Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Between A Rock And A Hard Place ❯ When Troubles Arise ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

It was a mistake. Everything was one big, horrible mistake; it just had to be. Sasuke had made the mistake ever trusting that scum Gaara and believing for one moment that this mission was actually about the safety of his villagers. he was a fool for thinking he could turn his back and not get stabbed or even worse, find those he cared about in a worse condition. It just so happened the moment he allowed himself to fall asleep under what he thought was a safe and trustworthy roof, was when he was first betrayed.

With each one of them given a separate room, of course Sasuke removed all suspicion and distrust from the red head's shoulders. So he had slept easily that night, at least until Naruto's loud screaming woke him up. He should have known Naruto couldn't keep his big mouth shut even in his sleep. Being the pissed off and tired friend he was, Sasuke had risen out of bed simply to go smack Naruto with a pillow and tell him to stop having freaking nightmares that kept everyone else up as well.

But he had completely forgotten about that idea when he stepped out of his room and spotted Gaara in the hallway. Lucky for him the red head hadn't seen him, otherwise he might have been accused of spying. What struck Sasuke's curiosity that very moment was when he spotted Naruto being shuffled into the other's room. It infuriated Sasuke to think Gaara would disturb Naruto in the middle of the night just to pester him about something, so he intended to stop it. By the time he reached the door he could hear light whispers from inside. Unable to make out everything said, Sasuke could at least identify Naruto's claim of his restless state.

Why would he come to Gaara if he couldn't sleep? Sasuke had always hoped Naruto could come to him for anything, even if it meant waking him up for it. But he supposed Naruto really didn't want to bother him and figured Gaara, the weirdo, would still be up at this ungodly hour. Sasuke told himself not to get worked up when Naruto remained in the room. It was only fair Gaara got to sleep next to Naruto after Sasuke held him the night before. But why wasn't this enough to make Sasuke leave?

He was convinced he had nothing to worry about as soon as a few minutes had passed and he had heard nothing. Suddenly the incisive voices continued again and Sasuke was all the more sure Naruto did not just come here to rest. It was when Sasuke could hear the light moans of his teammate that he let his curiosity get the best of him. Instead of leaving, he had turned on his sharingun eyes and peered through the door into the room. He would never be able to forgive himself if he ever let Gaara hurt Naruto while he was there.

Unfortunately, what he was far from the lines of discomfort on Naruto's behalf. Sasuke had grown red in the face, both out of anger and embarrassment. Of course the persistent feeling that what he was doing was wrong ate at his thoughts, Sasuke couldn't walk away. His eyes refused to tare from the two bodies fumbling beneath the blankets and the inexcusable noises irrupting from inside the room. Anger couldn't possibly be the only thing he felt at this moment. He wanted to kill Gaara for sure, but he also wanted to punish Naruto. Though he had never told the blond of the feelings he had, that gave Naruto no excuse to be with this monster when others were around.

Sasuke hadn't realized it until it was too late; tears were seeping from his eyes. Sure his heart hurt immensely, but it could never be enough to make an Uchiha cry, right? Sasuke liked to believe he wasn't so weak as to let the actions of the one believed to have captured his hurt, affect him so strongly. At least give him some creditability. Sentimentality was just something he could not have. If he must cry, let it be for Gaara, because he would soon enough make sure that bastard experienced hell ten times over again for what he has done!

Sasuke viciously jerked his arm across his face, wiping away all traces of his revengeful tears. Instead of busting in and kicking Gaara's ass, like he intended to do, Sasuke quickly retreated back to the safety of his temporary room. One gloomy eye peered on the heart broken soul from outside the Kazekage's abode. But this one particular person had also witnessed the events and to say the least he was not at all pleased with either of his students. "I hope he's really worth it Naruto..." The silver haired chounin muttered as he stood up from the rooftop. Since he was suppose to be on guard duty, Kakashi quickly parted from the scene.

"Get your lady ass up dobe!" came a hoarse and terrify yell. Naruto whimpered as something soft was slammed down on his head. For a moment it didn't register to the blond that he was unable to breath with his mouth covered by a pillow. Finally Naruto came shooting up out of the bed, flailing his arms and screaming dramatically. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes after pulling back the pillow. "We down have time for you to sleep all day you lazy bum. Unlike you, some of actually want to get the mission done with so we can return home." Sasuke growled harshly.

Naruto blinked dumbly as he stared at his grumpy friend. "Sasuke?" He looked around the room once and noticed that he was still in Gaara's bed. "Gah! What are you doing in here teme?!" Naruto exclaimed, pointing at Sasuke accusingly. He scooted back against the head board when Sasuke only glowered at him. Why would Sasuke come into Gaara's room? It wasn't like he screamed again? But more importantly, where was Gaara? Naruto looked to his side to find the spot on the bed empty. There wasn't even a dent or the warmth radiating off of the spot to show Gaara had been their recently.

"I came to get you up." Sasuke barked out. "Instead of fooling around like an idiot in the middle of the night, you should try to get some sleep. It's already eleven and everyone is living their lives Naruto." The blond blushed at the brief mention of last night. Did Sasuke know what happened? He surely hoped not. It would be incredibly humiliating to have your best friend know about your love life without you telling them. Then again, this was Sasuke. Sasuke didn't give a damn about his personal life as long as it didn't interfere with their ninja lives.

"Sorry I overslept..." Naruto mumbled. He couldn't believe how warn out he was last night. After what Gaara did, it was like he drain him of all his energy. It was good when he had to get to sleep, but he wasn't exactly in the brightest of moods right now. maybe him and Gaara should better plan these things out so neither one of them would have to work the day after. For now however, he would have to accept this. Naruto hurriedly out of bed and ran back to his own room to get changed into the clothes Kakashi had brought back for them yesterday evening.

"So why were you in Gaara's room anyway?" Sasuke asked. His brow arched up to forge suspicion. But he already knew the truth. He simply wanted Naruto to tell it to him straight. After all what type of friends would they be if Naruto kept lying to him and keeping secrets from his team.

The blond shuddered at that simple question. He was really hoping Sasuke wouldn't ask that. What could he possibly say on his behalf? 'I just went to "play" with my boyfriend'? No doubt Sasuke would be furious with him, especially after he had earlier promised nothing was going on between him and Gaara. But that was before he knew about Gaara's feelings, unfortunately Sasuke probably wouldn't take that for an excuse. "Well...uh...I, I couldn't sleep because I was worried about Gaara being sick again." Naruto began truthfully. But as he neared the important part, he slipped away from what he had originally planned to say. "So when to go check up on him. But he wasn't there. I looked all over for him and couldn't find him so I came back to his room. I got so tired after searching, that I just fell asleep on his bed." Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

The raven hair boy silently stepped out of the room. But as soon as the door was shut he violently punched his fist into the walk. "Damn." He cursed lowly. Naruto actually expected him to believe any word of that crap. What fool did he take Sasuke for? Gaara probably has Naruto brain-washed, making him think he couldn't even trust his best friend. "You better enjoy this while you can Gaara, because as soon as Tsunade heals your village, you are going to pay."

"This is so boring!" Naruto cried out, collapsing onto the ground. His head hung low against his chest as he pouted in the sand. They had been standing guard for three hours now and to say they were doing a good job was a huge understatement. Thanks to the fact no enemies or possible threats had come to the gates of Suna, they had successfully kept the city safe. But Naruto hardly called this a job well done when he was practically given the actual challenge of the mission. Not only was it boring because Sasuke refused to talk to him period, they had to stand out here in the hot sun with no shade what so ever for so long. Naruto could have sworn he was getting and even darker tan, which didn’t sound too bad to him really.

"Stop whining!" Sasuke demanded. He crossed his head and stared ahead. If he was going to finish this mission, he sure as hell wouldn't want to listen to Naruto complain the whole time.

"I might if you would just talk to me." Naruto pouted in return. Why had Sasuke suddenly turned into such a jerk, well more than usual anyway? Surely oversleeping wasn't that bad a mess up? Maybe Sasuke didn't get enough sleep, so that's why he's all grumpy. Naruto wished everything was that simple to understand.

"But I have nothing to say." Sasuke pointed out obviously. "Which probably wouldn't matter much because you are much better with body language." Naruto's jaw dropped immediately. Sasuke knew?! "What dobe? Think I wouldn't figure it out? You never were very good at keeping secrets, but this was pathetic. I suppose that big mouth of yours will always get you in trouble." Sasuke chuckled to himself mechanically. Naruto couldn't help notice the coldness in Sasuke's tone, and his head fell in shame.

"So you heard?" Naruto asked shyly. "I'm sorry Sasuke...I should have told you."

"You think!" Sasuke lashed back loudly, making Naruto shiver with fear as he pulled back from the other teen. "I don't exactly like hearing you two fucking around like there was nothing else we came here for!" Though Sasuke didn't have to hear them, he sure as hell wouldn't let Naruto know that.

Red filling in his cheeks, Naruto turned his eyes from Sasuke. "I haven't forgotten why we are here Sasuke. I just let myself get distracted for a little while, what does it matter? It's not like I'm not allowed to be with my boyfriend." A long silence came over the two. Sasuke was truly trying to figure out how he was going to control himself after hearing this. And Naruto just wanted to hear what Sasuke thought of the nearly preposterous idea.

"Naruto-"

"Hey! Brat! Get your ass off the ground and do your job!" Naruto jumped up upon hearing that familiar voice. Sasuke growled under breath when he turned to find the famous, blond, medical nin they had been waiting three days for. Despite his inner most happiness to having her finally arrive, he couldn't overcome the fact she had such bad timing. She walked over to Naruto with her wild, reckless smile and patted him on the head. "Wow, I'm surprised you even lasted this long." She laughed boldly. Shizune signed in exhaustion.

"We are terribly sorry for not coming sooner." Shizune apologized to the two boys. "Even with the protection of our escorts, we seemed to have run into trouble along the way. But nothing too serious thankfully." Explained the often timid and kind woman with short, black hair. Of course Sasuke held no grudge against her since she was the only one constantly trying to make sure Tsunade did all she was suppose to.

"It's great to have you finally here baa-san!" Naruto exclaimed anxiously. He grabbed Tsunade hand and tugged her toward the gates. "You have to help the villagers asap!" Now that Tsunade was here he knew Haruka and Kaito's mother would be fine. He felt sorry for his new friends when he heard their father had died for what they thought was a useless cause, and then their mother fell ill. At least he could bring back some part of their hope with Tsunade around. And maybe she could even tell him what was wrong with Gaara. Though his symptoms were not the same as the rest of the villagers who had the plague, he was still sick none the less.

"Alright, alright Naruto!" Tsunade called back, allowing herself to be dragged along by the excited little teen. But as she followed along, Tsunade's gaze had been quickly directed to the most evident change in Naruto's appearance. She could over look the slightly dark shade his skin had taken from being out in the sun so long, but one particular part of him was not tanned at all. A small red circle shown brightly in all of it's suggestive glory along Naruto's collar bone. Since it was so hot, he hadn't bothered to put on his coat. And with the shirt collar cut lower enough, Tsunade could clearly make out the mark.

A mischievous grin spread across her face. "So our little Naru-chan has been getting some action, has he?" Tsunade asked with a creepy snicker. "So who's the lucky girl I have to thank for turning my little brat into a man." She teased childishly. Naruto absolutely hated how vulnerable he had become to all of these subliminal statements and mockeries. It was like his cheeks were never of their original, beautiful tan color anymore with all the blushing he was doing.

"The is no lucky girl." Sasuke's voice suddenly came crashing down on the others. Naruto stumbled forward in surprise. Damn it Sasuke! He was really going to squeal to Tsunade, wasn't he? That no good double crosser, Naruto thought angrily. Tsunade on the other hand had stopped just before walking over the teen and looked at Sasuke with utter confusion.

"Not a girl?" Tsunade repeated. "Then you mean-"

"Hey Haruka, Kaito! Look who I brought here to help out!" Naruto yelled out instantly, hoping to change the subject completely. The two siblings came dashing out of their home when they heard their beloved Naruto-chan's voice. "This is old bag Tsunade, she's going to heal all the townspeople." Naruto giggled and pointed as he still laid on the ground. Tsunade, seizing the perfect opportunity to punish Naruto for such a rude introduction, stepped on the boy's back as she approached the children to shake their hands.

"It's nice to meet you. I do whatever I can to help." She explained before the children anxiously lead her in. Naruto and Sasuke quickly caught up and came in after Tsunade. Shizune had left to report their arrival to the Kazekage and their escorts waited outside the small home. But as soon as Tsunade walked in, she was filled with a terrifying feeling. "Naruto. Sasuke. I want you two to wait outside." Tsunade commanded sternly, making the kids shudder by the coldness.

"But, I want to see what happens." Naruto insisted.

"Wait outside, that's an order!" Tsunade shouted back more harshly than before. Naruto timidly stepped back and walked outside. Sasuke stared at Tsunade a brief second before leaving as well. He knew something very wrong was going on here and Tsunade was merely trying to protect Naruto. Too bad the blond would never seem to understand that.

Tsunade glanced down at the children's sleeping mother. Her eyes warily tried to look beyond her first assumption. She desperately hoped it was 'that' case. For if it was...she would be helpless to stop it.

To Be Continued...

A/N: Things are certainly picking up, at least I hope so! You readers are going to have to start paying much closer attention to everything now if you want to figure out what's going on before I reveal it *snicker* Hope to hear from you all soon!