I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!!

"Fire Style," Sasuke shouted as he leapt from a high tree branch. "Fireball Jutsu!"

A huge ball of fire gushed out of his mouth as he blew out his jutsu. It crashed down towards the bandits who were held captive by Naruto's shadow clones.

The shadow clones poofed out and the bandits remained, sporting third degree burns.

Kakashi ran towards them. Sakura and the real Naruto went as well, while Sasuke remained standing by the nearby tree.

"Are these all of them?" the Jonin asked, who was starting to tie up the injured bandits. Naruto counted the lot.

"Four, five, six…" he paused. "Wait, there are supposed to be seven! Where…?"

"SASUKE, LOOK OUT!"

Sakura's screams echoed through the forest, as the last bandit appeared behind Sasuke. He turned around quickly, but the bandit was quicker; and was able to hit Sasuke's head with his heavy weapon.

Sasuke was knocked out-cold. Kakashi immediately summoned two Ninja Hounds and captured the bandit. Fortunately, he was already injured, which made him easier to catch.

Sakura ran over to Sasuke. "Oh, no," she cried, "He's unconscious! What do we do, now, Kakashi Sensei?"

"He'll be alright," Kakashi assured. "We'll just take him to Lady Fifth. She'll know what to do."

"That's what he gets for being so smug!" Naruto said; his hands at the back of his head. Sakura shot him a piercing look and all he did was look away. He hated it whenever Sakura gets all clingy to Sasuke. Plus, it's just a little bump. What's the worse that could happen?

Not too long, just after it was getting dark, a group of Chunin came to round up the culprits. Kakashi carried Sasuke on his back and he and his team went back to Konoha.

"He seems alright," Tsunade said, after performing some medical jutsu to Sasuke. "There seems to be no bleeding here, and internally, as well."

They were back in the village, and Sasuke was brought to the hospital.

"Thank goodness," Kakashi breathed. Naruto and Sakura were waiting outside Sasuke's room.

"I sure hope he's okay," Sakura said worryingly.

Naruto shrugged, "Tch, he will be. That blow was just no match for Sasuke's big head."

"One more word about Sasuke, and I swear, Naruto, I'll punch you!"

"Alright, alright, I'll shut up…"

Kakashi walked out the door. Sakura quickly got up from her seat.

"Is Sasuke okay?"

Kakashi gave his student a brief smile from under his mask. "He is. But he's still sleeping. Lady Tsunade told me that he'd be awake anytime soon. It's getting late, so for now, go home and get some sleep."

Naruto waved at Sakura goodbye and he went straight home. On his way, he met Hinata by the Hyuga clan gates.

"Um…" Hinata mumbled, "Na-Naruto?"

"Oh, hey, Hinata, what's up?"

"Um, well, I…"

Naruto stared patiently at the fumbling girl. He had gotten pretty used to her already. Whenever he sees her, she'd turn red and does this twirling thing with her fingers. And it took her forever to finish a single sentence.

"So," he said, "What is it that you wanted to say, Hinata?"

Hinata went on with her finger twirling. "Um, I just wanted to… ask how you were after your mission…"

Naruto grinned. "How thoughtful!" he was sure he saw Hinata's face blush more. Though, he had no idea why. "It was actually too easy for us to handle, really."

"Oh," Hinata whispered. "I see."

Naruto continued his tall tale.

"I mean, it was easy for me, but would you believe that Sasuke had to be knocked out-cold while we were doing our mission? Ha-ha! Believe it!"

"Um… He… he was?"

"Yeah, and we had to bring him into medical treatment for a blunt hit from a bandit. I'm telling ya, that guy has a lot to learn to be able to surpass Naruto Uzumaki!"

Hinata merely nodded.

"Well, I better get going, then! See you around, Hinata; and goodnight!" And he left after giving her a light pat on the shoulder. He didn't look back, but who knows what had happened to Hinata after that.

"Man, I'm tired!" he said to himself as Naruto walked into his room. He took a nice, long bath and after he had finished, he jumped onto his bed and recalled his mission.

"Really tiring…" he chanted until he finally fell asleep.

The next day went on quickly; Naruto woke up to the bright sun stinging his eyes. He got up as he heard someone calling from outside.

"Naruto!" the voice said. He realized it was Sakura. "Are you awake, Naruto?"

He brushed the tip of his nightcap away from his eyes and walked over to the window. He looked down and saw Sakura waving.

"I'm coming over to visit Sasuke in the hospital," she said. "Kakashi sensei had just told me that he's awake!" excitement was very evident in her tone.

Naruto called down to her. "Alright, wait a minute; I'll just go get dressed…" He sleepily got new clothes form his closet and soon he was coming out if his house, still yawning.

"It's almost noon, Naruto, how come you're still too sleepy to walk straight?" she noticed his strange pace.

"Maybe I'm not as psyched as you are with seeing Sasuke today… that's all."

Sakura sighed. "Anyway, I haven't told anybody about this yet. The last thing I wanna happen is for that Ino-pig to find out!"

"Don't worry," Naruto replied, completely forgetting about his conversation with Hinata the last night, "I haven't told anyone, either."

"Good," Sakura said, as they reached the hospital counter. "Were here to visit Sasuke Uchiha, please."

The nurse gave them a kind smile and nodded. "You're his teammates, right?"

"Yes."

"He's in room number 210."

Sakura returned a smile and thanked her.

The two made their way to Sasuke's room and when they arrived, Sakura nervously reached for the doorknob.

"C'mon, open it up Sakura!"

"Don't rush me, you troll!" she whispered. "You don't know how worried I was about Sasuke's condition!"

"I thought Kakashi sensei told you that he's alright?"

Sakura sighed, "Fine, here I go."

Sakura opened the door. They found Sasuke sitting up in bed, looking out the window. He turned to see his two teammates coming in.

Naruto was so ready to laugh at him for being so lame, but he froze when he witnessed the unexpected: Sasuke was smiling at them!