Ojos Asi [[private -- nyrax]]

Sasuke shrugged, taking a bite of the tomato in his hand. "This is the first real fight you've had with her, isn't it?" The Uchiha asked, a little surprised. Maybe it was just him, or the chemistry between himself and Sakura, or just Sakura's position and relation to Tsunade, but the two of them had fought constantly when he returned. Sakura had no respect for him and he had to earn it back. It was probably why he loved her so much now. All she had done when he returned made him respect the woman she had grown to be, rather than the girl that begged him to stay the night he left. "I think that you shouldn't worry too much about it." He added. "Couples argue and you're not really used to being with her, and she's not used to being with you yet. It's a boundaries thing. You crossed one of hers, and you learned something, and I'm sure she did too."

"Yeah I suppose that you have a point," Kiba admitted as Sasuke explained about their relationship. He supposed that he had never looked at it that way before. This was just a learning experience that he and Akiko needed to get through. Kiba had crossed a line just as Akiko had, and now they would be able to avoid the problem in the future. "I guess I owe you one for this huh?" Kiba asked as he looked up towards the Uchiha.

"Not really. I'd say we're about even." Sasuke answered, glancing toward him. "I know that you're one of the people that tried to stop me from going with Orochimaru. So, if anything, I guess i still owe you." It was strange, for him to be around someone that he knew hated him and yet not care about it anymore. He'd earned the resentment of a lot of people, so this was just one of the many things he didn't understand about other people. Some people, like Kakashi, Sakura, and Shino were willing to forgive him, while others just pretended that he was a monster fated to kill.

Kiba listened for a moment before slowly shaking his head. "No, we all failed you on that mission. If anything we still owe you. Had we been able to bring you back, a lot of things might have been different," Kiba muttered as he looked up towards Sasuke. "I'm sorry," he finally said as he looked right at the Uchiha. "I've been holding you leaving against you for so long, I guess I was always just mad because it was a reminded of my own failure. I nearly died on that mission, nearly got Akamaru killed too. I was too weak to win," he admitted. "I held it all against you, and yet I never gave you credit for choosing to come back despite how hard things have been for you.......I'm sorry."

"I wouldn't have come back with you then." Sasuke told Kiba. "Orochimaru offerd me what I always wanted, the power to beat Itachi, and even though I knew my price was my body, I was willing to offer it to him, because he would never be able to have it. He wanted Itachi, but couldn't beat him. My goal had always been Itachi's life, so the fact I could kill him meant that I had already surpassed someone who had fought Itachi." He paused for a moment. "But killing Itachi started to seem less and less important as time went by. I realized that killing Itachi was what he wanted. He'd pushed me to gain power and to kill him, but I never saw the reason why." He shrugged his shoulders, looking uot the window, because he couldn't look at a person as he spoke these words.

The Uchiha took a deep breath. "Itachi's skill had always been my goal, and he was pushing me toward the same thing. But killing him won't bring my parents back, it won't make me a hero, and it won't give me closure. Sakura and Naruto made me realize that although I hate what Itachi's done, I can't change it. And killing him won't somehow make the village see me as a hero. They didn't see me as one for killing Orochimaru, and he murdered the Third Hokage. I suppose that, as a kid, I thought Orochimaru would offer me what I so greatly desired, but, I realized after killing him that I didn't really want to kill Itachi. Itachi wants me to kill him. I just want to move on, and live. I want to make Uchiha what it was before, and I think that's why Sakura and I had Shai so young." He chuckled. "We had to get an early start."

Kiba just listened in silence as Kiba explained the thought process that he originally had when he had first left. It wasn't something that Kiba could understand, because he had not gone through anything even remotely close to what Sasuke had been through. The Inuzuka didn't even say anything until Sasuke was done.

"I don't agree with everything that you've done, but it's obvious that you don't either. I guess I just know that I held it against you for a long time, and I felt like you were too quick to forgive yourself........I was wrong though," Kiba admitted as he looked towards Sasuke again. "You really have changed. You may still act like you used to sometimes, and I still think that you can be an arrogant bastard....but there's more to you now. There's a lot more to you than I thought."

Sasuke shrugged, a little amused by Kiba's opinion of him. "Well, I'm not the nicest guy Kiba,. I don't really trust very many people. Arrogance is a trait within Uchiha, and I don't care about what people think of me, and you shouldn't either. People like to talk and they like to start trouble. Being with Akiko, you should know that. I don't believe that you don't hear what people say about you, because I used to be one of those people. But, just forget it. There's more than you to I thought too."

Kiba gained a small smile as Sasuke brought up the fact about hearing what people said about either of them. Kiba remembered, he remembered it well. While he had originally been angered by all of it, he mostly just pushed it away now. Sasuke had probably been the same way when he returned. Sasuke wasn't the kind of person to turn a deaf ear to anything.

Kiba let out a smirk at Sasuke's last comment. "That so? I always thought you were one of the presidents of the Hate Kiba club," he said in a mostly joking tone.

Sasuke chuckled. "I wasn't allowed to attend meetings in Konoha. And the majority of the members in yours founded mine. If I would have gone, they'd have either poisoned me, or chased me out to kill me." The Uchiha joked. "And I would never want to be the president of a club. Although I'm good at being a leader, I've done a lot of it, so I think I'd rather do something else. I can lead my clan, but I'd never want to rule over anything of significant power. The stress would destroy my good looks."

"Oh but of course, believe me I have the same concern," Kiba said with his own chuckle as he messed with his hair for a moment. He was quiet for a little bit after that. "Do you think that I should try to give Akiko a call before we head out later today?" Kiba asked curiously. He wasn't really sure whether or not he should wait or something else. Sakura was gonna talk to Akiko, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to be mad at him anymore.

Sasuke shook his head. "No. Leave her alone. Trust me, you should just wait until you can talk to her face to face. That will go further than you calling her. She either won't pick up, or hang up when she finds out it's you. When Sakura and I fight, we usually just ignore one another for a few hours, and then make up after the fact. I'm not saying you and AKiko are like Sakura and I, but not calling her and being on a mission is better than calling her and making her even angrier. Let Sakura deal with it, and you can deal later, when we go home."

"Yeah, your right. I always talk like an idiot over the phone, I have no idea why," Kiba admitted. "I guess talking face to face is always better for this sort of thing. I should have just let it go and waited to talk to her when I got back," Kiba said as he looked at the ground. His mind was split too many ways, while focused on the mission he got too aggressive when he should have been calm and patient with Akiko. Now he had hurt her in a way that he hadn't intended.

It didn't change the fact that he caused her pain though.

Sasuke stood and walked over to the window. Sharingan activated and he stared outside for a while, focusing on different people and reading their lips. The rain had died down slightly and fewer people were outside. He assumed that the rain lessened when it was dark because the Akatsuki would be more likely to spot an intruder. They made the right choice sleeping and not making a move tonight. Their best bet seemed to be a move during the day. If they risked a move now, they were more likely to be spotted and killed.

"I think you worry too much about Akiko." Sasuke finally said after a long silence. "She can hold her own, and I think she's stronger than you give her credit for."

Kiba glanced up as Sasuke remarked that he worried too much about Akiko. "Well, she's stronger than me although she tries to pretend like she's not. I just want to be the man that she deserves," Kiba admitted. "She left her entire life behind in order to be with me in Konoha. She left and betrayed the only family that she ever had, even if Youki IS a giant asshole," Kiba pointed out. "She still did it for me, and I need to show her that I'm willing to do anything for her. All I want is her to be happy."

Sasuke chuckled, shaking his head. He leaned against the window and turned to face Kiba. "Marriage isn't all about happiness, Kiba." The Uchiha figured it would be nicer to explain this now then it would be later. "Sometimes, you have to do things that you never thought you'd do, or make a choice that you don't think you could ever make. I know she did a lot for you, but Sakura did much the same for me. She went against her parents will, her Sensei's, the Hokage, the village, to be with me. And she did it for us." He sighed.

"No one knew that we were even together until Sakura found out she was pregnant, then we really had no choice but to come clean about it. The same thing happened to you and Akiko, I think. Youki killed the baby. I didn't lose Shai, but I think that a child would have driven you and Akiko apart, whereas it made my marriage stronger. Akiko is still a child, which I think is something you forget. She is still a girl, and you need to realize that you can't always treat her like a woman, since that's not what she is."

Kiba let out a small annoyed sigh. It wasn't directed at Sasuke, just his situation in general. "It's hard to tell the difference sometimes. Akiko doesn't like it when I hold things back from her and so I guess I'm just used to telling her everything....almost everything," Kiba added quickly since Sasuke was the guy he was talking to. They had been discussing plans against Akira after all and Kiba never spoke about those to Akiko.

Sasuke wasn't sure what he would do in a situation like that one Kiba was in. Sakura was the type of woman that would kick his ass if he ever tried to keep something from her. "I'm not saying lie to her, Kiba, it's all in the way you treat her. You treat people differently depending on who they are to you. You treat your mom different then you treat Akiko, right? Well, use that principle. I think you need to make Akiko into two people, one of which is your mate and needs to know things between the two of you, and one is a girl that doesn't need to know everything."

"I guess that makes sense," Kiba muttered as he parted his hair back and forth. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to tell the difference between which way he was supposed to treat Akiko. Like how did he know when he should tell her everything versus when he shouldn't? It sounded like it was going to be challenging. Still, if it would make Akiko happy than it would be worth it.

"I'll have to give that a shot when I get home. Thank you Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded, showing that he understood. "You're welcome." He glanced out the window once more, watching the people who moved by. No one stood out from the crowd or seemed suspicious for what seemed like an hour. It wasn't until sharingan caught sight of a chakra, moving rather quickly through the area that Sasuke's eyes refocused. "Aaliyah..." He mumbled, knowing her movements well enough. He turned completely to look outside the window and found that he was right, it was her.

Quickly, the Uchiha glanced to Shino, making sure that he was still asleep. She was alive, and that news was good enough. "Don't tell Shino." Sasuke added when Kiba came to stand beside him at the window. "Something like this will fester, and he'll do anything to see her. It's too dangerous for him to try something like that here. We'll tell him she's okay when we're back in Konoha. Deal?"

As the next hour went on Kiba found himself drifting in and out of consciousness. He almost fell asleep but was able to bite his own lip or wake himself up before he fully drifted off. Thankfully he didn't need that once a certain name came from Sasuke's mouth. Aaliyah!? Kiba bolted upright and stood next to Sasuke at the window.

When the Uchiha gave his order Kiba's eyes widened. Not tell Shino that his fiance was here? That was insane! Surely he was going to find out about it! How was Kiba supposed to keep that from him!? However, the Inuzuka knew that Sasuke was right. "Alright, I know that you're right....but god I feel bad," Kiba remarked as he looked towards his sleeping friend. "Shino deserves to be with the woman he loves, it sucks that they still can't be together."

Sasuke nodded. He agreed that while it sucked that they couldn't be together, he wanted to make sure it didn't suck more by almost getting one of them killed. If Shino went looking for Aaliyah with this many people out to destroy Konoha around, she wasn't likely to live if she went back to Youki. The Uchiha knew better than anyone that those you loved could be quite easily used against you if an opportunity was to present itself. And he would hate to have that happen to Shino. He loved Aaliyah so much, and to have to ignore her and knowing put her endanger with this plan was something Sasuke couldn't risk.

He wanted to protect Shino and Aaliyah, and them not knowing about the other was the ideal. "Guilt is a sign that you care. We both feel guilty, but the last thing Shino needs when he's this insecure about being mission leader is something to distract him. Especially when it's someone who means more to him then being a shinobi."

"You're right, but it still sucks. I wish you hadn't of told me.....but I promise I'll keep my mouth shut. Shino has enough to focus on as it is," Kiba admitted as he looked towards the form of his sleeping friend. Kiba was going to feel terrible about this later, but he knew that it was the best thing that they could do for him right now. "Shino wants her free more anything, you're right that he can't know. There's no telling what kind of a stunt he might pull in the hopes of talking to her."

Somehow, Sasuke couldn't picture Shino taking Aaliyah. Perhaps it was just his perception of Shino and his relationship with Aaliyah, but he didn't seem that gutsy to come out and try to steal her away from this mission. But, Shino loved her, so Sasuke supposed he couldn't just count him out. But he smiled. "I feel guilty too, but think of this as protecting them."

"Right right right, protecting him," Kiba muttered as he moved back down to sit in his chair. He still didn't feel right about it, but he was sure that Sasuke was right that keeping it from Shino was the best decision. "About how much longer until I can wake Suigetsu up for his shift? I feel like I've been away for thirty hours straight."

"You can go to sleep. I can stay up for a little longer." Sasuke said, glancing back at him. "When I lead my own team, I was awake the longest." And, with Shai, it was really no surprise that Sasuke was used to sleeping for only short periods of time and was able to function quite well with little sleep. It had been that way for him since after Itachi abandoned Konoha.