Apology

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto owns Naruto. JlovesGaara does not.

Author Note: This is my very first published Naruto fan fic. I was originally going to go a whole new direction with this one-shot. I was in a really angsty and tragedy genre of a mood, so I was going to have an evil Council demand Naruto's death and then have him executed, but not before Naruto professed his love to Sasuke. But then I decided to go for a forgiving, cuter angle and this is what happened. I'm not completely happy with this, but it's still cute and I made sure that everything was spelled correctly and I had decent grammar. Thanks for reading and please review.

If a person was to stare directly down the dirt road leading towards the Village Hidden in the Leaves, they would be able to see three ninja and and two dogs racing toward the village gates. Of the ninja, one is taller than the other two, with spiky silver hair and a covered face. Said ninja could be seen carrying an unconscious boy wearing a ripped, muddy, and wet orange jumpsuit on its back, his head resting on the taller man's right shoulder. On their right, ran a huge bulldog carrying another unconscious figure across his back. This young teenager had black, spiky hair like a cockatoo with pale skin. He was ragged and battle-worn like the other boy, perhaps a little less battle-torn. Bringing up the rear of this odd homecoming was a small pug with a Konoha headband wrapped around its head like a scarf, a relieved look on his face upon seeing the village gates in sight. The same relieved look graced the face of the silver-haired jounin, who breathed out a long-suffering sigh.

"Finally. Thank you for your help, Pakkun." The tall shinobi looked over his left shoulder to look at his smallest dog summon.

Pakkun nodded. "No problem. Good luck, Kakashi." Without further ado, the pug poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

It had finally stopped raining an hour before they made it home, which seemed to Kakashi as a good omen. The sun had come out and the trees and grass looked greener than ever, and the birds sang and tweeted happily.

The remaining members continued on, making their way through the gates where the two chuunin on guard recognized Kakashi and his students, allowing them entrance. As they made their way quickly through the streets toward the hospital, many other ninja and civilians watched them, the questions easy to read on their face.

What happened to the Uchiha?

Is he injured?

Did the demon brat hurt him?

Kakashi could see the rage and confusion on he villagers' faces, yet said nothing as he only ran quicker towards the hospital. Upon arriving, the two unconscious 13 year-olds were immediately taken by doctors and nurses. With the knowledge that the boys were in safe hands, Kakashi turned his attention to his largest dog-summon.

"Thank you, Bull. Please tell the others that the the boys are safe." Bull nodded and poofed away like Pakkun in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi didn't have to remain in the waiting room very long before a doctor came out. The boys were stable, just scratched, bruised, and chakra exhausted. The silver-haired jounin was then allowed to go see his students.

It was easy to see that they must have been through one hell of a fight.

Naruto was in worse of shape than Sasuke; he had cuts and bruising everywhere. The fox couldn't heal everything immediately, but it was easy to see that Naruto's tenant took care of the worst injuries, namely the huge fist-sized hole through the boy's chest, courtesy of Sasuke's chidori.

Sasuke meanwhile had some nasty bruising around is stomach area. Naruto's kyuubi-induced chakra punch was enough to knock the air out of the Uchiha, rendering him unconscious. The blonde junchuriki quickly blacked out seconds later, drained of chakra. Kakashi and Pakkun had been following the scent of the two teenagers, and found them around ten minutes after the fight was over, the rain starting to pour harder and harder. The relief Kakashi felt to see both his students alive and relatively unharmed was so staggering that he was close to kissing the ground. He did, however, kiss Pakkun. Said nin-dog said nothing, for he secretly liked the attention and was glad to see the boys alive as well.

At the hospital, Kakashi was waiting on Tsunade in the hallway outside the hospital room. For hours, the famous medic-nin was trying to save the lives of Chouji and Neji, whom were so very close to death that they should thank their lucky stars that they had the very best doctor in the world at their disposal. Kiba had lost a lot of blood, but he was stable, asleep in his own room and watched over by his mother and Shino. Shikamaru was unharmed; merely had a broken pinky finger and a bruised ego.

After seven hours since the rescue team's return, in stormed the Godaime Hokage down the hall, chest heaving and a frown marring her features. Her honey-colored eyes blazed with determination, and by Kami was she ready for some answers as to what the hell happened to result in Chouji, Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru, Sasuke, and the blonde gaki to end up wounded in the hospital, some on the edge of death. Her clothes were ragged and her hair was a mess. She was obviously exhausted.

Tsunade spotted Kakashi leaning against the wall next to the room door. She was a microsecond away from screaming at him due to now non-existent patience, but the saddened and ashamed look on his face stopped her. She knew that he himself had taught the Uchiha the Chidori, so for him to have used it against one of his fellow ninja was a hard blow. A frown on her face, she merely motioned for the tired jounin to follow her in.

Upon entering, she took a couple steps in and faltered, coming to a complete stop right inside the door. Kakashi, right behind her, saw what was in the room and gasped.

There, by the window, the two boys were squeezed into one bed, Sasuke spooning Naruto. Obviously the raven had crept into the smaller blonde's bed and fell asleep. The pale teen had his left arm draped across the blonde's torso, nose in his blonde locks. One of Naruto's hands grasped Sasuke's hand, and was holding on as if for dear life.

Both boys were sound asleep and breathing lightly. Their faces were soft and innocent looking, as if what had happened only hours before at the Valley of the End was a long forgotten memory.

Smiles erupted on Tsunade's and Kakashi's faces. They were expecting hateful words, broken equipment, fistfights.

Not this.

Tsunade had been fearful of how Sasuke running away would affect the village, especially the rookie nine and Naruto. Though he was now the last Uchiha, he would have been named a missing nin-just like his brother Itachi. It had been clear that over the years Sasuke's hatred for his brother only grew, and it was only a matter of time before Sasuke snapped. But now, looking at this scene in the hospital, it seemed that things were going to be alright. If anyone could help the Uchiha, it would be Naruto. After all, he was the number one surprising ninja of all of Konoha. If Sasuke trusted Naruto and kept him close, he could become strong enough to take down Itachi by his own power. Actually, it seemed that perhaps more than rivalry and camaraderie would be seen with these two.

Only time would tell.

Tsunade, without saying a word or even approaching the bed, turned around and headed out the door. Kakashi, with one more look at his two students, left the room as well and closed the door softly.

When the door closed, a soft click echoed throughout the small room, awakening Naruto. Fluttering his eyes open, he realized immediately that he was in
the hospital. About to lift his head to look around, he finally realized that he wasn't the only one occupying his bed. Glancing down, he immediately recognized the pale arm wrapped around him, as well as his own hand interlaced with the Uchiha's. A little shocked, but pleased all the same, Naruto merely snuggled a little more in Sasuke's chest and closed his eyes again. With a soft smile on his face, a whispered "Teme" resounded in the white hospital room.

So softly that Naruto wasn't completely sure if he even really heard it, a second word was whispered.

"Dobe."

As he fell asleep once more, Naruto couldn't help but think that it was the closest to an apology that he would get from from the boy that pulled him just a bit closer to his chest.

So, how was it? Did it suck? Was it okay? Bear in mind that this is my very first published story and I am really nervous about what you think.

PLEASE REVIEW!