Sasuke was cold. He didn't exactly like the cold, but then again he didn't exactly like ice-skating either. He didn't know how to ice-skate, and damn Naruto for being so good at it. There the dobe went again, skating backwards, and sticking his tongue out for Sasuke to see. Sasuke merely glared, his ego slowly diminishing. He just wanted to leave.
Kakashi was forcing his students to practice ice-skating in case they were ambushed while in the snow country. He claimed skating could be a fast method of travel without unnecessarily wasting large amounts of chakra. So after dragging team seven to the Konoha ice rink, he released the kids to practice freely while he circled the rink with Icha Icha Paradise in hand. Sasuke and Sakura had never skated before, and Naruto seemed to be the best of the three.
'That won't do.' Sasuke thought angrily, pulling on his black jacket and stepping carefully onto the ice. He would not be shown up by the loudest ninja in town without a fight. No sooner had he slid a foot out onto the ice had he quickly gripped the edge of the ice rink with wide eyes. This was certainly different. He could hear Naruto laughing from the far end of the rink and felt his anger rise.
"Sasuke?" Sakura slowly made her way out onto the ice, not even bothering to let go of the curve. Sasuke scowled, but turned to look at her. She nervously slid towards him and smiled. "Shall we try?" Sasuke gave a quick nod and let go of the wall slowly gliding forward. He watched Naruto's long strides and tried to copy his movement. It worked for the most part and Sasuke let out a breath of relief. He didn't have long to practice, though, before an orange blur skated by and grabbed his hand pulling the dark–haired boy behind him.
"Too slow!" Naruto shouted and grinned at Sasuke, tugging him along the ice at a speed much faster than Sasuke would have preferred. Sasuke felt his heart race at the feeling of lost control.
"Baka!" Sasuke shouted, trying to shake off the hand gripping his arm. "Hanase!" Naruto turned suddenly, causing the pale shinobi to feel a gut-wrenching tilt as his body followed Naruto's. The orange boy turned to skate backwards and watched Sasuke's nervous eyes.
"It's easier to learn this way." Naruto said sincerely. "Try it." He grinned and suddenly released Sasuke's arms. The darker one swallowed, his determination (which was somehow lost when his gut flipped on that last turn) slowly began returning. His feet followed Naruto's pattern, and his arms helped balance his weight distribution on the cold ice. He numbly heard Sakura scream as Naruto pulled her too onto the ice, although he was concentrating on Don't fall a bit too much to listen to Sakura.
It was some time later when team seven was comfortably seated on a bench just outside the rink quietly sipping hot chocolates when Sasuke whispered sharply to the boy next to him, "Why are you my best friend again?"
The orange boy merely gave a devilish grin.