Wow . . . my junior year is over. It's almost come time to start applying to colleges and I just really need to wind down. I've actually had most of this chapter completed for about the past year (damn!) and it's just been sitting on my computer.
So lately I've been re-examining my work and I'm really displeased at the writer I've become. I've written for a lot of contests and done some serious digging into my material and I feel like I no longer have "mass appeal" or whatever you might call it. I'll try to change that with resurrecting "Anathema" and hopefully you guys will be able to bear with me. Besides . . it's one of my few SasuNaru's that I still like.
I plan to edit the first chapter sometime soon, you know, clean up errors.
Thank you for all your support everyone!
6/2/05 - Maiden
o o o o o o o o
Moonlight broke through the dark clouds to fan out across a certain blond boy's face as he lay in bed. The moonbeams, careful to highlight blue eyes that were wide and contemplating, softened Naruto's normally tan skin to a milky color.
'Sasuke . . . why would you come back at a time like this? Everything's fine and dandy now and you have to come and ruin it! That's so like you!'
Naruto carefully touched his lips with two fingers and closed his eyes, letting his mind drift back to the encounter had occurred only a couple of hours ago. He had missed that feeling, he didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he knew it.
The boy turned onto his side and now faced the sleeping girl who lay comfortably beside him. She had let her hair grow back over the years, and her long petal pink locks were strewn wildly about the pillow; her sleeping face was one of ease and happiness.
Naruto watched her figure rise and fall and gently reached over to brush an invading strand of hair out of her serene face.
Sakura-chan, you don't suspect anything do you? Does anybody suspect anything?
Images of all the shinobi that Sasuke had become tangled up with throughout the years began to encroach upon Naruto's thoughts.
What happened to Orochimaru? Did Sasuke finally kill his aniki? What will Kakashi-sensei do when he finds out?
The blond sighed and shook his head as he turned over again, closing his eyes tightly and willing himself to fall asleep. Only two seconds later, did a very disturbing thought enter his mind.
'Shit! Sasuke is now an S-class criminal and he's somewhere in my house!'
Of all the sleepless nights he had to endure, this one was by-far the worst
o o o o o o o
Coal-black eyes squinted as the dim light from the refrigerator lit up the dark kitchen. It was evident that Sasuke's bare feet had made no sound as they scaled the outside wall, slipped in an open window, and crossed the hardwood floors.
He carefully selected some leftover rice balls and an unopened bottle of water before turning around and calmly receiving a kunai pressed against his throat.
"Just make yourself right at home." Naruto snarled sarcastically, his grip tightening on his weapon.
"Oh thank you, I intend to." Sasuke responded dryly, casually taking a large bite out of the rice ball in his hand.
Naruto watched Sasuke chewing slowly and unconsciously drew back his kunai just enough to let Sasuke swallow without being stabbed in the throat.
"You're under arrest, you know that, and you're to be turned into the police quarters right now."
Sasuke smiled at the sound of "police quarters" and he watched carefully as Naruto flinched at the irony. Despite that, Sasuke chose to ignore Naruto's obvious act of trying to uphold the law and continued his seemingly friendly conversation.
"Since when do you stock your refrigerator with stuff other than ramen? I mean, since when do you even have a refrigerator? When I was last here it was all cup ramen and hot water boilers."
Naruto made no effort to respond and he stared uneasily at Sasuke for a moment. The blond watched Sasuke's lips gently meet the rim of the water bottle and finally, he lowered his kunai, seeing that the other man was in no mood to fight him.
"Since Sakura-chan moved in, she changed a lot of things."
"You don't say?" The younger Uchiha managed to answer between large gulps of water, careful not to let his eyes meet Naruto's.
"And when did Sakura-chan move in?"
"Last year."
"So you're saying it took you a whole eleven years after I left to finally court her? Naruto, I know you lacked talent with the ladies, but that is just pathetic." Sasuke answered playfully, flashing one of his sadistic smirks towards the irritated ninja standing before him.
"Fuck off Sasuke, we're getting married really soon."
"How soon?"
"As soon as I propose."
"And that is . . ."
Naruto twitched and a low, fox-like growl resounded from the back of his throat as his blue eyes narrowed into thin slits. Sasuke really was bothersome.
"Well, I was planning on doing it tomorrow."
Silence hung thick in the air and for a few, tense seconds the small kitchen was devoid of all movement. Both men stood glued to their spots, looking at each other strangely, wondering whether the next move would be to kill each other or to kiss each other.
Naruto finally coughed to break the silence.
"You are under arrest . . . still."
Sasuke closed his eyes, smirked, and slowly ran his hand through his spiky, dark hair before looking Naruto straight in the eyes with an angry, bloody stare.
"Moron, I don't plan on leaving anytime soon, and if you tell a single soul that I'm back in Konoha, I will kill the people closest to you before you can even say my name, that's a promise."
Somehow, for the second time that night, Sasuke slipped past all of Naruto's heightened defenses and managed to somehow get uncomfortably close to the blond boy's sensitive body.
"Now, about earlier . . ." Sasuke breathed out so quietly that Naruto had to strain his ears to hear the words. Two eager hands rested comfortably on Naruto's lower back and a sharp nose rose to lightly graze the tip of another.
"Sasuke, you can't do this." Naruto answered in a low, bitter voice. The blond ninja frowned to express his disapproval and tried his hardest to worm his way out of Sasuke's grasp.
Whether Sasuke was holding too tightly, or Naruto's body refused to give him the energy to free himself, Naruto didn't know.
"Do what?" The dark-haired man responded, imprinting a smirk against the tense flesh of Naruto's exposed neck.
The Uchiha was toying with him. Naruto knew it, Sasuke knew it.
Naruto sighed and gave in. He stopped diverting his gaze and looked plainly into eyes that had returned to their dark ebony color. Naruto could feel Sasuke's enjoyment and the moonlight twinkling in his coal-black eyes did not appease the young ninja at all.
"Where do you plan on staying, and why are you back in Konoha in the first place?" Naruto asked quietly, shuddering slightly as soft lips began sucking his skin. Despite the sensations running through his confused brain, Naruto was genuinely curious about the missing-nin's motives.
But by the time Naruto's words came out, Sasuke was already busy softly drawing circles in the blond boy's back and splaying wet kisses across the arch of his shoulder.
"Sasuke . . ." Naruto warned, his body tightening.
The Uchiha paused at the vehement uttering of his name. His moving stopped for a mere second before he lifted his head to become eye-level with Naruto.
"Yes?"
Naruto grew to hate the sharingan more that night
o o o o o o o o
"Naruto, how many times have I told you not to slip out at night and fall asleep on the roof?" Sakura's concerned and slightly carping voice woke Naruto from his dreams.
"You'll catch a terrible cold and you won't be able to do any missions!"
The blond boy sat up slowly, peering at his surroundings through his half-open eyes, which were currently blurry and unfocused. The cool morning wind blew against his raw skin and he shuddered lightly from the sensation.
Sakura kneeled in front of Naruto so that she was eye level with the sleepy ninja, allowing him to see her stern green eyes and the scowl pasted firmly on her pretty face.
"And why do you still smell like you did last night? Didn't you take a shower?" Sakura inquired while she tenderly flattened the creases in Naruto's pajama top and carefully selected which undone buttons to clasp together.
"Ohayo Sakura-Chan . . ." Naruto finally managed to mutter as he stifled a loud yawn with the back of his right hand.
"You missed the bird this morning, Tsunade wants to see us, hurry up and get going!"
Naruto blinked one more time before nodding and disappearing.
o o o o o o o o
Sakura latched on to Naruto's arm and smiled, closing her eyes serenely as the two of them strolled into Tsunade's spacious office that overlooked Konoha. To the couple's surprise, Kakashi stood in the middle of the room with another ninja neither Sakura nor Naruto recognized.
When the pink-haired medic-nin saw her former teacher, she immediately untangled herself from Naruto's arm and straightened up, smiling at Kakashi with her down-to-business demeanor.
Naruto nodded lightly at Kakashi and was preparing to turn to face the unknown ninja when Tsunade entered the room through another door. She quickly gestured towards some empty seats in front of her desk before taking a seat herself.
"Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, I'd like you to meet Kuro. He's a top member of the Konoha spy corps." The Hokage began while busying herself with pouring tea.
The three turned to look and nod at the stranger, who smiled back.
"That introduction may have given away your mission." Tsunade began again.
She looked over the four ninja sitting in front of her and sighed. Slowly, she let her elbows rest on her desk and she gently lay her chin atop her intertwined hands.
"We've been tracking the sound's activity for a while . . ."
Before Tsunade could finish her sentence, the door swung open and all five faces turned to glare at the brash intruder who had dared to invade the office in the middle of a mission debriefing.
"Gomen-nasai Hokage-sama! I came across a dead tanuki in the street and could help but stop and stare!" A purple-haired woman wearing a long, brown coat and a devious grin admitted as she strolled casually into the Godaime's office.
"For the love of God Anko . . . don't make such stupid excuses." Tsunade replied tartly, burying her frustrated face in her open palms while shaking her head in disbelief.
The younger woman raised her hands in her defense and grinned wider, muttering another apology before she turned and nodded her acknowledgement to the other ninjas in the room.
"As I was saying, since the third's death and Konoha's return to power, we have been using small spying groups to keep tabs on the sound, and especially Orochimaru's activity." Tsunade began again, returning her gaze to the calm group of elite ninjas standing before her.
"Recently, Alpha group has made a note that there seems to be a flurry of activity in specific bands of sound ninjas." Tsunade tilted her head in Anko's direction as she mentioned the group, indicating to the other ninjas that the young woman was part of the spy missions.
"The most threatening conclusion we can draw from this is that these bands may be deployed towards Konoha. While they are too small to be considered part of a violent offensive, they do seem to have a specific purpose."
Naruto shuffled his feet nervously, desperately attempting to keep his mind on the situation at hand. Unfortunately for him, his brain was having different ideas and fragments of the previous night's happenings began to surface from his newly active subconscious.
"We can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way . . ." Sasuke whispered as he hopped onto the roof, waiting for Naruto to follow.
"Sasuke, don't do this to me! I'm with Sakura-chan now, for her sake, don't tempt me!"
"You're making this too hard on yourself Naruto, you know you want this." Sasuke purred, extending his hand to a torn Naruto standing angrily on the balcony.
"Sasuke . . ."
'It's probably a retrieval mission. The sound has lost something and they want it back."
Tsunade's voice broke through Naruto's jumbled thoughts.
"Hokage-sama, what could they have possibly lost that has found its way to Konoha?" Sakura's confused voice followed.
Naruto blinked for a moment, his crystal blue eyes conveying nothing to the stern brown ones of his Hokage. As the blond ninja watched the Godaime's brow furrow deeper, a flash of understanding suddenly dawned on him and for a passing moment, his eyes widened.
Sasuke!
o o o o o o o o
Before I go on with my usual post-chapter rantings, I'd like to make a couple of apologies.
To the people I have ignored this year, specifically Morgan-san and Japime-san, you guys know that I don't meant to do it. The last nine months have perhaps been the most trying and beautiful months of my life (no I wasn't pregnant or anything . . ) and the fact that they are over fills me with both ecstasy and relief. You know I still care about you guys and I hope you will support me in the next six months as I venture into the ever-hazardous field known as "college applications."
I love all of you who have still taken the time to read my fics, no matter how dead they seem. I truly believe that I will finish this story . . even though at this rate it might run until 2020. Get ready you guys!
Luvs!
Maiden