Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Katekyoshi Hitman Reborn! I just wish I did.

Beta: the lovely Midnight-Kitsune11.

Pairing: At this time there is NO pairing for this fic!

Ch 07: Taking the exams by Storm

After their meeting with the Hokage, Kakashi took his team aside.

He scratched the back of his head as his three students watched him. Sakura was still fuming, Sasuke still wore a frown and Tsuna honestly couldn't help but curse his life.

"Now, to be honest, before our C-rank I had thought to enter you all in the exams."

Sakura screeched in outrage. "WHAT THE HELL, SENSEI!?"

"Let me finish." Interrupted their sensei, harshly. "Taking the exams here in Konoha is a lot safer than taken them in another hidden village. It would have been a good wake-up call for you all. Now, however, you have all had that wake-up call during our mission. You've watched a team-mate get hurt in a real fight and you have faced an opponent much stronger than you. Now you all realise we were extremely lucky that none of us ended up dead."

Sakura deflated and both his team-mates eyed Tsuna openly. Tsuna himself took a deep breath.

"If I had a choice, I'd wait to enter you. I wanted to train you for the next 6 months so you'd take the next exams by storm. Now however…" their sensei trailed off.

"It would have been nice to have a choice in the matter." Sasuke grunted.

Tsuna nodded. "What kind of exams are they anyway?"

Sakura pointed her finger up, as if she was reciting from a book. "The Chuunin exams are exams organised to promote genin in rank outside of wartimes. Right, sensei?"

"Yep." Kakashi shook off his remaining irritation to smile at the girl.

"Alright," Tsuna blinked in thought, "but what happens during them? Is it a test like our graduation exam or something?"

Kakashi hummed as all three genin turned towards him. "Not quite, most exams are in three parts. The first is usually something to test intelligence and strategic thinking, the second part usually involves survival skills and combat and the third part is a tournament. There are differences from village to village but that's the most used model in Konoha."

Sasuke smirked. "Are jounin teachers supposed to tell their students that? I remember my family never gave any details about any of the exams."

Tsuna's eyes widened in surprise. Sasuke had never spoken about his family, especially not after their massacre… He saw Sakura mirroring him, but neither felt the need to point this out to their team-mate. Still Tsuna was glad Sasuke was starting to feel comfortable with them.

"I don't really feel like keeping to the unspoken rules after finding out my team is forced to compete, especially without having had any say in it." Kakashi eye smiled, but this smile had another feel to it. Mischievous, bordering evil maybe? It was difficult to tell with most of his face covered.

His team smiled in return. Well, Sasuke smirked, but it's the thought that counted.

"Now, I'll cram in as much training as possible in the next week, so be prepared!" Kakashi warned them.

-o-o-

"He's the devil." Sakura was close to tears as their sensei left.

Kakashi-sensei had just dismissed them after the last day of training. Tomorrow was the start of the exams and he had just given them the day off to rest.

"One week is not enough to start training a new skill, so we'll be training to master the skills you already have." The cyclops had explained the first day.

By the end of the week, all three genin were sparring with their sensei at a rapid pace, three against one, on the top of the water of a river. Kakashi drilled them every day till they could barely walk home. They didn't do any missions, which was something Tsuna was starting to worry about. Sure they made a lot of money with their c-rank turned A-rank, but now he had to make sure he could pay for his rent and food. And his landlord wasn't the friendliest man… He hoped the exams wouldn't take too much time or that they could do some missions between the different parts.

Now, it was dark out and Tsuna was not looking forward to going home. Mostly because that meant he had to peel his poor abused body off the ground. He was too exhausted to even consider crying now, that took way too much energy.

Tsuna had been used to spartan training techniques for years – Thank you, Reborn! - so he knew better than to speak up about it. Sasuke was not one to complain in the first place, but Sakura had quickly regretted opening her mouth the first day... Even if it had taken until the end of the day before she had started complaining, which had surprised Tsuna. He had expected her to say something way before then.

Seeing Kakashi finding pleasure in 'tortur- training' them, reminded him a very much of Reborn. Strangely, it made him more fond of the man. At least he was taking their training seriously now!

Sasuke grunted as he heaved himself up.

"Can't we just stay here?" whined Sakura. "We can sleep here, no problem, and we need to be back here tomorrow morning anyway. To start this hell training again."

"Wow…" muttered Tsuna in shock.

Sasuke turned towards him. "Hn?"

"Sorry, I was just surprised. I would have never expected you to change that much in such a short time, Sakura. Not too long ago, you were complaining how your hair got dirty during practice and stuff." Tsuna shrugged.

She snorted, very unladylike. "I have to admit a shower sound like paradise right now." She also shrugged. "I just… never want to feel that useless again."

The boys knew she referred to their C-rank and, while Tsuna was grateful she was seemingly leaving the fan girl world behind (Sasuke was secretly thrilled by this), a part of him was sad for her as well.

Still, they had all chosen to become shinobi, so it was bound to happen at some point. Maybe it was better this was how it went down. After all none of them had been permanently hurt and no one had died…

"It's late, and both of you live at the other side of the village-" Sasuke started before he abruptly stopped.

Sakura and Tsuna eyed each other briefly and focused back on their team-mate. They kept quiet, waiting to see if Sasuke would continue to talk. They raven seemed to debate with himself for a little longer before he sighed.

"I live nearby. You can both crash at my place for tonight."

Tsuna felt a smile stretch on his face. This was another step forward. "Thanks."

Sakura gave a soft smile. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke only grunted, got to his feet and held his hand out towards them. Tsuna's grin only got larger as allowed his team-mate to help him up and as they walked at either side of him toward the Uchiha district.

The district itself reminded him a lot of an old Japanese village, mostly made out of wood and looking very traditional.

The smile left him quickly however as they walked through the abandoned streets of the district. The houses were surprisingly well maintained, but the place gave off a lonely feeling.

"You live here alone?" he asked whispering.

"Hn."

Tsuna wasn't sure what to say to that. It sounded lonely, but he was the last person who could comment on that right now… Still it couldn't be healthy for Sasuke to live here. Certainly not alone…

The raven led them into the biggest house that was about five minutes walking into the district.

It looked a lot like the others they had passed, but it was clear someone important had lived here. It was bigger and there was a wall surrounding it.

They followed him inside and copied him as he took off his shoes.

"There's a bathroom at the end of the corridor. You can go first, Sakura." The Uchiha muttered.

The pinkette looked relieved. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn, I'll go see if I have some spare clothes for us all." The raven turned himself away from them as he started on the stairs.

Feeling a bit awkward standing there, Tsuna quickly proposed something to do. "I'll go look in the kitchen for something to eat, if that's all right?"

Sasuke only grunted, so Tsuna entered the kitchen with a smile. He quickly found some vegetables and some chicken in the fridge. Together with the rice in the cupboard he could make some stir-fry.

He took off his white and orange hoodie, revealing a black t-shirt underneath and started cooking.

"You know how to cook?" Sasuke snarked in the entrance of the kitchen.

Tsuna tilted his head in confusion. "Of course. I can't make anything too fancy, but I do know how to cook. I live by myself, after all."

"Pity." Sasuke smirked as he sat down at the table. "I'd have liked to see the elders faces when they'd have been told we couldn't compete in the exams because of food poisoning."

Tsuna burst out laughing.

"Something tells me they wouldn't be amused." He said once he regained his breath.

Sasuke schrugged, but kept smirking. "Is the food done? I'm starving."

"Shouldn't we wait for Sakura?" he asked while putting a plate together for his team-mate.

"No need." The Uchiha answered. "Something tells me she might take a while."

The raven looked smug.

"What do you mean?"

"She seemed very impressed with the bathroom."

"And why is that?" Tsuna continued asking in confusion.

"If I understand her blabbering correctly, she didn't expect the room to be that big."

Tsuna frowned.

"She kept saying something about a onsen." Sasuke shrugged carelessly. "She made me promise to check in about half an hour to see if she didn't fall asleep."

"Kami, that sounds about divine right now." Tsuna sighed wishfully. "Here you go."

Tsuna handed him a plate and sat down with his own food. Than he blinked as a thought hit him. "How do you think the council will react if we all fell asleep in that bath and drowned?"

Sasuke snorted with laughter. "Great! So we'll die of food poisoning, which mean there is no one around to make sure Sakura isn't drowning. We'll all be dead before morning."

"Speaking of, seeing that we will all be dead anyway, there's something I want to talk to you about."

Sasuke grunted with a smile as he concentrated on his food.

Tsuna gathered his courage and took a deep breath. His heart was beating like crazy from nervousness. Better to immediately cut to the chase instead of making a speech. "So I found out recently I've started bonding with you."

Sasuke snorted in amusement. "That still sounds so wrong."

Tsuna flushed and chuckled nervously.

The Uchiha looked up from his food seriously. "I had a feeling that might be the case. I've been … changing." He shrugged. "I'm still not sure if I like it though."

"Changing?" Tsuna asked completely floored. This wasn't what he had expected. He had thought Sasuke would be shocked, and even angry, not calm, and even a bit amused.

"I've never been very sociable with people outside my family. And since I lost them… I've been doing my utmost best to not get close to people. I lost everyone. I'll never let it happen again. Because I will never go through that pain again. Never." Sasuke stared absent-mindedly into his food.

Seeing it didn't look like Sasuke would continue talking on his own, Tsuna dared asking a question. "And keeping people at a distant is supposed to … Help make sure of that?"

"That was the idea." Sasuke sighed tiredly. He shot Tsuna an unhappy frown before he focused back on his food and took a bite.

"But?" Tsuna encouraged him carefully.

Sasuke looked up with a hard look. "Don't pretend to be stupid, Uzumaki. I've seen the looks you've exchanged with Haruno when you think I'm making 'progress'." He nearly spat out the last word with venom.

Tsuna felt his cheeks heat up again in mortification. He cleared his throat. "Does that mean you don't want the bond? Because I can break it if you want."

He had to put his hand in his lap, under the table, to hide the shaking appendages from view. Please no, he really hoped it wouldn't come to that.

But he knew he would do it if Sasuke asked it of him.

Sasuke studied him carefully. "I thought the albino discommended that to Kakashi? That it wouldn't be a good idea."

"Mostly because it'll hurt like hell." Tsuna grimaced as he remembered the pain of losing his guardians. "It also helps to ensure that I get to choose who I want to bond with. Instead of someone else throwing 'recommendations' or even people at me."

Sasuke nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. But… I don't know. What do you want?"

"I've enjoyed being around you. I have since our first time training together with Gai-sensei. I think you'd be a great Storm guardian. From what I gather, Storms are very strong and destructive. And also usually in the middle of a fight when it starts."

"Hmm." Sasuke hummed deep in thought.

"There is no hurry, take your time to think." Tsuna suggested as he turned back to his food.

Sasuke clearly needed some time to think, and Tsuna was determined to give it to him. After all, having to break the bond later in because Sasuke got overwhelmed or changed his mind, but would be harder on him than breaking it now.

"This food was actually very good." Sasuke got up and placed his dishes by the sink.

Tsuna beamed brightly at him and Sasuke had to turn away with a blush at the sight. "I'd better make sure Sakura isn't dead yet. After that it's our turn to bathe."

Tsuna nodded. He really looked forward to that. "I'll take care of the dishes in the meantime."

He was just putting away the last of the dishes when Sakura came in. She sat down in a chair, looking completely relaxed as Tsuna handed her a plate.

"You cooked?" she asked shocked.

"Not this again." He rolled his eyes. "Sasuke already predicted we'd all die of food poisoning because of my cooking skills. You missed the joke."

She gasped dramatically. "You're kidding?!"

"Nope." He grinned at her. "Enjoy the rice. I'll go wash up now."

"You'll better give me all the details later!" she called after him as he left the kitchen. "And enjoy the onsen!"

Onsen?

His eyes and mouth fall open as he sees the room that Sasuke dubs his bathroom. His whole apartment could fit in the space. It was huge!

Most of the room seemed decorated with wood except for the brown stone tiles that made up the floor.

There were 2 low showers with seats and a mirror each. And despite the fog from the hot water, Tsuna could make out the tub. Which could actually be called a small pool.

All right, he could definitely understand why Sakura called this an onsen.

Sasuke had clearly already washed up and was currently relaxing in the hot water.

Tsuna hurried to wash up and join him. He sighed in relief as the hot water enveloped him and relaxed his aching muscles. It felt like a lifetime ago since he had had a bath…

They sat peacefully in silence.

Until…

"I'm still not completely convinced," Sasuke whispered contently from next to him, "but I'll give it a shot. Let's keep that bond for now."

Tsuna flashed him a bright smile and while the pale boy was already red from the hot water, Tsuna could clearly see him turn red in response.

-o-o-

They entered the Academy side by side.

Sakura had had to yell both boys awake earlier and now they were running a bit late. Turned out, Sasuke liked to sleep in just as much as Tsuna and thanks to their abrupt sleepover in Sasuke's living space, they had completely forgotten about setting an alarm clock.

They had rushed to make and eat breakfast before coming here.

A lot of genin were loitering in the hallways, but they quietly made their way up to the third floor.

Tsuna briefly waved towards Team 9 as he spotted them on the second floor, but he wasn't sure they had seen him.

Kakashi waited for them at the entrance of room 301. He sighed as he saw them.

"Well, the three of you trained hard the last few days. You have all grown a lot since this team was formed. I'm proud of you. Now go in and kick some ass! Don't disappoint me now, I've bet a lot of money on you three." he smiled at them and shun-shinned out.

"Why can't we have a normal sensei?" Sakura muttered with a sigh.

Tsuna smiled fondly. Kakashi was really growing on him.

Sasuke snorted. "Let's get this over with."

He opened the door and stepped into the room. He looked around, stepped aside and held the door for his team-mates.

Tsuna looked around. There were a lot of people inside... Mostly shinobi from other villages. He spotted the other genin from their graduation class.

Sasuke inclined his head towards the last group and led the way towards them.

"Well, well," Inuzuka Kiba exclaimed loudly as they approached. "I didn't think they would allow you in here, dead last."

Tsuna felt himself turning red.

Sasuke glared at the arrogant kid. "Shut up, mutt."

"Sasuke-kun!" screeched Yamanaka Ino as she tried to tackle Sasuke. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Nice try, Ino-pig!" yelled Sakura who intercepted the blonde.

Tsuna took a step back from what promised to become a cat-fight as the girls continued snapping at each other. Sakura had made a lot of progress into leaving the fangirl-world behind, but apparently Ino negated those efforts…

Sasuke stepped back with him, not leaving his side. He glared at the girls.

"So troublesome." muttered Shikamaru as he approached them. "So all the rookies are here."

Tsuna had to bite his tongue to keep quiet. He had other things he'd rather have been doing right about now. Team 7 wasn't here by choice and he briefly regretted not having any of Bianci's poison cooking recipes…

"Seems that way." grunted Sasuke.

Shikamaru eyed the Uchiha.

"So all nine rookies are taking the exam." Kiba smirked arrogantly. "I wonder how far we'll get, huh Sasuke-kun?" he mocked.

Tsuna frowned.

Sasuke smirked back, clearly not bothered. "You seem confident, mutt."

Kiba twitched. "We've done a lot of training and we won't lose to any of you."

"Keep dreaming." dismissed the Uchiha.

Hyuuga Hinata seemed very uncomfortable behind her team-mates. Aburame Shino, their third member, seemed indifferent.

"You guys make a lot of noise." A tall teen appeared behind them. He had silver hair, wore glasses and a Konoha headband. "You guys are just rookies, fresh out of the Academy. Stop making such a ruckus. This isn't a school trip."

The guy eyed them each briefly. Tsuna gasped softly, making Sasuke turn towards him. His intuition started screaming as those eyes studied him. Something felt strangely familiar about the guy.

The teen's eyes lingered on the raven.

Tsuna's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer towards his team-mate.

"Who are you?" asked Tsuna suspiciously.

"I'm Kabuto, but look behind you." The teen smirked at them.

The rookies turned back, but Tsuna didn't take his eyes of Kabuto.

"You seemed to have pissed off a lot of those genin. Everyone is nervous for this exam, so stop causing a scene."

They turned back towards him, but Kabuto simply continued. "Well, I can't really blame you, this is the first time you've participated." He smiled nostalgically. "I remember my first time."

"Kabuto-san, this is your second time?" asked Sakura curiously.

"Nope, my seventh. This exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year." He smiled at her.

Sasuke snorted. "You must really suck then."

Kabuto only smiled at the Uchiha.

"You must know a lot about this exam." remarked Ino.

"That's right. Hehe, I'll share some info with you rookies. With these nin-info cards."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes as Kabuto showed them the cards. Why would their competition share information with them, just like that? Something was definitely wrong here...

"Nin-info cards?" repeated Sakura, confused.

"They are basically cards which have information about other shinobi burned on them with chakra. I have four years' worth of information on here. Over 200 cards." he bragged. "They look blank and can only be viewed when I apply my chakra to them. Anyone you want some information on?"

"Subaku no Gaara." Sasuke replied immediately.

"Who?" Tsuna asked, confused.

"That redhead from Suna." Sasuke eyed the kid briefly, showing Tsuna who he was talking about. "I bumped into him and his team the other day while they were bothering the Hokage's grandson."

"It's no fun if you can tell me their name." Kabuto interrupted them, his eyes fixed on Sasuke. He showed them the card. "Subaku no Gaara, or Gaara of the Desert, is the third child of the Kazekage. His mission history: 8 C-ranks, one B-rank and even an A-rank. That's impressive for a genin. He's a newcomer from a foreign country so I don't have a lot of info, but apparently he's come back from every mission without even a scratch."

Tsuna tuned out the rest of his monologue. How on earth did that guy get such information? He couldn't imagine that a Konoha genin would be able to find out such mission history about one of the Kazekage's children...

The longer that guy talked, the stronger his intuition tried to warn Tsuna away from him.

A smoke bomb went off by the blackboard. Ibiki appeared, flanked by numerous other shinobi.

The man sent them a sinister smile. "Welcome. I am Morino Ibiki and I'll be your examiner for this first exam."

...

A written exam...

Tsuna started sweating. He should have seen this coming. Of course, any exam located at the Academy had to have been written. Why did he not see this coming?! He should have studied more... He should have studied either way! All their training would be for nothing if they didn't pass this part of the exams…

That last thought made him calm down.

After all, they weren't here voluntarily and who cared if they passed or not?

He immediately calmed down. He would try to pass, but he wouldn't lose any sleep over it if they didn't.

"Hi there."

In his panic he hadn't seen Neji sit down next to him. The Hyuuga gave him a small smile.

"Neji." He greeted.

"You seemed a bit nervous there. We haven't even started yet."

Tsuna smiled at the boy. "Thanks, but I'm fine now."

Neji studied him intently. "So it seems. Good luck."

"You too."

In the front of the room Ibiki had just finished explaining the rules; the 10 points system, the deductions when caught cheating, and the tenth question.

Tsuna titled his head in confusion. Why not throw people out when they cheated? Why would you give them multiple opportunities to do so?

'Be Proud Ninja'? Why did Ibiki end his speech with that? It's almost... Like they wanted them to cheat... But cheat at a ninja level, not like high school students.

God, he loved his intuition sometimes.

Next to him Neji had started writing. Tsuna didn't dare turn towards him to see what he was doing.

Okay, how was he going to get through this? He didn't have any special techniques that could help him here! Not even his flames were very useful.

With a sudden movement his head collided with the desk.

He almost had a flashback from all the times Reborn had hit him in the back of his head when he was doing or thinking something stupid.

"No reason to maim yourself." Ibiki grunted in the front.

The other proctors laughed.

But Tsuna didn't react to them. He could almost hear Reborn berate him. "Dame-Tsuna, use that big brain of yours, listen to that intuition! Think for a second. You get one hour to finish this test, but the last question won't be asked until the very last ten minutes? -"

"You alright?" whispered Neji next to him.

Tsuna grunted and lifted his head so he could rest his chin on the desk. He probably had a bruise on his forehead now.

Other teams were being dismissed left and right, and Tsuna still hadn't started his test.

The questions on his paper were difficult but maybe Reborn's tutoring could help him solve one or two.

Let's see...

There was one question, the one about the trajectory of a kunai, that he might be able to at least partially solve... It couldn't hurt to try.

He was just looking over what he had written as Ibiki spoke up again.

"Time for the tenth question."

Tsuna squared his shoulders. Maybe this question would be easier? Or at least more focused on the practical side of being a shinobi?

"Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over a new and added rule for this question."

Huh?

"Finally." Ibiki snarked as a weirdly dressed genin came back into the room. "Was your doll playing beneficial?"

"Now, I'll explain: the rule of desperation..."

Ibiki would have been a great actor, Tsuna thought distracted.

"First, for this tenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?!" yelled a kunoichi, upset. "What happens if we choose not to?"

"If you choose not to, both you and your team-mates will fail this exam."

The genin started yelling.

"What does that mean?!"

"Of course we'll take the question!"

"And now... The other rule..." stated Ibiki dramatically.

They all quieted down immediately.

Tsuna frowned.

"If you take it and answer incorrectly..." - dramatic pause - "That person will lose the right to ever take the chuunin exams again!"

What? Tsuna thought stunned as the room exploded with noise. Could they actually do that? Maybe for Konoha genin, but for genin from other villages? Would their Kage really let Konoha have that much power over them?

Then again, that would solve Team 7's council problem quite nicely. Tsuna wasn't worried.

"What kind of stupid rule is that?" Kiba yelled over all the noise. "There are guys here who have taken this exams multiple time!"

"You guys were unlucky. This year, it's my rules."

Tsuna bit his lip. Ibiki's rules? Wasn't Ibiki... head of the T&I department? He had been introduced briefly to the man as he had chased Zabuza into the Hokage's office a week ago...

"But I'm giving you an out."

How generous... Tsuna dead-panned. Because that is not suspicious at all…

"Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year."

Can choose not to take it? Why would Ibiki say it like that? Why did he empathize on the word choose?

It was almost as if... Was this the tenth question?

In any case, Tsuna had learned – Thank you, Reborn, AGAIN! - to never back down from any situation. Even if you didn't have all the info, trust your intuition and keep going forward, and while his intuition hadn't reared its head since the exam started, it also had not tried to warn him.

It was like a leap of faith... And honestly, it's not like becoming a chuunin was an ambition of his. He just wanted to be strong enough to protect his family. Gaining a higher rank wasn't going to help with that.

"Now then, those that do not wish to take the question, leave the room. Your team-mates will follow immediately."

One by one, people were rising and loudly leaving the room.

Tsuna briefly looked back towards his team. Sasuke was frowning. They locked eyes and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, almost as if to ask what Tsuna wanted to do. Tsuna smiled reassuringly.

Sasuke smirked and settled down.

Sakura on the other hand seemed to hesitate and almost put her hand up. He made eye contact and smiled confidently.

She blinked, but didn't seem decided. She looked at him helplessly.

Was she leaving the decision to him?

He nodded and she was visibly relieved.

He turned back to the front.

The room was silent. Ibiki watched them all with raised eyebrows, almost daring them to stay seated.

The nervous energy in the room seemed to triple immediately, but no one spoke up, no one stood up, and yet Ibiki didn't react.

Tsuna had enough. He raised his hand. "Excuse me? I have a question?" He gently released a small and invisible wave of Sky flames through the room. He could almost feel the other genin un-tense a bit. Neji sighed in relief besides him.

Ibiki blinked. "What?" he barked.

"Are you done? I don't think anyone else is going to leave. So can you ask us the question already?"

"I'll ask again: Your life and your career depend on this, this is your last chance to quit."

"That was technically not a question, but no, I won't quit now. Ask your question." Tsuna smiled brightly but with resolve.

Neji, and some other people in the room he couldn't see, gasped.

What had he done now? He wanted to turn towards the Hyuuga but he didn't want to turn away from Ibiki.

The man smirked. "You asked for it. Now, to everyone here remaining..."

Tsuna rolled his eyes skywards at another dramatic pause.

His smirk widened.

"I congratulate you on passing the first exam!"

This was the bell test all over again... Were all Konoha jounin such drama queens? He sighed as the room burst into angry and confused exclamations.

Sasuke's POV:

He sighed as the water relaxed his sore muscles. He was grateful Kakashi had let them go early today because he could use the rest and so could his team-mates. He was still surprised Sakura somehow managed to keep up with them, especially since he himself had trouble keeping up with their sensei.

Even Naruto with his large stamina had looked dead tired.

He frowned deep in thought. Speaking of Naruto…

Sasuke wasn't stupid. He had felt himself change. Without realising it, he was allowing his team to get closer to him.

It was something he had fought ever since he had lost his family. He had willingly isolated himself, because he could never go through the hell again of losing people he cared about. Especially not all at once.

But what Naruto offered felt natural. So natural it had taking him seeing the blond around Zabuza to realise what was happening. Especially since he had felt very possessive of the blond. He had managed to hide those feelings well enough, at least he thought so…

It would be easy, to accept the bond Naruto was offering. Strangely enough, and he kept surprising himself with this, he sort of liked the blond. Naruto was strong, they made a good team, and even Sakura was making an effort.

Still, the thought of what his brother could do to them scared him to death.

He briefly ducked his head in the hot water to chase the cold shiver away that always appeared as he thought of Itachi.

He shook his head free of water.

Naruto was sitting next to him. He blinked as he only now noticed the relaxed form next to him.

The blonds eyes were closed and he was leaning back in the water.

Sasuke studied him from the corner of his eyes and grit his teeth.

He wanted to accept. It felt selfish, it would bring the blond to Itachi's attention, but he really wanted this. He was sick and tired of feeling alone, of being by himself in this cold house.

Was it really so wrong to want this?

Itachi had told him to hate him, and he had. He did! But did that really mean he couldn't live his life how he wanted to as well?

The blond was strong and if Sasuke by some miracle could unlock his own flames, that would give him an advantage against that man as well.

He allowed himself to relax again as he reached a conclusion.

"I'm still not completely convinced." He whispered to the relaxed blond next to him. "But I'll give it a shot. Let's keep that bond for now."

Naruto flashed him a smile so bright it surprised Sasuke that flowers and sunshine didn't pop up behind him. He felt himself blushing and turned his head away.

He felt warmer than he had in years.

TBC.

The second exam is next! Hold onto your hats, I have plans for them ;-)

Let me know what you think of the chapter?