Disclaimer: I completely disclaim the awesome Naruto, because if I did own it, it would suck.
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Fun Fact: The name Sasuke is pretty famous! Sasuke's a Yu-Gi-Oh card, he's a character from the show Kirby: Right Back At Ya!, there's a television show called Sasuke, Masanori Murakawa who happens to be a famous pro wrestler is called The Great Sasuke, there's the great Sarutobi Sasuke, and finally there's the real historical ninja name Koyuki Sasuke! Of course, there's tons of more Sasukes in Japan and there are tons of Uchihas too! There's probably even a real Uchiha Sasuke somewhere in Japan. Damn, that's a lot of Sasukes!!
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FlamedraSeer7213: KONICHIWA MINNA-SAN!!
Pom-Pom: She's on a Chocolate/Coffee/Nips/Tomato high.
FlamedraSeer7213: WEE SUGAR! –flies out of room, cat screeches-
Pom-Pom: -sweat drops- Oh… I better go check on that… umm… enjoy the chapter!
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Pom-Pom: Because FlamedraSeer7213-sama is on a huge sugar spree through the city –you hear the distant cry of "SUUUUGGGAAAR!!"- I am supposed to pass on this message to you fellow readers.
Thank you for the reviews! I worked extra hard on this chapter to thank you!
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"Sasuke-kun." is talking
"Sakura-chan." is thinking
Naruto-kun. is a flashback (Haha… there doesn't seem to be a difference between this and thinking huh? Aa… You'll know if it's a flashback or a thought, I made it kind of clear)
Ahpup is Inner Self
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--Operation: Appearance, Trial 132--
Sakura dragged Sasuke into the street, pointing at numerous couples walking together. "Sasuke-kun, none of my previous 131 descriptions even REMOTELY worked on you. Therefore, we go to the last possible plan. You see the couples?" Sasuke swept his eyes over the scene. "Yes I do Sakura-chan. But what does that have to do with the operation?"
"Copy their actions with the Sharingan." Sasuke looked at her oddly. "I don't need to copy their actions with the Sharingan." Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So what can you do Sasuke-kun?" He pondered over this. "Umm… I can do… A SOMERSAULT!!" She glared at him. "Completely. UNNEEDED. Information." Sasuke sighed. "Fine, just give me one more chance… if I don't get it that time… I'll copy their movements with the Sharingan." Sakura looked for any sign of lying on his face, examining it carefully. "Okay. One more try, that's it." Sasuke smirked. "Arigatou, I won't disappoint you."
Needless to say, Sasuke executed the operation perfectly.
"Begin." Grabbing her wrist, he gave it a slight pull to tell her to start walking. Following his lead, Sakura began to walk slowly. "You failed so badly already…" She thought grimly in her head, not noticing Sasuke's right hand making its way to her shoulder. Sasuke smirked inwardly at her surprised reaction when he placed his hand on her right shoulder, pulling her a little bit closer and then moving his hand down to her waist, now having a tight grip on her.
"Sasuke-kun…!?" Sakura stared upward, only to be greeted with Sasuke's smiling face. "What? Do you feel uncomfortable Sakura-chan?" He asked softly, smile still on his face. "Umm… uhh… I… I… just… ehhh…" A bunch of incoherent words left her mouth and she pulled away. "Umm… Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke nodded. "Yes?" Sakura blushed. "You-You pass." He leaned down, stopping when he was about two inches away from her face and whispered. "If you say so Sakura-chan."
They stood there in the hotel room in awkward silence for about five minutes because Sasuke spoke up.
"Sakura… What's the next task?" She snapped her glaze back at Sasuke, who was still about two inches away from her face. "Hm? Could you please repeat that please?" Sasuke scowled. "I said, what's the next task?" A sinister grin spread its way across her mouth. "Hehehe… I'm glad you asked Sasuke-kun…" He paled visibly and gulped.
"…So what is it?" He asked, against his better judgment. "Operation Confession." She replied briefly. This was okay with Sasuke for about five seconds.
"Operation CON-CONFESSION!?" He sputtered out, a full-bloomed blush hanging onto his cheeks and high nose area. Sakura nodded slowly, a small blush on her cheeks also. Sasuke sat down on the floor and mumbled some inherent things about chocolates.
"Okay!" Sakura took out a paper, a brush, and some ink, handing it to the younger Uchiha. He looked quizzically at the materials, demanding an explanation from the pink haired kunoichi silently. "Write down your confession and read it." Sasuke sighed. "Why don't I just say it instead of wasting paper and ink?" Sakura shrugged. "Whatever you prefer Sasuke-kun."
--Four Minutes Later--
"Paper… or… talking...?" Sasuke pondered out loud, holding the paper in one hand and raising it as he said paper. Sakura was sitting next to him, twitching and pulsing veins spread evenly across her head. "Sa-Sa-Sasuke…!!" He ignored her and started weighting the pros and cons with using either.
"So let's see, if I used paper, I would be wasting money and time. Along with the fact that I would need to use ink and a brush. Then later, one of us would have to wash the brush… The ink would have to be tightly screwed shut so there would be no leaks… If we didn't do that, it would drip all over the place, ruin clothes, possibly rust weapons, and probably leave a trail for the enemies to follow…" Sakura was gripping the ink bottle tightly in her hands. Sasuke stuck his index finger in the air. "But! If I used paper, the confession would probably be more edited and have the right content. Then it's only a matter of acting it out…"
"If I talked, I could be wasting time. Time is important and urgent. (AN: He forgot that he's staying the night at the hotel and leaving next morning…)" Sasuke lowered his index finger. "Demo… if I said the confession, we could work on the content and my acting simultaneously, thus probably saving time instead of wasting it!" He slammed his fist down on the ground, startling Sakura. "What the-!? Sasuke-kun? What? Did you decide?"
Sasuke gave a short nod. "Well… what is it?" "It is…" He paused for dramatic effect. "Saying the confession." Sakura sighed and started clapping her hands slowly, muttering sarcastically. "Woo. Sasuke-kun, you're a freaking genius. That only took you about… six minutes. Genius Sasuke-kun, genius…" Sasuke slumped a little bit. "…What am I going to say first? It has to be at least descent…" Sakura clamped down her bottom lip to keep from screaming in frustration.
"Okay… I got it." Sakura managed a thin lipped smile. "Okay then, let's test it out."
Operation: Confession
--Trial One--
"Sakura…" Sakura turned her glaze to him. "Yes, what is it Sasuke-kun?" She asked cheerfully. "I-I-I…" Sasuke trailed off there and mumbled something Sakura couldn't hear. Sakura tilted her head. "Sasuke-kun? You say something?" "GAH! I CAN'T DO THIS!!" Sasuke slumped to the floor. "I can't do this… This mission is too hard for me… I'm not cut out to do this…" Sakura kneeled next to him and started padding his back awkwardly. "Come on Sasuke-kun, you can do this."
"It's not that easy!" He wailed. Sakura looked at him with a hard gaze. "Sasuke-kun, if I did that five years ago WITHOUT SHAME, I'm pretty sure you can too!" Sasuke thought about this. "No, it was easier for you." She glared at him. "Explain what you mean by that." "Well… when you confessed, your thoughts were clear and you knew very well how you felt. I however do not have the same scenario unfortunately…"
Sakura nodded. "I see what you mean… So, let's talk it out." Sasuke crossed his arms. "Now, you see that's a problem." She looked at him confused. "Umm… what's a problem?" "No, you see, I don't want to talk it out." He replied. "What the hell? Why not?" She questioned. "For some personal reasons." Sakura crossed her arms. "Oh don't tell me that this is a matter of your pride again. Sasuke-kun, for the last time, NO ONE CAN HEAR US." He shook his head. "No, this isn't a matter of my pride, although, there is someone hearing us-" "No one is hearing us and no one wants to!" Sakura interrupted, getting frustrated.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Did you just cut me off?"
"Yes I did Sasuke-kun."
"I can't believe that you just cut me off."
"Sasuke-kun, it's not that serious."
"You cut me off!"
"…Are you feeling okay?"
"You just cu-!"
"It's not that serious Sasuke-kun."
"You just-you just did it again!"
"Sasuke-kun, calm do-"
"You cut me off again! I can't believe you!"
"You just cut me off!"
"…I did?"
"YES! You did!"
"… … … …"
"You're so clueless you idiot!"
"I'm sorry?"
Sakura leaned over and poked his forehead. "Let's call this a failed trial okay Sasuke-kun?" Sasuke sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay then."
--Trial Two--
"Ano sa… what am I supposed to do?" Sasuke asked Sakura. "Just confess what you feel for me. Easy and simple." Sasuke frowned. "Okay then." Sakura blinked and sat down. "Well… that was easy…" Sasuke fiddled with his cloth tied around his head, gathering his thoughts. "Umm… this is kind of hard to do…" "Sasuke! Just… go with the flow!" She hissed out, getting angry. Sasuke nodded and sat down as well.
"In the beginning, I thought you were pretty annoying, clinging onto me and squealing into my ear all the time. To me, you were just another one of those fan girls." Sakura chuckled. "I probably was." Sasuke smirked and began to loosen up a bit, starting to talk again.
"Then, we got that mission to the wave country with that bridge builder… um… Tazuna right? I was the least to say impressed when you took it upon yourself to try and protect Tazuna, even though I ended up doing it. After that, I had more respect for you and started to think of you as my teammate rather than just some annoying fan girl." She blushed slightly at his implied complement.
"When Kakashi gave us the application slips for the Chunnin exams, I noticed how unenthusiastic you were about it. I wondered why you weren't so enthusiastic about becoming a Chunnin. I don't know why, but I thought about it for some time. Then, it kind of dawned upon me. I remembered when we trained; you seemed to have a sad glint in your eye when you failed to do something. Therefore, you lacked confidence. So I decided to find out what you were good in and give you enough confidence to take the exam." Sakura looked glad. "Haha… I thought that you would say that the exams were too hard for me and that it was too early…" Sasuke shook his head. "No, I wouldn't say that… what made you think that I would?"
"Sakura, give up on the Chuunin Exam, it's too early for you."
"Really?"
"The Chunnin Exam is filled with many skilled people." 1
Sasuke shook her shoulders. "Oi, Sakura! Don't space out on me!" Sakura blinked. "Aa… sorry Sasuke-kun…" Sasuke released her shoulders and leaned back. "Besides, it seemed to be a shame that someone as skilled as you didn't take the exams but that Naruto did." He said, a playful smirk on his face. Sakura looked surprised. "You-You thought that I was skilled? But… you said that I was worse than Naruto!" Sasuke turned serious. "Yes, with your effect at that time, you were worse than Naruto. But, if you put some effect into your training, you probably would have been one of the best kunoichi in the village. Look at you now; you're much stronger than before right?" Sakura smiled and nodded.
Sasuke continued. "You seemed to have the best analyzation skills and knew the most about Genjutsu. However… that morning…"
"Sakura-chan! You're late ttebayo…" Naruto said as he greeted Sakura. "Aa, sorry." She apologized, eyeing Sasuke, remembering what happened in the Genjutsu yesterday.
"Good morning… Sasuke-kun." She greeted softly, looking a bit unsure. Sasuke tilted his face towards her. "Morning." 2 He gave a short reply, noticing that she didn't seem too happy. "Sakura's acting weird…" Sasuke thought, narrowing his eyes a little bit.
"I knew why you were acting weird, but it was still kind of… weird to see you act like that. I guess I was used to the happy 'annoying' Sakura instead of the moping Sakura." Sasuke coughed, turning a bit pink. "Anyway, when we got to the so called entrance, I found the perfect chance to raise your spirits a bit. I could tell that we weren't on the third floor like the sign said, but on the second floor."
"That's a sound argument, but I will pass." Sasuke said, walking through the crowd with Naruto and Sakura following him. He finally reached the two guards, looking at the sign that said they were on the third floor. "And undo this field you're created using a Genjutsu field."
Two of the guys standing around looked confused. "What's that guy talking about?" One said to the other. The other shrugged, replying with, "I don't know."
The guards looked mildly surprised. "Oh?" One simply responded with a part of his lips. "You noticed?" The other one asked.
"Chance!" Sasuke thought, turning his head over to Sakura, a small smile on his face. "Sakura, what about you? You should've noticed first." Sakura snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?" Sasuke tried again. "Your analyzation skills and Genjutsu know-how is the best in our squad." He said, facing the guards again.
She seemed a bit shocked. "Sasuke-kun… thank you." She lifted her head and spoke again, sounding more confident this time. "Of course I've noticed it already. This isn't the third floor, this is the second floor." Naruto nodded. The Genjutsu dispelled, showing that this was indeed the second floor.
"Sasuke-kun…" Sasuke blinked and nodded, showing that he was listening. "Thank you again… if you hadn't done anything… I probably wouldn't have taken that exam."
"Saa! Sasuke-kun, Naruto! Let's go!" Sakura proclaimed, cheerful again. She grabbed both of her teammate's hands and started pulling them towards the stairs.
"Oi, don't pull." Sasuke complained, not minding this at all.
"Aa… it was nothing…" He muttered, blushing in his head remembering his reaction.
Oh ho ho! What's this development?
Stop that laugh, you sound like a starved Santa.
Mataku, aren't you rude today?
Go away; you're not going to help with the situation at all Ahpup.
I'm not?
No, I'm going to do this myself and without your annoying so called help.
-wipes fake tear from eye- Ooh! My little Sasu-kun is growing up! I'm so proud of you!!
What the fuck? You're such an idiot.
Thank you so much for the complement Sasu-kun!
…that wasn't a complement…
Really? From that grateful tone it sounded like one.
Usuratonkachi. What kind of lies are you spewing now? Seriously, your lies are probably worse than Kakashi's.
How rude.
Deal with it bub.
From your tone it seems that I'm not needed. BOO HOO! BOO HOO!
…you never were needed anyway…
That's not true, don't lie to yourself!
… …
Whatever, I'm going. Have fun with Sakura-chan!
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sasuke slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay…" He shook his head a couple of times, thinking before remembering what came next in the order of events. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth tightened. "…that time huh?"
"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura seemed to understand what came next. "If you don't want to talk about that subject… we could just skip it. It's a rather sensitive sub-"
"I don't want to remember it." Sasuke interrupted. Sakura looked confused. "Remember what?" "Remember that."
Sasuke opened his eyes, revealing a yellowish background. He looked around confused. "Where am I…?" He thought, catching sight of a small figure clad in a black collared button up shirt and black khakis. His vision was weaving in and out. "Who… is that? …the younger me?" Sasuke squinted to see who it was.
His vision cleared and Sasuke saw that it was indeed the younger him. He seemed to be staring at something in shock, sadness, and was trembling badly. Tears in his eyes threatened to fall. "Dad and mom didn't have to die…" He said an anguished expression on his face. A single tear splashed to the ground.
All of a sudden the image of his mother and father lying dead in a large puddle of blood on the floor showed up. The blood was still fresh on their corpses, the crimson liquid still dripping from his parent's mouths. Sasuke gave a quick gasp as his eyes widened at the grueling sight. The yellow background faded into the blood streaked walls of the Uchiha Manor. Red light shone on Mikoto and Fugaku. 3
The younger Sasuke began to speak again. "Everyone was killed... because I didn't have enough power!" He said, clearly disgusted with himself. "The clan was… wiped out." He finally finished in disbelief. Sasuke continued to stare intently at his younger self.
The Uchiha Manor faded away, back to the blank yellow background from before. The younger Sasuke clutched his head, tears streaming down his cheeks. "If you don't have power…"
The dead Uchiha along with the manor came back into view.
"You can't do anything! Because I didn't have enough power… Everyone was killed!" The younger Sasuke's grip on his head loosened. Sasuke's eyes widened again. Younger Sasuke raised his head, his eyes glinting with madness. He raised his right arm and covered his right eye with his hand.
"No… You let them die." He brought down his hand a little bit, a ripping sound evident, the hand now over his eye. A twisted smile spread on his face. "You… just watched them die." Sasuke started to tremble, fear starting to seep onto his face. "If only I had power…"
Younger Sasuke moved his hand past his eye, ripping off the skin to the cheek bone, revealing Orochimaru's gleaming yellow eye. The tone of younger Sasuke's voice changed into Orochimaru's mocking one. "If only you had power…" Sasuke watched, terror stricken, as everything went black. 4
Sasuke's head was lowered and Sakura could tell he was angry with himself for succumbing to Orochimaru's wants. She leaned over and covered Sasuke's hand with her head. Sasuke snapped his gaze towards hers. "We don't have to talk about it." She said, giving Sasuke a soft smile. He looked slightly shocked before giving her a half smile and nodded.
"Sakura… Arigatou."
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FlamedraSeer7213: I cut out the Chunnin Exams part with Sasuke getting that bite from Orochimaru. In my opinion, people use it too much in SasuSaku stories and that the small hints count more than the large stuff. Haha! Sumimason, there was no lemon in this chapter! However, lemons do not happen out of nowhere! There has to be some kind of plot development first. I do however, promise there will be a lemon.
1 This was said by a fake Sasuke. Sakura was in a Genjutsu.
2 Sasuke doesn't actually say anything, but just gives a grunt in return. However, it was translated to "morning" so I used that instead of grunting.
3 I'm pretty sure that Fugaku is Sasuke's dad and Mikoto is Sasuke's mother. If they are not however, please notify me via PM or review.
4 After younger Sasuke/Orochimaru says, "If only you had power…" the scene disappears to show Sasuke being covered by purple miasma and awake. This is kind of filling in on before he actually woke up and how his 'dream' ended.