Hello there my babies! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas if you celebrate! As always, sorry for the delay, but at least it's here now!

Now, a couple of important details to note - 1) I realise that an author's style often changes as they go through a story, so if you see something different, it's most likely due to that. If you don't like it, drop me a line and I'll try to change it next time. 2) This chapter is where it starts sort-of following canon again/becoming a bit more focused around canonical events. Because I think you all roughly know the events of the beginning of Shippuden, don't be surprised if some parts appear rushed/not too detailed in explanation. Those will simply be the parts that are very much canon-compliant. 3) Yes, Akatsuki will have a minor part here. 4) Sakura is now going to focus quite a bit on her initial goal, now that the 'become ANBU pronto' has been accomplished - A.K.A; find out more about/avenge her father. 5) The last section (after the 9th linebreak) is a minor - very, very minor - yaoi scene. If that's not your cup of tea, feel free to skip that part.

Anyway, thanks for the response for the last chapter, and, without further ado,

ENJOY!

"There's been word from Gaara that claims that Kaoru left the day after he arrived, which meant that he should've been back four days after he left. That means that whatever happened to him, happened on the road." Sakura paced back and forth in their dorm in the ANBU HQ, her teammates plus a silent, sullen Akane sitting on the bunks. "But that doesn't make sense. The road from Suna to Konoha is an often frequented one, and the alliance between the Villages should keep any thieves or rogue-nins well away."

"I don't know what to tell you, Sakura-chan." Haichi murmured, understanding the gravity of the situation yet feeling unusually helpless. "The Hokage made it clear that we are not allowed to scout to see if we could find out what happened, or, if, indeed anything happened." He explained, which earned him a sharp glance from the redhead.

"What do you mean 'if' something happened? Obviously something happened! He is a highly capable ninja and there is nothing that could've gotten him so shaken up that he would not be able to find his way home! No petty thief or rogue could get in his way, trust me." Akane snapped, glaring at the older brunette.

"Is that 'nothing' the reason why you won't speak his name?" Yugao inquired, eyes narrowed and trained on the redhead, not buying his explanation.

But now, Akane was angry. "My conduct with hi- Kaoru- has nothing to do with his disappearance, you hear me? Nothing!" he snarled, green eyes wide with rage and fear.

"Please refrain from shouting at my teammates, Akane." Sakura murmured distractedly, eyes trained on Neji's, the duo engaged in silent conversation, with the rosette wordlessly willing him to follow her train of thought. She saw the moment he remembered, his eyes going wide with the memory, a frown pinching his brows – 'no… you don't think that…?' Sakura nodded in response. She did.

"Kaoru is your teammate too!" Akane yelled, turning his anger at the rosette. "Just because you've the emotional capacity of a teaspoon doesn't mean everyone else does, too!"

"Was." Sakura, paying no heed to the jest at her apparent detachment, replied quietly. So quietly, in fact, that it temporarily threw Akane out of his rage mode. "What?" He asked. "He was my teammate." The rosette clarified, eyes blank. "He lost the privilege to be called that three years ago." Silence greeted her words, the unspoken – 'as did you' ringing clear in the air between them. "But he is still a close friend of mine and as such I would not wish to see him hurt, by whoever's volition."

Akane's eyes narrowed. "What are you implying? That he would willingly hurt himself?!" he accused.

"I'm not implying anything." Sakura tried to explain. "I'm merely saying-!"

"You ought to calm down, Satoshi, and listen to what we have to say." Neji cut in, the glare in his lilac eyes somehow enough to temporarily silence the redhead. "Before, Sakura and I were wondering if this is perhaps the same type of thing that happened to us on Sakura's induction mission into ANBU." He paused, waiting for Yugao and Haichi to catch up to what he was referring to, and when they did, Sakura continued the story.

"A man named Takao, a civilian, in fact, held a grudge against all shinobi for the fate of his old village – he kidnapped me, Neji, Shikamaru Nara and a then-chunin named Uruha, merely for the reason that we were shinobi. He enjoyed making ninja suffer in the way that he had, and he would've killed us or kept us imprisoned till we would eventually perish anyway for a years-old grudge. He had no M.O. other than if you were a shinobi, he would get you." She paused to breathe, phantom wounds from her time in Takao's dungeon throbbing dully. "Neji had taken out Takao, but I sincerely doubt he was the only one of that kind of men. If something of that sort happened to Kaoru… well…" she trailed off, unwilling to finish that train of thought out loud; then he is as good as dead.

Akane didn't speak while the information sunk in, and even after, it took him a couple of tries to get his voice working properly. "You are underestimating him." He finally murmured.

Sakura felt a twinge of sympathy for the redhead. "Akane, I know how highly you think of him, but even he would not-!"

"You don't understand!" Akane exclaimed, cutting her off. "None of you do. It's not that I think, or hope that he can cope or manage everything – I know he can." He paused, making sure she knew he was serious. "You do not realise how far his genjutsu has come in the last three years. Or, to be honest, I doubt you're aware of the extent it was at before we even left." At that, Sakura tried very hard to convince herself that it was not her who should feel guilty about that fact. Only Neji's reassuring presence beside her helped. "It's so far, far from illusion now that calling it as that is an insult to his skill." He smirked at her curious expression. "Do you happen to know that Kaoru had been inside your mind, without your knowledge?"

At that, Sakura paled. Her mind was the one place nobody else had access to; it was hers, her own, under her control! Akane must've seen her expression as he tried to comfort her. "Don't worry – he didn't see anything. I believe he said that your mind is even better guarded than your body, almost as if it's a separate entity controlling it." Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. Inner. She realised with some surprise. "But recognise that that was before the chunin exams. At that time, it was a jutsu in progress, his own creation. Over time, he'd perfected it, honed it into an art. He can make literally anyone do his bidding, with the smallest amount of effort from him." He paused, letting her understand the gravity of what his words meant. "Sakura. Understand this; there is nobody who is capable of making him do something he doesn't want to. Yes, the jutsu is taxing, but it's a fool-proof defence."

Silence reigned after that explanation, before Haichi released an awed whistle. "Damn your genin team really didn't mess about, did you?" he asked with a chuckle.

Yugao, on the other hand, failed to see the humour of the situation. "Is that possible?" she hissed at Haichi. "Can something like that actually be accomplished?"

The raven took a moment to consider her thoughtfully before he replied. "Well, I had heard of a similar feat being accomplished a handful of times, but that was mostly during wars. The Uchiha's Tsukuyomi or the Yamanaka's Mind-Body Transmission Technique use a similar concept, but both require either physical or eye contact which can be fairly restricting. However, this… were it to get into the wrong hands… I fear what would happen." He turned his attention to Akane. "From how you speak of it, it sounds like it is solely his. That there is no scroll detailing it, no written form. Am I correct?" he asked, his rarely-seen serious side shining through. At Akane's nod, he grinned. "Good. Make sure it stays that way." He instructed, then turned to his purple haired teammate. "Seems like we got nothing to worry about, eh?" Yugao sighed and shook her head in an exasperated manner, but she looked visibly relieved.

"Then… I think it is as you said initially." Akane murmured, referring to Hiachi's earlier comment about the nature of Kaoru's disappearance. "He really did leave willingly."

"Most likely." Sakura agreed, but didn't stop there. "But if there's anything I know about Kaoru, it's that he loves you, Akane." All but Neji turned to face her, surprised at the rosette's bold statement. "He will come back, eventually. Your job now is to go away and figure out if you reciprocate or not. You owe him as much."

"That's… actually useful advice." The redhead observed, slightly shocked. "Thank you… Sakura-chan."

On his way out, he stopped by Neji, who, till then, had been leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest. At Akane's approach the Hyuuga straightened, eyes sharp. "Maybe… you really have been good for her." The redhead mused thoughtfully. He made a move as if to slap the teen on the back, but decided against it, settling instead for a quiet, "Thanks, Hyuuga." And he walked out of the HQ.

The four left in the room stared after him, mixed levels of surprise evident on their faces till Sakura broke the silence. "Who would've thought that Akane would be the one to get over himself first? Hm." She murmured, voice filled with an undertone of quiet awe.

"Who would've thought you would be so good at love advice, eh, Sakura-hime?" Haichi teased, his customary grin back on. But Sakura merely smiled at him, and didn't comment.

That same night, when she was lying on her futon next to Neji, her gaze trained on the ceiling above them, she thought about something that had been bugging her since the day when she first learned of the nature of their relationship. "Do you think they really love each other?" she murmured to Neji, somehow knowing that the teen wasn't asleep yet. Silence settled between them again, and it remained for so long that she worried she'd misjudged and he really was asleep.

But then, Neji spoke. "Yes." He replied, just as quietly as her. "But not for the first time, I think they're too blind to notice." He paused. "Or rather, they were too blind. Funny that it took one of them disappearing for the other to realise that he loves him." He turned his head to face her, and smiled. "Does that remind you of anyone?"

Sakura knew perfectly well to who he was referring, and was grateful for the cover of the night because the smile that blossomed on her face was more 'sappy' that amused, and that was a side of her she was not quite ready to deal with just yet. "I have no idea of whom you speak of." She replied, and her smile grew when she felt the futon next to her shake with Neji's quiet laughter.

"Perhaps not yet." He murmured back, voice laced with amusement. "Guess I'll have to put more effort into showing you exactly who I mean."

This time it was Sakura's turn to laugh. "How about you put more effort into shutting up and going to sleep, eh, Hyuuga?" she teased.

"As you wish, Sakura-hime." He replied, playing along. Yet that didn't stop his arm from seeking her out and pulling her to his chest so he could prop his chin on her head. Sakura had a teasing retort ready on the tip of her tongue, but the sudden comfort of another's warmth and Neji's careful touch made her sleepy, so instead she just whispered; "Good night, Neji-chan." And was asleep before she even heard him give a response.

The next morning found all four of them in the Hokage's office, being subjected to an unusually stern – and sober – gaze of the woman.

"As you are probably aware, the Kazekage was kidnapped a few days ago, and his brother was left poisoned." Tsunade began, her tone matter-of-factly, yet Sakura did a double-take. The Kazekage had been WHAT?! Echoed in her mind. She knew, of course, that the Jinchuuriki of the One-Tails whom she had encountered during the chunin exams had become Kazekage, but even when she was a genin, he was a force to be reckoned with. How did someone manage to cause him any harm three years later when he was apparently strong enough to assume the position of a Kage?! She shot a baffled look at Neji, but he merely nodded. So even he knew? Had she really been so absorbed in her own doings that she had missed what was apparently well-known news? She struggled to focus on the Hokage's next words.

"-Fret not, I have already sent my apprentice to deal with the poisoning of Gaara's brother a few days earlier, as well as reinforcements in the form of Team Gai." Sakura felt more than saw Neji twitch at that. "But I have recently received a message that describes an Uchiha Itachi doppelgänger which proves the suspicion that the Akatsuki is involved in this. And in that case, sending Naruto on a retrieval mission has led him straight into their waiting arms." She paused, meeting their eyes, taking a breath before announcing the exact reason for their presence. "There is a reason I called this particular team in." she began. "In a straight-line path, they are marginally less than two days' travel ahead of you." Her gaze met Sakura's. "I need you to catch up with them. Try to stay on the side-lines as long as you can, but protect Naruto. We cannot allow him to get into their hands." Once more, she took a deep breath. "Do not, I repeat, do not engage in direct combat unless it is absolutely necessary. There is a Suna Elder and two jounin present, one of whom is Hatake Kakashi, and the rest are chunin and genin, in Naruto's case. Keep the lower ranks away from the battle if you can. Especially Naruto."

"Will Kakashi-san be notified of our approach?" Yugao asked.

"I have told Hatake that I will send a back-up ANBU team should things go south. He will expect you." Tsunade replied.

"Is there anything else we should know, Tsunade-sama?" Neji inquired quietly.

Tsunade sighed, seemingly debating whether to share her information with them or not. "One of the men who kidnapped Gaara is believed to be Akasuna no Sasori." She begun. "The Elder assisting the retrieval team happens to be his grandmother." She paused. "I do not know how deep her attachment to him lies, however, she will no doubt remember him as he was, not as who he became. Try to keep that in mind." Sakura sighed inwardly. What was it with Hokage and euphemisms? Why can they not just give clear instructions? But she bowed nonetheless, accepting the mission scroll, and then her team shunshined out of the office.

An hour later found them running through the forests outside of Konohagakure, packed and ready for battle, should one take place. Haichi had quickly realised that her and Neji's knowledge of Akatsuki was curiously limited, and took it as his job to fill them in; supposed goal, known members, hideouts, etc. With her new knowledge in mind, Sakura struggled to see the logic in sending the Kyuubi jinchuuriki as part of the retrieval team in the first place. As Tsunade herself had said, wasn't that just playing right into their hands? But she remained silent. Questioning one's authorities was frowned upon, even with the added benefit of the position of ANBU. It was a lesson she learnt with time under Ibiki's short but memorable guardianship, and she thought back to her time with the Third, and how open she'd been about criticising him. She chuckled quietly, and action which drew Neji's gaze, but she waved him off. When they stopped to take a quick break, she consulted her trusted Bingo Book, and sure enough, Akasuna no Sasori was in the S-Ranked section, and the more she read the more she prayed that they would get there before any type of battle would ensue – she was surrounded by dozens of powerful ninja each day, but the things Akasuna no Sasori had gotten up to… she was awed.

Was this what it meant to be exceptional?

"No, that's what it is like when you're a monster."Neji murmured close to her ear, alerting her to the fact that she must've spoken that last part out loud. "Truly, Sakura, don't tell me you respect what he'd done?" there was just a slight note of disbelief in the Hyuuga's voice, but it was enough to make her feel guilty about her earlier awe.

"Respect, no." she defended. "But wariness? Oh, yes. He is but one of an unknown number of ninja, all of whom target jinchuuriki, one of which we have in our own Village. Should an invasion occur… I shudder to think of the devastation that would take place."

"Do not be so hasty to throw away the talent inside of our Village, Sakura." He chastised. "Logically, it would not make sense to keep more than a dozen of ninja like him," he pointed at Sasori's entry. "In one place at the same time. The more power you have, the less willing you are to obey orders. Uprisings would be bound to happen, blood spilled. And Konoha can handle twelve rogue nins."

"Even if one of them is Uchiha Itachi?" she questioned.

"Especially if one of them is Uchiha Itachi, Sakura."

"I can only hope you're right, should we ever find ourselves in that situation."

They stared at each other for a while, until Hiachi's cheerful call broke them apart. "Breaktime's over kiddies! Time to move!"

By the time they arrived at the place Tsunade instructed, Sakura couldn't help the feeling that they were considerably out of their depth with this one – the wall of pure stone that had guarded the cage was smashed and crumbled, and it appeared as if a battle was taking place inside. Sakura wordlessly instructed Hiachi to go check it out while her and the other two waited for him to get back. Once he returned, Sakura's stomach churned at the look of grim determination on his face.

"It looks like we're not too late. The destruction inside is moderate and from what I heard, right now it's mostly trash talk and guilt tripping." He reported.

"Who's inside?" Neji inquired.

"The puppet master, and he's facing Tsunade's apprentice and Chiyo-baasama." Hiachi replied.

Sakura couldn't help the quiet snort. "The man is renowned for his puppetry, is a part of the most dangerous organisation of missing nin and has killed the Third Kazekage, but Hatake assigns a chunin and a grandma to deal with him?!" she muttered, incredulous. Hiachi snorted, but Neji shot her a stern gaze.

"Keep in mind that maybe something forced that decision. I cannot sense Tenten's chakra anywhere. Or Lee's. Perhaps they got stalled too." He murmured, and Sakura felt a pinch of guilt at his obviously worried tone.

"Regardless, that means Kakashi and the jinchuuriki took on Sasori's partner, the bomber kid." She mused, then gasped quietly. "That's not a good match."

"We have reason to believe he's sensitive to genjutsu." Haichi explained, voice defeated. "So I'm useless."

"According to the reports, it's hard to get anywhere close to him. Kid throws explosives like they're candy." Yugao muttered, her tone of voice making her irritation clear.

"I recommend we split up, then." Neji offered, eyes sharp. "Me and Oyamaneko-san take the bomber, you two go and help out with the puppet-master." He turned to Sakura, masked face expressionless, but she knew he was seeking approval. She nodded, granting it.

"That makes sense. Meet back here when the imminent threat has been eliminated." She ordered, met by a quiet chorus of 'hai!'s, before they split up and her and Neji turned to chase the sounds of explosives.

There was something oddly beautiful in the explosions that the bomber rained down as Hatake and Naruto chased him, Sakura thought belatedly, then dismissed the thought, though she couldn't help but wonder why she was suddenly finding the jutsu of their enemies so fascinating. Probably nothing good.

She watched in mild amusement as the blond repeatedly tried to separate the jinchuuriki from his sensei, failing each time. Yet she couldn't quite mask her wince as Hatake's jutsu caused the bomber's entire arm to be torn off. Yet he still managed to seem like he could pose a threat and Sakura was envious of that. Not only that, he had achieved his goal – the Kyuubi chased after him, pummelling him into the ground. Sakura would never admit, but she missed the moment he'd switched with the clone, only thing she knew was that it sent the kyuubi on a rampage and she watched, awed and petrified, as he became more beast than man, reverting onto all-fours, his whisker-like marks growing, and the form of pure chakra that enveloped him sprouting what looked like a tail. "Is this how the kyuubi manifests?" she murmured to Neji, but he merely shrugged, yet the focused air around him let her know that he was concentrating on something else.

"He's hiding." Neji murmured as the jinchuuriki got far enough away that he would not overhear. "Close by. If you wish, we could try to ambush him, see if he has any valuable information."

Ambush him?! Sakura wanted to laugh. Ambush the man who, even decapitated, managed to escape the Copy-nin and hide so well? But then, she realised something else.

He was part of the Akatsuki.

As was Itachi Uchiha.

And Orochimaru. Her mind added.

This was it.

This was her chance to learn. To make it all right.

To avenge her father, and to see if she stood any chance, any at all, against the Uchiha, who for so long had filled the place of her motivation.

She smirked behind her mask.

"Let's do it."

Kakashi had sensed their back-up tailing them once the imminent threat of the kyuubi taking over was diminished, and Naruto became preoccupied with Gaara. He also knew, thanks to Hikari, that her and Chiyo had also been aided by the ANBU, yet, according to his student, the Black-Ops spent more time disposing of the body than helping out during the battle, other than to step in when her or Chiyo faltered.

Intrigued, he ventured into the forest to see if the two that had been tailing him and Naruto had found the Iwa-nin. He expected to find them scouting the area, or engaged in combat. What he did not expect to find – (by accident, as all chakra signatures had been painstakingly masked) – was the Iwa-nin tied to a tree with chakra ropes, a kunai at his throat and a chakra-encased hand rested carefully over his heart, the threat of it clear; one false move and the Iwa-nin would be dead. But what surprised him the most by far was the short figure in front of the missing-nin, kunai digging mercilessly into his throat, hissing what sounded like questions in his face.

The intrigue had turned into concern; it was not common practice to interrogate captured ninja on the battlefield. In fact, doing so when not instructed by one's superiors was directly breaking protocol. A small sample of chakra to his eardrums allowed him to confirm his suspicions.

"-you will tell me where I can find him. You have no reason to resist. I either kill you quickly after you give me what I want, or I hand you over to the T&I department and let them have their fun with you. I'll even tell them to make it artistic, especially for you; I'm sure they will enjoy painting the walls with your blood."

Kakashi froze, eyes wide.

Yet the bomber merely laughed. "Sasori Danna would've liked you, un." Was his only comment, though he appeared to wince when the kunai dug dangerously deep into his throat. "Although I will tell you where to find the Uchiha, merely so I can see how he handles you." He smirked, and Kakashi suddenly had a very bad feeling. "Amegakure." And the second the word left the missing-nin's lips, he began to expand, parts of his body blowing up to ridiculous proportions, his chakra seeping out of him like somebody had left the water running on full. Kakashi had seen enough. He turned tail and shunshined to where he'd left his students, grabbing Gaara and yelling at them all to get out of there.

He did not turn to see if the ANBU followed.

Sakura had never tried to run out an explosion.

She was not sure if she would like the result.

As such, she was eternally grateful when Neji, having had Byakugan activated, had seen the beginning of the explosion before it actually had time to form, and had grabbed her and shunshin'ed them both out of the immediate path of the blast, and back to the agreed meeting place. Yugao and Haichi were already waiting for them, both wearing equally shocked expressions as they regarded the blast that the bomber had left in his wake.

"Damn." Haichi whistled quietly, but it very quickly turned into an exclamation as Neji suddenly collapsed, and Sakura was reminded that he was not used to being the one to initiate a long-distance shunshin. She knelt by him, ready to offer comfort, but he waved her off.

"Do you think he's dead?" Sakura murmured instead, but Neji shook his head.

"No." he gasped out. "I felt him relocate before he initiated that explosion. No doubt underground."

Sakura nodded, then turned to the duo. "Could you describe the way he was fighting please?" she requested.

Yugao and Haichi shot each other a look. "Well, Yugao seems to have a theory-" Haichi started, only to be interrupted by the kunoichi's hiss. "Alright, alright!" he conceded. "She thinks that the puppet-master allowed himself to be killed." He turned to his partner. "Because that doesn't sound absolutely ridiculous." He jested good-naturedly.

"On the contrary." Neji replied, drawing their attention onto himself. "That seems to be quite a sensible theory." When all he received was incredulous silence, he continued. "You don't honestly think that a chuunin could take on an S-Rank missing-nin and win, do you?"

At that, they fell into silence, till Yugao broke it. "Regardless, there's no point in analysing that now. One is dead, the other highly incapacitated. The direct threat to the jinchuuriki's wellbeing has been destroyed for the time being, therefore our mission as back-up is complete."

It was Sakura's time to shoot Neji a look. For them, the mission had only just begun. Still, they fell easily into formation, eager to return home, while one word kept echoing in Sakura's head, a satisfied smirk slowly forming on her face.

"Amegakure."

Meanwhile

Akane sat on the couch in the Yuhi's apartment, which, over the years had become his second home, book in his lap and a throw blanket placed comfortably over his feet, his glasses slipping slightly down his nose. Admittedly, he felt better after the talk he'd had with Sakura's team and the mental categorising and internal DTR that followed; he only hoped that Kaoru would give him a chance to explain himself, should he return. He sighed, chasing away the melancholy and regret for the nth time that day. He'll just have to wait and see.

There was a sudden knock on the door but he ignored it. Whoever was there was probably for Kaoru's mother as Sakura was not in habit of knocking, he and Kaoru had their own apartment, and any chunin coming with a mission for him would come through the window. Still, the knocking persisted, and his patience snapped.

He marched to the door and wrenched it open, "Kiyoshi is not at home at the moment so feel free to come back tomorrow. Thank you and goodbye." he recited without looking up and was about to shut the door in the stranger's face when a familiar voice stopped him.

"I'm glad I'm not here to see Kiyoshi then."

Akane froze, his heart losing rhythm. Slowly, he looked up, eyes wide and disbelieving. "K-Kaoru?" he stammered, unsure. The brunette's smile was as coy as it had been when they were genin, his hands laced behind his back to minimize his fidgeting.

"Hey." he replied quietly. "May I come in?"

Numbly, Akane stepped to the side, ignoring the irony of the situation, eyes trailing after the brunette, trying to drink him in, in case this turns out to be a dream. He followed the other boy to the living room and stood on front of him while he made himself comfortable on his sofa, his presence familiar and seemingly dearly missed by the furniture as the sofa appeared to near sag once he was seated. "Are you not going to sit?" the brunette enquired. Working on auto-pilot, Akane drew himself a chair and straddled it, facing the other boy, the back of the chair acting as a physical barrier between them.

A few minutes of silence lapsed between them and Akane was growing anxious, starting to pick at the wood of the chair, eyes refusing to meet Kaoru's.

"So." the brunette began, startling the other.

"So..." Akane echoed, considerably quieter, trailing off.

"I wanted to apologise." Kaoru stated.

Akane gawked. "I'm sorry?" he exclaimed, not quite believing that he'd really heard what he thought.

"I said I wanted to -"

"No, I got that!" Akane clarified, waving the other off. "Just- just- whatever for?!"

Kaoru blinked, puzzled. "For?" it took a moment to dawn on him and when it did, Akane saw that painfully familiar look of 'oh-my-god-you're-an-idiot' that he was used to. "For the fact that it was wrong of me to assume that whatever this" here he waved a hand vaguely gesturing between himself and Akane. "thing between us is, it's the same on both sides. I knew that we were due for some serious DTR but I ignored that in favour of overreacting. And for that I'm sorry."

Akane was suddenly seized with the realisation of how damn lucky he was to be able to call this man his friend. "If you call what you did overreacting then I'm going to Wave Country to throw myself off a cliff." he murmured, surprising a laugh out of the solemn brunette, followed by a quiet but sincere 'please don't'.
"No, but seriously, Kaoru. If anyone here should be apologising, it should be me and only me. I... I don't know what came over me. I mean... I too thought we were due for some DTR because even after three years of being together I still don't actually know what 'together' actually means for us. And... I think that I'd like to. Know, that is. Because, you're important. And the last two weeks have been... Have been..."

"Hell?" his partner offered, and Akane belatedly realised that they were both standing now and less than a foot apart at that. "Yeah." he replied, his voice a mere whisper.

"Good." Kaoru replied, and the redhead could feel his breath puff against his skin. "Then you know what it had been like for me."

And whatever else that Akane might've said in response to that confession was swallowed up by the brunette's lips on his, soft and oh so deliciously familiar.

Later, when they lay on bed, Akane's head cushioned on the brunette's chest, he couldn't quite get rid of the niggling thought that plagued him; "So... We're good now, right?" he asked hesitantly.

Kaoru chuckled. "Yes, we are. Yes, Akane, we're good now."

"Alright, good, good. That's good, that's..." he trailed off, tilting his head up to gaze at Kaoru, a curious glint in his eye. "I just can't help wondering...what are we now, Kaoru?"

The brunette made an exasperated noise, though Akane didn't think he was annoyed. "You still wanna DTR?" he asked.

"Well… yeah. If you don't mind." The redhead replied hesitantly, fingers picking at the threads of the blanket. Surprisingly, Kaoru merely sighed, but sat up, back propped up against the headboard. "Alright." The brunette began. "So, you want to know what we are." He waited for Akane's nod before he continued. "We can be whatever you want us to be."

Akane was torn between utter gratefulness and amusement at the corny, cliché statement. Still, he reasoned he could laugh at the other boy later. "Um…" he started eloquently. "I wouldn't be too averse to, uhm, boyfriends?" though it was meant to sound confident and blasé, it still sounded like a question, and Akane felt his cheeks burn.

To his surprise, Kaoru merely chuckled and slid back down the headboard. "Alright." He agreed cheerfully. "Boyfriends it is. Now shut up and sleep."

At that, Akane just had to laugh.

Things were back to normal. Or, maybe even better than normal, he thought happily.

Well, here we are!

It's done!

Due to popular demand, I decided to try and extend this story in accordance with canon events, so we'll see how that plays out.

As always, if you have any pointers or ideas you'd like to see included in the story, don't hesitate to REVIEW or PM me your thoughts :)

Thanks a lot for reading, take care, and REVIEW!:)

Love,

I.S