.

.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

"He folded his fear into a perfect rose. He held it out in the palm of his hand. She took it from him and put it in her hair."

- Arundhati Roy -

.

.

Sasuke looks so much younger when he's sleeping. He turned seventeen not long ago, which anyone would say is quite young—even for a shinobi—but he carries the air of someone much older. (Not unlike Akinobu, but the captain of her guard is an entitled pig, and Sasuke is… Sasuke.) Since the burden of leadership fell to him, he's seemed especially weary, worn down by responsibilities he shouldn't have to bear yet.

But all of that disappears while he's asleep. His handsome face relaxed, softening the sharp lines of his eyebrows and lips.

Suddenly, that tension returns to the corners of his mouth, and she knows he's awake before he opens his eyes.

He blinks up at her, and for a second he smiles. It tears at something raw and desperate in the pit of her stomach, seeing him smile at her; but it's gone in a flash, and she knows what it was. A reflex, his thoughtless and immediate response to waking up next to her. Before he remembers everything that happened between them.

"This is the first time we've ever slept through the night together," Sakura whispers.

She keeps her voice low, gentle, afraid to disturb the moment if she speaks too loudly.

He looks over at the clock on her bedside table. "I suppose it is."

Then he rolls her onto her back and kisses her throat. Not her lips, though. He hasn't done that since before. It feels good, an aching delight that makes her shift restlessly. He didn't let her come last night, and he probably won't if they fuck again now.

It would be worth it, she thinks.

It was certainly worth it last night.

But this morning, she feels like she might cry from unfulfillment if he pushes her to the brink without letting her finish.

"I'm not in the mood," Sakura says.

He must know she's lying, but he accepts her refusal without complaint. He's always listened respectfully whenever she says no, and Sakura never expected that to change. If she thought he would hurt her in bed, she never would have agreed to last night, or the time in the library.

Still. He's here for one thing, and she just denied it to him. He'll be leaving any second now.

Except, he doesn't. Sasuke plays with her hair, his eyes locked on hers. Then his gaze falls to her mouth.

Kiss me. Please kiss me.

"I should leave," he whispers. "I have a busy day."

"Okay."

Sasuke hesitates, and Sakura realizes that he doesn't want to go. He'd rather stay here with her, in this secluded little cabin, than return to his world.

She considers how much he's handling right now. Losing Team 7, discovering her betrayal, grieving for his parents (or pointedly not grieving, the same way he didn't allow himself to grieve over his brother's defection), and running a village long before he was supposed to take up that mantle.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asks. "You have a lot on your plate, and whenever you come here, you seem stressed."

"I am. Being Hokage isn't anything like what I expected. It's—" His rushing words come to an abrupt halt. "I can't talk to you about this. You're my enemy. I can't hand over information about Konoha to you when I know you'll parrot it back to Minato if you escape."

"What are the chances of that happening?" she asks dryly.

Sasuke huffs. "It's impossible. Orochimaru said that if I put those manacles on him, even he couldn't get out of them. But you're smarter than him and much more creative, so I'm not taking chances."

That might be the most sideways compliment she's ever received and oddly, absurdly, she laughs.

From his expression, she can tell that he wants to laugh too, but he's better at holding it in than she is.

"Okay, so you can't tell me political secrets. That's reasonable," Sakura says. "But you can still vent to me, in a 'don't tell the enemy anything important' kind of way. If you want."

He pulls away from her and sits up. Finally leaving, she supposes—

"I hate Hyuuga Hiashi," he says, with passion. "My father did too, and now that I have to sit on a council with him, I understand why. He's arrogant and bossy, and he tries to undermine me."

Sakura props herself up on an elbow. "Arrogant and bossy? How dreadful. I don't know anybody like that," she says, deadpan.

Sasuke gives her a flat stare. "I thought this was the part where I complain and you soothe me, not tease me."

"Fair," Sakura says, waving toward herself in an encouraging way. "Go on. Keep going. Hyuuga Hiashi is a bastard."

"Hyuuga Hiashi is a bastard," Sasuke confirms. "And do you have any idea how much people complain about their taxes? I don't know why I'm having to hear about taxes when my treasurer should be listening to all that, but I am. Every day someone has something new to gripe about, and when they're not busy whining they're gossiping. Masami's sisters have been spreading rumors since she broke our engagement—"

"So it's definitely over then?" Sakura asks. It's silly, after all that's happened, but the news that Sasuke isn't marrying Masami still relieves her. "You never said, but your wedding date passed, and she told me she knew about the affair when she visited me. And slapped me, but—"

"She slapped you?" Sasuke asks, his voice cold as steel.

Protective. And that feels good to see, even if it is ironic.

"It's all right, I'm fine," Sakura says. "If I was in her shoes, I might have done the same."

Sasuke shakes his head sharply. "No. It was wrong for her to do that. Like hitting a child. You're helpless in those bracelets—"

"I'm not helpless," Sakura hisses.

"You are, I assure you," Sasuke says, in that know-it-all way of his that has driven her crazy since they were kids. "I knew she bothered you, but you guards didn't tell me that she hurt you."

Sakura rolls her eyes. "All she did was slap me. You and Naruto have done more damage than that when we spar. It's fine. Anyway, while you're grumbling about the village, will you tell me how the hospital is doing?"

Sasuke's rigid shoulders relax, just a fraction. "It's running well. I was worried that without you and Tsunade that it would go to the dogs, but Hana's doing a good job."

"Hana's in charge?" Sakura says. "That was a good choice. She's a damn fine medic and an even better leader. I can trust her not to run the place into the ground until I can…"

Sasuke raises an eyebrow. "Until you can, what? Escape to the resistance, win the war, take Konoha, and get your job back?"

Sakura sits up, clutching the sheets to her chest, and smiles in what she hopes is a charming way. "Something like that."

And all at once, the strange, comfortable rapport they've slipped back into feels awkward and inappropriate.

Sasuke shakes his head heavily, like it weighs a hundred pounds. "This conversation is ridiculous. That I'm here with you at all is even more ridiculous. Our gossipy village knows that I'm visiting you, and they think I'm—"

He stops.

"Sleeping with the enemy," Sakura supplies.

Sasuke covers his face with his hands, and his voice is muffled when he says, "I don't know what I'm doing here. I'm being stupid." He grips the back of his neck, not looking at her. "You must think I'm pathetic, crawling back to you after everything that's happened."

"No. I don't." Sakura scoots closer to him and touches his cheek. "I would never think that. Besides, it would be awfully hypocritical if I did. It's not like I'm turning you away, even though I probably should."

"Not probably," Sasuke says. "Definitely."

She doesn't argue. He's right.

Then he whispers, "I wouldn't have gone through with marrying Masami."

Sakura inhales sharply. "What?"

He swallows, glances away, and says, "I've been trying not to think about what would have happened, but I can't help it, and I realized that I was never going to marry her. I hadn't figured that out yet when the uprising happened, which made it a moot point."

No. No, she doesn't want to hear this. It makes everything so much worse. "You never would have picked me over your clan. Everything you do is about protecting them, honoring them. Family is the most important thing in the world to you."

"Yeah. It is. But you're my family too. Or, you were. Would have been?" He shrugs. "It doesn't matter. It's over now."

Sakura can feel her lips quivering and tears gathering in her eyes, but she won't let them fall.

"If I had figured that out sooner. If I'd broken my engagement and asked you to marry me—" He turns to her, and there's something pleading in his gaze now. "Would you still have chosen the resistance?"

Sakura wishes she had a kinder answer to give him. "Yes. Because what I'm fighting for is bigger than you and me. This village, the way it's run, isn't right, and I know you know it. You're too smart not to."

Sasuke glares at her, and there's his temper. It was only a matter of time before it appeared.

"It's the way things are," he says. "The way it's always been. No, of course it isn't fair, but it can't be. If there's going to be peace, someone has to be in charge. If your rebellion wins, my clan will just trade places with the rest of you, and why should I allow that?"

Sakura groans. "That's so pessimistic! And wrong. Minato doesn't want to subjugate your clan, he just wants everyone to be treated equally."

"By setting fire to our homes and killing us in the streets," Sasuke says, without a hint of forgiveness. "There's no such thing as an equitable peace, Sakura. Those are your options: unjust peace or war. My father always said so, and he was right. It's not possible to govern a village, much less a whole country, and give everyone what they want. You have to choose who gets this and who gets that, who leads and who follows, because without order the whole thing will collapse. Your rebellion isn't making things better. It's just creating chaos."

"That's bullshit," Sakura says.

Sasuke stares at her, wide-eyed. She's shocked him. Good.

"My father died on the front lines, even though he was just a genin. Because my grandparents were shoemakers, and the name Haruno doesn't mean anything." Sakura pokes him in the middle of the chest. "Your clan holds the positions of power. The Hokage, the police, the elders, the priests, the military commanders, most of the jounin and half your council. When our team went on missions, I made half as much money as you for the same work. Your clan can go wherever they want, but everyone else is confined to their districts unless they have official permission to travel."

She gives him an opportunity to argue, but he only frowns, so she goes on.

"Don't you remember Masanobu, that man we captured in Whirlpool? How the police drugged him and snapped his neck in front of a crowd?"

"He was a missing-nin," Sasuke says.

"If you thought all traitors should be executed, I'd be in a grave right now."

Sasuke climbs out of bed and starts pulling on his clothes. Pink scratches mark his back, and a red-speckled love bite colors the right side of his throat. It's spiteful, but she hopes someone notices the hickey and gives him trouble for it.

"I don't have time to listen to this," Sasuke says. "There's a war going, and I have a country to protect." He pauses in the middle of buckling his belt, and says, his voice calmer and much less confident, "I'll be back tonight."

"Don't bother," Sakura snaps, but she immediately regrets it, because she doesn't miss the pain that flashes across his face, and she still hurts when he hurts. "I didn't mean that. At all. I want to see you again."

Sasuke nods tightly, finishes dressing, and says, "I have a lot to do. I probably won't be free any sooner than nine."

"Too bad. I'll be busy then," Sakura says, in her most matter-of-fact voice. "I might be able to fit you in tomorrow, though, between watching my nail polish dry and reading Gureizu's Anatomy."

Sasuke cants his head. "I thought you said that book was medically inaccurate garbage."

"It is, but I'm bored, and it's medically inaccurate garbage full of kissing," Sakura says, smiling.

And for a moment, he smiles back.

.

.

Sasuke knew that his day was going to be difficult when it started by arguing with his enemy-lover about the legitimacy of his rule, but he didn't expect it to be this bad.

"My brother is in Suna?"

He repeats the words back to Orochimaru. His former master has a network of spies all over the Five Countries and in the smaller nations between. His contact in Suna has had difficulty getting information out, but apparently he's finally come through. The only news they had before this came through Neji, whom the Kazekage allowed to send messages, but now Neji is home.

Sasuke barely keeps his composure when he asks, "Does your spy know why?"

Orochimaru nods, looking entirely too pleased as he says, "Itachi has left the Akatsuki and joined the rebels."

Akatsuki. Sasuke remembers his father mentioning that organization from time to time. Exceptionally powerful mercenaries who offer their services at well under the competitive rate. That's less of a problem in the Fire Country, where people are only allowed to contract Konoha shinobi for their needs, but his father used to complain that the Akatsuki's dealings undercut their revenue on the international market.

Sasuke had no idea that Itachi joined Akatsuki, much less that his brother would abandon them for the resistance.

For the second time today, he feels very, very stupid. "Well. That's unfortunate."

Orochimaru laughs in his reptilian way. "Yes. Quite. It seems that a lot of Konoha's best shinobi have fallen into rebel hands."

"Itachi isn't a Konoha shinobi anymore."

Sasuke puts enough ice in his voice that Orochimaru's smile falters.

He sounds serious when he says, "There's more. My spy tells me that Itachi said the Akatsuki plan to offer us an alliance. If that's true, it could hand us an easy victory over the rebels. The ten men—and women—of Akatsuki make for stronger allies than the whole of Suna."

"What do they want?" Sasuke asks. "They're not just going to help us defeat the resistance and the Sand for nothing."

Tetsuya speaks up. "Does it matter? Winning should be our primary objective. We can worry about repaying favors once the war is over."

Tetsuya is Sasuke's great-uncle, and a hardened battle commander, but he's no politician.

Neither is Sasuke, but he's learning.

"Until now, Akatsuki has been busy cornering the market for shinobi missions, for purposes they've never revealed," Sasuke says. "They're up to something, and they're not our friends. Jumping into an alliance with them without asking questions would be foolish."

Tetsuya's jaw tightens, but he doesn't talk back.

"Their motives are secretive," Orochimaru admits, "but their efficacy is indisputable, and not to be overlooked."

Sasuke takes in his council. Hiashi, stone-faced as ever. His great-uncle, fuming. Hana watches with her white eyes, taking in everything in a way that has nothing to do with her byakugan. Sasuke can see his cousins Juri and Kai biting their tongues, and Orochimaru trying not to smile. His police chief, Mikio, frowns so hard that his thick eyebrows may be permanently locked into that position.

Most of his council doesn't respect him, and even fewer of them like him, but Sasuke doesn't care about his popularity. They're here to advise him, nothing more.

Still, to Tetsuya, Sasuke says as patiently as he can, "I'm wary of accepting Akatsuki's help when we don't know their purpose. They could want anything—and ask for anything in return, once the war is over. If Konoha can't give whatever it is, and they're as powerful as our reports suggest, it could put the village in danger."

"That's sensible," Hana says. "A decision can't be made until Akatsuki reaches out to us, anyway. Will that be soon?"

Sasuke feels a slight rush of gratitude. At least one person here sees reason.

Orochimaru shrugs. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I'm inclined to believe that they'll move quickly. There's no point in wasting time."

Sasuke looks to Mikio. "Back to business in the village. Last meeting, you said there's been fighting in the Inuzuka quarter, and you've had to send officers to break it up—"

"Never mind the Inuzuka Clan," Hiashi says sharply. "They're as wild as their dogs, and they've always caused trouble. I want to know if there's any progress toward getting my daughter back."

Sasuke has always liked Hinata about as much as he likes anyone outside of his family or Team 7. But now he has the uncharitable thought that it would make his life much easier if she'd just return home and accept her fate in the Branch House.

"I've told you already. Minato refused to trade her, even when I doubled the price we initially offered. He won't negotiate."

"Not for money," Hiashi says. "We have valuable hostages. Since you refuse to kill the traitors, the least you can do is exchange one for Hinata."

Sasuke doesn't like where this is going.

"Minato won't give her up on principle." Then, just to watch Hiashi's teeth grind, Sasuke adds, "Besides, even if he wasn't above trading people like horses, Naruto wants her. Minato won't rip his son's girlfriend out of his arms."

But Hiashi doesn't look offended. Just smug when he says, "Then let's offer them someone Naruto wants more. Everyone's seen him mooning after that teammate of yours. Give up Haruno Sakura, and we'll have my daughter back by the end of the week."

Sasuke can feel his temperature rising one slow degree at a time. Then not so slow.

Hiashi is more of a snake than Orochimaru could ever dream of being. He didn't bring this up because he expects to see Hinata again. He just wanted to turn the conversation to this point. To force Sasuke to admit that he won't give up Sakura.

"No. I'm not trading the most powerful kunoichi in Konoha for Hinata. Sakura would be a huge asset to the resistance, and your daughter isn't worth much to us." Sasuke meets Hiashi's blank Hyuuga stare. "She isn't even worth much to you, clearly, or Hanabi would have the cursed seal on her forehead instead of Hinata."

Half his councilors suck in sharp breaths—and Hana looks like she's struggling not to smile.

Everyone besides her is staring at him with disdain, and Sasuke knows that they believe exactly what Hiashi wants them to: that he's thinking with his cock, and he refuses to trade Sakura because he's fucking her.

"We're done for the day," Sasuke says, because if he has to spend one more minute in this room, he might break out amaterasu.

The only thing that keeps him calm is knowing that Hiashi's days are numbered. Soon enough, he won't be Sasuke's problem anymore.

.

.

Lee always puts Naruto through his paces when they train together. Because he can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu, Naruto prefers to spar hand-to-hand only, and Lee has been a master of taijutsu since they were kids.

In short, Naruto gets his ass kicked. But it makes him a better ninja, so it's well worth the practice.

"Naruto, I think we should stop. Your breathing is very heavy and you're slowing down."

"Nah. Let's go again, Bushy Brows. I can do it." Naruto holds up his fists—and hisses, because one of Lee's kicks did something to his shoulder that may need medical attention. "Shit."

Lee nods decisively. "We're done for the day! Besides, you have other things to attend to, right?"

Like war strategizing, he means.

"Yeah. I've got a meeting with Dad and Gaara in an hour, and I should probably see Hinata before then. Since I'm pretty sure my shoulder is dislocated."

"I am sorry," Lee says, and it truly sounds like he means it. "It's usually Neji I spar with, and his taijutsu is much better than yours."

Stupid Hyuuga genius, Naruto thinks, but he can't hang onto his resentment for long. Neji is his friend.

Even if he did kiss Hinata's forehead.

Naruto sighs. "Well, I guess I'll just have to keep training with you, till my taijutsu is better than his."

Lee nods politely, but Naruto can tell he thinks the chances of that happening are extremely low.

Whatever. He could take Neji in a real fight. Gentle fist won't work so well if you're trying to dodge the rasengan.

Lee's shoulders slump, and it isn't hard to guess why.

"Hey, don't worry. We're gonna get Gai and Tenten back. And Neji'll be free to join us too, once the war's over."

"If they do not die," Lee says, very quietly.

It feels beyond wrong to see bright, optimistic Lee so sad. Not defeated, but worried.

Naruto uses his good arm to punch Lee's shoulder. "Don't think that way. They're gonna be fine. Gai and Tenten are probably safer than us. Being locked up sucks, but at least they're out of the fighting. And they're not being hurt. Sasuke wouldn't do that."

"I hope you are right," Lee says. Then more quietly, "I do miss them, though. And Neji barely spoke to me when he was here. I suppose he had orders not to fraternize with rebels."

That didn't stop him from fraternizing with Hinata.

Naruto nearly groans at his own pettiness. He was never this jealous of Sasuke and Sakura's relationship, and he once caught them getting busy during his birthday party.

Sakura. He hopes she's okay.

"I get it," Naruto says. "I miss my team too. At least Kakashi's here, though."

Not that his sensei has had much to say to him since he arrived. He thinks Kakashi might be mad at him, like Dad, but he's just too guarded with his feelings to say so. Kakashi can be like that, caring too much and too little about everything at the same time, and not showing his hand.

Naruto says goodbye to Lee and returns to his quarters—inside, since Gaara's city-planner-whoever finally managed to make room for the resistance in various places throughout the village. The room he shares with Hinata is on the top floor of an inn that looks identical to every other building in Suna on the outside, but the bedrooms are more like the ryokan you can find in Konoha's older, more traditional districts.

He finds Hinata on their bed, propped up against the headboard, immersed in an enormous medical textbook. It looks heavy enough to make a good bludgeoning weapon. Naruto takes off his shoes, sits down beside her, and looks over her shoulder at the pages she's reading. The kanji are tiny, and somehow even the pictures look dense. Naruto feels his eyes crossing after about five seconds, so he kisses Hinata's cheek and leans back.

Her smile is slight but soft as she says, "That's a nice way to say hello."

She hasn't stopped reading, and it's adorable how intent she can be when she's focused on something important to her.

"I'm about to save you from that boring book by giving you some actual medical ninjutsu practice."

"My book isn't boring—" She looks up then, as the meaning of his words hits her. "You're injured? What happened?"

"Nothing. Just sparring with Bushy Brows."

Hinata tsks. "The two of you should be more careful."

She's somehow even prettier when she's chiding him. It makes Naruto want to irritate her on purpose, just to see her very cute annoyed face, but he resists.

"Can you help me out of my jacket? I think my shoulder's kind of… dislocated."

Well, he gets that cute annoyed face after all, and more gentle scolding as she heals him. Her chakra is soothing, and he imagines it as a glowing blue cloud on his skin, warm and comforting. Everything about Hinata is calming and familiar in the best way, like they've been together for fifty years instead of just a few weeks. When he's with her, he just feels like a man, not a vessel for a monster.

Naruto feels almost guilty for it, but he's happier as her boyfriend in the middle of a war than he ever was alone in their peaceful village.

Hinata lifts her hands off of him and asks, "Does that feel all right?"

Naruto rolls his shoulder and stretches his arms over his head. "Yeah, that's loads better. Thanks."

"I bet you're bruised all over. Let me see the rest of you," she says, and he kind of can't believe she got that order out without stuttering or blushing.

Naruto pulls his shirt over his head, and tries not to grin at the exasperated look she gives him.

"Don't smile," she says. "You look entirely too pleased with yourself for someone who looks like a purple daikon."

Naruto thinks of the violet radishes he used to see his mom chopping in the kitchen, and compares that color to the bruising on his chest and stomach.

She has a point.

"Fix me up so I have the energy to make out with you," Naruto says.

Her face turns red, and he grins wider. He likes making her blush almost as much as he likes kissing her.

But not nearly as much as he loves other things they've been getting up to lately.

As soon as Hinata finishes healing him, he gets her out of her shirt and bra, and tumbles her back onto the mattress so he can kiss her from her soft lips to her softer breasts. She whimpers when he takes her left nipple into his mouth, and the sound gets him hard ridiculously fast.

Naruto kisses her other breast, then takes turns paying attention to her nipples for a long time, because she's perfect everywhere, but especially here. And he's got no reason not to stay in this bed all day. Maybe if he winds her up enough he can finally get her out of her pants. She wants to. It's so obvious that even he can't miss it, and he's a blockhead. She's been too nervous to try anything below the belt, though, and Naruto would never push her to do something she's not ready for.

But that doesn't mean he can't tease the hell out of her until she is ready.

By the time he's nipping and kissing his way down her belly—which she is wondrously, happily allowing—Naruto thinks this might actually be paradise.

Until someone knocks on the door.

"Who the hell—" Naruto sits up suddenly, and says, under his breath, "Shit. I forgot my strategy meeting." He gestures hurriedly at Hinata and says, "Get under the covers."

Whoever it is knocks again, louder this time. Naruto throws on his shirt and jacket as fast as he can, praying that his hair doesn't look as messy as it feels from all of Hinata's grabbing. Hopefully whoever was sent to remind him of the meeting doesn't notice.

He answers the door with the most casual expression he can muster, but it dies on his face, because it's not some random Suna lackey here to hustle him to the Kazekage's office.

It's his father.

Naruto gulps. "Hey, Dad. Sorry, I lost track of time. I'll get my shoes…"

His father looks around him into the room, at the bed. The comforter is so fluffy and rumpled that it's impossible to tell someone is underneath it.

His father says, "Hinata. Tsunade wants to see you. On my way here she told me you're late for your medic training and to 'hurry up unless you want to spend all day lancing boils.'"

Naruto feels his face burning, but he's probably not as red as Hinata, who has peeked out from beneath the covers. He can only see her from the nose up, but she's the color of a tomato.

"I'm s-sorry," she says, her voice muffled by the comforter.

Naruto puts on his shoes at lightning speed and says, "Okay! I'm ready. Let's go."

He needs to get his father out of this room before he realizes Hinata is half naked.

Dad doesn't say anything as they walk down the hall, then three flights of stairs, then out onto the street.

Naruto is starting to think that his dad might never talk to him again, but finally he says, "You're not ready to be responsible for an army if you can't remember to show up for a strategy meeting."

Naruto hurries to catch up to his father's longer strides. "It's one meeting. I've made all the others on time—"

Dad stops in the middle of the street so suddenly that Naruto almost runs into his back. Then he turns around, and there's not any of the anger in his eyes that Naruto expected. Just disappointment and concern.

"It isn't only about the meeting. You're distracted, unfocused, and you're making reckless decisions where Hinata is concerned."

"That's not fair. I made one reckless decision—"

"That started a war," his father says evenly. "You've also missed training sessions with Jiraiya. You shouldn't be kissing your girlfriend when you're supposed to be learning how to enter sage mode."

Naruto really wants to argue against that, but he did blow off Jiraiya yesterday to spend time with Hinata instead.

This street is mostly empty, thankfully. Still, it's embarrassing to be chastised by dad in public.

"Okay, yeah, you're right. I'll do better."

Dad relaxes an inch, then says more kindly, "I just want to see you succeed, Naruto. You're a strong ninja, and with the right training you could be the most powerful weapon we have."

Weapon.

That's what a jinchuriki is, when you get right down to it. Other shinobi's skills, no matter how dangerous, are their own. But Naruto's aren't. He's the Kyubi, and the Kyubi is him. This thing inside him, this monster that can destroy mountains with a swipe of its tails, defines who he is.

And even Dad knows it.

Naruto wishes more than ever that his mom was still here. She'd understand what this is like, because she lived it.

"We gonna go to this meeting or not?" Naruto asks.

That look of disappointment on his father's face deepens, but Naruto can't care.

"All right," Dad says. "Let's go."

Naruto follows in his father's footsteps all the way to the Kazekage's tower, the word weapon running through his head over and over again in an endless loop.

.

.

Sakura redoubles her efforts to get the bracelets off her wrists. Sasuke said that Orochimaru, who invented them, admitted that even he couldn't break free if shackled with them. But Sasuke also said she was creative, smart, and unwise to underestimate.

He's more right than he knows.

After many hours of studying, Sakura figures out the mechanism behind her manacles.

It's frustratingly simple: they function as if they're a jutsu, and her body has to provide chakra to maintain it. Just enough to keep her helpless (because Sasuke was right about that too), but not enough to kill her. She suspects that the only way to open them is with a key, something that will dispel the manacles' jutsu.

It's like a safe with a code. The code might be something as basic as 1, 2, 3, 4—but without it you'll never open the safe. And the possible combinations are too numerous to guess without direction.

She can hardly ask Sasuke for the key, and she's stuck in this cabin twenty-four seven. Which leaves her with only two options.

They're named Akinobu and Genjirou.

Her other three guards are too stoic and dedicated to risk seeking help from, but Akinobu's attraction to her makes him susceptible to manipulation, and Genjirou simply seems to be a good person. He's older than the others, probably of her mom's generation, and Sakura gets the impression that he wants to look out for her. Maybe he has a daughter her age. Or maybe he just doesn't like seeing a seventeen-year-old girl in shackles.

She makes him lunch on one of the shifts when he's in charge. He's Akinobu's second, and when her captain is off-duty Genjirou is the one who takes the lead.

"This is really good," he says. "Thank you."

"It's just suimono soup," Sakura says, but she can't help smiling genuinely.

Genjirou compliments her cooking because he's kind and he appreciates it—not because he wants to get under her skirt, like Akinobu.

"My wife's suimono soup is almost this good," he says. "She doesn't have much time to make it anymore, though."

"Is she a shinobi?" Sakura asks.

"Yeah, but she doesn't do fieldwork. She's always in the lab."

Sakura hums, as if that information doesn't mean much to her, but her heart is soaring over the word lab. Chances are, Genjirou's wife is one of Orochimaru's assistants, and that's the best stroke of luck she's had since these bracelets got clamped over her wrists.

"If you like the soup that much, I'll give you the recipe. Maybe you can make it, since your wife is so busy."

Genjirou grins. "I don't think so. Akemi says I could burn water."

Sakura laughs. "Is that your wife? Akemi?"

"No, Akemi is my daughter. She's fifteen, a chunin, and she thinks she knows everything since her sharingan awakened," he says fondly. "She was a late bloomer, and it made her insecure. Now she's over compensating."

"You don't have to tell me," Sakura says. "Sasuke was obnoxious for weeks after he got his sharingan. You'd have thought he'd bested all five Kages in combat, he was so proud."

Genjirou's smile falls. "You still sound very fond of him."

"I am," Sakura admits. "Does that surprise you?"

Genjirou looks at the wall behind her instead of her face. "Yes. I wasn't sure whether his visits were… welcome."

"Ah."

It isn't that Sakura expects her guards to be oblivious to the nature of Sasuke's visits. They aren't exactly quiet, and the walls of this little house are paper thin. But she never considered that her guards might think she's unwilling.

She has a horrible opportunity at hand. If she leads Genjirou to think Sasuke is forcing her in bed, she'll undoubtedly gain his sympathy. It could go a long way to securing his help, if he sees her as a victim of his Hokage's lust.

But she won't do that. No matter how smart it is, no matter how useful, she simply can't lie about Sasuke that way. He's been selfish between the sheets ever since he started coming here, and his motives for fucking her are no purer than her reasons for letting him do it. It's about power as much as pleasure for both of them.

Despite the fact that she's the one wearing the shackles, Sakura feels fairly certain that while Sasuke is getting the lion's share of the pleasure, she's coming out of their encounters with most of the power.

She might not have the choice to leave this damn cabin, but she does have the choice to bar Sasuke from her bed. And letting Genjirou believe otherwise would make her feel dirty in ways she doesn't think she can live with.

"He's welcome when he's not being an idiot," Sakura says lightly. "And when he acts stupid I kick him out."

Like yesterday morning, when he teased her about her sex hair and wouldn't stop ruffling it to make it worse. She called him a bastard and he said, But I'm a bastard you still love, and that annoyed her so badly that she pushed him out of bed and told him to go to work.

Becoming Hokage has made Sasuke more arrogant and presumptuous than ever, and he pissed her off.

But more than that, she couldn't stand hearing him ridicule her for her love, because he's completely and unequivocally right.

.

.

AN: Well at 6000+ words this is the new longest chapter of the story, and I wrote it in less than 24 hours, so go me! I also sat down and created a detailed outline for (most of) the rest of this fic and it's going to be… much longer than I anticipated. Once I refine the outline I'll give you guys an estimated chapter count, so you know about how much more to expect.

Please forgive me for looking up the Japanese spelling of Grey's Anatomy and referencing it. I know that's a too-silly thing to do in this very serious fic, but I couldn't resist lol

I'm working on a Neji-centric story in this 'verse, which will give more detail on the Hyuuga plot and explore his relationship with my OC Hana, as well as his unrequited love for Hinata. Again, it won't be necessary to read it to keep up with TVOTE, but hopefully it will enrich this fic. So keep an eye out for that one. :)

If you have a minute to leave a review, I would really love it. I'm not gonna lie, part of the reason I'm updating back to back is that the response to this story is so amazing that it's flooring me. And my joy over it is definitely fueling my creative energy. But even if you can't comment, know that I appreciate all of you for sticking with this story for FIVE years (God bless). I'm doing my best to finish it ASAP. Wish me luck!