A/N hey everyone! Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews, PM's, subscriptions, etc! I love you all;) Extra special thanks to my fantabulous beta, uchiha.s. Thanks for your humor and wonderful beta-ing, as always:)

Note on updating schedule: I am almost done the rough draft for this fic! YOSH! So I'm going to take the next little bit o' time to just concentrate on finished it up completely before I update again. Also, I realized that I have been severely neglecting my crack fics, "OMFG" and "Catchphrases"; sorry about that crack fans! Thus, over the next few weeks, I'm going to concentrate my fanfic writing energy on finishing the rough draft of SoA and on updating my crack-tastic fics: I will try my very best to update SoA in 2-3 weeks! Thought I'll really bust my butt to make it in two weeks, 'cause you guys rule:)

Last thing: I changed the summary for this fic. I thought the old one was booooooooring! Let me know what you think of the change, ok? :)

Anyway, enjoy this week's installment:)

Chapter 9

No Answers

"Said I, 'Bitterness a hundred times over and more

Walking through the threshold of death's dark door

With no fear of the horrors that they contain

Just to walk in stride with the lady of the mountain.'"

The Second Book of Akash, Verse IX

"Where— where are we?" Yuki asked dizzily. It was her third time that day being transported in a rapid, nausea inducing fashion to places far away and strange.

Amaya chuckled. "Welcome to the Bakeneko Coastal Plains, child." She casually licked her fur as said human child looked around in awe: gentle rolling hills covered in spring grass rose and fell until they met the ocean off in the far horizon. Sparse stands of oak trees decorated the otherwise grassy plains and hills, and the muted sun shone through a fine layer of fog. Suddenly, Yuki had no more time appreciating the expansive landscape as Amaya lunged at her. Neatly sidestepping the attack with an acrobatic flip, Yuki regained her footing and glared at her opponent.

"Come at me with the intent to kill, child, otherwise you'll never leave this place alive."

What the fuck have I signed up for? But instead of panicking, Yuki gathered up her courage— along with a few dozen kunai— and prepared to counterattack.

Amaya dodged the knives with liquid grace as she formed signs with her paws. "Neko arts- ghostly fire jutsu!" A plume of pale fire surged out of the cat's mouth: Yuki barely had time to dodge, and the ends of her hair were singed to show it.

As Yuki muttered under her breath, "Damn it! Otousan never mentioned that cats knew fire jutsu!" she weaved together hand-signs in a quick blur. "Fire style- fire ball jutsu!" she roared, as a fireball the size of a small house hurled towards her opponent. Unfortunately for Yuki, Amaya merely increased her size; by the time the fireball reached her, Amaya was the size of a mountain and the offensive technique passed harmlessly under her legs.

However, Yuki grinned. The bigger they come, the harder they fall, isn't that what they say? Yuki formed a clone while she herself crawled through the grass as invisibly as possible until she stood behind a paw the size of a large tree. Hope this works! The clone enhanced its feet with chakra and ran up the side of the cat, all the while forming the signs for another fire ball.

"Oh, that again? Yuki-chan, you'll have to be quicker than that to beat me!" The cat grinned savagely before taking a deep breath, then promptly blew the clone off of her shoulder with the gale-like force of her breath. As her form hit the ground, it disappeared with a loud 'pop.'

"A clone, eh? So then where's the real—"

But Yuki had had plenty of time to prepare her trap: with one pull of the invisible wire, Amaya's legs were neatly bound. "Not bad kid." Amaya shrank down to panther size and shook off the now loose bindings, then lunged at Yuki with her wicked claws.

A few hours later, Yuki was panting heavily, while the Neko summons didn't even have a hair out of place. That's it. I'm going to die here at the hands of a cat whose mental stability is questionable at best. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my family. I wish I had been nicer to Saki... Yuki grimaced and banished her very un-Uchiha-like thoughts. Come on, I can do this! I have to! Amaya came closer, and Yuki prepared to defend herself.

But instead of attacking, Amaya merely purred. "You pass, kitten! Well done!" The tiger-sized cat padded over to a shocked Yuki and licked the side of her sweaty face.

"You mean, you'll be my summons?"

Amaya laughed. "I'll come when you really need me. But I think my own whelp will suffice when you need a summon in battle. Tama's been waiting..." But Amaya didn't bother finishing her sentence, as Yuki had just collapsed from exhaustion. Guess she'll get to meet Tama another day... Grinning widely, she picked up the prone ninja by her collar and placed her on her back.

"Sasuke, you're going to wear a hole through the floor if you keep pacing," Sakura remarked drolly.

"Sheesh Sasuke, you're even more worried than your wifey-chan."

"Naruto, don't call me Sasuke's wifey-chan."

"Aw, but it's super cute!"

Sasuke continued pacing despite the irritating banter of his former teammates; he knew they were just trying to lighten the mood, but he found it tiresome. After all, Sasuke, of all people, knew just how taxing Amaya's test o' worthiness could be. While he knew Yuki would pass, he still couldn't sit still. It was a most mysterious phenomenon.

Perhaps his anxiety was due to the fact that Yuki now knew the truth about Itachi's death: thus, she had been given the first clue to finding out the truth about the mangekyo sharingan. This did not sit well with Sasuke. And despite Nekobaa's revelation about the origins of Sasuke's own mangekyo, and the loophole she offered therein, instead of feeling more at ease, he felt even more on edge.

Additionally, he was not thrilled about the fact that the cat summons seemed to know an awful lot about his shameful past. Were they going to tell everything to Yuki? Maybe he really should tell her everything about his past...and not just about Itachi. Or maybe he was being paranoid?

Maybe he should just trust the cat summons?

Sasuke snorted and continued his frenetic pacing. He was sure that even if he asked the cat summons to keep a lid on it, they wouldn't listen. He wasn't exactly on their list of favorite humans, after all...

"Sasuke-boy—" Nekobaa was about to tell the fretting parent to just sit already, when suddenly there was a large poof of smoke in the center of the room. Amaya strode forward on silent paws and gracefully deposited the unconscious form of one, Uchiha Yuki, on the ground.

"Oh Kami, what the fuck have you done to my child!" Sasuke jumped with a start and practically ran to his daughter. Sakura, who was herself only slightly more composed, did a rapid medical assessment and sighed with relief.

"Just chakra exhaustion Sasuke-kun, she's fine..."

Amaya rolled her yellow slitted eyes. "What, you don't trust me with your own kitten?"

"No, not really," Sasuke muttered candidly.

Amaya growled menacingly and lowered her face towards Sasuke's, but instead of biting his nose off, she licked his face with a rough tongue.

"Does this mean I'm out of the proverbial dog house?" Sasuke ventured, hopeful.

Snorting, the summons replied, "While I regret your wording choice...hmmm. Let's just say, if you personally ever summon me again, you can look forward to rapid, painful, disembowelment via my sharp, pointy claws; but if your kitten summons me or my kin, we wouldn't be adverse to assisting." Amaya smiled, revealing her wicked toothy grin; she made to leave, but Nekobaa motioned for her to wait.

"Amaya-san, I'm going to ask that you keep information about Sasuke's past...classified for now," Nekobaa suggested authoritatively.

Amaya stalked over to Nekobaa and sat on her haunches. "Hmmm?" the feline practically purred.

"He's still...figuring out...how to tell her about...Itachi and what not. Would you mind letting him handle it? It would be better for the child."

Amaya hummed as Nekobaa scratched the feline between the ears. "I rather like your kitten, Sasuke-chan, so... Fine. But do a good job...or I'll take out your liver and eat it with no remorse." Amaya grinned and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"It seems that Amaya has indeed forgiven you, Sasuke-boy." Nekobaa nodded wisely as she delicately drew on her pipe.

"WHAT? She just threatened him with the violent removal of his intestinal tract! Not to mention eating his liver!" Sakura moaned.

Naruto winced at the offending imagery, but Nekobaa merely snorted. "That's just Amaya's way of showing affection." The elderly cat woman rose and strode over to Yuki's sleeping figure, holding out a small bottle of smelling salts under her nose.

"Is this heaven? Oh gods, she sent me to cat heaven, didn't she...just my luck..." Yuki blinked up at the smiling face of the Nekobaa.

"Yuki-chan. You're alive. Hello?" Sasuke called to his progeny, shaking her shoulder.

"Yuki-san will do nicely, mister angel." And with that, she fell back asleep. Sakura snickered.

"Well, I guess we'd better head home...looks like Yuki is down for the count." Naruto grinned as he said this, and then continued, "But first, Nekobaa, do you happen to have any extra cat ear headbands thingies laying around?"

The graying woman snorted, "Laying around indeed. Tamaki, fetch the box of feline communication units please."

Tamaki, who hitherto had been silently watching the madness unfold from the sidelines, smiled and scampered off into the storage room. While she was gone, Nekobaa's smile faded somewhat. She cleared her throat. "I hate to ruin the jovial tone of our gathering...but there's something you all should know..."

She sighed as she adjusted her weight on her silken pillow, pausing to take a drag of her pipe. "It's been rumored among my contacts that Madara has been sighted along the border. In fact...I've even lost some good nin cat agents to this 'supposed' Madara character." Nekobaa sighed, her smokey breath coalescing around her in a gray haze.

Naruto nodded gravely, "Yes. There have been rumors on our end too..."

"I still can't believe it...I thought you took care of that bastard." Sakura sighed and pointed accusingly at Sasuke, who merely shrugged. While the information was not new to her— after all, she was one of the Hokage's top advisers— the intel still pissed her off.

Nekobaa nodded and continued, "I'm afraid he was sighted about 50 miles south of here, in a small border town called Akash. While I'm skeptical that the perpetrator of all these abductions is actually Madara himself, I'm warning you. Take care not to call the Neko summons in battle if it actually is Madara himself."

Sasuke nodded in understanding, but Naruto, ever the impatient one, broke in. "Why is that Granny Cat?"

Nekobaa's eyes flashed nervously, "Because not only does Madara have a contract with the summons, he was the one who created them in the first place."

"Oh otousan, this is the best present EVER!" Hoshiko squealed as she donned her feline communications unit. "Come on Saki, you try on yours too!"

Saki grinned as she did just that. "How do I look?"

"Cute!" Hoshiko cooed, little stars in her pupiless eyes.

Sakura grinned down at their youngins (minus Ryuu, who was out training, and Yuki, who was passed out) who were all sporting their new cat ears. Sometimes, Naruto was just brilliant. She picked up Takeo in her arms, who was busy feeling the fluffiness of his new ears. He looked up at his mother innocently and mewed like the adorable kitten that he was. She grinned over at Sasuke, who was growing weary under the burden of Yuki's collapsed figure; the poor girl was still blissfully asleep.

"Mom? Can I sleep over Hoshiko's tonight?" Saki asked politely.

"Only if Naruto and Hinata say it's ok?" She looked over at her friends, who were both wearing cat ears as well. Naruto is nothing but enthusiastic about the things that he likes, Sakura mused.

"Of course, Saki-chan can stay over anytime!" Hinata beamed.

"Saki, we can totally talk to cats tomorrow and get them to spy on people for us!" Hoshiko whispered excitedly to her friend once the sleepover permission was granted.

"Nice Hoshiko-chan...but who should we spy on?"

"Um...I dunno..." .

Suddenly, Saki bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and whispered something in her co-conspirator's ear. Hoshiko made a face. "What? Why would we spy on my stupid cousin?"

Saki sighed, "Because Tadashi is like, totally dreamy!"

"Ewwww!"

Sakura tittered to herself as she overheard the conversation. Never too late to teach children espionage techniques...though I do feel bad for Neji and Tenten's offspring already... Amused, Sakura called to the present company, "Well, it's late. We'd better get going..."

Sasuke nodded his weary agreement as he transferred Yuki's weight to his other shoulder.

"Goodnight friends...but...Sasuke?" the Hokage called.

"Hn?"

"Meet me in my office first thing tomorrow. I have something I want to discuss with you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Sure. Later. Thanks for watching the kids, Hinata-san..."

"My pleasure Sasuke-san!" Hinata called cheerfully as they left the Uzumaki household.

The air outside was cool; Sasuke and Sakura walked, each with a child in their arms, lost in their own thoughts. Takeo cooed up at Sakura, then snuggled into her chest, apparently tired from his epic playdate with Sora-chan, and in a moment, he too fell fast asleep.

"I think you got the better deal here, Sakura. Yuki weights a ton."

Sakura smiled as she kissed the top of Takeo's head. "Well, she's almost as tall as you, and she's made of pure muscle... What did you expect? You want to switch?" Sakura called mockingly.

Sasuke grimaced. "I'm fine." He switched Yuki's weight onto a different part of his shoulder and sighed. It seemed like just yesterday, Yuki had been Takeo's size, drooling on his shoulder as she dozed. Now, she was a towering giant, and it was significantly less comfortable to carry her sleeping figure.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Today was...fun..."

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. "Almost as fun as getting the measles or mumps," he deadpanned. Seriously, being interrogated by his eldest daughter, and then having his ass kicked by a giant cat was not his idea of a fun time.

"Idiot. That's not...I mean, I know there were difficult parts..." Sakura closed her eyes briefly and saw, in her mind's eye, Itachi's crimson signature on the summoning scroll. She opened her eyes and resumed, "But being together with team seven, going on a mission, not to mention watching Yuki-chan... It was nice."

"Hn."

Sakura snorted and bumped into him with her hip. "Just admit it. You had fun." Sakura fumbled in her pockets for her keys and opened the door to their house.

The front door creaked open slowly and Sasuke followed his wife inside. "If I say I had fun, will you stop badgering me?"

Sakura displayed a saccharine sweet smile on her face and went to put Takeo to bed. She called, over her shoulder, "Not likely. I enjoy badgering you."

Sasuke winced and vaulted up the stairs, excited to put down the heavy form of his daughter. He opened her bedroom door slowly, alert for any ninja traps she might have set, and after disabling a few, laid the prone girl in her bed. He smiled in paternal pride and kissed her on her forehead before drawing the covers up over her.

Sakura snuck up behind him and laid a soft hand on his shoulder. "She sure has grown..." Sakura whispered.

Sasuke smirked. "I have the bruised shoulders to show for it too."

"Tch." Sakura rolled her eyes, then slid her hand down from his shoulder to his waist. "She's so cute when she's sleeping..."

Sasuke chuckled at that, as he led his wife out of Yuki's room and gently closed the door behind him, muttering, "Don't let her catch you saying that, she'd have your head."

Sakura's smile spread slowly across her features. "And that's why I have to get it in while she's sleeping..." She leaned her head against his shoulder as he opened to door to their bedroom. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Mmm?"

"I think you should start doing missions again..."

Sasuke sighed and released her slowly, walking over to the closet to find some comfortable sleepwear. "Hn."

Sakura winced. She made her way to her vanity table and began brushing her tangled pink hair. "Just...hear me out?" When Sasuke made no motion to respond, she continued, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said today...in regards to the house arrest situation. And first...I'd like to apologize."

Sasuke, who had been shrugging off his shirt, paused mid-motion. "What?"

Sakura smiled softly. "I wanted to apologize for being so angry with you...about wanting to stay on house arrest. I'm sorry. I...I was being selfish."

Sasuke finally managed to remove his shirt, revealing an incredulous look on his face. He replied in a somewhat irritable tone, "Um...but you just said...you wanted me to start doing missions? I'm confused..." Sasuke sat down on the bed, looking a little dazed.

"I just realized that my whole approach around it has been totally wrong. I shouldn't have been so angry and frustrated; I let my emotions get the better of me, and it clouded my judgement. I think I have more of an understanding now, why...why you don't trust yourself." Sakura put down her hairbrush and strode over to her husband, putting her hands on his shoulders and gently massaging his back. "But this is what I think: staying in a state of lock-down isn't going to help you feel like you can trust yourself, nor will it help the village. It will just perpetuate your limbo."

Sasuke exhaled sharply in response. Sakura continued, "On the other hand, if you start going on missions, you can prove to yourself and to the village, in an active way, that you are trustworthy. That you deserve to be here..." Sakura ran her hands through Sasuke's dark hair and smiled softly.

Sasuke took her hands and drew her to sit down next to him on the bed. "Why...why now?"

Sakura shrugged. "It just seemed so natural, all of us going out together today...it felt right. And you know..." Sakura paused, searching for the right words. She had kept this feeling to herself for so long, she felt strange sharing it. But she knew it was time, and if she didn't speak, then the words were going to fester and burn in her chest... With renewed determination, Sakura resumed, "I've been feeling like... I've been feeling really unsatisfied with our relationship."

"Because you're never home to have a relationship to begin with," Sasuke threw back.

Sakura's immediate response was to be angry, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. As she had learned from a decade of experience being married, getting angry was the fastest way to getting nowhere with Sasuke. She forced herself to reply, as evenly as she could, "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that..." he muttered somewhat testily.

Sakura exhaled slowly and accepted his surly answer; she knew he wasn't very good at apologizing. "It's ok, you had a bit of a stressful day." Sakura put a reassuring hand on his shoulder before repeating, "But I want to know what you meant by that..."

Sasuke suspired slowly. "You just...haven't been around. It made me wonder if I did something wrong...but you just said you're unhappy, so I must have done—"

"Sasuke," Sakura broke in gently, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"So why haven't you been available? Why do you spend so much time working and so little time at home?" So little time with me...

Sakura sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool skin of Sasuke's shoulder. "It's my fault. I haven't been...completely honest with you."

"Oh Kami, you're having an affair!" he replied with horror.

Sakura whapped him over the head. "Idiot! Who the fuck would I be having an affair with? The bloody milk man? I barely have time to have an affair with you, I've been so busy at work! Can I just finish my sentence! Gah! Tell me you're joking!"

Sasuke smiled weakly. "Sorry. Paranoia. Um..." Sasuke sighed in relief. For a moment there, he had half convinced himself that Sakura was, indeed sleeping with the 'bloody milk man.' Thank Kami!

Sakura laughed at her idiot of a husband. "Geez Sasuke, really!" She pushed his shoulder, and he winced; his damn shoulder was already sore from hauling Yuki around earlier today!

Sakura ignored his look of protest and continued, "I haven't been unhappy with you, but I've been really pissed off at our situation. I just feel like..." Sakura took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm bored. Because we hardly ever go out and do anything, and it seems like you're afraid to do anything or make any major decisions by yourself...it isn't working for me. I need you to..." Sakura paused for a moment; she wanted to say 'man up,' but that was not going to sit well with Sasuke. She finally continued, "I need you to find your own way. To reclaim your own life!" She turned towards Sasuke and looked at him searchingly. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Sasuke scratched his head. "I think so...basically, you're telling me to get a life," he remarked wryly.

Sakura scooted closer to him and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Um...yeah. And also..."

Sasuke braced himself for the worst. "Yes?"

"I want to stay home with the kids."

"What?"

"I want to get to be the mom...I've birthed three kids and haven't raised one. I was thinking...if you went out and got a job...then I could...do the mom thing. What...do you think?" she replied haltingly.

Sasuke smiled slyly. "Are you trying to get me to knock you up?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and flicked him in the middle of his chest. "It's not fair that you always get to raise the kids and I only really get to see them on weekends, if at all. I'll make a deal with you: I'll have another baby, but you have to go back to work. Full time work."

Sasuke frowned. Sakura knew that, more than anything, he wanted to have more children; but he didn't understand what going back to work had to do with it. "Is it because of the money? Kami Sakura, we have a ton saved up. I know I had to pay a lot of reparations out of the Uchiha fortune— not that it bothers me, I would have given them the whole damn inheritance if you had let me— but between what I have left and what we've saved from your salary at the hospital...?"

"It's not just about money, although I'll admit, I am a little neurotic about saving..." Sakura shrugged. She couldn't help it that she wanted to have enough money to support the children they had; kids were damn expensive, and she wanted hers to have the best in life. "It's also about our family being a part of Konoha, of giving back. And you've been doing a wonderful thing, working part time teaching music... But don't you want more? You're one of Konoha's top ninja..."

"Sakura..." He gathered her hands in his and sighed. "I'll go back to work teaching music full time...that's something I can do while on house arrest. But I'm not going to go on missions." Because leaving the village and going on missions meant that his house arrest was finally going to end; Sasuke wasn't prepared for that.

"What if they're non-violent missions?" Sakura pleaded.

Sasuke shook his head. "Sakura..."

She put a finger over his lips to stall him. "Just...think about it?"

Sasuke sighed; he would agree to almost anything to quell her line of questioning. "Ok." He took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you...for telling me what was going on with you. You had me worried."

"Sasuke...did you really think I was cheating on you?" Sakura asked with humor.

Sasuke sighed. "Of course not. I mean, probably not...but..." He sighed. "I just...gave you space and waited for you to come back..."

She laughed at that and kissed his cheek. "You know, you can come out and ask me these things. We've been married for ten years..."

He caught her lips with his. "We don't always...communicate easily..." And we have this problem where you like to avoid me if you are really, really pissed off or confused...Sasuke thought bitterly.

Sakura exhaled slowly, her warm breath fanning his face. "It doesn't get easier, does it?"

"Hmmm. It would be helpful if I had more social skills."

Sakura laughed and pulled him into her arms. "Idiot. Leave the house more and you might become a more affable human being."

"Hn." He ignored her and nibbled the tips of her ear. He was glad that he had more understanding of what was going on in Sakura's head; and he was especially relieved that tonight, he might finally get laid for the first time in Kami knew how long. But on the other hand, how long would this respite last?

Because he didn't know if he could follow through on her request.

He wouldn't mind going back to work full time if it meant he could teach music at the academy, and retain an escort whenever he left the house. But to have his house arrest totally absolved, to go on missions for Konoha—that was not going to be possible. Even if he had teammates on his missions, there would come a point on even the most banal of missions where he, personally, would have to execute moral judgments: who could live, and who must die by his hand.

He was not ready for this kind of responsibility. He honestly didn't think he would ever be ready to be a regular ninja again. Look at what he had done in the past! His resume included nothing but lies, deceit, murder and treachery: he should not be allowed to go back on missions. Why in the world would Sakura encourage him to do this? Why should he even consider Sakura's outlandish proposition?

But Sakura was under the impression that he was considering it, and she was kissing his neck in the most delicious way. It was getting hard to think; he greedily drank in her kisses, like a dehydrated man in the desert gulping cool water. He tried to push his thoughts aside, to just enjoy this rare moment of intimacy, but in the back of his mind thoughts continued to nag him: would Sakura continue to love him if he refused her offer?

Long after Sakura fell asleep, satiated and dreaming soundly in his arms, Sasuke remained awake and thought about Sakura's words. He breathed in the scent of her hair; every time she exhaled, the air tickled his chest, as if asking him questions to which he had no answers.

a/n Buddha says: for good luck, offer your undying love and appreciation to your fanfic writers via a kind review:)