I updated yesterday, but I did promise to update every Friday as well so... HERE YOU GUYS GO! :D.

Disclaimer: Seriously I don't own Naruto. I used to, but then it just slipped through my fingers.

This was my favorite chapter to write, by the way 8D. ENJOY!

Chapter Four: Stardust

"If only he knew what I felt about him. Things wouldn't be so complicated then." - Sasuke Uchiha, age 13.

Sasuke grimaced at the added pressure to his neck. Why in the world he had to wear this godforsaken tie was utterly beneath him. If it weren't for the fact that both his father and brother warned him heavily about maintaining an appearance, Sasuke would have happily opted to not dress up and skip the ball together.

Thoughts of blonde hair contrasting nicely with bright blue irises made the idea of going to the ball a little easier to manage.

"My don't you look dashing tonight, Otouto." Itachi chuckled, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest. The colors father had chosen for the tailor to make were brilliant and royal, but still holding onto the main colors of the Uchiha Lineage.

Dark, navy blue dress shirt adorned with the faintest traces of purple splashed on the form of embroidery or swirls along the cufflinks. On the breast pocket was their family crest. It showed power, wealth, and strength. With power brought recognition and spread fear into the hearts of many. Sasuke was proud of his bloodlines, the roots of his homeland.

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair a couple of times until it was sticking up just right. The tie was a nuisance, but he'd just have to bear with it with a scowl, he supposed. He studied himself in the mirror. His appearance was nice, although he was being extremely modest about it.

"You look fine, Sasuke." Itachi smirked, "Unless, of course, all this extra fuss over your appearance is because of a certain blonde..."

"Shut up. It has nothing to do with him."

"I never said it was a male. I could have been referring to that cute blonde maid who always checks you out whenever we go over to visit the Soleil Castle." Itachi smirked. He absolutely loved poking fun of his brother's immature crush on the blonde.

He remembered the day vividly when Sasuke ran up to him in a heap of confusion, looking for the answers that were dangling right in his face. Itachi couldn't blame his brother for the freak out, though, since he was only twelve when realization hit. Although Itachi highly doubted Sasuke had the ability to differentiate from like and intense brotherhood, but he wouldn't put it passed him.

Sasuke was a bright boy.

"I heard a lot of girls from neighboring countries will be there tonight. You'll be faced with a lot of competition."

Sasuke scowled. He was no stranger to the herd of pre-teens and teenage girls that came to the ball in hopes of marrying into royalty. The conversation between him and Naruto played through his mind again; a slight frown scarred his face.

"Oh trust me, I'm going to dance, but I bet I'll only get less than half of the girls on my case tonight. And that's only if they have the snuff to actually come up and talk to me."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, "Why do you say that?"

Naruto merely shrugged, slipping on his shoes as he talked. "Eh, I can't really say why, but I have this feeling that people only put up with me because I'm the prince."

"That's ridiculous."

Naruto shot a hard glare over his shoulder at the raven sitting at his desk. "Trust me... You don't see the looks they give me when I'm out by myself. It's like they're purposefully isolating me." Naruto tied his last shoe, pulling at the strings a couple of times until he was satisfied. "Don't give me that pitying look, Sasuke. Seriously, I'm not bothered by it. Either way I'd have people staring at me, so I just soak up the attention."

Although Naruto smiled, it never reached his eyes, and that made the raven rethink his observations on the blonde.

"I'll avoid them at all costs." Making his way for the door, not really in the mood to carry on the conversation, he was stopped dead in his tracks by his brother's heavy gaze.

"You know this relationship you wish to have won't last forever."

Itachi's words sunk into Sasuke's mind, his heart, his flesh. They stabbed at him, causing him to flinch involuntarily. He knew what Itachi was referring to - the mission that brought their fated meeting together.

The mission was supposed to be Intel retrieval. Find information about the Jinchuuriki prince. Sasuke was entitled with the job because he would be the least susceptible due to his young age. He was against it, at first, but he had to thank the council for giving him that mission.

Because of that mission, he had met the sun.

"I know that..." Sasuke quickly made a grab for the small little pouch on his desk and jammed it in his pocket. He then closed the distance between himself and the door and gripped the handle tightly. His voice wavered yet attempting to stay strong and grounded. "So let me enjoy the few moments I have with him before they're gone."

Itachi watched his brother disappear; sadness was being pumped overtime in his body. He shook his head sadly, pushing back stray bangs out of his face.

"He has no idea what he's getting into... the fool."

+Eclipse: Later that Night+

Laughter filled the ball room, illuminating the room with a light and feathery feeling. Paper lanterns were strewn across the room of various sizes; with the biggest one in the middle of the array giving off a reddish-orange glow. Colorful costumes moved to the beat of the orchestra, swaying and meshing together just having a good time.

Sasuke leaned against the balcony, hands idly in his pocket playing around with the small pouch he had picked out before storming the room. Itachi's words continued to play in his mind like a broken record player. He already knew one day this huge secret would be the wedge driving him from Naruto. The blonde would loose faith in him, refusing to speak for his shady intentions. Sasuke's heart constricted in his chest. It was protesting against the unpleasant thoughts, not being able to stand the possible future where the only thing Sasuke would see is the back of a hateful Naruto.

"This is supposed to be a party. Why are you acting like your tie is on to tight?"

Sasuke turned his head at the sound of the infectious giggle he had grown to like. There he was, the blonde on his thoughts stood with a huge grin on his face. The raven felt his breath get caught in his throat. Naruto looked... amazing. A bright orange half kimono flowed down Naruto's torso and stopped at the waist. Black genie pants accent with brilliant gold and orange held pockets on either side. To finish off the strange, yet appealing, outfit Naruto wore a pair of ninja sandals along with a fox mask that covered his eyes.

"Not bad," Sasuke smirked as he watched the blonde take his rightful place beside him. The stars - though not as bright as they were in the Luna Empire were still dazzling jewels playing in the sky. And the moon; it's light casted a heavenly glow on the blonde's face.

Naruto looked stunning.

"Thanks, at least someone liked my costume." Naruto rolled his eyes to the sky above before they landed on Sasuke's costume. "What are you supposed to be?"

"A royal," Sasuke replied with a smirk.

"Ha, ha, you're freaking hilarious. The whole point of a costume ball is to dress up like something you're not." Naruto crossed his arms, shivering slightly from the chilly autumn night. "Where's your spirit?"

"Left it at home, I suppose."

Naruto shook his head in mock shame, "You really need to get a better sense of humor, Sasuke."

"I found it pretty funny." Just for a little, Sasuke allowed a small smile to tug at his lips. That smile was only reserved for one person, though...

The blonde scoffed but held back a retort. Three years of friendship and on-and-off bickering have made him learned that getting into an argument with Sasuke was rather pointless.

That didn't mean it was any less fun, though.

Silence filled the space between the two royals. It was neither awkward nor unwelcome. The two fell into the slight ease the quiet could produce. Laughter and music filled their ears. Delicious smells promising a yummy aftertaste fluttered into their senses. But none of that mattered.

Sasuke was too enrapt in how... Well... Beautiful Naruto looked bathed in moonlight. And Naruto was too consumed with his thoughts on a certain raven to notice Sasuke's heavy staring.

Finally... The silence was cut open with the raven's next few words.

"Naruto, I have something for you..." Sasuke fumbled with the small object in his pocket. To be honest, Sasuke was at the world's end in his decision to give Naruto his gift. At first it was just a random thought that popped into his head. Before he knew it, the thought became an action and now he was placing the small pouch in Naruto's hands.

"What is this?" Naruto shook the pouch in the air, listening for the jingling sound of coins to resound in his hand. He didn't get any sound like that and was thoroughly confused why Sasuke would give him an empty pouch.

Curious onyx watched the blonde open up the velvet, deep purple, pouch in awe as the sand-like material spread across his finger tips.

'Wait for it...' he thought, an amused smirk took over his face when he heard Naruto voice his awe while the stardust danced and moved around his fingers, up his arms, and all around his shoulders like a living, breathing entity.

"Sasuke this is so cool!" Naruto giggled as the stardust brushed against his cheek. That was its way of saying thanks. "What is this?"

"It's Stardust. The magical properties in it allow the substance to move like it has a will of its own. When in reality it's waiting for a master to control and bend it at their fingertips." Sasuke took some of the stardust in his hand. He demonstrated how you could use it by controlling it with his fingers. The dust followed it's conducted without a second thought, drawing random images like a circle or a flower.

"Artists in my country use Stardust for their artworks. Others use it for the thrill of having something ready to do what they want without a second thought."

"Whoa..." Naruto twirled a finger, and the stardust instantly swirled around his finger. They sparkled in brilliant blues and dazzling purples with a hue of green thrown in between. Pinks and yellow sparkled on and off like tiny sparks of glittered. Stardust was playful and alive, waiting to be controlled.

"Okay, this settles it. I'm totally jealous of your country now." Naruto grinned wildly, moving the dust with his finger like a conductor of an orchestra. He drew stars and the sun. He drew a stick figure version of Sasuke and Him looking up at the night sky. Anything that came to his mind, Naruto drew with the Stardust.

"There's nothing to be jealous of." Sasuke came off as nonchalant but on the inside he was brimming over the top with pride. In his mind, the Soleil country had every right to brag that they were the better country. They had a stable government. No signs of a rebellion outbreak. Everything seemed peaceful in the land of the sun...

"Dude, we have nothing close to this in Soleil. The only cool thing we have are Sun Crystals but they're nothing compared to Stardust."

"One day... I'll take you to my country. And then you can have all the Stardust you want."

The blonde grinned from ear to ear; "I'll hold you to that, Teme." he stuck out his pinky waiting for the raven to lock pinkies with him.

Sasuke looked perplex, cocking his head to the side and stared at the finger. 'What does he want me to do?'

Seeing that Sasuke wasn't going to do anything soon, Naruto rolled his eyes and grabbed the raven's hand. "You stick out your pinky, stupid. See, like this," he hooked their pinkies together, forming a tangible link between the two boys.

Smiles played across their lips, thoughts racing in all sorts of direction. Even though their pinkies were separated, they still felt that invisible chain holding them together.

It was strong and sturdy now, but would it last forever?

"Ladies and gentleman, one and all, thank you for coming out tonight in honor of our three years of peace with the Luna Empire!" Minato's face suddenly appeared on the holo-screens, drawing everyone's attention from their conversations and onto the two kings.

While Minato dressed in earthly tones anointed with a few bright orange pieces, Fugaku's costume had more of a aristocrat feel. Dark, midnight, tones with hues of purple and splashes of deep blue here and there.

"Tonight is a celebration of unity between two, very different, countries!" Sasuke's father raised his wine glass with pride looking among the spectators. "The Eclipse Treaty is why we meet today as brothers and sisters rather than enemies. So enjoy tonight! Laugh and be merry!"

Minato replied with a hearty, "Hear, hear!" and clunk his glass with Fugaku's. The two men laughed, but their merriment was drowned once the orchestra picked up again. Slow, lethargic, but easy to dance to music filled the ball room. Men went to look for beautiful ladies to take part in such an occasion. Naruto and Sasuke looked at the crowd in dismay. Any moment now they knew a group of girls would be flocking over towards them, begging for a dance.

Naruto would be flustered, not used to this much attention from humans of the opposite gender. Sasuke would be irritated beyond belief, wishing that the girls would just leave them the hell alone and find other guys to dance with.

"U-Um… excuse me, Sasuke-sama, Naruto-sama."

The boys held in groans out of sheer politeness. The girl's voice sounded dainty and nervous, it would be down right mean to cut into her with words formed by irate emotions. Naruto was the first to 'break the ice'. He flashed the pink-haired girl an inviting smile. She was pretty cute in the blonde's mind. Petite with unnaturally (but she worked it) pink hair that was pinned up in a nice, curly, bun. A few stray curls framed her face, brining out her pale complexion and mint green eyes beautifully.

To Naruto, the girl was an absolute angel. To Sasuke, the girl seemed like some definite competition.

"There's no need to be so formal. Just call me Naruto, and you can call that guy over there plain ol' Sasuke. Right, Teme?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, not feeling the need to make any further statements than that.

The pink-haired beauty smiled in gratification, bowing slightly out of politeness. A soft, rosy, pink blush tinted her cheeks as her eyes skimmed over Sasuke's costume. She had specifically gone on a search for the younger raven in hopes that she could steal a quick dance or two with him. Being a simple common folk with dreams of marrying into royalty meant that she would do anything to capture the prince's attention.

"Yes, well… I was wondering if you would not mind sharing a dance with me… Sasuke-kun." Despite Naruto's earlier inclination, she still couldn't find the courage to act so familiar with a prince.

Naruto felt his heart drop a little. He had seen this coming but didn't want to acknowledge it. The world of a painfully bliss adolescent was too tempting to leave. It was pleasant to think that a pink-haired beauty would want to dance with him not Sasuke. That was how it always went at these dances. Yes, he would dance with the occasional cute girl, but the one he really had his eye on would go for the raven.

If Sasuke wasn't his best friend, Naruto would have probably hated him. Didn't mean he didn't feel extremely jealous of Sasuke.

Sasuke silently took a glance at the blonde, studying his reaction and body language. From the blonde's crossed arms and awaiting look, Sasuke could come up with the conclusion that Naruto was jealous that this girl asked him to dance, and was waiting to see how he'd tackle the situation.

'If I say no, Naruto's just going to yell at me. And if I say yes, Naruto's going to be angry with me.' Sasuke exhaled a quiet sigh, weighing the pros and cons of each option. He could handle Naruto yelling at him to an extent. But Naruto being angry at him over jealousy issues would leave more damage than a simple scolding. 'Well that settles things. I feel sorry for the girl though…'

"What's your name?" the raven asked.

"It's S-Sakura Haruno, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow at the girl's reddening face. He was used to girls flipping out over his looks it was something he'd grown accustomed to over the years. Girls would do the craziest things and act strange to either get his attention or because they were in a close enough distance that they didn't know what to do with themselves. It seemed farfetched, ridiculous, and something that only came out in movies but it was what it was.

"You have a wonderful name, very nice, but I'm sorry. I can not accept your invitation to dance."

"Oh…" Sakura hung her head in disappointment. Once again she had gotten her hopes up over a guy that was completely out of her reach; unobtainable.

"W-What?" Naruto did a quick double take of his best friend, wondering why the hell this guy could have rejected her so easily. Obviously she was attractive. Sure, Sasuke never really engaged in Naruto's conversations pertaining to the opposite sex, but he only pegged him as being a stick in the mud that didn't know how to step out of his comfort box. Now, he thought Sasuke had gone completely insane.

"Excuse us one moment, Sakura-chan." The blonde pulled the stunned raven by the sleeves off to a secluded corner of the balcony. "Sasuke, you really are a bastard you know that? Why'd you turn her down?"

"I thought how I did it was very civil." Sasuke shrugged his shoulders carelessly. "You know I could have been a lot worse than that. Besides…" he smiled in a prince-like manner that was acquired from years of practicing, taking Naruto's hand in his own. "I was hoping that my first dance would be with you."

"C-Come again?" Naruto was hearing things. That had to be it. There was no way Sasuke Uchiha could be asking him to dance. 'We're both guys!' his mind screamed, but a small part of him – or maybe even larger than Naruto wished to acknowledge – was telling him that it actually wanted Sasuke to ask him to dance. To lead him out into the ballroom filled with colorful costumes, people are laughing, and the sweet smell of expensive wine and exotic spices filling their senses where they could get lost in the music.

"You heard me, Dobe. You're my dance partner. Now are you going to stand there gaping like a fish or are you going to take my hand and dance with me?"

Before Naruto could come up with a witty retort, his mind was still trying to catch up to his mouth; he was whisked away on to the dance floor by the raven. He looked over his shoulder at a stunned looking Sakura and shouted, "I'm really sorry about this! I hope you enjoy the rest of your night, Sakura-chan!"

"Y-Yeah…" Sakura waved lamely, dumbfounded. Her mind was still trying to make sense with what just happened. When the pieces finally came together, she threw her purse to the ground and kicked a nearby plant. "Damn it!"

+Eclipse: You lead and I'll follow+

"Do you even know how to Waltz?"

"Of course I know how!"

"Then why are you dancing like you have two left feet?"

"Because my partner doesn't know what the hell's he doing!"

"Sure, that's the reason why."

Naruto groaned out of pure frustration. Sasuke could be the most immature person he ever met no matter how much of a mask he tried to place; pretending to be more mature than he actually was. 'And people call me childish.' Naruto scoffed, although the statement was true but he'd be ready to argue his side any day.

They two continued to dance, fumbling with their steps until their bodies started to tune together in perfect synch. When Sasuke took a step back, Naruto took a step forward. When Sasuke moved Naruto was right beside him, following and copying the move step for step. It wasn't the perfect waltz, but neither really cared. They would dance with their own style to the time of violins and cellos performing a duet.

'I've never noticed this… but Sasuke's really pretty.' Naruto gazed up into those onyx eyes. He could get lost in them forever… Those eyes that held so many secrets locked with them. That could change from unfathomable onyx to startling red in an instant. Naruto didn't know which set of eyes he liked more. The blood red ones that stared at him through the flames when he was younger, or the onyx ones that were staring at him with an emotion he couldn't place…

He shivered unconsciously at the look… What was that emotion anyways?

"Ne, Sasuke…"

"Hn?"

"Do you still have that scar on your left arm? From when we first met…?"

"I do." The scar was something that had left more than an imprint on the raven's skin. It was a symbol that this all really wasn't just some dream. That their meeting in the forest wasn't out of a stroke of luck but from fate working its hands and weaving their story's quilt. He hadn't forgotten the circumstances under which he met Naruto, but he would always be thankful to the Council for their mission.

"You wanna know something?" it was a rhetorical question, not really needing an answer for it. As they waltz, Naruto felt stranger emotions run through his system. They were all going so haywire he couldn't tell what they were. "I'm really happy I met you in that forest three years ago. I never let on to it… but I was actually pretty lonely. Yeah, I'm the prince and all but I can tell people don't really like me. That's why, when I met you, and you treated me like you were better than me – which pissed me off at first – I was… happy for some strange reason. Because for once, someone didn't look at me with hate, or tried to hold me up on some incredibly high pedestal. They were looking at me."

Sasuke had stopped dancing, frozen by the blonde's heartfelt confession. So he really did have an impact on Naruto's pact other than saving his life one day. Here he was, pouring out his heart to the raven, and he'd never know the real reason as to why he was in the forest that day.

His scar thumped numbly against his skin…

"Naruto—"

"Just hear me out, okay Sasuke?" for some strange reason that Naruto couldn't explain, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Sasuke's. "You're really important to me, Sasuke. And I'm glad the scars on our arms won't heal. It marks that our friendship started from something special."

"Dobe… you're too sentimental." Going against everything he believed in about personal contact, showing affection, and opening up his defenses, Sasuke pulled Naruto into a hug, resting his head on the blonde's shoulder. He could sense Naruto's surprise at the gesture – hell, it surprised him just as much as it did Naruto – but eased a little when he felt the blonde's arms wrap around his shoulders.

"You totally know how to ruin my moment, Teme." Naruto chuckled as their bodies swayed back and forth to the lethargic music notes playing in the air.

"I suppose it's a gift. In all seriousness though, Naruto… I'm really glad I met you too."

Naruto didn't have to say a word. His smile spoke volumes.

Reviews are highly welcomed :D!

I'm off to Flordia tomorrow 8D. Gonna soak up some sun! I tell everyone I'm going to come back with a tan and they just go "Dude, you're already black!" and I told them to just shut up and let the moment pass o.o.

Anywho! See you next Friday :D.