Hey fellas i gotta go somewhere for a bit so I won't do any typing for a wee while. That's why I squeezed this out and we're about to go so I only just made it there (though didn't edit last few paragraphs sorry). Anyway YOU GONNA LOVE DIS

4 – Numbness

Sasuke slammed his face into his pillow, grunting as pain shot through his tender and swollen cheeks. Gaara had gone home, leaving him alone as he had requested – however the whole point of being alone was to avoid the entire confrontation. It didn't even matter whether he was alone or not anymore. It didn't make him feel any better about Shikamaru's bitter reaction. Everything about it made the raven grind his teeth harder. Despite the fact that he'd done pretty much nothing to earn Sakura's trust, even she didn't turn tail and run – unlike Shikamaru, who was one of his best friends and who had known him for years. Had he not been a good friend? Well, he hadn't been anything amazing. But he hadn't been a bad one, right? And Naruto – that bastard – had to open his fucking mouth and tell people about something he had done years ago. Yes, it was bad. Sasuke even admitted to himself that if the fox ever did spread that rumour and it damaged his reputation, he'd probably deserve it. But it still made him clench his fists in anger at the ease at which the idiot could have him clinging to the side of the cliff that was his ever crumbling reputation – not only with the school in general, but with his friends as well. Sasuke couldn't help it – but his disgust of being out of control was beginning to overpower everything else inside him.

"I…" he hissed, clamping the pillow around his face with his strong arms, "I'll kill that asshole. I wasn't undermining him. He's fucking undermining me!" The snake's venom seemed to drip dangerously from its fangs, as he narrowed his eyes. They would fight again, soon enough. The difference would be that Sasuke would win this time, and he would force Naruto to see the better side of his old friend. And more of course – come next week any feelings of disrespect towards the Uchiha would be crushed.

The eternally rude Monday morning hit the knackered Uchiha Academy students like soggy flannel to the face. Half-asleep teenagers still recovering from a weekend of late nights somehow managed to drag themselves to their seats and pull their heavy chemistry notes out onto the desks. Even though they were very tired, an effortless, energetic buzz ran through them all as Sasuke quietly entered homeroom behind Gaara and Sakura. The raven was still pale, though the swelling on his cheeks and chin had gone down and the bruises had diminished so they were hardly noticeable. But Sasuke still had nylon stitches in the side of his head and he flinched when Gaara gently nudged him in his side where he'd been kicked. With a heart like a nuclear bomb, the snake squeezed to the back of the room to sit with the fox. All the juicy titbits being tossed up and down the room by bitchy classmates on top of Deidara's corrections to the same story that was being spread faster and faster weren't subtle and bounced dangerously off the ticking time bomb that was Sasuke Uchiha. Next to him, the blond swallowed and began to chew the end of his pencil, his eyes flicking over to Sasuke. To his terror, the snake's face was totally blank – he was using everything he had at his disposal to mask whatever was going on in his head. Naruto gulped once again, though his was dry.

"Sasuke-kun," he said shyly, as though he was afraid that he'd be the one to detonate the volatile cocktail.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, meeting blue eyes with his own cold, empty ones.

"I'm really sorry for all this… I-" he began, but was stopped as Daisuke Yoshihara's voice suddenly rang out.

"You're a real bastard, ne Sasuke? Most of us suspected it, but now we know for sure." The usually insignificant boy was leaning back in his chair across the room from Sasuke and Naruto, a foolish grin painted on his face.

"Ts," Sasuke hissed back, as Ino punched her neighbour in the arm. He was glad to hear that among the sounds of agreement towards Daisuke's comment, there were also a few noises of reproach – and they weren't all just from Sakura or from Gaara.

"Are you okay?" Naruto tapped Sasuke's shoulder gently.

"Hn," he replied, as Tsunade entered the room. She proceeded to tell the class to shut the hell up and watch what happens when three unknown colourless solutions are reacted. "Fight me again, Naruto," he muttered, leaning into Naruto a little.

"Nani, Sasuke?" Naruto whispered back, eyes widening. "You have got to be kidding me. Kakashi had me do weekend detentions because of the fight on Friday." Sasuke smirked a little, enjoying feeling the fox's spicy breath on his shoulder.

"It will be different. It will be after school – and no one has to know about it. Best of all, the rules will be very limited." At this, Sasuke caught the blond's eye just as his own flashed red and his pupils narrowed to slits for a split second before reverting to inky black. Naruto bit his lip.

"You're asking me to trust you," he finally said. Sasuke looked up at Tsunade, a flicker of irritation causing his lips to curl. The colourless solutions turned orange like the hoodie Naruto was wearing as they were poured into a beaker. For about ten seconds, the solution remained that way and the boys remained silent, until suddenly the entire solution spontaneously turned to a blue-black colour.

"Hn. Do you have a problem with that?" he asked, turning back to look at the fox who was staring at the beaker with wide, curious eyes. He never looks at me with eyes as cute as that, Sasuke thought to himself bitterly. Naruto just glared at him usually. That was exactly what he was met with when the fox's eyes returned to him.

"I don't have a problem with you asking, Sasuke-kun. But get real. I have no reason to trust you. You'll probably just cross me and I'll be faced with fighting your friends, just so you can get revenge for me telling people your secret." Sasuke's eyes widened with anger.

"So you did tell them?" he snarled.

"Yes, and I'm sorry. I didn't think they'd tell anyone." Sighing, he pushed a tanned hand through his spiky blond hair. "I just want to be left alone."

"Well that's not going to happen," Sasuke scoffed, turning away. Naruto grimaced at this, but lacked the energy to argue.

"The answer's no," he said simply, before turning back to his own notes to write down the reaction he'd just seen taking place.

The clouds in the Tokyo sky had been accumulating all morning, and with a rumble of thunder and a spray of rain, it was decided that perhaps indoor soccer would have to make do, as the field was slushy and slippery. To this news flash, many of MG's P.E. class let out an exasperated sigh. Most of the class were guys, and they liked the idea of a muddy, bloody soccer match. Sasuke however, wasn't as keen as the others were on getting caked with filth and was quietly content with the change of weather. Honestly, there was nothing the raven wanted more than to be clean – well he wanted a clean slate anyway. Not that it was the same thing, really.

"Naruto," he called, as the fox finally emerged from the changing rooms in his blue and gold P.E. gear.

"Teme," Naruto called back, flipping the raven off with a sneer. Sasuke rolled his eyes and jogged up to him.

"Please, Naruto. Give me a rematch. I won't cross you – there'd be no one to back me up anyway." The blond pouted and folded his arms. "Seriously – it'll just be to let out steam."

"Fine, fine!" Naruto snorted, a slight smile on his lips. "You just knew I couldn't resist, didn't you?" Sasuke frowned and nodded, not sure whether he liked the idea he was confirming. "So I'll meet you in the old gym tonight?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied. "Around ten o'clock. That way we can be sure no one will be around."

"Yeah sounds good. Sounds great, even." Naruto's smile turned wicked. Sasuke didn't know it, but he had spent some extra time in his holidays training with Kakashi. Normally the blond would've lost to Sasuke, but a bubble of confidence had found its way to him, and the offer of the chance to try some of his new moves on the world's best punching bag was hard to turn down. "What about a referee?"

"The cousins. That would be fair."

"Yeah, okay."

"And…" The raven hesitated, wondering whether continuing would be like standing on a landmine or not. "And there's more." The blue-eyed boy growled, his whisker marks turning jagged.

"What is it?"

"If you lose, you have to give me a second chance," Sasuke said, trying hard not to glare out of embarrassment. Instead, his mouth dropped open slightly, as he was genuinely surprised he hadn't chickened out before saying what he wanted. Naruto looked just as shocked.

"What?" he finally said, folded arms flopping to his sides. Despite trying desperately to control it, Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up.

"You know what I mean, Naruto! I mean I want to have another shot at being friends. Don't make me repeat that," hissed the snake. When Naruto's gape quickly began to turn into a twisted snarl, he quickly continued. "If I lose then I'll leave you alone for the rest of your life."

"Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous! I don't know what you're playing at Sasuke, but those terms suck." The raven groaned and rolled his eyes at the fox.

"Well then do you have better ones, dobe? It's not like I find sick satisfaction in upsetting you. It wasn't about that," he drawled.

"I really doesn't matter what it was about, teme – what matters was that you put it before our friendship. You think I want to go back to being friends with someone like that?" the fox asked him, baring his teeth. "But that doesn't matter. I don't really think you'll win, so I'll give you some new terms – ones you can't possibly accept if you know how much stronger I've become." Sasuke leaned his head back to show he was listening. "If you win somehow, I'll give you a second chance, teme. But when you inevitably lose, you have to leave Uchiha Academy and go to a different school."

"Nani?" Sasuke cried, his black eyes expanding. "That's stupid, you dobe."

"Well those are the terms," the fox snapped back.

"Fine! Fine, I accept your fucking ridiculous terms," the raven said, throwing his arms up in exasperation. Naruto blinked.

"You do?" Not prepared to have his enthusiasm to fight despite what he was gambling questioned, Sasuke simply sighed and turned to help MG set up the goal on the western end of the room.

"See you tonight, dobe," he said with a small wave. In his mind, if he took those words out of context, it sent shivers down his spine.

As the game began, Sasuke was first to kick off. He booted the ball past Abumi Zaku, giving Rock Lee a chance to reach it and dribble it further down the court. Sasuke ran to back him up, but when the thick-browed boy kicked the ball back the raven's way, Zaku was there to intercept the ball.

"Great intercept, Zaku!" MG called from the sidelines. As Zaku began to dribble it back down the field, Rock and Sasuke made a dash for him. "See if you can get it back, Rock! Come on; use the whole team, guys. Don't make Rock and Sasuke do all the work." Hearing this, Amaya Jun made a sweep for the ball, but Zaku sent it Naruto's way with a swift kick. Then as Sasuke went to tackle the ball off the fox, the boy with sly eyes and tall spiked hair blocked him. Zaku smirked.

"Don't you think should leave poor Naruto alone?" he jeered, as Sasuke sidestepped around him and made his way back into the game. It was too late, though. Naruto sent the ball flying into the goal with a powerful kick. Tenten, who was goalie, had dived to stop it, but it only brushed the tips of her fingers. As the opposing team celebrated, Sasuke stood there panting and glaring at Zaku. All these attitudes toward him recently weren't something he was accustomed to. But it looked like it was going to be something he'd have to fix or get used to very soon.

By the time break arrived Sasuke was ready to get out of P.E. class. Zaku was seriously beginning to get on his nerves. He barely got any time with the ball because that asshole put most of his energy specifically into getting in the raven's way. In a way he figured he probably deserved a little bullying. But mostly he thought that though he usually agreed with the term 'an eye for an eye' he didn't agree if it meant trouble for him. There was nothing wrong with a little self-interest, as far as he was concerned.

"Hey, Sasuke. You're looking better," Shikamaru muttered dryly, as Sasuke sat down next to him on the book cabinet.

"Hn," he replied. He couldn't help but resent the lack of enthusiasm in Shikamaru's greeting. "You still came, un."

"Yeah," the brunet said, scratching his head. "Look I know I'm being cranky about this whole thing." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "But I have my reasons. It's not that I'm so annoyed that I don't want to be friends, and I still support you and everything. I'm just pissed you had to keep that secret as though you didn't trust us, is all." To his surprise, the dark eyed boy nodded to this.

"You really don't have to explain yourself, Shika. I should've told you guys, but each time I tried to I chickened out," Sasuke admitted, trying not to break eye contact with Shikamaru. Upon these words he caught a spark in the wily boy's eyes and a smile split across his normally bored looking face.

"I'm glad you can admit that you're a chicken-shit, Sasuke." The raven rolled his eyes; just Sakura bounced up to them.

"Ts. Hey Sakura. How was the ride on Friday night?" he asked, letting her hug him. He blinked as her arms suddenly slackened around his neck. "Sakura?" With a loud sigh, she pulled away from him.

"Oh shit, Sakura," Shikamaru said, gently punching the blushing girl's arm. "Don't tell me you hit it off with Itachi," he sighed, throwing a quick glance in Sasuke's direction.

"Shut your canine face, Shika," she retorted, but her blush deepened at his comment all the same. "Yeah, that Corvette was grease lightning!"

"Wait… what did you do with my brother?" asked the snake with interrogative eyes.

"Oh, great…" Gaara muttered, aware of his friend's obsessive pride over his brother. The cherry blossom shook her head and buried her face in her hands out of embarrassment.

"I promise I didn't do anything," she muttered. Sasuke glared at Shikamaru.

"See? Don't scare me like that." The brunet shrugged.

"Well, Itachi kissed me. But I didn't persuade him – he did it by himself." Wide, black orbs shot to her face. "Though I didn't stop him, so I guess I am a little to blame." A cheeky smile stretched across her face.

"Are you serious?" hissed Sasuke, his wide eyes suddenly narrowing. "He kissed you?" Sakura bit her lip as some of her hair fell over her eyes. The raven reached forward and grabbed her collar, pulling her in. "Well, Sakura?" he hissed.

"Fuck off, Sasuke," she said with a sigh, trying to pull away his wrist. He held tighter, his eyes burning. "Yeah, it's true. And you know what? You should be happy for me."

"Ts. Like hell."

"Sasuke, you're being an asshole," Gaara huffed. "Itachi can kiss whoever he wants."

"But… but…" he stuttered, glancing between the redhead and Sakura. "But…"

"But, but, but…" Sakura mocked, "but if you don't let go I'm gonna kiss you with my girly mouth and scar you for life. Oh and then you'll get Itachi germs which'll scar you even more." Sasuke's hand shot back to his side and he coiled away from the girl's now puckered lips.

"Okay, okay I get it!" he cried, shielding his head. "Shikamaru – help!" The grinning brunet stood up and blocked Sakura from reaching the cowering raven.

"That's enough – you're scaring the poor homo." Taking her hand, he guided her to sit with him and Gaara. "See, he's wired to be automatically disgusted by any form of natural human courtship."

"Hey! Just because I don't want to kiss a girl doesn't mean I –"

"Yeah but Sasuke," Gaara interrupted, "you also want your brother to date a guy – which isn't going to happen because he's straight." At this, the snake's bottom lip stuck out.

"But girls are gross…" he whined.

"It's not as if you're the one that I snogged, you heterophobe," Sakura snorted. Grimacing, the raven rotated his hands in circles.

"Inducing disturbing images, Sakura."

"Hey, Sasuke!" she cried out suddenly.

"What?" he blinked, somewhat taken aback by the outburst.

"I don't care," the girl finished dryly. The snake grinned dangerously at her through clenched teeth. Initially, he didn't like the idea of her 'hooking up' with his older brother – but then at the same time, he sort of liked the idea of the two of them 'falling in love'. Just because he had with Naruto, he wanted it to be same for people he cared for as well. Not really understanding was no excuse to get involved, so he figured he should just leave this one to the two of them and butt out.

That afternoon, Sasuke decided not ask his brother about Sakura, as curious as he was. Itachi would have to confront him himself. Surely he'd have to – his loner of a brother had never really been with anyone before. Both Uchihas had taken a similar stance during their school careers towards relationships, but for different reasons. The elder insisted that he wanted to wait until he met someone right for him, and that none of the maggots at Uchiha Academy appealed to him. It's possible that Sasuke would've taken a similar stance, but obviously the main reason for him remaining single was that he only wanted Naruto. He wasn't prepared to settle for anyone else.

It was only five minutes until ten o'clock. The brown lizard, which was about the size of a weasel, scuttled furiously behind the inky black snake, trying hard to keep up with it. There was only so much Gaara's stumpy legs could pull off. He rasped at Sasuke – lizards lack the vocal chords to yell at him to slow down. Unfortunately, he forgot that snakes also lack the ears to hear the lizard's desperate attempts to slow him down, so it raced across the field in the direction of the old gym without breaking sweat, as it also lacked sweat glands. Who needs them if you're already cold blooded? As the old gym with its flaking red paint and faded lettering neared, Sasuke slowed down and tasted the air with a blue forked tongue – as he had suspected, they were completely on their own. Well there were some crickets and worms, but he wasn't particularly interested. What he was interested in though, was the familiar flavour that he detected lingering near the brick sized hole that was their access to the gym. It was spicy and prickly, like a pepper or a cactus. In with the flavour of the fox, it could also taste something dry and fleshy. It was similar to the taste of Gaara, who he could now feel approaching somewhere behind him, but it was with the fox, so it was probably Sasori. Without waiting for the lizard to catch him up, he darted through gap and onto the slippery floor. Ah shit… His smooth, velvety scales couldn't build up enough friction to move forward easily. Wriggling, he wormed his way very slowly across the smooth floorboards. About halfway across the tired, rundown court he suddenly stopped and let his mouth drop open a little. Oh. Right. In seconds, his body retook its true form. As his hearing returned to him, his eyesight changed and he was plunged into darkness. Behind him he hear scampering as the lizard finally reached him before transforming back into the blue-eyed Gaara.

"Naruto!" he roared into the black. "I know you're here. Let me take you on." Even though there was little light except for some moonlight from the high windows, the raven still managed to make out the outline of two boys in the spectator seating. "I can see you. So come down and fight me."

"Oi, Naruto. Wake up," came the soft voice of Sasori. The snake's eyes narrowed as he heard the fox groan and yawn.

"Huh?" it said.

"They're here. Do you want me to look for some lights?"

"Yeah… Go for it." The boys on the court below winced as a torch bleared in their faces.

"Gaara! How are you doing?" Sasori asked, directing the light away from their eyes. "We haven't spoken for a while."

"No, we haven't," the lizard drawled. "Why are you just sitting in the dark? Where are the lights?"

"Hold on – I'll just get them now." The taller redhead up in the stands pointed the torch to a switch box on the wall and jogged over to switch the lights on. With a flicker, white light poured into the musty space from long ceiling lights high above their heads. "Yeah, sorry. Naruto was sleepy."

"Well wake up!" Sasuke snapped at the bleary eyed Naruto. "Now's not the time to sleep – now's the time to fight. Are you even taking this seriously?"

"I don't need to," the fox replied, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm going to beat you. It'll be easy." Gaara glanced over at his potentially insane friend with tired eyes before giving a loud sigh.

"I'll be up in the stands with Sasori. Just scream if you need me to stop the fight," he said flatly. Receiving little more than a nod of the head from Sasuke, he turned to make his way to the stairs to sit up with his cousin. Naruto looked down on Sasuke from the stands with narrow eyes as Sasuke gazed back. Once again, the fox found himself subconsciously pouting and he quickly sucked his lip back in. Now they seemed to form themselves into a sneer, making the curve of his whisker marks more distinct. Gaara's feet echoed loudly on the wooden floor as he reached the top of the stairs. The only things louder were Naruto's breaths – which were beginning to turn to soft growls – and the pounding of blood through Sasuke's ears. They resonated through the room like they were somehow attached to loud speakers. Sasori was the first to break the deafening silence.

"Let's sort out some rules," he said, flicking some red hair out of his eyes.

"Hn," Sasuke said with a nod.

"Okay. Firstly, you are free to transform as you please – but Sasuke may not use his venom to incapacitate Naruto because it's too dangerous." The snake smirked up at the fox.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he said softly.

"I'm serious, Sasuke," Sasori persisted with a furrowed brow, "because the next rule is that you aren't allowed to kill each other. The third rule is a little confusing, so listen up. Imagine that I'm biased toward Naruto, and Gaara is biased toward Sasuke. So if, for example, I think that Naruto has taken too many hits then I can end the match and Sasuke will win. The same goes the other way with Sasuke and Gaara. But I couldn't end the match for Sasuke's sake, so Naruto can't win because I'm biased toward him."

"Sounds fair to me. Gaara!" The shorter redhead turned to Sasuke and nodded to show he was listening. "No matter what, don't throw the match. You got that?" Immediately, Naruto sniggered.

"So desperate to stay at your beloved father's school, ne Sasuke?" he said, receiving a repulsive sneer.

"My 'beloved' father? Whatever." Sasori coughed to retrieve the attention he had momentarily lost.

"And the last rule is this: although we can't add new rules, if you don't listen to the referee you will be disqualified. So if we tell you to stop then you have to stop. Naruto can't continue to beat Sasuke to a pulp when its over or he'll lose. So pay attention. Other than that though, you're free to beat the shit out of each other as you please," he finished. That familiar, wicked smile returned to Naruto's lips as he stared hungrily down at his prey.

"If that's all, Sasori, can we get started?" he asked, eyeballing the raven waiting below in the centre of court. A twinge of annoyance in his temple made him wince. The look on Sasuke's face was almost bored, as if this fight would be little more than troublesome. If he did things right and remembered what Kakashi showed him, then hopefully that expression would soon change. The taller cousin inclined his head toward the shorter. "Gaara?"

"Okay. Get ready to fight!" Naruto jumped up onto the railing three metres above the gym floor and crouched there. Sasuke simply dropped his leg back like he always did and raised his guard to protect chin and stomach. The line between the opponents' eyes could've sliced someone in half. "Go!"

Naruto roared and immediately pushed off the railing head first, spinning toward the Uchiha at great speeds. As he sliced through the air in a corkscrew motion, he extended his arms to tackle Sasuke to the ground. However as he almost made contact with the raven's stoic face, he was greeted with a reversal – an uppercut with power that only Sasuke could muster. The momentum of the attack was completely lost as Naruto's head flew back. A heartbeat later, the raven slammed his foot into the blond's stomach with a loud thwack, now completing the reversal and sending the attacker sliding across the gym floor, back the way he came. Barely allowing his breath time to return, the fox pulled himself to his feet and pulled a mirror stance to Sasuke, panting furiously. The loose orange t-shirt he was wearing had slipped untidily to reveal his neck and shoulder. The dark-eyed boy licked his lips with his soft pink tongue, staring intently at Naruto's tanned skin. Luckily it wasn't a hint that the fox was inclined to pick up on.

"Ts… Naruto. Fight me," he drawled, feeling a desire to come into contact with the blond some more brewing in his chest. "Fight me!" Suddenly, Naruto's body began to shake in anger as he slowly began to run toward him.

"Sasuke!" he roared, throwing a punch in the direction of Sasuke's stomach. The raven easily blocked it, and then tried to counter it with one toward Naruto's cheekbone. Just as it was about to make contact, the fox slipped away and wrapped firm fingers around the snake's wrist. Another fist immediately flew towards the blue-eyed boy's stomach, but Naruto swept it away with his free hand and sent an elbow into Sasuke's ear.

"Ouch! Not again!" he cried. "Gaara! Can we use weapons?" he yelled toward the stands as he used his foot to release himself from Naruto.

"Yeah, if Naruto has a weapon," came the reply. His eyes flicked back down to the fox to ask him, but he was gone. Suddenly, something heavy and fast moving collided with his shins and he yelped, as his feet seemed to lose the floor only for his back to find it again with a loud thump. The fox had tripped him with a quick swing of his leg while he was distracted.

"Bastard!" he shouted, at the same time reaching for the shuriken he had in a holster under his rugby shirt on his waist. This fight was going to be intense and violent no matter what. As long as he didn't kill Naruto, then it didn't really matter what he did – though the shuriken weren't to throw at the fox directly. He dragged himself to his feet, shuriken in hand. By now, the fox was already wielding a kunai. Sasuke roared and flew towards the fox, trying to slash him with the metal stars. The fox deflected them using the kunai with equal fury, at the same time using his dodges to circle and confuse the snake. But Sasuke's eyes were keen, and when there was a moment where the blond's chest was unguarded, he wrapped his arms around Naruto's and pulled him hard into his knee with a loud crack.

"Argh!" he spluttered, spraying a small amount of his blood onto Sasuke's white cheek. Momentarily stunned by this action, Naruto could do nothing as the raven suddenly turned and began to run for the stairs onto the stands. He watched as Sasuke surfaced above him and made a jump for the railing – just like Naruto had. But instead of flinging himself down, he sprung as high as he could, his slender body stretched out toward the ceiling. He thrust his arms down, and then launched them up, furiously sending the shuriken spinning toward the lights. Upon the impact the white bulbs instantly shattered, plunging the gym back into darkness.

"Hey!" Sasori snapped. It was, however, too late. More to the point, it wasn't actually against the rules. Reaching the top of his jump, Sasuke flung his arms around the one of the light cases, hoping that it would manage the sudden weight. Fortunately, it did, and he clambered on top of it. Below him, he could hear Naruto yelling at the darkness with the passion he always seemed to have about everything.

"You coward!" he shouted, waving his arms up and down. "Fight me properly, teme! This isn't how you do it!"

"Ts, usuratonkachi," he said, just before transforming back to the slim black snake. Not being a python, he really couldn't crush the fox. He couldn't bite him without killing him either, which was no good at all. But he could crush as a human particularly well. If he managed to use his superior vibration detection skills and his ability to taste Naruto in the air, he should have an advantage in the dark. Even without hearing, he could have a great sense of where the fox would be at any given time.

"You're on the roof, you bastard," Naruto growled. Knowing Sasuke, it seemed likely that he would've transformed to give himself the edge in the darkness. Perhaps this change of situation could be good, though. Kakashi had trained him to use his own senses to his advantage, and even how to combat ones like Sasuke. Laughing darkly to himself, he let his skin begin to bristle with red fur, as his body shrank down and his eyes turned to an almost luminescent orange. He bared his sharp fangs and rotated his ears. Remaining silent and still, he listened for Sasuke. There was a sniff from Gaara in the stands, making Naruto quickly flick his head around. A long, low growl escaped his thin, black lips.

"Tssss…" A shiver rocketed through the fox's whiskers as he felt a prickling somewhere behind him. He could hear the scaly mass slithering slowly down the wall. His growl hitched and stopped as the snake reached the floor with a gentle thud. Making a quick decision, Naruto bounded away from the sound of the snake a few metres. Then, he stopped to listen once again. "Tsss…" To Naruto's satisfaction, it was now sliding faster in his direction. In only a few seconds, the snake had made it to the centre of the court. Not prepared to wait any longer, the fox suddenly burst into a sprint, heading around the snake in a wide circle. Sasuke paused, probing the air with his tongue. That idiot was trying to confuse him by running in circles. But that wasn't going to work – he was going too slowly to hinder the snake's abilities to track his movements. What the snake didn't notice was that the circles were slowly becoming smaller. His senses weren't tuned enough to notice the subtle change in distance, and was becoming befuddled by the constant changes in direction. When fangs suddenly sank into his pelt he hissed loudly and tried to writhe away, but Naruto had him. How had the fox managed to get so close to him? He continued to hiss furiously, but to no avail. Naruto merely bit harder, piercing the scales and causing dark blood to bubble to the surface, not even flinching as he was nipped in the collar with a mock bite from Sasuke. A cold sensation tickled the fox's belly as the wounded snake wrapped its tail around him. He chomped down harder, slamming the snake's head down onto the hard court down a few times, and shaking him. But suddenly, the scales in his mouth began to change and he spat it out as it began to expand. Panic rose to his chest and he tried to wriggle away from the tail around him – but it was too late, as they became legs that tightened around his body – a body that was now tiny compared to Sasuke's human form.

"Yip!" he cried, as the raven tore him away by the tail. A second later, he was yanked up by the scruff of the neck. Even in the dark, Naruto could still make out Sasuke's stiff face, and now bloodstained torso.

"Ts, Naruto. You've gotten stronger." He released the fox as its body retook a human form. Sasuke immediately engaged him, but with every punch or kick he directed, Naruto seemed to react quickly enough to stop them and return it with a little more. But this being hit hard was something Sasuke could handle well. He felt one of the blond's fists brush his stomach, he immediately bent with it, softening the blow, and adding moment momentum to the arm that was now flying to Naruto's shoulder. As the fox stumbled, the snake hooked his pale leg behind the fox's tanned one, and quickly drew it backward. With a well-timed push to the chest, it was enough to send Naruto tumbling to the floor. The fox gasped as he realised what was coming. Fast as lightening, he moved his arms to roll onto his stomach, but by the time he felt Sasuke's body move over his, he knew it was too late to stand. Scrunching his eyes closed, he tried to move his arms, but that familiar crushing pressure barely allowed him to twitch his fingers.

"Teme!" he cried, as he felt legs tightening around his thighs. Grunting, he strained against the python that was now breathing cool air into his neck. "Let me go!"

"Hnnnn… Narutooo…" the snake hissed gently, his eyes raking the exposed, tanned, drenched shoulder in front of his lips. The fox shuddered as a warm muscle ran up his neck.

"What the hell was that?" he squawked, squirming away from the thingy.

"It was my chin, dobe," the raven lied dryly, savouring the flavour of the fox's sweat in his mouth.

"Well don't rub your face on me! It's weird!" he complained, struggling harder against the strangling limbs. Suddenly, he felt his arm slip slightly. All the sweat had greased him up somewhat. With a loud hiss, the snake clamped down on him tighter – but that was a mistake. More pressure only squeezed the blond's slippery arm further out of his grasp.

"Shit… Ah!" Sasuke reeled back as Naruto's elbow collided with his already sore chin. He shot the fox a glare of death as it slipped away from him and pulled and pulled itself to its feet.

"Thanks a lot, bastard," growled Naruto, his whiskers quivering. "You got your blood on my t-shirt."

"Are you kidding?" Sasuke snapped back. "You got my favourite team's shirt ripped and soaked in blood."

"Oh yeah?" The fox began to pout once again. "Then don't wear it to a fight where you know you'll get a beating," he shouted, charging at the glowering raven at full speed, kunai in hand. "Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" the raven roared back, chancing the charge with his own kunai that he retrieved from the back of his shorts. There was a flash of light as the weapons collided, lighting up the cold fire in their eyes as they battled by the strength of their arms. Burning sensations tore like needles through Sasuke's arms as he fought to overcome his rival. With a grunt, he pushed a little harder. His muscles groaned in response, as Naruto equalled the exertion on his side. For a moment, his eyes moved from the kunai grinding against one another to Naruto's face. His stomach melted into the floor below his feet. The fox's wicked grin grew as he saw the flicker of fear across the snake's cold, dead eyes.

"I have you now, you bastard," he whispered. "Because you know what? I'm barely even pushing right now. This anger that's bottled up inside of me is stronger than anything you can throw against me." With that, he pushed with all his might. Sasuke yelped as he felt the kunai slip from his fingers and catapult across the room, hitting the floor with a clatter. He tried to flip backwards, away from the slash that was coming, but as he leapt a sharp pain shot across his stomach as the kunai slashed his skin.

"Sasuke!" he heard Gaara cry from the stands, as the raven wrapped his arm around the fresh wound now embellishing his stomach. His black eyes shot to the stands to where he could see the silhouette standing right up against the railing, leaning out as far as he could.

"Gaara!" he shouted, taking a few steps away from the fox to avoid being tripped like last time. "Don't forfeit until I tell you to. I'm not giving up on this!" A loud pattering alerted him to another charge, and he went to raise his guard. But as he tried to move his arm from the wound, blinding pain shot through him and he clamped it back as a fist collided with his eye. He stumbled backward as two more fists came at him, one hitting just above his wound and one cutting up to his chin. As much as he tried to hold it in, he couldn't keep the strangled gasp of pain from escaping him as Naruto tackled him into the solid ground, hitting the back of his head on the polished wood. He flinched as a hand brushed his neck, but it tightened around the front of his shirt and pulled him up to Naruto, who was leaning over him with a face twisted with fury.

"Yeah, you bastard!" he growled, sharp teeth glinting behind his grin. "Don't give up! You know what'll happen then. You'll have to leave your precious Uchiha Academy and go somewhere else! You weren't expecting that to happen were you, teme? I bet you thought this'd be easy! I can't believe you'd get beaten up just to stay. Well I'm gonna beat you to a pulp, you bastard!" Sasuke hissed, blood that had been rolling down his face dripping into his mouth.

"You really think that's what I'd fight for? Staying at my father's school?" The fox grunted as his own collar was grabbed and he was yanked down. Sasuke's black eyes seemed to be boiling with thunder. "I am only fighting for the chance to fix mistakes of the past. I was only a child, Naruto! Why don't you see that?"

"Oh, please," Naruto scoffed, planting a hand on Sasuke's thought. "You weren't too young to know what you were doing was twisted."

"I've changed! I want to make things right between us, Naruto. We should've been like brothers!" shouted the raven, but his rumble was reduced to rasps as the fox's fingers tightened around his pale throat.

"Leave things be – I don't want anything to do with you!" the fox hissed back, squeezing the boy's throat as hard as he could. Dark hair spilling around him, the raven scrunched his eyes closed and grasped at the hands as nails pierced his skin, causing blood to drip down his neck and make a pool at his collarbone. Gurgling and choking noises managed to break out, but he couldn't exhale, and he could feel his larynx bruising badly. Just as his face began to turn blue, the fox released him. Gasping and sobbing, Sasuke sucked in the air around him. His throat felt like it had entered a trash compactor, and even breathing hurt.

"No…" he croaked as Naruto's knees pinned down his arms. One eye opened to look up at the fist that was now flying toward his face. He grunted as it smashed into his cheek for the third time. Struggling to escape from under the fox, he was helpless as Naruto punched him repeatedly, until the blood poured down his face like he'd been swimming in it. Blackness was swirling around his vision as it tried to pull him into unconsciousness. But Sasuke couldn't let it. There was no way he could blow his only chance to make things right. He groaned in agony as the blond, who was panting violently, finally relented and clambered off him.

"That's enough," he murmured. He turned away and began to walk for the stands, but stopped as he heard a scraping sound behind him.

"No," came Sasuke's voice. Naruto spun around, eyes wide. The boy looked a mess. He was dripping with blood, and his eye had been smashed to hell. But his voice sounded just as powerful as it always did. "I know things will be better when we're friends. I know it. That's why I am not done here, Naruto." He felt like his body had been ripped to pieces, but the raven did his best to ignore it as he raised his guard. This couldn't be the end.

"Whatever you want, Sasuke. Beating you up really doesn't get old." The snake gave him a brief nod, so Naruto launched himself toward him again. His face was flecked with Sasuke's blood. The raven ducked a sweeping fist and threw his own, landing a weak hit in Naruto's gut. The fox grunted, before sending his own punch into Sasuke's chest. The dark-eyed boy wailed in pain as he was sent shooting backward, though he didn't let himself fall over.

"Sasuke," came Gaara's worried voice once again. "You look done to me."

"No!" Sasuke roared back. "I'm not finished." With that he flew at Naruto with great speed, this time landing a powerful kick to the blond's solar plexus. The blond spluttered slightly, before grabbing the raven's shoulders and smashing his head hard into the other's forehead. White flashed through Sasuke's eyes as his body screamed at him that he really was finished now. A smothered scream slipped through his clenched teeth.

"Sasuke, please!" his friend pleaded, as Naruto formed his hands into a ball and slammed them into the back of Sasuke's head as though it was a volley ball.

"No way!" the snake gasped, collapsing onto all fours. This time the fox didn't pounce on him, and instead waited as the snake returned to his feet and sent a wild punch toward the fox's chin. Naruto easily dodged it and delivered a kick to Sasuke's side, making him stumble. With a roar of energy, the snake lunged. The fox sidestepped him and grabbed a fistful of the opponent's drenched hair, pulling the raven back. Sasuke screamed again, his face twisted in sheer agony. Naruto sighed and raised his kunai, placing it against one of Sasuke's fingers, as though he meant to cut it off.

"That's enough!" Gaara screamed, shaking Sasori. "We forfeit! We forfeit!" The taller sighed, waving his hand at Naruto, despite it being too dark to actually see it.

"Stop maiming the poor kid, Naruto. You win." Suddenly, Sasuke let out a strangled, pathetic, sobbing scream.

"No! No, Sasori!" he moaned. The fox let him go and he flopped to the ground, burying his blood soaked face in his hands. "It can't be over… I'm not finished!"

"Rules are rules, Sasuke," Sasori drawled. His voice sounded almost bored. "Gaara couldn't just let him kill you." Naruto bit his lip as he stared down at the shaking, dripping wreck he had created at his feet. The energy emanating from it was immense – it was power that almost made him shudder. He was going to force the raven to leave the Academy purely based on the assumption that Sasuke wasn't sincere in his claim. But the way he had fought… and what he had said… You really think that's what I'd fight for? We should've been like brothers. Inhaling deeply to stop his lip from trembling and his eyes welling up, he limped over to where Sasuke was sat in a shaking ball, crouching down to him and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Sasuke. You can say at Uchiha Academy," he murmured, rubbing the shoulder gently, his eyes falling on the purple marks on the boy's white neck.

"Ts. I don't care," Sasuke drawled back, his face hidden behind his dark hair.

"But Sasuke, you have to give up on this 'trying to fix the past' crap. They don't matter to me anymore. I just want to be left alone." Suddenly, Sasuke's hand flew forward as he grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt, meeting surprised blue eyes with his battered and tired ones. They were framed with blood and burning with… something between passion and anger.

"Dobe!" he yelled, his white teeth glinting. "I always cared about you, Naruto! Those mistakes matter to me and they always will! This pain that I feel now is nothing! It's absolutely nothing compared to the pain I go through every day that we aren't friends!"

Dandandannnn! Sasuke needs to stop getting himself beat up he won't be as pretty with loads of scars... but that's fine. Hey he got a sneaky bit of tongue in there without Naruto noticing - pretty skilfull I'd have to say. Anyway keep reading I'll update ASAP