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Thank you, and I hope you enjoy!
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The ring of the alarm woke him from a dreamy haze. He stumbled lazily from the sty in which he had entangled himself during the night. He haphazardly trotted to the restroom, stubbing a toe on the way and yelling viciously at the drawer which seemed to hold just a small nugget of contempt for the golden haired teen. After relieving himself Naruto's stomach moaned in agony for not having been fed in hours.
"That's right, after what happened at the restaurant last night, I kinda left in a hurry. Looks like instant ramen for me today"
The young man stripped the cellophane roughly from the container, having memorized the instructions on the box there was no need to take a second look at the discarded plastic. As he sat, waiting for the water he'd set on the stove to boil, images from the dream he'd been stolen from flashed before his eyes. The content of his drams from the night before were different then what he usually saw. There were kind smiles on happy faces, cheers, and embracing hugs. There was a brilliant sun in its mid noon stride as he laughed playfully with his friends, no, with his family.
Naruto saw this particular dream as a reward for himself, a reward for withstanding the agony which crept into his mind during every other nights sleep. It was rare that Naruto woke from his sleep peacefully, most nights almost always ended with him realizing that the screams he heard were not from the forms which occupied his sleep, but rather, they were emanating from his own mouth. A testament to what had been done to him, what had been done to them.
He quickly shook the less enticing of his thoughts from his head, in order to maintain the good one's he had seen only moments earlier. Ding! He jumped from his seat in the small cramped kitchen, the noise from the timer he'd set startled him, he blushed at himself only momentarily. "Stupid timer, always ruining any moments I have to myself." Naruto hungrily slurped down the cheap ramen he had become accustomed too. As he ate he looked from his left, to his right, graciously appraising the small apartment he called home. It may not have been much, but it was his, and he intended to keep it that way.
Putting his utensils in the sink to be washed at a later date, Naruto looked slyly at the clock hung just above the doorway of the apartment. "Whew, I still have an hour. Thank god, if I would have been late, Kakshi-sensei would have killed me!" At the very moment he uttered those words he felt the softest breeze of air pass over his taught and unwashed skin. Though he didn't know where it was coming from, he could feel the eyes tracing the curves of his body, waiting to spring in attack. He crouched ever so slightly, reaching over the kitchen table for an object which looked like a kunai, but in reality was a dull butter knife he had used to stir his ramen from before. He glanced at it and winced, "better than nothing" as he prepared for the attack, a knock lightly rapped at the door.
"Who is it?" he managed to whisper through clenched teeth.
"Baka! Who do you think it is? The only one who would come and remind you every day that your clock's batteries have been dead for a month and you are late for training, again!"
Naruto noted that even though he could not see his teammate through the door, he knew that if Sakura's looks could kill, he would have been dead long ago. As he walked silently to the door with his head hung low, he breathed a very small "Thank you" to the door which held the very agitated teen away from him.
"Good morning Sakura-chan! Sorry about being la..."
In his nervousness at having to deal with an enraged Sakura, Naruto had failed to notice that she was not alone. Next to the pink haired girl stood the third and fourth member's of team seven. One looking apathetic as usual, the other with, well, Naruto couldn't really tell, that damned blue mask covered most of his teacher's face, making it near impossible to know what the pervert was thinking. But as his sensei gave Naruto a once over, Naruto inwardly thought "Thank god for small blessings, the kind that come in blue…"
"Ohayo" Kakashi said with that bitter sweet tone of a smirk hidden on his face. "Good morning Kakashi-sensei, sorry about being late again, it was just my clock was all messed up and then there was this dream. You were there and so was Sakura and…"
Naruto stopped dead in the middle of his last sentence, fearing he had inadvertently said more then he meant to. It didn't matter that he was there, it didn't matter what he said, or what he did. He's still an ass, Naruto thought inwardly. "Anyway sorry again, I'll be ready in just a minute!"
"What no hello for me?" The Uchiha knew the blond was keeping more to himself than usual, so just to toy with the boy he put on the act of a bereaved friend. "You always say hello to them Naruto, but never me, have I not been your teammate for just as long? You really hurt me Naruto, I don't know if I can take it anymore" the Uchiha whimpered.
"Sasuke, I didn't realize you felt that way, I'm…I'm…sorry." And Naruto was sincere, that's what bothered him the most, even if Sasuke was an ass, Naruto wasn't trying to be mean, or was he?
"I don't really care, the fact that I can break you down so quickly is a great perk though" the raven haired boy chuckled, not so silently to himself, as he watched the tanned golden skin of his teammate turn to a wonderful shade of blood red. "Sasuke you bastard! That's the last time I ever say sorry to you! You think you're so cool, but really you're just a jerk. Why did we have to be paired together at all, and you know what? I should have left you there"
At this Kakashi's face grew stern, and at the same moment a shriek of anger erupted from the pink haired girl who had stood more or less quite through the boy's exchanging of words. "Naruto, how dare you say that, you know you wanted him back here just as much as everyone else. And wasn't it you who tried harder than the rest of us to see him home safely? Be more respectful, you wonder why the village still refers to you as a child rather than a young man!"
Naruto's sheepish gaze fell to the floor as he took Sakura's words to heart. Wasn't it true that he had wanted the raven back just as much as everyone else? Granted he was an ass, and a jerk, and all the other names Naruto knew he was, but couldn't exactly call to mind. He blushed and looked back at a smirking sensei, a huffing female, and a despondent black haired teammate. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. It's just…" "Whatever, forget it dobe, I'm tired of standing here. Get your stuff and let's go."
Naruto sprung back to his foolish self and plastered on that huge grin, and with an approving nod from his teacher and teammate's he set about to get dressed and be off. Kakashi gave a curt nod, and said "See you all there!" and with that the masked man had vanished. Sakura let go of the clenched fist in her hand, smiled and waved adding, "Sasuke, make sure he doesn't take very long, I'll see you two there!" and with that the young woman had also ran off to the training fields, leaving only the two boys.
"So can I come in?" Sasuke asked indifferently. "Sure, have a seat; I'll be back in just a minute." As Naruto turned to walk back to his room he glanced a smirk coming off the Uchiha's face, the same one from his dream the night before. "I knew you would say sorry again…" Sasuke almost hissed adding a "dobe" just for effect. "Uchiha bastard! I knew you were faking; I'm taking my apology back! That one doesn't count." panted the extremely agitated Naruto. "Too late, you already said it, now hurry up, you've wasted enough of my time" and with that Sasuke took a seat on the blonds tattered couch and began to flip through whatever magazine laying on the coffee table caught his fancy. Naruto simply skulked back to his room, mumbling something about bastards and deserving something or other. Sasuke simply grinned.
Naruto thrashed about his room, cursing the Uchiha under his breathe, when he heard an uncharacteristic noise coming from the den of his apartment. Naruto stilled, straining his ears towards the doorway which led to the den of his apartment. "Naruto, about last night…" Naruto froze solid, "I didn't mean those things I said. It's just, since I got back, since you brought me back, things just haven't been the same. Things just aren't going how I planned them." Was he dreaming again Naruto wondered? Had he really heard the Uchiha apologize? It couldn't be. Sasuke must have been watching the television or reciting a play out loud. He never said sorry, least of all to Naruto
"Are you listening dobe? I'm only going to say this once." Sasuke almost cooed these last few words. "Yeah, umm sorry I was in the bathroom, I didn't catch what you said." With that Naruto walked from his bedroom to his den, waiting to see whether or not the Uchiha would believe his lie. Surprisingly enough, he did. "I just want to say… sorry Naruto, I never did thank you for saving me from that place. Nearly three years in sound, I began to lose sight of who I was. I couldn't tell day from night. Nothing tore at me any longer, even the will to kill him, however, there was one thing that woke me from my trance." Naruto was shaking slightly from the usually impartial Uchiha's grave words. "What was that Sasuke-kun?" The sudden display of near affection caught both of the boys off guard, and cause Sasuke to look up from the spot on the carpet which his eyes had burned into while he spoke. Naruto quickly corrected himself and tried to explain "Sorry it was just… anyway continue with your story Sasuke," feeling as though he had dodged a bullet, Naruto was glad when Sasuke started talking again. "I don't think I've ever heard him talk this much, something is wrong. Definitely wrong." Naruto mused to himself. Sasuke started speaking again, "I just wanted to say thanks is all, I would rather be here, at home," Sasuke thought about word home for a moment, deciding he liked the ring to it. "than back there with him."
And with those few words both of the boy's hearts skipped a beat. All Naruto could think was "Did he really just say, he was sorry, and that he was glad to be back home?" Naruto shuddered at the new step towards an actual friendship the two had taken. While Naruto took these thoughts into consideration he saw that the Uchiha had broken out into a wide smirk, which was laced with a barely audible chuckle. "Hey dobe, forget something?" At that Naruto thought to himself "What am I supposed to say to that?" It was at that moment he saw the Uchiha nod in a downward motion obviously directing Naruto to the source of Sasuke's amusement. Naruto looked down and realized, in his hurried state to hear what Sasuke had said, he had forgotten he had been in the middle of dressing for training, and was at the moment clad in nothing but a pair of white boxer's with a rather large red spiral on the butt. Naruto immediately made to cover his 'manhood' and rushed back into his bedroom where he promptly slammed the door shut and hit his forehead rather hard with his wrist, as if to punish himself for his stupidity.
"Today is going to be a bad day, what am I talking about? Today is already a bad day…"
Meanwhile Sasuke just snickered as his chuckles had died down considerably. That idiot Naruto never could pay attention to anything around him. He's going to get himself killed one of these days. But come to think about it, when did he get so strong. I hadn't realized he had gained so much muscle, but then again, I guess it's not really surprising, after the few years of hard training he was put through he should have something to show for it." Sasuke was lost in thought. Remembering his time in sound, as well as the rescue mission which did more then save him from the clutches of that mad man, but saved him from himself. He was so aloof he had failed to realize there was a very upset Naruto standing in the doorway, with his hands in his pockets and his eyes centered on Sasuke.
"Sorry about that, I had kinda forgot to finished getting dressed" Naruto said in a tone lower than a whisper, almost so low the raven hair boy had nearly missed it.
"Whatever dobe. Are you ready yet, I am not going to be held responsible for you being late, or making me late for that matter. Let's get going. Idiot." Whether in jest or in sincerity Sasuke almost had the urge to ask the sun flower of a boy whether or not he worked out, but the cliché made the Uchiha's inside twitch with disgust. "As if we're friends. He did me a favor is all, nothing more. It was just his mission, he did as he was assigned to do. Had I had the same mission, the outcome would have been no different, I probably would have done it quicker anyway. But why can't I stop thinking about what he said before we reached the village that day. No matter, it's unimportant." Sasuke spoke only too himself, wondering why he suddenly had the thoughts at all.
Without realizing it, Sasuke was already standing on the outside of the blond's apartment. Behind him Naruto was locking the door and making sure he had everything he needed for training. "You ready to go teme?" Naruto asked almost coyly. "I was ready before you woke up this morning loser, hurry and let's get this over with, I have other things I need to do today." With that both boys took off for the training field which held their teammate and mentor. Unwittingly as they walked each tried to trot a little faster. Slow at first, their leisurely walk turned into a slight jog, which morphed into a quick run and by the time the training field came into view, the two boys were in a mad dash to beat the other to the finish line. It was an unspoken race, to which both had agreed, however, it seemed that the Uchiha had seemed a little more desperate than usual to finish first.