Bonus chapter! Surprise! XD

Part 5 1/2:

Naruto thought himself very lucky to have woken up before Sasuke the next morning. It wasn't as though he didn't want to have to talk to Sasuke, well, okay maybe that was part of it.

He didn't like to admit it but he was afraid. Naruto couldn't even begin to understand what the hell had happened to him the night before. He was worse off than Sasuke was. He was afraid of having to confront Sasuke because he didn't know how Sasuke was going to react. It was something he'd been worrying about practically since they'd stopped Shikamaru from killing Sasuke in the first place. He knew he would have to eventually tell Sasuke why he was doing all of this for him, and he had gotten that part out of the way, but then came the much harder part.

Naruto still wasn't entirely sure about his feelings, so how could he expect Sasuke to understand them when he didn't understand them himself?

He knew he couldn't avoid Sasuke like he had been doing while they were traveling, but that didn't mean he couldn't try! Waking up before Sasuke did, although it meant addressing his awful hang over sooner rather than later, also meant he could address Sasuke later, rather than sooner.

Another benefit of waking up before Sasuke was, well, so he could watch him.

Naruto Uzumaki would love to simply stare at Sasuke, to see him, to take in everything that he was just because he's there and Naruto could not get enough of him. Naruto had been struggling horribly against the desire to look at Sasuke for the longest time when they were traveling.

He knew that he couldn't keep looking at Sasuke, not when he was so mixed up and choked up about everything that had happened and the choices he'd made and especially, especially, why he'd made them. He had to make sure he didn't look at Sasuke for all that time even though he really, really, really wanted to.

So, after waking up, Naruto glanced over at Sasuke still sleeping in the exact same position he'd fallen asleep in. A chill flew up Naruto's spine remembering the night before but he just wrote it off as the morning chill.

Naruto sat on the floor beside Sasuke's bed and just rested there, looking at Sasuke's face because now he finally could. There wasn't any risk with looking at Sasuke now. He was asleep, and so Naruto could look at him all he wanted, could look until he had his fill. But Naruto didn't think he'd ever be full of looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke's skin was pale, but not unnaturally white like Sai's, just a porcelain skin tone that complemented the blue-black hair that fell onto the pillow and around his equally dark eyelashes. His hair looked very soft and Naruto had the strangest desire to reach out and touch it, a desire he had to reign in very strongly with a silent reprimand towards himself.

Naruto what the hell are you doing? he asked himself, shaking his head as he glanced along Sasuke's long neck tentatively. He swallowed when he saw jutting collarbones that led down to Sasuke's chest.

Naruto remembered how close Sasuke's skin had been to him the night before when Sasuke had pinned him against the door. The memory was a bit fuzzy from the alcohol, but he hadn't forgotten it completely. He'd almost lost it right then and there. What Sasuke had said...

"What are you sorry for, Naruto? We're both guys, aren't we? It's not like it's anything you haven't seen before."

Naruto shook his head hard to dispel those words. Even he didn't understand. How could he answer questions like that when even he didn't understand. He stood suddenly and with one last glance at Sasuke still peacefully asleep, walked out the door and down the hall. He was a bit startled to see Kakashi sitting in the living room reading to himself so early in the morning. When he entered Kakashi looked up and smiled.

"Morning, Naruto! Did you sleep well?"

Naruto gave him a shaky smile in return and Kakashi raised an eyebrow, then put his book down on the table and sighed.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to talk about it, Naruto?"

"Talk about what Kakashi-sensei?" Though he faked calm on the outside, Naruto began to panic on the inside.

Kakashi just stared at him, and Naruto felt uncomfortable. He'd never liked that gaze, that one gray eye just looking at him so searchingly, like he already knew everything and only ever asked questions to be polite. Naruto closed his eyes and took a step back.

"I- I think I'm gonna go down to the village today and get some more supplies. Tell Sakura where I went when she wakes up, okay?"

"Sasuke as well?" Kakashi asked lightly.

"Uh, ah, yeah. Alright, I'm just gonna go now."

"Wait, before you go you should take this." Naruto stopped and looked at Kakashi's hand which was held out to him. There was a pouch, presumably filled with money, and Naruto smiled, taking it and stowing it in his pocket along with the money still left from what Sasuke had let them use.

"I brought it with me from the Leaf, just in case."

"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!"

With that, Naruto headed out the door. As soon as he felt the cool mountain breeze he relaxed. He knew Kakashi knew that something was up with him, but that wasn't the only reason he wanted to get out of the house. Sasuke made him feel so confused and... strange. And he didn't know what to do, or even what to think when Sasuke was there.

And he was afraid. He was really, really afraid that Sasuke would-

Well... he wasn't quite sure what Sasuke might do, but that was what scared him. He just wanted a day to get away, and this was as good a chance as any. They would need more supplies eventually anyway, Killer Bee had only really given them enough for one large meal. They had leftover soup, but that would only last so long.

As it turned out, going downhill was a lot faster than going uphill, and as nice as the day was, Naruto wasn't looking forward to lugging back a bunch of groceries up this steep mountain when he went back, but he would face that when he came to it. He reached the village before noon and went around the many venders and vegetable carts, striking deals and bargaining to the best of his ability. Everyone in the village noticed him, and he quickly became friends with most of them. One little girl, about 5 years old, with two ponytails and a bandana, followed him around the whole marketplace. He kept pretending not to see her and then glancing her way and making her hide and giggle. He smiled happily even when he mother came and found her and apologized for her daughter bothering him, to which he explained he didn't mind at all.

In the afternoon he found that he was hungry and walked into a pub-like restaurant filled with big burly sailor men. That was when he remembered that this was a port town, so men like this were probably pretty common. There didn't seem to be any shinobi but that wasn't very strange as ninja mostly stay in their particular villages unless sent out on missions.

He got into a game of dice with a few of them and after loosing only three times, quit. The men were all quite nice to him, patting him on the head and telling the bartender to order him a large beer. Naruto then had to explain his experience with alcohol and politely refuse their kind offer.

When a few of the men he'd become friends with started talking amongst themselves about women, Naruto smiled wide, having had a bright idea.

"Wanna see something great?" he smiled slyly.

The men glanced at each other a bit then nodded, obviously intrigued. Naruto made a few quick hands signs and all of the sudden the pub was filled with replicas of his female self, all blowing kisses as smoke swirled around them and the men gawked and cheered.

"So you're one of those shinobi, then? You don't have one of those headbands, so I couldn't tell," one of the men, a big guy with a soft voice, said thoughtfully.

Naruto frowned a bit. He hadn't realized that he left his forehead protector behind. He touched his forehead and it felt empty somehow. He looked away and realized that it was probably for the best, considering he wasn't really a Leaf shinobi anymore.

"This is one neat trick, kid!" Another of the sailor men yelled over the ruckus as a few of the men tried to grab the Naruto clones and they vanished in puffs of smoke after squealing girlishly a bit. "Where'd you learn this?"

"I came up with it myself!" Naruto bragged proudly, making another hand sign and changing himself into a girl too. "I call it the Sexy jutsu, and when there's a lot of them, the Harem jutsu!"

"It sure is sexy!" A tall, gangly sailor yelled, then promptly fell over with a heavy nosebleed. The rest of the bar laughed as he tried to stem the flow of blood.

Naruto laughed along too, then looked down at himself thoughtfully. There were the big boobs and the long hair and the nice hips, all perfectly constructed to be as the sailor said, sexy.

Is this really sexy? He found himself asking, dispelling the jutsu to a chorus of groans and boos.

As he sat down and finished eating the lunch of fish and rice he'd bought himself, he tried to figure out why he didn't think his sexy jutsu was all that sexy anymore. Well, wait. That was wrong. He still thought his sexy jutsu girl, and all hot girls he saw, were sexy, but now there was something else, something even deeper, but what was it exactly? What did he think was sexy now, and what had changed?

Slowly an image formed in his mind. Dark pools of black against crystal skin. Then all of the sudden those pools turned blood red and then spun, drawing him in deeper. And then the image in his minds eye changed and he saw toned back muscles flexing in the moonlight, and a broad chest, and it was Sasuke, Sasuke was standing there staring at him and even the image in his mind made him shiver. Then he heard Sasuke's voice and it sounded like it came from somewhere just beside his ear and he flinched automatically and he felt cold all of the sudden, so cold. And then a memory sprung into his mind, and at first he didn't understand, because it was just a memory of him fighting Sasuke, but slowly it began to make sense. Their fists crashed into each other, each blow coming harder and faster until they blurred together and Naruto felt himself falling and falling and then black.

And he opened his eyes, not even knowing when he'd closed them to begin with, and he sunk low in his seat as he thought morosely to himself, so that's what I think is sexy now...?

The rest of his trip into the village was no where near as enjoyable as the first part had been. He smiled and waved at the people he'd met as he walked, loaded down with a ton of bags of food and other necessities, away from the village and down the thin road. He was too caught up in his thoughts to do much else than walk straight. After dropping a few things more than once he came up with the brilliant idea of creating a few clones to help him out.

Naruto wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now, but he just kept walking forward up the mountain, knowing full-well what he would have to face when he reached the top or better yet, who he would have to face.

But Naruto Uzumaki is no coward.

Fear is natural. Fear is necessary. Being afraid means you are human and doesn't mean you are not brave.

Naruto sighed and held his head high, thinking that although he was afraid, everything would surely work out in the end.

It always did.

Well that was cute, wasn't it? Ah, I just felt like putting in a little from Naruto's POV. It wasn't really necessary, just fun, and I was inspired. That's why it's just a half-chapter not a real chapter, plus its kinda short. Tell me how you guys liked it!

I usually hate writing from Naruto's POV because I love him and I want to do him justice and keep him in character but it's hard, and I feel like Sasuke's easier. Anyway I tried my hardest with this and I think it's just short enough so I didn't make too many characterization mistakes. If you notice anytime he seems OOC please tell me! :3

KeikoPanda102