I've returned! lol. Sorry this one took awhile, I worked hard through all sorts of writer's block so I hope you like it.. XD

Chapter XXX maahahahahaaaaa...(thats just Chapter 30 for all you dirty minded people...XD)

-!Kitsune!

"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."

---------

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."

Chapter XXX

Teach Me

"What…?"

"I said I…I'm going to Sakura's house." Naruto repeated. He immediately stood up and readied to leave. He paused by the doorway when he noticed the expression on Sasuke's face.

"Um.. Sasa-kun?" Naruto questioned, tilting his head to stare at Sasuke. "Look I know you don't want me to go, but—"

"It's more than just not wanting you to go." Sasuke interrupted. Naruto paused and stared as Sasuke crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, glaring at the wall opposite from himself.

"It's that it's not worth it. Anyone that says things like what she said to you isn't worth apologizing to for something that you don't even have fault in." Sasuke murmured coolly, but Naruto could see the tension in Sasuke's arms rather than being fooled by the calmness in his face.

"I didn't say I'd apologize…"

"Then how do you expect to get her to accept this? Huh? She's obviously made it clear that she wants nothing to do with me if she can't have me, and nothing to do with you if you "stole" me." Sasuke stopped there, and his crossed arms visibly tensed. Naruto paused and took a deep breath, scratching his head. He knew he didn't want to try to verbally push the issue; he could feel the tension between them. It didn't feel very good—it had been a long time since their sheer "together-ness" had caused any type of problem that divided their point of view rather than unified it. Naruto decided to say one more thing.

"I'm not apologizing. I just want her to see that I can't change anything but she has to be part of our team 7 again! Even if she won't accept stuff that's happened with me and you!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke shook his head, closing his eyes.

"You can't work with something you don't accept." Sasuke finished, and Naruto could tell that there was no convincing him otherwise. With that, he immediately backed a few steps out of the doorway.

"I…I'm going to go." He was gone within the next second. Sasuke opened his eyes and looked up, then stood, staring at the empty doorway, irritated at the fact that he'd had no affect on Naruto concerning his point, and that Naruto had actually left anyway after all that had been said.

"After years of being Sakura's focus, I know her. I know how she reacts, and I know how she thinks. I've known her for years. There's no way she will ever fully forgive Naruto. He's so full of all these ideals…He's like a child…" Sasuke felt himself growing slightly bitter at the fact that Naruto had deliberately decided not to listen to him. He knew it was silly; he and Naruto had a notorious history of disagreeing. But now…Now that they were in a relationship, Sasuke found that his possessive nature over Naruto also included Naruto's mind, not only his heart. He could only shake his head and laugh at himself. "Maybe I'm the child…"

----------

It had begun to lightly rain as Naruto made his way through the Konoha streets—the strange type of rain, where you could look at the sky and still see blue, yet the dark clouds spotting the sky dropped water. Rain in partial sunlight.

"I always thought that was cool…but right now it's just making fun of my situation.." Naruto found himself thinking as he stood, motionless, now on Sakura's doorstep. "Sasuke and me are finally how we want to be…but this business with Sakura is making some things worse." Naruto took a deep breath and reached to knock on the door, but then paused, doubtful.

"What if Sasuke was right…' he murmured aloud. Before he'd even finished rethinking his position, he heard footsteps behind him.

"Naruto…Why are you here.." Naruto turned around to see Sakura standing about 10 feet away from him. She was giving him an expressionless look, which Naruto didn't quite understand. He'd been expecting to first get yelled at, at the very least. He even had imagined he'd get slapped again.

"S-Sakura…I…just wanted to.." Naruto paused as Sakura simply walked past him to the door, opened it, and went inside. Naruto stood there staring, and noticed that she didn't close the door on him, but she didn't stand and talk to him either. He stood at the doorway as Sakura put down her keys and headband inside, and began straightening the clutter on a table, her expression remaining stoic. Naruto took a deep breath, and tried to organize his thoughts into clear, careful sentences.

"Sakura.. I'm not going to say that you were right about anything." Naruto said first. "And I can't pretend you didn't hurt me with what you said about me. I mean you said that all I was to you was the Kyuubi demon. That…really hurt." He added calmly. Sakura sat down in the seat beside the table she'd been straightening, and looked at the floor silently. Naruto scratched his head, feeling confused and alone in the matter.

"I can't let this get under my skin…first off, Sasuke won't let me hear the end of it.. and second…there's no way I'm going to feel sorry for being with Sasuke-kun. Or for just being me…a demon vessel. It's not my fault! It's not! Not to mention the fact that it has nothing to do with loving Sasuke…"

"Even if you're not sorry for those things…you can't leave the team." Naruto said, breaking the ever persistent silence. Sakura still did not make eye contact, but she did speak.

"I can't go back.." she said quietly. Naruto finally came inside the doorway fully and closed the door behind him.

"But Sakura!"

"I said no Naruto. I can't do that." Sakura answered tersely. Naruto came a few steps closer.

"But why not? You can't break up our team!" He exclaimed. Sakura sighed and stood up. "Look, Naruto…I just can't do that right now, okay? Maybe I'm not as mad as I first was, but it's pretty clear that I don't fit with the team anymore alright? There's nothing I can do about that. And I don't have to try. You've done enough to me Naruto don't try to make me stick around and be nothing but the outsider looking in." With that, Sakura turned and went into the kitchen. Naruto stood there, fumbling for words for a few seconds, before something finally just snapped.

"What? What are you saying!? I did nothing to you, Sakura! It's not like I tried to be with Sasuke!" Naruto shouted into the next room. His fists clenched as he got more and more irritated by the situation.

"It's not like I even wanted this to happen at first! What, do you think I was intentionally trying that entire time to get Sasuke's attention? Uchiha Sasuke? The one that was always better than me no matter what I did, and always got the respect and acceptance that I felt I'd never have? And now that I'm getting that acceptance, both from him and slowly everyone else, you make me feel like shit for being who I am!" Naruto screamed into the next room, and in his eyes, tears began to form.

"Dammit Sakura…look I know how you must feel I guess but I'm not sorry that someone loves me…Even if it's "your" Sasuke…And he was right, this was a waste of my time. I'm going back home to Sasuke. And I'll always go home to him. I'm not sorry!"

In the next room, Sakura winced as she heard the door slam. An accusing silence settled in the air.

"He's…completely justified…I can't say he isn't. And yet I can't help but resent that fact too."

----------

As Naruto made his way back home, the weather seemed to reflect his feelings. The wind was chaotic, the clouds seemed to be on the brink of a storm. The bit of sun that had been there before was now covered up with gray. The stress in his mind was made worse by the locations he was passing. Place after place that he'd frequented in his younger years, where he'd stood and watched the accepted world go by and shun his presence. He also had passed the place he'd lived in alone for most of his life. Before Kakashi had decided that their team should be a family. Naruto sighed heavily as he got closer to his current home, knowing that as soon as he saw Sasuke he would probably break down, and then need a while to calm himself and relax his mind. Before he even reached the door, Sasuke approached him from a spot in the yard where he'd been doing light training. As Naruto knew, with one look, Sasuke knew he was upset.

"How was it.." Sasuke asked quietly, putting his hands in his pockets as he and Naruto stopped underneath a tree to talk. Naruto shook his head briefly, coming closer to Sasuke, and trying for a few moments to hide his level of frustration, but that didn't last very long. He looked up from staring at the ground to avoid Sasuke's gaze, and immediately unloaded everything.

"Sasuke…why won't she believe that she can't blame me for having you?" Naruto asked. "She.. she didn't seem nearly as mad as before but she didn't apologize, not for anything!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke stood and listened quietly as Naruto continued talking. "Sasuke, she said I'd done enough to her and I shouldn't be trying to make her come back to where she isn't welcome! I haven't done anything!" Naruto stopped suddenly as his voice broke, and Sasuke took his hands out of his pockets and tears became visible in Naruto's blue eyes. Sasuke reached out and pulled Naruto closer, then began to stroke his hair near his hairline, and Naruto shook his head at himself.

"Damn, I can't believe I let this get to me…Why's this happening…I know this isn't my fault.. that our team broke up…but I feel like it is…and now Sakura isn't even our friend anymore.." Naruto said shakily. Sasuke felt himself getting agitated by the entire situation.

"Naruto I told you this would happen. She wasn't nearly ready to talk to either of us. You can't keep them all Naruto. Not everyone can be reasoned with." Sasuke was saying. Naruto shook his head in disagreement.

"But I'm not like you Sasuke! I can't just…assume everyone's stuck in their ways and not try to convince them to change!" Naruto exclaimed, his hands fisting in his hair from frustration. Sasuke crossed his arms and looked away.

"I'm not doing that. If I did that, I would never have made myself comfortable enough to open up to you, and we never would have ended up kissing." Sasuke retorted. Naruto took a few steps back.

"I can't do everything your way just because we're together."

"I know that."

"It doesn't feel like it…there's too much going on right now." Naruto crossed his arms, then turned to walk away. Sasuke watched him go, but decided to let Naruto unwind; he could tell that Naruto was more stressed than usual.

---------

By the time the sun had gone down, the tension between Sasuke and Naruto had caught Kakashi's attention.

"So, Sasuke. Why is it that you and Naruto aren't together, being disgusting like you usually are this time of evening? Get tired of running me out of the room?" He questioned. Sasuke sat in the corner of the room, his arms crossed, staring out of a nearby window. It took him a few minutes to reply, and when he did, it was terse.

"I don't know exactly." Sasuke muttered quietly. Kakashi rose an eyebrow and came closer to get a closer look at Sasuke's face. What he saw was reluctance. "Hmmm…Might this have anything to do with what Naruto did this afternoon?" Kakashi pointed out. Sasuke looked up sharply.

"What? How do you know about any of that, he left before even I could stop him." Sasuke said. Kakashi sighed.

"Well.. I suppose after he came back, you said something he didn't like, so he came and told me everything. I can't say I agree with either of you actually. Naruto's timing was wrong, but you were wrong about Sakura. I do believe that eventually you'll be able to get her to rejoin the team. Eventually." Kakashi pointed out. Sasuke sighed heavily and said nothing. Kakashi then sat down on a nearby chair.

"You just wanted him to agree with you. I've got to admit, this is really childish of the both of you. I know you're both stressed not having a complete team, but really. This is pointless."

---------

Naruto looked up from his slouched position at Sasuke's desk as he heard movement outside the closed bedroom door. He'd been nicking at a spot in the corner of the wooden table with one of his kunai for the past 15 minutes, trying to sort things out in his mind. Now, Sasuke was opening the door. Their door. As much time as they'd spent in the same room, it was still sometimes hard to remember that they openly shared a room now. Sasuke leaned in the doorway with his hands in his pockets and didn't look at Naruto at first.

"Hey…are you feeling better…?" Sasuke asked quietly, then finally looked up. Naruto put down the kunai and sighed, slouching even further in the chair.

"I guess.." He gave a small smile, which assured Sasuke that he really was fine, for the moment.

"Now…if I can just watch what I say and not say anything to make him mad again...don't want that…" Sasuke took a deep breath. "Naruto…do you know why I wanted you to agree with me.." Sasuke started out slowly. Naruto scratched his head and stood up, going over to the bed and sitting down cross-legged on top of the covers.

"…Well I guess I should've listened to you.. since we hooked up I've pretty much listened to what you had to say most of the time…" Naruto said, running his hands through his hair as he thought about it. Sasuke sighed and smirked a little.

"Would you not call it "hooking up".."

"Why?"

"Anyways…Naru-chan…here's the real reason." Sasuke came a few steps closer, then took his hands out of his pockets. He stared at the floor, dark hair hanging in his eyes until he quickly, almost nervously moved it out of the way. Naruto stared blankly, wondering about Sasuke's behavior.

"What? What is it?" Naruto asked impatiently. Sasuke looked up suddenly and came out with it.

"Because I'm jealous…" he said first. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"Uh…what?" Sasuke came still closer to the bed, but not within reach yet.

"I'm—jealous." He said, slowly growing a smirk. Naruto nibbled his bottom lip, trying to figure Sasuke out, but not having much success.

"Jealous of…who? Of what?" Naruto asked. Sasuke glanced away, then looked back at Naruto.

"Of…you…in a way." Sasuke admitted. Naruto stood up abruptly.

"Wha? What are you talking about Sasu-kun…" Naruto was giving him such a strange look that Sasuke couldn't keep him waiting any longer. He had to figure out what he was saying and quickly. He sighed as he studied Naruto's face. Naruto's inquisitive blue eyes…and right now, the fox whiskers on Naruto's cheeks were grabbing his attention the most. Sasuke pulled Naruto to him suddenly by the waist, catching the blonde off-guard.

"Okay.. here it is." Sasuke said with a deep breath. He held Naruto closely around the waist and looked up to meet Naruto's gaze directly.

"I'm…jealous because…I don't own your body. So the only thing I can have is your mind. That's why I get so irritated when you disagree with me…" Sasuke murmured, leaning closer so that his mouth brushed Naruto's ear. Naruto's face looked hugely confused and even a bit freaked out, yet he responded by sliding his arms around Sasuke's waist in return.

"What are you talking about, teme…" Naruto questioned warily. Sasuke sighed lightly as he stared at Naruto. Their foreheads touched as they stood even closer to one another. "I'm jealous of Kyuubi…I'm…I'm jealous because he gets to live inside you…" Naruto's eyes widened, and he felt his cheeks flush.

"Sasuke…" Naruto's blue eyes searched deeply within Sasuke's black ones as he heard what Sasuke had to say.

"Naruto I…Your body is possessed. Kyuubi gets to be where I want to be…in the deep, dark, recesses of your soul. Your inner being…to be with you every moment, with every thought…sealed inside you. If I could understand you on that level…I…" Sasuke paused, and lifted his hand to press his palm against the place where the nine-tail's seal on Naruto's stomach was, but he and Naruto's eyes remained locked. "So…this is how my logic sees it. I know it's silly. But…in the back of my mind I've always reasoned it this way. I wish I could know you even deeper than Kyuubi does…but I can't. So I get possessive over the only thing I have...your thoughts. My influence. I…feel like I don't have all of you sometimes." Sasuke finally explained. Naruto felt his heart thudding in his chest, and with Sasuke's close proximity, he knew Sasuke felt it too.

"Wow…" That was the only word that escaped him at the moment. Sasuke was staring at him, apparently waiting for a response. "Sasu-kun.." He began. Sasuke smirked a little, shaking his head.

"I shouldn't have said all that." He murmured. Naruto made Sasuke look back at him by physically turning his head.

"Hey…Sasuke. My body doesn't belong to Kyuubi." Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke let his hands slide up Naruto's sides and he rubbed back and forth on Naruto's shoulders. "Hn. Well I don't have all of you.. at least it feels that way." Sasuke murmured. Naruto grinned broadly.

"Are you kidding?" Naruto reached up and pulled the collar of his top, exposing the curse seal on his shoulder. "I think this pretty much proves it…" Naruto said with a giggle. "You freaking transmitted your curse into my body." Sasuke couldn't help but smile, cuddling Naruto and landing a few kisses.

"That's not funny. But it's like you to make it funny." Naruto suddenly sat down, right in the middle of the floor, pulling Sasuke down with him by the arm.

"What're you doing?" Sasuke asked with a small smirk. Naruto shrugged.

"Hm, oh I dunno', I just thought you could take a few hours and claim my body before Kyuubi thinks he owns it all…we don't need a bed, beds are for wimps." Naruto sneered.

"Gladly…"

----------

Kakashi, minding his own business, found himself walking past Sasuke's closed door. He managed to hear some giggling, and some sort of shuffling along the floor… "Their getting serious." Kakashi concluded. "Today…they had an argument based on Sasuke's possessiveness, basically. And they've managed to resolve it rather maturely. More or less." He added that last part when he heard Naruto say something like 'suck it up and just do it, that's what you get for stressing me out'. Kakashi moved on from the doorway before he heard anything else he didn't want to hear, but his mind kept dwelling on the two and their quickly growing relationship.

"Naruto…" Kakashi pondered as he sat down at the kitchen table and folded his hands to think. "Naruto of course, is not nearly as mature as Sasuke is. But he's getting there at his own pace. It's probably good for Sasuke that he isn't as mature, actually." Kakashi looked up as he heard laughter from the two in their room.

"And Sasuke. I don't think it's too hasty of me to assume that he's thinking far, far ahead already. I mean when the kid was 12 years old he was talking about reviving his clan." Kakashi sighed and leaned back in his seat. "So. I'm thinking Sasuke's going to be asking me a few things soon. Maybe Naruto too." Kakashi got up, picked up his book, and retreated into his room.

"Yep…I guess I'll give them the advice they need. They may even hear a few things they want to hear."

----------

"Tired?"

"Eh…a little…" Naruto yawned. Sasuke gave him a gentle smirk.

"Yeah, 'a little'. Sure." Sasuke answered, hugging to Naruto's torso and closing his eyes. Naruto stretched as Sasuke then sat up to look at him

"So now you understand me a little more…right?" Sasuke asked, sitting beside Naruto. Naruto sat up and gave a big smile.

"Yah! I do." Naruto said. Sasuke leaned closer to Naruto.

"Good." They kissed lightly for a few seconds.

"So.. maybe I am tired…" Naruto murmured with his eyes half closed. Their faces were still close.

"Good night then…kitsune-chan." Sasuke murmured. Naruto smiled, then leaned forward, and Sasuke felt a small lick right at the corner of his mouth. It was very small; a mere dart of Naruto's tongue. He rose an eyebrow in amusement. "What was that..?" he asked with a small chuckle. Naruto frowned.

"Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not. It's cute." Sasuke defended, giving Naruto a sly grin. Naruto crossed his arms. "Well it's just a reflex…a fox reflex." Naruto pouted. "I don't know where it came from! Well I do but…you know! I do it without thinking sometimes." Naruto protested when Sasuke began to teasingly give him a strange look. "Most of the time I just stop myself from doing any fox habits around you." Naruto said, yawning again as he laid down. Sasuke shook his head.

"You don't have to do that. Don't hide from me. You should act like yourself. And I should know by now that that includes some influence from having Kyuubi." Sasuke assured him.

---------

It was around midnight, and moonlight was streaming from the window, managing to land right on Naruto's sleeping face. Sasuke sat awake, unable to sleep. His mind continued to flash back to a certain previous conversation, when he'd asked Naruto a certain question.

"What's.. the next stage in our relationship…?"

"You're the one that's good with things like that, koi. You know, deep stuff. And, like…stuff everyone wish they knew."

"I don't know this one."

"That's okay Sasuke-kun, we don't have to know."

Sasuke sighed and shook his head from his position sitting on the bed beside Naruto, where he watched him sleep.

"I'm not satisfied with not knowing, Naruto." Sasuke admitted in his thoughts. He sighed and rested his head in his hands, closing his eyes. "But what do I want…" Sasuke sat in deep concentration for a little over 15 minutes before coming to some sort of conclusion. "Well.. there's only one way I can make everything come together…and that's…" He paused right there and sat up straight, a little startled by the actual thought.

"I can't do that…I would completely destroy any of Naruto's hopes of getting Sakura back on the team…and besides that…am I too young? If my clan were still alive I actually wouldn't be…" Sasuke stood up out of bed immediately.

"I need help with this…"

----------

Kakashi looked up as his bedroom door opened slowly. Sasuke peered inside, looking tired and slightly confused. Kakashi put down his book.

"What is it Sasuke? And this better not be about going after Orochimaru." Kakashi said dryly. Sasuke closed Kakashi's door behind him.

"It's not…" Sasuke murmured. He began to feel his face blushing.

"Or your sex life." Kakashi added just as dryly. Sasuke sighed.

"It's not. But…Kakashi.."

"Yes.." Kakashi answered warily, raising an eyebrow. Sasuke crossed his arms, then fidgeted some more and jammed his hands into his pockets.

"Do you think…that…it's a bad idea to…propose to Naruto…"

Yeah.. ironically Chapter XXX didn't have much lemon in it...hehe well anywayz.

Nevermind that! What the hell, is Sasuke trying to say he's ready to marry our Naru-chan...? Squeeeee!! (glomps)

-Kitsune