Title: Sasuke's Heart: Denied?

Author: Ladye Black

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: No, not mine. The characters, I mean.

Notes: I am so sorry for taking so long with this. It's been a very busy life for me out in the real world. Also, Wong's name is taken partly from a friend of mine who died in an accident a couple months ago...Uh, yeah, there's some foreshadowing for ya.

Chapter 7

The man was really starting to get on his nerves, Sasuke thought as he felt his left eye dangerously. Can't he take a hint?, the Jounin thought, aggravated, glaring at the grinning diplomat. Honestly, it's beyond me how he got his current position if he can't even take a hint.

For the last hour-and-a-half, the diplomat known as Wong 'Please, call me Xi' Xiao, had been slowly, but steadily, driving Sasuke insane. I swear, if he pinches my butt one more time... Suddenly, he felt a sharp pull at his bottom. Sasuke decided that he was well within his rights to snap now.

"All right, that's it!" he said, sharply turning around. "I don't know who you think you are, but I have had enough! If I feel you pinching my ass one more time, I can guarantee you'll arrive at our destination with injuries!"

"Maa, maa," the older man said, grinning. "I was wondering how long it'd take before you finally exploded."

"What?" Sasuke asked coldly, glaring at the diplomat.

"Well," the man started, now a little sheepish. "You just seemed so uptight, the temptation was too great. I just wanted to try and get you to relax a little."

"And you thought pinching my ass every two minutes would do the trick?" Sasuke asked coldly. He heard Naruto snigger from behind him. "Don't even get me started on you, baka." The sniggering stopped.

"Please, everyone," Sakura interjected. "I don't think you're taking this very seriously, Wong-san. It's our duty to keep you safe, distracting one of the team members can be dangerous. We need to be on alert for every second of this mission."

Wong glanced apologetically at her, then returned his gaze to Sasuke. "She's right. I'm sorry for having made your job more difficult than it already is. Please, forgive me."

"It's fine, let's just get going. I don't want to be at this longer than we have to be." Sasuke turned and headed in their original direction. "But be warned, if you start doing something like that again, I will hurt you."

"Then why not turn him over to me," came a voice from his left. Sasuke froze, the voice somehow familiar.

"Who are you?" he asked, getting ready to throw the kunai that he had pulled at the sound of the voice.

"I'm hurt." The voice was now above him. Shit, this wasn't good, he hadn't heard them move. "Don't you remember me, little brother?" And Uchiha Itachi emerged from the trees.

"Itachi," Sasuke whispered. The older Uchiha laughed derisively.

"So, you do remember me."

Getting over his surprise, Sasuke took up a defensive position once again. "It's hard to forget the face of the man who massacred his whole family."

Itachi's face showed only cold amusement. "Except for one," he reminded the younger boy.

"Which was a mistake," Sasuke said before leaping at his brother. The dark-haired Jounin was unsurprised when his brother dodged him easily. It had only been a diversionary tactic, after all.

"I see you haven't improved much," Itachi sneered.

Sasuke brought his blade up. "I have not even yet begun, Itachi."

"C'mon," Sakura whispered, tugging at Wong's robe.

The man glared at her. "You're just going to leave him?!" the man asked incredulously. Sakura shook her head.

"We need to get you safe first; Sasuke is only going to distract him for a bit. As it is, Sasuke is probably the only one who can defeat his brother."

Wong looked back before following the two young Jounin. "Is it true?"

Sakura didn't pretend to misunderstand. "Yes, Sasuke is Itachi's younger brother by seven years. I think, at one time, they were very close."

"Why do you think Itachi did such a thing?" Naruto asked.

Sakura shrugged. "For power, most likely."

Naruto shuddered. "I don't even wanna think about what kind of person would kill their whole family just to gain power."

"Neither do I," Sakura agreed quietly.

TBC...

Well, how was that? I think I actually like how this came out. Again, sorry for being so long. Thank you all for your encouragement and support.