Burning
By Tione
Disclaimer: Should I ever scrape together enough money and talent to own Naruto, Sasuke-chan and Naru-chan would be going at like rabbits.
A/N: whoosh The curtain opens and reveals… a vacuum cleaner! Moving further away from the point, I'm fairly new to the Naruto fandom and one might possibly be able to tell. It's as subtle as a wet fish slap to the face. And just a note, I absolutely can't write Kakashi. It's a syndrome.
Revised 11/12/06
A heatwave had fallen over Fire Country. Everything was sluggish. Kakashi-sensei's energetic dogs now moved with a slow grace, sweat poured off even shinobi who knew ice jutsu, and stores selling steaming hot foods were going bankrupt.
Well, except for the ramen shop Naruto frequented to.
One could find him, on this scorching day, hunched over a bowl of piping hot ramen; the steam rising from the checkered bowl added more perspiration to the already impressive collection on his face.
Taking a deep breath, he dove in, ready to inhale the treat when the ugly bowl was yanked from the table and clattered to the floor. Thankfully, the bowl had not broken but the floor was now decorated with noodles and broth.
Naruto whipped around in his spinning chair, ready to kick the ass that belonged to the hand. And then he would make them pay for another bowl. A super size bowl, even.
"Come on, dobe."
The perpetrator was none other than Sasuke, looking as cool as ever in his dark clothes despite the intense heat.
"Why should I?" Naruto demanded. He rose out of his chair and drew up to his complete height, fully intending to look intimidating.
Unfortunately, his full height was about a head shorter than Sasuke.
Looking even more annoyed, with a "God, why me?" expression gracing his pretty features, he said slowly – as if he were speaking to an idiot (which, in essence, he was) – "Mission. Duh."
Naruto's mouth formed a dubious "o" and he followed the Uchiha out of the store.
Squelch!
He. Had. Ramen! In. His. Shoe. He decided to try to concentrate on something else. Like this alleged mission.
"So, what's this assignment about?"
Squelch!
"Weren't you listening?"
Squelch!
Naruto smiled sheepishly, revealing clean, white teeth. "No…"
Squelch!
"Espionage. And will you stop squelching?!"
It took a while for those two statements to be processed so instead, he let his mouth run about one while his brain contemplated the other.
"It's your fault I have ramen in my shoe!"
Hopefully, it'll be a stakeout… Maybe Kakashi-sensei will pair me with-
Squelch!
"No, its not. You should have been paying more attention to your surroundings."
-Sakura-chan, or even better-
Squelch! Squelch!
"What does that have to do with anything? You're the one that knocked it over!"
Squelch!
"If you had been alert, I wouldn't have been able to do it in the first place."
Ribbit!
…
Squelch!
-Sasuke… Ooh, I loove stakeouts!
Yes, Naruto was gay. Well, he was more bi than anything. He had a small crush on both of his teammates, after all. And he was fine with it. He hadn't moped and been depressed for days over it, like the guys in the mangas he read…
… Erm, Sakura-chan's mangas that she told him about.
Squelch!
"Grr… But it's still all your –"
Squ- Squelch!
"Sasuke-kuuuuuuunnnnnnnnnnn!"
Sque-!
The shriek stopped both boys in their tracks. Up ahead, a cloud of dust drew closer. As the cloud got closer, it revealed that it was in fact a person.
Sakura. Moving far too fast to be legal during a heatwave.
And it was a sweaty, sticky Sakura that attached herself to Sasuke's waist.
She scrutinizing her teammates with narrow green eyes and from her vantage point, she noticed… flushed faces and glazed eyes.
"NARUTO! Stop harassing Sasuke-kun!" She turned to said harassed boy, looking completely docile and innocent and doll-like, and cooed, "Are you alright?"
Sasuke grunted in response and attempted the futile action of detaching the human leech. The keyword being tried.
"But, Sakura-chan…"
Squelch!
"Good. I'm glad I found all of you." The muffled voice of their sensei with the impossibly spiked hair reached the team's ears. Through the suit covering his mouth, they could see the faint outline of a smile and his dancing eyes told the rest of the story. He continued, "Sasuke and Naruto will be working together on a-"
The wilted blond perked up immediately. Naruto eagerly asked, "Stakeout!"
Seeing the shining, keen eyes, Kakashi burst out laughing. Once he had regained his composure (by a slim margin), he replied, "Oh, no. I was going to say babysitting mission. Meanwhile, Sakura and I will be… doing something else. Top secret."
Those four sentences left everyone stunned for various reasons.
The three genins expressed (eloquently, one might add) exactly what they thought of that idea.
"Whaa?"
Naruto glanced furtively at the two kids.
"Pervy Kakashi-sensei… I bet we got this job because he wanted to put the moves on innocent, sweet Sakura-chan!"
Sasuke nodded in agreement. Had he realized he was nodding in agreement with Naruto, he would've instantly changed his opinion but seeing as he hadn't, it remained the same. "Maybe we should… watch the kids," he spat the word out as if "kids" was a vulgar and obscene word that only Naruto would use on a daily basis.
Naruto bounded over to the children and shouted, "I'm the great Uzumaki Naruto! Take a good look at this face 'cause someday I'm gonna be Hokage!
He ended his introduction with a peace sign and a wink. Fires that burned with a thousand passions burned in his eyes. (But not even under oath would he admit to using Lee's Passion!Eyes™)
One of the kids – a girl with coke bottle glasses and two brown braids – pushed her glasses up her nose and said, "Judging by your level of intelligence, I would say pigs have a better chance of sprouting wings and flying than you have of become Hokage." While Naruto gaped at her, she shook his hand cordially, "Daidouji Nami."
He looked completely dumbfounded. Here was this kid – a little kid! – acting like Queen-of-the-Entire-Damn-World/Ms.-Smarty-Pants/Holier-Than-Thou and insulting him. Before he could launch himself at Nami, he felt arms encircle his waist.
It was Sasuke. Of course it was Sasuke. So why the hell was he blushing so brightly? Why was he melting under his touch?
Oh, yeah. He had a crush on him.
Nami blushed after seeing Naruto's own and exactly where Sasuke's hands were. Her eyes had a "knowing" glint in them that pissed him off.
"Oh. My. God. Are you two going out? That is like, so cool! Just so you know, I totally support you. And you make such a cute couple! I so have to tell the girls about this." The voice originated from the other child. A male child. A boy. A boy that left the two genins blinking stupidly after he spoke.
"I'm, like, Nathan. Chiharu and Yu- I mean, Mom and Dad named me after some American dude!"
Quickly forgetting his anger over Nami's comment, Naruto tore out of Sasuke's grasp and backed against the back wall as quickly as he could. That kid was scary!
Nathan certainly was a sight. He was shorter than Naruto and his hair, the same shade as his sisters, was a curly mop placed strategically on his head. But his height wasn't the most shocking bit. It was his clothes.
Low rise jeans with flared legs, platform sandals, an American "Powerpuff Girls" tee-shirt…
No wonder Naruto was quaking in his shoes and about ready to turn and high-tail it out of there.
"Gawd, does he think I'm gay or something?" he asked annoyed, a hand resting delicately on his hip, much like a girl would do. Sasuke could only nod his head, speechless.
;; It got too long. So I'm separating this into a multi-part. It was supposed to be only one-shot… ;;;