I Think I Chapter 21 Nominations, a naruto fanfic

The Author Says: This is the second chapter I've posted today. Go back and read Chapter 20 first if you haven't done so yet :-)

Huh. I've somehow brought ITI and ITM neck to neck in terms of chapters. Heheh.

U/L: 20th March 2009.

I Think I

By TooDarnLazy

Chapter 21 – Nominations

The sound of the front door opening and closing made Sasuke almost look up, but he stopped himself from doing that. Instead, he tried to continue focusing on the jutsu scroll he was reading as he sat on the sofa in the living room, and let his displeasure radiate from him.

"Tadaima," the dobe's voice sounded tired and depressed. She gasped. "Oh no! It's my turn to cook, isn't it? Sumimasen, Sasuke! I'll go start now!"

Sounds of her footsteps receded to the kitchen where sounds of washing, chopping and pot banging started. Sasuke finally raised his head and sniffed the air delicately. There was a new scent in the air; one that arrived together with the dobe… it smelled like… roses. Outwardly Sasuke's face was emotionless, but inwardly he frowned. What was the dobe doing with roses? Had someone given them to her? Was it that civilian man who was always giving her flowers? He hadn't quite had the gall to give her roses yet, but had he done it today?

Am I jealous?

He bit his lip and moved his eyes away from the spot that he had been staring at. He… was… jealous. He was jealous, of someone giving flowers to the dobe. Of someone trying to win her affection. He snorted – why would anyone want the dobe? The idiot – it isn't like she's so beautiful. But he couldn't convince himself that he actually believed what he was saying.

He folded his arms across his chest and fisted his fingers, hard. He didn't feel anything towards the dobe at all, right? Right?

"Dinner's ready!" called the dobe from the kitchen door behind him. Sasuke let her wait for a minute or so before getting up and stalking to the kitchen. The first thing he saw was the dobe sitting at her usual place with her hair falling across her forehead. Her posture was a tired one – her shoulders were slumped and her face was in her hands, which were supported by her elbows on the table. The second thing he noticed was the bouquet of red roses – a dozen of them – on the kitchen counter away from where they cooked. He looked back to the table to see that there wasn't a flower in the middle of the table this time, like the dobe used to do when she brought back flowers. Something was up.

He slid into his seat and took up his chopsticks, murmuring a quiet "Itadakimasu," before starting to eat. The fare today was simple; something that the dobe could prepare in a relatively short time.

The sound of his voice seemed to startle her out of whatever thoughts she was in, and she quickly lifted her chopsticks, said "Itadakimasu," maybe a tad more loudly than usual, and ate at a hastened speed.

As he ate more sedately, he peered discreetly at her, and his heart skipped a beat when he realized that she was looking at him. He locked gazes with her intense, beautiful cerulean blue eyes that were partially obscured by her fringe, and felt his heart start beating faster. Then she quickly averted her eyes with an almost heartbroken look on her face that disappeared before he could confirm it, and a sheepish expression spread over her features.

"Heheh, sorry bout today, Sasuke. Got caught up with something unexpected. Don't worry, I don't think it will be happening again," she said, and smiled sheepishly as she looked at him, or rather, at a spot just past his head.

Something unexpected? Sasuke swallowed down a scowl, and said coldly, "I suppose receiving flowers counts as something 'unexpected'." His tone was almost sneering, and he expected her to snap back at him, but instead she seemed to shrink into herself even more, although her face registered mild surprise.

"Those?" her eyebrow rose. "Oh, Sai gave them to m… I mean, I was talking to Sai earlier. Hadn't seen him in quite a while – he just got back from his mission two days ago. He's a nice guy, even if a little emotionally-challenged. Hope he can find a nice girl to settle down with; he deserves that much."

Sai? The replacement? What was he doing giving flowers to the dobe?

"Finished!" the blonde declared, grinning, and quickly got up to wash her dishes, and left the kitchen quickly. The roses were left behind on the counter. Sasuke glared venomously at them.

Feeling the usual mix of foolishness, indignity and longing, Sasuke quietly pushed open the door to the dobe's room. Her room was unusually dark this time. Usually, the curtain would be partly open to admit some moonlight, but this time it was drawn tightly across the window. Sasuke picked his way to her bed by memory, trying to get his pulse back to normal. They had been climbing into each other's bed the last week or so, but every time he went to her or she came to him he would still experience that rush and excitement that he had to force himself to will down.

He had waited for quite a while tonight, and had drifted off into a short, restless sleep before waking up and deciding to go to her. This time, she was already lying near the wall with her head turned to it, leaving his usual space free for him. He slid under the blanket and released a silent sigh of near-contentment, and felt his eyelids start drooping comfortably.

While he was in that state halfway between sleep and wakefulness, he felt her fidget a few times before sitting up and leaning against the headboard. He forced himself to crack open the eye nearest to her form, and as he squinted, he could make out that she was sitting with her knees curled up to her chest, her arms circling her legs and her head buried in her knees. She had never done that before, for as long as they shared beds.

She stayed that way until he fell asleep without even realizing it.

Kakashi straightened from his taijutsu pose, and Sasuke glared at him.

"Five-minute break, Sasuke. I need to talk to your wife." With that, the jounin shunshin-ed to where the blonde was standing with her genin on top of the stream that meandered past the training grounds. It was evening, and the dobe and her genin had arrived not ten minutes ago, presumably after a mission. Sasuke had noticed Kakashi's attention occasionally straying over to the dobe even as he kept up with Sasuke's attacks. It wasn't a particularly spectacular feat on Kakashi's part, since Sasuke's attention had strayed over to the dobe as well.

The brunet watched as Kakashi appeared next to the blonde. He couldn't see if Kakashi had said anything because of the mask, but it was obvious that he had said something, because the dobe talked to her genin for a few seconds, to which they nodded back at her, then she and the silver-haired man walked a distance away into the trees surrounding the open area of the training grounds.

Something was definitely up with the dobe. She never came to him now (to his faint disappointment), but she always had his space empty for him, and she was always sitting up in bed after she thought Sasuke had fallen asleep. The next day, however, she was always as cheerful as usual, grinning at everything. Sasuke could see that her smiles never reached her eyes, that there were faint dark circles under her eyes, and that there was always something sad in her eyes when he caught her looking at him. He could see all that only because he knew she wasn't sleeping at night, and because he was looking for them. Her genin didn't seem to suspect anything, and it looked like no one else she came in contact with had spoken to her about it.

Kakashi somehow noticed something during the three days that Sasuke had caught her staying up nights, even though her mask was so good even he needed to concentrate hard to see past it. Pretty observant for a one-eyed man.

After waiting for a few minutes that seemed like an hour, Sasuke glared at nothing in particular and stalked off in towards the trees where the two were, so that he could retrieve Kakashi, or so he told himself. He approached the duo quietly, although he didn't repress his chakra too much to indicate that he wasn't there to eavesdrop on them. A good excuse, ne?

"You're as stubborn as your father," Kakashi sighed, his nose buried in his blue-covered smut. "Sensei never did talk to us willingly when there was something on his mind."

The dobe scuffed her foot into the fallen leaves on the grass. Her back was to him, so he couldn't see her expression, but he could see that her hair had gotten longer than when he last actually observed it carefully.

"I'll be fine, Sensei. I always am." From her tone, Sasuke could imagine her grinning up at the other jounin. "It's just a silly thing, and I'm getting over it already. Don't worry."

Kakashi observed her intently for a second before crossing his arms and leaning against a tree. "Hmm."

The dobe's shoulders slumped before straightening, and she ran both her hands through her hair. "He's all yours, Sasuke."

Without turning around she walked off towards her genin, and Kakashi pushed himself off the tree and walked to where the brunet was to some extent concealed in the trees.

"I'm sure you've noticed that Naruto hasn't quite been herself lately," Kakashi commented. Sasuke could agree with him only because he caught her sitting through the nights, though he only acknowledged that comment with an indifferent "Hn."

The jounin seemed to contemplate something for a while as he flipped a page in his book, but didn't say anything further, and followed leisurely behind Sasuke as they walked back to their corner of the training ground.

She hadn't been sitting up late at night anymore, and last night she had actually came to his room for a change. Sasuke watched her discreetly as she lay on her back on the grass, surrounded by her genin. They were supposedly resting after a C-rank mission. The dobe had a dreamy look on her face as she watched the clouds.

Sasuke polished his chokuto quietly a short distance away from them. The sound of a hawk's cry made Naruto perk and sit up.

"That time already?" she asked herself, as the genin kunoichi stared confusedly at her. She ignored the curious looks she was receiving and counted something on her fingers as she muttered to herself. As she touched the last finger she held up, her eyes lit up and her face split into a huge grin – the happiest Sasuke had seen her in a while.

"Suna!" she cried. "It's Suna this time! Woohoo!" Saying that, she jumped up energetically and did a ridiculous happy-dance. "Today's schedule is cancelled, I gotta go see obaachan!" And she sprinted off in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

The kunoichi sat up. "What got into her?" she asked, looking in the direction Naruto had sped off in.

One of the Hyuuga boys answered with a snort, "Nothing's gotten into her. She's Keimei-sensei."

Yeah, that's Naruto alright. But what had Suna to do with her sudden exhilaration? Wondered Sasuke, and his expression darkened when he realized Gaara was in Suna. He got up and stalked off, determined to find the silver-haired pervert and find out what was going on.

To Sasuke's frustration, he couldn't find Kakashi anywhere yesterday, so he had headed home, since it had been almost evening by the time he gave up on locating Kakashi. The dobe had arrived maybe an hour after he had, and had been grinning widely. She had, and still was, in better spirits than he had seen her so far. She had been whistling tunelessly to herself while preparing dinner, and during dinner, she had broken into huge grins every few minutes or so for no apparent reason.

And it had irked Sasuke. Which was why he was now trying to meditate at a location that was conveniently near where the dobe had gathered her team.

The dobe was practically bouncing in place. "Oi, oi! I've got something really great for you guys!"

The genin kunoichi seemed to have contracted the dobe's enthusiasm. "Really, sensei? What is it? What is it?"

The dobe grinned so wide it was a miracle her face didn't split into half. She pulled out a few pieces of paper from her rear weapons pouch and waved them excitedly. One of the Hyuuga perked up, and the other raised an eyebrow.

"Nominations!" the dobe blurted out. "For the chuunin selection exams!"

The genin kunoichi let out a surprised sound, and the Hyuuga looked interested.

"I'm nominating you for the chuunin exams, these are the forms. If you wanna go for it, all you have to do is fill them up and return them to me when we meet up tomorrow. No pressure, okay? The decision is entirely up to you. Go for it only if you really want to," the blonde said, waving a hand around as she spoke.

The genin kunoichi waved a hand. "What will the exams be like, Naruto-sensei?"

A couple of mischievous chuckles were heard. "Na-ah! I can't tell you anything. But what I can say is that I wouldn't have nominated you guys unless I was confident of your abilities. If I didn't think you guys were ready, I wouldn't have nominated you, even though the exams are in Suna this time."

"Suna?" the genin kunoichi drawled slowly. "What's so special about Suna…" She brightened and snapped her fingers. "Now I remember – your best friend is in Suna, right? The one who took you on a date?"

Sasuke felt like scowling when he saw the dobe splutter. The genin girl squealed.

"Eriko! Shush!" the blonde flapped a hand at the girl, who grinned at her. "And none of your business, you two!" she added, as one of the Hyuuga opened his mouth to say something. "Back to the subject! Think about the exams and decide tonight, and I'll see you guys tomorrow, kay? Now go! Shoo, shoo!" she made shooing motions at the genin and laughed.

The genin left the training ground, and the blonde hummed to herself as she trailed behind them at a more languid pace. Sasuke abandoned his meditation and stalked swiftly to her side.

"Hmm?" the blonde turned to him, as if mildly surprised to see him there. He noted she had a slight dreamy look to her face. "Oh, hey, Sasuke. I'm going to get a few things I'll need for going to Suna. You want something specific for dinner? I can get it on the way."

His expression turned cold. "What makes you think all your genin are going to enter the exams?"

Her cheerfulness dropped a little. "I know them better than you. I think they're ready, and I think they'd want to go for it." She turned to him, expression searching. "Why do you ask?"

He didn't reply, and she narrowed her eyes at him, but didn't question him further. Sasuke noticed from the corner of his eye that her cheerfulness returned.

"Can't wait to see Gaara again!" she exclaimed, mainly to herself, and grinned. "It's been almost six months, I think. Heheh. I'm really looking forward to meeting him. And Kujira-sensei, too! Hmmm, maybe I should bring them something from Konoha… hey, Sasuke," she turned to the man beside her," What do you think I should get for them?"

Sasuke felt something stirring in him that he didn't want to analyze. Instead, he glared coldly at her and walked ahead, leaving her staring confusedly at his back. He heard her mutter loudly, "What's gotten into him? Bastard."

"Obaachan!" came the loud cry.

At her desk, Tsunade rubbed her temples and muttered, "How many times have I told her…"

A few seconds later, the door banged open and Naruto smoothly evaded a rather sharp-looking letter-opener that was hurled her way. She grinned widely at the older blonde.

"We're going to Suna!" she exclaimed excitedly. "My whole team agreed, so we're going to Suna!"

A faint, fond smile curved Tsunade's lips for a few seconds. "Alright, brat. Calm down."

Naruto remained grinning as she bounced excitedly in one spot before finally noticing the other two shinobi in the office.

"Eh? Sasuke? Kaka-sensei? what are you guys doing here?" she asked curiously, raising an eyebrow at them. Kakashi-sensei's nose was buried in his book of smut, so he greeted her with his usual half-hearted wave. Sasuke's face was blank, and he merely folded his arms without acknowledging her. Naruto scowled and stuck out her tongue at him, then turned to the Hokage.

"What are they doing here, Tsunade-obaachan?" she asked, quirking her head to one side. Tsunade exhaled loudly.

"Sasuke came to see me earlier today, together with Kakashi. He expressed his concerns about you leaving the village without him, meaning that there would be a chance Akatsuki might get to you before he can get to Itachi," Tsunade explained, rolling her eyes a little. Naruto scowled.

"What, so he wants to come along to Suna?" she asked, turning to scowl at Sasuke, who stared back with his usual expressionless face.

Tsunade sighed. "Yes. As a matter of fact, I had anticipated this, and informed the Kazekage of the possibility that Sasuke might have to tag along if your team were to sign up for the exams. The Kazekage has replied to say that he understands the situation, and is willing to tolerate the presence of your husband in Suna for the duration of the exams. Don't look at me like that," Tsunade added at Naruto's expression, "Those were his words, not mine."

Naruto crossed her arms and scowled. "And I suppose my usual escorts will be coming along?" she asked a little sullenly.

"Yes. Only as far as Suna's gates, though. The Kazekage says he willingly takes responsibility for your safety during your stay, and will use all means necessary to keep you safe." Tsunade frowned a little, then sighed before continuing. "Your usual escorts will accompany you back after the exams. The Kazekage even offered to send Suna escorts for your journey to and from Suna, but I believe our own ANBU are enough. It was very accommodating of him to suggest it, though."

Naruto nodded her head with a small smile. "Yeah, Gaara's sweet like that," she said, ignoring the incredulous look Tsunade shot her at her choice of words, and oblivious to the way Sasuke's expression turned frigid, although it was not lost on the two older ninja.

"Sasuke, your escorts will not be accompanying you to Suna. However, if you try to run away during the journey or the stay at Suna, I will not hesitate to activate your seal and kill you the moment I receive confirmation of your desertion. And let me remind you that no matter where you might try to run to, the seal will still kill you upon activation." Tsunade's face and voice were dead serious.

Honestly, Sasuke hadn't even thought about trying to escape.

"Whatever. As long as I actually get to go to Suna and see Gaara!" Naruto grinned widely.

Sasuke's expression became positively frosty, and with a terse nod in the Hokage's direction, he strode out of the room. Kakashi sighed and followed, not taking his eyes off the book. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"What's gotten into him?" she mused aloud. "First yesterday at the training ground, and now again. I'm the male-turned-female, but he seems to be the one PMS-ing."

Tsunade sighed again. Was Naruto really that dense? "Keimei… you're more happy than I've seen you be in a long time, and it's because you're going to see Gaara, right?"

Naruto nodded. Her face still registered confusion. "Yeah, I'm really looking forward to see him again."

Tsunade made an exasperated noise. "And I'm sure you've been mentioning seeing the Kazekage again quite often, right?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with Sasuke PMS-ing…" her face cleared, then showed incredulity. "Wait. Are you trying to say he's acting all touchy coz he's jealous?"

Tsunade smirked. "Such a clever girl you are, Keimei."

Naruto scowled at the veiled insult to her intelligence. "That's crazy. Why on earth would Sasuke be jealous of me getting to see Gaara? He doesn't care; why should he be jealous?"

Tsunade shot her a deadpan look, and Naruto raised an eyebrow slowly, before laughing incredulously.

"Are you suggesting he really is jealous? Because he cares? That's ridiculous, Tsunade-obaachan. Sasuke doesn't care – all he wants is Itachi-bait."

The older blonde smiled indulgently at her. "You never know, Keimei. You've changed so many people – who knows? You just might change Sasuke, too."

Naruto's face became blank, and she laughed a tinge bitterly. "That would be the day, obaachan. I've tried so hard, but I couldn't bring him back. I've tried to reason with him years ago at the Valley of the End, but he wouldn't listen. And now he's here just because I'm conveniently attracting Itachi's attention. I doubt he'd change." She looked to the floor, so that her bangs were shadowing her eyes. "He's the one person who always seems out of my reach. But I'm happy as long as he's safe."

Tsunade looked sharply at her. "What's gotten into you? The Naruto I know doesn't give up."

Naruto just exhaled loudly and looked at Tsunade with weary eyes, then grinned brightly as she changed the topic. "I wanna bring Gaara and Kujira-sensei something from Konoha! What do you suggest, obaachan? I was thinking some of those dango that seem to be so popular. Or maybe those tarts that Eriko likes so much."

The older blonde folded her arms under her bust and gave Naruto a searching stare, but decided to humour Naruto's reluctance to continue the discussion. She answered, "I suppose the tarts would be fine. I hear they're really quite good."

Naruto brightened. "Okay! I'd better go get some today, since we'll be leaving tomorrow. See you in about a month and a half, Tsunade-obaachan!" She bounced out of the office, only to almost bang into someone at the corner of the corridor.

The aged female elder wrinkled her nose at the blonde.

"Ah, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. I have been meaning to talk to you for quite a while now."

Naruto eyed the old lady with distaste. "Don't mean to be rude, but I've to go find my genin. I'll see you some other time, baabaa." She started to walk off, but the lady continued talking.

"Just a minute or two of your time, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. How is your marriage? It doesn't seem to be very productive so far," the elder said, with a pointed glance at Naruto's midsection. The blonde's expression darkened in embarrassment and anger.

"None of your business, baabaa," she retorted bitingly.

The old lady smirked. "Oh, but it is. I'm sure you remember the details of our deal, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. Sharingan babies in return for keeping your precious friend out of prison."

Naruto glared heatedly at her. "I know the conditions. My memory is fine, since I'm still young."

The old lady glared at her for that jab, then smirked. "Exactly. Since you are still young, you should have no problems in upholding your end of the deal, yes? Are you two even sleeping together?"

Contempt leaked into Naruto's glare and her voice was icy. "None of your business, baabaa, but we are sleeping together." It wasn't exactly a lie, but it would be enough to pacify the old bat. For now. "These things take time."

The old lady nodded indulgently. "Yes, they do. As long as you're trying, Uchiha-Uzumaki-san. I expect to see results soon. We won't wait forever."

She calmly took her eyes off Naruto and walked away. Naruto was left clenching her fists angrily, and stomped off, only to almost bang into someone else as she rounded the next corner.

"Sorry!—Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired medic nin looked a little stunned and flustered at the same time, and was gripping a rather thick book to her chest. She avoided Naruto's eyes. Naruto felt the awkwardness, and shuffled self-consciously.

"Eh…heheh. Well, it's good to see you're fine. I'm fine, and the bastard's fine, Kakashi-sensei and Sai are probably fine…" Naruto rambled, scratching the back of her head, and started to move around her former teammate. "I'll see you around, Sakura-chan."

She managed to give the medic a grin, and was walking off when a hand latched onto her wrist. She was jerked back a little and turned around in surprise. "Sakura-chan?"

"Naruto… I…" Sakura bit her lip and released her hold on Naruto's wrist, then tried to look the blonde in the eye, but could only hold the eye-contact for a few seconds before she looked away. "I overheard your conversation with Koharu-sama."

Naruto winced a little. "Oh… Uh…"

"I guess what you told me was true all along," Sakura continued softly, the words coming out hesitantly and a little grudgingly. "That you married Sasuke as part of a mission. Koharu-sama mentioned that your marriage was keeping Sasuke out of prison… in return for Sharingan babies."

Naruto winced again. "Uh, yeah… that old hag's the one who came up with the whole crazy idea." Then her eyes widened as she remembered the last part of the conversation. "Uh, Sakura-chan, about Sasuke and me s-sleeping together – it isn't what it sounds like! I was just trying to get the hag off my back, and…"

Sakura cut her off. "Naruto." Her arms tightened around the book she was hugging to her chest. "…good luck to your team in Suna, ne? And don't let Sasuke-kun piss you off too much."

Blue eyes widened. A small smile stretched Naruto's lips at Sakura-chan's slight, though obvious, gesture of reconciliation. The smile widened into a grin. "Sure thing, Sakura-chan! My team's gonna kick so much ass!"

A tentative smile appeared on Sakura-chan's face, and her green eyes flickered with repressed emotion. "See you when you return, then, Naruto."

The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! We'll all go for ramen!"

Sakura laughed softly and started to walk away. "Yeah, we will. Stay safe, Naruto."

Naruto grinned widely and waved at Sakura-chan's retreating back. "Bye, Sakura-chan!"

The pink-haired medic lifted a hand in acknowledgement without turning around. Naruto grinned, and turned on her heel back to the direction she had been going in, feeling a large burden slip off her shoulders. In no time, she and Sakura-chan would be friends again. In no time at all.

The Author has More to Say: I can't remember who it was who asked in a review whether Gaara would make a reappearance… well, now you know! ;-) And Sakura's getting over her bitch episode, too :-)

Reviews and constructive criticism much appreciated!