TOO FREE TO TIE DOWN

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Written: March 10, 2004

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kishimoto-san unless otherwise stated. This is a work of fiction and the story is a figment of my imagination. 'Kay?

Warnings: Yaoi, SasuNaru mainly, T_T unrequited love, and language.

Does anyone think this belongs in the R section? I didn't feel the need since nothing explicit has happened yet, but if anyone is offended, then I'll move it pronto.

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CHAPTER 2:

'You idiot, you loser,' Naruto repeated to himself as he ran furiously home. It burned like a mantra in his mind. He swiftly raised an arm to wipe his dry eyes. He wouldn't cry; he had gotten sick of crying a long time ago.

'So what if Sasuke was interested in Sakura, and why wouldn't he be? Sakura was pretty and smart, and unlike me, she's not a loser,' Naruto thought.

Lungs gasping for breath, Naruto finally slowed down into a walk. He realized his legs were trembling, but not from his vigorous exertion. No, they were shaking from his rage. Sasuke had betrayed him! Or his feelings to be exact… Naruto had felt like a part of a group for the first time in his life!

He had found solace in group 7. It was a dysfunctional little family to be sure, with Kakashi as the chronically late older brother, Sakura as the bratty sister or impatient mothering figure, and Sasuke as a competitive brother, a RIVAL.

Why did Sasuke have to exclude him from his family? In one fell swoop, Naruto had lost his bearings on his life. He really had to admire Sasuke, that bastard.

Naruto gritted his teeth, 'I'm not going to take this sitting down. Just you watch Sasuke! You won't take my family away from me. I'm terrible at losing, that's my ninja way.' His nails dug painfully into his palms until they formed permanent crescents on his skin, but still he didn't notice. His fury blinded him to his surroundings.

If anyone had stopped and taken a closer look at Naruto, they would have shivered at the flash of red in his eyes. They were the eyes of a determined predator, the eyes of the nine-tailed demon fox.

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The next day dawned with an overcast sky; it would probably rain later in the day. Sasuke noted this and worried. Hell, even if the day had been bright and clear with fluffy clouds and birds chirping, Sasuke would have worried.

The day before, he had deliberately chosen that place to talk to Sakura about THAT. He knew Naruto would feel badly, but at least this way, Naruto would already hate him. Sasuke was an avenger, once he set out to kill THAT man, there would be no turning back. And that meant Sasuke had to alienate the one person who mattered most to him.

He swiftly exited the gates of his house and walked at a brisk pace to Team 7's traditional meeting place on the old bridge near their training ground. He wasn't worried about being late, not with Kakashi-sensei as his teacher, but he didn't want to be later than Naruto either. 'He had to have some sense of pride didn't he?' Sasuke chuckled bitterly.

'Naruto, I hope that if I live to come back to Konoha after fulfilling my duty to my parents as an avenger then you'll be able to forgive me...'

He finally reached the bridge and saw Sakura there already. When she saw him, her eyes lit up and she happily waved to him. He felt stirrings of guilt in his chest. Sakura was precious as well to him. She was the only girl in Konoha worthy of his notice, but he didn't love her the way she loved him. He couldn't, when there was Naruto, who was currently glaring daggers into his back.

So, Naruto had arrived as well. Sasuke decided that if he wanted to succeed in distancing himself from Naruto then he might as well start immediately.

Instead of giving Sakura his customary grunt, Sasuke raised two fingers in a quick wave and said, "Good morning."

Sakura's mouth broke out in a wide smile and she happily replied, "Good morning Sasuke-kun!" and as if almost an afterthought, "Naruto-kun."

Naruto composed himself in front of the big jerk, otherwise known as Uchiha Sasuke and grinned widely until his eyes formed slits on his face, "Good morning Saaakuraa-chaaaaan! Good morning lover boy!"

Sasuke started in surprise, "What did you just call me?"

"Lover boy! That what you are, don't deny it! I saw it, I saw it!" Naruto said while pointing accusingly at Sasuke.

"Na…Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed. A hot blush filled her face. She was finally living her dream. Sasuke has hers!

'All RIGHT!' screamed Inner Sakura as she threw several punches in the air in victory.

Sasuke just grunted and didn't try to deny Naruto's nickname. 'This was what he had wanted wasn't it?'

Naruto watched Sasuke's reaction carefully, 'There was something wrong with Sasuke. Why wasn't Sasuke telling Naruto off as he usually did? Where were the losers and idiots that Sasuke usually flung at him with wild abandon?'

Naruto was about to open his mouth again to provoke a reaction out of Sasuke when Kakashi-sensei appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Yo! How are my bright Genins this fine morning!," Kakashi said, "I got a bit sidetracked, Iruka asked to borrow my copy of Icha Icha Paradise on the way here"

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura screamed in unison.

"Iruka-sensei isn't a pervert like you are!" accused Naruto.

Kakashi sighed dramatically, "My own students are calling me a liar, what is this world coming to?"

Naruto continued to point at him, "And my own teacher is later than his students! You tell me what this world is coming to!"

Sakura stepped in between the two and tried to mediate some peace and quiet before Naruto challenged Kakashi-sensei and got his ass royally handed to him. "Kakashi-sensei, it looks as thought it might start raining soon, I don't know about Naruto over there," She said while Naruto harrumphed at the mention of his name, "but I'd like to finish our mission before it starts raining."

Sasuke nodded his agreement and Naruto grudgingly backed down from a battle he couldn't win.

"Hey, hey Kakashi-sensei! Do we have an exciting mission today? Do we, do we?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

Sasuke stared at Naruto while Naruto had his back turned. His blond hair drew Sasuke's eyes like a beacon, like a miniature sun.

Sakura caught him staring at Naruto and frowned. Sasuke was supposed to be her boyfriend damn it! Why didn't Sasuke look at her as often as he looked at Naruto? She flipped her hair in annoyance.

Kakashi stared down at his team and Naruto in particular. He was glad his team had turned out as efficiently and successfully as it had. But how could it not with him as their teacher?

Naruto was looking more and more like Kakashi's own mentor, the Fourth Hokage with each passing day, and as his skills in ninjitsu and taijutsu progressed, Naruto was becoming a fierce ninja, one with a terrifying potential.

Sasuke was progressing just as rapidly, but that was to be expected from the heir of the Uchiha Clan. Kakashi just hoped that the darkness inside of Sasuke would be resolved. He knew it was only a matter of time before Sasuke went to seek out his parent's murderer.

And Sakura, she was one of the brightest ninja's in Konohagakure, if a bit too blinded by her infatuation with Sasuke. Kakashi also hoped that her childhood crush would pass. If not, it seemed that Naruto would go stir crazy. If there was one thing that Naruto loved more than ramen, it was attention, and he wasn't getting any when Sakura only had eyes for Sasuke.

"Oh, you guys want a challenging mission do you?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah! What is it? Are we actually doing an A-rank mission? Saving a princess maybe? Finding hidden information? Rescuing ramen from hungry hordes of people?"

Sakura interrupted Naruto. "Baka! Only you'd want to rescue ramen!"

"What we will be doing is," Kakashi continued, "Scouting."

Naruto groaned loudly. "SCOUTING????"

"Ah, but you might find this interesting, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. Lately, there have been signs of Sound-nin around our village."

"Sound nin?" Sakura asked, "aren't they supporters of Orochimaru?"

Secretly she was worried; she knew Orochimaru was still after Sasuke, HER Sasuke. The fact that his supporters had been sighted around Konoha boded ill for their future.

At this, both Sasuke and Naruto paid close attention to Kakashi.

"That's right, and as Genin from Konoha village, it is your duty to protect it from any outsiders who may wish harm upon its inhabitants."

Sakura nodded. She would protect their home, and more importantly, she would protect Sasuke.

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Kabuto watched team 7 from his vantage point in the foliage. He was far enough that Kakashi wouldn't detect him, but close enough that his sensitive ears could pick up what the three Genin and one Jounin were saying. They thought they would capture some Sound-nins and question them did they? He wouldn't make it so easy for them.

He disappeared in a flash, leaving nothing but rustling leaves in his wake.

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Two hours into the mission, Naruto finally thought he had heard something suspicious. He threw one of his shuriken into the dense foliage of the trees surrounding Konoha, but didn't hit anything. He was just about to continue when he saw a scrap of cloth attached to his shuriken from where it had penetrated the bark of a hickory tree.

That was strange. He was just about to tell Kakashi-sensei when he heard a muffled scream followed by a thump. That voice! It sounded like Sakura-chan! What were Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei doing?

He wandered around trying to find them, but to no avail. Three hours later, he finally realized that he had been going in gigantic circles. Was this some type of Genjutsu? It wasn't his fault that his Genjutsu skills were lacking!

He slumped down in exhaustion and felt a cold drop land on his nose. So, it had finally begun to rain. He felt trapped and hopeless. Where was Kakashi-sensei? Where was Sasuke? And most importantly, where was Sakura?

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TBC…

If you were wondering why Sasuke keeps referring to things he doesn't like as THAT, well, lets just say that he has avoidance problems, T_T;; …which is also why he's torturing himself and poor Naruto-chan like that!