Sunday, November 3rd, 2013.

Hey! How've ya been?

News/Fun Facts: Uh... there's like 4 or five other pairs of twins at my school? In the high school part? (I have no idea about the middle school, but I haven't seen any around). I think there's 4 (apart from my sis and I). All but one pair are freshman. The other pair are sophomores. There used to be another pair, but they went to a different school. They're freshman, too.

Rec.: This chapter's too long already. No, sorry.

Disclaimer: Disclaimed.

Dedication: Uh... how about TehNicksterBoi today? Check out his stories!

AotW: My family doesn't do anything Halloween-related, actually. We don't even give out candy, (but this year, my sis and I made sure to give some to the adorable toddler of our neighbor the next day) and we only dress up for school, and they're usually lame costumes. I don't think I've. So yeah. Candy's cheep that time a year, though. I usually stock up on candy then.

Length:

W/o AN: ~6k. (it was shorter when I originally wrote it)

W/ AN: ~6.5K.

Warnings: Uh... just CurseMark!Sasuke. Not that bad, though.

Couples: This is seriously just KibaTsuki and SasuSaku. That is IT.


Chapter 40: Of Love


Kiba POV

"Gatsuuga!" I yelled, as Akamaru and I did said jutsu for the 5th time since we entered the forest nearby the clearing where Itachi was arrested to let out some pent up anger.

I huffed beside Akamaru, exhausted. "A-again…"

Akamaru whimpered, exhausted, but he rose as straight and steadily as he could regardless. I would have felt bad but I was too angry to care.

Mitsuki, who had been watching us with worried eyes –Damn it, why'd you bring her here Shino! I'd rather that she not see this– finally stood up from her place against a nearby tree trunk and walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Stop, Kiba-kun!" I turned to her, still panting and slightly annoyed.

"This'll be your 6th time today! Clearly, you're exhausted." She took my hand and picked up Akamaru, who peacefully rested against her chest. She started dragging me to a tree and pulled me down with her to sit. I let her. "You need to rest."

I looked away from her, slightly ashamed. But only slightly; and only because I made her worry.

She adjusted Akamaru –who had quickly fallen asleep– in her lap so he was in a comfortable position before turning to me again, taking my face into her hands.

If anger wasn't bubbling so furiously in me, I may have blushed.

… Okay, would have blushed. Not "may" have blushed.

"I know you're beyond pissed right now, but attacking a forest that has done nothing to you isn't going to solve anything." She half-smiled at the tease.

"I know," I sighed. "It's just-… I just-…" I couldn't find the right words. I harshly blew some strands of hair out of my face in frustration.

She pulled me down slightly and leaned her forehead against mine, still holding my face. I sighed and closed my eyes, slightly calmed by her scent and her close presence.

"You refuse to accept all that's happened? Him coming… surrendering… taken into custody…" I nodded, eyes still closed. "It's all so much to handle at once…"

Deciding to change the subject away from my feelings, regardless of the fact that she was right, (as usual) I asked a question that had been bugging me. "What was that other thing about, anyway? When the girls were examining him…"

I heard and felt Mitsuki hum in thought. The sound and the vibration of it calmed me further. I almost want to melt…

"Sounds to me that he's got an internal disease. A bad one." She said after a moment. "The way he was coughing up blood… it could be one that deteriorates his insides."

My eyes shot open. "What?"

"I think so," she said, looking directly and calmly into my eyes. "Judging from what I remember in all my time in the hospital…"

I harrumphed. Weird word. "Hmph. Bastard deserves it."

Mitsuki frowned.

"He deserves it, Mitsu." She sighed.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, but I could tell that she was still upset.

"What?" I asked, concerned.

She didn't speak at first, choosing instead to bite her lip and dart her eyes around before she realized it was useless.

1) How many places could she possibly look? I'm literally right in front of her.

2) There's no use in delaying the inevitable.

"I-…" she gulped. "It's not that I don't want you to tell me things, 'cause I really want you to!" I raised my brow. Where is this going?

"But… whenever you speak of… you-know-who, you're so pained by it, even though you don't admit it." My eyes softened.

"Mitsuki…"

"And when I see that, part of me gets angry at him for doing what he did, and for hurting you. Even at you for letting him. But more than that, I'm sad. Sad that it eats you up like this, and I'm afraid of it consuming you." She licked her dry lips. "So, as ridiculous as it is, part of me wishes you can somehow let this go, and stop letting it hurt you. That's all." She looked down as if she was ashamed. "But that's really stupid and naïve of me.

"Sorry, Kiba-kun."

I was amazed by this; by her feelings.

I laughed softly, raising my arm to ruffle her hair, now completely sated and calm. "You're weird, you know that? You feel like this, and he hasn't even done anything to you."

She turned her eyes to the side and blushed. "I know." She fake-coughed; a symbol for a subject change. "You okay now?"

I nodded. "Thanks to you."

She smiled. "I'm glad."

We changed our positions so that we were now leaning our sides against the tree, our foreheads still together, and my right arm was over and around Mitsuki's left shoulder.

Akamaru was still blissfully asleep on her lap.

"Mitsuki…" I started, a bit wary to bring this up and ruin the moment.

"Mm?" She hummed sweetly.

"Uh, about your feelings…" Her eyes opened and she looked shyly up at me.

"Y-yeah?"

"I appreciate them, really. But I-… I can't just… let go. Not now. After everything he's done." I turned my eyes away for a moment, embarrassed from talking about something so sentimental. This so isn't my thing.

"I know… I can't ask that of you." She sighed. "At the very least, you'll need some closure."

"Yeah." I turned my eyes back to her.

"So what are you going to do now?"

"Hmm…" I thought for a moment. Then sighed, pulling Mitsuki's body closer to mine. She squeaked in surprise.

"I don't wanna think about that now." I said, deciding to satisfy the urge I've had since Mitsuki licked her lips and told me how she felt about my hatred for Itachi while I still had the guts. I leaned in.

"I just…" my voice continued to lower the closer to I got. "Wanna enjoy being here… with you."

Mitsuki's eyes were lidded, and her face was reddening very quickly, but she didn't move away. Our noses were now touching each other.

"Mitsuki…" I murmured softly, asking for her permission.

"Yeah…" She said, her voice soft.

I (finally) kissed her.

It was soft and slow, (my first) but at the same time, it felt so mind-numbingly good. I could hardly think, deciding to concentrate instead on just feeling her.

I felt one of Mitsuki's hands move to my open jacket and clench my shirt. The other went up to my head to remove my hood and entangle her fingers into my hair.

She pressed my head closer, increasing the pressure on her lips, humming contently as I placed my hands on her waist and pulled her body even closer than it already was, wanting more.

When we finally pulled away, we were panting slightly and our faces were red.

We just stared at each other, both pretty embarrassed, when my stomach growled.

Loudly. Shit! So embarrassing!

She giggled. "Let's eat some dinner or something at my place, shall we?"

We stood up, holding hands as Mitsuki picked up and held Akamaru with the other.

"Yeah. Sorry about the shopping thing."

She shook her head. "Nah, it's alright. We can go shopping another day."

I smiled. "'Kay. Let me know when you're free." We were heading out of the training ground properties. "You girls are having your day together tomorrow or something, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. The day after, actually. Tomorrow I have a check-up. There should be time to shop after, though…"

I looked at her. "Mind if I come?"

She turned to me, surprised. "No, not at all! If you're sure…"

I nodded. "I'm sure."

"Can you pick me up at my place at 8 tomorrow morning, then?"

"Yeah."

Akamaru, who had awoken sometime before (while we were kissing? If he did...), snickered (as well as a dog could), ruining the moment. "You guys together yet?"

He was awake. Stupid mutt.

I glared at him. "No, now shut up."

"What'd he say?" I turned to Mitsuki's big, currently vibrant teal,(1) and curious eyes.

I blushed at stuttered. "N-nothing."

She rose a brow, but shrugged as we reached her apartment.

"Come on," she giggled, dragging me in to her cozy apartment.

She cooked and Akamaru and I ate dinner with her, laughing and smiling.

It was perfect end to a shitty day.

… Though it was kinda ruined by her brother showing up around 9pm from the Bakery with some extra goods in his hands and an orange-haired girl beside him, pissed to find my arm around Mitsuki on the couch and very close to her, in the middle of watching Disney's Aladdin (my favorite Disney movies, if not my favorite).

He had actually interrupted us about to kiss again.

He kicked Akamaru and I out, furious. Actually, he physically kicked me out, and just dropped Akamaru next to me, after picking him up by the scruff of his neck.

But he gave us each a (delicious) bread roll, so I took it as a good sign. So he approves of us. I think. But he's probably just really protective of her, which makes sense. I can't be too upset with that because I'd do the same thing, to be honest.

Even better, after Matsuo(2) closed the door on me, Mitsuki opened it and kissed my cheek and Akamaru's forehead goodbye. She stood on her tip-toes and whispered, "Don't forget; 8 o'clock."

Then, she winked and closed the door again.

On the way home (with a silly grin on my face), I came to a realization. I think I'm in love with her.

When I got home (the silly grin much larger on my face), I found Shino there, surprisingly. We talked for a while (yes, I told him about my epiphany) before he left and I went to sleep.

That night, I slept with my sister, (as in, "catching Zzz's" sleeping for those who thought otherwise, 'ya nasties) despite her initial, stubborn protests. Akamaru slept with the Haimaru triplets, in their large, round dog-bed beside Hana's own bed. They were asleep in seconds, not even waking up while Hana tried to get rid of me and kick me out like the older sister she is.

In the end, though, she was the one cuddling me.

Sis can be so stubborn sometimes.

We didn't speak about Itachi or what happened regarding him today, but instead slept contently together, which we hadn't done since I was… what? 10, maybe?

I don't really remember how old I was, but I remember it was shortly after Sis picked herself up and was mostly healed after her breakdown when Itachi… defected. After that, my mom said I was too old to be sleeping with my sister, and Sis, as all older siblings do when they're in puberty, agreed with her and said she didn't want to sleep in the same bed as her grubby little brother.

Though Sis is and was an unusually nice older sister, compared to the typical one everywhere, did have her bratty moments. That was one of them.

Anyway, after the shitty day after seeing Itachi, the rest of the day turned out to be a great one. And needles to say, that was the best sleep I had in ages.


Sasuke POV

"Agh!" I grunted as I furiously punched and kicked trees around me.

I was fucking furious at what had just happened. Itachi just waltzes in here, surrenders, and they don't even fucking fight him or anything? No! They just let him do what he wants and coerce them into lies!

We should take things into our own hands, Sasuke.

The idea was tempting.

Don't you want to? Kill him with ourselves, while he's weak. Forget everyone else, he's our target. We will carry out our revenge. Why wait for someone else's "okay"?

"Yeah…" I panted, feeling power flow through my body as I began to transform. "Yeah…"

Let's go right now…

Stop! Sasuke, we can't right now! At least wait until all the information they can get from him-

Shut UP! We want revenge now.

"Now… revenge… yes…" I muttered, walking out of the forest. Let's feel his blood in our hands… hear him beg for mercy as we torture him… see him in complete despair and watch as his eyes widen with agony (1) and fade as he dies. We will finally be complete, Sasuke!

"Complete…" I muttered.

I was completely within a trance as the Voice of the curse mark –who had not spoken more than a few words before until now– continued to encourage me, and I neared the exit of the forest I was in. I was about to leap up –to fly, maybe? I didn't know the wings would be good for flying– when a hand caught my arm.

I growled, grabbed it, and flung it away from me, not even bothering to look to who it belonged to.

I heard a yelp of pain, a familiar voice. "Sasuke-kun!"

The voice was distant. All I could hear was the promises of revenge in my head.

I leaped into the air to fly again when that same arm of the Mystery Person, once more, just as my feet were barely half a foot off the ground, grabbed me and pulled me to the ground.

I growled again. I stood and pulled the arm and the body in front of me, raising my claws above my head to finally rid myself of this pest that is trying to keep my from my goal.

I froze when I saw the frightened, green eyes of my teammate. Sakura!

Her hair was mussed, and her mouth was bleeding. The backs of her skinny jeans, I could tell, were covered with dirt and –I was afraid to admit– a small amount of blood. Just beneath her bangs, I could see a string of blood making its way down the side of her face slowly, due to the cold.

My blood froze. I-I threw Sakura!

I looked over to the direction I threw her at, my hand still frozen in the air. The tree was split at the trunk, leaning over and threatening to snap in half. I threw her that hard?!

I looked back at Sakura. She was no longer quite so afraid, but she still had her arms up, wary and worried. But her eyes told me that she wasn't as worried for herself as she was for me.

The horror of what I had done and was about to do weighed my down like a brick. I struggled to stay standing from the shock. I-I c-could have killed her!

I felt my curse mark recede completely in moments, still staring in mortification at Sakura, my hand slowly descending to my side. I shook violently.

"S-S-Sakura… I-I-… I d-didn't-… I-…" I couldn't stop the stutter in my speech. I felt tears prickle my eyes and slowly trek its way down my face.

I paid them no attention.

"Sakura, I-…" I choked, stepping back and hitting a tree, sliding down its trunk to my knees. "I didn't want to-… I didn't mean to…"

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura kneeled down beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder reassuringly before just hugging me.

"It's okay, don't cry." She said. If anyone else had said this I would have denied my tears – Uchiha don't cry.

But I was. I hurt her! Deliberately!

Technically, you can't say deliberately because you didn't know it was her!

She spoke, Inner! I should have paid attention and recognized her voice! I was about to hit her again! Her!

Sasuke-

I ignored him. "I was about to hurt you! I already did! I could have killed you!"

I said, repetitively like a mantra.

"Yes, you could have hurt me, and yes you did. But you didn't know it was me. And, I'm still a ninja – it would take a lot more than that to kill me, Sasuke-kun," she tried to reason. "You weren't in total control of yourself, so stop beating yourself up for it, I'm fine, okay?"

For several minutes I did continue to verbally beat myself up for it (as well as physically; digging my nails into my palms past the point of bleeding and letting blood flow down my hands and onto the ground slowly before Sakura forced my hand open to get me to stop) as she tried to calm me down and reason with me.

Telling me she forgave me.

Somehow, hearing her trying to reassure me made me feel worse. Just like that? She forgives me?!

I felt like, even if I had done even worse to her, she still would have forgiven me just as easily.

I felt as though I actually have hurt her worse; that I have done terrible things, and not only to her, but she probably would have forgiven me for them eventually anyway. It was an oddly nostalgic and familiar feeling. But a guilty and painful feeling all the same.

Could this have to do with… the dreams?

Probably… remember we had a nightmare of almost killing her? And Karin? We need to have a talk with the guys about this.

Finally, though, I was more or less settled. I still felt terrible, but I was no longer driving myself insane with my mantra about hurting her to make me feel as much guilt and regret as possible. Pretty masochistic of me.

She sat in front of me, between my open legs. I placed my hand on her face, caressing it sadly. "I'm still sorry." I said softly.

Her eyes warmed and softened, "And I still forgive you."

She kissed my cheek. I sighed.

"What happened?" she asked, when she pulled away, our hands back at our sides.

"I…" I started. I coughed to clear my thoughts. "There was a voice that came with the curse mark… I told you that, right?" She nodded.

"It was telling me to-… Telling me to go and kill Itachi now, and destroy anything in my way. Telling me I had no reason to wait for someone else's approval to kill him. It was my revenge; my target. That I should kill him now." Sakura's eyes saddened. I hate seeing that happen. And it's almost always because of me.

"Oh…" she muttered. "That makes sense."

She changed her position to lay her side on my chest, and I held back a cringe to see the torn-up back of her jacket.

"Sakura…" I started.

"Mm?" She looked up at me.

"Are you injured?"

She froze momentarily, her eyes darting around a bit the way they did when she was going to lie. Lie to "save us from worry." She does it a lot, obviously. And she wants us (as in the team, too) to be more honest and open. These are the times you make little to no sense to me, Sakura.

I gave her a light glare as she opened her mouth to speak. She quickly closed it, understanding that I wasn't going to fall for a lie. A, "No, I'm fine. Just a couple scrapes, that's all," was not sufficient.

She looked down at the ground.

"I might have a cracked rib," she started. I flinched. "I might actually have a couple, but I don't think any are broken. My spine feels fine, though. I could have a concussion, but I very small one. Other than that, aside from some scrapes and bruises, I believe I'm fine."

Sakura looked up at me immediately as she finished, knowing I was going to feel this way. She opened her mouth to speak but I beat her.

My guilt was coming back. "Why haven't you healed them?"

"I've been learning internal healing without seals from Tsunade-sama lately. I'm trying that for now; I could use the practice. They're not serious injuries, Sasuke."

"Not serious?! I gave you a fucking concussion and cracked ri-"

She interrupted me by quickly pressing her lips to mine. It could hardly be considered a kiss, not much more than a peck because of how quickly she pulled away, but it still made my head a bit light and my anger and guilt almost completely vanish instantly.

Notice I said, "almost".

"You didn't-… throw me hard enough or with enough direction and purpose to make them serious, Sasuke-kun. I probably just hit my head really hard – not even hard enough for a concussion! And the cracks in my ribs feel very small, Sasuke-kun. Hardly anything to worry about." Her hands reached up to play with my hair. "Can I ask another question?"

I sighed, knowing that was the end of the I-hurt-you-I'm-fine argument was over.

No more speaking of it; she would have none of it. "Sure."

"Why were you so angry when I went to heal… him?" She asked tentatively. "I mean, the general reason is obvious – you hate him, he's a criminal, so you don't want me to touch him; he's filth; he doesn't deserve to be healed. Those sorts of things. But I can't help but feel like there was a bit more to it…"

I sighed again, looking away from her face and instead at her hands, picking them up and pressing them together as if she were in prayer and holding them in mine, raising them to my face. My spirits lifted slightly to see her blush. And know it wasn't just from the cold.

"It wasn't really much more than you already described," I said, resting my forehead on the backs of her fingers for a moment. "But these hands… they…"

I took a deep breath. "Like you already said, Itachi's filth. But not only is he filth, he's vile, evil and twisted." I opened her hands, looking at her palms. "These hands are not. They're yours. They're strong and can destroy, but they can also heal. Because of that, I think of them as something almost... pure. Good. Yours. Almost pure because we are only human and we aren't perfect."

In a bout of impulsiveness and out-of-character romanticism, I kissed both her palms quickly. I heard her gasp.

"The thought of these hands touching him…" I took a deep breath again, reining back the anger that was bubbling to the surface once more. "I feel he doesn't deserve something so good. Not only that, but he would taint them. And I couldn't let that happen to you. You don't deserve that, he doesn't deserve these hands; much less you.

"Though I don't really deserve this either – I'll admit I'm twisted and darker than most. But I'm not evil. Whatever the case, I deserve these hands far more than he ever will at the very least; with your consent of course. That how I feel."

I sighed from the end of my mushy monologue. "Really ridiculous, huh? Especially coming from me." I didn't look at her. "God, that was sappy. Must be a record for how much I've said at once, too." That had enough... gushiness to last me a lifetime. I can't believe I even said all that. That it came from me.

"Maybe it was…" Sakura muttered. I felt her hands escape mine and gently hold my face up and tilt it towards her. A smile was almost threatening to rip her face apart, her blush much deeper than before. I struggled to keep my own smile from appearing on my face.

Hers was too contagious.

"But it was honest, and that's all I could ask for." I couldn't tear my eyes away from her blissfully, honestly, happy face. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She smiled, wide and happy.

I couldn't stand it anymore. I leaned down to her and kissed her.

Caught off guard, she didn't respond immediately. But a beat later, she did, quickly wrapping her arms around my neck as I leaned against the trunk of the tree again and wrapped my own arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

This kiss lasted longer and was deeper than the others; likely because it felt the most addicting of all of them. To me, at least.

For a long time, especially after I admitted to myself that I had feelings for her, I craved her near me. I wanted to hold her, touch her, kiss her… I needed her around me, whether she was holding my hands; we were sparring; she was talking to me. It didn't matter how or why, really.

It just mattered that she was there.

Part of me as well, maybe influenced by the Voice of the Curse Mark, also craved her to just be mine. All mine. She was for me and only me. I was her world, and on a lighter note, she was mine.

That's why, I'll admit, I'm jealous of her (friendly) relationships with other people, even Ino. I'm jealous regardless of her friend's gender - I'm just way more jealous if they're a guy. Obviously.

But her closeness with Naruto especially irks me, but also kind of comforts me – becaase I trust my best friend around her. To keep her safe, at least.

But I still envy him and get angry at him for it. Which is absolutely ridiculous. I know all this jealousy is irrational, but acknowledging that doesn't do anything to lessen it. They're just so close. And touchy.

But yeah, Sakura's annoying sometimes, with her bright appearance and personality; her naïveté (that has greatly decreased over time, and I'm conflicted of how I feel about that); her loudness sometimes; her temper; her slight obnoxiousness; the way she wears her heart on her sleeve; and just how much she shows her affection to those she loves.

Most of me (especially my obstinate side, which Kakashi calls my "tsundere side") would say that her open affection was almost smothering and definitely foolish. Another, brighter and more optimistic (as well as smaller) part would say it was comforting.

But the most annoying thing about her is that I can't stop caring or forget about her. She's, too often, taking too much space in my mind – whether in the front in my conscious, or in the back of it. Even at my subconscious, thoughts about her just float around, sometimes being brought to the surface.

She's not in my head all the time, but the thought of her guides my decisions more that I'd like to admit.

Sometimes, it drives me nuts with how much I think about her and her safety.

And I can't get enough of it; of her.

She was a drug I was very heavily addicted to and very dependent on, and even in clear mind, never wanted to stop taking. I loved everything, and there seemed to be little to no side-effects to taking her.

Like how I felt for power, and the rush of power I feel whenever the Curse Mark is activated.

But this rush, this high… feels better than I've ever had. I felt good and happy with her.

All these feelings and needs and more were at least partially satisfied and met whenever I kissed her. Each kiss was a fix. And this time, the need for her was stronger. So much stronger.

And if we didn't need to breathe, I doubt it would have been easy for me to let go of her. We crave her, Sasuke. Why not make her ours? You know you want to…

The Voice was weaker now, and frankly, incredibly annoying at the moment. Get lost.

As we finally pulled away, panting, a thought that I hated to be reminded of resurfaced in my brain, brought back up from the conversation we had before we kissed. But like I said before, I'm not so "good" either. I'm dark, and am supposed to live for the sole purpose of enacting revenge. I'm not supposed to care so much about what and who are around me. And those dreams… they just prove that we are such, and are doomed to be that way. Despite how we claim to feel for her, we were planning on leaving her.

It was true.

For a long time, in the back of my mind, I was making plans to leave the village and train so I could get strong enough to defeat Itachi. I hated to admit it, but many wake-up calls proved to me that I was nowhere near strong enough to defeat Itachi – Orochimaru, seeing Naruto get stronger, the Chunin Exams, being reminded of Itachi's real strength.

Even less of me dared to think about where I would go. In the small part of my brain that planned, only less than half of that would dare acknowledge that the only place I could go, would go, would be… to Orochimaru.

Traveling around with no general destination was not an option. Orochimaru was the best option.

Hear that? That just goes to show how heartless I can be; how I am not as good as I am made out by friends and family to be.

I was willing to leave everything behind – my friends, my mother, my father, the rest of my family, the village – all for the sake of revenge. It's what I lived for.

Though little of me thought of it, almost all of my knew I had to go. That I will go.

But still, I was held back. By my friends. Terrible, huh? My love for my family isn't enough for me, is it?

Yet it's the original fuel for your drive for vengeance.

… Still, Inner...

The friends that had, specifically, held me back, Naruto and Sakura. They were the only ones, actually. I feel little guilt about that.

My best friend… and the girl I wanted to be more with, admittedly.

They held me back. The dreams I had of them, the answers I now craved… because they involved Naruto and Sakura, or more specifically lacked them, held me back.

But now Itachi's here, and I have a feeling he will be here for quite a while.

And then there's also the dreams I had of Itachi… he died, but I was heartbroken. Why?

He died, yet I fought to avenge him.

There had to be more to the story. I see that now. I'm willing to see that now.

Though I now no longer have to leave Konoha (leave Sakura and Naruto), answers are to be my priority.

Just let it go for now, Sasuke. Enjoy the moment.

I decided to let go of the heavy thoughts clouding my brain for now. I looked down, realizing that unconsciously, I have been stroking Sakura's hair this whole time as she rested her body against me, her head against my collarbone as she made designs with her fingers on my shirt, which was visible due to my open jacket.

She had a pensive look in her eyes, aside from the peace and bliss she felt. I wanted to smirk, because I know I had to do with the latter two, (to be more specific, my lips did) but didn't because of the former.

"Sakura." She's worrying about something. It's going to be heavy, I know it.

"Mm?" She asked looking up.

"What do you want to ask me?"

She looked surprised, and for a moment, feigned innocence in her expression. She was about to speak, but closed her mouth, thinking better of it. She knows she can't fool me.

"Um… this is a really sensitive question. I don't want to make you angry," she said. "I swear I don't mean to offend you or anything!"

I rose a brow, urging her to continue.

"Do-… do you ever feel that, maybe, there's more to… his actions that night?" She questioned nervously. She wringed her hands repetitively, and I placed my hands on hers to stop the annoying movement. … Did she read our mind? We were just thinking about that.

Don't be ridiculous.

"What do you mean?" I have already been thinking of it, as I already said, but to show that I wanted to hear what she meant by her statement. To show that I wasn't angry, (even though I was, but not at her specifically) I kept my voice be calm.

"W-Well… it's –just…" She took a breath. "He was ANBU captain by then, right?"

I nodded.

"Well, the reasoning he gave you sounds weird to me." My eyebrows scrunched.

"'I wanted to test my capabilities.' Didn't you say his cousin was his rival to him? There's always the option of having an all-out fight with him. Or hell, even the with Hokage if he wanted a bigger. I have no doubt that the Third would have let him." I held a poker face. She has a point…

"Why… kill a whole clan? A clan that is unlikely to fight back because they trust you, and you were likely too fast. What kind of 'test of capabilities' is that if no one fights back? Speaking of which, could he have had help?" I gave her a look.

"Help?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I mean, even if he was the strongest, your clan was still pretty large, right?" I nodded.

"Not as big as the Hyuugas, though."

"Right. So as some were getting killed, I doubt even he is fast enough to kill almost everyone without news getting out to other members to run away or something. Somebody, at the very least, had to have been screaming. I've seen part of the compound, too – all of it has to be huge!" I nodded, a little angry that she was questioning my life goal, but getting what she was saying.

"So you think there was another motive." I concluded. She nodded. "And maybe assistance."

"Yeah. I mean, using a clone may rule that out, but still. Just one individual so quickly, and quite thoroughly for such a reason sounds too… exaggerated to me." She held up her hands. "But that's just what I've been thinking!"

I shook my head, sighing. "No, you're making sense." Though your stubborn brain still tries to refuse to accept it.

"You said he was acting weird before it happened, right? Distant, colder, melancholy, somber…" I nodded again. "So it was pre-meditated. And he was worrying about something. Maybe doing it." I scowled at this. That sentence implied that he didn't want to do it. Implied, in some twisted way, that he wasn't so bad after all. Almost innocent.

The same thing that my dreams have been insinuating.

But I wasn't ready to accept or think about such a preposterous thing.

Instead of saying much more of the subject, I wrapped my arms around her again and pulled her up and closer to me, burying my head into her hair. "Maybe you're making a point, but…" I trailed off.

"But you're not ready to seriously think about all of it." I nodded into her hair.

I could feel her smile against my neck. "That's alright. I just wanted you to hear me out. Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"Aa."

For a while longer we sat there, just enjoying each other's embrace before we left the forest for my apartment, where we both slept.

Needless to say, I slept very well that night, content in her arms.

But just before I did fall asleep, one more though crossed my mind as I kissed the crown of her head. A realization.

I might just be in love with you, Haruno Sakura.


I should have seen the events, and even the pain, of the next few days coming.


(1): Remember? Her eye color changes.
(2):
Mitsuki's brother's name, if you forgot. Don't worry, I forgot his name, too. XP And I came up with him.

Don't worry! What I plan to happen next isn't that bad at all! I don't like too much drama, but I decided a bit of turbulence would make this better. As much as I like happy-ish stories, it can't be flowers and rainbows forever. There must be storms, too.

But don't freak! Like I said, it's nothing too bad. I'm not that kind of person. Usually.

I didn't plan on having Kiba realize he loves Mitsuki, actually. I didn't even write it on the original Word document. I actually added it here, on ffn, during my final edit. (I always do one when I update)

That last line was added during the final edit, too - I've been itching to have something like that there.

QotW: Um... Which couple portrayal do you like most in my stories? Do you like the way I write NejiTen or SasuSaku most? Which fandom?

I STILL NEED X-MAS PRESENT IDEAS!

I'M STILL DOING THE EVERY-25TH-REVIEWER-GETS-A-ONE-SHOT THING!

Love,

Cherry.