Hm so I figured I'd toss out this short little chappy, I'm totally busy with school ending and finals, didn't want it to be a month before i posted again so here! haha enjoy

I hope you like it, im under a lot of pressure:)

-Kitsune

"Sakura.. where is she?" Naruto asked. Kakashi sighed deeply and stood up straight.

"Well.. I found her and talked to her.. or tried…she's not really too good. She came in and got dry from the rain and all last night, but she left again early this morning. Most likely she's back at her own home." Kakashi said.

"But.. she'll come back, right?" Naruto asked, sitting down with his own food. Kakashi shrugged.

"I'm really not sure Naruto. I'm leaning toward the idea that she will eventually.. but I don't know what its going to take for her to do that." Kakashi admitted. "Maybe we have to go talk to her." Naruto said to Sasuke as he stared at his plate. Sasuke sat still and quietly ate, not appearing to be feeling any type of remorse whatsoever. "Maybe."

Chapter XXIX

Calm Me

One Week Later;

Sakura sat in a cloud of her own rejection, staring from afar. She could see them. She couldn't believe she was still sitting there staring at them but she could see them. She had thought she was alone in a field when suddenly she could hear it; insanely happy laughter. She'd turned and walked a little ways, and there in the distance, she saw.

The blonde hair dancing and waving in the breeze, glinting sunlight. Beside the blonde figure, a calmly smirking black haired one. She ached inside as she found herself creeping closer to get a better look.

Sasuke had Naruto's hand in his as they walked, and sat down with some food to eat for lunch together. Naruto's hands were excitedly waving in the air as he told Sasuke some unknown story.. She tried by force to look away and then leave, but she couldn't. She had to watch. Had to torture herself. Had to try and see what she was missing out on. The food was sorely ignored as Naruto effortlessly absorbed every bit of Sasuke's attention. So much so that Sasuke suddenly interrupted him and tenderly kissed him repeatedly until he stopped talking.

Sakura felt tears anew drip down her cheeks as she watched her Sasuke kiss that instead of her. Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto.

Her heart ached, and still she watched.

They were playing with each other, play wrestling in the grass beside their containers of wrapped sandwiches and chips and things of the like. Tickling and laughing until they were both red in the face. Tickling and laughing grew to touching and fondling, and before long they were playfully making out, making little darting kisses at each other, play shoving, and other things that made her want to gag. She finally decided she couldn't watch anymore as the playfully making out became play stripping and finally, playfully having sex. She didn't look back after Naruto straddled Sasuke and pushed him by the shoulders down onto his back in the long grass.

"Naruto…I can't look at him any more.. I can't think about either of them anymore!! But Naruto.. Naruto knowingly took Sasuke-kun away from me…He knew.. he knew that I'd never love anyone else but Sasuke-kun.. And he still decided he had to fall in love with him…had to flaunt his blue eyes…had to flaunt his.. his…I don't even know!! I don't know if I can ever forgive him.." She fumed away, trying to find a place to be that didn't remind her of them.

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"Hn…why are you so excited.." Sasuke panted, a slight smirk on his face as Naruto paused to energetically whip off his belt then pounced again, nibbling almost hungrily at Sasuke's ear.

"Hehe.. why can't you just be excited that I'm excited?" Naruto murmured back seductively, chuckling a little as Sasuke's hands came up and stroked his waist and hips. They paused to stare at each other briefly.

"I am excited…" Sasuke answered back, reaching up and flicking a hair out of Naruto's face affectionately. Naruto swatted impatiently though, laughingly shaking Sasuke by the shoulders.

"Come on, focus, you're moving too slow." No sooner had the words left his mouth, that Sasuke had him flipped onto his back, their positions reversed, and he leaned down close over Naruto, so their noses were touching.

"I'm never too slow…kitsune." He proceeded to touch and explore Naruto's body at his own pace, and pretty soon he had Naruto nearly begging for a break.

"Sasu-kunnn…ahhh you're making me light-headed…" Naruto was groaning, fisting the grass in his hands while Sasuke only glanced up with his eyes from his spot over Naruto's stomach where he'd settled to show off how skilled he could be with his tongue alone.

"What happened to "too slow"?" Sasuke taunted. Naruto whimpered a little as Sasuke poised to enter him. Sasuke rose an eyebrow in amusement.

"Scared?"

"God no…"

"Then just lay there and let me work.." Sasuke whispered. Naruto clung to Sasuke and gladly just went along for the literal ride, the both of them spontaneously beginning to smile out of sheer enjoyment, and then after a while of perfect ecstasy in the grass and sun, climaxed together rather intensely.
"Ahh…" Naruto breathed out in sweet release as Sasuke smoothly rolled off of him and laid beside him, the both of them rolled together inside their picnic blanket.

"So you're not slow…way to prove a point…" Naruto said to him with a grin. Sasuke closed his eyes for a few seconds, settling himself, then opened them again while he caught his breath, simply reaching his hand over and smoothing Naruto's hair back. They both listened to the other's breathing return to a normal pace while they gazed up at the bright blue of the sky, small, white cotton-ball clouds meandering across their vision, fueled by the gentle breeze high above.

"I'm…really happy.." Naruto said quietly as he stared up at the sky. Sasuke turned his head to watch Naruto as the light, early afternoon breezes stirred their hair.

"Good." He said back. "That's what I live for." Naruto turned his head to stare at Sasuke then.

"Really?...You always said that you lived to avenge… and that that's what you were. And always would be." Naruto said to him. Sasuke stared up at the sky now, while Naruto studied his profile.

"That's what I am…but thanks to you it's not what I live for anymore." He said quietly. Naruto started to smile, but then remembered something.

"But…what happened to your other goal…?" he asked. Sasuke remained silent, just as expected. He went on, sitting up a bit to look at Sasuke more fully.

"Your other goal was to revive your clan." Naruto said. Sasuke stayed silent until he could practically feel the disappointment coming from Naruto. He then turned his head to look, sitting up when he saw that Naruto had crossed his arms and was looking sadly insecure.

"I can…I can never do that for you…Sasuke what does that mean? I can't ever help you do that!" Naruto exclaimed, and suddenly, Sasuke realized that it was the first time Naruto had thought about that fact. The truth was, it had been in his mind for a while now; he hadn't wanted to make Naruto feel useless to him.

"It doesn't matter." He said dryly, taking Naruto's arms and uncrossing them. "Don't feel however you're feeling." Naruto stared at him blankly for quite awhile before again protesting.

"But…but Sasuke that means that the Uchiha name will just—"

"I know." Sasuke interrupted tersely. Naruto sat there, the guilt building inside him as he watched Sasuke sit there and put on an expressionless face; one that he knew Sasuke thought was void of emotion. But Naruto felt he knew better.

"He isn't EVER without emotion…in fact…it's when he looks like that, that it means he's feeling more emotions than you'd think…" Naruto studied Sasuke's face a little longer before he decided to stay silent about it for now. He wordlessly leaned against Sasuke and picked at the grass between them.

"He wants it so bad…and just because of me, he's giving up that life goal…"

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Kakashi sat in his study, having been sitting there for hours and hours before finally receiving a delivery of papers he'd requested for research purposes. He read over them carefully, looking for anything pertinent to the DNA sampling devices that he'd suspected were currently underneath Sasuke and Naruto's skin.

"Hm. The only one on record for using that method…Orochimaru."

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It had been the middle of that same night when Kakashi heard a knock at his room's door, and Naruto's voice outside it. In the next second, Sasuke simply opened the door without hesitation.

"I know you've been researching it. Well now is the time to tell us something. The DNA samplers aren't inside us anymore." Sasuke said, lifting his shirt. Just as he said, there was no more mark.

"Sensei what's that mean? Do you have any answers for us?" Naruto asked. Kakashi sighed.

"Well. You two have some excellent timing, because I've got something to tell you." Kakashi said, coming and sitting down in the seat closest to the door. Sasuke looked suspicious, and Naruto came to sit down across from Kakashi.

"First off.." Kakashi began, "..Sakura isn't going to come back anytime soon. She's staying with her parents and you'll probably have to talk to her yourself if you want to save the team." Kakashi said. Sasuke watched Naruto squirm guiltily in his seat, staring at the floor.

"Stop it. It's not your fault." Sasuke suddenly reprimanded. Naruto didn't look up, but he stopped squirming. Kakashi slowly continued what he was saying.

"Secondly…as you know, I've been researching those devices in you for the past few days, and there isn't but so much information. The only information I have is that Orochimaru is the only one to develop and use it." Kakashi watched Sasuke immediately tense up.

"But—" Kakashi continued before anything could be said, "—we haven't had a lead on Orochimaru for months now. The only one that's seen him recently…is…" He stopped talking, and he and Naruto both turned to look directly at Sasuke. Sasuke kept his head hung and didn't say anything until prodded.

"Sasuke. I know you'd rather not think about that time but…when you left here under the control of the curse seals…where did you go?" Kakashi asked slowly and carefully. Sasuke didn't move for a little while, and when he did, it was only to smooth his hair out of his face.

"Sasuke?" Naruto murmured when he began to notice the tension coursing through Sasuke's body. Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I might not remember.." he murmured calmly. His hand went to his head for a moment. He began to slowly recall surroundings and memories…

"You there!" a voice to his left. He looked up sharply, angered that his concentration had been broken. He immediately stole through the dark forest leaves and soundlessly killed the speaker, wasting no time to bother identifying the body. There was a clearing ahead. A dusty clearing, and in the center, a deserted looking building. Voices were calling him into this nameless fortress in the woods. He could sense a presence inside. To cease the stinging all over his body from the multiple curse marks, he had no choice but to stumble blindly into the building, unable to control the driving urge to kill the very one who controlled him…

"Sasuke." Kakashi's firm calling snapped him out of his flashbacks. He snapped out of it, opening his eyes, then blinking and sitting up straight. He looked to his side as he felt Naruto hugging his arm, concerned. Sasuke sighed heavily.

"I…I.." Sasuke stammered a bit and then paused. Before he got out anything else, Naruto piped up.

"Kakashi you have to let us go find him!" He exclaimed. Naruto continued trying to support his viewpoint, but all Sasuke could think of was how desperately he wanted to keep Naruto as far away from Orochimaru as possible. He was beginning to remember that he could easily track where he'd gone before, based on the dark memories alone that continued to haunt him at night…but he refused to make that known.

"I won't let Naruto go there…not anywhere that bastard Orochimaru could hurt Naruto any more than he's already managed..."

"I don't remember. I don't remember anything." Sasuke suddenly said, interrupting Naruto. Both Naruto and Kakashi paused to stare at him.

"Nothing?" Naruto asked, sitting back down beside him. Sasuke stared pensively at the floor.

"Nothing…there's no point in trying to blindly find him without any leads...I need some air." Sasuke said quietly. With that, he leaned over and pressed his lips to Naruto's cheek briefly before standing up and immediately leaving the room. Naruto stared after him, then back at Kakashi, standing up again.

"But sensei—"

"No…no I think he's right Naruto. I'm going to ban any traveling until we get some more stable information."

---------

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Days were beginning to pass more and more slowly. Freedom from secrecy had breathed life into their ever growing relationship; each day was easier than the last. Yet at the same time, Sasuke knew that Naruto wouldn't settle for sitting around Konoha for very much longer without wanting to investigate the mystery of Orochimaru's location.

In addition to Naruto growing unrest, Sasuke also could tell that Sakura's absence wouldn't be permanent, and they were going to have to make amends sooner or later…But even inside the steadily increasing air of restlessness, being together so much and without inhibition began to force their relationship to deeper levels. Morning after morning, Sasuke would wake up first most of the time, and then find himself spending at least 5 or 10 minutes just staring at Naruto beside him, wondering how in the world he had kept the kitsune's attention for so long. He knew that if Naruto were to catch him thinking that, he would get a long drawn out lecture on why he shouldn't be thinking that way and how much trouble that thought had gotten them in in the past…but Sasuke couldn't help but think those thoughts.

The same thoughts were going through his mind on one particular morning; it had been two weeks since Sakura had moved out of the house. Naruto opened his eyes, and Sasuke was right beside him, staring at him rather intensely.

"Morning…? Is there something on my face.." Naruto murmured sleepily, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. Sasuke ignored the question, but stopped staring so hard. He instead decided to smirk a little and reach out to finger Naruto's hair.

"Why do you love me.." he asked, knowing it would set Naruto off; he just wanted to play with him a bit. As expected, Naruto woke up immediately, staring wide-eyed at Sasuke.

"Sasu-kun don't say that!" he exclaimed immediately.

"Calm down…" Sasuke muttered before Naruto could really get going. "I was only playing.." Sasuke explained, getting up and crossing the room to grab a towel so he could go take a shower. Naruto watched Sasuke move, and got out of bed.

"Well…good…" Sasuke smiled a little as Naruto came up behind him and tightly hugged him around the waist.

"Wanna jump in the shower with me?" Naruto was saying. Sasuke proceeded to watch Naruto undress; watched him laugh and jokingly tell him to stop staring so hard. The obvious enjoyment he was getting from watching Naruto was making him think repeatedly of Sakura's reaction to their relationship.

"Sakura…hmph…Naruto's going to want to talk to her soon…Can't imagine why…how could he so easily want to talk to someone who said those things to him..." Naruto began tugging off Sasuke's clothes and pulling him steadily toward the shower; laughing and smiling and carrying on...

"Nothing keeps him down….ever.."

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"A demon…I called him a demon…and the look in Sasuke-kun's eyes…" Sakura hadn't been able to get the image out of her mind; night after night, she could see that anger. Defensive anger. Protective…anger.

"He wanted to really hurt me.. because I hurt Naruto…" She murmured aloud. She sighed and looked up at the sky. It was a bright and sunny weekend morning—not that it mattered if it was the weekend. She no longer considered herself a part of team 7, therefore she had nothing to do.

"But only because Naruto hurt me first…" She had been walking aimlessly through the village, not paying much attention to her surroundings, when she suddenly ran directly into someone. She looked up, and her eyes met with pale blue ones. The cloudy blue eyes appeared sad.

"Neji…" She uttered, a little confused as to how to greet him. The two never had talked much.

"Hey." He answered simply. He'd been about to simply keep walking, but Sakura sensed something wrong with the brunette. She turned around and called to him before he got too far away.

"You look like something's wrong with you." She said bluntly. Neji turned around and looked up, and in his eyes she could see a very similar, very familiar bitterness.

"It's nothing. Especially nothing you should know about." Neji murmured, and started to leave again.

"What if I already know?" she pressed, and Neji paused to turn back around and peer at her. She stared back, waiting. Neji narrowed his eyes apprehensively.

"You should be the last person they'd want to tell…" he commented under his breath. Sakura heard.

"They…? As in…Sasuke-kun and… Naruto." She said Naruto's name more quietly, still not able to hide very well the anger he'd caused her. Neji's left eye twitched at the blonde's mention.

"Are they the reason why you're just wondering around, and you're not with your team.." Neji mentioned. Sakura didn't directly reply, she only glanced away, and to the ground. Neji scoffed a little at himself, and crossed his arms uncomfortably.

"The Uchiha…and Naruto-kun…what the hell are they thinking…" Neji grumbled, lifting his eyes to stare up at the sky. Sakura felt a pang in her chest at the mention of Sasuke's name. Neji was still talking.

"It's no secret why you're angry about it…but why should I be.. why did I let Uchiha Sasuke take my chance..." he murmured. Sakura blinked repeatedly, staring intently at Neji.

"Naruto…you wanted Naruto?" she gasped. Neji approached her quickly and pulled her a bit roughly by the arm away from the majority of the people walking about the streets. "Quiet…unlike you, the entire world doesn't know about who I love." Neji snapped sullenly. Sakura once again was shocked.

"Love? You too? Why.." she paused before she said something about Naruto that would upset Neji, but the questions stampeded through her mind again and again.

"Naruto…captures everyone's attention…what is it that he has? What's happening that he attracts so much attention…He has so many friends…So many people behind him…rooting for him… supporting him.." Her thoughts were interrupted as Neji began talking again.

"Naruto…he taught me so much…" Neji was saying. Sakura listened carefully as Neji reflected on the past. "I was so bend on fate…I couldn't even allow anyone else to decide their own future…but then he completely changed all of that…" Neji paused and closed his eyes, sighing heavily and leaning against the wall behind him. "And then thanks to that freedom of choice we all have…I'm fated into not having him." Sakura stared and thought about it as she watched Neji stop leaning on the wall and begin to walk away.

"I guess we're not sealed to any fate…but they love each other. There's nothing you or I can do about it." And with that he turned to once again leave.

"Accept it Sakura. I can't have Naruto. You can't have Sasuke."

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Meanwhile, Naruto had reached the peak of his restlessness. Sasuke was sitting across the room with his eyes closed as Naruto fiddled with a game on the bed. Sasuke looked up when he heard Naruto's hand slam a desk. Naruto was standing up, and he looked a little uneasy, but rather determined.

"I'm going to go to Sakura's house."

I know it was short, but thats okay! Right?

Were there any mistakes in there? I was in a rush!

Laterz...stick around please. ;)

-!Kitsune!