Hey hey hey

So I changed a little detail...their mission is now going to be to the Grass Country instead of the Water Country, so the chapters that mentioned it have been edited accordingly...not too important, just figured youd wanna know :) I just wanted a little known country that neither Sasuke or Naruto had been before in the series.

ALSO.. I'll try really REALLY hard to maintain my 'never over 3 weeks' policy with the updating, but in two weeks i go back to school! Yaaaay (not)...and that means moving in, busy schedule, not a lot of time to write casually...but i swear it ill try hard! just dont go away...(makes pouty face) XD

On with the story.

Chapter XXXIII

Whispers

There were whispers. Some people really didn't know how to whisper…Sasuke glanced around numerous times, and everyone seemed to be minding their own business, but he could feel so many eyes on him. So far, he'd counted about 30 times that he'd heard the word "engaged" being murmured between various parties and groups of nosy villagers—and he'd only gone across half of the town while on his way to an Anbu briefing meeting. It was still early in the morning. On he way back home, when more people were out and about, he'd hear even more, he was sure. He took a deep breath, not able to help being a little pissed about the whole thing.

"Ino…I know you're excited but damn…it's only been one night…either she told, or the guy I had resize the ring around mid-day yesterday…" Sasuke walked faster as he realized he was almost late. "I haven't heard any reference to Naruto yet. They don't know who I'm engaged to." He reached his destination and escaped the stares of the crowd, quickly ducking through the doors and retreating far into the recesses of the building. He'd left it up to Naruto to let Kakashi know; his meeting was too early and would last too long for him to possibly keep Naruto from excitedly spilling the news anyway. He smirked to himself, feeling an amazing sense of accomplishment.

"I'm engaged…I'm actually...going to get married." Closing his eyes, he slowed and leaned against the wall, just thinking about earlier in the morning. He'd awakened in such a good mood that it almost scared him. Naruto was oh-so-charmingly tangled in the bed-sheets, his mouth wide-open, out cold…Sasuke had stared at him for awhile; just staring, admiring what was now going to officially be his. And when Naruto woke up, Sasuke found that he was feeling good old-fashioned butterflies in his stomach.

'I'm just as in love with you as when I first kissed you,' he'd said plainly, then smiling back at Naruto's sleepily confused smile. He loved surprising the blonde with random statements early in the morning. Suddenly he blinked, and shook himself away from his self-fulfillment to focus on the matter at hand and get on to the meeting room. It wasn't going to go over well to be very distracted in the next few days.

---------

Naruto came into the kitchen where Kakashi was sitting with some orange juice. He had a strange, infectious smile on his face.

"Uhm…Naruto?" Kakashi questioned. Naruto practically jumped from the doorway to the table and plopped down.

"Hey sensei!" He exclaimed. He reached across the table and took Kakashi's orange juice from him right out of his hand. Kakashi rose an eyebrow.

"Well that was obnoxious—wait a second." He stared at Naruto drinking his orange juice. With his left hand. He stared at the hand, effortlessly spotting exactly what Naruto was aiming for him to see the entire time. Kakashi leaned across the table.

"Naruto…Sasuke proposed to you already…?" Kakashi said, still staring at the ring. Naruto slammed the orange juice glass down on the table excitedly, a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Heheh…yeah!" His cheeks blushed a strawberry color. "Ino helped him, and it was a surprise, I didn't even see it coming! There were all these butterflies and black roses…" Naruto pointed to a vase in the room, which was holding 24 black roses. "Those are some of them!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi sat there for a while, a little shocked that Sasuke had actually done it so soon. He'd expected it eventually, but he'd thought Sasuke would wait until after the mission.

"Let me see that…" Kakashi said, grabbing Naruto's wrist. Naruto smiled a little sadly. "It's his mother's ring…I can't believe he gave that to me.. It's almost like…Like I'll have to live up to being what his family was to him." Naruto was saying as Kakashi stared at the yellow diamond. Kakashi let go of Naruto's wrist as Naruto suddenly appeared to get very apprehensive. "What…what if I can't? How can I ever be what they were to him? I can't…I can't even help him—" Naruto paused there, nervously shifting in his seat. "Can't—help him revive his clan?" Kakashi voluntarily finished the sentence. Naruto pulled his hand back and fiddled with the ring, twirling it around and around on his finger, twisting it countless times as he stared blankly at the table.

"Yeah—I can't…" His voice broke before he finished the sentence.

----------

By the time his meeting was over, it was around 1pm. 5 hours of briefing, debating, and course plotting. Sasuke had had an incredibly difficult time convincing town elders that all he needed for the mission was one other companion, especially since he was the youngest Anbu member at the moment; however, he was convinced that the nature of the mission would end up requiring a nearly untraceable party. Himself and Naruto would be enough. For now he was tired of thinking about the mission, and had long since decided to put off leaving until the next day; this would be his last day in the village for at least a week. And that was one week only if everything went well and as planned. All he needed was to get out of the thick of the village and back to spend time in the house. But he figured he had to move fast to do that. He walked faster and faster, to the point where he was speed-walking. It was like he was able to feel how may questions people were wanting to ask him. He then saw Neji and Ten-ten. He stared as he passed them, and they stared back. Neji pointedly looked away, and Sasuke narrowed his eyes, feeling the tension coming from him. Ten-ten followed him. "Crap.."

"Sasuke! Hey Sasuke!" she called, catching up to him. Sasuke slowed his speed-walking since the purpose had been defeated.

"Yes, Ten-ten.." he sighed, glancing at her.

"Is it true? Are you engaged??" She asked excitedly. Sasuke stopped in his tracks and Ten-ten with him.

"Ok…where did you hear that from?" He asked. Ten-ten blinked.

"Um, well…Lee said he heard it from Chouji…" she stammered under Sasuke's rather harsh stare. Sasuke sighed, his fists clenching.

"Hn. Ino…" he growled a little, exasperated.

"No, no…Chouji said Ino was acting really giddy but wouldn't tell him what about, then he heard while he was walking by Mr. Takashi's place—you know, the jeweler—that 'the Uchiha had an engagement ring resized'…" Ten-ten paused in her sentence as Sasuke resumed walking.

"Damn! And now the entire village knows it…I really didn't want so much focus on it right now." Sasuke said to Ten-ten as they continued walking.

"Well I think it's awesome! And apparently no one knows who yet…and…I guess I won't make you say it…" They paused again and Sasuke stared at her skeptically.

"Unbelievable…The people that know actually haven't told anyone…" Ten-ten smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Congratulations Sasuke…So…it is Naruto-kun, isn't it?" She suddenly said. Sasuke's entire face turned pink.

"How—how…how—" he stammered, not even able to get out the question of how she knew. Ten-ten winked.

"I can tell these things…No, no one told me. I can just see it…Tell him I said congrats too. And good luck together!" Ten-ten waved goodbye, winked, and went back to Neji before Sasuke could say anything else to her.

--------

"So…many…people." Sasuke growled as he slammed the door behind him. Naruto peeked around the corner to find Sasuke standing there, looking exhausted, his dark hair hanging in his eyes because he hadn't bothered to move it aside. Naruto chuckled at him; That was when he knew Sasuke was truly annoyed. He came up and flicked Sasuke's hair out of his dark eyes.

"Sooo…people know?" Naruto asked, and by one glance at Naruto's face Sasuke could tell that that little piece of knowledge made him happy.

"Yeah…Ten-ten knows it's you…most of the townspeople don't though…Neji…Neji knows everything I'm guessing…he was giving me this look. And…I know he has something for you so…" Sasuke paused there as Naruto came closer to him.

"Can we…let Ino tell everyone once we've left for the mission?" Naruto asked, beginning to fiddle with Sasuke's shirt collar. Sasuke smirked slightly. Naruto could still make him do almost anything just by being touchy-feely.

"Yes. And I decided we shouldn't leave until tomorrow." he added right away, leaning closer into Naruto.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…" Naruto began nibbling on Sasuke's bottom lip, which drew Sasuke in even more of course; it had been a long morning. He kissed Naruto readily and deeply, soaking in the closeness, lifting his hands to stroke Naruto's hair and face. He pulled back, touching his forehead to Naruto's.

"Hm…Uchiha Naruto…" Sasuke murmured. Naruto smiled almost nervously. The name had a lot of history, pain, and prestige behind it, and added to all of that, the sheer prospect of having Sasuke's name sent shivers up his spine. "I really…really like how that sounds." Sasuke was saying in his ear.

"So. When's the wedding…" Kakashi said out of nowhere from the doorway. They both looked up from smilingly staring at each other.

"Yeah when's the wedding?" Naruto asked Sasuke with a grin. Sasuke put the hand that wasn't around Naruto in his pocket.

"I don't know that yet…" He stared at Naruto. "I think…a long engagement would be best but I don't know how long I wanna' wait." He said with a smirk. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, I'm trusting you know what you're doing. I'm not going to tell you it was too soon…I'm just going to say…congratulations." Kakashi happily told them. Sasuke and Naruto both smiled gratefully.

"Thanks for not reprimanding." Sasuke said.

"You're welcome. Because I easily could have." Kakashi said back.

"Hey you can't say that, that's just as bad as reprimanding!" Naruto interjected, narrowing his eyes at Kakashi, who only chuckled in return.

"Ah, you've caught me. But that doesn't matter. I'm happy that you're happy, and that's all I'm going to say about it for now. We've got other things to talk about. Sasuke—you need to fill Naruto in on the briefing meeting you went to this morning." Kakashi said. Sasuke sighed, took Naruto's hand and turned back toward the door.

"Come on…we'll go outside and I'll fill you in."

---------

They sat outside under a tree. The same tree they'd met under the day after they'd first kissed.

"So…now it's tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll leave pretty early..." Sasuke started. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah…" Sasuke watched Naruto stare off into the woods. He took a deep breath. "This…shouldn't be an extremely dangerous mission. It shouldn't be. The location we're investigating is suppose to be the place where our DNA was taken weeks ago…but the word is there's no one there any longer." Sasuke said. Naruto stared at him.

"Really? No one?" he questioned. Sasuke shook his head.

"It could be anywhere from a simple hide-out to an experimental location…we're not sure." He said. He kept his hold on Naruto's hand while he talked.

"Naruto…I hope you still know that I don't like that you're going." Sasuke said, staring at the ground in front of them. Naruto sighed in part frustration, but still understanding.

"I know. But think of it this way. If no one's there, then definitely nothing bad will happen to either of us. Right?" Naruto assured. Sasuke didn't look up.

"I guess so.." he murmured after a few prolonged seconds. They sat in nearly uncomfortable, almost nervous silence for a few minutes. "Naruto…" Sasuke said quietly after a while. Naruto felt that whatever was coming was important, so he scooted closer and rested his chin on Sasuke's shoulder, studying Sasuke's profile while he talked.

"Yeah?"

"Promise me…just one thing." Sasuke began slowly. Naruto blinked, staring.

"Anything." Sasuke glanced at him, then reached with his right hand to his left shoulder. Where the curse seal was.

"If anything about my chakra changes…please, Naruto…please do whatever you have to do to stop me from doing anything I'll regret. Alright? And that includes hurting me. And if all else fails…just…take me out." Naruto stared, his mind immediately racing back to all of the past events that had made their relationship so hard in the beginning.

"I…kind of thought all that was over and done…I thought that Sasuke wouldn't have any more trouble with it…I thought that being with me balanced him!" Naruto didn't know what to think or say. Sasuke had turned to look at him.

"Naruto, promise me." He asked again, more sharply. Naruto nodded quickly as he searched Sasuke's black eyes.

"I promise." He whispered shakily. Sasuke looked just a little bit relieved when he got a promise out of Naruto.

"Good. Promise you'll do anything."

"Anything…" Naruto knew he both looked and sounded unsure of himself, but Sasuke was smiling slightly anyway.

"Good…" Naruto looked down, then back up, deep in thought. "I don't care what he makes me promise…I could never 'take him out' even if he was literally trying to kill me…but…I think he's forgetting something…" "Sasuke…? What about me? You have to promise too. The same thing could happen on my end." Naruto said next. Sasuke looked up, slowly making himself notice the identical curse mark on Naruto's neck. For a few seconds, Naruto saw blatant fear in his fiancé's dark eyes, and just as quickly it was masked.

"Nothing will happen to you." Sasuke said defiantly. "Don't even talk like that." Sasuke murmured. They sat comfortably for a few more minutes, both sensing that the other had had enough of discussing the mission, and then Naruto leaned over, planting a sloppy kiss on Sasuke's cheek.

"Hey come on. Let's go get some ramen then pack up!" He suggested, effortlessly maintaining a cheerful attitude. Sasuke was still more subdued, and remained that way as he and Naruto made their way to Ichiraku's ramen shop hand in hand.

---------

The next morning came all too quickly, the weather putting forth a deceptive display of brilliant sunshine in the face of an all too nerve-wracking day. It was around 10am, and they stood kissing by the door, attempting to tune out any and all distractions save each other.

"You're ready…right?" Sasuke asked. Naruto nodded, putting his hands on his hips.

"Of course." Sasuke could see right through the confidence; Naruto was just as unsure as he was the previous day. Kakashi approached them shortly, along with Ino to see them off. "Be sure to stop by Tsunade before you leave the village, let her know you're out of here." Kakashi reminded.

"Got it." Ino came at them suddenly, grabbing them both into a hug.

"I'll miss you guys! A lot!" She exclaimed. Sasuke remained focused and expressionless, while Naruto suddenly remembered to remind Ino of something.

"Don't forget! We wanna' come back with everyone knowing exactly who the Uchiha's engaged to—so tell everyone! Got it?" Naruto demanded. Ino nodded.

"Yes! That's only what I've always wanted to do ever! Hey…what about Sakura?" Ino asked. At Sakura's mention, Sasuke suddenly turned around from staring out into the distance through the open front door.

"Chances are she's already heard…but we'll tell her ourselves. After we go to see Tsunade." He decided immediately.

"What?" Naruto questioned, whipping around to stare at Sasuke. Sasuke turned to look back outside.

"We'll tell her ourselves. It's only right." He explained himself simply. The next 5 minutes saw the two leaving the house, Sasuke in Anbu uniform, and Naruto in basic black ninja attire. Sasuke simply raised a hand in farewell without turning around, while Naruto screamed his goodbyes.

"Bye Ino! Bye sensei!!" Naruto shouted, waving back at them as the house faded from view.

"Take care, Uchihas!" Ino shouted back.

---------

One last stop, before they would leave the village. They stood together on the doorstep of the Haruno household. They both took deep breaths before even lifting a hand to knock on the door.

"Why is it that I'm always scared when I'm standing on this doorstep…" Naruto murmured. Sasuke, his hand in Naruto's, could practically feel the discomfort from him. "Because you try to hard to please everyone…it's not your fault I want to marry you…" Naruto felt Sasuke's arm possessively take him around the waist.

"Yeah but…she should be on this mission with us. Remember? That's how it should've been…" Sasuke remained silent. It was almost as if he'd forgotten that fact. He truly had to admire Naruto; all that Sakura had said and done to him, and he still insistently considered Sakura a friend and teammate.

"Maybe we can get her to come with us? I'm sure we could use her." Naruto was saying. They heard footsteps coming to the door from the other side.

"She won't ever do that." Sasuke said just as the door opened. Sakura's mother had answered. Sasuke seemed a little thrown off by that fact, as was Naruto, but Sasuke managed to speak first.

"Mrs. Haruno…would Sakura be available right now?" he questioned hesitantly. Sakura's mother shook her head.

"Oh, no she isn't! In fact, I think she's out…A young man in a green jumpsuit came and took her out to breakfast…" Mrs. Haruno looked a bit confused as she said that. Naruto's jaw dropped, while Sasuke's eye merely twitched.

"Waa!! Green jumpsuit—Fuzzy-brows!??!" Naruto shrieked.

"Um…they may have gone to the little shop up the street…?" Mrs. Haruno was saying. Before Sasuke could get out another word, Naruto had dragged him down the street.

"Bye! Thanks!" Naruto shouted back to the house as Sakura's mother waved. Naruto was tearing down the street, startling a few people, and Sasuke began to see people drawing shocked conclusions from their joined hands.

"Great…" Naruto was talking excitedly.

"Maybe she's going to date Fuzzy-brows now!" he was excitedly saying.

"Don't draw any conclusions yet." Sasuke warned. In the distance they could see Rock Lee and Sakura sitting in front of a shop eating breakfast. They slowed once they got close, staring curiously, nearly in disbelief. Sakura looked up and noticed them first, then Lee. "Naruto-kun! Sasuke-kun! I have heard from Gai-sensei that you are leaving on a mission!" Lee said right away. Sasuke nodded.

"That's right…"

"And we came to find Sakura…so we could talk to her." Naruto finished as his eyes made contact with Sakura's. She looked a little expressionless—like there wasn't much anger or jealousy left.

"Hey…" she said simply, directed at Sasuke.

"Hey." Sasuke answered plainly.

"Should I…leave you guys to speak with each other alone?" Lee asked Sakura as he ascertained the situation.

"No, I'll just…I'll just go over…" Sakura stood up from the stool she sat on and walked to Sasuke and Naruto, her hands together in front of her. She made little eye contact until she reached them.

"You…wanted to talk." She said simply, looking up. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah…we know all of Konoha is talking about 'Sasuke's engaged'…and we didn't want you to think we skipped town without coming right to you and saying that it's true, we are engaged…And I know you don't feel like hearing that! But—"

"No, it's…I mean it's hard to hear but…At least you're happy." Sakura interrupted. She looked away from them, her appearance seeming to attempt hiding bitterness in a genuine

effort to accept the facts. It still seemed like it was extremely hard to do so, and Sasuke could tell that Naruto still felt apprehensive and self-conscious around Sakura. He opted to draw the heat off of Naruto for a little while.

"So…Rock Lee, huh.." Sasuke said dryly from his spot closely beside and slightly behind Naruto. Sakura looked as Sasuke motioned with his eyes toward Lee. Sakura crossed her arms.

"He asked me to breakfast…I went. It's that simple." She explained away, then remembered to intentionally resist the long engraved habit of lessening the importance of any of her guy company when around Sasuke. There was now no need or purpose behind it. "He's…a great friend to me right now." Sakura added, turning her head to watch Lee conversing with the shop owner. The three stood in stiff silence, feeling the awkwardness solidly for a few minutes before it became evident that though it was good progress to talk, that was all the progress they would receive at the moment.

"We've got to leave." Sasuke said to Naruto quietly. Naruto nodded.

"Sakura…" he began. Sakura spoke again before he finished.

"Good luck on your mission…okay?" She said quietly, backing away from them a few steps and managing a small smile. Naruto nodded.

"Th-thanks…" They turned silently and walked away, Naruto glancing back a few times to see Sakura still watching them. Sakura stood until they left sight, monitoring her own feelings as she watched them, Sasuke with his hands in his pockets, and Naruto hanging onto Sasuke's arm.

"I…miss you guys…Naruto…Sasuke…"

---------

By noon, Sasuke and Naruto had left the village far behind, and were heading east toward the northwestern border of their own Fire Country. Sasuke mentally reviewed the geographical layout given in his briefing meeting while they moved at a steady pace, traveling on the ground while still in secure territory with plans to move to using the trees when they got farther north.

"Grass country…a lot of cover, a lot of potential ambushing areas. Traps probably evident…little known, except for the presence of some really hostile techniques…" The information circled around Sasuke's mind constantly. And on top of it all, neither he nor Naruto had ever been there.

"Let's stop here…" Sasuke said. They slowed and settled down at the edge of a very small clearing, beneath a tree. He smiled a little as Naruto jumped on top of him, forcing him into the grass.

"Brighten up a little, Sasuke!" Naruto prodded from his spot sitting on Sasuke's stomach. "This is why I didn't want to bring you…" Sasuke said with a small smirk. Naruto gasped. "What? Come on!"

"I'm very mission-minded when I'm doing things like this…I can't help it. And you being with me is only making it worse. I can't let anything happen." Sasuke said, letting his fingers play along Naruto's hips. Naruto leaned all the way down, so close that his hair brushed Sasuke's forehead.

"Nothing…is going…to happen to me." He murmured. Sasuke stared into the blue eyes above him. All he could think about was how he would kill himself if anything took the kitsune away from him.

"But I can't be sure…and that's what bothers me."

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Kakashi sat in the Hokage temple, going through the few files on the Grass country's uninhabited areas. Information was sparse and vague, and all he had to go on were the strange and often brutal techniques of some of the Grass country shinobi. Sasuke and Naruto's path would be through a very vacant and unpopulated area, so he chose not to worry about those techniques. He stumbled upon a certain file; one with information on the thick forested area along the border of the Grass country that was shared with the Fire country. He read notes, footnotes, and sparse accounts, eventually stumbling upon something that unnerved him slightly.

"The border in that forest...it's…it's trap rigged."

Hmm...Traps.

-Kitsune