A Little Competition Between Friends

The great Sasuke Uchiha did not pout. True, he glared a lot and smirked far more than was socially acceptable, but he did not pout. So why did he feel so much like pouting now? The answer came in the form of a shy girl with lavender eyes, one Hinata Hyuga.

The problem was simple: he could count the number of people that he actually liked and wanted to be around on one hand and lately even that small number had begun to decline due to a rather unfortunate incident involving a certain Hokage and his pink-haired assistant. Now, he could scarcely look at his former teacher and teammate without being overcome by the urge to either empty his stomach or gouge out his eyes. Most of the time, he fantasised about doing both. Attempts to wipe the memory from his mind using his sharingan had been a resounding failure. Looking into a mirror and using his sharingan had resulted in nothing except for a massive headache and red, swollen eyes. He grimaced. The latter had been particularly unfortunate. Sakura had taken one look at him and asked him if he was okay, if perhaps he had been crying, and if maybe he wanted to discuss his feelings.

And now it looked like Naruto was going to get a girlfriend. Oh, the blonde idiot probably didn't realise it just yet, but he knew what the determined gleam in Hinata's eyes meant. Yes, the Hyuga might seem quiet, but he had no doubt at all that she'd set her heart upon Naruto and would do whatever it took to get him. She was probably plotting right now, hiding some devious plan behind that shy, innocent smile.

That wasn't to say that Hinata was completely without merit. He'd heard about her battle with Pain – if being pummelled almost non-stop for ten minutes could be called a battle. It took a special kind of girl, one who was either utterly insane or completely devoted, to take on a ridiculously overpowered S-rank ninja who had what was probably the second biggest god complex in history. So maybe, Hinata wasn't completely useless. That still didn't mean he was happy. Naruto would get a girlfriend, but then where would that leave him?

(For the record, Sasuke thought that Madara Uchiha had the biggest god complex in history. How else could you describe someone who was willing to use the moon, the freaking moon, as part of some bizarre plan to achieve world domination? He still wondered if maybe each time Madara phased through things, he left part of his brain behind. It would definitely have explained a lot).

If he was honest with himself, Naruto was probably the only person that he could really call a friend, which, now that he thought about it, was actually incredibly pathetic. What kind of person stayed friends with someone who had tried to kill them so many times? Worse what kind of person tried to kill their only friend so many times? Yes, they were both immensely screwed up and he was sure that somewhere in the afterlife Itachi was probably pointing and laughing at him and sharing all manner of embarrassing stories with anyone willing to listen.

So Naruto was his friend and maybe he wasn't really that much of a dead last loser, but once Hinata got her hooks into him, Sasuke would probably never see him again. He'd seen it enough times to know what to expect. It wouldn't be long before Naruto started writing crappy poetry and packing picnic lunches instead of coming over for their usual sparring and insult-trading sessions. Naruto might even start talking about settling down and having kids. Shudder.

And bringing Hinata along today was just the first step. Tuesdays were special. They were…

Hinata bowed politely. "Um… hello, Sasuke. I'll be joining you and Naruto for your training today."

Wait, what? Training? Sasuke smirked. It seemed that little miss Hyuga wasn't aware of just what he and Naruto really got up to on Tuesdays. Perfect, he could use this. Heck, he might even have a little fun too.

"Training?" Sasuke drawled. "Is that what you think we get up to?"

The Hyuga's eyes widened as a rosy blush swept across her cheeks. Well, well, well, whatever could she be thinking? Sasuke imagined that it was something along the lines of what Ino had suggested when she'd first found out that he and Naruto spent Tuesdays together. Couldn't a guy spend some time with his best friend without people coming up with weird ideas?

Although some of that was probably his fault. After all, he had deserted the village to go train with Orochimaru and the snake sannin was hardly a poster boy for normal behaviour. He shuddered. The less he thought about Orochimaru the better. There was no way that all those tests should have required him to take off his clothes. And he still had nightmares about Orochimaru's rebirth ritual. Why had there been so many tentacles? Perverted didn't even begin to describe it.

"So you two don't do training?" Hinata squeaked. Her cheeks reddened even more as she poked her fingers together.

Sasuke's smirk widened and he wondered just how red he could make Hinata. "No. Why don't you try and guess what we do?"

Hinata stuttered hopelessly for a few moments and Sasuke gave himself a mental pat on the back. She was definitely thinking something perverted and all it would take was one more carefully worded comment and she'd be down for the count. Heh. He was such a magnificent bastard.

"Hey, Sasuke, don't be a jerk," Naruto said before he could deliver the coup de grace. Then to Sasuke's horror, Naruto turned to Hinata and smiled sunnily. It was the sort of smile that was the envy of kittens and puppies everywhere and it would do nothing more than encourage the lavender-eyed temptress. "What Sasuke means to say is that we won't be training today. Instead, we'll be going fishing in training ground 45."

"Fishing!" Hinata blurted. "Is that what you to do together?"

Naruto nodded slowly. "Yes. What were you thinking?"

Sasuke looked up at the sky. It was going to be a long, long day.

X X X

Training ground 45 was one of the largest training grounds in the village. The Nidaime had constructed it years ago so that he could practice his water jutsu without worrying about drowning anyone. Several large, fast flowing streams flowed through the training ground and there was a huge lake in the middle of it. In short, it was spectacular, and Hinata resolved to come more often. She smiled dreamily. It would be the ideal place to have a picnic and she could just picture herself and Naruto eating ramen by the lakeshore with stars overhead and frolicking the shallows. She'd splash him with water and he'd splash her and then they'd have to dry their wet clothes and then maybe he'd take off his wet shirt and then…

"Hey, Hinata, have you ever gone fishing before?"

"Huh?" Hinata blinked and realised that not only was Naruto talking to her, but Sasuke was staring at her almost as if he could see what she'd been thinking. Wait, he couldn't really see what she was thinking, could he? "Um… I've seen people fishing, but I've never gone fishing before."

Naruto smiled at her and she felt her knees weaken. "So it's your first time then?"

Hinata nodded mutely, throat suddenly very, very dry.

"In that case, I'll show you what to do." And with that Naruto pulled out a storage scroll and there was a puff of smoke before several fishing rods along with some other equipment that she couldn't recognise appeared. He grinned and pulled her over to the edge of the lake, leaving one pouting Uchiha behind. "Now watch closely and I'll teach you how to fish."

What followed was a fifteen minute crash course in how to fish delivered in typical Naruto fashion. This meant that there was a great deal of shouting and frantic waving of limbs. There may even have been a jutsu or two involved, although she was sure that if anyone asked he'd have claimed that the trees uprooted themselves and that there'd always been a crater in the ground the size of a large house. For his part, Sasuke continued to watch her with an eerily intense gaze. Had she offended him somehow?

"Okay, now that you know what to do, we're going to go out on to the water," Naruto proclaimed.

"Oh… okay." Hinata nodded and took one step onto the water.

"No, no, no," Naruto said. "You can't walk on the water. You have to take a boat out." He pointed at a rowboat farther up along the lakeshore.

"Um… if you don't mind my asking, Naruto, but why do we have to use a boat?" Surely it would be easier to walk across the water, Hinata thought. They were ninjas, after all.

Naruto looked at her like she'd claimed ramen came from the devil and she almost recoiled. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sasuke smirk and was suddenly overcome by the urge to smack him over the head with her fishing rod. Thankfully, she managed to suppress it. "You can't just walk on the water… that would be… like… cheating."

"Um… how would it be cheating?" Hinata didn't want to make him mad, but she really didn't understand what was going on.

"Look… it just would be, okay." Naruto hefted his fishing rod like a sword and pointed it at her with a flourish. "Just think of it was my Way of the Fisher."

Way of the Fisher? Hinata blinked. What did that even mean?

"I don't think she gets it, Naruto," Sasuke said with a devilish smirk, one that made her want to do all sorts of unspeakable things to him and not unspeakable things of the pleasant kind. No, she thought, unspeakable things of the violent kind. "Maybe we should just go out on our own.

Hinata squared her shoulders and grabbed the Uchiha by the arm. She felt his arm creak beneath her grip and managed a strained smile for Naruto. "Of course, I understand, Sasuke. I would be honoured to join you and Naruto in the boat. Shall we go?"

And so they rowed – or rather Sasuke rowed – out to the middle of the lake before casting out their lines. It was actually oddly relaxing and Hinata found herself letting out a sigh of relief. She'd come prepared for a sparring session and while she knew that she wasn't half bad, she had no illusions as to her ability to challenge either Sasuke or Naruto in a fight. Fishing, on the other hand, seemed like a great deal of fun and it probably would be, if only Naruto and Sasuke didn't take it so seriously.

The two of them were staring at the water so intensely that she wondered if they were somehow trying to will the fish into biting. If anything they were probably achieving the complete opposite as both of them were radiating enough chakra to knock most chunin unconscious. It was little wonder that people just assumed that they were sparring instead of fishing.

Feeling the need to break the tension, Hinata asked what she felt was a sensible question. "Um… why don't you guys use jutsu?" Immediately a wave of gloom fell over the rowboat. Okay, maybe that hadn't been such a good idea. "I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Surprisingly it was Sasuke who spoke, although he kept his gaze resolutely on the water. "We tried that. It didn't work. At all."

Naruto laughed and looked up from the water at her, rubbing the back of his head. "We didn't always use training ground 45, you know, Hinata. We used to go fishing in training ground 32."

"Oh." Hinata's eyes widened. She'd heard about training ground 32. Everyone had. It had been one of the largest training grounds in the village. Had been. Several months ago someone had reduced it to a huge, smoking crater. The damage bill had been astronomical and Sakura had complained for months about all the things she'd had to do to cajole Kakashi into doing the paperwork required to fix it. "Oh."

"Yes," Sasuke mocked. "Oh."

"So… what happened?" Hinata was overcome by morbid curiosity.

"The dead last thought it would be fair to use kage bunshin." Sasuke turned and sneered at Naruto and Hinata stifled the urge to paralyse him with the Gentle Fist and toss him overboard. If anyone asked, she could say that he drowned. Technically, it wouldn't even be lying. "Although I shouldn't be surprised. It's not like the blonde idiot knows the first thing about fair play."

Naruto bristled and brandished his fishing rod like a club. "Fair play? That's a bit rich coming from the jerk with the sharingan."

Sasuke growled. "Hey, I can't help it that my eyes are awesome. What do you want me to do, cut them out?" When Naruto nodded and mimed doing exactly that, Sasuke lunged at him, only to trip over the box of bait. Worms went everywhere and Hinata plastered herself to the side of the rowboat in a vain attempt to avoid both the worms and the enraged Uchiha.

"Stop, you'll tip the boat over," Hinata warned as the rowboat began to lean alarmingly.

"You think kage bunshin, are cheating, you bastard, but it's not like you have to turn your sharingan on!" Naruto shouted as he did his best to both scoop the worms back into their box and bash Sasuke over the head with his fishing rod. When that failed, he switched to trying to garrotte the Uchiha with his fishing line. Oddly enough, Hinata found the whole thing strangely endearing. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves. "Besides, it's not my fault that your chakra capacity is too puny to use kage bunshin properly!"

"Puny?" Sasuke spat. Naruto did not just go there. "There is absolutely nothing puny about me or my chakra, dickless!"

The use of Sai's nickname for Naruto broke Hinata out of a pleasant fantasy involving her and Naruto being shipwrecked on a deserted island. Alone with only each other to turn to, who knew what might happen…

"He is not dickless!" Hinata shouted.

Sasuke stopped strangling Naruto and looked at her. The Uchiha's eyes narrowed and then his lips curved up into yet another smirk. She gulped. "Oh? And how would you know?"

"Um…" Hinata covered her face with her hands. She could hardly admit that she may have used her byakugan in a not so above board way. Did that make her a pervert? It was only the one time and she had been so very curious. Besides, she knew that Neji had snuck a look or two at Tenten. She was just evening things up between the sexes. Yes, that was it. She was evening the ledger on behalf of all women. It had absolutely nothing all to do with the rumours she'd heard about certain… physiological enhancements that jinchuriki were said to have. Nothing. At. All.

Thankfully, Naruto saved her from having to reply. "Dickless?" Naruto shouted. "Look who's talking, bastard! I don't exactly see any Uchiha brats anywhere, do you?"

Sasuke scowled and resumed his attempt to strangle Naruto as their struggle continued to splash water everywhere. "Maybe I don't feel like having kids with psycho stalker fan girls." Sasuke made a retching sound. "At least none of your fan girls stalk you when you're bathing."

Hinata snapped out of her daze and narrowed her eyes. Naruto had more fan girls? Well, she'd see about that. Perhaps it was time to have the Branch House look into things. Yes, she smiled in a manner all too reminiscent of her younger sister. She'd have the fan girls dealt with. A giggle escaped her lips. There were definitely benefits to being the Heiress of the Hyuga Clan. But first she needed to get the conversation away from Naruto and the nature of his genitalia. "So what did happen to training ground 32?"

Both Naruto and Sasuke paused, Sasuke with his hands around Naruto's throat, the blonde with his right hand poised to deliver a textbook eye gouge. The two glared at one another and then shoved apart. Sasuke stalked back to his side of the rowboat but continued to eye Naruto like he expected the blonde to resume their conflict at any moment.

"The idiot summoned toads to drain the lake and steal all the fish for himself."

Naruto frowned. "That was only after you use Amaterasu on some of the fish."

Hinata wasn't sure what to think of that. Sasuke had used Amaterasu, the black fire that burned hotter than the sun and burned for seven days and seven nights, on fish? "So who won?"

Naruto shot to his feet and thumped his chest proudly. "The bastard forgot that Amaterasu burns everything it touches. So after that he didn't have any fish left. I, on the other hand, still had a few, even if those toads ran off with most of them."

"So that's how the training ground was destroyed?" Hinata asked.

Naruto laughed. "Oh no, the training ground was still there after that, but Sasuke just couldn't take losing. He used Kirin."

"The training ground only got blown up because I missed." Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I was aiming for you, idiot."

"Yeah, well your aim sucks." Naruto smiled sweetly at Hinata and she found herself feeling a little short of breath. "Anyway, that's why neither Sasuke or I can use jutsu or other techniques." He grimaced. "Kakashi made us pay for all of the repairs and even though both Sasuke and I are pretty much loaded… yeah… it was a pretty large training ground."

X X X

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto asked. "Can you help me out here?"

Hinata blushed. Naruto asking her for help, imagine that? Well, she couldn't really blame him. Over the past few hours, Sasuke had caught almost a dozen fish and she'd managed to reel in six. Naruto, on the other hand, had only a single solitary fish to his name and it was, quite possibly, the most pathetic thing she'd ever seen. In fact she still wasn't entirely sure if it was a fish or just a really mouldy piece of driftwood. "Of course I'll help." She paused and thought back to the destruction of training ground 32. "Um… as long as it's not against the rules."

Sasuke waved one hand indifferently. "Help him all you want. It's not like he can win."

Hinata glared mightily at the Uchiha but the look was wasted. Not only was it not particularly threatening to begin with, but Sasuke hadn't even bothered to turn around to face them while he was speaking. She'd show him. "So, what did you want to ask me about, Naruto?"

He looked at her, a little embarrassed because he was supposed to be the one teaching her and not the other way around. "Well… you've caught so many more fish that me. Uh… what am I doing wrong?"

She watched him for a few moments and then nodded. She could do this. She could help Naruto and together they would win and wipe the smirk off the Uchiha's face. "I think that maybe you're moving your line around too much. It scares the fish away. You need to try and make the line move around more naturally… um… kind of like a real fish would, I think."

Naruto leaned up close and grinned and Hinata had to restrain herself from either squealing or passing out. She could just see the headlines now: Naruto related injuries up 1000% - Hyuga Heiress the latest victim! Not exactly the sort of epitaph she wanted. "You're really good at this." He waved his fishing rod around. "Like this?"

"Maybe a bit slower." Hinata paused. "Maybe it would be easier if you relaxed a bit. Why don't you tell me why you and Sasuke go fishing?"

Naruto laughed and Hinata could have sworn she saw Sasuke twitch. "Actually, fishing isn't the first thing that we've tried. It's just that all of the others ended… badly."

Badly? Hinata struggled to keep her face neutral. Contrary to popular belief she wasn't entirely blind to Naruto's faults. Saying that things had gone badly was basically Naruto-speak for massive explosions and titanic, world-ending battles. "Oh?"

Naruto bobbed his fishing rod up and down slowly. "We tried bowling first." He shook one fist at Sasuke. "But apparently it's considered cheating to use wind chakra on your bowling ball."

"That's because it is cheating. You can just blow all the pins down," Sasuke growled. "Besides, you didn't see me using my lightning chakra did you?"

Naruto made a face. "That only because your lightning chakra sucks." He turned back to Hinata and smiled. "Then we tried darts."

Hinata didn't even need to ask how that had gone. Lightning chakra and wind chakra were both really good at cutting or piercing through things. She was willing to bet her best kimono that the sudden spate of dart-related injuries about a year ago could be traced back to Sasuke and Naruto. If she recalled correctly, one of the incidents had even involved a building being sliced in half.

"Then we tried cards. Never ever play cards against someone with a doujutsu. They'll just cheat." As though suddenly realising whom he was talking to, Naruto grinned foxily and patted her hand. She immediately vowed to never wash that hand again. "Present company excluded of course. I know you'd never cheat. Not like Sasuke." And if that wasn't enough he felt the need to add, "But he's a bastard so I guess I should have expected it."

Sasuke snorted. "For the last time, Naruto, I wasn't cheating. You just suck at poker. You're easy to read and you can't count cards to save your life."

After that silence descended over the rowboat again and despite her best efforts, Naruto continued to lag behind Sasuke. She could feel his frustration grow with each moment and she surreptitiously activated her byakugan to see if there was anything else she could do to help. She pursed her lips. From the looks of things, it wasn't just that his technique was poorer than Sasuke's. There just weren't that many fish on Naruto's side of the boat. However there were plenty of fish on Sasuke's side of the boat, most likely because of the underwater rock formation near him. Had he planned it? No, probably not. The sharingan couldn't see through things.

"Naruto," Hinata whispered. "Trying casting your fishing line over there." She pointed at a place where the fish were more plentiful.

Naruto nodded and then stopped as he spotted her active byakugan. "You're not supposed to use that."

Hinata was torn. She didn't want to cheat, but she really did want to help Naruto. "Um… Sasuke said that I can help you, right? And the rules only say that you and Sasuke can't use any ninja techniques, don't they?"

Naruto looked at her and said nothing and she was worried that she might've offended him, but then his face broke into a broad grin. "You know, Hinata," he said, pulling her into a hug. "I like the way you think."

She did her best not to melt into a puddle of deliriously happy goo.

X X X

Sasuke wasn't too bothered when Naruto finally reeled in his second fish. He was already too far ahead for the dead last to possibly catch up, so why not let the blonde have a few moments of glory? In the end, he the last Uchiha would no doubt emerge victorious yet again. He smirked. Today would mark his twentieth epic fishing victory. Not that he was keeping track, or anything.

But then Naruto pulled in a third fish and then a fourth in rapid succession. Now that was suspicious and for a moment Sasuke was tempted to switch on his sharingan. However, he held back. Naruto would surely accuse him of cheating and there was just not way that he'd let those sorts of accusations rob him of his glorious victory. Naruto was just getting lucky (and it had better only be at fishing – Sasuke still didn't entirely approve of Hinata).

And then before Sasuke knew it, he and Naruto were neck and neck. What on earth? Accusations of cheating be damned, Sasuke needed to know how Naruto was doing it. His sharingan flared to life and he bit back a curse. It was Hinata! Screw copying fishing techniques or following the movements of the fishing line with the sharingan, the Hyuga could see the damn fish and she leading Naruto straight to them.

In retrospect, he could have let it slide. He could have just let Naruto win. In the end, it was supposed to be a friendly competition, right? Not a chance.

He shot to his feet and the boat rocked wildly. "You cheater!" he cried, pointing with one finger.

Naruto shot to his feet as well. "I am not cheating!"

"Then why is her byakugan on?" Sasuke demanded.

Naruto smirked and Sasuke muttered a curse. The idiot was stealing his best expression. "The rules don't say that Hinata can't use it and you said that she could help me."

"That's crap and you now it!" Sasuke retorted. "What happened to your Way of the Fisher? You can't just use someone else's doujutsu."

"Well, she was kind enough to offer. Besides, aren't you forgetting something important?" Naruto struck his most impressive pose and let his chakra flare majestically. "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum."

Sasuke's jaw dropped "You did not just use that phrase to justify your blatant cheating!"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply, but Hinata beat him to it. Showing more guts than he gave her credit for, the Hyuga shot to her feet as well. "Stop calling Naruto a cheater!" She poked Sasuke with her index finger and it took all of his will power not to whimper. Damn, she had pointy fingers, although he probably shouldn't be surprised. She was a Gentle Fist user and all they did was go around poking people all day.

Sasuke folded his arms over his chest. "If you're going to use jutsu to help Naruto, then I should be able to use them too." He couldn't believe it. Already the purple haired temptress had managed to get between him and his best friend. That was just unfair and damn it, it was worth pouting over. So he did. Pout, that is. A lot.

"Oooh, what are you going to do, use Amaterasu again?" Naruto taunted.

Sasuke smirked evilly and stuck his arm into the water. Jagged bolts of blue-white electricity crackled along his arm. "Chidori." There was a snap, crackle, pop and then the whole of the lake's surface lit up. Steam rose from the water and scores of fish floated to the surface. "It looks like I win."

Naruto's reply came in the form of a massive rasen shuriken that blenderised (1) the entire lake. "Hah. Not anymore you don't!" Naruto retorted before he began to dance around the rowboat singing horribly off key. "I am the champion, I am the champion. No time for losers for I am the champion… of the world!"

"Um…" Hinata grabbed Naruto's arm. "What do we do about that?"

"About what?" Naruto stopped his victory dance and turned. His eyes went wide. "Oh… that."

The blast created by his rasen shuriken hadn't just blenderised the lake. It had created a giant wave that was approaching their small, flimsy rowboat at an alarming speed.

"For the record," Sasuke said. "If this destroys the training ground, Naruto, you're paying for it."

And then the wave hit.

X X X

Hinata groaned and tried to get up, only to find that something was pinning her down. She looked down and then nearly passed out again. She was on the lakeshore and Naruto was… was… well… he was lying face down in her water logged cleavage. She swallowed thickly and felt a rush of heat. It felt nice, really nice. Absently, she ran one hand through his blonde hair and shivered at the feel of it. He let out a low groan and nuzzled into her cleavage and her groan became a moan.

"Ramen…" Naruto murmured. "Hinata…"

Her eyes widened in shock. He was dreaming about ramen and her? Oh, the possibilities, many of which she'd considered herself and almost all of which were most improper for a gently bred lady such as herself. Still, she couldn't find the will to move. She could just stay like this forever. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Ahem."

Her eyes opened and she found herself looking into the burning crimson depths of Sasuke Uchiha's eyes.

"Hinata Hyuga." Sasuke's sharingan shifted, the three tomoe vanishing in place of something that vaguely resembled a six-pointed star – his mangekyo sharingan, Hinta realised in shock. "I have something to ask you."

"Um… yes?" He was going to kill her, Hinata thought as she took in the absolute lack of emotion on the Uchiha's face. She was going to die at the hands of the last Uchiha with Naruto's face wedged in her cleavage. Part of her was horrified, but another part was gleefully pointing out that even if she did die, well, Naruto's face was wedged in her cleavage!

Sasuke grimaced and had to force the words out. "Tell me, Hinata Hyuga, are your intentions toward Naruto honourable?"

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Naruto nor am I making a dime off this.

Well here we have Hinata's day with Naruto and Sasuke. I'm sure some people are wondering why I chose fishing, but honestly, if you've ever gone on a fishing trip, you'd know that fishing is serious business. I've seen otherwise rational human beings become ravening monsters over a fish the length of a pen. I also thought it would be nice to have a look at what Sasuke thinks about the whole thing. Naruto is not just his best friend. He's quite possibly his only friend.

Strangely, the idea for this chapter kind of popped up before the idea for Chapter 3, so I'm sort of working in reverse. That said, in typically disorganised fashion, the ending is completely different from the original draft and so is most of the opening section. Seriously, my earlier drafts are more like barely coherent ranting than actual drafts.

As always, I look forward to your feedback. Reviews and comments are appreciated.

(1) For those of you not familiar with the word 'blenderise', the easiest way to think about it is to imagine what happens when you throw something into a giant blender.