Wow, it's been a lot longer than I expected since my last update. I apologize for the massive delay, but real life is complicated and takes up most of my time. I'll do my best to update when I possibly can. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters, even though I wouldn't mind owning the Uchiha brothers.

Chapter 7

Sasuke had been asleep for several hours, absorbed in dreams about Gaara, when a pounding on his front door woke him up. He slide out of bed and slouched over to the front door, angry that he was awake. He wiped his eyes and opened the door.

"Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked sleepily.

"I wanted to see you," Kakashi replied. "May I come in?"

"Sure."

Kakashi walked in and Sasuke shut the door, yawning widely as he did so. Kakashi observed him and Sasuke realized that he was still shirtless, but he didn't care. They walked into the living room and Kakashi's eye roamed around the room. The couch was still messy and pillows were strewn across the floor. His eye paused on Sasuke's shirt, which was crumpled on the floor in a manner that made it appear that it was thrown off. Kakashi's gaze went to Sasuke, who tried to keep his face as blank as possible.

"Did something happen in here?" Kakashi asked.

"I was looking for something earlier and forgot to clean up," Sasuke lied. "It was hot, so I just didn't see the need to wear a shirt, especially in my own apartment." He tried to keep the flush off his cheeks.

"Ah," Kakashi said lightly.

They walked into the kitchen and Sasuke flicked the light on, regretting it instantly. Kakashi's eye went straight to the broken glass and food all over the floor, the remainders of Sasuke and Gaara's breakfast. His eye roamed over the broken table and noticed that all the food and glass had been thrown to one side.

"Were you attacked earlier?" Kakashi asked casually.

"No," Sasuke said tonelessly. "My table just broken and I forgot to clean up." It wasn't exactly a lie, but the truth with certain parts edited out.

"Ah," Kakashi repeated. He stepped forward and grabbed something that Sasuke couldn't see. "Who's is this?" he asked, holding up what Sasuke immediately recognized as Gaara's shirt.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his face was horrorstruck. "I don't know," he lied quietly, feeling his face turn red.

Kakashi studied it more carefully. "Well, I know it's not yours because it doesn't have the Uchiha crest on the back. So that means that someone was here recently." He flipped it over in his hands. "It looks like it was probably a guy." His eye went back to Sasuke. "Why is a guy's shirt in your kitchen?"

Sasuke's face was practically burning. "I don't know," he repeated.

Kakashi sighed. "Sasuke, there's no point in lying. It doesn't take a genius to figure out – hey, what's that?" he asked suddenly.

"What's what?" Sasuke asked irritably.

"That mark on your neck…Sasuke, were you bitten?" Kakashi asked sharply. "Those look like teeth marks."

"No," Sasuke lied, his face on fire. "I accidentally stabbed myself with some kunai earlier." He couldn't believe how careless he was being right now.

Kakashi regarded him for a moment. His eye slide across the rest of Sasuke's neck and upper body and he frowned, making Sasuke feel uneasy. He continued to gaze at various spots with a concentrated expression. After several silent, tense minutes, he spoke.

"Sasuke, you have a hickey," Kakashi stated calmly. "Actually, you have several of them all over your body. Care to explain?"

"I do not," Sasuke said angrily, his face slowly becoming redder. He was pretty sure all of the blood in his body was currently in his face right now.

"Sasuke, I know what a hickey looks like," Kakashi informed him. "Who gave it to you?"

Sasuke tried to ignore his flushed face. "No one." He rubbed his neck in irritation and turned away. "What do you want, anyway?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Kakashi explained. "Someone said they saw you outside a few days ago, but that no one's seen you since. I was concerned."

Sasuke crossed his arms. "I felt like going for a walk and haven't wanted to since. It's not a big deal and there's definitely no reason for you to be concerned."

"I just wanted to make sure everything was fine. Aside from when you first came back, no one's seen you outside. The fact that you went out made me curious," Kakashi explained. His eye locked with Sasuke. "Have you been getting into any fights?" he asked sharply.

"No," Sasuke replied truthfully.

"Let's keep it that way." Kakashi tossed the shirt on the ground and leaned against the wall. "You know, I think that when the Fifth allows you to go on missions again, you should think about rejoining Team 7." He paused. "Actually, we're called Team Kakashi now, and I'm sure the Fifth would allow you to come back and Sai to stay."

Sasuke glared. "I thought I made it perfectly clear that I don't want anything to do with them anymore."

Kakashi cast a stern eye upon him. "She won't allow you to do missions on your own. If you don't rejoin Team 7, you'll probably be reassigned to a team of rookie Genin." Those last words made Sasuke wince. "You don't want that, do you?"

Sasuke growled. "Maybe things won't turn out like that. Maybe I'll be doing other things with better ninja."

Kakashi's uncovered eyebrow rose. "I don't understand. Care to explain what you mean?"

"No," Sasuke replied vehemently. "It's none of your business." He was really regretting letting Kakashi into his apartment.

"Sasuke, why did you come back to the village?" Kakashi asked abruptly.

"What?" Sasuke asked irritably.

Kakashi sighed. "Why did you come back to the village if you don't wanna rejoin your team, won't socialize with anyone, and only stay in your apartment to do whatever it is you do here? What was the point in returning if it feels like you're still gone?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and swallowed. "To find a new purpose." His eyes opened slowly. "I lived only to kill Itachi and avenge my clan. When that task was completed, I needed to find a new reason for living."

"And have you found one?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Yes, I have," Sasuke replied.

Kakashi looked mildly surprised. "Will you tell me what it is?"

"No," Sasuke answered shortly.

Kakashi regarded Sasuke again. His eye slid over Sasuke's body and around the partially destroyed kitchen. His eye paused on the shirt again and glanced back at Sasuke. Kakashi's face had a look of dawning comprehension, but Sasuke wasn't paying attention.

"I think I have a pretty good idea of what that new purpose is," Kakashi said slowly. "Or who, for that matter."

Sasuke's face colored up." Excuse me?"

"It's obvious that it involves a person, whoever that shirt belongs to," Kakashi explained. "I don't know who it is and honestly can't really hazard a guess, but knowing that it is a who is a step up to figuring it out."

Sasuke chose not to reply, his face burning. He definitely didn't want his ex-sensei to find out his secret. It was bad enough that both of Gaara's siblings were trying to figure things out. He didn't need his ex-sensei involved too.

"Sasuke, I'm going to be blunt. Are you having sex?" Kakashi asked sharply.

"No," Sasuke replied honestly. "I'm a virgin."

"Are you gay?"

Once again, Sasuke chose not to answer. He knew that Kakashi would eventually come to that conclusion, but he wasn't ready to confirm it yet. If Gaara wasn't ready to tell his own siblings, Sasuke definitely wasn't ready to tell his ex-sensei. Kakashi was still waiting for an answer, so Sasuke turned to the sink and washed his hands. He was contemplating his options to turn the conversation away from his secret relationship.

"Kakashi-sensei, who told you to come here and check on me?" Sasuke asked sharply, a sudden suspicion seizing him.

"What makes you assume that I didn't come here on my own volition?" Kakashi asked in return.

"The questions you've been asked are very prying and informative about my personal life. It's not your style to be so prying for secretive information," Sasuke explained. "So I figure that you're here on someone else's request or orders."

"Who would want me to ask questions about your personal life?? Kakashi asked in a bored voice.

"Naruto or Sakura," Sasuke replied scathingly.

Kakashi shook his head. "Neither of them have asked me about you. I came here because I wanted to, no matter what you believe."

Sasuke glanced at the clock. "Maybe you should just go. I'm tired," he said pointedly.

Kakashi's exposed eyebrow rose. "Fine," he replied coolly, walking out of the room. He paused at the door. "Think about what we talked about earlier."

As soon as he was gone, Sasuke breathed out a sigh of relief. He walked over to Gaara's shirt, picked it up, and inhaled deeply. It smelled just like Gaara, something that delighted Sasuke. He held the shirt close to him as he walked to his bedroom, still inhaling Gaara's scent. When he fell asleep, he clutched the shirt to his chest as closely as he would've held Gaara, had he been there. The shirt just reminded him of his love and made him feel less lonely.

Kakashi's visit weighed heavily on Sasuke's mind. He couldn't believe that he had been so careless! The kitchen looked destroyed and Gaara had accidentally left his shirt behind. Kakashi noticed that it was a guy's shirt, but did he realize that it was Gaara's? And it didn't help that Kankurou and Temari were noticing things about Gaara too. If the three of them ever spoke about it to each other or anyone else, their secret would be exposed.

"How did it go?"

"Interesting. He was covered in hickeys and had teeth marks on his neck, though he denied it."

"His denial doesn't surprise me in the least. What else?"

"His kitchen looked destroyed, but he denied a fight. However, there was a shirt on the ground and it wasn't his."

"What sort of shirt?"

"A guy's shirt."

There was a slight pause. "Well, this certainly changes everything."

Sasuke awoke from his sleep several hours later, still clinging to the shirt. He kissed it lightly before hiding it under his pillow. He yawned and walked into the kitchen to prepare his dinner. The sky was slowly darkening outside, but Gaara wasn't back yet. He ate very unenthusiastically and didn't bother cleaning the kitchen.

The fact that Gaara hadn't returned slightly worried Sasuke. What if his siblings found out and were keeping him from returning? A moment after that thought crossed his mind, he laughed out loud. Gaara's siblings wouldn't dare get in his way of anything. If they ever tried, he would easily get away.

"I guess he's still in meetings," Sasuke said gloomily.

For the first time, Sasuke realized just how difficult, frustrating, and lonely dating the Kazekage of Suna was. He kept going into meetings, which cut their limited alone time short. However, he was worth the wait. After four long years of being apart, a couple of hours was nothing. He just hoped it wouldn't always be that way.

He decided to go outside and practice throwing his kunai and shuriken. Even though he had terrific aim, it never hurt to get better, especially since he knew that, sooner or later, he would be hunted down and have to fight for his life again. He knew that Kabuto was coming for him, so he trained every day to prepare for the eventually assault. But Gaara's appearance messed up his schedule and he was going to have to figure things out. He still didn't know if he should tell Gaara that Kabuto was going to try to kill him. He didn't want Gaara to revert back to his old self because of something like that.

Sasuke decided to focus on his training and fixated on a specific target that was hidden amongst the trees. He took careful aim and tossed his kunai directly at it. He smiled in satisfaction as he heard the kunai hit the target. His next target was located around the corner of a bush, stuck between two wooden blocks. He calculated the distance in his head and concentrated hard. He flung it around and watched as it spun towards the target, smirking when he heard it hit.

"I still haven't lost my touch," Sasuke commented confidently. His smile slid away when he realized that the sun had almost gone down. He sighed unhappily. "Gaara, where are you?"

Sasuke turned around and slouched back to his apartment, feeling distinctly upset.

End Chapter 7

Well, I hope that was satisfactory. I apologize again for the delay and hope another one doesn't happen. I'll do my best. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter 8 coming soon!