AN: Okay, I know I'm SUPER behind in posting this chapter! BUT I have a good excuse. . . I simply forgot that I hadn't posted it. . . GOMEN MIN'NA! I've. . . just be so wrapped up in so many other things! Forgive my slipping of the mind! You may read now!

Note: Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae, Kojika Nara © Anna Uzumaki

Pairing(s): Naruto/Sasuke With: Neji/Gaara, Shika/Kiba, Sakura/Lee, Hinata/Shino, Ino/Choji, Kankuro/Kojika, Temari/Tenten, Itachi/Kyuubi, Hidan/Kakuzo, Pein/Konan, Deidara/Sasori. later mentioned pairings.

Warning(s): Yaoi, lemon(s) in later chapters, sexual content (Duh!), slight nuggets of OOC-ness (bear with me), adult language, blood/gore, angst, drama, possible rape and KARMA.

Disclaimer: Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

Chp. 12 {Part 1}

October 10th

Creed- My Sacrifice

8:17am

"So? Excited about finally joinin' the 21 and up club little brother?" Kyuubi mussed his blonde haired brother's hair playfully.

"Kyuu…" Naruto drawled out and gave the redhead a death glare, "it's my fuckin' birthday…. So why in the hell do I have to wear this!? Heck, how anyone could even be excited about anythin' dressed like this would be amazing." He continued and motioned to the costume he was wearing.

"No poutin', its tradition that those who just crossed* during the month of their birthday wear somethin' characterizing who they are!" Kyuu tsk'd and gave a final appraising look-over Naruto, who was dress slightly different than he would be any other day, such as the bright orange half-shirt and black skinny jeans, and topped off with a pair of bright orange fox ears on his head, along with a choker adorned with a bell around his neck and finally a medium length fluffy equally orange fox tail attached to his backside.

"Ugh! Gods I can't wait for this day to be over! I look ridiculous Kyuu!" Naruto exasperated and flinched when he looked at himself in the mirror for the hundredth time since putting the outfit on.

"Hahah, well, just be thankful you only have to look like this for a few hours. I'm pretty sure baby Uchiha, even with the way things are between you two, will love it!" Kyuu laughed, "Now let's get you to campus!" He continued and wrenched the blonde from the mirror before he could sulk about the aforementioned raven and all but dragged him from the suite and then down to the elevator. Once in the garage the redhead continued to pull his little dressed up brother like a ragdoll.

"Cut it out Kyuu, ya tryin' to rip my arm-" Naruto resisted as they passed through the gates to their cars, but was cut off once he smacked into the redheads back, "dammit Kyuu!" He cursed and grabbed his cheek.

"Oh shut it, now, keep complainin' and I'll have you wearing it all day." Kyuubi threatened and then pointed at the two Uchiha brothers, along with Kiba, Shika, Neji and Gaara, who were all currently gaping at Naruto and his 'Birthday outfit'. The laughter that followed only made Naruto wish he could really turn into some kind of beast and just bring the whole garage down on his boisterously laughing so called friends.

"Oh man! Hahahahah!" Kiba laughed hysterically, being all too happy to have that damned collar finally removed when he crossed, and clutched at his sides, as tears streamed down his cheeks.

"Shut it dog breath!" Naruto growled and made a move towards the laughing brunette, but was stopped as his red-head brother quickly snapped a leash on him and yanked him back, "you've gotta be kiddin' me Kyuu…." He glared back and received nothing but a grin and a shrug.

"Nice." Neji and Shika smirked, only to receive a crushing blow to their foot from the teal eyed male and slit eyed brunette beside them.

"Now you really look like a fox, Naruto." Gaara removed his foot from the Hyuga's, while trying refrain from laughing anymore.

"Not you to Gaara… shit, this is like the 8th level of hell." Naruto gritted his teeth in embarrassment and hesitantly looked towards the raven, who most likely wasn't even acknowledging his existence as he had been doing for the past month. Though, upon seeing the pale Uchiha's expression he felt a somewhat glee build up in his stomach.

"Heh, best reaction yet." Itachi chuckled and produced a handkerchief in front his little brother, who quickly took it and covered his bleeding nose.

"Shut up 'Tachi! W-what's up with that outfit?" Sasuke diverted the conversation back towards Kyuu.

"Ya like baby Uchiha? It's his birthday outfit!" Kyuubi said a little too much enthusiasm and forced Naruto to spin around, then with a quick shared smirk with Itachi he added, "annnnd, also since you two are line brothers now…" he grinned mischievously as he waltz over to Sasuke and linked the leash around his wrist, "you get to walk him while he's in costume!" He grinned with a wink.

"WHAT!?" Sasuke hissed and tried to snap the leash off, but with him still holding the tissue to his nose it was hard to do.

"Kyuu what the hell man!?" Naruto looked at his brother with eyes wide from shock, 'I think he's finally lost it.' He affirmed mentally.

"It's for ya guys own good, a little time together is good for ya!" Kyuu mussed both of the glaring boys' hair. Sasuke was completely pissed to put it mildly, and Naruto was both pissed and nervous, sure he wanted to be around the raven and try to talk to him about the incident that lead to their breakup, but being forced to be near him was not the right way to go about it.

"Itachi, this won't solve anything. It's just a dumb idea and outfit." Sasuke mention in an irritated voice.

"Huh, well, if you think that… then you all wouldn't mind changin' into something similar, now would you?" Itachi smirked at his brother, and then to the rest of the group, who all now wore horrified expressions at the possibility of it all.

"W-waddya mean Sasuke, i-it's a good… idea—err outfit…." Kiba narrowed his eyes at the kamikaze raven and scrambled to say anything that wouldn't have them in the same predicament as their blonde friend.

"Hah, I thought so, now," Itachi smirked from beside his blacked out SUV, "Let's get going, today is gonna be a long one." He continued and climbed into the truck, swiftly followed by the others, except Kyuubi who scurried off towards his sports car. Once they were all in the truck, the irritation flowing from Naruto and Sasuke was so thick, that you'd need a chainsaw to cut through it, being of course due to the fact that Naruto didn't want to be seen on campus in current condition and Sasuke didn't want to be near the blonde, let alone chained to him. Sure, being seen by his friends was embarrassing on a separate level and even seeing Sasuke succumb to a nose bleed from the outfit was something he enjoyed internally, but having to be around the majority of the campus student body and being leashed to the raven was something that tore right into his pride.

10:02am {D.P.O.V.}

Interrogation 103

"Today we will be practicing the "Good cop, Bad cop" side of interrogating here in the mock interrogations room, you are to take this completely serious as it will count as part of your final. So I don't want any horse playing while we're all down here, understood?" The scary looking instructor warned and took in every face in the two way mirror room.

"Ibiki, how do you expect me to participate in this condition?" Sasuke asked with a skeptical look towards the man who was in charge of interrogations down at the precinct, and then down at the chain around his wrist.

"Easy, you'll just have to interrogate Uzumaki for your grade." Ibiki grinned sadistically at the two. He already knew, thanks to Itachi, that Sasuke was not to be unlinked from Naruto until noon. But then again, seeing the raven in such discomfort gave him an inward glee of sorts.

"Damn, ya guys day just gets better and better!" Kiba laughed from beside the glowering raven.

"Kiba, shut up will ya?" Naruto sighed as he leaned against the table in front of the mirror, 'Fuckin' Kyuu… I swear I'm gonna get him back for this.' He promised himself.

"Aww is the lil' Kit feelin' feisty? Woof!" Kiba mocked and barked at his suffering friend.

"Inuzuka, since you're already talking so much, you head in there first." Ibiki ordered and sent him and another student into the room despite the small protest the brunette put up before going on the other side of the mirror.

The mock interrogations continued on one after the other, with some failing miserably and others going off without a hitch. Ibiki had made this lesson a real jigsaw case, what with each person who was doing the interrogating having a folder full of personal puzzling facts, that no one besides the one being interrogated knew were true, in which both persons had to follow through with without screwing up the given information. Sure, it was somewhat easy for the person asking the questions to piece together the facts, but what made it difficult was the fact that if the person being interrogated faltered with coming up with a plausible excuse or answer, it would count against both of their grades. So in the end, both people needed to be in sync with each other and remain on their toes. Finally, it was Sasuke and Naruto's turn to enter the interrogation room, even though he was irritated as hell, Sasuke forced back that feeling and opened the folder to begin. But as he quickly looked over the blondes' "Wrap sheet" he narrowed his eyes to slits at the information that he just knew Itachi or Kyuu, or possibly both, had a hand in putting together, if not done so completely by himself.

'Dammit Itachi,' Sasuke mentally cursed his brother before clearing his throat and beginning, "Mr. Uzumaki, can you tell me where you were on the date of: June 3, 2011?" Sasuke asked calmly as he sat across from the blue eyed male.

"….. I was at my family's lodge up in the mountains." Naruto answered with narrowed eyes, after having to will his teeth to unclench, having known exactly where this examination would be headed and he wasn't too thrilled to have a crowd witness it, 'Kyuu, Itachi… what the hell have you done...' He mentally growled.

"And were you alone while at your parents lodge?" Sasuke questioned as he took his seat across from Naruto, even though he really wanted to stand as far away from him as possible, but with the leash still binding him to the birthday boy he had no choice.

"No." Naruto sighed his answer.

"Would you mind telling me the names of whom all were with you at the time?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the checklist of people in the folder.

"… Kiba Inuzuka, Shikamaru Nara, Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, Rock Lee, Choji Akimichi, Kurama Uzumaki, Itachi and Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame, Gaara Suna, and Neji and Hinata Hyuga…" Naruto listed and slightly gritted his teeth at the end.

"I see, and what were all of you doing at your "family's" lodge?" Sasuke asked as he quickly checked off the mention names as an excuse not to look up at him.

"We go there every summer and winter vacation, so we do lots of things during that time." Naruto explained.

"Such as?" Sasuke pressed and forced himself to look up to the tan male. But to his internal glee, Naruto currently had his head resting in his hand while staring off towards the wall.

"In the summer: Hiking, rock climbing or swimming. Winter: Snowboarding, random snowball wars or just staying inside and relaxing." The blonde tacked off with his fingers, but kept his gaze from the raven.

"I see… so at the time of 2am on the date in question… where were you?" Sasuke hesitated very slightly, not really wanted to ask, but he didn't have a choice.

"….." Naruto didn't reply, which wasn't too bad seeing as some people can be stubborn during these things. 'Fuckin' 'A' man, this isn't right.' He mentally sighed.

"Mr. Uzumaki, please answer my question." Sasuke growled slightly and folded his hands in front of his face. 'I'm going to kill those idiots…' He promised himself.

"…. I-I was drunk… so…" Naruto trailed off and looked over the ravens shoulder to the mirror that only reflected him and the back of the pale body in front of him.

"Let me restate what I said then… were you with anyone at the aforementioned date and time?" Sasuke asked as evenly as he could, feeling more and more irritated.

"…. Yes…" Naruto nodded.

"And who were you with?" Sasuke questioned and tried his best not to break the pen clutched between his hands.

"…. Hinata Hyuga…." Naruto said in was voice just above a whisper.

"Was anyone else aware that you two were together during this time?" Sasuke continued in almost a dejected tone.

"No." Naruto clipped.

"Alright," Sasuke nodded and looked down at the folder to jot down his responses, "It appears that a few people questioned yours and Miss Hyuga's absence, what were you two doing at this time?" He continued without looking up, he was dangerously close to losing his composure as it was, due to all the questions that, if he were being honest with himself, he wanted to know since their break up.

"….. I plead the fifth." Naruto grimaced slightly.

"That is not an option Mr. Uzumaki!" Sasuke shot up and slammed his hand on the table, which in turn unintentionally yanked the blonde forward slightly, 'Shit… this is too much.' He thought and gritted his teeth.

"Tsk, we… we were talking!" Naruto admitted and rubbed his neck.

"At two in the morning? You two were talking? About what?" Sasuke cocked his head to the side skeptically.

"…. We were just talkin' about different stuff, things that happened during that school year… things that happened back when we were dating. It was just drunken conversations, really!" Naruto hurled out what happened.

"Surely you two must still have romantic feelings for each other to sneak off and 'Talk', correct?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"We didn't sneak off, she had come looking for me 'cause she was concerned… and we don't have any romantic feelings towards each other anymore, we're just friends now." Naruto answered, 'This isn't how I wanted to tell him what happened…' He mentally choked and fought back tears of malice, knowing that they had an audience in the other room.

"So in the end all you two did was talk?" Sasuke asked as he sat back down, "That's not what the report says… what else happened?" He continued and played the act of flipping through the file.

"…. We ended up talking about our past relationship, and then… being that we were drunk, one thing lead to another and… we ended up sleeping together." Naruto unwillingly admitted and let his head fall into his hands.

"Hn, I see here that both of you were, at the time, involved with someone else. So, even though both of you were currently in relationships, you still had sex? Did the wellbeing of the persons you were with ever cross your minds? Even drunk people have some comprehension as to what they're doing, so what makes your case any different?" Sasuke hurled out questions, unconsciously asking what he felt.

"We were drunk as hell! We didn't know what we had done until after we messed up, we love the people we were with and would never even think to hurt them in any way!" Naruto looked up and for the first time in a long time, blue met with onyx, but it wasn't a pleasant connection. It was one filled with rage, hurt, and guilt.

"….. Never the less, due to your slip up, those who were involved are hurt and your actions may never be forgiven. I hope you and Miss Hyuga are prepared to atone for what you've done. I have all the information I need… next time we met it will be judgment time." Sasuke placed his stoic mask back on and stood with the folder, "You're free to go for now." He continued and turned towards the mirror, causing the blonde to stand as well.

"Very well executed you two, I must say job well done. Alright, that's all for today's class, you can all leave." Ibiki spoke through the speaker in the next room and dismissed everyone. As the class came out from the other side of the mirror, through a hidden door on the side, Sasuke and Naruto didn't miss the odd look given to them by Kiba as they walked back into the viewing side of the room to collect their things, making them the only ones left down there. However, as the raven turned to head up and out of the building he was halted due to the lack of movement at the other end of the leash, he was still all too upset with the costume wearing male and therefore didn't even want to turn to face him, he even contemplated on dragging the blonde along by force, but knew he would just get reprimanded for doing so. But before he could decide what to do, Naruto spoke up.

"S-sasuke…" Naruto hesitated slightly, but seeing as how Sasuke just stood there he continued, "I'm sorry, I should have told you when it happened." He exhaled.

"…. It wouldn't have changed anything if you did." Sasuke replied with his back still towards him.

"Yeah, I know… but, it was a mistake… a big one. You have to understand that, please." Naruto pleaded.

"…. I do understand, Naruto." Sasuke sighed, saying his name for the first time since the club and turned to face the blonde, "but do you honestly think that I would just accept your slip up?" He asked, silencing whatever Naruto was about to say, pretty much knowing what he was going to say either way.

"No, and you have every right to be pissed and dump me… but I … I just wanted you to know that it wasn't on purpose and—" Naruto started to blab before getting cut off again.

"I know that much, dobe…." Sasuke said using the nickname he gave him long ago, "you guys would never do… what you did… on purpose." He continued despite his discomfort at talking about the incident, "but, even knowing that, you just can't imagine how pissed I am at you…. but…" He continued with mixed feelings. He didn't know whether he was somehow happier now knowing a little more on the topic, or if he was still seeing red over the sheer fact that it had happened at all…. as it was now, he was possibly both.

"But what was done is done…" Naruto sighed knowing that was the only outcome of this conversation and leaned against the table.

"You're right, it can't be undone and I can't forget what you've done," Sasuke agreed and moved to stand right in front of the distraught blonde, "But, I… even after all that's happened, I suppose I can still try to forgive your stupid mistake." He mentioned with a tiny, yet small, sad smile. 'I guess I really can't stay mad at him…' he mentally mused.

"Sasuke…" Naruto breathed and with extreme hesitance reached out to run his thumb over the Uchiha's cheek, catching a seemingly unnoticed tear, "you're cryin'…" he gave a small grin of his own, one that broke Sasuke's resolve.

"Of course I am you idiot!" Sasuke choked out and grabbed the blondes' shirt, "The one person I love broke my fuckin' heart! What in the hell do you expect me to do!?" He shrieked and didn't even dare to knock away the pair of arms that wound around him as he clutched and cried into the thin shirt of his tormentor. The raven mentally noted that he would just accept the fact that he was losing his mind later, for now all he wanted to do was let his feelings run wild.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but that doesn't seem good enough," Naruto said into the raven's neck, "But, it's all I can say, besides sayin' how stupid I am." He continued and let the true love of his life cry, while trying his best not to break down as well. The two of them stayed in that emotion filled embrace for who knows how long, even though Sasuke had finally at some point stopped crying, neither one of them could find the will to move or even answer the on and off again buzzing's of their phones. But once they heard the faint bell of the campus tower toll, they both knew that the next class would be gathering where they were soon, so with that they slowly separated and gathered their belongings, as well as checked their phones, at which Naruto sighed at.

"I got summoned to the old man's class…" Naruto groaned.

"Hn, well lets go, this ought to be good." Sasuke rolled his eyes and tugged on the leash and lead the way. It was then that he remembered something, "You know this was 'Tachi and Kyuu's doing right?" Sasuke mentioned as they walked out the building.

"Heh, yeah, I know… that's why I'm goin' to kick Kyuu's ass when we get home." Naruto nodded with a tight smirk.

"Same here, only with 'Tachi." Sasuke agreed with the same expression, "And don't think for one second that you're completely off the hook here either." He continued with the smirk still in place and turned to continue to walk across the campus in a fairly better mood than before, even though he didn't like the method, he supposed that what the two older brothers did was through the best and albeit successful intentions.

11:28am

English

"—y point is, Shakespeare's sexual innuendo's, directed towards both same and opposite sexes, made for some of the best literary feats of all time! The subtly of it all, from Juliet's young bosom to Ophelia's 'Country' were all very well implied. Hmm, yes, makes me envious of his adventures to procure such writings." The white haired English instructor prattled.

"Envious even of the consequences' that followed his 'adventures', Jiraiya?" Sai smile wryly at the obviously perverted professor.

"Yes! As they say, 'nothing ventured, nothing gained!' Life is full of opportunities' and once in a lifetime chances! Without risks or consequences' most things today wouldn't be possible!" Jiraiya enthused, "I'll drive it into you by the end of this semester what the benefits of sexual conquests are!" He continued and waved his hand, signaling that the class was over.

"How you haven't been pinned as a sex offender is what I wanna know." Tenten sighed as she passed Jiraiya.

"I heard that…" Jiraiya glowered after his bun haired student, who proceeded to poke her tongue out at him just as she left the class with Sai grinning beside her.

"Give it a rest old man." Kyuubi leaned against his grandfather's desk, "And speakin' of adventures, you tell Nar' about your next one yet?" He continued with a raised brow.

"Hmph, no, but he should be here shortly. I sent him a message earlier and told him to come see me after his morning classes." Jiraiya mentioned just as the person of topic walked into the class with an irritated looking raven trailing behind him and a leash hanging around his wrist instead of being in a vice grip like earlier.

"What is it old—Kyuu! Dammit, are you gonna stalk me or somethin' today!?" Naruto cut himself off and jabbed a finger at his shadowing brother.

"Pfft! As if, I was just sittin' in on Jiraiya's class. Don't get ya panties in a bunch." Kyuubi laughed.

"How about I shove these panties down ya throat…." Naruto grumble mostly to himself.

"What was that?" Kyuu narrowed his eyes.

"N-nothin', look, my class is over, so can I change?" Naruto pleaded.

"Yeah, yeah after you're done talkin' to pops." Kyuu rolled his eyes at the plea, only to smirk at the end.

"It's probably something offensive…" Sasuke snipped from behind his blonde pet.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jiraiya huffed and began to gather his things, "either way Naruto, I'm going out of town again for one of my… seminars and it's your turn to come with me." He continued and gave his whisker face grandson an accomplished smile.

"I knew it…" The raven pinched his nose.

"Oh come on! Why can't you just take Kyuu again? I'm the one with all the classes this semester!" Naruto exclaimed.

"And I have my final thesis and graduation worry about, I don't have the time." Kyuu smiled thankfully.

"Time my ass! This isn't fair…" Naruto folded his arms in defeat.

"Hahah, not to worry, it's not going to be long this time, at the most a week." Jiraiya mentioned.

"When is it?" Sasuke interjected, sensing that the whisker cheek male was most likely too angry to speak at the moment and ignoring the sly smirk the redhead was currently giving him… most likely cause by the fact that Sasuke even cared to ask when his little brother would be going out of town.

"We'll need to leave early next Monday, so you have a week to get everything situated and by that, I mean letting Tsunade know about your absences." Jiraiya grinned coly.

"Why in the hell do I have to tell her!? You're the one draggin' me along, you should tell her!" Naruto exclaimed.

"If I tell her, she'll kill me… and you don't want that happening to your dear old granddad now do you?" The white haired man snickered as he finished packing his shoulder bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"Your cowardice is gonna leave ya with only one grandson old man…" Naruto glowered after his retreating grandfather.

"Nonsense! You'll be fine, later!" Jiraiya gave him thumbs up before quickly exiting the classroom, leaving a peeved blonde, annoyed raven and snickering redhead behind him.

"What are you laughin' about?" Sasuke leered at the man in question.

"Hmmm? Ohhh nothin', heh," Kyuu shrugged and slung an arm over each of the boys shoulder, "Just that ya two look like you're in lighter moods than this mornin'!" He continued with a cocky grin. 'Heh, I have a feelin' our little test worked 'Tachi.' He noted mentally.

"Oh really? That's odd, 'cause I still feel like killin' a certain someone…" Sasuke glared at the redhead next to him, though in Kyuubi's mind, he was looking past him and towards his blonde brother.

"Eh? Really?" The redhead gapped at the pale boy beside him and then looked towards his little brother with a confused expression.

"What? Ya look surprised bro, now why would that be?" Naruto cocked a blonde brow at him, "is somethin' wrong?" He continued with faux concern.

"….. Hmph, not really… now," Kyuu shrugged and grabbed the raven's wrist, "I'm barrowing Nar' for a minute, you can go and do whatever you please for now, we're gonna go see Tsunade before headin' home. I hear she has a little birthday gift for ya!" He continued with a grin at Naruto and unlocked the latch connecting the two and then proceeded to tug the blonde away before Sasuke could even reply.

"Wait! Where are you takin' me Kyuu?!" Naruto protested, "Let me change first dammit!" He gripped as he was dragged out of the classroom.

"Tsk tsk tsk, so many questions! Just come along now!" Kyuubi grinned as he hurried out of the class with his hostage before Sasuke could even think of how or if he should react. Only once the two brothers were out of the room, did Sasuke suddenly realize something and ran out the class with a question burning in his head. Usually he would ignore something, or basically anything that that idiot said, but with everything going on lately, he just needed to get some answers. Once he was outside he quickly whipped his head back and forth in search of where he had gone, he knew he couldn't have gotten too far already and just as he thought that did he see the person he was searching for kneeling next to the tennis court gate and jogged towards him with irritation.

"Hey, Jiraiya stop snoopin'!" Sasuke hollered loud enough for everyone within a 30 foot radius to hear, including the girls stretching on the court, who promptly glared death at the white haired man as he hustled away and over to the raven to cover his mouth.

"Are you tryin' to get me kill you little twerp!?" Jiraiya hissed and hurried himself and the raven away from the court.

"Serves you right… Tenten was right, how aren't you listed as a sex offender?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and removed himself from the eccentric man's grip.

"Oh ho ho! You heard that did you? In that case, I hope you were there to catch at least the end of my session. It was far more interesting." Jiraiya nodded with self-praise.

"Actually, I did and that's kinda the reason why I came lookin' for you. I wanted to ask your opinion on a certain… problem." The raven mentioned and crossed his arms.

"Really now?" Jiraiya rubbed his chin and slung an arm over the pale male, "What kind of problem is this?" He continued in, what could only be described as, a lecherous tone and casually began to walk with the raven in willing tow.

"Hn, let's start first with the prattlin' you were doing about "The benefits of sexual conquests"." Sasuke rolled his eyes at the older man's tone and let him be lead to wherever, "What do you think a drawback of that would be?" He questioned. 'I swear, he'll make anythin' seems perverted.' He inwardly confirmed.

"Huh, a drawback? Well, other than contracting something nasty, I say there are no negative outcomes of such ventures!" Jiraiya enthused in a serious tone.

"But that's just from the standpoint of someone who is single though. You think the same still goes for someone who is otherwise involved?" The pale male stated and asked a more pinpointed question.

"Hmm, sexual conquests don't necessarily have to cease when you are, as you put it, 'otherwise involved'. Couples often use the beneficial side of such conquests if they feel the fire is going out, for example: BDSM, toys or both can agree to bring in a third party to help spice things back up!" The white haired man nodded and sat down in one of the many gazeboes on the campus.

"… What's the point of involving someone else in your sexual relationship? If either person isn't interested anymore, then they should just find other partners… but split up first." Sasuke stated in a detached tone. Even with the little make-up session with Naruto earlier, he of course still couldn't shake away the stabbing hurt, even though he had chased down Jiraiya for some form of reassurance on the matter, just hearing him mention the possibility of stale sex didn't make him feel any better.

"….. This is about you and Naruto." Jiraiya confirmed with a sadden look at the raven next to him, "Look, Sasuke, even though I work to instill 'Sexual conquests' into everyone, I know my grandson would never do something so ludicrous on purpose. What he and Hinata did was something that was indeed a huge mistake, and I know you know better than to think that he would ever even think to cheat on you with anyone." He said with reassurance and placed his hand on the ravens head.

"Hn, part of me knows that… but, it still happened and because of that the other part of me just wants to hurt him because of it… in more ways than one." Sasuke crouched over and grumbled into his hands.

"Geez, I sometimes wonder who the stupidest one between you two is…" Jiraiya tsk'd, "You've known Naruto for practically your whole life, yet you send him to the gallows for this mistake. I'm more than positive that he has already beaten himself up over this… I know Kurama and Itachi have already done something to get you two to at least talk some things out. So did you?" He continued in clear agitation.

"Yeah… we talked a little. I even told him would try to forgive him, but-" Sasuke nodded before being silenced.

"But nothing, if you said you are going to try, you should do just that. Don't promise him something like that just to turn around and stab him in the back, you'll only make things worse by trying for revenge." The older man warned in a harsh tone.

"….. Right…" Sasuke sighed just as the campus bell tolled. 'It's still not fair…' He mentally added.

"I know it's hard, but you two can recover from this. It might take time, but what you two have is something worth fighting for. As the saying goes 'something worth having, is something worth fighting for'." Jiraiya grinned and mussed the pale boy's hair as he stood, "well, I've got to get going… now. You go make plans to talk with my grandson." He glanced at his watch, "but be a little nice, it's his birthday after and I know you've both gone without any 'sexual benefits' for nearly a month now." He added with a lecherous smirk before exiting the gazebo, leaving the young Uchiha to reflect on their conversation in more ways than one. He couldn't deny what the red-streaked faced man had said, that what he and Naruto's relationship was something worth fighting for. He knew it would be hard for himself to just suck up what happened, mistake or not, but deep down he really wanted to and would try to put it behind him… well, at least put one thing behind him. However, after sitting there for roughly ten minutes, the raven felt something or someone heavy settle on his head.

"Oi, so this is where ya disappeared to baby Uchiha, I was startin' to thing I had lost ya forever!" Kyuubi sighed in mock relief.

"Where else would I be, besides on campus? Itachi drove me here and he had to go to the station for whatever reason and you ran off with Naruto… so tell me how I was goin' to get home." Sasuke stood up and away from the redhead, only to glare at him once he faced him.

"I'm sure the girls here, and some of the guys, would've loved to give ya a ride home." Kyuu winked at the now glowering raven.

"Your family must have an idiot gene…" The onyx eyed male scoffed as the older Uzumaki entered the gazebo. 'I wonder which parent carries it…' He mentally mused.

"Hm? What was that?" The redhead narrowed his eyes at the shorter body in front of him.

"Nothin', so can we leave now?" Sasuke pressed. He had been through enough today and wanted nothing more right now than to be back home relaxing.

"Okay, okay, let's go." Kyuu nodded and turned to head towards the parking deck. However, there was one question that Sasuke wanted an answer to and he didn't feel like waiting until he saw Itachi to ask. So once they were in the privacy of the redhead's car, did he voice what was nagging at him.

"So, the interrogation…." Sasuke mentioned calmly from the passenger seat as he was driven away from the campus.

"Ah, I don't know what you're talking about young one." Kyuubi articulated with a slight shrug. The way he said it would've seemed as if he didn't really know what the raven was talking about, but the fact that he only spoke like that when he was lying gave him away and the sly smirk didn't help any either.

"Cut the crap Kyuu, we both know it was you and 'Tachi that pulled that stunt." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the grinning redhead.

"Oh? So ya two are talkin' again?" Kyuubi exclaimed with wide eyes and looked expectantly at his passenger, despite the fact that he was now on the highway and speeding no less.

"No…. well, not really," Sasuke hesitated, thinking briefly about the conversation he just had with Jiraiya, "Anyways, why did you guys interfere?" He continued and crossed his arms.

"…. Isn't it obvious, Sasuke?" Kyuubi said in a serious tone, "ever since Naruto told me what happened, I can of course understand you being pissed, but you still should take time to talk and straighten these things out." He mentioned with a focused look on the road.

"Heh, yeah right…. It's not somethin' that so easy to discuss." Sasuke sighed in frustration... he and Jiraiya, as well as everyone else, were on the same team.

"I know, and that's exactly why I had 'Tachi give Ibiki that mock test. We figured you guys could use a little push…." Kyuubi explained, "So, did it help?" He glanced over at the brooding Uchiha.

"….. I-I don't know," Sasuke mumbled after a brief pause, "Like I told him, I'm not dumb enough to think that he, they, did… what they did on purpose. But…" He trailed off.

"But?" Kyuu pressed as he pulled into their private parking deck and pulled into his parking space.

"…. I said I could forgive him, I mean, I know it was a mistake… but still…" Sasuke sighed as he climbed out of the flossy sports car.

"Forgive and let be, Sasuke," A deep and knowing voice spoke from behind him, "some things happen for a reason and are nothing more than a test, take it in stride." Itachi continued with a pointed glance at the redhead, who simply rolled his eyes at its implied purpose.

"You guys act as if it's that easy, you've never had to go through something like this." The short haired raven said in an annoyed tone as he followed behind the two in question.

"True, we haven't been through exactly what you two are dealing with, but we've been through just as taxing circumstances." Itachi mentioned with a knowing glance back at his little brother.

"Tsk, like I said, it's not that easy—" Sasuke began to repeat himself before being cut off.

"We never said it wouldn't be," Kyuu interjected, "but it's somethin' you two need to work out… besides, ya already said you'd forgive him. So start with that and let bygones be bygones." He finished and stepped into the elevator.

"…. I don't think that's the right term for this…" Itachi cocked a brow at his redhead.

"Does it matter?" Kyuubi challenged his comment.

"Idiot…." The two ravens sighed and waited for the elevator to make its final stop.

"By the way, where is Naruto?" Sasuke voiced his inquiry.

"So you care about his whereabouts now?" Kyuubi elbowed the sorter of the three playfully.

"Hmph, that's not it, it's just that he was with you earlier is all." Sasuke shrugged with indifference.

"Oh he's around somewhere…" Kyuu sung and shared an accomplished smirk with Itachi.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke cocked his brow as the door opened up to his and Itachi's floor, but just as he was about to exit the elevator Itachi halted him, which only made his suspicions grow, "Itachi…" He narrowed his eyes at his brother.

"Heh, you play nice now Sasuke." Itachi smirked just as the elevator doors closed, leaving his little brother to stand in the elevator in confusion, "You don't think we're being too pushy?" He glanced over at his redhead lover.

"Nah… but I think we can let things play-out on its own from here out." Kyuubi shrugged and grabbed Itachi's hand as they entered the living room, "Besides, I want to focus on something else right now." He smirked and swiftly led them to his suite.

AN: And so ends another chapter! So, off I go now to write the next one before I get distracted!

Reason for song: i think this song fits pretty good with this chapter, sacrifices were made some for the better though! Also, Tee-hee, its really one of my favorite songs ever!

Please note: Kojika Nara, Suna Akurei, Hyūga Hisae are mine, well my versions of Neji, Hinata and Gaara's parents names, as well as Shikamaru's sister's name. But mine none the less.

- Anna Uzumaki