A/N: Hi guys. Sorry for the long wait. I've been stuck with writer's block. Thanks for everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed! Here's the next chapter.
The clearing was empty, a peaceful atmosphere surrounding the area. Above the clearing, Sasuke leaned against a trunk of a tree, body balanced on a branch he was currently lounging on. His eyes were closed, mind blank, as he basked in the silence. The heavy burden weighing on his mind disappeared, if only for a second. It was a strange feeling to be so calm and free. The mood was disturbed when a violent gust of wind swept by, causing the tree branches to sway. The birds hidden in the forest of green soared into the air, leaving behind a trail of leaves and startled chirps. Sasuke cracked one eye open when a sudden weight settled itself on his lap. It was the devil spawn they couldn't catch earlier. Tsk. The reason he was forced to do these ridiculous team-building exercises in the first place.
"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked in an irritated voice.
"Cold." Kakashi's newest pup replied, while yawning. "You warm."
"Get off."
"No." The pup replied, snuggling closer to Sasuke. " Comfy."
Sasuke sighed, but made no attempt to move the pup. His face softened a fraction (barely, but it was there) when the pup started to snore, letting out a complacent sigh. Sasuke leaned his head back towards the tree, allowing the small pup to sleep in his lap. They stayed like that for a while.
The dobe and Sakura are taking too long. His eyes narrowed slightly when he felt the pup shiver as a gust of wind blew by. Without thinking, he reached out and stroked the pup's back.
"I thought you didn't like dogs?"
Sasuke looked up and found Pakkun staring at him from another tree. He quickly retracted his hand from the pup, who whimpered at the loss of contact.
"I don't."
Pakkun snickered. "But you like him, don't you?"
Sasuke attempted to remove said pup from his lap to prove a point. But the pup started to whine and squirm. "No. Me stay."
"You can't." Sasuke sighed.
"Me stay." The pup whined. "Stay. Sas."
Sasuke paused briefly as sad eyes bore into his own. He didn't know how to respond to that. As indifferent as he tried to be, he wasn't that heartless.
"I think he likes you." Pakkun spoke up, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Sasuke gave up, allowing the pup to stay.
"He's not really Boss's nin dog, you know."
"..."
"He was abandoned because he couldn't speak human speech. Boss found him on the side of the road and took him in. He still has some trouble speaking properly. Turns out he's been abused by his past owner, so he's still wary of people. He seems to like you though."
"That has nothing to do with me." Sasuke quickly retorted.
Pakkun turned around. "Now that I know the pup isn't lost, I'm going to run some errands. Watch him." He disappeared before Sasuke could protest.
"Me stay?" The pup asked quietly.
Sasuke sighed again. "Yes."
The pup nuzzled his head on Sasuke's hand. He grinned. "Me stay." Sasuke hesitantly patted the pup's head. After a moment, the pup spoke again. "Lonely."
"What?" Sasuke asked, confused.
"Sas. Lonely?"
The question came out of nowhere, surprising him. Sasuke was at a loss for words. After a moment, he found his voice again. "What?" But the pup didn't say anything. He just stayed silent, staring at Sasuke with sad eyes for a very long time. When the pup finally spoke again, Sasuke felt a sharp, throbbing pain in his chest.
"Me too."
Me too.
Sasuke held back a groan when he felt Kakashi's presence behind him. He kept his facial expression as neutral as possible, but inside he was scowling in embarrassment.
"I see you named the pup." Kakashi chuckled, his lone eye crinkling in amusement.
"He came up with it on his own." Sasuke responded rather quickly.
Kakashi eyed the pup that was currently curled up in Sasuke's lap raising his eyebrow. "If you say so." Before Sasuke would reply, the pup jumped out of his lap towards Kakashi. "Boss."
"Hmm?"
"Sas gave me name." The pup replied happily.
"I did not!" Sasuke protested vehemently as Kakashi laughed.
Sakura paused in her steps as she entered the edge of the clearing. After a few moments, she startled to giggle, her hand covering her mouth.
"What's so funny, Sakura-chan?"
"Sasuke-kun ... He's ..." Sakura couldn't finish her sentence as another giggle escaped from her lips.
"He's what?" Naruto asked as he peered over her shoulder, only to snicker at the sight of Sasuke with a puppy on his head.
"Teme!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs.
Sasuke stared accusingly at Kakashi, as soon as he heard Naruto's voice. His head shot towards his teammates, then back to Kakashi. "You did that on purpose."
Kakashi chuckled at Sasuke's dismay as Naruto and Sakura came over.
"That was so cute Sasuke-kun."
"Yeah, Teme. You do have a heart!" Naruto snickered.
"Shut it, Dobe." Sasuke responded, angrily. "What took you so long to get here?"
Before anyone could reply, the pup bounded over. "I'm Koto!"
"You're are so cuteeee!" Sakura squealed, scoping him up in her arms.
"Ahh," Naruto pointed at Koto, "you have a name?"
"Did I forget to mention that Sasuke just named him?"
"For the last time, I did not!" Sasuke responded rather loudly. Naruto snickered again as Sasuke scowled at him. "Laugh one more time and you won't be able to get up tomorrow."
"You wanna fight Teme? Bring it datebayo! I'll pummel you to the ground."
"Guys." Sakura stepped in between them, breaking up the fight before it could even start.
Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to refrain from killing his teammate. "Dobe." Sasuke spoke in a measured tone. "I knew you were dumb, but I didn't expect you to be this stupid."
"But Teme!" Naruto whined.
"It's been twenty minutes." Sasuke paused briefly before elaborating. "How many traps have you tripped?"
"I won't do it again! I swear!"
Sasuke shook his head, turning away from Naruto. "Get down yourself."
"Teme! Come back! I'll listen to you." Naruto pleaded, dangling upside down a tree branch.
Sasuke ignored him as he continued to walk away, only stopping when Naruto's voice faded out. Sasuke sighed in irritation. He was wasting enough time as it was with these ridiculous team bonding exercises when he could be out training. He needed to become stronger, not idle around playing house. How was pretending to be a team going to make him stronger? Sasuke clenched his fists. He couldn't afford to work with other people. They didn't understand anything! How could they when their family was still alive and well and his wasn't? He lost everything that night because he was too weak. He could still remember that day like it was only yesterday. It was burned into his memories: his relatives slain on the ground they walked on, his parents crumpled on the floor like puppets, him running like a coward, and being spared. Sasuke closed his eyes. He should've died that day. Instead, he lost consciousness, plagued by nightmares that replayed their deaths over and over again. That man took everything from him and Sasuke would never forgive him. All of his trust disappeared into a black hole. He couldn't trust anyone. It was a weakness he couldn't afford to have. He could only believe in himself because never again would he let anyone in.
"SASUKE! I'M SORRY. COME BACK!" Naruto's voice snapped Sasuke back to reality. He sighed as he walked back towards the dobe. He never really understood how someone like Naruto could always be so happy. It sickened him to see happiness radiating from the dobe. There was nothing to be so damn happy about. He got up every time he got knocked down. He should stay down. Sasuke couldn't stand him. Naruto was always getting people caught up in his pace with his ridiculous bullshit. He couldn't count the number of times he's almost been swept up in the idiot's pace. Naruto made people do stupid things, such as almost dying to save his sorry a-
"I hated you..."
"I didn't ask for your help!"
"My body moved on its own, idiot."
Sasuke froze. Why was he thinking about pointless things? He had almost given up on his goal because the idiot was dumb enough to jump in. Why did he jump in? People made him weak. His teammates made him weak. Why did he bother with them? It wasn't like he cared about them because he didn't. He had enough on his mind without having to watch out for his teammates.
"Naruto defeated Haku. What did you do?" A small voice nagged in the back at his head. "He's getting stronger."
"SHUT UP!" Sasuke shouted at the voice inside his head. "I KNOW HE IS. YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL ME."
"And yet, you're still trying to avenge your parents. Don't make me laugh." The voice mocked him. "You're still so weak."
Sasuke stopped in his tracks. He wasn't going to deny it. He was weak. What the hell was he doing? Letting the dobe one up him? He almost died when he tried to save the dobe. Instead that idiot saved his sorry ass. He still had no idea how Naruto defeated Haku. All he heard from Sakura was that she had felt a terrible presence from Naruto. What was Naruto hiding?
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled in the distance. Sasuke frowned as he slowly started to walk towards his teammate. Naruto's face lit up when Sasuke came into view. "I knew you weren't going to leave me behind."
"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke replied in a tired voice. "Stop squirming around." With one swift motion, Naruto was on the ground.
"Oww! You could've warned me first, bastard." Naruto complained, rubbing his head. Sasuke studied him for a moment, the frown still present on his face. He didn't know why he got angry every time Naruto came into view. It was a dark and twisted feeling that enveloped him, urging him to beat the life out of the dobe. He couldn't stand the smile on his face. It reminded him of things he wished to forget. "Uh teme?" Naruto asked, quietly. "You alright?"
"Put the blindfold back on and let's go." Sasuke commanded, completely ignoring the question.
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto muttered.
True to his word, Naruto followed Sasuke's instructions to a tee. He didn't like it, but he also didn't want to hit another rope trap. Naruto kept silent the whole way, noticing something in Sasuke's eyes earlier. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever the hell it was the Sasuke was experiencing at the moment. Sasuke was in one of his moods and Naruto wasn't about to start a fight even if it was good for the bastard. Naruto frowned slightly.
"Oi, teme." Naruto waited for a response, but he got none. "Something wrong?" He tried again. No response. They walked in silence for a couple of minutes when Naruto decided he had enough.
"Dobe, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm not moving until you tell me what's wrong!" Naruto sat down for emphasis, taking off his blindfold.
"What makes you think anything's wrong?" Sasuke glared at him.
"You haven't tried to pick a fight with me or insulted me in the past fifteen minutes. Tell me what's wrong or wipe that look off your face."
"Get up before I make you." Sasuke threatened. Naruto crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. "Not gonna happen teme!"
Sasuke sighed. This was ridiculous. "I just want to get this over with quickly."
"Then stop brooding!" Naruto replied as he stood up.
"Uchihas don't brood." Sasuke retorted indignantly. "Idiot!"
"I could ask sensei and Sakura-chan and they'll agree. Stop acting like a kid!" Naruto baited.
"Shut up!"
"Says the guy that was moping earlier."
"At least I wasn't hanging from a rope." Sasuke countered.
"It's because you suck at instructions!"
"Who was the one that refused to listen to my instructions?" Sasuke started to smile as Naruto stammered out a response, but he caught himself in time. He couldn't let the dobe know that he was enjoying this. He would never hear the end of it. However, Sasuke was thankful because fighting with Naruto cleared his head from unnecessary thoughts.
Naruto dove to his left as several kunai flew by. He rolled to a stop, panting. "Ugh ... sensei ... how many traps ... did you put up?" Above them, Kakashi smirked. Sasuke quietly hauled Naruto up to his feet. "... thanks." Naruto muttered quietly.
Sasuke groaned. "Naruto, this is a silent exercise. Remember?"
Right. Naruto nodded in response. That was when Sasuke caught a glimpse of a wire. Sasuke pulled Naruto back, tapping his shoulders. Stop! Naruto froze, tilting his head. What? Sasuke eyed the net that was hanging from the tree warily and then at the wire. He groaned again. Naruto had the worst luck with traps. Of all the things that could happen right now, the dobe had to snag the wire for the log trap on his sandals. He tapped Naruto again. Be prepared to duck. Naruto slowly nodded. He hated relying solely on his hearing to determine when to duck. It better not be a log. Naruto frowned.
Sasuke whipped out a kunai. He needed to get the wire away from Naruto. One wrong move and the log would come crashing down. Just as Sasuke was about to remove the wire, something darted out of the bushes. Startled, Sasuke jerked, shoving Naruto's foot forward. Naruto's sandal broke the wire. Sasuke froze. It wasn't the log trap. DAMN!
"We made it without dying! Kakashi-sensei, you're a monster! We almost died!" Naruto sank to the ground. "My favorite jacket is ruined now!"
"Good riddance. That orange jumpsuit needs to be burned." Sasuke retorted. "I still can't believe you were stupid enough to do that."
"I only followed your instructions."
"I told you to duck and go left. You rolled right into a net. Then you jumped into the barrage of kunai. Are you an idiot?"
"How the hell was I supposed to know that the wire tripped all the traps in that area?"
"The question is ... how the hell are you still standing? That rolling rock hit you pretty hard. Why did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"You could hear the rock coming. Why didn't you avoid it?
"Because you told me not to dodge it."
"You let that rock hit you because I told you so?" Sasuke stared at him in disbelief.
"I would've tripped multiple traps had I avoided it." Naruto replied quietly; seriously. "... you wouldn't let me get hit without a reason."
"Hn."
"Besides, we're teammates. No one gets left behind. We watch each other's backs!" Naruto smiled. "You're my rival. I can't stand you. But ... you're still my teammate ... I gotta trust you right?"
Sasuke stayed silent, turning away. Naruto was too naive. There was no such thing as trust; only betrayal. Sasuke clenched his fists; his heart pounding in his chest painfully. Naruto's words struck a nerve inside him. For a brief moment, Sasuke let Naruto in. He felt something familiar resurface; it was filled with warmth and something akin to happiness. Sasuke squashed it down immediately. I don't trust you. And with that, Sasuke closed off his heart, shutting Naruto out.
"Don't ..." Sasuke mumbled inaudibly.
Don't trust me.
A/N: I focused on Sasuke more in this chapter because he didn't appear in the last chapter as much. I hope he didn't seem out of character. I didn't know what do with this chapter to be honest. This was what I came up with. I felt that I rushed the ending of this chapter, but I liked how it turned out.
As always, thank you all for reading! Let me know if you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas! I'd love to know what you guys think!
PS: Be on the lookout for more updates (hopefully) since I'm on spring break at the moment.
