Okay, so I was really reluctant to post this. It's unbeta-ed, because my beta hasn't contacted me in forever. So I'm sorry if the grammer and other little things suck. T_T
This oneshot is related to my ongoing fic, Target, but it can totally be read alone. It's just a little companion. If you like this oneshot, please pretty please read it too! I'd love you!
Disclaimer: I watched the Masashi Kishimoto-sensei video on of him drawing Naruto. It was awesome. There's a reason why he owns Naru and not me: I can't draw worth shit. :C
Disclaimer: Lots of swearing! Naru has a potty mouth!
They caught him with guard down. That was the only explanation he could give for being in this situation. He'd just been walking down the street, his hands folded behind his head in a casual way, while heading towards the training grounds to meet the rest of his team. He'd just been minding his own business when a gloved hand had grabbed him out of nowhere and pulled him into the alley he'd been walking by. That's how he'd ended up with a kunai at his throat and four guys surrounding him. They laughed as the kunai dug in even deeper and drew blood.
"Hey, little monster, where were you going? Couldn't have been anywhere important, right?" The leader, who was holding the kunai, sneered.
"Yeah, no one cares if you don't show up. We can keep you here as long as we feel like." Another one stepped forward. He, too, pulled out a kunai out of the pouch at his waist. Sensing that it was NOT a good idea to be in a shadowed alley alone with these four guys and their kunai, who obviously had a grudge against him for what he was, Naruto did the obvious thing and tried to run away. He quickly knocked the kunai out of the leader's hand, and away from his throat, and made to run. But before he knew it the other three guys were behind him, restraining him. One guy had his arms pinned behind his back; another was holding the kunai to his throat again, along with an arm wrapped around his neck so tightly it was hard to breathe. He flailed around, but when the kunai dug in even deeper he knew these guys meant business and wouldn't hesitate to let it go all the way through his throat.
"Now now, little fox. Don't leave so soon. We're going to have some fun. You like fun, don't you? I've heard you're quite the prankster." The speaking man stepped forward, and you guessed it, pulled out a kunai, for a total of three kunai pointing at him. The next guy followed suit, and then there were four. One of the kunai hovered right over his cheek suggestively, below the lowest whisker marking, and still Naruto said nothing. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire. He didn't want to be the monster they thought he was.
He did let out a gasp, though, when instead of a kunai stabbing him, a fist punched him right in the stomach. It became a choking noise when he started to cough up a little blood. More blood soon followed when another fist landed on his cheek. Then another and another hit him in his abdomen. It wasn't long before he could no longer stand up, and was just a crumpled up mess on the floor. The men progressed to kicking him, harder and harder with each kick. One of the men started kicking his head. He couldn't even keep his eyes open anymore. The pain was too much. He couldn't think straight.
This went on for almost ten more minutes. A guy leaning over him suddenly picked him up by the throat, and then slammed his head against the wall with a highly audible crack. Blood filled Naruto's eyes so that he couldn't see even if he wanted to. But he didn't. He didn't want to see all the blood that was surely all over the alley.
Naruto's head hit the ground with another loud crack as he fell. He was getting dizzy. Too much blood loss. He was also pretty damn sure he had a concussion or a thousand. He barely even noticed because the world was spinning so much as the leader picked him off the ground by his throat. He slammed Naruto's body against the wall and tightened his grip around Naruto's throat so that he couldn't breathe.
"Let's just finish this. He's not going to fight back. He's no fun. I bet he's barely even conscious." The leader spoke matter-of-factly, as if he weren't talking about cold blooded murder but some mundane task. He raised Naruto up higher on the wall, so that the blonde's chest was level with his eyes. He brought his other hand, that wasn't holding Naruto's throat, back a few inches, ready to strike.
"Should we really do this? We could get in a lot of trouble if we actually kill him." One of the other men spoke up timidly.
"Nah, no one will miss him. He's just a monster. The village will probably thank us!" The leader said, and proceeded to pull his hand back further.
They really mean to kill me. They're GOING to kill me.
The man stopped pulling his hand back.
Kill me…
The man's hand began glowing with chakra.
I'm going to die…
The man brought his hand forward lightening fast.
No.
Before the leader's hand could reach its target, Naruto's heart, Naruto's left hand grabbed his wrist. It was the hand of a monster, he thought, with long sharp claws and curled up more than any human's hands should be. It gripped his wrist so tightly that within a couple seconds the man was screaming because it was broken. A couple seconds more and it was beyond broken, it was destroyed. Crushed.
"What the fuck?" One of the men yelled. He started backing up when Naruto looked up at him. The blonde's normally shiny and bright blue eyes were now blood red. They held no trace of the care-free boy from minutes before, only the intent to kill.
"Do something, you fucking idiots! Help me!" The leader yelled, tears streaming down his face from the pain of having his bones crushed.
Naruto smiled. It was a chilling smile that showed fangs and too many teeth to be friendly. The man didn't even know what hit him when suddenly those claws were digging into his face.
"!" The man screamed and screamed, until his screams were cut off when his lips were torn apart and his windpipe was crushed by Naruto's foot. The man was on the ground by now, having dropped Naruto's throat when the claws first found his cheeks. Naruto stood over the man, and started returning the favor of having the shit beat out of you. All of this took all of ten seconds; Naruto was moving incredibly fast.
The other three men started backing away, hoping Naruto wouldn't notice them. That is, until Naruto turned his head around and saw them. His red eyes, with pupils like slits, seemed to lock on to them. The same man that had spoken up before screamed, and then tried to run away. The others quickly followed suit.
In less than the blink of an eye Naruto was upon them, ripping and tearing. He decided to go for their faces, since he went for the face of the leader. He dug his claws in and sliced whatever he got his hands on. He enjoyed seeing the blood spurt from their bodies, and run down their faces. He didn't mind that it got all over him too. The men's screams excited him, and he smiled that toothy smile from before. He did the same to them as the leader, beating them the same way they'd beat him.
Suddenly, as his claw hovered over one of their jugulars, ready to slit it, he stopped. He felt dizzy; the world began to spin just like before. He felt weak; the strength that had flooded his body was leaving him. Most of all, he felt tired.
Naruto stood up and backed away from the man that he had been about to kill. He staggered and swayed, holding onto the wall of the alley for support.
Gotta get to the training grounds… I'm gonna be late… But he didn't make it out of the alley. Naruto's legs gave out and he crumpled to the cold, hard ground.
Oww…My head hurts…Any my stomach… And my ribs… Any my throat…Everything hurts! What the fuck? Naruto slowly opened to see that he was in an alley. What happened? Naruto stood up with the help of the wall, and memories came flooding back. Shit! I gotta get to the training grounds! It's dark! I'm late!
Naruto started to run off, but froze when he smelled something. Blood. He stood there for a couple seconds before running off again; ignoring the noise his shoes made as he ran through a puddle of blood, not wanting to look behind him to see the source of the smell for fear of what he would find.
He may not be that smart, and he may not remember much about what happens when the Kyuubi takes over like it had, but he could guess what was behind him in that alley.
"Kakashi-sensei! Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme! Sorry I'm late!" Naruto yelled as he ran toward the rest of Cell Number Seven. The three of them turned to look at Naruto, then looked away, irritated at having to wait for HOURS after Kakashi-sensei had arrived, but quickly did a double take.
Naruto was covered in blood. From head to toe. In his hair, on his face, on his orange jumpsuit, on his hands, on his pants, on his ankles, on his shoes… He was wearing more red than orange, for once.
Naruto, sensing that they were staring at him, stopped in his tracks. "What?" He yelled defensively. "I lost track of time, and I had an errand to do, okay? I said I was sorry!" Why are their eyes bulging out of their heads like I just sprouted a third arm?
"Naruto," Kakashi said smoothly, "You come here a few hours late, covered in blood, no less. Do you really expect us to believe that lie about running an errand?"
"Huh?" Naruto said, confused. He looked down, and saw that he really was covered in blood. Shit! I couldn't see my clothes in that dark alley! How am I going to explain this?
"Naruto, what happened?" Sakura said, concern in her voice. She stepped over to Naruto, the same concern on her face. She made to touch Naruto's shoulder, but before she could Naruto backed away. She looked hurt for a second, but then it switched to being angry.
"What the hell! I'm only concerned for you, you idiot! Don't you dare run away!" Sakura raised a fist threateningly.
"Sorry, Sakura-chan. It was instinct, I swear!" Naruto put his hands up defensively.
"Naruto," Kakashi spoke more sternly this time, "Tell me what happened. NOW." The smile on his face didn't deceive Naruto one bit, even if he couldn't see it behind the mask his sensei always wore. If he didn't tell Kakashi what had happened willingly, then the Jonin would surely find some way to get it out of him unwillingly. But he couldn't tell his teammates! There was no way he could tell them about what he had just done; that he had almost killed four men.
"I tripped in the forest and fell down a cliff. There were lots of branches, so I got all scrapped up. It's kinda embarrassing, so I didn't want to say anything!" Naruto smiled as he faced his teammates and lied to their faces. He was so used it, it didn't bother him anymore. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened, although never to this level where he had been about to die. He'd gotten cut up and tripped and beaten, and just like this time his teammates had asked him. He always lied, and told them he was just clumsy. But he had never come to them covered in blood like this before.
"Really, Naruto, you're so clueless! How does a ninja fall down like that? I can't believe I was actually worried about you!" Sakura huffed, falling for the lie.
Kakashi, however, wasn't as easily fooled as Sakura. He actually put away his infamous orange novel, that's how serious he was. He stepped over to Naruto and whispered in his ear "I know you're lying, Naruto. It's not nice to lie to your sensei. Now, you're going to tell me what happened to you in private after the other two leave, or I will force it out of you. Okay?" Kakashi smiled, despite the almost palpable malice in his words.
Naruto gulped. Kakashi-sensei had never been this persistent before! Naruto had never really thought that he'd ever fooled Kakashi-sensei before, but the Jonin never said anything, so Naruto had left it alone. But this time was different; it was obvious that Naruto had been in serious danger. How was he going to get out of this? There was NO way he was telling his sensei what had really happened. He was just going to have to come up with a more believable lie to tell him.
"It's r-really nothing, Kakashi-sensei…" Naruto stuttered, unable to look his sensei in the eye and suddenly finding his sandals very interesting. Gah! He could be such a terrible liar sometimes, especially when it came to really important things!
"That will be for me to decide once you tell me what happened, okay?" Kakashi said matter-of-factly.
Naruto groaned inwardly. How the hell was he going to get out of this? They were all still staring at him, and making him really uncomfortable. Even The Great Uchiha Sasuke was staring at him with his usual unreadable expression. Those black orbs missed nothing as they ran over Naruto's body. Suddenly, Naruto felt himself blushing.
"Gaah! Why the hell are you staring at me like that, teme? It's weird!" Naruto yelled, pointing a finger at Sasuke accusingly.
Sasuke scowled, and answered Naruto harshly "You're obviously lying, dobe. There's no way a fall could do that to someone. Those wounds could only be caused by a human. Only an idiot would think that that lie would fool a ninja. But only a bigger idiot would believe it."
Naruto's mouth hung open slightly, speechless. His finger was still pointing at Sasuke, frozen. Of all the times for the teme to call him out like that! It made Naruto wonder if Sasuke had known he was lying all those other times, too. But why? Why did Sasuke care that he was lying?
"Wh-Why the hell do you care, teme? This has nothing to do with you!" Naruto yelled, voicing his question.
Sasuke's scowl grew deeper. Damn, why the hell did he care? He didn't even know! How was he supposed to answer the dobe if he didn't know himself? Why did he care? It was just… Seeing the dobe like that… And the fact that he was so obviously lying… It really pissed him off.
"Hn." Was Sasuke's only comeback. If the dobe wouldn't be honest, then fine. He wouldn't think about it anymore. Sasuke turned around and walked away to a secluded corner of the training grounds and began to kick the ass of a training dummy.
What the hell is going on? How did Sasuke know that I was lying? And how DARE he just walk away without answering me! I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! Naruto went to another dummy a few feet next to the one Sasuke was currently throwing kunai at, and threw a shuriken at the bull's eye in the middle of the dummy's face. Naruto threw a glare at Sasuke as he took some more shuriken out of the pouch on his hip, but the raven didn't even look at him. Fine, if that's how he wants to play it…
"We weren't done talking, teme." Naruto said quietly, but curtly. He didn't want anyone else to overhear this. Sakura and Kakashi were talking, still in the same spot as before. Good.
"I have nothing to say to you." Sasuke snapped and threw a kunai in the dummy's heart.
"Well, I have something to say to you, and you ARE going to listen! What happened to me is my business, and I don't appreciate you calling me on my lie in front of Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan. Especially Sakura-chan, she doesn't need to know about this."
Sasuke stopped in the mutilation of his dummy and turned to look at Naruto. "So you admit that something happened to you?"
"Um, uh, well… Stop putting words in my mouth, teme!" Naruto yelled, caught in his lie.
Sasuke smirked. The dobe was so easy to manipulate. Suddenly, Sasuke was determined to find out exactly what happened. Like it or not, Naruto was HIS teammate. Anybody that messed with Sasuke's teammates were asking for a world of trouble. And it must be something serious, if Naruto had lied about it so much. Sasuke knew Naruto had lied about little things here and there, like about the bruises he appeared with every now and then, the scrapes and cuts that that seemed to show up suddenly and disappear just as fast, only to have something else in its place the next day. Sasuke was fed up with being lied to, and wanted answers. He may think of Naruto as just a dobe, but he did trust him. And teammates were supposed to trust each other, and NOT LIE.
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke noticed Sakura and Kakashi sneak away, determined to get some actual training done. Their teammates were too loud for their tastes, and the fighting only made it worse.
"Dobe, I don't even need to put words in your mouth to get you to tell the truth. You're so easy to trick, it's pathetic. Now stop embarrassing yourself and tell me what's going on."
Naruto growled, and before Sasuke knew it Naruto was on top of him, pinning him to the ground. How had he moved so fast? Sasuke didn't fail to notice that the body above him was shaking a little.
"Get off. You're going to stain my clothes." Sasuke glared at Naruto, who glared right back.
"Not until you promise to let this go. I'm not going to tell you, so just leave me alone."
"You won't leave me alone, so why should I leave you alone? I bet you can't handle being alone."
"What the hell do you know about me? You don't know ANYTHING about me! So don't you fucking act like you do!" Naruto yelled and raised his fist, ready to strike. Sasuke still didn't move, even though he could struggle and overpower Naruto. Why wasn't he moving? Did the teme want to get hit? Naruto pulled his fist back further, and just when he was about to bring it forward in a punch, something stopped him.
All he could see right now was them. Those four men that had tried to kill him. How he had beat them half to death. The sickening noise his fist made as it collided with a broken nose. The way blood gushed out everywhere. Images came flooding in his mind, one right after another. All of them were horrid. Naruto had never remembered a time after the Kyuubi's chakra took over; this was a first, and quite a shock.
Sasuke watched as Naruto brought his fist back, ready to strike. Sasuke knew, somehow, that Naruto wouldn't do it. Sasuke was, not that he would ever say it out loud, only concerned about Naruto. He wasn't just being nosy; he was genuinely worried about his teammate. Naruto knew that, and so he wouldn't be able to go through with attacking his teammate. But when Naruto's eyes suddenly went red and the blonde's fist stopped in midair, Sasuke hadn't expected that. Naruto stayed on top of Sasuke, frozen, for what seemed like an eternity. The blonde's eyes were darting around, as if they were seeing something that wasn't there. The rush of air through Sasuke's lungs as Naruto abruptly jumped off of Sasuke and landed several feet away, like a cat, was almost painful. Naruto wasn't heavy or anything, it was just that he had been putting ALL his weight on Sasuke, for a considerable amount of time.
"Dobe?" Sasuke said hesitantly, looking at Naruto as he stood up and brushed dirt off of his clothes. Naruto's eyes were still red, and Naruto was like a statue, rigid and unmoving. Frankly, it kind of scared Sasuke to see Naruto like that. It was too unlike the hyperactive Naruto he knew so well.
Finally, after Sasuke repeated his name a second time, Naruto looked up at Sasuke. It was just for second, before the blonde took off at a speed that should be impossible for humans.
"What the fuck?" Sasuke cursed as he stared at the spot that had not one second ago held his blonde teammate. Thankfully, Sasuke had seen the general direction Naruto had gone. Not that it would help much; not even Sasuke would be able to catch up to Naruto at that speed. He would just have to guess where Naruto was going, and meet him there.
Sasuke would find out what was going on with Naruto if it was the last thing he did.
Naruto panted, and sank to his knees by the riverbank. He had been running for hours, aimlessly, only to end up just a few minutes away from where he had started. Why, he had no idea, but Naruto had always liked this spot.
Now that he thought about it, this place did have one good memory. It was where he and Sasuke had first really looked at each other. The first time they'd acknowledged each other. In a way, this place was where their rivalry had started.
Naruto lay down in the cool grass, and just let the breeze cool him down. All that running had left him hot and sweaty. But still, he couldn't relax. The only thing on his mind right now was Sasuke. It really pissed him off how just one word from that teme could affect him so much. Naruto closed his eyes, so that he could listen to the wind better. Maybe it would chase away the image of that pale face just inches from his as Naruto lay on top of Sasuke.
Naruto waited for a couple minutes. It did nothing. If anything, it intensified the sensations that Naruto remembered having while in that particular position. He sighed. Why was Sasuke being so persistent? He actually seemed to… care… about Naruto. Surprisingly, Naruto didn't mind that much. In fact, he kind of liked it. It made his heart beat faster to realize that, underneath all the fighting and rivalry, Naruto had a true friend. Sasuke had been the only one to know when Naruto was lying. He was the only one that always knew when something was wrong with Naruto. Naruto smiled to himself, realizing just how great a friend Sasuke could be if they would both let go of their pride a little bit. Maybe he would, Naruto decided. Maybe he'd talk to Sasuke civilly for once, and see what happened. Maybe he'd even tell him just a little about what happened.
"What's so funny, dobe?" A very familiar voice called out.
Naruto's eyes flew open. They searched in the direction the voice had come from, and saw the owner of the smooth timbre, Sasuke, sitting in a tree not too far behind Naruto.
"How long have you been there, teme? Don't you know that it's not polite to sneak up on people and stare at them when they don't know you are?" Naruto shouted as he stood up and pointed a finger at Sasuke. The raven leapt down from his perch in the tree and strode until he was right in front of Naruto.
"I've been here longer than you have. I knew you'd come here; you're so predictable. Besides, you should have sensed me right away, if you were really such a great ninja like you say you are." Sasuke smirked.
Naruto huffed and resisted the urge to stick his tongue out like a child. But the idea was really tempting when Sasuke was acting like a superior know-it-all duck-butt.
"What do you want, Sasuke-teme?" Naruto glared, his happy mood from earlier completely gone. Maybe Naruto had been exaggerating how friendly he and the teme could be.
Sasuke frowned, before his expression became the usual unreadable mask he almost always wore. He hadn't felt the need to put it on when he was with Naruto for a long, long time. Actually, now that he thought about it, this was the first time he had ever had to put it on when he was with Naruto when he was with Naruto alone. Sasuke put on the mask to avoid feeling anything. Feelings were a weakness, and dangerous. And right now, Sasuke was in danger of feeling too much. Naruto had always had that effect on him, from the moment they met. It really pissed him off, how the dobe didn't know just how much he was affecting him. It was better to pull back now, before Sasuke allowed himself to really and truly care about his blonde teammate. Feelings were a distraction he didn't need right now, when he was in the middle of training to take down Itachi. Naruto was right for once, why was he pursuing this about the dobe so much?
"You know what, never mind. I guess I don't care after all." Sasuke said blankly before turning around to leave the riverbank. If you asked Sasuke how Naruto could manage to yank him back hard enough to almost make him fall to the ground, Sasuke would say he let Naruto do it. Sasuke would never admit that he let his guard down, and Naruto had surprised him with his strength.
"What the hell, dobe?" Sasuke hissed as he barely managed to stop himself from falling when Naruto had grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. It didn't help that Naruto's grip was really strong.
Naruto avoided Sasuke's eyes, and looked down at his sandals as he spoke softly.
"Don't go." It was almost a whisper.
Sasuke's eyes widened. Never had he seen Naruto so vulnerable. It was weird. Unnatural. The nervous, almost desperate look in Naruto's eyes just didn't belong there. Right then and there, Sasuke decided to make that shadow in Naruto's eyes go away.
"Hn." Sasuke smirked. To be honest, he quite liked seeing Naruto a little needy, as long as it was for him. Naruto looked up at him and smiled from ear to ear. Sasuke would never admit, even to himself, that his heart skipped a beat.
Naruto sat down and motioned for Sasuke to do the same. Sasuke obliged, and tried not to think too hard about the very close proximity between him and the blonde. They sat there like that for what seemed like hours, just listening to the wind and the water, until the sun set and bluish gray of the evening surrounded them. It was only then that Naruto spoke.
"Some men tried to kill me." Naruto spoke without any inflection at all in his tone, as if he were speaking about something completely monotonous.
Sasuke openly stared at Naruto, unsure if he had heard right. When Naruto didn't say anything more, Sasuke realized that this time, Naruto was finally telling the truth. Sasuke honestly hadn't thought the blonde would open up about how he had ended up in that state, if he hadn't done it by now. Sasuke also realized that Naruto was waiting for his reaction.
"You're a ninja." Sasuke didn't know what else to say, so he pointed out the obvious. But he knew there was more to it than that, so he waited to see if his teammates would say anything more on the matter. The calm, peaceful atmosphere of just a minute was gone, shattered when Naruto had opened his big mouth. Sasuke didn't know if Naruto would continue; the air was slightly awkward now.
Instead of saying more on the subject though, when Naruto spoke it was only to say quietly "Let's spar."
How did we get from people trying to kill him to sparring? He's avoiding the subject again. Still, even though the change in subject annoyed him, Sasuke got up. Naruto followed.
Sasuke decided to start things off with the throwing of a kunai at Naruto's head to make him dodge it, then straight into taijustu. Aiming kicks and punches gracefully and accurately, Naruto was barely able to dodge at first. He hadn't expected Sasuke to start off with such a fast pace. But not to be outdone, Naruto aimed some of his own until he actually succeeded in landing a kick to Sasuke's ankle, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground. Sasuke lay there for a second, eyes wide. When did Naruto get so fast? Naruto held out a hand to Sasuke to help him up.
"Best two out of three?"
"Hn."
It actually ended up being more like best out of thirty.
Naruto and Sasuke sparred until they could spar no more, their muscles thoroughly exhausted. They collapsed on the ground. The score ended up being equal, with each succeeding to knock the other down fifteen times.
Sasuke breathlessly reached out for the canteen that he had thrown on the ground before he and Naruto had begun to spar. Naruto reached for the one on his hip. They gulped the water down greedily, drinking about half of what was inside the standard canteen. Both members of Cell Number Seven threw their canteens on the ground halfhazardly when they were done.
Neither noticed when their canteens landed side by side a few feet away, so close they were touching.
"That was fun!" Naruto laughed as he stood up. The awkwardness from earlier was completely gone now, and Naruto was grinning from ear to ear.
What's got him so happy? Sasuke wondered, but he went with it. He hated to admit it to himself, but he much preferred this Naruto over the strange, quiet, brooding one from earlier. The hyperactive energy Naruto always seemed to exude suited the blonde much better.
"Hn." Sasuke smirked. He opened his eyes to see Naruto holding out his hand again just like before. Sasuke took it and held it a moment longer than what most people would deem acceptable, before letting go. Naruto stared at his hand for a second before smiling even wider. He knew Sasuke had had fun to; he was just too stubborn to admit it.
"What's that? Is that an 'I had fun too, Naruto'? Aww, there's no need to be so mushy, Sasuke." Naruto smirked, his tone light and teasing. Sasuke just rolled his eyes in response, but he smirked in the end.
"You're just bitter that I'm better than you." Sasuke teased back.
"Say that again! I DARE YOU!" Naruto yelled, but it didn't have the same force as before. It was just their usual banter, which was their own way of having a conversation, Naruto liked to think.
"And you're still bitter that I'm better than you." Sasuke deadpanned.
Naruto puffed up his cheeks and crossed his arms. He held the pose for a minute before bursting out laughing. Sasuke smirked again, but his time he couldn't help it. His smirk grew into a smile.
Naruto froze. His eyes widened until they took up most of his face. His jaw dropped open. What the hell? Is… is that teme… is Sasuke… SMILING? That's it; the world's going to end. The apocalypse is coming. It's official. This day cannot get any weirder.
It took Sasuke a few moments to realize that Naruto was staring at him like he had just pulled something out of his ass. Try as he might, Sasuke couldn't stop his cheeks from reddening.
"What? Is something the matter?" Sasuke ground out.
"Umm… No… It's just that… Sasuke, you were… you were… SMILING." Naruto stuttered lightly as he continued to stare at Sasuke, even though the smile had disappeared when Sasuke had started blushing. The redness of Sasuke's cheeks actually made him stare even harder.
"S-so what! I can smile!" Sasuke's cheeks reddened even more. Why is he staring at me like that? Is it really that farfetched for me to smile? Sasuke thought about it for a second. Okay, maybe it is. Still, does he have to stare at me like that? It's embarrassing!
"I think that's the first time I've ever seen you smile, Sasuke. And now you're blushing. Do you have a fever?" Naruto stopped staring at Sasuke with the shocked expression, but continued to keep his eyes trained on the raven.
"I do not!" Sasuke raised his voice. His whole face was red now, thanks to that usuratonkachi. "Is there something wrong with me smiling?" Sasuke muttered, not intending for Naruto to hear him.
"Of course not! You're smiles really nice, Sasuke! You should do it more often!" Naruto smile was so bright that Sasuke thought it would blind him. If possible, Sasuke's face grew even redder, but he still couldn't look away. Naruto's bright blue eyes were staring straight into his, capturing them. He was locked into place. Strangely, Sasuke didn't really mind. Why was the dobe affecting him so much?
"Hn." Was all Sasuke could manage to reply.
"Sasuke, why are you blushing?" Naruto asked, cocking his head to the side slightly. Not that Naruto minded. It was so rare to see Sasuke showing any form of emotion at all. It made him happy to know that Sasuke felt comfortable enough with him to let his guard down. The smile that Naruto had seen on Sasuke's face a minute ago was so beautiful that Naruto's heart had started acting strangely; beating about a thousand times faster than it should. Naruto didn't know what to think about that, so he decided to put it away and think about it later. Much later.
"SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled, but only succeeded in blushing harder. He broke eye contact, finally, and began to walk away, intent on cooling off and getting away from those damn blue eyes.
Naruto laughed and followed Sasuke. Seeing his teammate flustered had just made his day. Maybe even his whole year.
Sasuke picked up one of the canteens, not even glancing at it, and took a swig. After all that blushing, he was thirsty again.
Naruto gasped. There was a scratch on the canteen that only belonged to Naruto's! Sasuke was drinking out of his canteen! They had the same, standard issue canteen that all ninjas get, so it was easy to mix them up if there were no markings to identify who was whose. Sasuke must have missed the scratch due to the way the canteen had landed, with the side that held the marking facedown.
"GAH! Sasuke, that's my canteen!" Naruto yelled and flailed his arms around.
Sasuke immediately threw the canteen, spilling all the water over Naruto, and did a spit take. Right in Naruto's face. If Naruto was dripping wet, he would have thought that the expression on Sasuke's face was hilarious.
"EWW! YUCK! GROSS!" Sasuke gagged dramatically and spit a few times, like he was trying to get the taste out of his mouth.
Naruto frowned. Why was Sasuke making such a big deal out of it? Naruto had warned Sasuke as fast he could, and it's not like Sasuke had drank a lot. Naruto didn't have cooties, for god's sake!
"Disgusting! I can't believe I drank from the same canteen as someone like you!" Sasuke continued, still gagging and a disgusted expression on his face to match.
So that's it. He's just like the rest of them. Naruto looked down at his feet. He couldn't take this anymore.
"Yeah, yeah, teme. I get it. You think I'm disgusting. You can stop puking your guts up, now." Naruto snapped as he turned on his heel and walked away.
Sasuke immediately stopped gagging and looked at Naruto's receding form with a furrowed brow. What the hell? I was only joking. Why is he making such a big deal out of this?
"Oi! Naruto!" Sasuke called out as he ran after Naruto. He put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, but was surprised when Naruto turned around and slapped it away. What the hell? He had been laughing just a second ago! And wasn't Naruto the one that always touched him all casual like? Why wouldn't Naruto let him touch him like that? Why was he so pissed off?
"Don't touch me! Naruto snapped as he started backing away.
Suddenly, Sasuke was angry. Very angry. He was going to get to the bottom of this now. Naruto was not allowed to give him orders, especially stupid ones like 'don't touch'.
"I'll touch you whenever and wherever I like, dobe! Now what the hell's going on?" Sasuke shouted at the top of his lungs.
There was absolute silence as both boys realized what Sasuke had just said. A pink flush started creeping up their necks, and went all the way to their cheeks. Neither knew what to say after that. It was the kind of thing where if the silence was broken, either terrible and strange things could happen, or wonderful and equally strange things could happen. For once, Sasuke was the one that took a chance and broke that silence.
"Y-you know what I mean… You touch me all the time, so… It's not fair that I can't touch you… A-anyways, what was that about the canteen back there?" Try as he might, Sasuke couldn't help but stutter. GAH, what was he so nervous for? This was Naruto!
To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto suddenly grinned and burst out laughing. He didn't stop for almost five whole minutes, while Sasuke just watched on, not quite sure what was going on. Was Naruto bipolar, or what?
When Naruto finally stopped cackling, he wiped his tears and tried to catch his breath. When he did, he said breathlessly "It's okay. It was a misunderstanding. You see, people don't like to touch me or anything that I've touched. People don't like to serve me. People don't like to talk to me. People don't like to me near me. I just figured for a moment that you were like them."
Sasuke's eyes widened. Naruto rarely spoke about how the villagers treated him. Sasuke was aware that there was something about Naruto that the people didn't like, and they shunned him for it. Sasuke had only seen it once or twice firsthand, so he'd had no idea it was that bad. Why do they that to him? He's just a dobe. I admit, there is something about him that's… odd. He can be really strong when he needs to be, and sometimes his eyes go all strange… But is that a reason to shun him? I guess I didn't realize just how bad it was… No wonder Naruto took that joke the wrong way.
"Hn. That's stupid, dobe. I may not like you, but I don't hate you. The thing with the water was just a joke." That was as close to an apology as Sasuke was going to get. Thankfully, Naruto knew exactly what Sasuke meant, as he always seemed to.
"It wasn't funny." Naruto pouted for a moment. "But it's okay, teme. You're just lucky that I didn't decide to kick your ass." Naruto smiled.
"As if you could." Sasuke smirked. Naruto scowled, but stayed silent. He didn't want to fight anymore. He knew it was just their usual banter. Sasuke went back to the spot where their canteens had landed and picked up the one that was left, which this time he was sure was his. He took a big swig of it, and noticed that Naruto was staring at it. He must be thirsty, since he never got to have any water when they took their break. And Sasuke had thrown all of Naruto's water on the ground…
"Here," Sasuke shoved the canteen into Naruto's chest, who grabbed it on reflex. He stared at for a minute, as if it were going to bite him. Did Sasuke really want him to…?
"Well? Are you going to drink it or not?" Sasuke avoided Naruto's eyes. He wasn't much for showing kindness, as it made him feel weak, but something in Naruto's eyes had made him shove that canteen into the blonde's chest. It left him feeling embarrassed, which made him defensive to compensate for all the stupid things he was feeling, thanks to that usuratonkachi.
"Ummm… Sasuke… This is your canteen. Not mine." Naruto stated.
"Of course I know that! Just drink it, before I change my mind!" said Sasuke.
Why was Sasuke being so nice to him? How had he realized he was thirsty? It was like the guy was psychic sometimes. The thought kind of pissed Naruto off. It was like the teme knew exactly what he was thinking! But still… He was being friendly for once. Well, as friendly as Uchiha Sasuke would get. The act of giving Naruto his canteen to drink out of was like practically confessing his love, by Sasuke's standards. Naruto knew for a fact that Sasuke had never been this friendly with anyone else, and it made Naruto happy to know that Sasuke trusted him more than anyone else, it seemed.
Naruto smiled to himself for a second before bringing the canteen to his lips and taking a gulp. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand when he was done, and opened his eyes to see Sasuke already holding out his hand to have the canteen back. Naruto furrowed his brow and handed it back to Sasuke, unsure about what the raven was going to do with it.
Sasuke smirked to himself for a second before bringing the canteen to his lips and taking an equally big gulp of the cold, refreshing water inside. He heard Naruto gasp and opened his eyes, thinking what the hell is wrong with the dobe now?
"You just drank out of the same canteen that I drank out of! What the hell are you thinking?" Naruto shouted and pointed a finger at Sasuke.
Sasuke sighed. He always has to overreact to every little thing. "It's my canteen, I can do whatever I want with it, including drinking out of it and sharing it with whomever I choose."
"B-but that means we shared an i-indirect k-ki-kiss!" Naruto stuttered.
"Hn." Sasuke shrugged. What did it matter? He was fairly sure that even if the dobe was a pretty messy person, he was clean. "You do remember that we shared an actual kiss once, right? Or did that slip your tiny dobe mind?" Sasuke reminded.
Naruto blushed at the memory, for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. It had been an accident, but still… He had shared his first kiss with Sasuke. The thought didn't bother him nearly as much as it should. Sasuke's lips had been really soft… Naruto was startled out of the memory when Sasuke shoved the canteen in his face. He just stared at, blankly.
"If you're not going to drink it, then I'm just going to take it all for myself, usuratonkachi." Said Sasuke.
Naruto hesitantly took the canteen and slowly brought it to his lips. Sasuke was staring at him, which made him a little uncomfortable. When he was done drinking he held it out to Sasuke, who took it back and took a swig. And so it went until the canteen was empty, Naruto and Sasuke passing the canteen to the other every couple of minutes.
They sat down on the riverbank, a quiet but still natural and comfortable silence between them. When Naruto took the last of the water in the canteen Sasuke took it back and put it on his hip. He then noticed Naruto shiver, and remembered how he had spilled water all over the blonde, not to mention the spit take that had landed on his shirt.
"You should take some of those clothes off, dobe." Sasuke stated.
Naruto's eyes widened as he looked down at himself. His orange jumpsuit was covered in dried blood, soaking wet, had dirt stains from the sparring, and not to mention a few holes that he had no idea where they came from; probably the sparring or the running.
"You're cold, aren't you? Keeping wet clothes on isn't good for you." Sasuke said with the closest thing to concern in his voice as his pride would allow.
It was then that Naruto realized that he was, in fact, quite chilled. He shivered again, this time consciously. Maybe Sasuke was right… Naruto stood up and took his orange jacket off, then the black shirt underneath. He just threw them on the ground; they were ruined anyway, there was no way the stains would come out. Plus, there were holes.
Sasuke was slightly taken aback, not that he showed it, when Naruto actually took his suggestion. He had expected the dobe to deny any discomfort, not start stripping right away. Sasuke's eyes roamed over the tan skin of Naruto's chest and abs, before realizing that he was staring. No! I'm not staring! I am NOT staring! This is Naruto! The dobe! The usuratonkachi! But still, Sasuke couldn't quite make himself tear his eyes away from the exposed skin.
Even though his pants were wet, Naruto decide to keep those on. There was no way he was walking home in his boxers. But they were really uncomfortable…
"Usuratonkachi, your pants are wet too. They're more wet than your shirt." Sasuke said when he realized Naruto wasn't going to take his pants off too. Not that he wanted Naruto to take his pants off, per se; it was just that if the dobe caught a cold, it would hinder the whole team on missions, right. Right. Sasuke justified it to himself.
"I'm not taking my pants off! It's too embarrassing!" Naruto mumbled. He was proud of himself that he didn't' blush, because the urge was strong. He could NOT believe that he was having a conversation about taking his pants off with Sasuke!
"Take them off." Sasuke glared. Naruto's pants were dripping, for christ's sake!
"What? NO!" Naruto yelled.
"You'll catch a cold if you stay in wet clothes. I don't want you holding me back on missions."
"No." Naruto huffed.
Sasuke stood up, and Naruto immediately began backing away. He didn't like the look Sasuke was giving him.
"Take them off, or I'll take them off for you." Sasuke said darkly, taking a step closer to Naruto.
"I dare you to try." Naruto challenged, but kept backing up with each step Sasuke took.
That did it.
Before Naruto knew what was happening, he found himself on the ground, with Sasuke straddling him and unbuttoning his pants.
"What the hell, teme! GET OFF ME!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. He struggled and flailed around, but try as he might, Sasuke didn't fall off or stop. In fact, the teme succeeded in undoing Naruto's button, and was starting to pull his pants down. Naruto kicked and kicked, but his pants still ended up around his thighs, and were going lower still.
"Will you stop trying to take my pants off? I'll do it myself if it means that much to you, okay? Just get off of me!" Naruto yelled, his face red. Never in a million years would he have thought that he'd be in the situation he was in right now. Uchiha Sasuke was on top of him. Uchiha Sasuke was trying to take off his pants. The world really was going to end.
"I don't know if I trust you…" Sasuke smirked. Oh, he was enjoying this. Yes, Sasuke was a little sadistic. But so help him, Naruto was taking his pants off right now! It was just a nice bonus to see his blonde teammate all flustered.
"Fine! Take my damn pants off! See if I care!" Naruto huffed. He gave up. He didn't have enough energy after all that sparring and using the Kyuubi's chakra. It wasn't worth it, no matter how embarrassing it would be to have Sasuke take his pants off.
Sasuke's smirk grew. He knew the dobe would see things his way. It had become a challenge to get those pants off, and he never backed down from a challenge. That was the only reason why he was now pulling Naruto's pants down, almost to his ankles now. Yup, that was the only reason. It was most definitely NOT because the sight of the tan skin made his heart beat faster, for some absurd reason he couldn't fathom. It wasn't that at all.
"But there is NO WAY this is EVER happening again! And you better not tell ANYONE about this! EVER! Or else I WILL kill you!" Naruto grumbled as his pants were shimmied down to his ankles.
We'll see about that… For some reason, Sasuke had the strange idea that this wouldn't be the last time he'd be in this position. But for now, he'd just go with a "Hn."
Just as Sasuke was lifting up Naruto's leg to pull it out of the pants, he heard a gasp. Both his and Naruto's heads whipped around to the direction of the noise, and saw Sakura and Kakashi standing near the trees, still quite a ways away, staring at them with their mouths hanging open. Well, he assumed Kakashi's was hanging open; it was kind of hard to see with the mask over his sensei's face.
"T-this –isn't what it l-looks like!" Naruto shouted. His face grew as red as a tomato as he realized it kind of was exactly what it looked like; Sasuke was trying to take his pants off, after all. But not for those kind of reasons!
Sasuke's face grew a little hot, but he didn't move one inch from his position over Naruto. He still had a job to do. He honestly didn't give a fuck about what anyone thought of him. Well, maybe one blonde person…
"Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's give these two some alone time." Kakashi said sweetly.
Sakura looked a little horrified, but blushed at the same time; seeing her two teammates in such an intimate position. She had no idea what to think, but she followed he sensei as quickly as possible as they ran off. When Naruto and Sasuke had begun fighting, she and Kakashi had snuck away to do some private training on their own, away from their distracting teammates. After a few hours they had come back to the training grounds, only to find them completely empty. Kakashi had said to look for them, so they'd looked until they found them right here…
Only to find Sasuke trying to take Naruto's pants off.
Yeah, Sakura wanted to run away. She was sure there was a logical explanation, but she didn't want to stick around to hear it.
Naruto groaned as Sakura and Kakashi darted off. Alone time? Oh my god, I'm going to fucking die of embarrassment! He put his hands over his eyes and groaned again. How the hell was he going to explain this one? Hadn't been coming to the training grounds covered in blood been enough? This was going to be even worse than that! Naruto then noticed that Sasuke was still on top of him.
"Teme… Get off… Just please get off…" Naruto moaned.
Sasuke shrugged and continued in his pursuit to leave Naruto practically naked. When Naruto was finally just in his boxers he smirked triumphantly. He slowly stood up, finding himself not quite ready to leave Naruto's warm, damp body.
Naruto stayed like that, covering his face and the blush that was surely there. How the hell did I end up in this position? Why me? And why… Why did my heart start trying to jump out of my chest like that when Sasuke was on top of me? When he finally felt ready to peek an eye open, he saw Sasuke in front of him, holding out a hand. Naruto didn't hesitate in taking it this time.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Naruto grumbled when he was on two feet.
Sasuke shrugged. He just didn't have anything to say that would have diffused the situation.
Naruto glared, but dropped it. It wasn't like there was anything that Sasuke could have said that would have made things any better, and made Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan believe them.
GROWL
All other thoughts were interrupted by the loud growling of Naruto's empty stomach. For what must have been the billionth time, he blushed. He hadn't eaten since breakfast.
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto. He had never heard a stomach growl that loudly before.
"Um, sorry, I haven't eaten since breakfast." Naruto smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
Sasuke wondered why, but decided not to ask. He didn't want to pry any more than he already had. He reached into his pouch and took out an energy bar and took a bite. He didn't fail to notice Naruto watching the bar intently, his intense blue eyes never leaving the bar even as it went to Sasuke's lips. Sasuke smirked as he chewed.
GROWL
Naruto groaned as his stomach growled again. It was SO not fair that the teme had food, and he didn't! The teme had to be teasing him again! It was just a plain energy bar, but right now, it looked really good. Especially as it went to Sasuke's soft, pale lips… Naruto shook his head.
When he opened his eyes Sasuke was in front of him again, holding out the energy bar. Naruto stared at it, wondering if this was another joke.
Sasuke sighed. Couldn't the dobe just trust him already? "Just take it, usuratonkachi. You're hungry, right? We'll share."
Naruto stared at for barely a second more before smiling a smile that was so bright it almost made Sasuke want to shield his eyes. It was pure Naruto.
Naruto took the energy bar and put it into his mouth. He took a couple bites before handing it out to Sasuke, who took another bite before handing it back. He wasn't as hungry as Naruto.
"Hey, why do you call me that sometimes?" Naruto said over a mouthful of food. Sasuke frowned at the bad manners, but answered him anyway.
"Call you what?"
"Usuratonkachi. You only call me that when we're alone or when no one will overhear us." Naruto said as he swallowed.
Sasuke resisted the urge to blush. He didn't know why, but being called on his little nickname for Naruto was really embarrassing, especially when he put it like that.
"It's nothing. Just a nickname." Sasuke muttered.
"Yeah, but why do you only call me that sometimes?"
"Oh, just shut up and eat your food." Sasuke growled.
Naruto chuckled, but did as he was told.
Naruto and Sasuke sat there by the riverbank for a long time, waiting for Naruto's clothes to dry. Sasuke was too tired to do any jutsu that would dry them, or so he claimed. In the meantime, while eating the energy bar that Sasuke had found in the bottom of his pouch, he told Sasuke everything that had happened this morning. Sasuke was a very good listener, nodding and paying close attention, even grabbing his hand a couple times when Naruto had trouble making the words come out. Naruto found opening up to Sasuke left him feeling lighter, as if a burden was off his shoulders. He loved the feeling.
When Naruto was almost done with the second energy bar, he looked at what was left and looked sheepishly at Sasuke. "Sorry there's not much left and I ate almost all your food. I was just really hungry…" He held out the small bit of what was left to Sasuke, who took it. Naruto's eyes widened, he hadn't expected Sasuke to take his leftovers.
Sasuke ate it all in one bite, and when he saw Naruto's incredulous expression, he turned to him and smirked. "What? It's just an indirect kiss, usuratonkachi."
From that day on, Naruto didn't hesitate to steal Sasuke's food, and vice versa.
Epilogue, kinda sorta, set way in the future
"Say, Sasuke," Naruto said as he set down his chopsticks. He'd just finished his third bowl of ramen and was currently waiting for his fourth. "Do you remember that one time you accidentally took a drink out of my canteen?"
Sasuke looked up from his own bowl of Ichiraku ramen, his second. And his last, as wasn't a bottomless pit like Naruto. "Yes, I think so. Why?" The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and he was curious as to what spurred it on.
"Oh, no reason. I was just thinking about it awhile ago, and seeing you eat reminded me of it. I was just curious if you remembered it too." Naruto smiled gleefully when his next bowl of ramen was set in front of him, and he immediately dug right in."
"Hn." Sasuke stared at Naruto for a second, but looked away once he started eating again. Watching Naruto eat enough to feed five people always made him lose his appetite.
A few minutes later Sasuke was done eating and Naruto was still going at it. He was on his fifth bowl now, and hopefully his last. Sasuke was getting bored, so he decided to do something fun.
As quick as lightening, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's chopsticks out of his tan hands and held them in his own, and put the noodles attached to them in his mouth. He smirked when Naruto gasped.
"Teme! Don't steal my ramen! That's a crime!" Naruto shouted and pointed at Sasuke, who only smirked more. He gave the chopsticks back to Naruto when he held his hand out for them.
Sasuke waited until Naruto set his chopsticks down to take a drink of water before grabbing the chopsticks and noodles and bringing them to his mouth. Naruto saw what Sasuke was doing and did a spit take.
"What the hell! That's MY ramen!" Naruto yelled. He reached out to take them back, but Sasuke moved his hand out of the way. Naruto growled and tried again, but Sasuke dodged and actually managed to lean over to Naruto's bowl and grab some more noodles, which he promptly ate.
Naruto glared and crossed his arms against his chest. This was inexcusable!
"You belong to me, so whatever belongs to you also belongs to me" Sasuke stated with a smirk on his lips.
Naruto glared some before feeling his cheeks grow warm. "When did I say I belonged to you, you teme?"
"After taking your pants off last night for about the thousandth time, I kind of assumed it." Sasuke deadpanned. He was pleased when Naruto's blush grew.
Naruto growled and dove for the chopsticks, but he wasn't fast enough. Sasuke swerved to the right and succeeded in getting more ramen on the chopsticks. "YOU TEME!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, causing the other people at the ramen stand to stare.
Sasuke chuckled. "And I recall you said that time that I would never take your pants off again. Yet another thing you were wrong about."
Naruto blushed when he noticed people the people staring. Some whispered, and a few blushed at the implications of what Sasuke had just said.
"Teme, stop! What if people overhear?" It hadn't occurred to him that people were whispering because they had overheard.
"Relax, usuratonkachi. It's just an indirect kiss."
"MY RAMEN!"
I hope this didn't suck as much as I think it did.. If it did, I'm sorry... But either way, please review! I want to know what you thought of this little oneshot! It determines if I post any more or not! So please review! I would love you forever if you did! And I promise to reply! I accept constructive criticism too! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!