I'm thinking I'm probably gonna time skip sometime soon after some more drama/fights/ridiculous situations.

Any more plot ideas? I've still got a few up my sleeve but I wanna know what ya'll think :P

And please go review my newest story, Trials of Love.

I 100% promise it won't dissapoint, it's a little slower than this and more NaruSasu centered, but it's about to get really good, so go read while theres only 2 chapters and not

erm

27.

Much love

(REVIEW!)

-gracie :)

Pain's eyes, rippling like a steady pool of rainwater, shone with disappointment. He knew Deidara wasn't any sort of genius, as much as the bratty blond insisted he was, and would probably screw things up to a degree. With Sasori in tow, who beckoned to absolutely anything Deidara wanted (save a declaration on how the blond was the best artist in the Land of Fire, bar none) he couldn't expect much from the team. Kisame was always diligent, but lazy.

It was Itachi Uchiha who really surprised him that evening.

He was so weak, so ridiculously unlike himself, and it disgusted the orange-haired nin. Konan had nothing to say on the subject but womanly nonsense that Pain would never, ever even factor into the equation. She barely knew Itachi Uchiha, so her blandly stated advice couldn't possibly be correct. The raven haired Konoha native was a master at suppressing emotion…any glimpse of, sadness, cheer, loss, humor, irritation; it would fall away in the bat of black eyelashes.

Itachi Uchiha, in love?

Absurd.

"And that's when I stormed out."

Naruto had just finished explaining the story of his tempura tantrum earlier, and Sakura was already horrified. As far as she was concerned, this was all Naruto's fault to begin with.
Save the baby. That was just a freak of nature.

"You put his hands around his throat, and threw him against a wall."

"Yup."

"Naruto-chan, where the fuck is your head?" She seethed, slamming her glass haphazardly on the bar counter, enough to make several other patrons glance in their direction. "He's carrying a baby. I know that's a screwy idea to get used to, but you have to learn to deal with it if you actually love the kid."

Naruto knew he did, blinking and taking a sip o f a beer he was sloshing around in the mug. Sakura was on her third. Furrowing his brow, he sighed deeply.

"You know I do." Now that he thought about it, laying his hands on Sasuke like that…they had pledged to stop their stupid physical fights years ago, but now, especially now…it seemed so wrong that Naruto had let his rage blind him enough to breech that. But he was Uzumaki Naruto after all; he wasn't exactly known for being level headed.

"And you're the one who cheated on him with Itachi, what, two months ago. If that. He was single when he had sex with the Hyuuga. You're the only one who's guilty. And I say that with love. For you, Sasuke and the baby." Pink hair fell in her flushing face.

"Sakura-chan…"

"You're going to apologize, right after this. I've decided it. Just because the kid is Neji's doesn't means he wants any part in its life, you know him. He's so...cold. He has no room for a kid in his life. So just raise it as a little orange menace, you'll hardly notice the difference. Especially if you guys love each other as much as I think you do."

Naruto grinned slightly at the term 'orange menace'.

"Bar tender? Another round please." Sakura swung and arm over his shoulder boyishly and Naruto sighed, relieved.

"I never told you Itachi and I had a past, did I?" Kakashi mused; leaning over Iruka's counter top. Umino Iruka raised an eyebrow, but nothing shocked him anymore after the recent drama with the Rookie Nine. There was always something to be revealed, another secret found out, and all Iruka could do was chuckle slightly. He liked to stay out of it.

"You didn't." He responded casually, going back to the horoscopes.

"Well when we were in the anbu, before the Uchiha tragedy…" Kakashi shifted his eyes. "He was fourteen. I was…twenty. It was a mistake, but he was just so …."

"So much like Sasuke?"

"You could say that."

"Continue."

"He wasn't like anybody else. So reserved and focused about his work, stressed and nervous all the time, like a little bird. One day I was leaning on a branch, our entire squad had been wiped off the face of the earth by the enemies the two of us effectively slaughtered. "

"When my team mates die, I like to hook up the remaining ones too." Iruka grinned, Kakashi sighed deeply with a hint of annoyance.

"I asked if I could kiss him, he nodded, and I did. First boy I ever kissed. It seemed simple enough, but I don't know. We started having lunch together. Every day, not even talking. Just enjoying each other's company. He never really opened up after all, but he helped me understand the Uchiha's a little more you know? He was the first person to see me without this mask, too. Then one day, out of nowhere, I saw him he was all over the news being blamed for the mass murder of his family. I don't think I left my house for a month."

Iruka's smile quickly faded at that last note, tinted with languor.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was a long time ago. I don't even know why I've been thinking about it so much lately." He stirred his tea thoughtfully.

"Maybe because you wanted to save Sasuke from that same kind of situation, Kaka-chan?"

"Maybe…" He stopped fiddling with the tea spoon and grimaced.

Definitely.

"Gaara-teme?"

When Neji arrived home at his empty apartment, he wasn't at all shocked.

Gaara had gone home. The ginger haired Kazekage had done this only a handful of times in their almost eight month relationship, and it had always been after a fight. In a few days he would return with gifts and a sweet tasting kiss.

Neji slumped onto the couch, considering phoning Naruto but then remembered he'd probably get his face smashed in. Surfing the television, he dozed off into the first dream he'd had in years.

It had been something about a baby being born into a family without a structured class system like one haunted him. Black eyes and delicate fingers. A bird, breaking free from its cage and fluttering away. When he awoke, he looked around to see if Gaara had returned. He was alone. Taking a safe breath, he let the first tear seep from his milky eyes. Taking a shuddering breath, he squeezed his eyes shut. Stumbling in to his bed, he buried himself under the comforter, the one he had warmly shared with Gaara only a night before praying for a dreamless sleep.

"Gaara-teme?"

Temari greeted her brother with arms open for a cautious hug, eyeing him closely. Gaara had literally stormed into the Kazekage's tower unannounced at eleven at night, when all offices were closed and she was locking up, plopping himself down in his official chair behind a large desk in the circular office.

"I want to know everything I've missed." Gaara insisted, snapping his fingers and narrowing his eyes, ringed with lines of charcoal black. "I've been gone almost two weeks without any contact from the village, and it's about time to inform me what's been going on."

Temari swallowed, instantly sensing something was off. Gaara would usually have to be dragged back to the village; in fact, while he was away the blonde teenager usually took over as substitute Kazekage. But she wouldn't dare tell him, because any blow to his pride at this point could be damaging.

The entire official staff had been taking bets on whether or not the red haired Kazekage was gay, bi or straight as an arrow for months now. Temari had known Gaara wasn't into women after the countless beautiful sand women threw themselves after the young bachelor, and he seemed more interested in spending so much time with a feminine looking boy from the leaf. It hadn't bothered her in the slightest, but she knew if he knew she knew, there would be hell to pay.

"What brings you back at this hour?" She swallowed.

"My duties to this village, what else?" Gaara spat, digging files from the desk. Out from one of the manila folders fell a letter. Gaara fingered it carefully, skimming the paper wordlessly for a moment. That letter hadn't been a secret to Temari, either. There was an entire shoe box full of them under Gaara's bed; he received several every time he traveled back to his village like this. No doubt, they were from Neji.

"Alright well then…I'll gather the council…" the blonde mumbled, voice riddled with fatigue. She glanced over at her brother, shocked instantly by the look of loss and pain striking his handsome, usually stoic face.

"Actually, we'll wait till morning. I really would rather be left alone"
"Can I bring you some tea, or-"

"I said…" His voice broke, and he spun around in the chair so his back was to her, hands folded under his nose. "I need to be alone."

Sasuke now had a full grasp on the situation. Orochimaru had placed some sort of revolutionary jutsu on him during his stay with the snake sanin, and it had given him the ability to bear a child. Granted, Orochimaru was probably waiting to use that one himself (Sasuke shuddered at the thought) but it had still taken effect, so many years after his departure from the Sound. Now that he knew what caused the parasite that lurked within him, there was a chance he would be able to get rid of it.

Humiliated and disgusted, he picked himself off the bathroom floor and gazed into the mirror. The slight-ever so slight- protrusion that softened his perfectly hard abs made him nauseous at the sight. Suddenly, he ran into the living room, grabbing a cushion off the couch. Stuffing it under his shirt, he glanced shamefully into the mirror again, turning.

No, this is definitely not. Happening.

awww sasuchan better get used to that image :P

What'd you guys think? I see alot of you favoriting and not reviewing, but if you took the time to just comment and tell me how you like it, it'd mean alot to me :) Plus I'll review one of your stories!

Anyways, like I said, go check out Trials of Love and feel free to suggest any further plot twists/ideas :)

Till next time!