The hot, summer sun hung low over the village of Konoha, relieving its sunburnt and sweaty residents of the bright rays of sunshine. It was about seven o'clock in the evening, and everyone was heading home from their jobs for the day. That included two ninjas from a certain cell number seven.
Naruto and Sasuke stood next to each other on the training grounds, panting heavily from their sparring match. They had tied and decided to take a small break before heading to their houses for the night. Naruto had long since removed his shirt, complaining that the sun was making his clothes stick to his body and distracting him. It was true, but beads of sweat still traveled down his tan, sun-kissed chest and stomach, leaving behind shiny trails.
Naruto leaned back against a tree trunk as he sat, scooting over to leave room for his teammate. Sasuke accepted the offer and took a seat next to the blond, seriously considering removing his shirt as well. A gentle breeze blew through the humid air, ruffling the boys' hair. Naruto sighed happily and Sasuke closed his eyes to enjoy the full effect of the wind.
"Hey, teme?" Naruto broke the silence, relaxing his tense muscles against the tree trunk.
"What is it, dobe?" Sasuke responded, his narrow eyes sliding over to meet Naruto's questioning gaze, only to find that Naruto was looking down at the grassy ground.
"Why do you call me that?" The blond's gaze shifted to meet Sasuke's.
"Why do I call you dobe?" Sasuke asked, trying to clarify the question.
"Yeah."
Sasuke clasped his pale hands together and stared down at them, contemplating this question. After a minute of silence, Naruto had given up hope of Sasuke ever answering, but the raven-haired teen never ceased to amaze him.
"Because you call me "teme". At first...I guess it started out as an insult, because I really did think you were a moron...an idiot...a dumb-ass...a socially-retarded nutjob, even. But as time went on...I realized that you're not so stupid after all. I would have thought you'd have figured it out by now," Sasuke smirked half-heartedly.
"Figured what out?" Naruto questioned, leaning forward slightly. His heart was pounding behind his ribcage, threatening to bust through as he waited to find out the answer.
"That I use it as a term of...endearment, I guess, if you could call it that," Sasuke allowed himself a small smile as he watched his best friend's happy face turn into one of shock.
"Endearment? As in...like...affection? Like you actually like having me around?" Naruto gaped at his friend as if he had grown two heads.
"Yeah," Sasuke shrugged as if it was not a big deal at all.
A moment of silence passed between the two teammates.
"Awwwww!" Naruto grinned, wrapping his arms around a surprised Sasuke Uchiha.
"Get off, dobe," Sasuke blushed faintly and tried to push Naruto away; that only encouraged the blond to wrap his arms around him tighter.
"I won't! Not now that I know you don't actually mean to call me an idiot," Naruto explained, squeezing the breath out of his friend.
Sasuke muttered under his breath as he gave up and wrapped his arms around his favorite blond idiot. This increased Naruto's smile tenfold. They stayed like that for a while, hugging and insulting one another at the same time. Finally, they broke apart only to find that they both missed the contact. It was with a shaking hand that Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and wove their fingers together. Sasuke looked down at the hands and then back up at Naruto. He smiled a real smile for the first time in...a long, long time and sighed as Naruto kissed him on the cheek.
"The perfect end to the perfect day," Naruto grinned, blushing at his cheesy choice of words.
"Hn. Dobe," Sasuke smiled and leaned over to capture Naruto's lips in one, big, wet kiss.