Not checked, so please forgive any errors.

Dozo.


Be My Friend?

04

Naruto started awake. The dream – nightmare of a vision, really – had come to haunt him that night again. It flashed almost dizzily in his mind as he struggled to shake himself out its dark hold.

"Naruto?"

The quiet voice felt like an anchor. It chased the morbid thoughts away and Naruto turned a gentle, grateful smile to the bashful raven standing at the door. Said raven was currently wearing a blue frilly apron with the words 'Kiss The Cook' written across it in blazing orange – it was a birthday present that Iruka had given him in hopes that the blond would be more interested to learn to cook healthier meals, that had nothing much to do with ramen, of course – and holding a spatula absently in one hand. His hair was fashionably messy, though Naruto had yet to discover how Sasuke had actually made it do so without even bothering to comb it, and with the small smile lighting up the pale face almost childishly, Naruto thought that the raven looked rather adorable.

"Good morning, Sasu-chan."

Sasuke flushed at the nickname but made no protest. The old Sasuke would probably have incapacitated him for even thinking of doing such a thing. Then again, the old Sasuke would rather be dead than be caught wearing a frilly apron and smiling so freely. At the moment though, Sasuke was returning his greeting with the same bashful attitude. "I- I made breakfast..."

Yawning, Naruto rolled off his bed and made his way to the door. He grinned as he passed the flushed raven, ruffling the messy locks playfully in the process. Habit had him leaning over to bury his face in the soft hair briefly. His smile turned gentle at Sasuke's sincerely delighted giggle. "Thanks, sweetie."

As he sat at the table filled with the goodness of Sasuke-made home-cooked food, he couldn't help but think how lucky a man he was. The horror of the night was quickly fading away into a warmth that filled his very soul. Now, if only it would stay that way. And without any dark threats hanging over us for once...

"I- Itadakimasu..."

Sasuke's soft voice had Naruto smiling again. Dark threats or not though, he knew that for that short while, he was truly happy.

"Itadakimasu!"


It was dark – rather, the room was dimly lit, and filled from top to floor with scrolls; all forbidden and kept in enforced secrecy by the ominously dark ink written all over the surface of the room. Only a meager candle, already close to its waning death, provided what extra light that was allowed in from the stained windows. The room looked decrepit and unused, yet had an unnatural feel of emptiness. Its corners lacked the expected dust and pestilence of abandon. It was as though some unnamed guardian was keeping these away. It made Kakashi's instinct go on high alert.

"Still nothing?"

Kakashi was humbled enough by the room's aura to admit his shock. He forced his thoughts back in order and shook his gray head in response. "No, Hokage-sama. Everything's still as quiet as ever."

A blonde head nodded thoughtfully in the gloom. Its owner was buried amidst more scrolls in the middle of the room, her equally blonde brows frowning at the barely legible characters written upon the ancient paper. Kakashi waited for a long moment – he was used to the woman being absent-minded and buried in research since the suspiciously supernatural incident in another blond's apartment a month back – before deciding that the Godaime had nothing else for him. He was almost out of the forbiding room before the familiar voice, casually authoritative from habit, had him pausing in his tracks.

"Psychokinesis, also known as telekinesis; it is the ability to move or cause change in an object simply by thinking about it, without any application of physical force. According to the scrolls, it is one of the hidden aspects of the mind, a human being's natural ability, awoken usually by an extreme trauma. It is supposedly a supernatural ability; a 'gift of the gods for the specially chosen'."

There was a sudden lengthy pause that had Kakashi wondering if the elder had simply been speaking up absently. He started again when the silence was broken with Tsunade finally looking up properly to look him in the eye – it was rather unnerving to Kakashi, really – as she spoke. Her tone was grim. It set warning bells off in Kakashi's already paranoid mind.

"That incident at Naruto's – any and all evidence I've found points to Sasuke as the source. I think he either has this supposed psychokinetic ability, or there might just be some fluke of nature that occurred at the same time he had that attack."

Kakashi had to raise his one visible eyebrow at this. "A fluke of nature that occurred right when Sasuke had his attack; exactly at the area of Naruto's apartment; without even the neighbours noticing. That sounds rather implausible to me. I think I'd rather go with the psycho thing. At least we have more on that."

Tsunade sighed and stood up slowly. She groaned as her muscles complained at their sudden use again after a long while. "Yes. At least we know that it happened after the training mission. It seems that meeting this 'monster' had Sasuke being awakened to his new abilities. What I want to know is, why only now?"

Tsunade sighed again and stretched herself. Kakashi waited patiently for her to face him once more. After a rather long bout of thoughtful silence, she turned to look at him. "I think it's time we go for a visit."


They had gone shopping without much interruption, greeted some of the rookie nine on the way to and from the market, and even had the time to enjoy a late snack of onigiri by Konoha's only river. No one – but for the random few that seemed to have nothing better to do – seemed to be bothered or wanted to bother them, and Sasuke had even smiled at a few children playing on the streets. The day was going very well. It was actually going so well that Naruto felt himself relax.

"Look, Naruto, that looks like Kaeru-chan (1)," Sasuke's voice lilted softly to him in the light breeze, and Naruto smiled at the pure wonder on the raven's face. It had been so long – too long – since Naruto had felt such a sense of peace and contentment. He wondered pensively if every day would be the same. He gave a heavy sigh and slouched lower into his couch. A timid hand on his face pulled him out his depressed thoughts. His blue eyes locked gazes with a pair of concerned obsidian. So familiar, yet so different... "I- Is Naruto feeling unwell? Maybe- Maybe I should not disturb—"

Without even knowing why, Naruto suddenly found himself pulling the smaller form into his arms, with his face buried into the soft raven hair. He felt the body in his arms go rigid before melting into his hold. Naruto smiled at the easy trust Sasuke was giving him. Sweet, kind Sasuke who was now nestled comfortably in his arms; who would allow no other but him to touch so intimately; who smiled so shyly; who would cry silently in his sleep from unspeakable terror about a lurking darkness; who had been taken so brutally by a being so horrific that its name was never to be spoken...

Naruto tightened his grip around the slim body. He smiled wryly. Just a year ago the person in his arms would have smacked him harshly for simply wanting to touch him. He sighed again. Sasuke...

"Eh, am I interrupting something?"

Startled, instinct kicked in and Naruto curled protectively around the currently asleep Sasuke – he wondered idly when the raven had fallen asleep – and let loose a barrage of shuriken that he had hidden in the folds of his waistband. He started again when he finally registered who it was exactly that stood before him. He blinked warily at the two intruders. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kakashi's one visible eye crinkled up in amusement as he plucked a stray shuriken from the tattered piece of 'literature' he held. "Well, that was certainly an interesting welcome."

Tsunade growled rather audibly beside him and absently pulled at the shuriken that had managed to nick at her green haori. "I told you we should have simply knocked at the door like proper guests."

"Now, where's the fun in that?"

Naruto refrained from pummeling his head into the wall. There goes my peace...


The air was tense. Freezing blue locked in an electrocuting battle with cool brown while the calmer, lopsided gray watched on. The small war of who-had-the-last-stare was broken abruptly by the least expected person.

"I'll go make tea," a sleepy voice drifted from somewhere within tanned arms and the slim raven wriggled out his hiding place to plop rather disgracefully on the floor. Two pairs of eyes, and one droopy eye raised in fond amusement, watched as the raven now trudged dutifully to the small kitchen. Tsunade crossed her arms and turned her gaze back to Naruto – who seemed totally content in simply watching Sasuke make their tea. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kakashi. The man shrugged, but she could sense the knowing smile under his mask.

"Maa, it's something to be expected after all...right, Naruto?"

The younger blond started at his name and fumbled for an answer. His tanned face flushed almost scarlet at the obvious looks he was getting from the two elders. Had they caught him staring? He hadn't really mean to. Sasuke seemed to be suddenly glowing and Naruto just felt curious and just had to watch...

"Yea- Yeah? S- Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I was uh, distracted, uh, b- by uh, ah...shit."

Kakashi leaned forward – and was his one eye actually glinting? "So..."

Tsunade interrupted the potentially 'intimate' conversation by butting in with an impatient cough. "So, have you noticed anything out of the ordinary with Sasuke?"

It was unfortunate that Naruto happened to turn Kakashi's way. He flushed an even darker red at the suggestive gaze of the older man. "No! Uh, no. Nothing worth mentioning."

Tsunade twitched visibly. "You are certain? You haven't noticed any strange occurrences happening about him?"

This time, Naruto puzzled over the question. What was Tsunade getting at? "Not that I – wait. Well, I'm not sure if this counts, but there was one time that he, well—"

"Tea is ready."

Naruto blinked as Sasuke started serving them. He frowned at the number of cups laid out on the table. There were too many. He turned to tell Sasuke, but the raven had already turned and was heading to the door. The three occupants in the apartment wondered what he was doing. "Sasuke—"

Sasuke opened the door at that moment to a stunned Sakura who was just about to knock. The pink-haired jounin stood dumbfounded until Sasuke ushered her in. Behind her, Lee blinked dazedly at the unexpected welcome. He grinned awkwardly at the situation. "Ah, we have youthfully arrived...?"

Tsunade and Kakashi watched the whole scenario in confounded silence. Tsunade turned to the cups on the table. There were six; the exact number of people currently in the house. But when the tea was served, the latest two hadn't arrived yet. And by the looks on the most recent guests, they hadn't been expecting to be expected either. She exchanged a thoughtful look with Kakashi before turning fully to Naruto. Sasuke was back in the kitchen, humming a cheerful tune without a care in the world. Naruto rubbed the back of his head in nervous habit.

"Well, it only happened once before, so I thought it was merely coincidence..."

"Coincidence! Naruto—"

Sasuke walked out the kitchen at that moment with a tray laden with food. He smiled shyly at his new guests. "You're hungry. Please eat."

Lee and Sakura blinked in surprise. Sakura spoke up first, her brows gathered in puzzlement. "But Sasuke, how did you know—"

Naruto's stomach chose that time to growl. He had no time to feel embarrassed though, when a bowl of hot, steaming ramen was placed before him. Jaws dropped without thought as stares of wonder and disbelief fell upon the still bashfully smiling Sasuke. The raven proceeded to look confused at the looks he was receiving.

"Un, i- itadakimasu...?"

:To Be Continued:


I almost forgot.

(1) Kaeru-chan is Naruto's adorable wallet, Mr. Frog.

There. I have updated. Rather fluffy don't you think? Sigh. I had such a hard time time typing it, but I wanted to show the bond that grew between Naruto and Sasuke while they stayed together.

Yeah.

Comments please. Xb

Asukann