Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, I just like to bend them to my Yaoi will. No money made. Tear.

Author:Spoon10488

Pairing: Sasu/Naru

A/N: At bottom of page.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Midnight's Moon

Chapter 11

"Let's go." The Uchiha growled as he took off in the opposite direction of the Konoha nins.

The Kyubi vessel sighed at the raven's poor mood. 'Great I have to travel with a sulking Uchiha. Oh, joy.' Then took off running, to where he didn't know.

It had taken a while for the Uchiha to calm down. Hours actually and the sun was already descending from the sky. During which the raven fumed as he lead the younger shinobi away from the Konoha nins and closer to their destination. He was still pissed at what Neji had done to his dobe. It was inexcusable. The raven's only consolation was that he was never going to have to see that smug Hyuga face again.

He felt himself smirk at the thought of everything he was going to do to the blond that the Hyuga will never be able to do.

Images rolled through the raven's mind. Pictures of the blond panting breathless as he kissed him. Moans and screams of pleasure that would come from him pounding into the blonde's willing body. The total bliss that would roll over both of them as they meet their climax together.

The raven unconsciously licked his lips. He was drawn out of these thoughts when the branches of a tree, two over, rustled a little. One glimpse with his sharingan told the raven it was just a couple birds, but it did draw him back to reality enough to make him aware of how tight his pants suddenly gotten.

The raven mentally sighed to himself. Those thoughts were better left for a time when he could take care of the side effects… or better yet get his blond to. Mentally sighing once again the raven realized his thoughts were premature and it would still be a little while before he had his blond 'screaming for more'.

To think all these hot thoughts started because he thought about what he would get and not the Hyuga. The raven felt strings of irritation pull inside him again at 'that' person's name.

The raven internally calmed himself. There was no sense getting angry again by thinking about it. Instead he let the cooling evening air whisper across his face as he jumped gracefully for tree branch to tree branch.

Once the raven was sure his calm exterior was fully in place, and his hard on was gone, he turned his attention to the blond shinobi behind him. A thought struck the raven. 'The dobe's been unusually quiet.'

A sliver of worry wormed its way into the raven's mind. Was the blond kitsune still suffering from the after effects of the missed attack? The raven silently cursed realizing the blond was probably exhausted. He came to a stop on one branch and turned to watch the blond do the same.

The younger male frowned slightly. The raven turned to stare at him and the blond started to feel wary. Feeling more than a little unnerved by the raven's intense onyx eyes the blue-eyed male did the only thing he could think of. He snapped.

"What the hell are you staring at, Teme!" he growled.

A feeling of pride appeared when the blond watched a raven brow twitch.

"Dobe." The Uchiha turned to face away from the other. Honestly how did he, the Uchiha heir, fall for someone so irritating?

"Oi, I'm hungry." The blond said shaking the raven out of his thoughts.

The dark eyed teen felt like sighing at the blonde's insatiable appetite but resisted and merely rolled his eyes.

"When are you not hungry." The raven asked rhetorically.

"That's a stupid question. Obviously I'm not hungry when I'm full."

This time the raven couldn't help sighing. Though not because of the blonde's answer but because of the well hidden fatigue the raven heard in the other's voice. Knowing the blond he would never admit to being tired, but it was clear now that the raven was paying attention that his kitsune was at his limit.

"We're stopping here for the night." The Uchiha stated. "We'll set up camp over in the denser grove of trees."

"What? There's still plenty of light left we could keep going." The younger stated confusedly, but there were also flecks of relief in his eyes. Then a foxy grin took over the blonde's face. "Oh, I get it, tired already? If you needed to rest you should have just said so. Not everyone has stamina like me." He gloated.

The raven smirked at the double meaning that could be taken from those words. "Oh, I'd love to see how much stamina you have."

The blonde's eyes widened in realization of what the raven meant. A small blush dust the younger's tan

cheeks.

"T…Teme! Your worse then Ero-sennin and Kakashi-sensei combined." Sputter the blond.

At the mention of his two former senseis the blond seemed to sober. The raven noticed this and grew curious as to why. He didn't question the younger shinobi though.

Both nin silently descended from the trees and picked a spot that would provide enough cover so they would not be easily spotted by any others that passed their way.

Both Shinobi landed silently of the ground. The grass under their feet was a deep green and very lush. Though the older male had initially picked this spot because of it tactical quality, was also very pleasing to the eyes. The forest was thick and dense and surprisingly that made it feel more comforting and safe instead of confining. The area where they decided to make camp was especially beautiful. The dappled light of the evening sun made the leaf canopies above them seem to glow. Spots of sun little tickled the lush grassy floor of the forest as the light breeze danced through the leaves.

Time seemed to almost freeze as both nin took in the ethereal sight. For those few seconds both shinobi was a peaceful calm enter them. It was an indescribable warmth that seemed to pass through there bodies. It for those mere moments made the world feel right and in those seconds both males asked themselves the same question, 'Can something like this truly exist in this cruel world or is it bound to be corrupted as well?'. Neither had an answer.

Then time seemed to resume and those seconds of freedom were carried off on the gentle breeze. The world and reality of there situations came crashing down upon them once more.

Camp was made ready it silence, each doing their part. Many things had to be accomplished before dark. Each silently did their tasks. While one gathered wood for a fire the other went in search of water. Bedrolls were removed from there sealing scrolls and laid out. The area also needed to be secured more.

The raven finished setting the last of the traps and turned to watch the blond attempt to light a fire. Tan hands would continuously strike the flint making small sparks but not enough to light the small branches and moss the younger had collected earlier. It was obvious to the raven that the blond wasn't totally there. The look in the others eye told that he was deep in thought. Whatever the blond was thinking about was certainly troubling him.

The raven sighed quietly to himself and walked over to the crouching blond.

Not noticing the raven's approach the blond continued to absentmindedly strike the flint. His mind seemed to be racing. So much information needed to be processed. Thoughts needed to be collected. Truths needed to be revealed, though the blond found himself terrified at what those answers might be. Would he truly be able to handle the reality of the situation?

He was not blind to the fact that everything pertaining to this so-called mission was poorly plan. It was obvious that it was written up with haste. The mission specs were sketchy at best. The purpose was undefined. And the goal was practically useless. Not that the blond was saying gathering Intel didn't have a purpose; it was just that there were specifically trained shinobi for this type of mission. '2 year scouting mission' that's what Kakashi had called it. He had said that Sasuke knew all the details. If the details were already known then why weren't they written up in the mission assignment forms he signed? Oh yes he read the papers. He has always read them for every mission they were assigned. He just did it in a way that no one really noticed.

This whole situation seemed to be false. One big lie. The way Sasuke took him from his bed in the middle of the night. The way he promised to do all sorts of naughty things to him. The blond blushed slightly at those thoughts. There was also this bracelet leach on his arm. The way Sasuke had talked it was like he planned to take him away from Konoha and never allow him to return. How did he feel about that? He should feel outraged and upset at the thought of losing his home and friends. He knew he would miss his friends for certain, but the village? Was it truly his home?

The blond mentally shook his head. These thoughts were thing he was not yet ready to deal with. Hs thoughts turned back to the Uchiha. Sasuke. Their bond only seemed to intensify since he return or rather was dragged back to the village. Then again just hours ago his raven friend did something that no one had been able to do before. Stop his mental attack. When the Uchiha had held him it felt like the weight that was crushing his chest lighten. Then there was the kiss. It was still quite fuzzy even to his own mind, but he was sure the raven had kissed him in order to feed him ramen. Though much of the attack was unfocused, one thing was transparently clear he had liked the tasted of the raven. It wasn't even the ramen flavor, it was something that could have only been the raven. It was addicting and that frightened him.

Even with everything the raven had said about wanting him sexually the he had never considered the raven in that context before. A rival and a friend sure, but a lover? What confused him even more was that his mind wasn't totally against that idea.

Did Sasuke love him? Love… such a foreign word. He had seen so many times before. Couple holding each in the most intimate of fashions, not even caring if the whole world was watching. He wanted to know what that felt like, what it taste like. The blond unconsciously licked his lips. His subconscious was searching for the taste of the raven on his lips but alas only the salty ramen flavor remained. His eyes widened at the action. Was he hoping Sasuke loved him?

He had been without to care for him for so many of his first years. Was he even capable to return the raven's love if that was what the Uchiha felt for him? Somewhere a voice in the back of his mind said 'yes'. Is it possible for him to love? He had already proven that. Thou it wasn't the same type of love, Iruka cared for him. Funny enough he even remembers having this conversation with himself before. It was before he meet Iruka. He wondered if it was possible for him to love or be loved by another. At the time he had no answer, but life intervened and gave him Iruka the first person to care for him, to love him like and father and son. Life gave him other people, his friends, Tsunde, Ero-sennin and many others. The question still remained, where is Sasuke's place. Do I love him like a brother or do I feel something else for him. This was becoming too difficult to deal with. The pressure in his chest was beginning to rise. Was he going to have another attack?

Fear started to overwhelm his senses. Then a pale hand was placed over his, stopping him from striking the flint. And as quickly as the pressure came it was gone.

Blue eyes looked up to meet onyx orbs. The blond let himself be pushed gently to the ground. The raven walked around behind the blond and sat down to. He pulled the smaller male into his lap, so that his chest was pushed into the younger's back. Taking the blonde's hands into his own the raven guided the hands together striking the flint. The sparked jump into the dye moss and immediately ignited.

The blond watched as the fire licked at the small braches in the pile. Slowly he turned his head so he could look the Uchiha in the eyes. The blond felt a warmth appear in his chest at the look in the raven's eyes. It was so rare to see those onyx orbs so open and unguarded.

The two faces seemed to be drawn closer together by some invisible force. They were startled out of their traces by a loud crackle of the fire. The blond turned his face away in embracement. Quickly he scooted out of the raven's lap and busied himself with adding more wood to the growing fire. A stray thought place through his mind. Is that what love feels like?

The raven mentally sighed to himself as he watched the blond add wood to the fire. He felt almost awkward with what had almost happened. Here he was about to kiss the blond, when earlier that same day he was worried that he had broken his clans traditions by mouth-to-mouth feeding the blond. What had just happen? It was like they were perfectly in sync with each other. The raven felt his chest warm. Was this what it felt like to love someone and have them return your love?

Both males sat around the fire quietly eating and they prepared there meals in silence as well except for quick argument in which the blond refused to eat the bunny the raven caught and made himself some ramen instead.

The rest of the time went by uneventfully. The silence remained even as they prepared their bedrolls for the night. The fire had dimmed and was now only red embers.

The two rolls were close to each other but not too close. They did want to share body heat but both were still awkward about earlier. They lay there in quiet for a while before the blond spoke.

"Sasuke…I know this mission is not what it seems…"the blond whispered softly. 'It has no real purpose and was never discussed before hand. It seems like it was only a reason to make me leave the village. I can't figure out how I should feel about that. In the past I might have brushed this off as just being paranoid but not now. I'm older now and I'm realizing the world was never the happy, carefree place I so desperately pretended it was. I know what true pain feels like. Once your eyes have been opened to it you can never close them again. It doesn't mean I wont try.'

The blond rolled on his side away from the raven and spoke words barely louder than a whisper. "I can't thank you yet. Not yet. Give me time then maybe... but not yet."

Silence was the only thing to follow and raven knew the blond did not want a response. To be honest with himself he wasn't surprise the blond saw through the whole mission scheme. Not that it was not believable enough. Such a thing would have fooled many a person. Just not Naruto. The blond was more perceptive then he led others to believe. The kitsune had always been that way, but before he had left to Orochimaru, that perceptiveness was seemingly ignored. It was like the blond refused to see the world for what it truly was. Filthy, corrupt, disgusting. After he was forcibly return to Konoha he noticed that the blond was no longer deluding himself. Of course the blue-eyed male still acted like the world was all sunshine and daisies, but to the Uchiha it was clear blond could see the harsh world as it truly was. True pain. That's what it took for the raven to see the world clearly. The massacre of his clan. The betrayal of his brother. These were his forms of true pain. Until recently he had wondered what form the blonde's true pain came in. Now he knew and that was the very reason is why he will keep the blond as far from that village as possible.

The two drifted off hoping for dreamless sleep. Let the troubles of the world be dealt with at a later time. For now they would take silent comfort in each other's presence.

TBC

A/N: Okay I know it's shorter than last chapter, but strangely enough I did get as many reviews consider the length of the pervious chapter. Anyway, like I said this chapter is shorter because I wanted you guys to have something to read. Also this seemed like a very good place to a 'TBC'. This chapter didn't have anything really exciting, sorry if I disappointed you. Next one should be more lively, but this chapter was important and gave a better look into Naruto's mind.

Please Review.

Yours truly, Spoon