Chapter 7 of Encounters. All of the Time. Nonstop.

Author's notes: This chapter has been so freaking hard to write! Firstly, because my computer broke down, and basically everything that could go wrong did. Secondly, because I was forced to realise that I was not doing a good enough job of portraying the characters like I wanted to. I love all of you reviewers so much, because you make me question all the things about this story that I take for granted, and hopefully make the story that much better, but I must admit that at some points during the making of this chapter, I kind of hated some of you for being so insightful and clever. And here you have the result! A very Naruto-centric look into our characters, before we get on with the drama we all love. Needless to say, I am not too pleased with how this turned out, but I'm not going to fret anymore over it. I have papers to write, damnit!

Oh, and the title above is not permanent. After my last AN, one of you suggested it, and it really cracked me up. This fic is now fondly nicknamed Constant Encounters... Because that's what it is.

Drop a line telling me what you think after reading, because they really help me realise what needs to be done. Not to mention that they make me update faster, instead of doing what I should be doing... Oh, and I added this stupid little summary. There were split opinions considering whether I should add one at the beginning of every chapter, so I decided to make nobody pleased, by making it short and kind of stupid. You can probably guess who's point of view it's from...


Thus far~

So here I was, sleeping like a babe inside my tent, when this smug bastard I've been crushing on suddenly shows up, drunk out of his mind, and proceeds to molest me. Afterwards he didn't want anything to do with me, and I figured that would be the end of it, but somehow we ended up making out up against a tree. Now he wants to get together, and I'm not really sure what I want.


Naruto was still sitting right where Sasuke had left him when Sakura and Kakashi returned from the village. They seemed pretty tired, and Kakashi immediately walked of, doing whatever it was he did on his own. He had been avoiding the rest of them as much as possible lately. No doubt he was getting pretty tired of just hanging around with them all day.

Sakura just sat down, looking at Naruto with a deep frown. "Naruto, are you okay? You're not really looking like yourself recently."

"Course I am. Would be better if this jacket could just stay clean though." He said with a loopsided grin.

Sakura smiled tiredly, knowing full well that he was purposefully ignoring her serious tone. "Go with black then, you don't see Sasuke rubbing at stains all day."

"Maybe he doesn't clean his clothes at all." Naruto replied playfully.

Sakura merely snorted a tired laugh.

With a small smile, Naruto caved in. Sakura was clearly not in the mood for easy banter. "Is there something wrong? Still having problems with that bastard?" Hopefully she would forget that she was worried about him if he steered the conversation towards her problems instead.

"To be quite honest, yes. And I bet you're still having problems with him too, judging by how distraught you've been the last few days." Sakura answered bluntly. " I feel so appreciated! You won't tell me anything that bothers you, and Sasuke hasn't as much as said a word to me for days."

Though the choice of words was light, Sakura had a bitter twist to her tone, and Naruto instantly felt a pang of guilt in the depths of his gut. He couldn't talk to Sakura about his problems for obvious reasons, - he was terrified that she would find out about Sasuke and him. She already had problems with one of her teammates, and Naruto didn't want her to feel as if the other one had betrayed her as well. He couldn't just chicken out and avoid the subject either though. When Sakura was this direct, she clearly had a desperate need to talk to someone, and who else but him was there really? He couldn't picture Sakura going to Kakashi-sensei to discuss her love life.

"I just don't want to trouble you unnecessarily," Naruto answered with a worried frown, answering as truthfully as he could. "I guess I can't hide much from you, though. How could you tell?" If Sakura had so little trouble interpreting his mood, what else could she guess? He needed to know how much she had guessed from just looking at him.

"You're almost too easy to read, so it's not really much of a challenge. The only time you're ever like this is when you're having troubles with Sasuke. Difficulties and challenges just seem to excite you, and you usually wear your feelings on your sleeve. This distracted and melancholic Naruto, on the other hand, he only appears when there's something going on with someone he cares about. And to be honest, Sasuke's really the only one that ever does something to hurt you like that."

"Jeez, Sakura, you ought to be in the interrogations department or something. You're reading me like an open book." Naruto replied, actually meaning it. He couldn't help but notice the little jab towards the end either, and the sad truth of it. No one really affected him the way Sasuke did, for better or worse.

"Hardly. I can sense that you're keeping things from me, but not much else. I wish you wouldn't do that. As ninja, we lead lonely lifes, and there's not too many people we can share our true feelings with. It'll eat you up inside if you just keep things to yourself, you know."

Naruto felt torn. He really wanted to share his worries with Sakura, but he just couldn't. Even if they did not concern her so personally, he wouldn't have wanted to lay that burden on her. But it killed him to see her this sad, and even if he didn't want to plunge into his problems right now, they could still talk about her's. Not to mention, it would probably be a great help for him to actually learn a little about how Sasuke treated the people he were with.

"Somehow, I feel like we're not really talking about me anymore, are we?"

"I guess you could say that." She answered, averting her eyes. She was clearly not too comfortable talking about her emotions either. "It's just... All this stuff with Sasuke," she finally admitted. "I'm getting so fed up with him and and his mindgames, but at the same time, I can't help but care for him. I worry about him... He seems like such a perfect person, but I'm not quite sure anymore. I didn't even begin to see it before I got as close to him as I have recently, but there is just something not quite right about Sasuke. I haven't really put the feeling into words before, but it's like he's somehow lacking the emotional repertoaire of a normal person."

Naruto didn't really know what Sakura was trying to say. Sasuke must have messed her up even more badly than he had initially thought. "I know he's been acting like a jerk towards you, Sakura, but that's just how Sasuke is. He's cold, arrogant, proud and slightly mean, and hides behind a false appearance of perfection. But deep down he's our friend, and even though that person isn't always so easy to see, he's still there."

"How can you be sure? I mean, we've both always assumed he's hiding a decent person behind that cold exterior, but recently I've found myself questioning what we have always taken for granted. In all the time we've been together, I've never even gotten a glimpse of this supposedly good person he hides inside. Normal people follow their emotions, at least slightly. But it truly seems like everything is just a game to him. He finds a goal, and just follows it relentlessly, until he achieves it, no matter the cost." She answered, staring intently into his face. Clearly Sakura really meant this.

"Do you actually mean that, or are you just feeling hurt because he's not treating you right?" Naruto said, a worried frown creasing his face. "He might be acting like a total bastard a lot of the time, but this is Sasuke we're talking about. Our Sasuke! Sasuke, who has saved both our life's on multiple occasions, who has trained alongside us for all these years, going through everything we've gone through. Remember our very first serious mission, back in Wave Country? Sasuke wouldn't even admit to it, but he almost died trying to save my life back then. That has got to mean at least something."

Sakura sighed deeply. "If he does have feelings, I think he tries his best to bury them so deep he never has to face them, without even realising what he's doing. It's like he doesn't want to have emotions. All that matters to him is getting what he wants. This facade of his isn't just a shield - he has worked so hard at maintaining it for so long that the shield is who he has become. At least that's what I think."

She grasped his hand tightly, and held his gaze locked to her own. "I'm not trying to turn you against Sasuke, or anything like that. I'm just getting so sick of having all these secrets and issues pent up inside. And I really think this is something you ought to know. You never give up hope in anyone, but I don't want you to get hurt trying to save Sasuke, when he's not making any effort himself. He might be incapable of becoming who you want him to be."

"Sasuke is our friend. We should always try to save him, no matter what." Naruto answered, unwilling to accept the harsh judgement Sakura was giving their friend, but wanting to show her that he was listening to what she said.

Sakura let go of his hand with a sigh. As she got to her feet and turned to walk away, she cast one last look at the blond. "But what if he doesn't want to be saved? What if he's perfectly content to be this horrible, cruel bastard? Honestly, have you seen any sign he wants to change?"

Naruto had to think a bit about that one. It scared him to admit to it, but she did have a point. The side of Sasuke he had gotten to know recently was just like she described. And he really did not seem to have any wish or interest in redeeming himself. But it wasn't in Naruto's nature to give up on someone he cared about. He had to believe that Sasuke was a good person, deep inside.


Naruto was lying awake in the darkness of his tent, unable to sleep, his mind pondering Sasuke's question. Could he agree on this cynical and cold thing Sasuke was proposing? Did he want to? Part of him wanted to just say yes, but he couldn't get his discussion with Sakura out of his head. Even if she was completely wrong, Sasuke had clearly made her this bitter towards him.

His body screamed for more of what he had just gotten the taste of earlier, but he had to protect himself here. Sasuke was dangerous. Dangerously beautiful and dangerously cold. He was only starting to learn just what kind of person Sasuke really was, and instinctively knew that this was the one aspect where the dark haired boy could not be trusted. Sakura had made that mistake, and look where it got here. He was already a bit too lost in Sasuke. If he didn't take care of himself, he would get too wrapped up in the other boy, and end up as a complete mess when Sasuke finally got tired of him.

They were both equally responsible for what had happened so far, but that didn't mean they risked the same. Both times he had gotten involved with Sasuke, it had left him hurt, vulnerable and weak, while Sasuke seemed to be doing better than ever. Their relationship was already out of balance, and who was to say this imbalance wouldn't get worse in time? He was the one who had been crushing on the other for years, and the only one to actually admit to his tendencies towards homosexuality, which should make him more mentally prepared for a gay relationship. But somehow, he seemed like the one being taken advantage of.

Yet he was past the point where he could ignore his feelings for the pale and dark-haired boy. He didn't really have much to compare with, but he couldn't deny the raw chemistry they shared, and he still wanted him, badly.

He didn't want to keep getting hurt like this, but did it really have to be like that? Who said Sasuke had to be the only one to take charge? He did not have to fear rejection, as Sasuke's had made his feelings pretty clear earlier, and shyness had never really been his forte. He did feel more for Sasuke than Sasuke felt for him, but if he kept that in mind at all times, and hid it from the other boy, there was really no reason for this situation to not turn out for everyone's best. Here was a dreamlike situation for him to live out all his fantasies, satisfying his much ignored hormones, and getting experience for later. When he finally found someone to share his life with, that would be great, but why not enjoy this opportunity while he could?

To his own surprise, Naruto found himself actually considering Sasuke's cocky offer. Even if he did refuse, he could not guarantee that his body would not give in at a later point. He had seen again and again how easily his body would betray him, and if they were going to keep clashing together in these random encounters, it would at least be better to have a clear definition of what they had.

Naruto sighed loudly. There was really only one answer he could give Sasuke, wasn't there? But he would have another thing coming if he expected Naruto to be just like any other girl. He would make it clear to Sasuke from the very beginning that he could be as demanding and bossy as he. There was no way he would become the underdog in this affair.


Author's notes: Every review feels like my birthday and christmas combined! If you give me lots, I'll try not to hate this fic as much in the next chapter.