Akanishi-san: Urg. Sorry for the late update. I just got back from Japan! Woot! lol. Anyway, here it is!

Ch5

Sasuke looked back once more before he went into the Konoh gate. He sighed as he noted AGAIN, that she was not there. He had been checking back so many times, hoping she would be there, grinning and telling him everything was all right.

But everything wasn't all right. He had failed to protect her. After he said he would, too! He sighed once again as he checked back, as he knocked on the Hokage's door.

"Enter." Was Tsunade's voice, with Naruto's groans.

"Better not be another file working…" Sasuke heard him mutter as he entered, but soon as Naruto saw that it was him, his face brightened up. "You guys are back!" He yelled, jumping up. "So, what was going on? How's Gaara?"

At his name, Sasuke twitched, looking irritated. "We accomplished our mission. Snow had been apparently been controlled by Orochimaru. He was behind all of this." He said, handing a scroll to Tsunade, who took it and scanned it.

"Minami's at Gaara's?" Tsunade asked which caused Sasuke to twitch his eye once again. "I take that as a 'yes.' She muttered, and handed over the scroll to dumbfounded looking Naruto.

"Minami-chan? You left her at Hidden SAND!" He yelled, looking angry. "You know how FAR that is?" He didn't have to remind Sasuke that. "Why did you? Did she get hurt? Was there something wrong with her?"

Sasuke looked away, irritated. "She got attacked my Orochimaru, and both Gaara and I were fooled while she fought him. When we got back to get her, she had…a pair of red wings on her, and…" He stopped. He'd rather not think of that right now. Did Orochimaru place a jyuuin on her as well? He hoped he hadn't. "Gaara had her return to normal form, and she looked tired, so he said he would make her rest at Sand, until he saw her fit to return."

Naruto quickly scanned the report, with a huge frown on his face. "Red wings?" He asked, looking at Sasuke again. "Fire…wings?"

Sasuke nodded, surprised that he knew. So maybe it wasn't Orochimaru's fault. "Yes, red fire wings and tail as well."

Tsunade looked at Naruto, to see him gaping at him. "Naruto, I would like you to go send Gaara a word. You know what to ask." Naruto quickly nodded, and exited the room without another word. She then turned to the Uchiha who looked at her weirdly. "You must be tired, thanks for the repot, I will file this in. Come back tomorrow, there is a mission I would like you to do."

Hearing the dismissal, Sasuke exited the room, with a frown on him. Why did Naruto and Tsunade look so worried? What was the red wings and tail? Her eyes…He shivered, and decided to leave it at that. He would ask when she came back, if she wanted to talk, that is.

As he walked home, he passed by her apartment, and he stopped to gaze at it. Where was she? When will she come back? Those words haunted him as he walked past it, following him all the way home.

Few days passed, and she still wasn't back. Everyday, Sasuke went through a routine. On his way to the office, he would pause at Minami's apartment, looking for any sounds to show she was back and walking past with a sigh to see she wasn't. After that, he would pause at the gate, and checked with the guards to see if she had come back. Again, he would sigh and walk off to the office to hear they didn't see her. Soon as he reached the office, he would look around to see if Minami had went to the Hokage's office, and to see that she wasn't back. When he entered, he would find out that he has or hasn't any missions. When he leaves, he would either go to the missions or wander around, looking at the gate often. When he got back from whatever, he finds himself standing in front of her apartment again, to know she wasn't back, again. Then he would simply go home.

This repeated itself for a whole week, to Sasuke's dislike. He was losing hope everyday. What if she would stay in Sand for weeks? Months? Years? Or even forever?

He sighed. Next morning, he walked out of his house, and stopped at Minami's apartment once again to see. He then would go over to the gate, to see she wasn't back again. But, something gave him hope when he reached the gates.

"Sasuke-san, we just admitted Minami-san back in. We insisted on her to wait for you, but she went ahead to Hokage's office." He said to Sasuke, looking quite delighted to be telling something positive now.

Sasuke stood there for a moment, but after murmuring a 'thanks' he ran off to the Hokage's office, fast as his legs would carry him. SHE WAS BACK! That was all that was in his head as he ran. "Minami!" He practically yelled her name when he ran into the office, panting.

"Yes?" Was the casual reply from a female voice, tired, but happy toned at the same time. There, in front of Hokage's desk, with Naruto practically hanging over her stood Minami. She gave him a tired smile. "Hello Sasuke-san." She said, waving her hand at him. "Why the rush?"

Sasuke blushed, suddenly realizing that he had just barged into the office without a proper entrance. "I'm sorry." He muttered, looking at Tsunade. "I just ran in like this."

Tsunade shook her head. "It's perfectly all right." She waved it off as she inspected a piece of paper. "So you are all right now?" She asked to Minami, looking at her with concern in her eyes. "Are you sure?"

Minami nodded. "Yes, I am fine. Gaara got it controlled for me."

At that point Sasuke was frowning. What was wrong? And Gaara helped her to get what controlled? Couldn't he have helped? But he didn't utter a word, but to let everyone talk, just listening to the others.

Naruto finally let go of her, to Taka's relief, who swooped back on her shoulder with a glare at the blond. "How was Gaara?" He asked, bouncing up and down. "I asked Sasuke, but he won't even talk about him!" He pouted, giving Sasuke a glare, in which Sasuke didn't even look back at.

Minami shrugged. "Oh, the usual." She said, grinning. "You know the usual 'I don't like to talk so leave me alone' thing." She giggled. "He told me to say hi to you though. And to give you this." She tuned around to a small pack she had, and brought out a small package. "Gaara never told me what it is. He said there is a note in it to tell you what it is." She handed the package to him.

Eagerly, Naruto took it, and started to examine it, while Tsunade took over. "Minami, I want you to take a week off, and get yourself situated, for I know I pushed you out so fast for this mission. You didn't finish settling in, right?"

Minami nodded. "Yes, I still need to unpack couple of things, but I never really carried anything big, so I should be done packing in couple more days. I will be ready for missions any time."

"All right, but for now, take a rest." She replied, and handed Naruto a stack of paper. "You, work." She ordered, pointing to the desk which belonged to him.

"Aww…" Naruto grumbled as he placed the package in his back pocket, and grabbing the files, he sat on the desk and started to work on it. "Minami-chan, I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Was her reply, and hearing her dismissal, she turned to the door, where Sasuke was dumbly standing. "Er…Sasuke-san?" She asked, looking at him quizzically.

Sasuke snapped back into reality, and hurriedly stepped aside. "Sorry." He said, blushing. He totally wasn't listening. He was so confused. When she wasn't in Konoha, he felt so lonely, and when he found out that she was back, he felt truly relieved, and very happy. And when he had to leave her with Gaara…he felt anger in a way, and maybe jealousy. But since when did Uchiha Sasuke feel those emotions?

"Bye Naruto, bye Hokage-sama." She said, and bowing to them, she exited, with Sasuke exiting after her. "Did you get back safely without any trouble?" She asked, turning to him to break the silence as they walked home.

Sasuke nodded. "Nothing happened really. I got back with no problems…" He paused. He pondered on what to say next. He had so many questions to ask, yet...he didn't know how to ask, and what to ask anymore. "How about you?" He asked, trying with all his best to figure out what he was going to ask. Like, what happened during the fight with Orochimaru? What were those wings? What does she mean by 'it'?

Minami shrugged. "Oh, the same. Nothing unusual." She said, now, ending with a silence. They both fidgeted at the sudden silence, until Minami couldn't take it anymore. "Sasuke-san, I'm pretty sure you want to ask me about that…erm, wings and stuff, but…can I tell you when I am ready?" She asked.

Sasuke turned to her with a wide eye, bewildered. Did she just see through him or something? Because, the Uchiha was just was about to ask that question. He nodded to her though. "When you are ready." He confirmed. "Are you all right though?" He asked, with worry in his voice. He truly was worried. "Any wounds?" He quickly scanned her.

"Thanks." She said to him, grinning. "Anyway, don't worry, all right? I feel fine right now, and all my wounds are taken care of. They all healed. Yes, I know, I heal pretty fast." She said, before he could say anything. "Let's just leave it at my blood line helps a lot."

"Blood lines…" was his answer. "What is your blood line do?"

"It lets us use fire ninjutsu without actually forming seals, and we can control it whenever we want, just by summoning it in our heads." She held her palm up and sure enough, fire now rested on her hand, but when she closed her hand, the fire disappeared. "Like that." She turned to Sasuke, and looked into his eyes. "I know yours, the Sharingan…" She said, bringing her hand towards his eyes. To that, Sasuke blushed at the sudden movement and closeness of her hand, and to his reaction, Minami pulled away quickly. "Does the Sharingan actually read people's thoughts?" She asked, breaking the silence that was placed upon them soon as she withdrew.

Sasuke looked at her quite surprised on her question. "Who told you that?" He asked, with amused tone in it now. "No, it doesn't though. It lets us kind of read their attack however, and see chakra."

"Oh, that's still useful though. It will be nice to be able to read someone's thoughts. I wouldn't mind having that power." She said, with a smile on her face. "Just think though, during a mission, you can just look in to what they are thinking of doing for the next attack, and you can counter it."

"Yeah, that would be nice." Sasuke replied, and groaned in his insides to see they were near her apartment. "Well, I'll se you later?" He asked, as the two approached it.

Minami nodded with a smile. "Yes, of course. After all, we do live in the same village, and near each other. Plus, we are both anbu. I'm sure we will be assigned together again. I look forward to it; it was nice being your partner." And with a grin and a wave, she walked to her home, leaving blushing Sasuke to walk home.

Night

He couldn't help it. After what she said, he could not sleep. He lay awake on his bed, staring at the ceiling blankly. She made him feel comfortable, yet nervous at the same time. Is that even possible? But something was nagging at him at back of his head, telling him, that maybe he actually liked her? Actually, think of her more than a friend?

He slowly got up from his bed, and stretched, yawning. "I guess I'll take a walk…" He muttered to himself as he walked over to his drawers, and pulling on a sweatshirt and pants, he walked out of his house.

During his walk, he thought over on his thoughts. Did he actually think of her like that? Well, she did make him feel very happy, and he did feel jealousy against Gaara. And he did feel something when he first saw her. And when she returned, he was extremely happy. He was so happy that he just wanted to act like Naruto and go and hug her. But his sensible and 'cool' self stopped him. But that didn't stop his thoughts.

As he walked, he started to pick off a sound, coming from the central park, where the Konoha memorial is. Curious, he started to walk towards it, and as he got closer, he noticed that the sound was a song. A song sung by a female singer. The voice soothed him, and he walked even more closer. Closer he walked, more he got curious. Could it be?

"Sasuke-san, don't creep upon me like that!" Jumping, Minami accused turning around to see Sasuke, who had stepped onto a twig on accident. "You just gave me a fright. I might have even attacked you." Sure enough, she had a kunai out, but she placed it back.

"Sorry." Sasuke said, walking up to her, and noticed that she was standing in front of the memorial. "Why are you here out this late?"

"I could ask the same to you." She teased. "Why are you here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

"Me neither. Then I remembered about this place." Was her even voice, looking at the memorial. "Most of my family's names are carved on here, and well, I decided to pay them a visit." She grinned.

"Well, I was taking a walk, and I heard someone singing…" He looked at her. "Was it you?"

Minami chuckled. "No," She said sarcastically. "It was Naruto."

At that, they both laughed. "If it was him singing, I never would have come." Sasuke answered to her, after he was done laughing.

"Oh? I take that was praise?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Did you come because you heard my beautiful song?" She giggled.

"Actually, yes." He answered, turning red, but the darkness hid him a little.

"I…learned this song from my mother." She replied with a tint of sorrow in it. "She used to sing it to me and my brothers all the time. I guess I picked it up and still remember it. I never really sang it; this is actually my first time singing this." She kicked a rock a little, her hands behind her. "It just brings back memories though…and meeting Orochimaru doesn't help…He was, one of the causes of my family's death."

Sasuke looked at her shocked. She had just shared some of her past with him! Maybe she really trusts him? Trust… "I'm sorry." Sasuke said, now looking at the ground.

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry I said I would protect you…but I couldn't. I didn't even notice the fake you." He said, feeling ashamed. He was an anbu captain! How could he have missed that? "And when we did get back, I didn't move to save you, I just stood there like an idiot."

"Haha, it's all right. I'm pretty sure I would be quite surprised to see someone like what I looked like that day, fire pair of wings and tail?" She chuckled. "And for Orochimaru's little jutsu, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have noticed too, since Gaara didn't either."

"But…"

"It's all right, Sasuke-san. You can re-earn yourself next time we go on a mission." She smiled. "You can save me there, and you won't owe me anymore."

He blushed at her smile, but replied calmly, "I will do that." Silence placed them again, this time both of them didn't know what to say. It was this time, Sasuke who broke it. "Since…you have this whole week off, I wanted to know…erm, will you go out with me tomorrow?"

Minami turned to Sasuke, tomato red. Quickly regaining herself, she smiled at him mischievously. "Maybe." She said, chuckling. Sasuke's heart froze for a moment, but it defiantly froze forever when Minami giggled, and leaning closer, she said, "Just kidding." And pecked him on the cheek.

Akanishi-san: Crappy chapter. Sorry abt that.

BTW REVIEWERS

Anime-yasha: Thanks Ill read your fics soon! I promise!

Sariyu-Chan: Here is ch5! Again, sorry for the late update.

Keiya Mizuki: Hehe, yeah I kinda feel bad for Sasuke as well. Ah well, I made it up for him here.

JapanAnimeGirl: NejixOc was so long. Lol. Well it felt long to me anyway. And I know how schoolwork is. Its a nitemare.

Hiei's Hime2: Thanks for you review! Im glad you like it so far, Ill try keeping it up!

nanogirl: Lol. thanks for reviewing most of my stories! Thank you so much! Thanks for the message too! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! You don't know how much it means to me! Also...when you said "Do you want to be my internet bf" lol. yeah, that was random. lol.

TamiKitsuneKami: Woot!A new face! Hehe, thanks for reading! Ill update next chappie soon as I can!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!