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"WHY AM I CHAINED TO THE BED!" Naruto screamed, waking everyone up in the hospital and causing several heart attacks. Tsunade stode in and planted her hand on her hip, looking tired and very put out.

"Naruto, you've suffered a serious injury with the Mangekyou Sharingan and shouldn't walk around for two more days, but knowing you, you would leap out of the bed no matter what we tried to do so now you're tied to it, and DON'T ARGUE." Naruto raised his head, weaving it back and forth, looking for someone.

"Hey, have you seen Sakura-chan anywhere?" he asked anxiously.Tsunade sighed as she thought of the position Konoha was currently in.

Flashback

Tsunade looked uncomprehendingly at her masked messenger. "What do you mean?" she asked, hoping he had been mistaken."There's no way...,"

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama, but it's true. Uchiha Sasuke is not here out of his own will, although he has killed Orochimaru and Kabuto, a dangerous new power is rumored to have risen in the Sound. He's under a permanent genjustu that can only be broken by...,"

Tsunade shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Love."

"This is more like something out of a fairytale..I can't believe this is happening."

"Hokage-sama, you must believe it, and if you don't...," Tsunade grabbed her desk tightly with her hands as the Anbu's words fell like a knell of doom upon her,

"If you don't..Sasuke will destroy Konoha. And we can't stop him, because only Naruto is a match for him, but if Naruto is occupied and the way is open for Sasuke's new master..."

"Konoha will be doomed." she stated. "I understand..I will give him a mission with the kunoichi most likely to capture his heart...

Sakura."

End Flashback

"Let me explain how things stand, Naruto. Sakura must get Sasuke to fall in love with her, or Konoha will fall." Tsunade was stunned at the horror-stricken expression on Naruto's face. Sure, Naruto loved Sakura, but Sakura had always loved Sasuke and she didn't see how this was any different.

"Naruto..what's wrong?" He looked at the Hokage with sorrow-filled eyes.

"Tsunade baa-sama..Sakura and I are..engaged."

With Sakura and Sasuke...

"Sasuke, will you please stop snapping at me! I'm doing the best I can, it's not like you could do any better," Sakura snapped at Sasuke. She was out of temper and and missing Naruto immensely.

"Hn." Sasuke stated, bending down to examine the fish the were cooking.

"Your piece is bigger."

"WHAT?!" Sakura shrieked, balling her fists in fury.

"IS THAT ALL YOU WERE COMPLAINING ABOUT? I'LL JUST TAKE THE SMALLER ONE! GOSH! YOU'RE SO IMMATURE! Boys..." Shaking her head, she handed Sasuke the bigger piece and munched happily on the smaller piece. She cocked her head, remembering how Sasuke had acted before, almost as if he loved her...

"Hey Sasuke, are you pmsing?" She mused outloud. Sasuke stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Did she just dare, dare ask Uchiha Sasuke if he was PMSING?!

She was going to get it now.

"Eek!" Sakura squeaked as a kunai was pressed into her neck and her body trapped against Sasuke's.

"Would you mind repeating that?" He asked in a low and husky voice. Sakura, not daunted by the kunai, replied gladly.

"I asked if you were PMSin--" she was cut off by his lips on hers. Jerking away suddenly, she asked angrily,

"What was that all about? You know I don't love you anymore!" Sasuke smirked.

"You may not love me now, but without thoughts of that baka clouding your mind, you'll soon see that we were meant to be, Sakura!" Sakura stared at him through tears in her eyes.

"You don't learn anything, do you? You don't even love me! How could you expect that we were meant to be when there's no love?"

"Who said I didn't love you?"

"I scorn your definition of love." Sakura turned her back on him.

"You haven't even heard it!"

"I don't need to. If you truly loved me, you would want me to be happy no matter what. You just want yourself to be happy. I think, rather than in love with me, Sasuke, you're in love with yourself." Sakura retorted, venom dripping from every word. Gathering her pack onto her back, she faced him.

"Let's get going."

When they reached the Sound...

"Would you like the honeymoon suite, sir?" Sakura gritted her teeth as Sasuke smirked and said,

"Of course. My wife and I are, after all, on our honeymoon...," Sakura glared as the hotel clerk giggled and gave him the key.

"Enjoy your stay!" she said suggestively.

Sakura ran to the bathroom to puke. Sasuke simply stretched out on the bed and pondered what Sakura had said. He really had changed, a lot. If it wasn't for the stupid genjutsu on him that he couldn't break (he knew about that too, the new evil person had explained it to him, laughing maniacally as Sasuke fought against his bonds). He really needed to learn how to love fast, or else he would be killing everyone he cared about. He care about Sakura, but did he love her?

"Sakura." His velvety voice caressed her name as she came out of the bathroom.

"Yes, Sasuke?" she replied formally, looking everywhere but him.

"Teach me how to love." he pleaded, eyes boring into hers. Sakura was stunned. What was this all about?

"Sasuke...I--," He grabbed her hands.

"Please...Sakura...," She melted when he gave her the puppy eyes.

"Oh, alright. I'll try. Why?" Sasuke then proceeded to tell her the real purpose of the mission while Sakura got more and more outraged.

"TSUNADE-SHISHOU!"

Somewhere far away in Konoha, Tsunade sneezed. Shizune poked her head in as the bottle of sake disappeared into it's hiding place.

"Are you getting sick, Tsunade-sama?" She shook her head.

"No...someone must me talking about me."

Sakura sighed as she surveyed Sasuke in front of her. How in the world was she supposed to teach him how to love someone? They had gone outside into a pretty meadow, which surprised Sakura because she didn't know that a place like the Sound had much nature at all, let alone something as pretty as this.

Love wasn't something you could teach to a person. It was a feeling that you got when everything you cared about was that person, and the only person you ever wanted to be with was him, and Naruto...

Sasuke waved a hand in front of her face.

"Are you going to teach me how to love or not?" She sighed, sitting down pretzel style on the grass, inviting him to sit next to her.

"Ok, well first, after a person becomes close to you, you start caring about them. Right? So, you care about what happens to them, and whether or not they're safe and happy, and how you can make their life better. It doesn't matter if you're in their life as their love, as long as they're happy. Usually, that person would become beautiful in your eyes (unless they already are beautiful) and nothing shines brighter than them. You love being with them, and they make you happy. Sometimes you have to accept the most they can give you and be grateful for it. And sometimes, when you're lucky, you'll find that the person you love loves you back. And that feeling is like nothing else in the world...," Sakura finished, twisting her engagement ring on her finger.

Sasuke looked at her, mouth agape. It sounded pretty complicated to him. All he knew was that the person he was going to love was beautiful already. He ran his eyes appreciatively down her body.

"Is there something...easier to do? It sounds pretty complicated," he asked her hopefully.

"Nope! You can suffer through it!" Sakura said happily. Sasuke winced. Since when had she become such a sadist?

"Let me ask you a question then, Sakura-sensei," he stated, not waiting for her agreement.

"How did you know you loved me?" Sakura's eyes filled with pain and hurt when she remembered her 12 year old self. When she spoke, her voice was low and quiet, and Sasuke had to strain to hear her.

"Sometimes, when you love someone, you act foolish. When I look back on those times, I see how pathetic I was. All I wanted was for the person I loved to notice me. All I wanted was his eyes to light up, like mine did, when I saw him. He was unhappy and it pained me so much to see that. I would've given everything I had to make him happy, to help him, to make him let me crack his shell that he built. When he left, I offered everything to him, because I didn't care about myself. He was my all, and when you love someone, you give your all. There was nothing I wouldn't have done for him...,"

"But you said that the person that you love makes you happy." Sasuke stated, noticing the missing component.

"Yes, but love also helps you look over the person you love's faults," Sakura whispered, tears falling down her face.

"And I looked over all his faults. He was perfect in my eyes, and I was weak. When he called me annoying and weak, I let him. Because deep down, I knew he was right. And it hurt. What hurt more was that, years later, I looked back and found that I had done the same thing to a person who loved me deeply. And he loved me and cared for me even when I was sarcastic, or when I intentionally insulted him to hurt him. He stood by me for all these years and never gave up on me. So I fell for him too, and I love him more than life itself. I put the other one in my past...until he came back."

Sasuke stood stunned at what Sakura had told him. Had he really caused that much pain to her? He gently brushed her tears away with his fingers and took her into his arms and held her tight.

Something in his barren heart, a seed sprung up, recently watered.

"Sakura...I'm sorry. I truly am...," and Sakura cried in the arms of her old love.

YAY! That was a long chapter! Yippee!

RxR please! I hope you guys liked it!

Sorry for so much SasuSaku, but that's the way it has to go for angst, n'est-ce pas?

Poor Sakura...caught between these two.

Love you guys!!