Yeah, I know I'm late, but at least it's here.
Chapter Title: 56: Enemies
"I know you might not offer otherwise, but..." Sasuke trailed off, unsure of the proper way to go about his request. "Could I hear the whole story of what happened that night? If you're willing, of course. I was just thinking... I can support you when you need it, and even when you don't. If not, then I won't ever ask aga-"
"No." Naruto shook his head. "Maybe it'll be the last stage in me moving on. I'm so close to freeing myself from that night, I can almost taste it." He turned to Sasuke and smiled proudly. It looked like he had effectively replaced his old mask. "It started out with him challenging me... he said........"
(Star)(Star)(Star)
"...but you are nothing but an ant compared to Sasuke-san." Naruto could feel his face heat up in embarrassment at the words and he clamped his teeth down, angrily, in an effort to bite the man.
"I can do anything Sasuke can." He snapped back, knowing that was the wrong thing to say, but finding he needed to say it and defend himself. "I can handle anything Sasuke can and more." The glint in the snake's eyes and the way his lips curled up into that serpentine smirk sent a shiver down his spine and told him he'd just about signed his death warrant.
"Is that true? Well, then, we're just going to have to see if that's so. Do you think you can handle my inquisition?" Orochimaru asked, looking over his shoulder wordlessly telling his guards to leave the room, and when they were finally alone in the room, Naruto saw the glint in Orochimaru's eyes heat up to a form of hunger he'd never seen before. "Or will you break under pressure and beg for mercy. I'm not quite sure, but I like the idea of both possibilities." He grinned maliciously and before Naruto could blink there was another face hovering above his own, one that didn't belong to that of the Sennin. It was young and handsome, if not slightly beautiful, and for a moment Naruto was lost.
"Sasuke..." He whispered, tearing his eyes away from the perfect imitation. If he didn't, he might have been able to convince himself that it really was his friend because everything was perfect, and it was more than obvious that the man had an obsession with the younger boy. Even the sound of his breathing was that of the Uchiha.
"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" Orochimaru asked, his voice mimicking the perfect blend of cold indifference with a hint of compassion. Naruto almost couldn't handle it, but he'd made himself a promise and he wasn't about to let Orochimaru win that easily. He could remember that it wasn't Sasuke if he tried hard enough. "You're not afraid of me, are you, dobe?" At the nickname, and the obvious sound of arrogance in the voice, the blonde nearly broke down, and he knew that had he been on his feet, his knees would have buckled.
"Not going to work, bastard." He gritted out, chanting 'Orochimaru' over and over in his head in an effort to keep himself from falling for the illusion. "So you can imitate Sasuke, how is that supposed to make me break? You're an idiot if you think I'm going to give up Sasuke's location to some cheap copy." He spat ferociously into Orochimaru's eye, to prove his point, even though somewhere in the back of his mind a little voice was telling him to stop pissing the older man off.
"You want to be broken?" Sasuke's voice asked darkly. "I'm sure that can be arranged."
He smirked and brought a hand roughly to the crotch of Naruto's pants, startling a choked gasp from the blond. The teen struggled away from the teasing hand, but with his arms chained above his head, and Sasuke's body weight pinning his legs in place, all his squirming got him was a much closer encounter with the hand. He couldn't stop the moan that ripped from his throat, and his eyes slid shut.
"Sasuke..." He whispered, his consciousness fighting to keep up the mantra of 'Orochimaru', but dying in the swirling sensations the illusion was delivering to Naruto's growing arousal. "Stop... don't... I... god, help me..." Above him, Orochimaru let out a very un-Sasuke-like hiss of pleasure.
"I can give you release if you just tell me where my body is..." He whispered, licking the shell of Naruto's ear.
"He's not your body, asshole." Naruto grunted out, thankful for the distraction from Orochimaru's hand. "He doesn't belong to anyone, so you're just going to have to get yourself another one." Orochimaru chuckled.
"I'm sure you'd love me to belong to you, Naruto-kun." He exclaimed.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto spat in return, scrunching up his face in disgust.
"You said I don't belong to anyone... but surely you'd like that to change." He smirked and continued moving his hand, this time slipping it beneath the orange fabric of his pants. "You can't honestly tell me that you've never had a wet dream about seeing my naked body beneath you, sweating, panting, moaning your name in wanton lust..." As the words slithered into Naruto's mind, he noticed the smirk on Sasuke's face grew wider still.
"No, I...Sasuke... it's lies..." He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and focused on repeating the man's name. "I don't... Sasuke's not like that..."
"But I'm sure you'd love me to be, right? You haven't denied dreaming about me that way." Orochimaru leaned in and licked the corner of Naruto's lips.
"I'm not going to give in that easily, Orochimaru." He growled fiercely. "If Sasuke can handle it, so can I. I will prove that I'm just as strong a shinobi as he is."
"It's got nothing to do with being a perfect shinobi." Orochimaru sneered down on Naruto. "You could be completely matched with Sasuke in ninja abilities, but do you think you're as strong a boy as Sasuke?"
"Stronger." Naruto retorted.
"Very well then, Naruto-kun." For a moment, Naruto couldn't understand what the pain was. He was blinded by the infinite blackness that covered his vision for a few moments, and the white-hot searing pain the shot up his spine and across his body before he could figure out what happened. He opened his eyes and screamed himself hoarse, but still the pain lingered. That's when he noticed that Orochimaru was now pounding into his body, like he was nothing more than a rag doll, and the hand on his arousal was confusing him with its mixture of pleasure and pain. Everything felt like it was on fire, and all his nerve endings were tingling.
"Stop!" He cried out, almost reduced to begging. "Sasuke, please..."
"Will you tell me where to find my body?" Orochimaru crowed above him, not bothering to pause in the act to let Naruto catch his bearings.
"Never." Naruto whispered softly.
"As you wish."
Only a mere moment later, Naruto climaxed in the worst way possible. He rode out the waves of ecstasy, rocking into the rhythm Orochimaru had set.
"Un, Sasuke..." Naruto moaned as Orochimaru pulled out finally, both exhausted and spent.
"There's where you made your mistake, Naruto-kun." Sasuke's voice exclaimed, proudly. "Never give up any weaknesses to the enemy, especially one such as this. Who would have guessed you had this sort of affection for my body."
"He's not your body, bastard." Naruto replied, though he was clearly taxed beyond his limits.
"It's only a matter of time before you give him up, and then he'll become my body. You're not strong enough to last more than a day in my possession." He moved himself backwards from the blonde and straightened out his robes before calling his guards back into the room. They all seemed mildly surprised that Orochimaru was still frustrated, but they kept their faces devoid of emotion, and Naruto only noticed it as a telltale eyebrow was raised as each guard returned to the room. It gave him hope that he could make it until someone rescued him.
"I would kill myself before I ever gave up my Sasuke to you."
"Your Sasuke? I'm afraid you've got your possessions mixed up, or did you forget that adorable little speech that he doesn't belong to anyone."
"He may not belong to anyone, but his rivalry belongs to me and, for the rest of my life, I will fight to keep that."
"Oh, how poetic you sound, Naruto-kun." Orochimaru cackled and grabbed the ribbed collar of his orange and blue jacket, pulling his body up so that he was staring Orochimaru in the eyes, wrists straining painfully against the cold metal chains that kept him attached to the wall. He winced, but didn't give Orochimaru the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. They glared at each other for a moment before a look passed over Orochimaru's face, much like the realization of an epiphany, and Naruto's heart sunk even lower. Even so, he refused to break eye contact with the snake of a man.
"What a fool you are." Orochimaru laughed softly before his eyes flashed open to their fullest. Naruto's head snapped back, as though he'd been punched in the face and found he couldn't move at all. His arms were not his own, his eyes were not his own and even his breath was not his own. It gave him a greater respect for Sakura when she'd been possessed by Ino during the chuunin preliminary exams when they were younger.
This reminder startled him and he tried doing what Sakura had done; fight back, but Orochimaru was decades more skilled than the pink-haired girl was, and his control was absolute.
'Fun, isn't it?' he heard Orochimaru's voice in his head. 'That I can take over your entire being with nothing but a glance. If I want to do this...' he reached Naruto's hand to the back of his neck and scratched a slight itch Naruto hadn't even noticed. 'You can't do anything to stop me.' There was a cackle of laughter that echoed through his head and he tried fighting again, only to be shot down before he could even think of what to do. 'And if I wanted to do this...' Orochimaru continued, trailing the same hand sensually down the orange jacket, catching the zipper nimbly in his fingers and pulling it down slowly. If Naruto had been in any sort of control of both the situation and his body, he would have froze up, but the hand kept on its path towards his bare thighs. He whimpered softly and begged Orochimaru to stop, but he still wasn't willing to give up Sasuke's position, and they both knew that would be the only reason for the man to show any kind of mercy, if Orochimaru was a merciful kind of guy.
A few minutes of 'self-imposed' torture later, Orochimaru returned to his original body, smirking triumphantly. He had effectively given the blonde nightmares for the next little while, and Naruto doubted he would even be able to touch himself that way for a long time without thinking of Orochimaru doing the same actions.
"Do you really think our fun is over?" He laughed, shooting his guards an amused look. Naruto peeked over Orochimaru's shoulder and noticed that they all seemed to enjoy Naruto's little show, if the bulges in their pants were any indication. He shuddered, thoroughly disgusted, but found that Orochimaru was far from being done with his new toy, and he still had hours of fun left to endure.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
"And when you came in that night... I really thought you were him, coming back for more. He did it so many times I lost count. He had a certain liking for making me feel worthless, but it didn't stop him from beating me. I never told anyone this, but... I didn't break down until I was in the safety of your arms." Sasuke gave him a sad smile and nodded. "And if you're ever planning on betraying the village you better not use that against me, or I'd have to kill you." He smiled nervously. Sasuke had been silent the entire time, but Naruto could see the questions in his eyes and paused long enough to let the young man voice a few of them.
"How did you ever manage to get over it enough to take me up on my offer?" He asked, referring to the night they first started screwing around.
"You were you." Naruto said simply. "There was something in the way you treated me that marked you as different from that man, and it made me feel safer." Sasuke nodded, his curiosity satisfied for the moment, and Naruto was almost relieved that he hadn't felt the need to question Naruto's other motives. It might have dampened the euphoria that had taken over his entire being when he finally told someone about his past. As cheesy as it sounded it was as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he could finally breathe again.
"Did I not tell you two to wait in my room?" A voice called from down the hall. They both turned to see Tsunade walking towards them.
"We thought it would be polite not to enter your room without you present." Sasuke lied easily, shoving off the wall to stand protectively over Naruto, shielding him from the older woman's sight.
"You don't have to lie to her, Sasuke." Naruto exclaimed, peering around his legs. "She deserves to know the truth." Sasuke turned back, locking eyes with Naruto before nodding in agreement.
"Orochimaru held Naruto captive in that room." He explained, not really comfortable telling her exactly what went on behind the white doors. "He did a lot of horrible things in that room, and neither of us wanted to revisit that place."
"He raped you in there?" She asked, sidestepping Sasuke almost as though he wasn't even there. She crouched down in front of the blond teen, though both of them looked at her as though she had grown two-heads. She sounded so certain of what Orochimaru had done to Naruto even though Sasuke had only hinted vaguely at it.
"What?" They both voiced at the same time.
"I figured Orochimaru would have done something like that to you, but I had no idea it had happened in there." She shook her head as if apologizing. "I had assumed it was somewhere in this building, though." She turned to Sasuke, flashing him a brief smile. "Has Naruto-kun told you all of what happened, maybe some of the reasoning behind Orochimaru's actions?"
"Yes." He nodded. "I've heard rumours saying him and Jiraiya were in some sort of relationship, but I don't think that can be used as an excuse for what he did to Naruto."
"Of course not. Nothing in the world can excuse what he did, but there are reasons behind his actions, even if they're not justifiable ones." She sat down beside Naruto to explain a little bit of their history to Sasuke, motioning for the dark-haired genin to sit, but her invitation was flatly ignored. She ignored this and continued. "Jiraiya and him became lovers very early on. I've already mentioned this to Naruto, but I feel it's important you hear this as well. It was something really stupid... I think Jiraiya was upset over something Orochimaru had bested in him... or maybe it was a girl... I never really got the details out of him... but they were just butting heads as usual and out of the blue they..." She paused, a deep blush colouring her features.
"Are you embarrassed by what they did?" Naruto snickered. She shot him an annoyed look but continued.
"Anyways, I know that Orochimaru was probably still lusting after Jiraiya... and well, Naruto is remarkably like Jiraiya was. "She turned to Sasuke, studying his features, noting the sharp beauty of his facial features as well as the long silky hair worn loose around his shoulders. "And Sasuke is the same with who Orochimaru was when he was younger, before he betrayed the village."
"I told you Sasuke's nothing like that bastard." Naruto spat out in the older genin's defence.
"Yes, but you were also stuck in the illusion of a girl, and I already explained it to you. Sasuke is very power-oriented in his goals. I'm assuming you still aim to kill your brother and restore your clan." She looked up at him. He nodded, but frowned at the last part. If she noticed, she said nothing. "He was the same way. He was the class genius, the top in everything he did, and Jiraiya couldn't even compare until we were out of the classroom... and like Sasuke, Orochimaru turned to the easier way out to discover power."
"I returned." Sasuke stated dully.
"That's true also. Jiraiya failed to save Orochimaru from the darkness. There's also the subtle difference of them screwing like bunnies before they had even turned 18." She snickered unladylike behind her hand. Both young men looked at each other, wide eyed, thinking the same thing. Sasuke coughed suddenly, choking on his breath and Naruto blushed bright red. "Jiraiya really loved Orochimaru though, and I have to believe that somewhere, Orochimaru felt the same." She sighed and stood up, pushing herself away from the wall. It was hard for her to go through life being only one of two defenders of her old friend.
"So why did you want him here?" Sasuke asked, bending down to help Naruto to his feet as well. His wounds were healing slower than normal, but that was to be expected from someone who nearly died.
"I wanted him to stay here for a while, till his wounds are healed. While you two were waiting for me to come and get you there were a few other reports of attacks and you are both needed. Sasuke, I'm assigning you to the front lines, to watch the gate and stop the enemy from getting through, and I want Naruto to stay here and guard the tower. Sand's main goal is to overthrow my power and this tower is the centre of it." She nodded curtly to them before turning around and leaving the way she had come, not wasting anymore time. When she had disappeared from sight, Naruto muttered darkly under his breath and slumped back down to the floor.
"What was that?"
"I said, 'I don't need a damn babysitter'." He growled again. Sasuke laughed under his breath and rolled his eyes at the statement.
"Sure you don't." He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Naruto turned to him and shot him the fiercest glare he could muster.
"Bastard." He muttered.
They stayed together for another fifteen minutes, before they both had to admit that Naruto had healed enough to fight. They moved to part ways, but Sasuke quickly turned back and grabbed Naruto's arm.
"Wait." Naruto paused, turning back to his friend curiously. "Have you noticed that we seem to keep getting spit up? We never work together on missions or patrols."
"I noticed it a while back, but there's nothing we can do about that now." The blond replied, shaking his head bemusedly. "I'll see you after this, okay?" They both nodded at the silent agreement to make sure they survived to the next meeting.
"When we next meet you're also going to tell me why you lied about that chuunin vest." Sasuke added. "I know it's not Iruka's, but I want to hear the truth from your lips before I make any judgements." He left the hall, not giving Naruto the chance to explain himself, and leaving his rival in shock.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
Sasuke headed to the main gates where a number of ninjas were fighting to get into the village. There were about a dozen of Konohagakure's shinobi of all levels working to stave off the flow of enemies, but it seemed to bee too much for the men to handle. Sasuke jumped into the fight by pulling a ninja off the back of a fellow leaf genin. The ninja he had dislodged turned his attacks on the Uchiha and soon he was submerged in the hand-to-hand combat that was taking over the attention of all the guards.
Suddenly, Sasuke spotted something that made him falter in mid kick, allowing one of his enemies the chance to trip him to the floor. He recovered quickly, without too much damage and took a second to look around, but it had disappeared, making him believe it was just a figment of his imagination. He frowned and shook his head, focusing his Chidori attack on hitting the nearest group of Sand shinobi. There was no way he could have seen the Mangekyou Sharingan.
He was preparing to breathe a fireball at another couple of Sand enemies when he saw another flash of the brother Sharingan. He choked on the fiery breath and looked around, but there was no sign of his brother anywhere. He growled in frustration, torn between staying at his post and ignoring direct orders to chase after his older sibling.
Cursing under his breath, he remained at his post, but noticed something odd. The only fallen shinobi belonged to the leaf's numbers. Not a single Sunagakure ninja lay at their feet, and they just seemed to keep coming at the remaining handful. It seemed that none of the Sand had fallen, but he knew for a fact that his Chidori had wiped through at least three shinobi. He charged at the nearest enemy, intent on seeing what was happening, but by the time he had tackled the man to the ground, four other ninjas had jumped on him and he lost track of the one he'd hit.
When the four ninja holding him down exploded in his face, he realised what they all were. It was a well-known fact that Itachi had a penchant for the exploding clones, and Sasuke understood this all too late. He looked around and noticed that none of the attacking men had the right quality of normal humans.
"Stop hiding from me, jerk!" He yelled, running to check on the injured. Only one of the men at the gates seemed to be seriously injured, his leg broken in three different places. He looked up at the sound of familiar laughter and noticed the stronger shinobi were starting to close the gates again, not an enemy in sight.
"Look, we need to start splitting up." One of the older jounin exclaimed, taking charge of the chaos. "Some real shinobi might have snuck in during the attack, and I don't want them to be able to get too far into the village." They started sending people off in various directions.
"I'll go check out the tower." Sasuke exclaimed. "I might know one of the men who snuck through, and they might be heading over there to try and capture it." The jounin nodded in agreement and got a chuunin to follow him in that general direction as well.
He only hoped he was right in guessing Itachi was after Naruto.
(Star)(Star)(Star)
Because many of the enemies had been taken care of before they got too far into the centre of Konohagakure, Naruto had very little action on his end of the battlefield, and he was beginning to get a little bored. There were even rumours starting to spread that the enemy was retreating slightly, but still Naruto kept doing his best to protect the tower, not allowing anyone come further than they already had.
Suddenly he found himself spitting out grass, having been knocked over in a surprise attack by a faceless sand nin. He rolled to the side, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and getting up into a protective stance. He growled menacingly, trying to see if it would scare this one off, like it had some of the other weaker shinobi, but this one merely laughed at his scare tactics. They fought for a few minutes, often gaining help from another team mate on either side, but kept their focus on each other.
Until he disappeared.
Naruto looked around, frantically, wondering where the unidentifiable nin went, when he spotted a lump under the ground beginning to move away from their battle. For a moment, he was suspicious of the lump, but he wasn't about to let the sand nin get away without a fight. He also realised that with such a technique, entrance into the tower would be easier than anyone could have imagined. He took off running, yelling to the jounin in charge what his intentions were, but ignored the command to return and stay at his post.
"If you leave now, I'll inform the Hokage, you brat!!" He laughed out his response and continued to follow the moving sand into the village, heading towards the forests. Every so often he would lose sight of the moving ground, but then the lump would return to his field of vision, almost as though luring him away from his post. He continued on into the dense foliage until he had completely lost the fleeing nin.
Looking around, Naruto wondered where he was. He knew the sand nin was somewhere nearby, and half-expected to see the bulge of ground, but there was nothing until he heard a noise in the bushes just ahead. He walked forward, almost on his tip-toes, peering around a nearby tree to find Sasuke cursing under his breath and searching through the forest in the same manner as he was.
Sasuke looked up at the sound of a crunching twig, but saw nothing as Naruto chose to keep himself hidden, watching and waiting to see what exactly Sasuke was looking for, while keeping his Sharingan still. Sasuke turned his head to the other side, satisfying his curiosity when a ninja arose from the sand. At first the man was unrecognisable, but as the sand fell away from his face, Sasuke's eyes narrowed in recognition.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. "Did you lead me here?"
"Of course not." There was a laugh following that statement. "At least, not you."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Gaara of the dessert?" The demon smirked at the name, but shrugged off the question. "If you're not here to help then get lost." Sasuke growled under his breath, turning to walk away, having better things to do with his time.
"Wait." Gaara exclaimed, grabbing Sasuke's arm quickly to prevent the other man from leaving. Sasuke stopped at the feeling on his skin and tensed up.
"You're from Sunagakure. We're at war. I have nothing to say to you."
"Hear me out at least, Uchiha." Gaara replied. "I'm not the same bloodthirsty demon you met as a child. I've seen the way you looked at me during the chuunin exam. I know that you lust for power." Sasuke turned around and glared at him vehemently.
"It was never much of a secret. Everyone knows that my brother's death is my life's goal. That doesn't mean I have any reason to listen to you." Gaara stepped closer, not allowing Sasuke's frosty attitude sway him.
"We're alike, you know." He explained. "Power is something we both lust for, in and out of the bedroom. You are a kind of power I want to attempt to tame, or at least... be tamed by." He smirked, ignoring the dangerous glint in Sasuke's eyes. "I've heard about you and Uzumaki. My request is one night of what you two share."
"We share nothing."
"Don't give me that shit, Uchiha." Gaara spat, tightening his grip on Sasuke's arm. "You crave power, and I've got it. I'm more than willing to be generous this once, and share some of my own power." Sasuke laughed outright.
"You think I'm an idiot, don't you?" He spat, ripping his arm from the Sunagakure ninja's grip. "I'd have to be an idiot to sleep with the enemy. You are from the country we are at war with. I won't fuck you, even if I were dying." Regardless of Sasuke's words, Gaara stepped even closer, sharing the Uchiha's body heat. He raised another hand to place tenderly on Sasuke's shoulder, but was slapped away before it could touch the soft fabric of the genin's shirt.
"Why should Naruto get all the fun?" He asked bemusedly. "Are you in love with the boy?"
"Of course not." Sasuke replied. "But there are circumstances between us that are none of your business."
"If I'd been from the Hidden Leaf village, would I be in your bed now, too?" Sasuke laughed and pushed Gaara away from him and out of his personal space.
"You'll never know, now, will you?" He barked, suddenly becoming uneasy by the superior smirk that had lit up the demons face as they spoke.
"There's one person who knows that answer." Gaara answered, pointing in Naruto's direction. The blond stumbled backwards on upon his discovery, and the snapping of more twigs turned Sasuke's Sharingan gaze upon him. He glared at the blood red gaze and was almost surprised to feel his lip curl in disgust. He should have known Sasuke's interest in him went no further than his lust for power, and he cursed himself for not seeing it earlier. Why else would Sasuke even have anything to do with a lowlife like him otherwise? He should have taken it as a compliment, but all he felt was betrayal.
He turned back to the tower and began running, totally forgetting about the reasons he had gone into the forests in the first place. He could hear Sasuke tearing through the forests after him, but didn't slow down or heed any of the older teen's shouts to slow down and wait.
It took a few moments, and they were nearing the edges of the forest, before Sasuke finally caught up with his fleeing rival. He reached out and grabbed Naruto's arm, pulling them both to a stop. Naruto whirled around with a speed Sasuke hadn't predicted and launched a fist into Sasuke's jaw.
"Let me go." He growled, jerking back his arm violently, but Sasuke didn't heed his command.
"No way." Sasuke replied, just as passionately. "Not until we talk."
"Go fuck yourself, bastard." Naruto said, spitting in his friend's face. Sasuke wiped the saliva away with his other hand, but did not let go.
"No that's your job." He retorted. Apparently it had been the wrong thing to reply with for Naruto suddenly spun around, wrenching his wrist from Sasuke's grip and hurling himself at the other genin, feet and fists flailing, trying to hurt as many places on the Uchiha's body as he could, as fast as he could. He was beyond rage, something that clouded his mind until his movements became too erratic, giving Sasuke the upper hand and allowed the older of the two to pin the blond to the forest floor.
"When did we involve emotions with our agreement?" He yelled, making his grip on Naruto's shoulder and wrist as painful as he could.
"About the same time YOU started whoring yourself to all the guys in the village." Naruto wasn't thinking straight, and even in his right mind said things he would regret later, but he couldn't stop until he had said his piece. "I know the look Gaara was talking about. You've looked at Neji, Lee, Shikamaru... even Kakashi has earned that gaze from you."
"Not that it's any of your business, but you have always been and always will be the only one. There's no need to be jealous." He frowned seriously, studying the look in Naruto's eyes. The betrayal was still there, but it had receded slightly. He leaned down to place a gentle chaste kiss upon Naruto's slightly chapped lips. The blonde turned his head away, colouring a little.
"Who has time to be jealous when we're at war?" He asked, shoving Sasuke off of him and returning to the village. "I'm disobeying orders by being away from my post. See you later." He exclaimed and left the shade of the forest, not bothering to look back, knowing that Sasuke would still be sitting on the ground, staring blankly at his retreating back.
(End of Chapter)
Well then... I was late on my deadline (like I had expected), but Mi-kun was very understanding and gave me till this coming Friday to finish this chapter. What a wonderful sight it will me to find the chapter finished almost four days early. Hee hee... I feel another Shigure moment coming on.
To hakusgirl: KM is Kishimoto... or that's what I read it to mean.
To Kamikakushi: Happy Birthday!!! My birthday's not for a long while. But the first birthday of this fic is coming up soon.
To SpoonNinja: Yay! I'm an idol!
To AkaNoShika: It's okay, I understand what it's like not to be in the mood. I once went for four and a half months without reviewing anything... too bad you'll miss this, however, I'll keep updating regularly. Have fun with your exams, and rest assured, this story is far from over. I highly doubt it will be finished by then.
To ghostninja85: Er.. I don't entirely know what you're talking about... but neither of these chapters have a lemon in them. Though, this is as close to it that I will post on ff.n.
To the Laer: heh... Thanks for the major ego stroking. One thing I enjoy about your reviews is they show me technical things that I don't even realise I'm doing, like with the detached Sakura point of view. For the most part, I just type it as it comes to me. I agree with you about 233. I actually am using the image of Sasuke leaning over Naruto, their faces about an inch apart... and the rain... as my wallpaper. I couldn't resist. And now I'm dying to see 235. (BTW: I think I started that rumour about Kishimoto knowing about us...) I also hope that this chapter has helped develop some more... permanent emotional bonds between these two.
To Lady Lu Bu: Okay, you can have Orochimaru's dead body. Just so long as I get to keep my beloved Naruto-kun.
To Teki Star: Yay! Hopefully I get to go... have to get money first... then find a ride... then finish my costume (it's actually more or less done. All that's left is hemming the red jacket).
By the way... HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!!! I missed it... damn... one day off (yes, technically it's two, but I'm still awake so it's still yesterday to me)... I should have worked on this a day earlier to get it finished as a birthday present for my Naruto-kun.
Anyways, birthday cake for everyone!!!!