Notes: It was requested that I try to do some more of the stories where Naruto and Sasuke have relationship problems. I also had a request for a love confession! Seriously, though, if anyone else has any requests at all on what they want to see here, please let me know. I'll try to get around to any and everything, okay? And I'm sorry if this one seems a little awkward; I really don't like it when these two fight.
Sasuke watched as the Kazekage from the Sand Village walked out of the hokage's office. The red-head noticed the glaring Anbu and gave him a satisfied smirk before heading past him and out the door of the building. Sasuke let his scowl show prominently on his pale face as he pushed open the heavy oak door. He did not like the way Gaara of the Sand had been showing up more and more frequently, and the hokage had been staying later and later at the office each time for "personal meetings" with him. It made Sasuke's stomach turn, actually. He had never thought to question their relationship, but now, with this…
Naruto looked up from his desk, which he was re-arranging papers on. At his entrance, the blond hastily grabbed a few of them and threw them in a desk-side drawer.
"Hi Sasuke," he looked up at his boyfriend sheepishly. That look, in Sasuke's mind, sealed it. He slapped his hands down on the top of the desk, glaring coldly into the suddenly-startled blue eyes. "S-Sasuke…?"
"What the hell is going on here?" he snarled, his shoulders hunched over, giving him an intimidating look. "Why is he here all the time?"
"Ah, well…" Naruto turned his eyes down to his desk and began shuffling papers around meaninglessly. "That's just…because, well, standard leader meetings of the different villages, you know," he cleared his throat. "It's just procedure."
"Procedure my ass," Sasuke spat, continuing to glare. "He's been here almost every day for three weeks now! It takes a full day of travel to get from here to the Sand country."
"Well, that's okay," Naruto was oblivious to Sasuke's reaction. "It needs to be done. The meetings, you know," he added that last part as an afterthought.
"Meetings, right," Sasuke straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. "That's all they are, hm? Just meetings about the villages."
"Ah…" Naruto averted his eyes again. "Yeah."
Fuck this, Sasuke thought and shoved his hands into his pockets. "You know, Naruto, if you're going to cheat on me like this, you could have some consideration and try to be stealthy about it."
The Rokudaime Hokage's eyes grew huge, and he merely stared at the Anbu captain for a moment. Then: "C-Cheat on…you…?"
"What do you call this?" the taller man gestured back toward the door Garra had exited through earlier. "I didn't think about it until he started coming around more and more. How long has it been going on? Tell me."
He didn't flinch as Naruto threw his chair back with a loud scrape and rose slowly to his feet, his hair concealing his expression.
"You…" he growled softly.
"Are you going to deny it? How, Naruto?" Sasuke cut him off. "I know it's happening! You don't talk to me about work anymore; you're never home, you're always here with him. How can I not notice?"
Naruto turned his face upward, and Sasuke actually faltered. His eyes were red, not their usual open blue.
"You have gone entirely too far, Uchiha Sasuke," he spoke, but it came out more of a scathing hiss. "Get out. Now."
He paused, studying the blazing eyes and the slightly heaving chest. Then, he shrugged and turned to the door while inside, his mind screamed at him that this was all wrong and this had not been what he had intended to do…
"Fine." He reached for the door handle but it turned under his fingers and pulled away to reveal Shikamaru with a stack of reports in his hand.
"Oh," he blinked at the hokage's boyfriend, then over to the man behind the desk who had not moved. "Am I interrupting?"
"Not at all," Sasuke pushed past him. "Just be a bit more considerate when the Kazekage's around again; you might interrupt something." And he was gone.
Shikamaru looked after the Anbu with one eyebrow raised, then over to his boss, who was standing with his head lowered. His shoulders were shaking. Sighing and briefly thinking that these two were more trouble then they were worth, he closed the door behind him.
"…Hokage-sama, here are the records you requested."
Naruto had not come home. Sasuke didn't care--at least that's what he told himself. What he wouldn't admit is that he was sitting up by the window at some ungodly hour of the morning watching the path that led up to the apartment complex because he was worried. Damn him. Now I can't sleep, I'm so pissed off. He ignored the small, nagging feeling that was trying to point out something to his consciousness. Tomorrow I'm just going to go into the office and ask for a transfer. Anywhere, I don't care, as long as it's not that office. His subconscious stirred impatiently and he mentally swatted at it. He didn't care if part of him thought he had taken things a little too far, especially with that parting remark.
"…dammit," he got up and started dressing for work, even though he'd be three hours too early.
Shikamaru looked up from the front desk as Sasuke stomped in and he rolled his eyes, holding up a paper.
"You have a mission," he explained to the disgruntled Anbu. The raven-haired man snatched the paper from his fingers with a scowl and glanced it over. The dark look abruptly faded to one of confusion.
"What's this?" he looked down at the other man.
"Your mission," the lazy jounin lifted an eyebrow.
"It says I have to--"
"Take over the position of Rokudaime Hokage until the real hokage returns," Shikamaru nodded his head.
"W…hy?" Sasuke stared down at the mission statement again and the other man sighed, leaning forward with his elbows on the table.
"If you had let Naruto explain everything before you went and had your hissy fit," he was aware of the death glare turned in his direction but ignored it, "Gaara has been coming here to inform him of the current crisis in the Sand village."
"Crisis…?" Sasuke felt the sudden heat rush up his neck and to his face as he realized what was being said.
"Apparently, some ninjas left over from the Sound village have infiltrated Sand's defenses and are attempting to assassinate the Kazekage," Shikamaru sighed. "He's been hiding out here on the order of his council until Leaf can provide him with an adequate escort."
"Assassinate the--" Sasuke turned away from him and pushed open the door to the hokage's office, walking over to the desk as he slowly pieced things together in his head. He went around to the other side of it, opened the side drawer Naruto had fiddled with yesterday, and came out with three crumpled-looking papers. There was a small note written on the top one from Shikamaru to Naruto:
I've calculated the success rate of this mission, given the current information we have, and selected the top three shinobi who are capable of succeeding, in order from highest to lowest.
Sasuke's record sheet was on top.
He blinked and shuffled through the other two papers which held the records of Kakashi (who was second) and Shikamaru himself (the third). Another note--he recognized the scrawled handwriting--was from the hokage back to his tactician: Please look into the probability of a fourth recruit.
"He was fourth on the list," Shikamaru spoke up from the doorway. "When he found that out, he told me to write up your mission statement and left--"
"How long ago?"
"Early this morning. They should be halfway there by now…" if they haven't run into trouble.
"I'm going after him."
"What?" Shikamaru blinked. "Didn't you read the mission sta--"
"I read the damn paper and I don't care," Sasuke snapped and whirled around, striding out of the office. "I'm going after them."
"Sasuke, listen," the jounin caught his arm and stopped him with a speed that was unlike his usual lethargic movement. "You can't disobey a direct order from the hokage--"
"You don't expect me to let the hokage of all people to go wandering into a bunch of assassins, do you?"
"He…" Shikamaru shook his head and sighed again. "Naruto did this for you, can't you see that? He didn't want anyone else going out on a mission with such a low success rate, especially the person at the top of the list."
Sasuke stopped, then slumped to the side, leaning heavily against the doorframe. "I…I'm an idiot."
Shikamaru refrained from agreeing. "He won't be working by himself," he said instead. "As much as you distrust the Kazekage, he's capable of handling quite a bit. Kankuro and Temari will be with them too."
Sasuke covered his face with one hand. Shikamaru let go of his arm. They stood in the office doorway, waiting in a strained silence for the rest of the hokage's assistants to arrive.
There was a knock. Sasuke looked up irritably from the stack of papers in front of him; it was nearly two a.m. and everyone else had left for the night.
"Come in," he grunted.
The door swung open and a figure in black and white Anbu gear stepped inside--the white vest and arm guards were stained with dried blood. Sasuke jumped awkwardly to his feet, slamming his thighs into the under-desk. He didn't care; he stumbled out from behind it and took an uncertain step forward.
"Naru--" He had to leap forward and catch the falling ninja. The porcelain mask slipped off and hit the carpeted floor, revealing the tired-looking face of his boyfriend. His eyebrows were drawn tightly together and his eyes were slightly hazy with pain.
"I…I'm…home," he grinned and fainted against the taller man.
Sasuke's mind erupted into silent panic: he lay Naruto down on the long couch to one side of the room and checked for breathing and a pulse; he found both. Sighing in temporary relief, Sasuke walked mechanically over to the desk corner and picked up the phone receiver from its cradle, then dialed. He waited two and a half rings.
"He--?"
"Sakura, Naruto's injured. I need you in the hokage's office now."
He hung up the phone and went back over to Naruto's side, studying the blood-drained face. He was covered in dirt and a dried layer of blood and sweat, and there were probably a few deep cuts, but nothing Sakura couldn't fix when she got here. Sasuke finally got a hold of his flailing thoughts and sat down on the couch next to the blond. After a moment of quiet contemplation, a thin-fingered hand reached up and cupped one scarred cheek.
"I'll apologize when you wake up." It was a shame his boyfriend missed the warm smile that crossed his pale lips. "For now, though, welcome home…"