"Take the tube out of his throat," he demanded, walking briskly over to Naruto, who was now crying silently.

They quickly removed the tube and left quietly, hoping that they had not angered Sasuke. Both of them closed the door behind them and took off.

After they left, Sasuke kneeled down next to Naruto, who had quickly lay back down and turned away, so that he was facing the wall again. For a long time, Sasuke just sat there, listening to Naruto's breathing.

Naruto had his eyes clenched tightly together. He wanted Sasuke to disappear. Something deep inside him told him, "He shouldn't be here."

"Naruto… You haven't been eating," Sasuke stated simply. He received no response.

Leave, leave… Naruto silently begged, clutching the blankets until his fingers began to throb. Faintly, he heard the bowl of rice being picked up and chopsticks clinking against the sides of the bowl. The rustle of cloth informed the fox that Sasuke was moving. From his closed eyes, he did not notice the shadow looming over him, but his sharp ears told him that something was hovering above him.

He opened his eyes quickly and turned so that he was on his back. He gasped when he saw that Sasuke was right on top of him. He shouldn't be this close.

The thought never came out because suddenly his mouth was covered and he felt the familiar warmth named "Sasuke" envelop him. He was suddenly aware of food being shoved into his mouth and instinctively, he swallowed. Even after the food was given to him, however, Sasuke did not draw back. His tongue explored Naruto's mouth, like he used to only a month ago.

He shouldn't be doing this. Naruto tried to push him off, but failed. He was so weak that he didn't even have the strength to struggle.

Finally, when Sasuke released him from their kiss, Naruto turned away and said, "Stop…"

The Uchiha looked taken aback. "Why?"

Naruto's mouth clamped together tightly and he turned to his side again, pulling the blankets close to his chin.

"Why?" he heard the question being pressed onto his cheek as Sasuke kissed him lightly. Naruto shivered from the longed-for contact. He missed Sasuke's scent so badly.

The fox inhaled, noticing that his own scent no longer mingled with his owner's, but instead, another scent joined it. He felt pain in his chest as he realized whose scent it was.

"You carry Sakura-chan's scent now…" Naruto muttered into his blankets, his eyes half-lidded. It was a mere statement and answer to Sasuke's question.

Sasuke paused, his lips twitching ever so slightly on his cheek. Naruto's eyes shot open when he felt Sasuke licking his cheek.

"Stop!" he squeaked, wrenching the blankets well over his head. "Stop, stop, stop…" he chanted, his body shaking violently. "You can't, Sasuke… You have Sakura-chan…"

The Uchiha's face clouded over momentarily before he lowered his body and hugged the shivering mass beneath him. "I don't care…"

"She loves you," Naruto squirmed, completely under Sasuke's will.

"I don't love her," came the rebuttal.

"You need her," the fox objected, starting to grow hot under the heavy sheets and Sasuke's body.

"You need me."

"I don't," he muttered without conviction. His grasp on the blankets loosened.

"You do." Sasuke drew back the blankets and stared at his face. He shifted a bit until his hand snaked under the blankets and he began to tug at Naruto's obi. The robes loosened.

The fox began to resist again, "Sasuke, stop it!" His heart clenched again as his thoughts mixed. He shouldn't be here, he shouldn't be close to me, he shouldn't kiss me, touch me, need me, want me… He didn't know why he was thinking this, but he knew this was wrong.

Sasuke did stop. He looked down at Naruto, who was breathing hard right now, his face flushed but fixed with determination. His eyes closed. "Why?"

"I don't know." His voice fell until it was a mere rasp of a voice. He closed his eyes as well. His heart was beating fast now, and he could smell Sasuke again. He could smell Sakura, but it was very faint. He could smell his sweat, his saliva, the soap he used this morning… And he smelled something else. Arousal. His body betrayed him as he, too, began to feel excited.

"All they want from me," Sasuke began, his voice deep and low, "is a family. They want an heir. I don't care…"

"They'll hate you," Naruto cursed himself when his voice cracked.

A soft breath, similar to a sneer, came from Sasuke. "They already do."

"They don't." Naruto turned his head away until he was talking into his pillow. "You can't be with me."

"Why not?"

"We—" the fox almost laughed as he started to explain, "We're not even the same species, Sasuke. We're both male. This isn't right…"

The next thing that Sasuke said made Naruto hesitate. "Since when did that ever matter?"

This time, when Sasuke began to suck and lick his neck, Naruto didn't struggle. He turned his body until they were face to face. Unconsciously, he spread his legs when Sasuke pulled off the blankets.

---

Sakura had been puzzled when she woke up to an empty room. The spot next to her wasn't even warm anymore. She sighed and sat up, smoothing her hair down. After a short bath to freshen up, she ate breakfast, graciously provided by the servants, and decided to visit Naruto.

She wanted to know how he was doing. The girl had overheard many of the servants who were familiar with him talk to each other, fussing over his health. He hadn't been eating or sleeping well, she heard, but she never had the reason to go and visit him. After that day, she felt awkward even at the mention of his name.

But she knew she couldn't avoid him forever. That was very much near impossible.

It was never like she hated him or anything, but she had always been slightly jealous of his friendship with Sasuke. Wherever Sasuke went, he would always be following. Although they fought constantly over the pettiest things, it seemed like friendly banter. She ardently wished for something like that with the one she loved most.

He had his good points as well, his humor and cheerfulness. Not once did he ever seem overly sad about something. And even if he was, he would always take care not to drag anyone else with him. He would always smile and laugh, trying to fake off whatever was bothering him. Naruto was a valuable friend to Sakura, and she felt guilty now that she had treated him so badly.

However, now she could apologize to him for her rudeness and not visiting him until now.

When she neared Naruto's room, she heard some strange things being emitted from that room.

There was the rhythmic sound of cloth rustling and some sort of heavy breathing. Occasionally a muffled groan or moan and a variety of wet noises. Her eyebrows furrowed at the noises.

What is happening in there? she wondered, walking closer.

"Mmnh! Sa-Sasuke…" she heard. It was the rasping and breathless sound of Naruto's voice. She dared not open the door now.

Sakura found herself breaking into a cold sweat, fearful of something. She licked her thumb and carefully tore a hole into the thin, paper that covered the wooden frame of the door. She peered in quietly, and her eyes widened.

Naruto's robes were pulled apart until there were only clinging onto his body because of the gravity that kept it down. One of his hands was being held above his head by the wrist because of Sasuke. She could tell that his legs were parted and his mouth was covered by Sasuke's. The front of Sasuke's robes hung out to the side, pooling on the floor and shielding most of their bodies from Sakura's view. His eyebrows were furrowed in the utmost look of concentration as he kissed Naruto deeply.

Both of them were covered in sweat as they continued their sinful act.

The pink-haired girl's hand flew to her mouth as bile rose in her throat. As quietly as possible, she ran out of the hallway, the image not fading from her mind. It was so, so sick.

When she reached a bathroom, she began to retch. After she was done, she stumbled out, disoriented, and leaned against a wall.

They…They aren't even the same… Naruto isn't even human… Both of them… Both of them… are male…

Horror and shock overtook her body, numbing her like anesthetic. No matter how open-minded a person, the time period and the factors that were incorporated was enough to make them sick. The feeling Sakura had was as bad as if she had walked in on a man having sex with a dog.

Her hair stuck to the small crevices of the wall as she slid down. She paid no heed to her splayed legs as she continued to breathe heavily, trying to make sense of whatever the hell just happened.

The girl began to bite her finger to try and wake up from the horrendous dream she was caught it. Even as blood trickled down her hand, and tears down her face, she didn't wake up.

It was as if she was trapped in Hell.

---

Sasuke watched the sleeping face carefully and placed his hand on his whisker-marked face. He gazed at the closed eyes and fanned out lashes, running his thumb over them, enjoying the slightly tickling and pricking feeling. Naruto shifted under his touch and some words tumbled from his throat.

The Uchiha smiled lightly. "What was that, Naruto?" he asked softly, not really expecting an answer.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," Naruto muttered again, more clearly this time.

"Hn," the boy laughed softly. "I should be the one apologizing, moron…" He rubbed his thumb over Naruto's lower lip and leaned in to kiss him. His hand wandered to the back of his head, where he grabbed a fistful of blond hair. Sasuke pushed his tongue into Naruto's mouth, where he licked at his sharp canines and gums.

Suddenly, a rougher tongue rubbed up against his and Sasuke drew back. Soft blue eyes opened slowly and sleepily as their kiss ended.

"Did I wake you up?" Sasuke asked rhetorically.

The fox moved a bit and licked his lips lazily. "Yeah. Should I punish you for that?" he inquired playfully.

Sasuke rolled onto his back, allowing Naruto to climb on top of him. "Maybe," he smirked.

Naruto growled a bit and trapped Sasuke under his body, looking at him with his eyes. His hips swayed as his tail swished from side to side, looking predatory. He grinned at Sasuke.

The boy closed his eyes momentarily, and something ran through his mind, faint and forgotten.

The candles inside of the dark room flickered, giving Sasuke a better look at everyone in the room. Why did they all look so grim? But something orange moved in his vision, and his attention was averted.

A tail. What? Why does that boy have a tail? Now that Sasuke tried to remember more clearly, he saw that the boy had ears on the top of his head. They were pointed. He grinned and swished his tail around. Such a fox-like creature.

Slowly, the boy walked toward him and Kakashi moved away. He circled him several times, slowly, investigating him, touching him lightly, then stopping right behind him. Sasuke jumped slightly when he felt the boy place his small hands on his shoulders and rested his head by the juncture where his neck and shoulders met. He heard him inhale deeply, taking in his scent.

The Uchiha opened his eyes and splayed his fingertips against the tan skin of his pet. "Naruto… Have we met before?" he suddenly asked.

The fox was at a loss for words. His eyes showed clear confusion and he did not answer.

"Never mind…" Sasuke shook his head a bit and pulled himself up to kiss the fox. He was gently pushed back down as Naruto leaned down.

Naruto moved down to Sasuke's shoulder, where he began to lick a large bite wound, leftover from their earlier act. It already stopped bleeding, but the faint smell of blood remained.

Suddenly, the smell of blood intensified, burning his nostrils. His breath quickened and his gaze turned empty.

He could smell it too, the blood. The fox-ish boy growled lightly and drew back. Softly, he walked around the quiet Sasuke until they were staring at each other.

"What's wrong –?" he heard Iruka ask, but the name was omitted. His brain refused to reveal the fox-boy's name. It was buzzed out, censored.

The blond turned around and shook his head. Looking back at Sasuke, he stepped closer.

"Sasuke?"

He became part of his current world again.

"What's wrong?" Naruto's eyebrows were furrowed together as he looked at his owner worriedly.

A smile came on his face, "Nothing." He looked at Naruto's slightly parted mouth and stuck his thumb inside. Absently, he pressed his thumb along the sharpness of the fox's teeth until Naruto closed his mouth and began to suck on his finger.

Sasuke did not step back from the boy. He saw his own hand lift up and opened the boy's lips, revealing sharp teeth. His especially sharp canines intrigued him as he began to run his finger over his teeth. The boy didn't move.

"Sas'ke…"

The Uchiha felt his thumb being wetted by a moist tongue.

When he blinked again, he found Naruto looking at him oddly again.

He sighed and wrapped an arm around his pet's neck, dragging him down. "I feel like I've met you before."

"You're not making any sense, bastard."

"I know."

---

"Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired girl looked up uncertainly, her watery eyes and tear-stained face shining in the moonlight. How long has she been crouched down like that? It took her a while to realize that it was Itachi who was standing over her, repeating her name.

"I-Itachi-sama…" she rapsed hoarsely.

"What's wrong, Sakura-chan? Why have you been crying?" the man asked sweetly.

I can't tell him, she thought suddenly. It wasn't because she felt that it was too gross to tell, but rather, deep inside her, she knew that if she told Itachi what she had seen, nothing good would come from it. "N-Nothing, Itachi-sama," she stammered, wiping away tears and mucus from her face. She stood up shakily.

"Are you homesick already? We aren't caging you in here, you can go back home to visit if you want…" the older Uchiha informed her in a soft, gentle voice.

Sakura shook her head uneasily. She hid her hand under her sleeves, suddenly aware that she had bitten it a long, long time ago.

"You aren't homesick?" the man asked. He paused. "Then what is bothering you?"

Again, the girl hesitated. "It's nothing, Itachi-sama. I… I suppose I'm just too tired and overexerted from all the excitement," she forced herself to smile. It didn't come out right.

She shivered slightly when she remembered that scene. Part of her wanted to tell Itachi, the other part swore to keep it a secret. No matter how terrible it was, no matter how bad she was feeling, no matter what Itachi did, she still needed time to chew over the information. Both of them were her friends, spouse even, and she didn't want to hurt either of them. And her instincts told her that this serene-looking man was anything but serene if angered.

"Sakura-chan," the voice became stern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Itachi-sama…"

She gasped suddenly, when his eyes turned red and seemed to hold her immobile. After several seconds, she fell down again, unconscious.

Itachi made a face of distaste as he turned around and walked to Naruto's room. "So shocked and still protecting them? Foolish."

He silently opened the doors to the room and went inside. He smelled sweat. It was humid inside of the room. By the corner of the room, he could see two sleeping figures. The blanket had been hastily pulled up, covering their chests, but leaving their tangled legs exposed. Miscellaneous clothing articles were thrown on the floor next to them.

Both of them were facing each other, Sasuke's arms around Naruto's shoulders, and Naruto's arms around Sasuke's waist. They were sleeping so peacefully.

Itachi stared at them impassively and went out again, closing the doors.

The most terrible, most awful, most evil smile ever stretched Itachi's face.