"Uh, Sasuke..." Naruto fidgeted, teetering back and forth while shifting his feet. He was clearly uncomfortable and coughed when he spoke, "are you feeling okay?"
The dobe's cheeks were tainted red, a sure sign as any that he was nervous.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
At this Naruto seemed to relax and released a puff of air, though a trace of pink still touched his cheeks. Blue eyes rolled at his friend.
"Sure you are," he mumbled sarcastically.
They were strolling through the village. It was a ruefully peaceful day, one that left much to be desired. Naruto longed for missions, rain, even chores, anything to take him away from whatever this was. He was walking around with no particular destination with his rival and best friend, it was a beautiful afternoon, there was no work to bother him, and yet, all he could manage to do was worry.
It wasn't entirely unusual that they crossed paths with Kakashi. Their sensei had a habit of showing up whenever something seemed even slightly astray. The man was eyeing them both quizzically and this had driven Naruto to snap.
"Move it, old man!"
Much to Naruto's irritation, Kakashi gave his obnoxious you-can't-see-my-lips-but-you-know-I'm-smiling expression. With a calculating gaze, the older man ran a swift eye up and down the two boys before finally narrowing in on Sasuke.
"How are you feeling, Sasuke?"
The boy in question gave only a glare in response with a posture that was anything but inviting.
"I see," said their sensei. "Stay out of trouble you two."
With a wink and something that almost resembled a twirl, the man was gone. Naruto couldn't help but blanch at the inane gesture.
Awhile later after some excessive bickering (which Naruto swore was all Sasuke's fault), it was decided the two would spend the rest of the day training. The blonde boy had grown tired and desperate to get away from the rest of the villagers. You see, the entire afternoon Naruto had to deal with stare after stare (something he normally could handle under different circumstances), and person after person had repeatedly asked how Sasuke was feeling. The result? Both boys were irritated and ready to burn off some steam with a bit of basic schoolyard training.
They were having a rather pleasant walk towards the training grounds, aside from the ever-increasing fidgeting from a certain dobe, but the awkwardness of the situation finally began to stir between them and Naruto could no longer keep quiet.
"Sasuke?"
"Hn?"
"Are you sure you're alright?" Cobalt eyes and flushed cheeks gazed into black coals with unease and a determination that would send anyone else reeling.
"I'm fine." His irritation rang clear, like a blade cutting through glass, and then something rather peculiar happened. Sharp, pale cheeks became tinted with a sheen of rosy pink.
"Why does everyone keep asking?" It was supposed to come off as angry and taunting, but Sasuke's voice wavered.
Naruto, the infuriating sun that refused to set he was, was too outraged by Sasuke's attitude to notice the slight shift in tone. After an entire day of following Sasuke around, and the bickering, and oh god the stares, Naruto was well beyond whatever strange force that held his tongue since the beginning of this wretched day.
"Well, I dunno," he seethed sarcastically. "Maybe it's because you've been holding my hand this whole time!"
