SasuNaru, yaoi, OOC, OC's and unbeta-read.

Kishimoto-sama owns Naruto characters.

Warning: This fic contains just 3 percent of SasuNaru fluff.

Thank you for the reviews, guys. Oh yeah, Makkura Arashi took a moment to nominate this story to enter into a competition held by TONFA wwwdotnarutoficdotorg and everytime I think about this it sends me to a good spin of nervousness and the voting hadn't even began yet. .

Chapter 63: When the flower starts blooming

Naruto opened his eyes, stretched his still sore body before he turned around to the direction where the source of the heavy sensation that had gripped him even in his sleep was.

Sasuke.

Before he could greet his husband, the latter pressed a finger against his lips.

Sasuke shook his head, silently telling his wife that he didn't want to start his morning yet. His wife nodded and moved close to him while rubbing the hickey that still tingled. A pale hand moved lower to lightly massaged Naruto's sore lower back.

"Hey," Sasuke called out softly right after Naruto purred in contentment.

"Hmm?" came the lazy reply.

"Do you love me?"

That had snapped the blonde from his lazy sleepiness. "Is there something wrong?" he asked warily. After what happened more than two years ago, Naruto was always worried when his spouse would suddenly go sappy, sweet or sentimental on him.

"No, nothing."

"Are you sure?"

Sasuke murmured something inaudible causing the blonde to poke him in annoyance.

"Just some stupid dream which I don't want to narrate," he repeated quickly.

Naruto was relieved that he didn't prod Sasuke to narrate. "Of course. I do love you."

"How much?"

At this Naruto frowned. A long time ago, he had stopped trying to measure his feelings for his spouse after such thought always left him with headache. "I don't know. It's beyond logic."

"Dobe-"

"No more of-"

"I love you too."

"Huh? Oh."

Sasuke smirked. "More than you do."

Naruto frowned. "Dream on, bastard. That's not possible."

The dark-haired man gave him a smug look. "It is, because it's me."

With a growl, Naruto twisted one pale arm. "Really now."

In a split second, they wrestled against each other until Naruto fell off from the bed.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked, his head hovering from the bedside.

The blonde mumbled something about heartless bastard as he struggled to his feet. Just when he stood up, his knees gave way. He would have fallen to the floor if Sasuke didn't pull him back to the bed.

"Was I that rough last night?" he inquired, his lips brushing against tanned forehead.

He had been rough last night but that wasn't the cause. However, Naruto didn't feel like telling his spouse so he settled for, "isn't it obvious?" He then pulled the man hovering above for his morning kiss, "good morning, bastard."

Sasuke groaned which made Naruto laughed as the latter got out from the bed. It was obvious that Sasuke didn't want to move yet. He just wanted to be lazy with his wife in bed.

-SasuNaru is love-

Gaara tapped his fingers on the table as he sat on his chair in a posture as if he owned the world, no the universe... as if he had all the time in the world when in fact he didn't. He glanced to the door when it was opened. Then annoyance disturbed his emotionless face when it was the blond hokage who stepped inside.

The hokage looked sheepish. But before he could come up with reasons why he was late, Gaara asked after he saw a telltale hickey peeking from the blonde's collar, "so you're still doing it?"

The kazekage had always thought that the Uchiha was a pervert. He still did but he had come into conclusion that his friend was a closet pervert. After all, it takes two to tango right? His assumption was proven correct when Naruto answered honestly.

"There are still a lot of position we haven't tried." He then grinned and his eyes twinkled like jewels when he remembered something. "There are positions so difficult and look impossible until we tried it. I didn't know I could do like this..."

Gaara jumped from his seat; quickly strode and grabbed the blonde stopping him from demonstrating whatever position he had in mind.

"Naruto, I didn't come here all the way from Suna to hear or learn or discuss your sex life with your husband." He stirred the hokage to his seat and unceremoniously pushed him. "Shall we now get down to business?"

"Are you sure you don't want to get married?"

Gaara was closed to attacking the other man. "I don't have to get married to have sex."

Naruto grinned, interest flaring in his eyes. The red-head cursed for all he was worth.

"So, Gaara, who-"

"If I'm interested that is," he added honestly. "According to the reports-"

"Gaara," Naruto whined, almost crumbling the first page of his copy of the report. He only got serious when his view seemed to get a little bit sandy.

-SasuNaru is love-

Inside one of the laboratory rooms located at the basement of Konoha hospital, one voice trembling with amusement broke the monotony of bubbling sounds coming from various concoctions.

"Just one drop," came the voice that sounded conspiratorial. "One and it'll be over."

Two silhouettes splayed over the wall as the burner was being shifted. A hand then held a medicine drop with an orange liquid over a boiling white liquid. With a nod from one of the figures, the hand pinched the rubber. Slowly, a drop of the orange liquid gently fell and joined the mass of white liquid soundlessly. Unfortunately, the medicine drop had not yet been moved away from the flask so a little drop of the same liquid fell causing the boiling concoction to react immediately. Thick and pungent smoke rose from it causing the two occupants to open windows and increased the speed of the ventilator before they started laughing.

"Look! Look!" Miki said while pointing to the flask.

Yumiko- her teammate since she was assigned to a medic unit and who was one year older than her, did as she was told and her face immediately bore the look of disgust. Their experiment had turned to a gross golden yellow. "Damn. It looks like the color of excretion during LBM."

"Exactly," the blonde said before they dissolved to another bout of laughter.

They whipped their head to the side when the door slid open loudly. Then their cell leader walked in. Although traces of the pungent smell were present, her serious expression didn't change even slightly. As expected of their leader- Rock Hanako. Compared to her twin sister Yuri, she was more adventurous, playful and approachable despite the way she looked so serious. With her black hair tied in a neat bun, Miki and Yumiko knew they had a mission.

"An ANBU team was ambushed. Unfortunately, the first one who got hit was the medic-nin that accompanied them," Hanako explained. "He's in critical condition and we're expected to arrive at their location in fifteen minutes. We have to get there within that time. Understood?"

The two nodded, grabbed their pouches then together with their leader, disappeared in the air.

-SasuNaru is love-

The maskless ANBU team only became at ease when the medic unit gave the correct password. The two ANBU members had only sword wounds while the medic-nin was bathing in his own blood. It was obvious those who ambushed wanted to eliminate the medic-nin first to decrease the unit's survival rate.

"We did what we could," Shouhei said.

Yumiko immediately attended to the sandy brown-haired shinobi who had wounds in his left thigh while Hanako attended to the medicnin. For the briefest moment, Shouhei's and Miki's eyes met before the blond girl kneeled before him to take care of his wound in his right arm.

Hanako took in the medicnin's situation. His wounds were severe yet none of it hit any vital parts but blood was flowing too much than it should be judging from the injuries so she thought it was strange. She dipped her finger into his blood, pressed his thumb against her blood-covered finger. Her eyes widened when saw realized his blood had lost its stickiness, making coagulation impossible. He had been poisoned.

"Hey!" she called to her team. "Check their blood before doing anything." Her two subordinates wordlessly followed.

"It's normal," Yumiko said.

"Same here," Miki added.

"Then give me your vials for coagulation. Mine isn't enough for him."

Guessing that Hanako's roll of bandage wasn't enough, Miki offered hers. "We have to settle for something else," she told Shouhei who just smiled, all pain forgotten. He watched as hands gently applied a colorless ointment before covering his wounds with gauze. He thought it was over until he saw Miki taking out one of the scarves he had given her.

Reflexively, he gently closed his hand around the material. "It would get dirty."

The medic-nin smiled, "then you'll have to wash it before you'll return it to me. " She then swatted his hand and securely tied the scarf around his injured arm. She patted it softly before she stood up.

Hanako was aware that the injured medic-nin was no longer fit to resume his mission. She was also aware that the ANBU team needed one medical personnel because their mission required them to pass critical areas and Miki with her skills was the best candidate for replacement.

"I'm going to pull him out," Hanako announced. "Miki you go with them."

The blonde nodded and chalked the slight tug at her heart as an excitement that she was going to join an ANBU mission- her first since she became a ninja.

Inwardly, Shouhei didn't like the order due to a personal reason- he didn't want Miki to get hurt.

Yumiko waved at her friend before she and their leader together with the injured shinobi disappeared.

-SasuNaru is love-

Shouhei was holding the end of the line as they sped through the sea of forest.

He could only croaked when a giant shuriken flew from their right side and beheaded Miki, her blood spattering. His mind told him that it wasn't a genjutsu before it shut down. He felt cold at the same time hot. He felt blood draining from him at the same time pumping through his veins. He heard silence with his left ear and a deafening noise with his other. He felt heavy at the same time floating. It was irony and insanity merrily combining as they engulfed him.

It took him awhile before he realized that the beheaded Miki was just a trunk and her blood was just sap. He was at loss whether to cry or laugh. He didn't want to do either so he signaled his men to scatter and annihilate their attackers. He looked around looking for their enemies as well for their medic-nin.

Wherever you are, please be safe.

-SasuNaru is love-

Shouhei froze in his track then duck as something moved towards him high-speed. He instinctively tightened his hold around his blood-coated sword, ready to kill.

The object slammed against the tree and remained there even after few seconds. Still alert, Shouhei moved towards it and found out that the object was a human body or to be exact a corpse. And the reason it remained pinned against the tree was because of the three objects which upon his closer inspection were sharp short stakes that had pierced through his body. He didn't have to look closer to know that it was Miki's work.

He tore from the place and moved to the direction the corpse came from, hoping Miki was still there. When he found her safe and unharmed he wanted to hug but settled for a pat on her shoulder.

"You're okay," he stated.

"Of course. I'm a kunoichi," she replied, unable to understand the reason behind his soft voice.

The lad smiled wryly, "I'll try to remember that."

It was only then did it dawn on her that he was worried and she blushed lightly. "Shouhei-san, thanks."

"C'mon," he said, "my team is probably waiting for us." And without meaning to and without malice or perversion took her hand in his and led her.

-SasuNaru is love-

When they arrived home the next day, Miki went to her leader to report while the team went to the hokage tower for debriefing.

On her way home, she bumped into one of her acquaintances- Aki. The boy was two years older than her, charming and skillful in traps.

She smiled as he stood in front of her. The first time they met, he sent a dashing smile to her direction and before she knew it she had been infatuated for two days. Or perhaps, she still was because her heart had picked up speed and she felt blush creeping towards her cheeks.

Aki cleared his throat then stared at her blue eyes. "I was wondering if you'd like to watch a movie with me tomorrow afternoon."

Miki realized quickly that she was being asked for a date. Her first date. She was never aware that her first date had been Shouhei during that festival a long time ago. She stifled the urge to giggle before she asked calmly and coolly, "What movie?"

"The one about rounins."

"Great. I want to watch that."

Aki mentally whooped for joy. "What time are you free?"

"My shift ends by four. Shall we meet at the park near the theater by four-thirty?"

The lad nodded, grinning. "I'll see you tomorrow then," he said before he left.

"Yeah, tomorrow." With an ear-splitting grin, she continued on her way home. That grin didn't disappear as she flopped on her bed with a dreamy look until a realization hit her like a bolt of lightning. She bolted to her closet and frantically checked her clothes for something appropriate.

"Damn," she muttered as she realized she didn't have any. She decided to do a quick shopping. She went to the kitchen and found Akemi. Perfect.

"What?" Akemi asked as he found puppy eyes trained on him.

"Accompany me to the mall."

The older Uchiha scowled. Malls meant a throng of fan girls thus he restricted himself going there unless the purpose was important.

"Why?"

"So I could shop for clothes for my date."

"Date?" somebody echoed from the doorway.

Miki grabbed her younger brother and said, "Say you'll accompany me to the mall."

Kisho shrugged his shoulders and said, "sure."

"I'll go too," Akemi announced because Miki shopping for her date constituted to emergency. In fact, Miki going to a date meant red alert in their family.

-SasuNaru is love-

The reason Miki asked her two brothers to accompany her was because she wanted to hear the boys' opinion on her choice. She believed that if it was pleasing to her brothers then it was pleasing to Aki too. However, Miki was regretting her decision because they still haven't approved any clothes of her choice. Their reasons for disapproval went as far as the color was too dull or too bright or doesn't suit her complexion or the style was too lame or lacking of design. In frustration, she told them to get what suits their taste and she'd pick one from their choice.

The two happily obliged what she strongly suggested. A minute or two later, Miki paled at what her brothers were bringing. Akemi presented to her pants and blouse which not only were one size bigger than hers but also looked like it came from the women-who-don't-give-a-damn-about-fashion area. The clothes Kisho brought were no better. It was a set of one long skirt and blouse which would never flaunt her lean figure.

Miki was torn between laughing and crying; hugging them for their protectiveness or beating them up.

"I'm going to die as an old maid," she said under her breath. She looked at them pleadingly, "please cooperate with me. Please don't mess my date up."

Kisho and Akemi glanced at each other. They never had any intention to hurt her or make her tearful with their deed and yet her she was pleading like any ordinary girl.

"Just stay here," Akemi said gently, "We'll get you something good."

And they did after more than fifteen minutes and even paid for it when their sister gave her approval. She may feel lonely for being the only girl born in the family but she'd never exchange their pampering for anything in this world.

-SasuNaru is love-

Yukina took a sideway glance at his husband. Yuuzuki was stirring his coffee lazily while he stared distantly. Sighing, she took a seat in front of him and said, "If it worries you so, why don't you go after them?"

He shook his head. While the rest of the family went to spy or in their term 'silently guard' Miki during her date, he went straight to his home right after a mission. Not because of some self-righteous reason but because he was afraid of his reaction if he sees that boy holding hands with his sister.

"C'mon. This will be the only time I'll let you spy-"

"Silently guard."

Yukina rolled her eyes. "Okay. Silently guard her during her date," she said because she understood why they were worried. "But after this, I won't let you. You need to give her some break."

"How about I give the guy some broken bones?" Yuuzuki suggested wickedly.

"You Uchiha brothers have a sister complex while otousan and chichiue have daughter complex," she teased. Their talk was momentarily suspended to get the crying Haruo from their room where he was peacefully sleeping until now. When she returned to the kitchen with their son in her arms, Yuuzuki was no longer there.

She smiled knowing full well where he was. In the end you couldn't resist, could you?

-SasuNaru is love-

Unbeknownst to Miki and her date, five pairs of eyes were more focused on them rather than on the huge screen. At Sasuke's suggestion, the Uchiha males had entered the theater by interval and sat on different areas so as not to draw any attention.

Naruto settled his hand on Sasuke's arm as he tensed the moment Aki leaned forward to whisper something to their daughter. Other than that which happened every now and then, Aki was a gentleman but that wasn't enough to make Miki's family leave.

After the movie, the two went to grab some light snack at a food joint which was popular among teenagers. This time, the Uchiha males preferred to stay outside but they strategically situated themselves where they have the best view of their subject's table.

Coincidentally, Shouhei passed by the place and saw the Uchiha girl just as Aki entered the restroom. His eyes dilated when he saw her in unusual-clothes: knee-length pleated and plaid skirt, boots, a slightly loose long sleeve crochet blouse with a tight camisole that hugged her figure. She even had her hair neatly tied in a ponytail with its end styled in loose curls (courtesy of Yukina) flaunting her cute almost heart-shaped face. And before he knew it, he was inside the place and approaching her.

"Hey," he said, lightly tapping her table. His heart skipped a beat when she focused her attention on him and smiled. She looked even more beautiful up close.

"Hey to you too."

He was about to say something when a stranger at least to him casually seated himself.

"This is Yoshiba, Aki," Miki told him. "Hyuuga, Shouhei."

Both males nodded politely.

Following her urge, she added, "we're dating."

It was obvious but the Hyuuga member nodded as if he didn't know. "I know," he smiled even though his heart was breaking.

"And this won't be the last," Aki arrogantly quipped.

"I know. You two make a lovely couple." Not. "Look after my so-called sister," and he affectionately pat her head twice before he made his way to the door.

Miki looked at his back. There was just something about his words and gesture that tug at her heart.

-SasuNaru is love-

Shouhei sighed. In the end, he had forgotten to return Miki's already clean scarf.

Miki.

He immediately slapped both his cheeks to get himself focus on their incoming mission. On his way to the admin building, he bumped into his cousin.

"Could you give this to Miki?" he asked as he took the scarf wrapped in a special pink plastic from his pocket.

"Why don't you do it?"

"I'm off for a mission."

"What about right after?" the Hyuuga heir countered.

"I'll be busy."

Hisayuki arched an eyebrow then smiled in understanding. For a long time, he was the only one who knew about his cousin's secret affection for the Uchiha girl. And although he and Yuuzuki were best friends he never mentioned anything to the latter who was obviously too protective of his sister. "Y'know where to find me when you need me."

His cousin nodded.

He watched him as he walked away. To bottle such feelings for a long time and for it to be unrequited, it must be painful beyond words, right?

The date with Aki was the beginning of her social outings with other boys; of Shouhei's heartaches and the Uchiha males' especially the Uchiha parents' worries.

-SasuNaru is love-

That night, Naruto waltzed into Miki's room after knocking and found his daughter giddy. He smiled and acting like he never followed her and her date, he sat on her bed and started asking questions.

"So, how did it go?"

"Better than I expected. We'll be going on another date three days from now."

"What do you think about that Aki-guy?" He asked. He knew the name because Miki had mentioned that to him last night.

"He's cool. He's polite and a gentleman. The way he focuses his attention to me makes me feel like I'm the only one he sees." She then sighed dreamily. "He makes my heart thump crazily. I wonder if this is okay." She then looked at his chichiue who nodded. "Ne, is this how otousan makes you feel?"

The older Uchiha look surprised before he nodded, "Yeah, most of the time when we aren't at each other's throat." And just to make sure that nothing really happened, he asked "so anything worth mentioning? Like did he hold your hand? Did he kiss you?"

Miki blushed and instantly took it as an affirmation until the girl shook her head. "No, we didn't. That would be so awkward. I mean, we just got to know each other. I mean I like him but I'm not so sure if I want him to kiss me or hold my hand."

Her father nodded in agreement. "What are you writing?"

Miki immediately closed her journal, an action that made Naruto understand that she was writing her journal.

"So I was disturbing you then?"

"Not really."

"Then good night, Miki." He paused at the door and said over his shoulder, "I'm glad you had fun."

"Yeah me too. And chichiue?" She looked at him, "thank you for allowing me. Tell Otousan that too."

Naruto nodded and left to his room where his husband was waiting… impatiently.

"And?" Sasuke inquired the second his wife opened the door. He also wanted to make sure that nothing happened.

"They did stuffs."

Dark eyebrows furrowed. "Like what stuffs?"

"They held hands and they even kiss," Naruto said, watching how Sasuke looked ready to kill. He had expected the latter to see through his lies not grabbing his kunai pouch before leaving the room. A second later, the blonde chased after him in the hallway and grabbed him. "Where are you going?" he asked dumbly.

"I'm off for training," Sasuke hissed but his killing aura belied his hidden agendum.

"I was kidding. Nothing happened. Honest." He said in quiet voice. "I was just trying to see how you would react."

Before Sasuke could retort and scold him, Miki's head popped into the hallway. "Is there something wrong?"

Naruto smiled. "Nothing. Otousan just wanted to train."

Miki looked at Sasuke who immediately nodded. Shrugging, she went back to her room.

"Don't ever do that again," the dark-haired man hissed.

The blonde just smiled sheepishly.

TBC

Next chapter: Sasuke and Naruto had come to another realization and understanding while Yuuzuki and Yukina drifted away from each other in a bang. In the end, was marrying an Uchiha heir a good decision on her part? Yukina wondered.