Author's Note:

THIS CHAPTER GOES OUT TO ALL UPSET SASUSAKU FANS, INCLUDING MYSELF, THAT READ NARUTO GAIDEN!

If anyone else read the first chapter of Naruto Gaiden, then you know why the ENTIRE sasusaku fandom is upset and furious. It infuriates me to see how everything happened after 700. I'm not going to go any further because of spoilers, but I want to give a message to everyone that's in the sasusaku fandom.

STAY STRONG! WE ARE CANON! I HEARD THAT IT GETS BETTER IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Thank for the reviews, favorites, and follows! They really encourage me in terms of my writing. Enjoy!

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER REGARDING UPDATES FOR THIS STORY! NO, IT IS NOT BAD!

Sasuke adjusted the bands on his arms and pulled down his sleeves. Throwing on his cloak and grabbing his chokuto, he waited at the front door for Sakura, who was in the bathroom. Sighing, the Uchiha unsheathed his chokuto and looked at the end of it. He had spent a large amount of time in the last few days sharpening it along with his other weapons, making sure that they were in perfect condition.

Sakura opened the bathroom door and grabbed her black gloves. She watched as Sasuke continued to stare at his blade.

Lifting his right hand, he knew that his chokuto had been sharpened to the point where you could look at and cut yourself, but he felt the urge to make sure. Barely tapping the point, Sasuke quickly withdrew his finger as blood rushed from the small wound. The Uchiha put his blade back in its sheathe and opened the front door.

"Why did you do that?" Sakura asked as she closed the door. She tried to grab his hand, but he pulled it back.

"It's just a small cut," he said as he took keys out of his pocket and locked the door.

Sakura gasped. "How did you get my keys?"

Sasuke put them back in his pocket. "I took them before you woke up."

They made their way down the stairs with Sakura still bewildered. "Give them back."

"No. Why should I?"

"Maybe because it's my apartment."

"Well I wouldn't put it past you to go back up and unlock it just to spite me."

She glared at him as they continued to walk. "Keys. Now."

He shook his head and looked at his finger again. He was surprised at the amount of blood still coming from the small cut. The red liquid was now covering his hand and started to drip down his sleeve. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the worried look on Sakura's face. "Calm down. It's just a small cut."

"I don't even care about the keys anymore, just give me your hand." She tried to grab his hand once again with no luck. "Sasuke, please."

"No."

"Why did you even touch it if you knew that it was sharp enough?"

He shrugged. "Making sure."

She huffed. "And I thought Naruto was an idiot..."

The last few days had been used for preparations of course. They had decided that they would travel in one large group for the first day. Then, they would split up the next to start searching in certain areas. Sasuke, however, had made sure that they would be splitting in groups of at least two. He had said that it was because of the concern over their army, but the real reason was to make sure that he could watch out for Sakura, just in case.

"Just give me your hand already!" she screamed as she lunged once more.

Sasuke jumped over her with ease and let a giant smirk settle on his face as he landed. "It's not going to kill me."

"I don't care."

This time, he grabbed her arm with his left. "Sakura, seriously. Why do you care about a small cut so much?"

She motioned for him to come closer. He did as she wanted but gasped as she grabbed his ear. Before he could react, Sakura had already gotten his injured hand and healed it.

After she let his ear go, he rubbed it and frowned. "Hope you're satisfied now."

She grinned and walked faster.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and continued to travel at his own pace.

After their kiss at the arena, they hadn't talked about it since their walk home. For some reason, Sasuke had felt a little disappointed when she said that it didn't count. Although he had agreed in not counting it, there was something inside of him that shattered at that very moment. The way he felt around her these days, it was so foreign and weird to him. Maybe he was just allergic to something in her house or it might even be perfume. He decided that he would ask her what it was later.

"We're heading towards the area where Gaara thought some strange presence was, right?" Sakura asked, bringing the Uchiha out of his thoughts.

"Hn. I hate that we're stopping so early though. We could get there today."

"I didn't get it at first either, but now I think that I understand. The Hokage wants us all to get rest so that we are at our best tomorrow when we split up."

Sasuke caught up with her and spoke in a demanding tone. "Speaking of which, you're coming with me."

Sakura blushed lightly. "W-Why me?"

"Crap! Why did I say it like that?!" He scratched his head. "Kakashi already told me that he wanted us to go together."

She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I thought that he said we could pick our own partners..."

Sasuke mentally sliced himself to pieces with his chokuto. "I don't know. That's what he told me," he lied.

They walked the rest of way to the village gates in silence. Sakura was wondering why Kakashi had supposedly already chosen her and Sasuke as a pairing for tomorrow.

"Why me and Sasuke? Also, how come he's only paired us together and no one else?" She glanced at the Uchiha from the corner of her eye. "Was he lying? Why would Sasuke lie about something like this though?" She thought back to yesterday, the festival, and the hot springs. "No! Why do I even bother to think like this?! He doesn't like me in that way and he never will! Get it through your head Haruno!"

They were the first to arrive at the gates and they stood in the middle, staring at the ground.

Sakura frowned and once again questioned the "Hokage's" decision. "Are you sure that he said you and ME?"

Sasuke crossed his arms and glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Yes, why?"

She shrugged and continued to stare at the ground. "It just seems a little weird is all."

The Uchiha fully turned his head to face hers, narrowing his eyes. "How is it weird?"

She opened her mouth, but before she could answer, they heard a shout from far down the road.

"The power of youth is in full force!" Lee screamed as he ran towards them, followed by a large cloud of dust. The taijutsu specialist skidded to a halt in front of the bewildered pair. He smiled and saluted. "Greetings Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno!"

The two ninja said their hellos and watched as Lee started doing push-ups in the middle of the road. The next few to arrive were the Sand Siblings and Shikamaru. They all chatted and Sasuke listened in on how Choji was doing.

Shikamaru shoved his hands into his pockets. "Even after he woke up and told us what happened, it was still hard for us to understand. He wasn't even sure either. I've been wondering and I think that I have some possible answers."

The Nara was interrupted by Naruto Uzumaki screaming furiously as he jogged down the road with a gigantic heavy pack. Hinata was close behind, telling her husband something inaudible. When he reached the group, the sweaty boy dropped the bag onto the ground and put his hands on his knees, panting. He raised his head and started to speak, but stopped when everyone else, except for the Hokage, joined the group.

"Where the heck is the Hokage?! Me and Akamaru are ready to get some action!" Kiba exclaimed excitedly as he patted his companion's head.

They waited for who knows how long, getting agitated with every passing minute. Sasuke glanced upward and noticed that the sun had fully risen. That told him that it had been at least an hour that all of them had waited for the Hokage. Before long, the most impatient people in the group started growling and huffing out of annoyance. So on they went, waiting and waiting. By now, everybody had sat down, some even taking short naps. Sasuke was sitting against the edge of the gate and had his head on one of his propped up arms. He started cursing himself and Kakashi as his eyelids started to droop, but he quickly opened them again as Sakura passed out with her head resting on his shoulder. He glanced at her and smirked at her unconscious form. After looking around to make sure that no one else was watching, he moved their positions so that his arm was around her, holding her closer. At this point, the Uchiha didn't even care if any of the others teased him for it because, like him, they had all grown tired of waiting and were too irritated for any fun.

Kurushimi was sitting in the chakra chair, right in the middle of the dark room. Today was the limit and he wondered if the Uchiha would actually come. However, he quickly cursed himself for the stupid thought. "What am I thinking? Of course he's coming. The boy is not stupid..."

Kenshi burst into the room with an excited look on his face. "Today is the limit and you haven't said that they're coming! I guess that means I can go and tell the others to get ready."

As Kenshi began to run out of the room, a loud sigh from his friend stopped him in mid step. "What?!" he asked.

The man with strange eyes gave his friend a glare from the corner of his eye. "Kenshi, you really can be quite the imbecile at times..."

The swordsman turned around slowly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Another sigh. "Is today over?"

"No."

"Then I'm not sending any of you out yet. Besides," he leaned back in his chair, "they are definitely coming."

The other male crossed his arms. "How would you know?! You didn't even send anyone out to make sure that he's coming!"

Kurushimi stood up and made his way to Kenshi with the chakra chair disappearing slowly. Stopping a few feet away from his friend, Kurushimi gave him the deadliest glare that he could possibly give. "Kenshi, do you have ANY common sense?"

The other man returned the deadly glare. He didn't reply.

As the multicolored eyes bore into brown, Kurushimi laughed mockingly. "Since you're obviously not using your head, I'll explain for you. And by the way, I've sent some people out to certain areas."

He led Kenshi outside the room and all the way to where the training area was. The most elite ninja were training at the time and most were locked in intense sparring sessions. The weaker ones were watching the battles and cheering.

"What do you see Kenshi?"

"An army."

"Exactly. Now do you understand?"

His answer was an eye roll.

"They are not stupid. Us having an army is more than enough to make them come without a second thought."

"Why couldn't we have just gone after them? We could've surprised them at the festival if all of us had gone with you."

He threw his hands up. "Where is the fun in that?! It wouldn't be any fun at all if we had just killed them all there. Besides, if we did that, then innocent people would've had to die. The innocent people who think the same as we do. That Sasuke is a criminal."

Kenshi narrowed his eyes. "So what you're saying is that we couldn't have gone there and ONLY killed Sasuke?"

Kurushimi slapped his friend's back and made him face the army again. "I'm saying that he needs to suffer as much as we did. Or did you forget how much we suffered? How much we suffered because of the Uchiha."

The brown eyed man angrily pushed the other male's hand off of his shoulder. "How many times do I have to tell you that I will never forget?!" He breathed deeply and calmed himself. "What's our plan looking like right now?"

Kurushimi seemed to have cooled off too. "Hm... They don't know where our hideout is located, so I assume that they will split into small pairs to search. That's when we act."

"When are we starting then?"

"At first, they're definitely going to travel as a group. I came to that conclusion because they know that we are a serious threat and they want to make sure that I truly want them to find our hideout. That being said, the purpose of not splitting right off is to see that I am going to give them time to find me. That I'm going to be true to my word."

For the next minute, they watched the elites in their army train. Then, Kurushimi started laughing hysterically. When he finally stopped, he turned to face Kenshi with an evil grin plastered on his face. "I never said that we wouldn't act during the time that they will try and find us though..."

After another hour, Sakura woke up and blushed as she noticed what Sasuke was doing. Sasuke only smirked and stared at her with his tired eyes.

Sakura sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Is he still not here yet?!"

They waited EVEN MORE! All of the aggravated shinobi were awake and moving at this point in time, trying to occupy their attention.

Suddenly, a poof of smoke appeared right outside of the gate. Everyone turned and watched as the smoke cleared, revealing the Hokage putting a book into his back pocket.

Kakashi laughed nervously when he saw the angry ninja glaring at him. "Sorry I was late. I got lost on the path of life."

The original Team 7 immediately growled at the original line that they new so well from their sensei. It wasn't just them; the entire group started to yell, scream, shout, and curse at the current Hokage.

Kakashi started to sweat and speak shakily. "I just had to tell Lady Tsunade some things before we left. She's going to take over my role as Hokage while I'm gone."

"YOU HAD TO TELL HER STUFF FOR THAT LONG?!" Naruto shouted as he shook his fists.

Before the cornered Hokage could respond, Gaara tried to calm everyone, including himself, down. "We should be moving now, instead of arguing. Don't all of you agree?"

Reluctantly, everybody nodded and grabbed their things. Naruto struggled with his pack and stumbled outside the gate.

"What's in there? Your entire house?" Shino asked.

The Uzumaki frowned. "No, and it's none of your business."

"Let's get moving!" Tenten eagerly shouted.

Everyone put their forehead protectors on. Sasuke always found it funny how none of the girls wore theirs the correct way. Even Tenten had grown to wear it the incorrect way. Speaking of which, a few of the guys still wore theirs incorrectly. In the end, Sasuke was the only one without a forehead protector, which he had stored in his bag.

As the large group of shinobi got ready to start jumping from tree to tree, Kakashi quickly stopped them.

"We won't be going at that kind of pace."

Everyone turned to look at the Hokage in disbelief. Before they could begin to contradict his statement, the Hatake explained.

"We've already discussed where we're going to stop today. We can get there by sundown if we walk."

Some shrugged and began to walk. Sasuke, on the other hand, stomped over to his former sensei and whispered angrily. "What are you thinking?! Why are we walking and stopping so early today?!"

They were the last to begin the journey, following at a short distance behind the others.

"Sasuke, if we're up against an army then we'll need all the strength we can get. Meaning, we can rest at our destination for today and go at it full force when we split tomorrow. By doing this, we will be completely aware when we search for the hideout. Besides, if they know that we're going to split up, then they'll most likely take the opportunity to strike."

The Uchiha didn't say anything.

"Do you trust my decision Sasuke?"

He raised his head. "Hn."

When he began to walk at a faster pace, Kakashi quickly grabbed Sasuke's shoulder to hold him back.

"What now Kakashi?!"

The grey haired man chuckled. "Sorry to keep you back here, but I'm just curious."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"What was all that stuff at the arena about?"

In return, Sasuke gasped and turned a light shade of red.

Kakashi took the book back out of his pocket. "And don't tell me that it was nothing."

"It's none of your business!" Sasuke angrily whispered.

"You know, the others think that something is happening between you two. I just want to know if they're right or not."

"Well the others are wrong. Nothing's happening and that kiss didn't mean anything."

With this, Sasuke sped up and made his way to the very end of the group.

Kakashi eyed him suspiciously. "Hmm... I can't tell if he's lying or not. Although, whenever anyone brings up the subject of him and Sakura being an 'item', his temper gets worse than usual."

His eyes scanned the entire crowd of younger ninja. "Gosh, I'm old. It feels like just yesterday I saw them as children and teens and now they're all adults."

Then, his gaze drifted over the couples. "Now a few of them are even married. I never imagined that some of them would even bother to be in a relationship."

His eyes settled on Sasuke and Sakura, who were walking side by side. Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Just imagine if those two actually are a thing. I wish I could go back to those days when they were genin and my students. My students... The next Legendary Sannin."

He stared at the Uchiha crest on the back of Sasuke's cloak. Kakashi wondered what it must feel like for Sasuke to be trapped in this position. The villagers back home could care less if he were to die on this mission. All they cared about was if they could be safe, and Sasuke was fighting not just for himself, but for those villagers. His eyes narrowed in sorrow. "How do you do it Sasuke? What keeps you going? Why are you fighting for people that hate you?"

His thoughts drifted back to their confrontation on the road leading out of the village a few days ago. The last Uchiha had been surprised and confused as to why that many people had demanded to come. The most interesting part had been when they had told him that they were his friends. The look of sadness and bewilderment on the Uchiha's face saddened Kakashi even more. "I know that you feel like you shouldn't have anyone on your side, but... You still fight for the villagers. You fight for your comrades and your friends..."

Kakashi widened his eyes as he saw Sakura grin and playfully shove Sasuke. Words he had heard a long time ago came back to Kakashi.

"The Uchiha clan treasured love more than any other clan."

He gasped quietly as he saw Sasuke give a very small, hardly visible smile.

"I don't know if it's that way or not between you two, but there's one thing that I know for sure now."

Kakashi smiled under his mask again as he saw Sasuke and Sakura joke around with each other once more.

"It's that... Sasuke... You fight for love..."

"The girls will share one room and so will all the guys," Kankuro announced sadly as he came back into the lobby.

The men immediately started protesting while the girls made their way up to their room. After the males had settled down, Gaara was the one who grabbed their room key and led them up the stairs.

Meanwhile, the females had already settled down in their room. Kakashi had made sure to get the rooms with tons of bunks in them and the girls each had one to themselves.

"Oh my gosh Sakura!" Ino squealed as she made her way to Sakura's bunk.

"What?"

"Tell me all about it!"

"All about what?"

Ino stomped her foot, which made the other women turn their attention to the other kunoichi. "The kiss! Is he good at it?!"

"So help me Pig! I will knock you out!"

"I'm just curious. This is something that I have to know."

Sakura sighed, deciding that giving her friend what she wanted would make her shut up and go away. "Yes, it was good. There's still nothing happening between us though."

The Yamanaka nearly pulled a large clump of hair out. The other women were still as shocked as Ino was in finding out that Sasuke and Sakura were still denying it.

"Forehead, what is wrong with you two?! You kiss each other and you're still claiming that it's nothing!"

"Because I know that it doesn't mean anything. And calm down. I think that everyone back in the village can hear you."

Before Ino could spit back another accusation, Tenten covered the Yamanaka's mouth and spoke. "Let's change the subject before Ino murders someone."

Hinata quickly helped. "Have we decided which location will be the most likely place for Kurushimi's and Kenshi's hideout?"

Temari sat up. "Gaara has already said that him and Kankuro are going to search the place that we traveled by when we came for the festival. He explained that he felt some sort of evil presence there when we came through the area."

As the women's conversation continued, the guys were arguing over who got the beds and who got the floor. Sasuke had already claimed his spot on the floor. Before fist fights could start, Kakashi, Gaara, Shikamaru, and Shino got on the floor, too. That left Naruto, Lee, Sai, Kankuro, and Kiba to get the beds.

Kiba snickered quietly as he opened the window for Akamaru to jump in. The lady at the front desk had said that they didn't allow dogs, but the Inuzuka could obviously care less.

The boys then argued about who would get to shower first, and Sasuke had had enough.

Sakura sat down in a booth as she waited for her drink. Looking around, she saw that there were only two other people in the room. She had left the girl's room before Ino could begin to pester her again. Now, she was in the small cafeteria on the bottom floor of the hotel.

One of the people in the room was a handsome young man that looked to be about her age. When they met each other's gaze, he smiled and winked. Sakura blushed lightly and looked away. When she looked around again, she noticed that the other person in the room was wearing a dark cloak with the hood up. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, but quickly turned again as someone else sat across from her.

Sasuke sighed and crossed his arms. It didn't take him long to turn his frown into a smirk. "You didn't order anything that can make you drunk did you?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and made her expression match his. "No. Did you?"

He shook his head.

The waiter brought their drinks to them and they began to chat. Sasuke leaned over the table and whispered quietly. "Has Kakashi told you where we go when we split up tomorrow?"

They twisted their heads when they heard a small shuffling sound. Nothing had moved. The other men in the room were casually doing their business. Sakura faced Sasuke once again and shook her head. They didn't say anything else as they quietly sipped their drinks.

"Excuse me."

Sasuke and Sakura turned to see the man without the hood approaching their booth. Sasuke scowled as the man stopped in front of of Sakura. "What does this guy want?"

"Miss, if you don't mind, I'd like to pay for your drink."

Sakura was too shocked to reply and stuttered. "U-Um.. I can pay for it myself."

"I insist." He reached out to touch Sakura's shoulder, but withdrew his hand as Sasuke "sneezed" and a small fireball flew past, stopping before it could hit the other wall.

They turned to look at the Uchiha, who was rubbing his nose. "Sorry about that. I think I must be coming down with a cold or something."

Sakura slowly turned back to the man as he continued.

"Anyway," he said as he reached out to touch her again. This time, he pulled away as a shuriken barely missed his hand, planting itself in the opposite wall. Once again, they stared at the Uchiha, who had his eyes closed and was sipping his drink. He set it down and noticed their stares. "What?"

Sakura kept her eyes on Sasuke as the man continued once again. Sasuke had one hand under the table and started to sip his drink again. As he picked it back up and sipped, he used the other hand to create a small shard made of black flames. The moment Sakura blinked, Sasuke used the short instant to fling the shard through the man's leg. The man cried out as Sasuke extinguished the flaming shard.

Sakura turned her head as the injured man fell to the ground. Sasuke pretended like he cared. One of the waiters came over to help and the hooded man walked out of the room and the hotel itself.

After the chaotic situation had ended with the man being taken to the hotel's hospital, Sakura began to question Sasuke as they walked back to their rooms.

"What was that?"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye and his expression was indifferent. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really?"

"Yes really. What are you trying to say?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Never mind."

The hooded man chuckled as he hopped from tree to tree at a fast pace. "So they're splitting up tomorrow, huh?"

He chuckled again. "They were too busy with that other guy to notice me. I got out of there easily."

This time, it was a hysterical laugh. "Just wait until Lord Kurushimi hears about this..."

Author's Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and that it cheered some of us up about Naruto Gaiden! You know you love a jealous Sasuke. Thanks for reading!

IMPORTANT! READ BELOW!

So one of those other stories I was talking about in my second author's note of last chapter will most likely be published very soon. If you are interested, there is a short description below of what it's about.

It will be post 700. It slightly follows the Boruto movie in meaning that the kids are most likely around the age of thirteen and that Sasuke is training Bolt. Sarada and Boruto are the main characters and they've just been made genin. It'll follow their struggles with their families, mainly their fathers. Their struggles with training will also play a part.

However, Forgiveness is still my main priority, so the updates for that story will come slower than the ones for this one. I should keep my regular updating schedule for this story.

Also, I haven't started on my other sasusaku story that I talked about in that note. I don't know when I'll be starting that, but I'll keep updating you on that kind of thing in my author's notes.