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WARNING: Fluffiness is roaming free somewhere in this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto characters only the plot of the story.

The Revival of The Clan

Chapter 25

~My Gift Is You~

After that day at the Ichiraku ramen stand many things changed, but most of all, the people started treating us quite differently.

Tsunade-sama obviously was delighted to hear that Sasuke and I are... well together officially. Let's just say that the village was in urgent need of sake supplies... But, Tsunade-sama was the 'easy' part of it. I could hardly stand the glances and chuckles of the others.

When Sasuke was with me he could scare everyone away. All seem to avoid the infamous 'Deadly Uchiha Sasuke Glare'. (Actually that glare could be easily nominated as a ferocious and intimidating technique along with the other types of Ninja Arts. Sasuke's eyes are surely scary!) I could not do that. I did not possess the 'Deadly Uchiha glare'. I looked more of a weakling when I was in his presence really. At any rate, the deadly glare fulfilled its purpose wonderfully...

As the Hokage herself confessed to me, she was waiting the time when Sasuke would burst into her office with my corpse following behind. To be frank most of the people believed that something like that would happen. Those rumors made me gulp and be more careful not to make Sasuke angry. I certainly did not want to end up dead and Sasuke carrying my corpse as a 'battle medal' or worse as garbage ready to be disposed to the junk yard.

In any case, many people who knew us were happy and excited as well. However, I hardly escaped those fan girls ready to attack me for 'stealing Sasuke-kun'. The attacks were now a daily routine. Thank Kami I've been through ANBU training! They were such a nuisance, but I kind of understand how the girls felt, so I felt a little guilty. I even took the hit a couple times on purpose in order to atone for that 'unforgivable sin'.

Sakura and of course Ino were trying to help me gain a little confidence and backbone. The blonde especially wanted to transform me to an 'Uchiha bomb' as she would like to call it. My savior, Hinata was always there to rescue me from Ino's claws. My personality matched Hinata's in a lot more ways that everyone else's, so that deemed her my loyal best friend.

However, Sakura was the one being with me almost the entire time. I tried to atone for what I did to her multiple times and in any way I could. I knew she was secretly suffering for not being able to have Sasuke, but every time I managed to talk about it I ended up in the hospital again with multiple bruises and bone fractures. That girl was truly dangerous! When I was thinking what Naruto and Sai had endured I really shivered.

Sasuke and I were meeting each other every day now. We talked about many things, but no one ever mentioned the real reason behind our teaming up and meeting. No one would even think to speak about the revival of the clan for a long time. It's too early…We didn't even live together.

Everything was strange for both of us, that was certain at least.

Nevertheless, we spent our days with each other outside and inside our houses talking and just spending some quality time. We weren't acting like love-sick teenagers…that wasn't Sasuke…that wasn't me. In front of others we hardly even acted as a couple. Plus, I still didn't know how to act as a girlfriend anyway, despite Ino's continual efforts to get me to learn 'at least the basic stuff'. It was the first time I was a 'bad student'.

Our missions weren't the same for Sasuke and I. I was sent to ANBU missions sometimes whereas Sasuke was mostly at the village, taking care of various incidents and missions. There were some really important issues he had to take care of. For two Sharingan users to be on the same team anyway, the mission had to be something more than A-rank.

Only some people knew about me, I mean my real identity, but we never made an announcement for safety and for secrecy. There was no reason for everyone to know. We knew…most of our friends were informed so were all the others that needed to. That was all.

Nonetheless, nobody was fully informed yet. The Uchiha Clan's secrets were still safe. All those schemes, the Massacre, Itachi, everything was kept completely hidden from them, only existing deep within our hearts. The only thing our nakama knew is that I was secretly raised so I escaped the Massacre.

One more thing worth mentioning is the long-awaited (for Naruto) Chunin Exams, which was partially the reason why Sasuke was forced to be stationed in the village most of the time. Sasuke and Naruto were still Genin technically, so they needed to go through that stage as well.

Of course they passed with flying colors. It was extremely 'difficult' for them indeed. They really tried hard not to eradicate the rest of the Genin that participated just with a simple move of theirs...

I was seated along with Sakura, Hinata, Ino and Tenten and we were all cheering for both Naruto and Sasuke(even though lots of people were loudly hooting during Sasuke's turn simply because they haven't accepted him back in Konoha yet), much to the rest of the boys' distaste; like how Shikamaru murmured "Troublesome women. You are too damn loud.", or Kiba yelling "What the hell is so damn special about those two bastards?", or Neji huffing at every move they performed, or Choji complaining about "Why don't you want to have Barbecue after this? Ramen is good too...".

In the midst of my cheering, I silently chuckled and snickered. I was very amused about the boys complaints -and how the girls properly retaliated for their pestering murmur- meaning: ruthless punches.

It made me feel I was a part of a company, of a greater group and not just the emotionless and reserved ANBU units. In the meantime I made sure to grimly glare at Sasuke's hooters with all my might. Sakura and the fan-girls were 'assisting' me as well.

Back to the ranking system, Sasuke was extremely hasty and took part in the very next Jonin exams as well, rather successfully of course. Naruto prepared to participate in the next one after that, but after being informed about Sasuke's participation in the upcoming Jonin selection...let's say that nothing could hold Naruto back anymore.

Speaking of Naruto's enthusiasm, the Hokage-to-be managed to convince Shikamaru into taking the Jonin Exams along with Naruto. After everyone tried really hard to persuade Shikamaru it seemed that only Naruto's obnoxiousness was finally enough to 'compel' the Nara to participate.

Sakura and most of the other girls needed some more time, since they were extremely busy with their other responsibilities, like Sakura and Ino had with the medical-ninja duties.

Hinata wanted to teach at the Academy, but Tenten wanted to be a Jonin soon, so she decided to train some more and take the next Jonin exams, after the one the boys took, as well.

The rest of the boys were always changing their minds. Only Kiba was adamant to take the very next Jonin exam, especially when he learned that Sasuke was about to achieve the Jonin rank.

Those men were honestly extremely competitive sometimes.

Needless to say the Jonin exams were a piece of cake as well and now Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba made it to Jonin, with Sasuke and Naruto leaving the Proctors agape once again. One would think that the world would be used by now into experiencing Naruto's and Sasuke's displays of those crazy techniques. And yet everyone was gawking every single time.

I was mostly astonished by Shikamaru's ingenious mind though. I never had the chance to experience it first-hand before. Yes, I happened to witness some of his tactics and plans during the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but it was amazing to see it again anyway and so closely to boot. As for Sasuke and Naruto..well I did not expect no less of them...

Back to the daily routine, I had lots and lots of missions, regular or ANBU, to keep me busy. I even had some missions along with Yamato, a fellow ANBU and occasional captain of Team Kakashi. I was acquainted with him for a long time now. I used to call him 'Tenzo'. Tsunade-sama said that he had been informed of my identity as a fellow member of Team Kakashi. Plus, as I came to realize he was one of the few that was informed about 'the entire truth', just like Naruto and Kakashi-senpai. Yamato-senpai has suffered a lot during the War, being held captive, so he needed a lot of time to recuperate before he could resume his regular missions. We spent a lot of time talking together. He is a really pleasant man.

My missions though, weren't even difficult anymore. That fact made me suspect that a certain someone had a lot of influence and persuasion skills. Why else would I be assigned with not-extremely-deadly missions all of a sudden, when I was mostly a constant member for the S-Rank and A-Rank Missions just some time ago?

Things passed smoothly and my friends were hanging out with me most of the time. Hinata and I were training together almost every other day. Neji helped as well, mostly Hinata though.

Sasuke was not very excited about this. They were Hyuuga after all. He couldn't help it though. Hinata is, was and will be my friend.

After my bandages were removed completely and my eyes finally adjusted to the change without needing the eye drops, I had training sessions to exercise my eye techniques. I wasn't allowed to use the Sharingan in the open, mostly for safety reasons, but I was using it far more often than I used to.

Kakashi-senpai and Sasuke, well mostly Sasuke, were helping me daily. Sasuke even tried to teach me how to make use of the Mangekyo, not too excessively though in order to protect my eyes. I even managed to use Tsukuyomi for a while. It was…hm... not perfect but not utterly bad. It was mediocre, but I didn't have much of a chance to exercise it further.

Sasuke wouldn't let me use the Mangekyo really often. He had experienced fist hand what are the results of the overuse, so this time he swore to be extra cautious. Maybe a little overprotective at times. Nonetheless, we even had the spar we had promised each other during our first mission.

Naturally, I lost.

...

We were panting hard. The Training Ground seemed unrecognizable anymore. I was defeated and now lying on the heated ground -due to the Katon techniques we used- with the victorious Sasuke sitting over me like that first day we ever fought. Our Sharingan was active, and our scarlet eyes seemed to still ignite ferocious flames, even though none of us casted the Amaterasu at that exact point. My vermillion eyes were locked on his. For several moments we were just staring at each other.

"You are improving…" Sasuke stated at last.

"Well, thank you…" I managed to utter between my hard breathing. Our chests were moving erratically trying to catch our breaths. We were all sweaty, but the smell wasn't bad at all. Well, at least for me.

"I had a good teacher, you see…" I said and he smirked wickedly. At last my intense breathing and uneven heartbeat were slowing down, but Sasuke was yet to move. His warm body now rested on me. I could feel every inch of him, but that made my breathing even harder to stabilize.

"You can move now, you know." I finally said.

"And if I don't want to move?" he teased with his lips forming that gorgeous smirk again. Suddenly he leaned even closer with his lips almost touching mine.

"Sasuke please…I stink! I am all sweaty!" I tried to make him go away, even though I never wanted such thing, but let's just not go there for now.

"I don't see how that's a bad thing…" He trailed off while placing his lips on mine, just slightly, only a peck. It was enough to make me want more, but not enough at all. That teme! (evident result of Naruto's influence here) He was trying to seduce me!

I was blushing -now I was redder than those damn tomatoes Sasuke adores- from exhaustion and from our intimate touch.

"Hey Uchiha-bastard, Aelia!" I heard a voice calling. By the voice, the chakra signature and the smell I realized it was Kiba. He came to train with Shino and Akamaru apparently. Sasuke rolled his eyes in frustration.

"I thought I smelt dog stink." the raven man grunted.

Eventually, I managed to push Sasuke away and stand up pretending nothing ever happened whilst removing the dust from my clothes. That damn Sasuke! He smirked again and he was constantly looking at me while standing up straight too.

...

It wasn't a big deal though. I gave it my all. I wasn't easy to deal with either. I had made improvement but I was no prodigy like Sasuke or Naruto. I was a mediocre Uchiha genius…I wasn't even close to Itachi, Sasuke's deceased older brother so 'Uchiha genius' can be a misleading title. To put it simply I was extremely skillful like the Uchihas and Senju were. That alone could be considered a great achievement. Albeit, Sasuke and Naruto were my friends and teammates, therefore the comparison was unavoidable.

Almost six months passed like flowing water. I had never been happier in my entire life…well now I had a life at least…

After so many years I could finally do what the other shinobi could: have some fun, spend time with friends, laugh, tease, live with love and excitement, live a happy life. I bet that mother and father would be happy if they could see me now…

You know I love you mom, dad, don't you? I feel happy. I have friends. I am a Konoha Shinobi, but I have friends that I love and they love me back. I even have a man to love and rely on and he is the last Uchiha. He is one of the strongest shinobi ever existed, I think. I- I get a feeling that he loves me too….

Mom, Dad… I am happy…I am happy again, even though I was yet to show a genuine smile since the moment you left my life...

"How did the mission go?" Sasuke asked me when I went to meet him as planned. Before I answered, I planted a chaste kiss on his lips.

"It was ok…like always."

"Hn. That's my woman." He said kissing me back and licking my bottom lip, causing a trail of goosebumps cascade down my spine in his wake.

We used to meet where the Uchiha Compound used to be, but lately he asked me to meet him close to my house. This particular time he would wait in the back street near Tenten's apartment.

"How did yours go? Did you have any at all or did you just stay here?" I probed, but now he was wrapping his arms around me.

"One mission. Boring..."He swiftly told me while gently kissing my neck once.

"How are the others?" I asked but he didn't answer right away; he was busy placing more kisses on my neck and I tried to move a little away, with no luck of course, since his arms around me left me with no freedom of movement.

"Hn. I was with dobe just now. He told me to kiss you in his stead."

"Liar…" I teased and a pout crawled into my face. He merely smirked again.

Sasuke was gradually starting to change. I think he was slightly happier, slightly more cheerful, and even playful sometimes.

"Well, he did say to give you his greetings and love anyways...Probably...I opted not to hear his racket of a voice." He said and started kissing me again.

"What's all of a sudden? You seem really...I don't know... excited tonight…?" I asked him in puzzlement.

"Hn. I missed my woman." He stated while meeting my lips again.

"I missed you too, Sasuke." With these words I held his face with my hands coddling his cheeks and keeping him close. He seemed to like my gesture.

"Hm…you are starting to be more and more bold and active...so sassy!" He told me whilst capturing my now puffy lips again with his.

"What do you mean?" I asked while moving a little away from the kiss.

"A few weeks, even days ago you would just blush when I was merely looking at you, not to mention kissing you. Now you want to kiss me yourself?" another smirk crawled in his lips.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Do I seem dissatisfied to you?" he teased again. He was now demanding to part my lips with his. We were still on the streets. He knew I was holding back.

"What is it, Aelia?" He asked me.

"Nothing..." I shrugged leisurely. He arched an inquisitive eyebrow."Well, it's that…I don't want anyone to see us…"

"Why not? Don't you like being with me?"

"Of course I do! I just don't want to give anyone the chance to talk behind our backs, that's all."

"Yeah, like we aren't the talk of the damn village already." This time I felt my face warm and flustered. "Hn. I love that blush…" He murmured trying hard not to be heard. Sasuke laughed and pressed his lips on mine again just slightly in a playful manner. Why did he seem so insatiable tonight?

"Don't tease me!" I 'scolded' and put my hands on his shoulders blades, pushing him away a little.

"Or else?" He smirked and tried to kiss me again.

"You will make me do something I don't want to..."

"And what would that be?" he asked with a teasing tone again. The moment he tried to find my lips for one more kiss of utter delight, I moved away. Quite frankly Sasuke seemed a little surprised.

"Now you are playing dirty" He said while crossing his arms over his chiseled chest. I crossed my arms too, averted my eyes and show him my tongue playfully.

"Then don't tease me!"

"I will tease you as long as I like, woman!"

Now…that's what I meant by playful. That was a huge personality twist. Fortunately (or not) this didn't happen very often.

"Says who?" I turned to look at him.

I was startled over my own words. Since when did I sound and act so brash all of a sudden? Ino's lessons had finally started to take effect it seems. I couldn't decide if that was good or bad at this point.

Suddenly, I felt Sasuke closer to me. He placed his full of muscles and yet slender arms around my torso, holding me prisoner in his grip.

"I do! " He retorted and gave me an aggressive kiss this time. I tried to escape him but he tightened his grip even more."Where do you think you are going? Apologize first!"

"No! You teased me first. I had to counterattack!"

"Hm my little girl feels rebellious today? You are so sassy indeed!" Sasuke's voice was laced with a vexing tone. Our foreheads where connected all the time.

"Little girl? I am a proper adult now and a Jonin for ages, Uchiha!"

"So what? I am a Jonin and an adult too and I am stronger than you! I am the boss here! Not to mention the Head of your Clan!"

Still teasing me, damn him! He is so adorable though…

In any case that last part was true. He of course was the Head of the Uchiha Clan, well the remnants of what used to be a clan at least. He attended the councils with the Heads of the Noble Clans of Konoha along with Akimichi Choza, Hyuuga Hiashi and Aburame Shibi. Soon, Choji and Shino were about to replace their fathers in the meetings but nothing was certain about the Hyuuga Clan. They still had problems concerning the next heir. Hinata, Neji and Naruto, as the next Hokage and Hinata's boyfriend tried everything they could.

There were even discussions about the Nara, Inuzuka and Yamanaka Clan representatives.

"Hm. I doubt about that, Mister Boss." I retorted mockingly. Who was I kidding? Like I did not know he is the Uchiha Sasuke and could squash me with ease.

"Hn. That again! The more you talk back to me the more payback you get, woman! You are never going to escape me." Sasuke 'threatened' with his beautiful charcoal eyes narrowed at me.

"Don't put it that way! It's tempting to talk back to you then." I snickered and inwardly slapped myself for my words. Yes…definitely Ino would be proud for me now.

Nice...I have to remind myself to stop listening to Sakura and Ino anymore. Where is the coy and nice Aelia I know?

Am I turning into a fan girl?

Anyway, this time I had the upper hand in our 'kissing battle' with Sasuke. One point for me at last!

"Hn, that's more how I like it." I could almost see his smirk.

After a while he broke our kiss, but I knew he wanted something more...

"So, are you having plans for tonight?" He asked with one of his refined eyebrows raised.

"Hm…Maybe I have. Why do you ask?" I was the one teasing this time. That was quite true...Tenten wanted to have a midnight kunai throwing session after my mission and hers and I had promised her I would join the training for sure. However, we did not specifically talked about this one night, so I still had some freedom of movement.

"I was wondering...maybe the kind Uchiha girl would like to have a walk with me..." Sasuke said while leaning closer to me again.

"I will think about it. Please wait for my answer." I abruptly whirled to leave but, Sasuke way faster and grabbed my arm stopping me in my tracks.

"I need an answer now, woman! I have to arrange my dates."

I froze at these words. Goose bumps traveled down my spine mercilessly. Jitters started storming my body.

"Dates?" I was something more than indignant, flabbergasted. "Explain yourself Uchiha!" I crossed my arms stubbornly and waited for a response.

"Now…are we getting jealous, honey?" he teased again.

'Honey'? For the love of God…what did he want? I did not respond whatsoever. He pulled me back, close to him and kissed the top of my hair.

"Did you really think that I would cheat on you?

"Probably no. I trust you, but I can't help it. So many girls are after you…."

"Indeed, but I chose one and that's final, so erase the 'probably' from your sentence." he stated kissing me again."So are you coming or not?" He tried to walk away, while looking at me.

"Do I really have a choice?" I asked but soon followed him, Sasuke yet again smirked. Like hell I had...

"So what is the walk about? I asked after a while.

"What? Can't I take a walk with my girlfriend?" He vexed but I raised my eyebrow as a response."Hn, let's say that I was thinking about offering you a gift..."

"A gift? Again? Why?" I asked tightening the my grip around his hand. "I have you by my side, Sasuke. That's enough of a gift for me." He smirked at my words.

I meant every word of it though. Was I being irrational? Love-struck? Perhaps...I couldn't help it though...

"Hn, good to know." he winked at me. "But I have something better than that."

"Hm…that's impossible and you know it." A small genuine smile was now playing at my lips. Sasuke merely 'hn'ed again in return.

"You will see hime, just wait."

That's strange…he rarely calls me hime. Sasuke does that when he is about to say something really important…

I couldn't help but wonder… Life with Uchiha Sasuke is truly a mystery, an adventure, a constant surprise, and of course it's nothing like I expected it to be.

Author's note: And fluffy it is. (in comparison with this story of course)Is it that bad? T.T I wanted some sweet moments between the two. I hope you liked it. I wanted to show that Aelia is gradually changing along with Sasuke, but she is changing the most. She is not that shy and closed to herself anymore. Even her way of thinking is more bold and enthusiastic. I hope it shows that I gradually kind of changing the writing style just a little, for the whole purpose of showing that change in Aelia. She was nothing like that 20 chapters ago... Well I am not that talented so it might not be like I intended it to be, so...yeah...

By the way...Oh My God! 25th chapter! :O

Hey...I hope you don't think this is the end..We are not nearly over, I have said that before(I am too excited to show you what happens next that's why I keep saying that..:P so please pay no heed to my craziness...) Aelia and Sasuke have a lot more things to go through, good and bad. :P

Please do not hesitate to review, ne... ^.^