You all now need to thank Mi-kun for two reasons. She's the reason this story is up so fast... we agreed that Monday would be my deadline. She's also the reason it's as long as it is. I originally had planned to keep the 'shower' scene for the next chapter, but she kept bugging me to write it because she wanted to read it, so here it is.

Yes, it is a citrus chapter, meaning has the full version. See my profile for the link.

Chapter Title: 53. The Politics of Sunagakure

It was a little later on in the week and Naruto had met up with Sasuke on his way home. It was nearly midnight, and without saying a word they both knew the other had had a particularly rough patrol, and both of them needed a little time away from the real world. Sasuke unlocked his door and took Naruto upstairs with him.

They had only just started to take what they had for granted. In the dark-haired genin's mind, although these moments were wonderful and gave him an intense feeling of pleasure, they meant nothing to him when it was just used as a normal thing. Only when it was truly needed did it feel different. Only when one of them truly needed the other was their joining meaningful. Sasuke put a hand on Naruto's that were unbuckling his pants and told him exactly that. For a moment his rival looked at him blankly before shame clouded his features and he looked to his bare feet. He apologized softly and took a step back.

"I don't want this becoming an everyday thing." Sasuke whispered. "Sure, we have rough days, but shouldn't this be saved for times when we really need it?" Naruto looked up and nodded.

"I get it." He grinned. "You want it so that if something big really does happen, the sex will still work as a reliever. If we do it too much it won't mean anything later, ne?" Sasuke nodded, offering a smirk.

"I'm surprised you got that so quickly, dobe."

"Mou, I would have thought after almost six years you would have grown out of calling me a dunce." He pouted comically.

"Of course not!" Sasuke exclaimed. "The nickname's kind of grown on me. You're my dobe, and no one will ever change that."

"Can I still stay over?" Naruto asked, bending over to tidy up his discarded clothing. He pulled off his orange pants and tossed them over one of the chairs in Sasuke's room, before going around to the rest of his clothes and picking them up as well.

"Sure." Sasuke shrugged, doing the same with his clothes, only he folded his shorts neatly and placed them on the dresser gently. He turned around and caught himself before he laughed out loud at the sight of his best friend leaping through the air in only his boxers to land on his wonderfully plush bed with a light poof, the comforter surrounding him cozily. He walked over and pulled back his covers, sliding in beside the loud-mouthed ninja.

"Can I watch a little TV before I go to sleep or will it bug you?" Naruto asked, clambering under the covers of, what he dubbed 'his' side of the bed, tossing his legs over Sasuke's lap.

"Sure." Sasuke shrugged again. He was used to the noise and he was used to the unnecessary touching and it didn't bother him at all any more. What did bother him was when Naruto couldn't settle on one specific channel, and he mentioned it after ten minutes of rapid channel surfing.

"Can't you just pick a channel and watch it?!" He exclaimed roughly, pinching a bare calf under the blankets. Naruto yelped and glared at him accusingly.

"No, there's nothing on."

"Then why are you watching it?" Naruto shrugged lazily, showing how much time he'd been spending with Shikamaru.

"Bored."

"You're supposed to be sleeping!"

"So?"

"How could you be bored?"

"Nothing to do." He grinned. Sasuke felt his eye starting to twitch in anger and he balled his fists.

"You're so annoying!!!" He yelled. It always seemed to amuse his rival when he managed to make him explode like that.

"But you love me anyways." He cooed lovingly, pursing his lips in a dramatic kiss. Sasuke let out a quick laugh and shoved Naruto's face aside.

"No, I'm just using you for the sex." He retorted with a smug smirk playing with his lips. They had spent so much time together, in these witty arguments, that Naruto didn't even pause to think of a comeback, one was already coming out of his mouth.

"Well, you did come to the best!" He puffed up his chest egotistically.

"Ha!"

"Hey, I take offense to that 'Ha!'. You think you're the best just because everyone else would die to screw you? Or be screwed by you?"

"Does that include you?"

"Of course not!" Naruto laughed. "But that's only because I'm already screwing you. I really don't see what all the fuss is about, I mean, sure you've got a great body, but..." But he wasn't able to finish his remarks, stopped by a pillow to the face. The rest of his response came out muffled. They batted at each other playfully for a few minutes before Naruto grabbed both of their pillows and gave his friend a solemn look.

"But, seriously." He exclaimed softly. "My only regret is your eyes. I wish I could have saved you from that." Sasuke smirked, a little uneasy with the sudden seriousness of his friend's voice.

"Any particular reason?" Naruto grinned and raised a hand to his rival's cheek, brushing some of the hair from his face.

"You look too much like Itachi." He whispered softly, twirling some of the black strands between his fingers, thoughtfully. "I mean, just the other day, I saw you walking with Sakura towards the centre of the village, and I could have sworn on my life you were Itachi." He laughed at how stupid it sounded now. "You even bought her an apple. Of course, I know it couldn't have been Itachi, but it was still kind of weird." Sasuke nodded but remained quiet, not commenting on Naruto's observation.

If he had opened his mouth he might have told his friend that he'd been away that whole day and hadn't talked to Sakura in almost an entire week. He didn't want to alert Naruto to the fact that he might just have seen the older Uchiha. No one would know until he could do something about his brother's presence. He had to face the man on his own... alone.

(Star)(Star)(Star)

The new Kazekage rolled his head on his neck, getting used to the feel of the large hat on his head. He wasn't paying the least bit of attention to the discussion his advisors were carrying on, mostly because he knew what they were going to tell him. The raids they'd been organizing against Konohagakure were extraordinarily successful and the ninjas of the crumbling village were showing no signs of retaliation. Everything was going better than planned.

"Kazekage-sama, the allies are getting restless." Temari spoke up, suddenly, attracting his attention.

"What do you mean?" She frowned at him, knowing he hadn't been paying attention, but addressed the entire room.

"Those smaller villages that have sided with us are still unsure of what they should do in terms of this war you're starting with Konoha." She replied. "They want to know if there's anything they should be doing beside sitting back and watching." The Kazekage smirked, pointing to a small map.

"Tell them we just want them to sit back and wait for our signals." He responded. "Amegakure should hear from me soon on our plans to invade from the west. If you have to let Takigakure and Kusagakure know the plan as well, do it discreetly. I don't want Stone to know what we have planned. They're not to know that we're behind these attacks. It may affect the larger powers too early. I want to be sure of my win before Konoha has the ability to manipulate the other countries into allying with them." A snort sounded from the shadows of the office, and the Kazekage knew the culprit wanted to be heard. "You have something to say, Gaara?" He asked politely. The teen nodded in the shadows. He preferred being in the darkness, not because of the dramatic and psychological effect it had on the council members, but because if he stayed there long enough he could almost pretend he was sleeping.

"Konohagakure has never needed to manipulate its allies." He remarked. "You are making this war more personal than it has to be." One of the older men stood up angrily, slamming his fist on the table.

"This is not a personal war, brat! You shouldn't be involving yourself in politics if you don't know everything that is going on. This is what Konoha deserves for the assassination of our former Kazekage. If you had any respect or commitment to this village you would be backing this campaign fully." Gaara merely shook his head.

"It is you who doesn't think about the bigger picture." He snarled. "They had nothing to do with the death of the Kazekage. Everyone knows it was Orochimaru who killed him on the way to the chuunin exams, and yet you still choose to side with his village." He coughed a little, looking directly at his sister before continuing. "Sound doesn't even have a clear leader. Ever since Orochimaru's death, they've been running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

"All the more reason for us to take them under our wings." Another elderly man spoke up.

"Do you not have any respect for your father, Gaara-kun?" The Kazekage asked. "For the dead? It should have been obvious that Konoha was behind his murder when they had Orochimaru-sama killed as well."

"I don't see why I should feel any sort of allegiance to a man who ordered me killed." Gaara replied coldly. "He wasn't much of a father to us, so I don't understand why you still choose to follow in his footsteps, Kankuro." His brother tilted the Kazekage hat upwards a little to glare at his insolent younger brother.

"I may not have liked the man, but he was this village's ruler. Before he was murdered, he had planned to over throw Konoha. I'm merely following through with his plans."

"That man was not our father; it was one of Orochimaru's disguises."

"That's what all the villagers from Konoha think. I would accuse you of treason, if it weren't for the amazingly accurate information you gave us about Akatsuki. Who knew the assassin group would be so willing to help us?" Gaara rolled his eyes in response.

"It's not a secret of their desire to acquire Uzumaki Naruto." He exclaimed. "Plus, having the elder Uchiha on our side puts the younger brother out of commission. He's been so focused on killing that man, he's spent his whole life preparing for it. Last time they met he was so blinded by rage that he ended up in a hospital bed until they brought back Tsunade-hime." Kankuro shot his younger brother a smug look.

"Well, I wonder when we should have our ninjas joining the Grass troops in the raids. Surely the demon is getting a little thirsty for some blood."

"Why don't we see by spilling a bit of your blood?" Gaara retorted, curling his upper lip viciously. The ruler only laughed, not afraid of the teen a bit, waving off the sudden tenseness in the postures of the rest of the council members.

"Is that any way to treat your older brother?" He laughed. "I am Kazekage after all and you're nothing but a shinobi. You have to follow my orders just like everyone else."

"I'm no shinobi." Gaara muttered. "I'm just your little death machine."

"The best we've got." Kankuro countered.

"But the last time I was used against Naruto, I failed. That was nearly six years ago. He's probably even stronger now. He is no pushover."

"Well, then we'll see how Akatsuki deals with him, and if anything happens out of the ordinary, we'll attack him where he's the most vulnerable. Everyone has a weakness, even the fabled Kitsune."

"I don't see anything here that could be considered ordinary to begin with." Gaara snapped. "Besides, there's nothing in revenge, especially when you're going after the wrong people. You're using the village's bitterness over the loss of their Kazekage to turn them against people who did no wrong."

"Since when did you become the preacher of nobleness, little brother?" Kankuro said, his younger brother's resistance getting on his nerves. "You hated the man to begin with, so of course you wouldn't want to avenge his wrongful death."

"He wasn't much of a father to begin with." The older brother clenched his fists with rage and counted to ten in his head. No one else in the room, save Temari, were willing to even breathe at the moment, afraid to attract the wrath of either angry young men.

"Your orders are to go to Konoha and learn Uzumaki Naruto's weaknesses and work with Akatsuki to eliminate him." Kazekage hissed through clenched teeth. "You are to use as little of our shinobi as possible, I don't want any more casualties than are needed." He nodded to his older sister, who rose from her seat. "Temari, go with Gaara to make sure he follows orders." He casually waved his hand dismissing his siblings from the rest of the meeting. They both left without another word of protest, leaving Kankuro with the rest of his council. He sighed deeply.

"You did good handling your little brother, Kazekage-sama." One of the men congratulated him. He looked up at the men and shook his head.

"But what if Gaara is right? What if Konohagakure really wasn't responsible for his death?" He asked worriedly. They merely grinned at him reassuringly.

"You're thinking too much about this. You were right on this issue. The demon was just putting ludicrous notions in your head. It's too many what ifs. What if Orochimaru had killed your father and assumed the roll of the Kazekage? What if he was the one who told us to attack Konoha? What if? The truth of the matter is he's trying to exert himself in a world where he doesn't belong."

"The demon is obviously trying to control you and this country, but luckily for you, he's not very well versed in Wind's politics. He's a demon. Demons are not meant to control, they're meant to be controlled. Your order was a perfect one, Kazekage-sama. It shows that you are still in control of everything. Don't let your brother manipulate you into feeling pity for the Leaf. It's just what they want." Kankuro frowned, unsure of his earlier actions.

"Are you sure I was right to order Naruto executed?"

"Of course, Kazekage-sama."

(Star)(Star)(Star)

"He's a proud man."

"And his pride will get himself killed along with a bunch of others." Gaara glared at his older sister. "He doesn't deserve to be Kazekage. If you haven't forgotten, we used to be allied with the Leaf, until this mess with Orochimaru. The Kazekage was proven to have been killed before we reached Konoha, that should prove that-" Temari held up a hand to stop him.

"Just forget that for now, Gaara-kun." She exclaimed stiffly. "Right now all we need to do is recover from the loss of our leader. We don't want the other countries to believe we're weak and start to think they can bully our people."

"Like what Kankuro is doing right now?"

"Gaara."

"Why can't we just help the leaf instead of fighting them?" He asked. "They're not our enemies. Why can't he see that?" His sister smiled softly and patted him on the shoulder. She was no longer tall enough to pat his head affectionately without the awkwardness.

"I believe you." She whispered. "But I seem to be the only one. For now let's just follow orders. We're ninja, not politicians. Stop trying to be something you're not."

"Do you also want me to stop trying to be a good person?" He asked coldly. "Uzumaki showed me something I could have, because I had you. I now have a life outside the hatred. Don't you dare make me give it up."

"I wouldn't dream of it, but please don't try to push things too hard here." She exclaimed.

"I'll do this one thing for you, but know this, I will not be responsible for the death of Uzumaki Naruto. That's the Kazekage who will have to get his hands dirty with that mess. I will not take the blame and neither will the Shukaku." Temari nodded in agreement.

"Just make sure you don't screw up, little brother." He gave her a cynical look.

"I wasn't made to screw up, remember? I'm the best." His grin sent a shiver down the blonde girl's back and she couldn't help but wonder at her brother's words. There was something between the lines that she didn't understand or catch, and, knowing Gaara, it would put the fate of the war solely in his unstable hands.

"Watch him for me." She exclaimed to the Anbu that were hidden around her. The group bowed politely before disappearing in a whirlwind of sand.

(Star)(Star)(Star)

It unnerved Sasuke to know that Naruto had seen Itachi in the village. He eventually found himself wandering the streets after his patrol, looking for any signs of his brother, hoping it was just the blonde's overactive imagination. The streets had been raid-free for the last few days, and there wasn't any word of the assassin group in or near the area of Konohagakure. His rival had just been mistaken. He sighed to himself, turning away from the vendor's cart that Naruto had 'seen' Sasuke buying Sakura's apple from and bumped head first into someone. He stepped back, not really looking at the man he'd hit and continued walking, tossing an apology over his shoulder.

He was halfway back to his house when he realized the man he'd crashed into was following him. He halted and spun around, but no one was there.

"You've been looking for someone, little brother?" A voice whispered, blowing hot breath across the back of Sasuke's neck. He turned around again and found his brother standing with his body pressed flush against his, grinning smugly.

"So Naruto did see you." He exclaimed, stepping backwards, uncomfortable with the elder Uchiha's closeness. His observation earned him a laugh from Itachi.

"I see your little lover has been keeping you up to date."

"He's not my lover, bastard."

"You're lying, little brother. It's really amusing to see that you truly have followed in my footsteps." He raised Sasuke's chin with a delicate finger. "You have my wonderful eyes, the blood lust for killing. If you had only killed the boy before you fell in love with him, you would have been a perfect little copy." He smirked, not at all offended when Sasuke slapped his hand away violently.

"I will never be as horrible as you." Sasuke retorted, growing angrier by the second. "When you are finally breathing your last breaths, you'll realize that you were never all that great for the Uchiha family. I'll make you see that I'm not living in your shadow anymore, and you'll be the first and last person I kill in cold blood. I will never be like you." Itachi ignored the denial.

"I see your hatred has grown a little since the last time we met. Maybe this time you won't end up in a hospital bed, depending on your little lover to save your life. Maybe this time you really will live up to the family name and not be the pathetic child you were last time." Sasuke bit down on his lip to hold back his anger and nearly lost his footing when the curse seal on his neck pulsed roughly and suddenly. He pulled out a kunai and sent his Sharingan eyes spinning wildly.

"This time only one of us will walk away alive, and I'll do everything to make sure it's me and not you." He growled, preparing to lunge. Itachi just shook his head.

"There's a time and place for everything." He smiled softly and exploded without warning. Sasuke jumped back, startled, just before he could get hurt. He coughed for a moment and waved the smoke from his eyes, cursing under his breath. His brother had used an exploding clone as a decoy.

"Why don't you fight me now, coward!!?" He yelled into the air. From a nearby rooftop, Itachi watched his little brother shouting angrily and shook his head, disappointedly.

"You still aren't ready to face me if you're armed with nothing but childish insults." He whispered to himself. "But, no matter. I'll just have to force you to become ready by destroying everything you hold dear, including your lover." He nodded to the masked hunter-nin standing beside him. "He's not to be touched, you hear? If Sasuke is to be killed, it will be by my hands only. You tell Akatsuki that he's mine and if anyone wants to challenge my authority, I'll be only too happy to oblige." The hunter-nin nodded in understanding and disappeared off the roof. Itachi looked back at the streets to find his brother sprinting away from his earlier destination, Sharingan eyes dead focused on his new destination, and he didn't look too happy.

(Star)(Star)(Star)

By the time Sasuke arrived in front of Naruto's door, he was beyond counseling. He had reached and surpassed his boiling point, and was seconds away from beating the crap out of the next living thing he set his eyes on. Of course, Sasuke still held on to the last shred of his control, unwilling to let it go until the second he laid eyes on his friend. Only in Naruto's presence would he allow himself to explode.

He raised a hand to knock, but realized he didn't have the patience to wait for an answer, and instead slammed his shoulder into the door, knocking it open. He zoned straight in on the sound of the shower running and made his way to the bathroom, not bothering to watch what he knocked over on his way there. He kicked open the door, the only warning Naruto had, before the blonde found himself slammed into the tiled wall, just under the spray of the shower head.

He tried to turn his head around, whimpering at the pain shooting through his skull, but all he got in return was a dizzying feeling as nausea swept through him.

"Sasuke?" He whispered, not sure if his rival could even hear him. He caught the look of rage on the genin's face and everything seemed to make sense. He fought back Sasuke for a second, just enough time to turn around before grabbing Sasuke's collar and pulling his body back under the hot spray of water, crushing their lips together.

They moved away from the wall for a moment, before Sasuke put his weight into Naruto again, slamming their bodies back against the wall, his clothes now slick with water. The blonde gasped in pain, and moaned into the kiss when he felt his head hit the wall with another sickening crack. His sounds of pain fell on deaf ears, as Sasuke couldn't hear anything through the pounding of blood in his ears.

(Star)(Star)(Star)

Time seemed to stop as they both rode out the waves of pleasure, only to have the moment ruined when Naruto's leg finally gave out, sending both of them crashing to the shower floor.

"Itai." Naruto whispered, pulling away from Sasuke and rubbing the back of his sore head. It had already begun sealing up, but it would have a bruise for a while. He pulled his now weakened body into a sitting position and looked up to see Sasuke bent over his legs on his hands and knees; the same position he'd fallen in. His head was bent and his hair fell in a dark curtain over his eyes, blocking the blonde from seeing any emotions.

"Sasu-"

"Gomen nasai." Sasuke interrupted. For a moment, Naruto was confused by the apology, until his attention was brought to a more pressing situation. He'd just run out of his week's worth of hot water and the once hot liquid was now ice cold.

He reached up and turned off the faucet, leaning up and pulling down a couple of towels. He threw one over Sasuke's shoulders and pulled the exhausted teen out of the tub, wrapping his own towel around his waist. It seemed as though Sasuke had just wiped out all of his energy in that one vent.

"Come on." Naruto exclaimed softly, rubbing the towel over the taller genin's shoulders and pulling him towards his bedroom. "I'll lend you some clothes."

After drying himself and Sasuke off and hopping quickly into some fresh clothes, Naruto crashed exhaustedly onto his bed, watching out of the corner of his eye as Sasuke stayed where he had been left after changing.

"You can sit on the bed too, Sasuke." Naruto exclaimed, sitting up slightly. Sasuke sat down on the end of the blonde's bed and curled up into himself, sparking Naruto's never ending curiosity. The younger teen managed to pull himself onto his hands and knees and crawled over to his friend. "Daijoubu?" He asked, worry creasing his forehead. Sasuke flinched.

"Daijoubu." He replied.

"Bull shit." Naruto exclaimed roughly. "What's wrong, now?" He desperately wanted to force Sasuke to look at him, but he needed to know what was wrong with his friend first. Maybe it had something to do with why he'd been so angry earlier.

"Gomen nasai, gomen nasai." Sasuke repeated over and over, pain splashing across his features.

"For what?!" His rival was starting to get irritated.

"I did to you the same thing Orochimaru did." Sasuke refused to look at his friend. "I raped you, oh god." He held a hand to his mouth as he said the words, nauseated by just the thought of his betrayal. Naruto let out a bark of laughter.

"Sasuke, you can't rape the willing." He grinned.

"But you weren't! I saw you bleeding and I just kept going."

"Shut up for a second." Naruto demanded, putting a hand on one of Sasuke's knees. "As soon as I saw you practically kick down my bathroom door, I knew you needed this. If I hadn't been willing, I would have put up much more of a fight." Sasuke looked up and nodded, relaxing his position a little more. "Plus, it's only right that we share all of our firsts with each other."

"Firsts?"

"Yeah, first kiss, first lover, first blow job." Naruto listed on his fingers. "Now you're the first person I allowed to fuck me."

"How crude." Sasuke muttered, commenting on Naruto's word choice. The blonde beamed proudly.

"So are you going to tell your best friend what got you so worked up that you had to come straight over and pound me into the shower wall?"

"I saw Itachi." He explained. Naruto swore under his breath.

"No wonder you were so angry. What happened?"

"Nothing." Sasuke let one of his hands fall to the comforter they were sitting on and began tracing the light blue stitching with his fingers. "I wish I'd moved to stick a kunai in his heart, though." His friend chuckled softly.

"He has none." Sasuke looked grim. "Don't worry so much. You will avenge your clan and Itachi will be gone, leaving you to move on and have that family you wanted to restore your clan." Both teens felt a twinge at the reminder Naruto unwittingly brought back up. Sasuke dropped his gaze to his fingers on the comforter and stayed silent for a moment, stretching his legs out so he could be a little more comfortable.

Without a second thought, Naruto lay down his head on Sasuke's lap and sighed deeply, stretching out on the bed like a lazy cat.

"I hope you're not getting too stressed out thinking about Itachi right now." Naruto exclaimed, stifling a yawn. "'Cause I'm so tired after our shower that I probably couldn't even lift my han... to...... myself, much less you!" He exclaimed, continuing to talk even when Sasuke whacked him in the face with the pillow. He groaned, trying to hide his smirk and continued hitting Naruto.

"Is that seriously all you think about?" He asked incredulously. "Don't answer that! I don't want to know." They both chuckled, not having the energy to do much else.

(End of Chapter)

Yay! A plot in a lemon. Anyways. I tried to change the markers that divide scene changes, cause I figure ff.n isn't going to help me any... (bastards).

To Seph Lorraine and all the people that said the same thing: I'm sorry if it looked like I was copying something you had already done. I've honestly never even heard of that story before. I was just trying to come up with a term that would make it okay for Naruto to like Sasuke. I've honestly never seen anyone else use the same theory... so I doubt it's a trend, just a coincidence. (In my case anyways)

To Seraphina DW: I think he was more worried that he would be found out.

To AkaNoShika: I didn't really notice how cocky I made Naruto in that chapter, but when I think about the near future, it seems kind of ironic. Don't worry, he'll be taken down a peg or two in the near future.

To SpoonNinja: No, Sasuke's never actually come right out and said he was in love with Naruto.