Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to the amazing K. Masashi. The plotline of this story is credited to Playing James by Sarah Mason.

Author's Note: Yay an update! I don't have much to say about this chapter, (other than the chapter title is so freaking lame. Sorry!) so I'll just let you all go read. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing, you guys are the best!

Chapter Fourteen

The Worst Headache

"Are you sure you can walk?"

"Sai, for the last time, I'm perfectly okay. The doctor gave me crutches for a reason, so that I could use them! So, please, stop hovering around me, I didn't get my foot amputated, it's just in a cast!" Naruto exclaimed exasperatedly.

Sai frowned at his boyfriend and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he said. "But I'm just worried."

The blonde let out a small smile and pecked Sai on the cheek. "I know, and thank you, really, but I'm fine. If I need your help, I'll ask you for it, okay?"

"All right, all right," Sai relented as he led the way to the blonde's desk at the station.

"God!" a loud voice exclaimed. "Can the two of you be any more sick? You make me want to throw up with your lovey-dovey talk!"

Naruto promptly hit Kiba on the head with the end of his crutch and the brunette yelped in pain. "Shut up, Kiba," he said. "No one asked you to listen."

"But you're loud!" Kiba insisted.

"You're louder."

"And the two of you together causes headaches," Sai added and smirked when Naruto and Kiba both turned in unison to glare at him.

"Yo, Kiba, we have a case, come on!" Shikamaru called lazily from the exit.

The brunette sighed and said, "See ya later, man," to Naruto before joining Shikamaru.

Naruto made his way over to his desk, cursing annoyingly about his crutches. "Hey, Sasuke," he greeted his partner who was hunched over his desk writing hurriedly in a notebook.

The Uchiha didn't even look up from what he was doing, let alone reply to the blonde. Naruto stared at him confused by the lack of a reaction, but shrugged and turned to start working on his article.

"Dobe, get up," Sasuke said suddenly as he got to his feet.

"Eh? Why?" Naruto exclaimed.

"We're heading out to the garage where Kabuto and Orochimaru hid all of the stolen items. I think you want to be there when that happens, right?" Sasuke said.

Naruto nodded vigorously. "Of course!" he said happily before grabbing his notepad and pen and slipping them into his back pocket. He got to his feet carefully, leaning against his crutches and grinned at Sasuke. "Let's go!"

"Are you going to be okay with the crutches?" the detective asked.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "Like I told Sai, I'm fine. And besides, we're just checking the garage. I don't think I'll need both my feet to be fully equipped for that."

"Fair enough," Sasuke said before leading the way out the doors. "We're going to have to ride in the cop cars today because Kabuto and Orochimaru have to come with us. They know the way and they have the keys."

"Are you okay with being that close to Orochimaru?"

"I'll survive," Sasuke replied, though he didn't seem very excited by the idea of being in the same car as the creepy pervert. "And, Kiba and Shikamaru are heading down there too to be back up in case something happens. I don't expect Kabuto or Orochimaru to run, but if they do, we want to be prepared if anything of that sort happens."

"Good to know," Naruto said.

Sasuke rounded on him then and with a fierce look in his dark eyes said, "You have to stay out of the way. I don't know what it is about you but you seeem to have an injury all the time and we're not taking another chance for you to break a rib or arm or whatever."

"It's not my fault for being accident-prone," Naruto said defensively. "And besides, there's not much I can do with these." He shook his crutches to get his point across and Sasuke nodded.

"All right, let's go."

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"Finally, we're here!" Naruto exclaimed as Sasuke pulled up in front of a small garage seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

"Thank god," Sasuke agreed under his breath. He was glad to get out of the car; Orochimaru had been sitting directly behind him, watching him very intently through the rearview mirror and it had creeped Sasuke out.

Kiba and Shikamaru arrived just a few minutes later and Sasuke let them help Kabuto and Orochimaru out of the car. The group assembled in front of the garage and for a while they all seemed to stare at it before Sasuke gathered his bearings and turned to the criminals.

"This is the place where you hid the stolen items? All of them?" he asked.

Orochimaru smiled creepily at him, making the detective shiver, so he turned to Kabuto for an answer. Kabuto nodded curtly but said nothing.

"And, these are a set of keys we found in your house. Do you recognize them?" Sasuke questioned and Kabuto nodded again. "Can you tell me which one fits the garage lock?"

Kabuto just looks away and Sasuke turns to Orochimaru who also glances away. Gritting his teeth, Sasuke walks up to the garage and begins to try the many keys on the chain.

Naruto sighs. This was going to take forever. Turning to Kiba, he asked, "Why can't we just break in? That'd be so cool to write about!"

"Because, it's not the property of the person who got charged with the crime, and if we broke in, the police department has to pay for the damage. We're aleady short on funds, so we can't afford a break in," Kiba explained.

Naruto pouted. "Well, that's lame."

After about ten minutes of trying the keys, and there were at least a hundred of them, or so it seemed to Naruto, Sasuke turned back to look at Kabuto and Orochimaru, his jaw set in anger. Naruto, Kiba, and Shikamaru all seemed to sense danger from the Uchiha's gaze and the blonde turned to Kabuto and said, "Tell him right now which key it is. Quick, before he gets really mad."

Kabuto just stares at the reporter as though he didn't understand what he'd said. Shikamaru adds lazily, "You do understand that you're supposed to be cooperating with us. So, tell us which key it is, now."

Kabuto sighed and lifted a hand to point at a certain key on the chain. "That one," he said.

"Which one?" Sasuke grit out. "This one?"

"No, that one," Kabuto said.

"Goddammit!" the Uchiha exclaimed, losing it. He stomped up to Kabuto and glared at him angrily. "Tell me which key it is or so help me, I'll fucking murder you!"

"Ah, a detective shouldn't be telling such threats. Do I need to call my lawyer again?" Kabuto replied easily, seemingly undetered.

Sasuke growled furiously under his breath before stepping back and slowly calming himself down. He turned to Shikamaru and said, "Uncuff him."

Shikamaru raised a brow. "You sure about that?"

"Yes, uncuff him, now," Sasuke said and Shikamaru shrugged before pulling out a key and unlocking the handcuffs around Kabuto's wrist. "Now, tell me which key it is."

Kabuto moved forward as if to look at the keys, but then quickly bolted in the other direction, shoving past Shikamaru and almost knocking Naruto off his crutches.

"Fuck!" Sasuke exclaimed, having the quickest reaction as he pelted off after him, Shikamaru running after a moment later.

Kiba quickly put Orochimaru back into the car before locking it and heading off after the other three, leaving Naruto bouncing on his crutches, torn about what he should do.

"Ah, fuck it!" the reporter exclaimed. "I don't care what Sasuke says. I want to see what's going on!" And, with that, the blonde somehow managed to run after the others on his crutches, going as fast as he possibly could.

Naruto caught up with the group as they reached a fence on the edge of the abandoned property. The blonde began to slow down slightly, noticing immediately the fence was too high to jump over and that Kabuto had to be an idiot to even try. Sasuke seemed to have noticed the same thing because he, still running fast, made a leap at the top of the fence in order to bring it down. Naruto turned in time to see Shikamaru and Kiba catch up to Kabuto who was trying to run the other way again, but then turned when he heard Sasuke shout "Naruto, watch out!" before everything fell into darkness.

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"How did this happen?" a frantic voice exclaimed. "How could you let this happen?"

"I'm very sorry, ma'am. But I told him to stay out of the way. He didn't listen."

"I don't have to listen to you," Naruto mumbled as he blinked his eyes and made out the figures of Tsunade and Sasuke.

"Naruto, are you all right?" Tsunade said.

"No, my entire body hurts like hell. W-Where am I?" the reporter asked.

"The hospital."

"Eh? How come?"

"Long story that we'll save for later," Tsunade said with a wave of her hand. "You've just been hit on the head a bit."

"What time is it? How long have I been here?"

"You've been out for almost a day. It's just about ten in the morning now."

Naruto frowned and blinked again as if he didn't understand. He turned to Sasuke when the detective addressed him. "Huh?"

"How do you feel?" the Uchiha asked.

"Not bad," he replied.

"You're lying," Sasuke said.

"No, I'm not!" the blonde replied defensively, annoyed Sasuke had caught onto his lie immediately.

Tsunade looked back and forth between the two of them before saying, "I think I'll take my leave now that you're awake."

"Aw, don't leave me here with him," Naruto said.

KT's editor just smirked at the blonde and replied, "Because you said that I will leave you alone with him." She laughed when Naruto glared at her. "I think you'll survive. I have to get back to KT or there'll be chaos there. I bet Yamanaka is starting a party this very moment because of my absense."

Naruto smiled, easily picturing Ino throwing some kind of party complete with pizza, cake and strippers while Tsunade was missing. "Yah, you won't want that," he said and waved goodbye as Tsunade left the room.

Naruto stared after her for awhile but then was returned to reality when he heard the scraping of a chair against the floor. He turned to find Sasuke pulling the chair up to his bedside before sitting down leisurely in it and staring intently at the blonde causing the reporter to involuntarily blush.

"What?" the reporter snapped.

Sasuke sighed deeply as if building up courage before he said, "I'm sorry."

The blonde blinked. "Eh? For what?"

"For putting you in the hospital."

"What! You-You-You did this? How? What happened? I don't remember anything after you tried to push the fence down."

"Yes, well, that wasn't a good idea. I thought my weight would be enough to push it down, but I hadn't realized that it had been nailed to a dead tree nearby. And, well, as I pushed down on the fence, the tree sort of, um, snapped and well, it, uh, landed on your head," Sasuke said awkwardly, now staring at Naruto's bedsheets as if fascinated by the hospital-white color of them. "I-It was quite a big tree, but since it was dead, it was pretty light and well…I'm sorry…"

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a long time, processing this new bit of information.

After a few minutes of complete silence, Sasuke exclaimed, "Will you say something? Anything? You're making me feel worse than I already do!"

"Oh, sorry," Naruto said immediately, surprised by the Uchiha's outburst. "Why're you freaking out?"

"God, Naruto, I thought I'd killed you!" Sasuke almost shouted.

The blonde noticed how Sasuke looked clearly frightened of the thought of having almost murdered him. His earlier thoughts of how he could make Sasuke pay for hospitalizing him flew away at the detective's obvious concern. He smiled at Sasuke and flicked the Uchiha's forehead. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine," he said. "A freaking tree can't take Uzumaki Naruto down."

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief and smiled back at the blonde. He leaned forward to say something but never got the chance when someone barged into the room yelling, "Naruto!"

The Uchiha tensed as Sai rushed towards the blonde's side and hugged him.

"Oh, I'm so glad you're all right!" Sai exclaimed when he pulled away. "How're you feeling?"

"I'll surive," Naruto replied. "What're you doing here?"

"I just heard from Kiba about what happened. I came down immediately."

"Sai, you didn't have to do that. You're on the clock right now."

"You're more important."

The blonde blushed from Sai's bluntness and looked away. He tensed when he felt a wave of intense anger swarming over him. Glancing discreetly out the corner of his eye, the blonde saw Sasuke glaring at Sai, hatred radiating off his body. Naruto decided it'd be a good idea to quickly get rid of the those negative vibes.

"Hey, Sai, you should head back to the station. I'm fine, so you don't have to worry," Naruto said with a smile.

"No, that's all right, I can stay for awhile."

"Maybe you didn't hear him," Sasuke snarled. "He said to get lost."

Sai turned his gaze upon the Uchiha, whom he'd been purposely ignoring up until that moment. "No one asked for your opinion, Uchiha. And I think I know better what my boyfriend wants, not you."

Sasuke's glare intensified and Naruto rolled his eyes. Before Sasuke could retort, the blonde said, "I think both of you should leave, actually. You've both got work to do and I really don't want to be in the middle of all of your negative energy."

"It's fine, Naruto. I can stay here," Sasuke said instantly.

"There's no reason for either of you to stay any longer than you have to!" the blonde said. "I know you're worried about me, but look, I'm perfectly okay and I don't think anything else can happen when I'm practically cocooned between these blankets, all right?" Naruto exclaimed.

"But—" Sai started.

"No buts," Naruto said quickly. "And, this is me we're talking about. I doubt I'll be alone for very long anyway. Everyone at KT's probably heard about what happened and I'll bet my foot that they're all heading over here right now to—"

As if on cue, the door opened and Neji strolled purposefully into the room and right towards the blonde before smacking him on the head. Naruto let out a cry of pain while Sasuke and Sai both glared at Neji for causing the blonde more damage.

"Neji, you jerk, what the fuck was that for?" Naruto whined.

"For being an idiot. I told you not to go into work with your crutches and to stay as far away from the middle of cop fights and do you listen to me? Of course you don't and look at where it's gotten you!" Neji smacked the blonde on the head again before crossing his arms over his chest and glaring.

Naruto pouted at his best friend before mumbling an adorable, "I'm sorry."

The Hyuuga held his glare for as long as he could, which really wasn't much longer, before he sighed and said, "Are you all right?"

"Never been better!" the blonde exclaimed.

"Don't lie, you idiot," Neji said.

"I'm not," Naruto insisted before sighing, realizing there was no reason to lie to Neji; the Hyuuga knew him too well. "Fine, fine, I'm all right. Just tired and my head sort of hurts."

Sai and Sasuke both looked a bit surprised that Naruto would answer to Neji and not them. Neji smirked at Naruto and said, "Well that's to be expected, you did get hit on the head."

The blonde smiled. "Right."

Neji glanced around the room, only then realizing Sai and Sasuke were there. He turned back to Naruto and meet the blonde's eyes in a eager plea of help. The Hyuuga sighed before turning back to Sai and Sasuke. "Don't you both have work to do? I'm sure you have better things to do than sit around with Naruto all day."

"No, not really," the two replied instantly and Neji smacked himself mentally; he should have seen that answer coming.

"Why don't you head back to the station? I'm sure you have stuff to get done and I can stay here with the idiot to make sure he doesn't injure himself any more," Neji said, giving both a look that clearly said 'get out.'

Neither budged from their spot, only stared at Neji as if saying 'make me.'

Naruto quickly jumped in. "Yeah, guys, you should head back. I told you, I'll be okay. And Neji's here now so all of you don't have to stay. Kakashi's gonna get mad at you for skipping work to stay with me."

"Kakashi's too busy sucking face with Iruka to care where his cops are," Sasuke said instantly.

"Okay, that may be true, but still! Go back to the station, earn your paychecks, I'm going to be fine!" Naruto insisted. "You can come and visit me later, all right?"

Sasuke and Sai watched the blonde carefully before both relented.

"Fine," Sasuke said, getting to his feet. "Get better soon, dobe." And with a small smile at the blonde, he headed out the door.

"Call me if you need anything, Naruto," Sai said. "I'll come by after work to see how you're doing, okay?"

"Great!" Naruto said, just happy to see them both leave. "Later!"

Sai kissed him on the cheek before leaving. The second he was gone, Naruto let out an enormous sigh of relief.

"If you wanted him gone so badly, why do you force yourself to be his boyfriend?" Neji questioned. "You just might as well break up with him."

Naruto looked away. "I-I know I should. And I'm thinking I will, I just—"

"Naruto, the longer you put it off, the more hurt Sai's going to be when he finds out the truth," Neji interjected.

The blonde glared at his friend. "I hate how you're always so right."

Neji smirked as he settled down into Sasuke's vacant chair. "I know," he said. "Now shut up and go to sleep. You look tired."

Naruto nodded and laid his head back against the pillows, closing his eyes. A few seconds later, sleep consumed him.

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Naruto stirred slighty in his sleep, trying to shake off the instinctive feeling that someone was watching him. He tried to go back to sleep, but the feeling wouldn't shake off. Annoyed and slightly freaked out, he opened his eyes and looked up.

"Argh!!" the blonde screamed, surprised to find that someone actually was watching him.

"Naruto! Calm down, it's just me!"

The blonde stopped screaming and finally looked at the person in the room. "S-Sakura-chan?"

The rosette smiled and nodded. "Sorry for scaring you, are you okay?"

"I-I wasn't scared," Naruto said defensively. "Wh-What're you doing here?"

"Oh, I heard from Sasuke-kun that you got hurt during your case yesterday. I just came down to see if you were okay," Sakura said.

"Aw, Sakura-chan, that's nice of you," Naruto said and smiled, though he was slightly surprised that Sasuke had even told Sakura what had happened in the first place. It just didn't seem like something the Uchiha would be willing to share.

The rosette tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled again though Naruto could tell it was rather forced. "Oh, don't worry about it, Naruto. I was worried about you," she said.

"Thanks Sakura-chan, but I'm fine now," Naruto said.

Sakura nodded. "Well, that's good."

The blonde nodded as well, watching Sakura closely and suddenly getting the feeling that she really hadn't come to see him just to see if he was all right. "Uh, is something the matter, Sakura-chan?" he asked tentatively.

Sakura started figdeting with her hands in her lap, looking down at the floor, her lips in a frown. She looked as though she was debating something important in her head. Suddenly, she looked up at Naruto, the blonde jumping a little from the look of seriousness in her eyes.

"Wh-What's wrong, Sakura-chan?" the reporter asked.

"Look, Naruto. I have to tell you something and I really hope you don't take this the wrong way or anything, but…" She cleared her throat and straightened herself up, starting again.

"Naruto, I don't think you should come to the wedding anymore."

The blonde blinked. Had he heard her right? "Uh. What?"

"I said, I don't think you should come to the wedding anymore," Sakura repeated.

Okay, so he had heard her right. But why would she say that? Hadn't she invited him in the first place? And now she was telling him not to go? That didn't make any sense to him, so he asked, "Why? I thought you invited me."

"I know I did, but I've been thinking about it and well, I don't think it's good for you to be there," Sakura said. "I know Sasuke-kun would say otherwise, that he would want you there, but well, when Sasuke-kun is with you, for whatever reason, I seem to come second. It's always Naruto before Sakura and I don't get it."

The blonde just stared at her, wide-eyed. He was surprised mainly by two things. He hadn't realized Sakura had figured this all out, and judging from her tone, she was jealous of him just as much as he was jealous of her. And then he was surprised that Sakura had obviously not figured out that Sasuke was, well, gay. He felt kind of bad for her, and would have felt more pity for her, if it wasn't for the fact that he liked Sasuke too.

"Anyway, it's my wedding, Naruto, and for once I want it to be about me. I want it to be Sakura is more important than Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't want to go to the wedding in the first place, so don't worry, I won't be there," Naruto said.

Sakura watched the blonde's face for a moment, looking thoughtful, before her eyes widened. "I get it now," she said. "I wondered why you didn't want to go to the wedding, Naruto. I really wondered. I mean, you and Sasuke get along and I wondered why you said you didn't want to be there. But now I get it."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. No, Sakura couldn't have actually figured out that he—

"You love Sasuke, don't you?" the rosette asked.

Naruto just stared. He didn't know what to do. If he denied it, he was sure to sound like he was defending himself and Sakura wouldn't buy it. But he couldn't admit it, could he? Well, of course he couldn't; and anyway, he didn't love Sasuke. H-He just liked him a little…or a lot. But either way, it wasn't love, and that much he was sure about. At least, he thought he was.

"You do, don't you," Sakura said. "You love him and that's why you didn't want to come to the wedding!"

"No, no, no, Sakura," Naruto managed to say, trying to keep his voice as level as possible. "I don't love Sasuke. Are you out of your mind?"

Sakura glared at the blonde. "Don't lie to me, Naruto. You do love him. You know it. You're just trying not to make me mad."

"But I really don't love Sasuke!" Naruto insisted. "Honestly. He's just a friend, okay, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura got to her feet and walked up to where Naruto was sitting at his bed. "Look, Naruto. It doesn't matter. Even if you do like Sasuke-kun, do you think he'd pick you over me?"

She laughed mockingly and Naruto felt the urge to glare at her and tell her the truth, but he squashed the desire away as she looked down at him again.

"He wouldn't. He knows how important this wedding is and he's not going to break it. You're not going to have him, so it's probably best to just forget all about your pathetic little crush." Sakura gave the blonde a fake smile and said, "Get well soon, Naruto. Goodbye."

The blonde just nodded at her and watched as she left the room, shutting the door behind her. Once he was sure she was out of sight he threw the closest thing he had in reach at the wall, only realizing a second too late that it was his cell phone.

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"Are you ready to go?" Kiba asked.

"Absolutely!" Naruto exclaimed, practically jumping around the hospital room. "I hate being confined to a bed. Let's go!"

"Calm down, man," Kiba said. "You don't need to get injured again. None of us want to live though that hell again."

The blonde stopped spazzing and stared at Kiba with confusion. "What hell? What happened?"

Kiba sighed. "Come on, I'll tell you as we head out."

"What happened? Something at the station?"

"Well, Sai was basically trying to burn Sasuke with his eyes with all the glaring he was doing, since technically it was Sasuke's fault you were in the hospital and Sasuke was, well, kind of shaken up. I've never seen him like that before, man. He was freaking out that you'd died and he'd killed you. You should've seen him after the tree hit you. He got all pale and couldn't even think straight. Shikamaru had to take Kabuto back to the car and then I had to carry you back because Uchiha couldn't do shit."

Naruto let the words sink into his head, feeling slightly happy that Sasuke had cared so much about him, but then quickly squashing it down. He was trying to get over Sasuke, not fall deeper into his spell. "I just bet he was worried about getting a lawsuit from Tsunade," Naruto scoffed.

Kiba smacked the blonde on the head. "You know that's not true!" the cop exclaimed. "Honestly, Uchiha was insane. It was weird seeing him actually worried over someone, since, well, he hardly ever does. But then again, it was you that got hurt. Mind you, had it been Shikamaru or me, he probably would've just left us there to rot."

Naruto laughed. "Probably," he agreed as they reached Kiba's parked car.

Kiba looked at Naruto questioningly as the blonde opened the passenger's side door. Noticing the look, Naruto said, "What?"

"You realize he was worried so much about you because he likes you, right? You know, really likes you?" the Inuzuka said.

Naruto lowered his gaze, instantly realizing where this conversation was going. "Drop it, Kiba, I don't want to talk about it," he said, getting into the car.

Of course, Naruto should have known there was no way Kiba was going to drop it. The cop got into his seat and turned to stare at Naruto, who sat watching people walk by in the windshield with more interest than really necessary.

"Naruto, answer the question," Kiba said. "You know he likes you, don't you?"

Naruto tried to hold off as long as he could, but Kiba's piercing gaze made him succumb far too quickly. He hung his head and mumbled a barely audible, "Yes."

"And you still insist on being with Sai?" Kiba said. "Even though you know that he has feelings for you?"

"What the hell do you want me to do, Kiba?" Naruto exclaimed, now angry, frustrated and upset all at once. "I'm not going to try and further a relationship that has no freaking future!! He's getting married in a week!"

Kiba stared at the blonde, taking in the look of anger mixed with sorrow, and felt horrible for bringing it up. He had just wanted to see if Naruto would consider telling Sasuke how he felt, because even that little push might be enough for Sasuke to break the engagement (the keyword was might be). He didn't think Naruto would be so upset.

The Inuzuka sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, man, I'm sorry for bringing it up. I was just thinking—but, well--anyway, nevermind. I-I'll take you home now."

Naruto nodded and turned to stare out the window again, still feeling upset. They drove the rest of the way to Naruto's apartment in silence.

"You know, Naruto," Kiba said as Naruto opened the door to his apartment.

"Hm?"

"Uchiha, he, well, I think he really loves you."

Naruto dropped his keys in surprise and turned to stare at Kiba in shock. "W-What?" he exclaimed before bursting out in laughter. "Love? Love? Are you freaking kidding Kiba, or are you on some wacky drugs?"

Kiba frowned. "Hey, I'm serious here."

Naruto laughed even more. "There's no way Sasuke loves me. He's just lusting after me or something lame like that. He doesn't love me. End of story."

"But—"

"Thanks for the laugh though, man. I kind of feel a bit better now."

"Naruto!" Kiba exclaimed. "I'm fucking serious. Uchiha totally loves you, he just either hasn't noticed it yet or is being stubborn on purpose!"

Naruto gave Kiba a 'get-out-of-here' look. "That's it, you're on drugs," Naruto concluded as he went into the kitchen to make some much needed coffee.

"Oh, come on, man!" Kiba said, annoyed. "Listen, Naruto. You weren't there, well, you were, but not technically since you were knocked out, but—Right, anyway, you didn't see him. You didn't see Uchiha acting so-so—terrified. It was strange, man. He wouldn't have been so shaken up if he didn't have feelings for you. And, it's not just some stupid high-school-girl crush. He really loves you. I really believe he does."

"If he did, Kiba, if he truly did, then he would have called his engagement off a long time ago," Naruto said. "If he truly loved me, Kiba, he wouldn't be going through with the marriage. But, you see, that's not the case. He's getting married, so therefore he obviously can't love me enough or at all."

"Naruto—"

"No, that's it, Kiba. I'm done with it. I don't want to talk about this anymore," the blonde said with an air of finality that Kiba couldn't disagree to. "I'm going to call Sai and let him know I'm home or he'll skip work again and hunt me down."

Kiba sighed. "All right, all right. I'll see you later then. Are you going to be at the station tomorrow?"

"Absolutely," Naruto replied. "See you then."

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Sasuke started absentmindedly at the computer screen in front of him, trying to concentrate on the case report he needed to fill out. However, his mind seemed to be elsewhere, focused, as it most usually was, on a certain blonde who he knew should be arriving at the station in a matter of minutes. Naruto had gotten out of the hospital the day before and Kiba had gone to pick him up since the doctor had exempt Naruto from driving his car for a few days.

Sasuke didn't like thinking about how close he'd come to actually losing the blonde, it scared him half to death. It had scared him even more than he would have thought; but then again, he knew now he loved Naruto. He loved the blonde and the thought of losing him completely was terrifying.

Of course, he was about to lose Naruto completely. It was a matter of just nine days. Sasuke's wedding was arriving and his las chances to be with the blonde were coming to a close. Sasuke was sure of one thing, there was absolutely no way he could marry Sakura knowing how he felt about Naruto. He had to be with the blonde, he couldn't possibly live without him. He knew what he had to do, knew it perfectly well, but actually going through with it and making the other side agree, well, that was the hard part.

Sasuke sighed and twirled his pen around in his hand, continuing to stare blankly at his computer. It had to be today, he realized. He'd have to do it today.

"Fuck, this is going to be brutal," he murmured to himself. He could almost imagine the meeting in his head. It was going to be equivalent to the apocalypse. He shuddered, not looking forward to it at all.

"Hey, Sasuke!" a cheerful voice interrupted the detective's thoughts. "What're you looking so gloomy about?"

"I'm not gloomy, just…frustrated," Sasuke replied. "Though I feel better after seeing you."

Naruto cursed himself for blushing, quickly looking away from the Uchiha's strong gaze and obvious smirk.

"Are you sure you're feeling well enough to be here?" Sasuke questioned the blonde.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm perfectly all right," he said. "If I wasn't, I'd still be at the hospital, wouldn't I?"

"Point taken," Sasuke said with a sigh. "I-I'm just worried."

Naruto looked embarrassed. "We-Well, don't worry about me, Sasuke, I'm great!"

"That's good to know," the Uchiha said with a smile.

"Oh, hey, Sasuke, what're you up to on Sunday?" Naruto asked.

The Uchiha raised a brow, surprised. Naruto had been avoiding him constantly for a week and suddenly he wanted to hang out? "Well, nothing, really," he replied. "Why?"

"Because we haven't hung out for awhile so we're going to this weekend, no matter what!" the blonde replied with a grin.

Sasuke stared at Naruto as if he hadn't yet comprehended what he meant. He narrowed his eyes, his gaze drifting to where Sai was watching them closely and said scathingly, "Won't your boyfriend be angry that you're spending time with me?"

The Uchiha immediately noticed how Naruto flinched at the word "boyfriend." Sasuke quietly wondered why that was. However, he couldn't dwell on it long enough for the blonde responded.

"Oh, don't worry about Sai. He'll let us hang out," Naruto said. "Besides, he's coming home with me tonight so he can't exactly complain."

The blonde blushed suddenly, realizing what he'd just implied and Sasuke almost broke the pen he held in his hand. The mere thought of Sai spending the night with Naruto, his Naruto, made the detective's blood boil.

"Well, anyway," Naruto said awkwardly, eager to return the topic to something safe. "We need to hang out on Sunday, okay? Next week's my last week here too, so—"

"What!" Sasuke exclaimed, jumping to his feet and staring down at the blonde in horror. "What do you mean next week's your last week here?"

"Exactly that, Sasuke," Naruto replied quietly, slightly alarmed by the Uchiha's outburst. "My shadowing assignment only lasts for six weeks. I'm done next Friday."

The world seemed to collapse around the Uchiha. He'd known it was supposed to last six weeks, somewhere in the back of his mind, he'd known that. He knew it was only temporary, knew Naruto couldn't have been around forever. Yet, he'd gotten so used to having the blonde there, so accustomed to feel his presence, his every being, that the thought of not having that everyday was life shattering.

Knowing this, however, only intensified Sasuke's determination to do what he needed to get done.

And the sooner he did it, the better.

The Uchiha grabbed his coat and quickly put it on. "Sorry, Naruto, I've got to go."

"Eh, what?" the reporter exclaimed, confused.

"I'll be back," Sasuke said. "But there's something important I need to do."

"Uh, o-okay. Bye then," Naruto said, looking mildly sullen.

The Uchiha noticed the look and had he not been in a rush, would have questioned it, but instead gave the blonde a grin and said, "We'll hang out on Sunday, okay? All day if you want to."

Naruto looked up at him and smiled. "Great!" he said, face shining.

"I'll be back soon," Sasuke said before quickly heading out to his car.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"For the love of God, it's my wedding, why can't anyone get what I want right?" Sakura yelled.

"Sakura, honey, calm down, we'll get it fixed," Mrs. Haruno said.

"Honestly, Mother, I wanted pink and white drapes and table clothes, not purple and blue! It's not a hard concept to understand!" Sakura was on the verge of tears. Why did the world seem so incompetent during the most important moment of her life?

"Sakura, go and sit down, take a drink. I'll go talk to the manager about fixing this, all right?" Mrs. Haruno said soothingly.

The bride-to-be sighed and said, "All right, I'll be back in a second."

"Take your time, dear."

Sakura walked out the doors of the magnificent hall in which the wedding reception was to be held. The girl giggled to herself at the thought of her wedding. It was just a week away, so close, yet so far and Sakura was just about ready to faint from the excitement. This was the moment she had been waiting for all her life. This was when her dream would finally become reality. She was marrying Uchiha Sasuke, the most perfect being on the planet, the only man to have ever capturned her heart.

Sakura sat down on a bench outside the hall entrance, letting out a large sigh. Even thought she was so happy about the upcoming marriage, she was unsure about Sasuke's attitude toward it. More than once she had gotten the feeling that he didn't want this to happen. Whenever she asked, he'd deny her accusation and she'd feel comforted. But she hadn't seen or talked to Sasuke for a long time and she was worried. Maybe he'd found someone else or he just didn't want to get married anymore. The thoughts haunted her, though she could tell they weren't true. Had they been real, she would have known immediately, for her mother would have found out.

"I'm being silly," she mumbled to herself with a small laugh. "He wouldn't cancel the wedding. He-He loves me…"

Her voice faltered as she thought about it. She loved Sasuke, more than anything. And she knew he knew about her feelings for him. But she had no idea about his feelings for her. He had agreed to marry her so he must like her some, right? He had to love her, right?

"Sakura!"

The rosette looked up immediately, surprised to find the very person she'd been thinking of right in front of her. "S-Sasuke-kun! What-What're you doing here?" She got up to meet him as he walked across the lobby to her side.

Sakura looked him up and down and noticed immediately that something was wrong. He was staring right at her with a fathomable look in his gorgeous black eyes. She knew him, loved him so much, that she knew him. He never looked at her like that, with so many conflicting emotions. Something was wrong. She could feel it deep within her heart. She could feel it because she loved him that much.

"S-Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" she asked apprehensively, not sure if she wanted to hear his answer.

Sasuke sighed, building up his courage. He looked directly into her confused green eyes and said, "Sakura, we have to talk."

A/N: Okay, first up, Naruto getting injured by the tree is not my idea. It's from the book, so credits go to Sarah Mason. That entire scene is her idea, I just tweaked it a bit to fit my purposes and the plot. And, lastly, there's probably one chapter left in this story. :tears: It may be two more chapters, depending on how much I end up writing, butmost likely it will be one. I don't think I'm making an epilouge, but we'll see how it goes. Thanks so much for all of your support up until now. :bows: I'm really glad you've read and enjoyed this story:bows:

So, thanks again for reading and reviewing!! Much love and cookies for all of you!!