A Bad Mission
Chapter IX- 'This One's for the Dance!'

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and you're stupid if you thought if one second I did. : )
Warning: This fic has both shounen-ai and cross-dressing.

Pairings For This Chapter: A little bit OCSasuke, NarutoSasuke, and SakuraSasuke (all onesided)

"Morning Sakura," Naruto greeted happily as he sat down in the cafeteria next to his female partner. "How was your date last night?" he asked.

"Oh, it was okay," Sakura answered while giving the blonde boy next to her some room on the bench. "He was a nice enough guy at any rate, he just wasn't Sasuke, you know?" she told Naruto.

"I really don't" Naruto replied. "What's so special about that guy anyway? Why do you like him so much?" he asked.

"I don't know. Sasuke's just so…Sasuke, I guess," Sakura confessed. "Oh Naruto, you aren't jealous are you?" she asked the boy sitting next to her.

"I'm not jealous," Naruto denied, " I just don't see what you see in the guy. Sasuke's so…Sasuke."

Sakura laughed "So I guess that means the same reason I like him so much is the same reason you dislike him so much," she pointed out.

"I guess so," Naruto admitted, wrinkling up his nose in disgust.

"Speaking of Sasuke…where is he?" Sakura asked, looking around the cafeteria.

"Where's who?" Kazuko asked, sitting down across from her roommate.

"No one," Sakura and Naruto answered at the same time.

Sakura mentally berated herself for not using Sasuke's fake name. It wasn't a smart idea and she should have known that.

Naruto was fine, not even realizing his mistake. Although, even if by some miracle he did notice it, he wouldn't care, because he would never get as far as to think about the consequences of it.

"…Right," Kazuko mock accepted. She did-thank God-drop the subject though, pushing the question to the back of her head.

"Ah…anyway," Sakura said, trying to think of a statement that would start up a conversation. She wanted to replace the awkward silence that was beginning to form around them with sound.

"How was your date?" Naruto asked, unconsciously giving them all something to talk about.

"Oh, it was pretty good. I mean, the guy was no looker, but he was really polite. Well, I mean, like, he was super nice to me, but I don't think that I would ever want to date him, you know, exclusively. He just wasn't, you know…attractive enough," Kazuko explained. "Does that sound super shallow?" she asked the others sitting close to her. "I don't mean to come off sounding like a shallow bitch but…I mean…"

"I understand," Naruto replied, looking over at Sakura. "I understand that most girls will go for good-looking jerks instead of nice guys that don't look as attractive. I understand all about that." When he finished his mini-rant he left the cafeteria and his food behind in a huff, heading back to the dorm he shared with Sasuke.

Sasuke had just gotten out of the shower, a towel hanging low off his hips, as he looked through his clothes in a quest to find out what he should wear.

"Damn," Sasuke said to himself when he found yet another piece of wrinkled clothing. "This is the last time I let Naruto go through my clothes," he promised out loud.

Yes, it was true. Naruto had gone through his clothes, Sasuke's clothes, and even Sakura's clothes before he found something he declared worthy to wear on his date the day before.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, wondering what the hell he was thinking when he agreed to let his messy teammate sort through his clothes. What might have been worse was the fact the Naruto had picked out something awful so Sasuke had had to step in and pick out some other clothes for him to wear.

Suddenly the door opened and slammed, letting in a miffed Naruto. Before Sasuke could even yell at him for wrinkling all of his clothing Naruto was shouting his complaints.

"Why is it always you?" Naruto screamed at him. "Why is it that everyone always focuses on you? Why is it that everyone cares about you so much? Why is it that everyone always give you attention?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke told him, "Could you at least try to be clear about the things you're yelling to me about?"

"You're always the one that gets everything you want," Naruto complained, his eyes dripping with tears. "What's so special about you anyway?"

"Naruto, you're being stupid. How am I special? What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked him, completely confused.

"I'm talking about you," Naruto explained after a few sniffles. He stepped closer to Sasuke and leaned on him, crying on his shoulder.

"Uh…" Sasuke was at a loss for words. He wasn't used to comforting other people. He wasn't sure what to do, especially since Naruto had seemed mad at something he himself had done. "Uh…there, there," Sasuke told him awkwardly, patting his teammate on the back, "You're…ah…okay…"

"What makes girls fall for you?" Naruto asked, "How come they find you attractive and not me? What makes you so good-looking?"

"Ah…I-well…I mean…I'm not…" Sasuke stuttered, not quite sure what to answer. "I'm not really…I mean…I don't consider myself to be."

"But you are!" Naruto whined, pushing himself against the other boy.

Sasuke was pushed off balance by Naruto's unexpected weight and he fell onto the bed with the blonde on top of him.

"Naruto…I'm really not…I'm not," Sasuke promised, his face tinting almost unnoticeable pink.

"You are!" Naruto insisted, burrowing his head into Sasuke shoulder. "No one every gives a damn about me when your around. No one can afford to give me a second thought when the great Sasuke's around."

"Th-that's not true…not everyone's like that…just, you know…those girls," Sasuke tried to explain, his blush getting continually worse.

"Yes you are! Even in my mind! I mean, when you're around I don't think about myself either. It's always about you! What you look like, what you're wearing, what type of challenge you're going to throw my way…everything…everything always evolves around you."

"Wait…you look at me?" Sasuke asked. "Why? Doesn't that make it your fault that I get all the attention? You are the one giving it to me after all."

"And how can I not?" Naruto asked back, digging himself into Sasuke. "You're always so…so breath taking…so-I don't know what…so Sasuke," Naruto tried to explain. He arrived at the same conclusion that Sakura had not even an hour ago.

"N-Naruto…I don't think I quite understand what you're saying. I…I think I do…but what I think you're trying to say is a bit…far fetched," Sasuke told the boy on top of him.

"Don't be so dense!" Naruto tried to yell at him, but since his mouth was covered by Sasuke's shoulder it just came out as a muffled noise. "I'm saying I…I…" Naruto tried to explain; he failed.

"Naruto…" Sasuke tried again. Before he could finish voicing his thoughts a pair of lips collided into his, shutting him up for a good amount of time.

"So what was that all about?" Kazuko asked her roommate. "Was it PMS or something? Did she have a bad date last night? Did she get mad because of what I said?"

"No, it was nothing like that," Sakura assured. "It was my fault, really. She's just a bit miffed at me for something that happened back at home," she explained.

"What?" Kazuko asked, leaning in closer to Sakura and awaiting some much needed gossip.

"Nothing of importance. Emiko just takes things a little out of hand. Forget about it, okay? This sort of thing happens all the time with her," Sakura explained, getting up from the table in order to get to her next class on time.

"Naruto! Stop it!" Sasuke demanded, red in the face from the make out session his teammate had forced on him. "I'm not into guys, okay? I'm straight," he tried to explain.

"I've never seen you with a girl," Naruto accused, "You may think you like girls, but how can you know if you've never been with one?"

"Who says I haven't?" Sasuke asked Naruto after pushing him off the bed. "Just because you've never seen me with anyone doesn't me I'm not with anyone," he told him.

"Then who are you with?" Naruto asked, rising up from the ground. "Who the hell are you with?" he repeated angrily.

"I'm with my fiancé! Get it?" Sasuke screamed. "I'm engaged, you idiot! Okay? Happy?" he asked his friend. Without another word he grabbed some wrinkled clothes and shut himself in the bathroom.

"Why were you so late for class?" Sakura asked him at lunch, "And why didn't Sas-Katsumi show up at all?"

"Did you know Sasuke's engaged?" Naruto asked her, completely ignoring her questions. This was more important than that; he had a way to get Sakura to fall out of love with Sasuke.

"What? No he isn't," Sakura wrote off, "He probably just said that so you would leave him alone or something. I would know if he's engaged."

"And how would that be?" Sasuke asked, sitting down across from Sakura and Naruto with no tray and no food. "What makes you think you know anything about me?"

"So wait…" Sakura ordered, her confusion rising. "Are you saying you are engaged? Sas-Katsumi, I don't understand."

"I'm not saying anything," Sasuke answered, standing up from his seat. "I just asked how you came to believe that you know everything about me," he explained.

"Sasuke, wait…I mean…Katsumi wait for a second, okay?" Sakura asked, nearing desperation and confusion. "Are you or are you not engaged? I want a straight answer."

"It's none of your business," Sasuke retorted, "I just told Naruto because…the situation called for it, is all."

"So you told him a lie right? You can't be engaged. I mean, if people are engaged at our age then their parents usually arrange it and you don't have par-" Sakura shut her mouth, horrified at what she just said out loud.

"I had parents at one point," Sasuke told her in a deathly whisper. "I wasn't always an orphan."

"I'm-I'm so sorry," Sakura apologized. "I mean…I was way out of line there. I'm just so confused…and-and frustrated," she explained to him with an anxious face.

"I am engaged," Sasuke answered, "So you should probably give up the hope of us ever being together." Without another word he left a speechless Sakura and a smirking Naruto behind.

Sasuke walked the campus, thoroughly aggravated. Sakura had no right to say what she said. The whole conversation made the young Uchiha fume with passionate anger.

It also brought back bad memories. He had been engaged to his fiancé even before he was born and after discussing the situation with her and her parents after the Uchiha Massacre everyone decided that he would get married after he killed Itachi.

Unfortunately Sasuke didn't like the idea of marriage, not that it was so bad it would keep him from killing his brother. He just didn't like the girl he was supposed to marry. She was too hyper and innocent for him. She just…felt wrong.

Once again Sasuke was too deep in his thoughts to realize someone was ahead of him until he actually ran into him.

"Nice seeing you again, Katsumi," Suzuki greeted.

"Sensei," Sasuke greeted, bowing slightly.

"Oh please, none of that, Love," Suzuki begged. "It makes me feel too old, you see," he explained with a smile.

"Er…I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized.

"You don't look all that well," the teacher observed. "Did something happen?" he asked with concern.

"Oh, well…nothing new, I suppose," Sasuke answered, "I was just thinking about the past."

"Always a good thing," Suzuki accepted. "But," he advised, "dwelling on the past too long is just as bad as not dwelling on the past at all."

"I know," Sasuke answered back. "I just can't get it out of my head," he complained.

"Well now," Suzuki replied, "sometimes thoughts can be tricky things. If you think about them a lot they seem to retreat, but if you try to force them to the back of your head they normally just jump right back at you."

"Yeah," Sasuke grumbled, "I'm experiencing it first hand."

""Might I suggest you talk to someone about it," Suzuki advised. "Perhaps you can even talk to me about it…over coffee perchance?" he asked.

"Alright," Sasuke agreed, for some reason no longer caring about his disguise or his protection of it.

"Sasuke's really engaged," Sakura repeated for the hundredth time.

"It's not all that bad," Naruto tried to comfort, "It's not like the guy was looking at you in romantic terms anyway."

"Sasuke's really engaged," Sakura repeated for the hundred and first time. Whether she actually heard her teammate or not is something that cannot be determined.

"The guy's an asshole. Forget about him, move on, and…stuff," Naruto told her.

"Sasuke's really engaged," Sakura repeated again, not responded to Naruto's attempted comfort.

"One hundred and two times now," Naruto pointed out, no longer trying to comfort his friend.

"You aren't very good at comforting people," Kazuko told Naruto when she walked over to the tree he and Sakura were sitting under. "And the ground's still wet from the last rain," she observed.

"Ah shit," Naruto said in a monotone voice when he caught a glance at his mud-covered underside.

"So what's Ayako's big problem?" Kazuko asked, pointing at Sakura. "She looks really out of it," she observed.

"She just found out her crush since forever ago has actually been engaged this whole time. He just never told anyone," Naruto explained.

"Damn," Kazuko said, more to herself than to the others. "I'm so sorry. Do you want to go out and put galleons of ice cream in your system?" she asked Sakura.

Sakura finally nodded and stood up, still in a dazed-out state.

"Come on," Kazuko urged, pulling Sakura along. "You'll feel better after you get some ice cream," she promised.

"Well, it's nice to see you've loosened up a little compared to our last date," Akihiro observed with amusement.

"You caught me off guard last time," Sasuke explained matter-of-factly while taking a drink of hot coffee.

"You were expecting this though?" Suzuki asked with a smile on his face.

"I was more aware of the possibility of it," Sasuke corrected. "Just expecting that something might happen changes your reactions to it a great deal."

"No doubt," Akihiro agreed. "If I didn't already believe it then I now have first hand proof from watching you."

"This could still get you fired though," Sasuke told him, getting more serious than before.

"I'm well aware of that," Suzuki said as he nodded. "Even if I didn't you've told me enough times that I'd be a fool not to believe you at this point."

"Then why do this" Sasuke questioned. "I'm certain I'm not that important. Do you want to get fired?"

"You are important enough," Suzuki assured him. "Why would you ever get the idea you're not?"

"People don't really care about me. They give me attention and fake friendship, but that's pretty much because of my brother," Sasuke answered, the pride not dropping from his voice.

"That's a terrible thought," Akihiro scolded. "Everyone has at least one person they care about and at least one person that cares for them," he told his student.

"Then who is it that cares for me? Your theory has holes," Sasuke told him, not letting the sympathy for himself slip into his voice.

"I care about you," Akihiro replied. "Who is it that you care about?"

"I don't care about anyone," Sasuke told him truthfully, "I haven't for a long time."

"You're saying that if the entire world died right now and you were the lone survivor there would be no one that you would miss?" Akihiro asked him with something akin to amazement.

Sasuke paused and thought about the simulation for a bit. "No," Sasuke finally told his teacher, "I would care about you, Emiko, and Ayako." …And Kakashi he added mentally to himself for fear the teacher might recognize the name tied to ninja activities and start to suspect Sasuke.

"Well…I suppose it's a short list, but there is more than one person on it," Akihiro observed with interest and amusement, "That makes my theory right so far."

"It's weird though," Sasuke said, "I didn't have anyone before. Now I can't seem to get rid of people."

"So you care about these people, but you don't want to?" Akihiro asked in a concerned voice.

"No, I care for them because I chose to care for them; it's nothing I don't want. It's just that if these people never forced themselves on me like they did then I would never care about them," Sasuke explained as best he could.

"That's how most things are," Suzuki assured his date. "You can never appreciate or care for anything unless you know about it. You have to know someone before you can care about someone and you have to care about someone before you love them; that is the correct order of things," he explained.

Sasuke just nodded his head in response, still processing everything he had been told.

"So when's that dance?" Akihiro asked, trying to change the subject.

"Ugh, don't even speak to me about that whole disaster," Sasuke demanded, slumping forward and resting his head on his arms that were set horizontal on the table.

"I take it the date you were forced to be on didn't go quite as well as people expected it to then?" Akihiro asked with understanding in his eyes.

"It went worse than just 'not well'," Sasuke complained, "The guy was a creep; he kept trying to touch me."

The math teacher laughed in spite of himself and the serious conversation that his student thought was going on. "That's kind of what you're supposed to do on dates," Akihiro told the person sitting across from him.

"Well…I'm just not very into the whole…" Sasuke said in an effort to defend himself and his reasons for not liking his date.

"You're not into the whole touching thing?" Akihiro joked, still laughing. "I didn't realize you were that shy."

"I'm just not used to it, that's all," Sasuke explained, sitting back up and crossing his arms right under his chest.

"You want to practice with me then?" Akihiro asked. He was no longer laughing, though if you looked hard enough you could detect a trace of amusement still in his eyes.

"Uh…isn't that…uhm…against the rules and everything?" Sasuke asked, getting nervous at the question.

"Don't worry about rules. Rules only pertain to those who believe in them," Suzuki replied.

"What? That doesn't make an ounce of sense. Even if you don't believe in the rules being set in front of you it doesn't mean you can just ignore them. Rules affect you no matter what and if you break one then you'll face the consequences just like everyone else," Sasuke told him with slight irritation in his voice.

"Alright, so you caught me," Akihiro admitted. "That doesn't change the question. I refuse to back down because of my cowardice of some stupid rules," Akihiro told the younger boy.

"You're kidding," Sasuke declared, laughing as much as he had ever laughed since the Uchiha Massacre. It was more of a slight chuckle than a laugh.

"You caught me," Akihiro admitted again, only this time he was lying. He could tell his student was uncomfortable and he didn't want to frighten his date away. "Now get back to your dorm," he ordered, "They're going to be checking the rooms soon."

"What are you going to wear to that dance? I assume it's going to be something of mine," Sasuke said to his roommate.

"Don't act like such a girl. Who gives a shit if I take some of your clothes? They aren't even yours to begin with," Naruto answered back.

"What's your problem? You've been acting like shit to me every since I told Sakura I'm engaged," Sasuke asked Naruto.

"Why do you think, you asshole? You made Sakura sad; she even cried," Naruto explained.

"You don't really like her," Sasuke observed with a smile.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course I like her, you idiot! Why else do you think I'm so angry?" Naruto shouted.

"If you really liked her then one: you wouldn't be here screaming at me, you'd be over with Sakura trying to make her feel better and two: you'd be a little happy with the whole situation," Sasuke explained with amusement.

"What are you talking about? Why would I be happy with you breaking her heart?" Naruto asked Sasuke angrily.

"I'm finally out of the way," Sasuke answered. "Now Sakura has no one to crush on; this leaves a place open for you to come and sweep her off her feet," he explained.

"…I-I'm not a scumbag like you…I mean…I wouldn't ever think that," Naruto stammered as an answer.

"But that doesn't explain why you're so angry with my engagement," Sasuke said aloud to himself. "Unless…"he guessed with an open face.

"It's not what you think," Naruto burst out before his teammate had said anything. "I mean…uh…I mean talking about being angry about the engagement…it's…er…not what you think," he made up on the spot.

"Unless…" Sasuke repeated, ignoring the blonde haired boy completely, "Unless you like me."

"No!" Naruto screamed out. "I do not…you have no basis for it…you're just making crap up in your head," he explained.

"Naruto, I wasn't being serious, relax, okay?" Sasuke asked in a worried voice. "I-you couldn't possibly like me, right? That would make you…"

"Gay?" Naurto finished for him, getting a little angry. "So what if I am, huh? So what if I have a crush on you? I'm not another one of your stupid fangirls. I'm not going to jump all over you. It's not my fault anyway. It's your fault! You're the one who always flaunts your body around! You're the one who always throws yourself at people! You're the one who always walks around here with a towel on! What do you expect me to do?" Naruto screamed at him, his voice getting louder and louder and higher and higher.

"Naruto…you're being stupid. You-you're…" Sasuke tried to speak before giving up trying to sound logical. "I'm leaving," he stated just before he walked out the door.

I suddenly found myself with this need to finish this story, which is bad because this story is supposed to be pretty long. I hope this entry isn't too rushed as a result. Reading over it I didn't think it was, but if you think it is , please tell me and I'll be sure to make some revisions to it.

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, please, don't stop.