Chapter one

Two Years Later

The morning sun hung high in the late afternoon sky. The day was peaceful. The birds' chirping was the only sound to be heard. The only sound that is until…

"Naruto I'm gonna KILL you!" The voice pierced the once silent streets of Konoha. The laughing blonde ran through the village with an infuriated Uchiha hot on his tail. The two teenagers ran recklessly, bumping into the scattered villagers and random objects that got in their way. Naruto shouted over his shoulder, "C'mon Sasuke-teme don't be so mad! All I said was-"

"Don't even repeat it Naruto!" Sasuke cut him off. They both cut around a corner quick. Their shoes skidding against the pavement. Naruto looked over his shoulder again, but this time his foot caught a rock on the ground sending him staggering forward. Sasuke took this advantage and pounced…more like, tackled Naruto. They both fell to the ground. Sasuke pinned Naruto's wrists to the ground. He sat next to Naruto with his knees tucked under him. Their breathing both equally heavy…they had been running an awful long time.

Naruto looked up at Sasuke and smiled. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Take it back…" he said in a low, threatening voice. Naruto winked and stuck out his tongue. "If I'm wrong…then why did you blush when I said it?!" He spoke in a playful tone. Sasuke's eye twitched, tightening his grip on Naruto's wrists. Naruto winced a bit. Sasuke rolled his eyes…knowing he had not hurt Naruto. This is when Sasuke realized the crowd beginning to form around them. His eyes shifted from left to right. He let go of Naruto and got up in a hurry. Naruto jumped up and dusted himself off. Surprisingly…his breathing had not returned to its normal pace. Sasuke shot one last glare at Naruto before turning to leave. With his fists clenched, he stomped off.

Naruto couldn't sustain a laugh. "Well that sure was interesting. All I said was 'you're staring at my butt'" He thought to himself. Turning on his heel, Naruto started walking back to his own apartment. He walked with his hands behind his head in a lounge position. His trademark smile shown brightly across his whiskered face.

When he finally opened to door to his apartment, the smile seemed to have been swiped off his face. He walked unsteadily to his couch, where he flopped right onto his back. He groaned at his sudden dizziness. His breathing was still a little uneasy. Rubbing his temples he muttered to himself, "Why does this always happen?!" He placed his hand over his heart, feeling the 'off-beats'. "Every time I exercise or run…" He stopped talking. Feeling a migraine coming, he walked into his kitchen to boil some ramen.

He crouched down and opened the cabinet to get out the silver pot, filled it with water and placed it on the stove. He placed his hand on the knob but didn't do anything. Silenced fill the kitchen. His eyes were set on the now still water in the pot. Although it was the room that was silenced, loud thoughts raced through his mind.

"Why would Sasuke get all ticked from something like that? What time is the mission tomorrow? Darn! I forgot. Gosh…my chest hurts. Is there something I can take for that? Wasn't I supposed to watch Akimaru today for Kiba? Man, why does Sasuke keep popping up in my head?...why am I thinking to myself?!"

He shook his head, as if too shake the thoughts away. He pinched the knob and turned it to medium temperature and ran his hand through his blonde locks, they pounced right back into place when his hand left his head. As he walked, every footstep seemed to echo loudly in his head. Then he soon came to realize it wasn't his footsteps, but his pulse was pounding in his temples. He groaned. "Oh no….I'm not in the mood for a headache." He said weakly. It was strange. It seemed as if every time he were to work out …or work his body for that matter, he became very weak and had sharp pains everywhere. He had gotten used to it as it developed late into last year and half the time he would just pretend nothing was wrong with him while he was in front of Sasuke…oh and everybody else! But the pains, now, were becoming almost unbearable.

By this time of the day, Kakashi would have his students working to the bone, but today he decided to give them a little break…and Naruto was grateful for that.

Naruto was in his room now, changing into more comfortable clothes. If it was his afternoon off…he was going to make the most of it!

Meanwhile, as Naruto calmed himself down and enjoying a bowl of ramen…then six more, Sasuke was at his own house with a slightly different thing on his mind.

"Damn…why did I let myself get so riled up?" The raven haired Uchiha nervously paced back and forth in his own house. Naruto had thought what he said was just a joke but to Sasuke…it was embarrassingly the truth. Sasuke had noticed he was starting to 'eye' Naruto more often throughout the two years of training. Everyday when Kakashi had the three Genin on a task, he would find himself unconsciously staring at Naruto. More than often it ended up as Naruto shifting his eyes towards Sasuke…and Sasuke would quickly dodge the eye contact, for fear of blushing. Sasuke resented himself for developing these kinds of feelings. But there was nothing he could do about them. What's there is there. He had decided just to live with it and learn to avoid Naruto as much as possible. This task seemed almost impossible because as the cruel reality of fate would have it, Naruto and Sasuke were assigned one last 'miny mission' together tomorrow morning before the big operation began.

The only relieving thing about the mission was that they had to bring some kind of medic…and as luck would have it this time, Sakura was highly trained in that area. Sasuke could hold his normal scowl if she were around.

He stopped his pacing and stared the pale living room wall. He bit his lower lip in thought. "If I want to keep my feelings a secret…then why am I sort of disappointed that Sakura is coming?" He shook his head, becoming angry at himself again. He crossed his arms and pulled his shirt over his head and threw it over the arm rest on his sofa. He pulled his arm over his chest, stretching his sore muscles.

"I think I must have strained my arms some weird way when I tackled Naruto." He muttered to himself. He let a small smile cross his pastel lips at the memory he was sure not to forget. Sasuke found it rather hard to forget anything that had to do with coming in contact with Naruto's flawless body. His sun kissed skin…smooth and clear of outbreaks. His-

"Shut up Narrator! Stop detailing Naruto!" Sasuke said breaking the forth wall. (Hah…I amuse myself…) Sasuke let a large sigh pass his lips as he slumped onto his sofa. He lay long wise, his feet on one arm rest; his head on the other. He placed his hands behind his head. Closing his eyes, he thought about the mission that would come in the morning. As Sasuke lay picturing the mission, Naruto was still in his own kitchen…stomaching what seemed like his fourteenth bowl of ramen.

After about a half hour of contemplating the mission Sasuke had finally made up his mind. He sighed, sat up and clenched his fists. "Ok. Tomorrow, on the mission, is the perfect chance to get some alone time with Naruto. So I will tell him to follow me further ahead but in reality we will be ditching Sakura! It's almost too easy!" Sasuke let out a long laugh but stop abruptly, surprised by his giddiness. He cleared his throat and changed back into a lounging position. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Tomorrow is going to be… almost too good to be true."

Sasuke stood with his shoulders slumped and his eyes wide. Naruto and Sakura had met up with him at their usual meeting place. Only…Kakashi, Kiba, Neji, Ino and Lee where there too. Sasuke cringed inside. Oh how he hated the cruelty of fate.