A/N : Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, hello! Sorry I didn't update as fast as usual. I was in Cape Cod for a week and I didn't have my computer so there was no way I could write. Anyway, here's the fifth chapter (I'm currently leaping for joy in my computer seat) in which Sasuke gets his (not so) super great explanation! Why is he so emotional? Why does he cry? Why does he grin, and not just smirk? Why does he remind Sakura of a pregnant woman? Or worse, Naruto? You will all understand what (in my opinion) would be behind this behaviour if it did happen.

Enjoy!

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"Now, Sasuke-kun. When did you start acting like that?" Sakura asked, looking at him with a determined stare.

"I don't know… Two days ago? Maybe just one." He said, looking quite confused and slightly annoyed.

"Hum… Did you behave like that before meeting me?"

"No, not really."

"Okay, then it's been one day. What happened to you before meeting me?"

"Er… I killed Itachi?"

"Oh, right. Then it could be… Yes, that would explain…" She said, looking away from him, whispering to herself. Then, her head shot back up to face him. "Have you ever felt like that before, in your whole life?"

"Er, yes, I think so. Before my clan died, I think." He answered, not quite understanding her behaviour.

"Uh huh… That makes sense." And she started whispering again.

She then went completely silent. Not a single word. She seemed to be absorbed in her thoughts. Seeing that she didn't give anymore attention to him ,Sasuke turned his head to look forward at the road before them. He sunk into his own thoughts too, but his weren't about his mental health.

Sasuke was thinking about his mum. It was true he missed her. She was probably the only person in his family that he never loathed. He did have some dreams about her, and they had nothing related to the nightmares he had about the massacre. They were happy dreams, where he could see her smiling, teasing his father before turning to him and saying "You are my favourite son, Sasuke-kun. Don't ever doubt that."

Sometimes, the speech was different. Once, she did say "Don't try to be like your brother or father. Your father was lucky to have an arranged marriage because the man would have married anyone, just like Itachi." At that part, her face had become softer. "Someday, Sasuke, you'll fall in love and that girl will be the luckiest one in the world."

He had never really thought about that one before, but now that he had hormones (and rather raging ones, at that, as he discovered this same morning), his conscience started to take consideration of the specimens of the opposite sex around him.

Or rather, the only girl who would bear to be around him.

The poor Uchiha prodigy was quite confused about his, erm… feelings concerning Sakura.

Not towards.

Concerning.

Onlyconcerning.

The girl was confusing him that was annoying him to no end. He could not quite put his finger on what was so special about her, but he knew there was something. An ordinary girl could never make him feel so angry, sad, annoyed and happy at the same time.

Why did she have so much power on him? When they were twelve, the simple fact that he breathed made her fix him in adoration, waiting to have the honour of hearing nothing but a little sample of his voice mixed with his tongue pronounce a word that she would worship for it was said in front of her, for her ears to receive.

Now, she even dared interrupt him! She no longer stared at him like the love-sick twelve-year-old soon-to-be teenager she had been in their Genin years. She didn't mind hurting him when she felt like it, she yelled at him, hell, she even insulted him!

Somehow, at the same time of… appreciating, that's it, appreciating Sakura's new behaviour, he still regretted the old one, the one that was all about him. Not that he actually liked the fact that she glomped him every time she had the opportunity, but he still liked the attention. After all, his father had ignored him from (approximately) the day after he was born (he still had to be happy for his wife and agree to the name she proposed) to the day he was killed.

Anyhow, he couldn't make Sakura change her behaviour, so he would just have to cope with it and pray for it to get better with the years.

"Were you a happy child?"

His train of thoughts was rudely (yet again) interrupted by Sakura's question.

"Huh?"

Oh, wow, bra-vo! That was a very clever and highly articulated answer, graciously offered by Uchiha Sasuke, master in the art of non-talking. Sakura shot him a glare and repeated her question.

"Were you a happy child?"

"What do you mean was I a happy child? Does it look like I was one?"

"Answer my question." She raised her arm, her hand balled in a tight and mean looking fist.

"Er… Most of the time," he said, unsure of what to say. "I loved my mum, and my brother was nice to me, but my dad made me feel weak and useless, so most of the time, when I was with anyone else but my father, I was somewhat happy."

"And, you became angsty and emo after your parents' death, right?"

"I was not angsty and emo! I was an avenger! A mighty, powerful avenger!" he screamed, outraged.

"Riiiiiiiiiight, that's why you always got beaten up every time you saw Itachi. But, why exactly did you want to avenge your parents that much? Why did you hate him so bad? There must have been something. I mean, if my parents had been killed, sure I would have wanted to avenge them, but I wouldn't have been that mad at the guy. Why did you loathe him like that?"

"He-…" Sasuke sighed. "He told me to." He lowered his eyes and stared intently at the ground.

"What?" Sakura said, her eyes widening.

"He told me to hate him. Hate him as much as I could, so that when we met again, I would fight him with the intent of killing him. He told me to hate him so I could get stronger. He also told me to live a miserable and lonely life, because he said attachments could get in the way." His voice was full of remorse and broke towards the end of his sentence.

"I see… Well, Sasuke-kun, I have found the answer to our question," she said joyfully. "I know why you're acting like Naruto."

"Really?" He asked while his head shot up for his eyes to meet hers.

"Mm hmm!" She replied, while nodding vigorously.

"Oh incredibly talented psychologist, do tell my humble person your knowledge," he said sceptically.

"Oh, very well. You are acting all Narutoish because of your brother. Or rather, because of your current lack of a brother. You said you were somewhat happy when you were a child. Then your parents died. First reason of you being sad and closed up. But you also discovered it was your brother, whom you said had always been nice to you, who killed them. So you were even sadder, and you were angry at him. He told you to hate him. So you did."

"He told you to live a miserable and lonely life. So you became unfriendly, harsh and quiet. You didn't let yourself get close to anybody and you pushed away every one who tried to be friends with you. Then, you got your curse mark, and you understood that it made you stronger and much more powerful than you ever were. Seeing there an opportunity to have revenge on Itachi, you went for the one who gave it to you, Orochimaru."

"You didn't want anyone to stop you from doing it, so you pushed away everyone that had gotten close to you. In other words, Naruto, Kakashi and me. It made you even angrier and lonelier. Even if you were getting stronger, I know you didn't quite like being with Orochimaru. That made you sadder than ever and you were angry at yourself for being sad."

"You started believing that feelings were gonna slow you down, so you buried deep down inside yourself and became even more stoic. It looked as though Orochimaru didn't bother you any more. Then you killed him and freed his whole north base for good measure. You made two of his guinea pigs and one of his employees members of your team."

"Your lack of emotions made you worthy of being their chief and have control on them. There again, that was a good point for you not to have any feelings. When you finally killed your brother, they… Er, wait, they died or they left?" She asked him.

"Died. Before I killed him." He answered calmly.

"Right, they died. So, after you killed your brother, your… conscience, let's call it that, sensed that it had happened and realized that you didn't need to hate Itachi anymore. So it told your mind "Okay, dude, anger target is gone, we can make big Sasuke here feel something else!" and your mind let every single emotion flow out. Unfortunately for your system, you had buried so many emotions since your parents died, that the flow kinda blocked."

"First came peace. You had been so mad at your brother recently that it was the first that was pushed out. Then came tiredness, since you had used every last bit of your strength to kill him. At that part, you met with me. Out came surprise, annoyance and stubbornness. We went to that hotel, and there you've been childish, wistful, sorrowful, sad and relieved."

"Next morning, you were downright happy. Joyful, playful, innocent, very Narutoish. And now, here we are. The emotions you had for the past eight years are gonna continue flowing out of you until you have nothing left. Then you will be able to have somewhat normal feelings and live pretty much like Naruto and me."

"Now the real question is, do you wanna live like that? Because believe me, if you don't want to, you're in deep shit." Sasuke turned his head towards her, his eyes as wide as ramen bowls, upon hearing what she had just said.

"I am not in deep shit!" he whined childishly, adding a little pout on his (oh so totally handsome) features.

"Oh, puh-lease, Sasuke-kun! Don't act like that. It's not that bad," Sakura said, reprimanding him.

His pout transformed into a wide grin and he chuckled a little. It was Sakura's turn to go wide-eyed. Had he just-…? No, he couldn't have-… But still, she was sure she heard it.

"Sasuke-kun, have just been, erm… laughing?" She asked carefully.

"Of curse I have, since what you said is so ridiculously funny! Of course I wanna live like you and Naruto! I don't want my life to be empty like it used to be!" He said, chuckling a bit more.

He took both of her hands, making her face him, and squeezed a little just to prove he was serious. He grinned again, released one hand and started walking again. Sakura looked at him incredulously, still having a question rotating in her head.

"Sasuke-kun?" She said hesitantly.

"Hmm? What is it?" He answered.

"Are you really gonna stay in Konoha? You're not gonna leave again, will you?"

"I don't plan to, no. Except for missions, if they let me. Or if they ban me from the village."

"If they ban you, I'll go too!" She said in a determined and somewhat revolted tone.

Sasuke stared at her, surprised. She would? Really? Why would she do such a thing? She had a life in that village! No one wanted to kill her for treachery! She wouldn't have a thing to worry about when she gets to the village! He, on the contrary, had everything to worry about, from his clothes to his permitted lifespan! And there, she offered- pardon, affirmed that she would leave with him if he was banished!

"Thank you," he said in a calm tone.

"You know, you really have to find something else to tell me when I do something nice for you. I'm kinda tired of hearing you say "thank you". Couldn't you say "That would be great" or "That was really nice of you"?" She replied teasingly.

"Erm, no."

"Why?"

"Don't feel like it."

"Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke started laughing. She was hilarious when mad! Sakura stared at him, astonished at the fact that he was laughing, smiled and then started laughing too. When she directed her gaze upon the road they were following, she was surprised to see the had reached another village.

Boy, would that night be weird!

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A/N: Boy, was that long to write! I believe it is my longest chapter ever. Well, I'm glad of how it turned out. I have to admit, at some points, I was inventing stuff as I wrote it down.

Next chapter, we begin a series of talks about both of them, which they had while walking from village to village or just before going to bed.

I'll try to update as fast as possible, but I'm still having the "blank page syndrome" and Plot Bunnies are running way too fast for me to catch them. Oh well, I'll try!

Ja!

Queen of Pascalities