Naruto entered his house, while Sasuke looked around, "alright, you can go have a bath upstairs while I start on dinner, okay?" he asked. Sasuke nodded and Naruto gently set him down on his feet. The Uchiha slowly climbed the stairs to get to the bathroom. Once he was there he ran the water and slowly climbed in. Once he was immersed in the warm bath he felt a lot better. Sighing contentedly, Sasuke began to wash himself off. Back downstairs, Naruto was cooking up a stir-fry for dinner. He hummed softly to himself as he did so. When Sasuke finished in the bath he wrapped himself in a towel, then walked out to the stairs. "Hey, Naruto, what do I do for clothes?" he called. Naruto, who was chopping vegetables to put into the pan stopped for a moment, "you can use some of my Pajamas, I don't mind!" he called back.
Sasuke nodded, "okay, thanks!" then he went to Naruto's bedroom and looked for some clothes that would fit him. He found a simple pair of light blue pajamas and tried them on. A little tight, but they would do for the night. After that he went down the stairs. "Okay, I'm done" he said as he came into the room to find Naruto mixing the stir-fry in the wok. Naruto turned and smiled at him, "okay, well, dinners almost done, so why don't you come and sit down?" he suggested. The Uchiha sat at the dining room table as Naruto brought the pan over and severed their food onto two plates. Sasuke smiled slightly, "thank you Anija" he said, then stopped. His eyes widened and he slapped his hands over his mouth in horror.
"Oh shit! I-I didn't mean- Naruto, I'm so sorry!" he cried. Naruto looked confused. Sasuke turned away, "I-I should go" he said. Naruto's eyes widened, "no, wait Sasuke, don't leave!" he explained, grabbing the boys arm. Sasuke wouldn't turn to look at him. "Sasuke, what did just say?" he asked slowly, gently. Sasuke gulped, and turned his head to him slightly, "I-I called you Anija" he muttered, blushing. "Do you really see me like that? as an older brother?" he asked. The Uchiha looked down in shame, "I-I have started to see you as an older brother, sort of" he replied. Naruto's eyes widened, "you- really see me like that Sasuke, you, aren't ashamed of me? I mean I'm just an idiot, I only just started taking my training and studying seriously, and I have a long way to go before I can even call myself a competent Shinobi- I, I don't deserve your respect or for you to call me your older brother" he replied, releasing Sasuke's arm.
Sasuke's eyes widened and he shook his head vehemently, "that's not true! I may have only just started to see the real you, but I know you're not an idiot, and you do deserve my respect!" he exclaimed. "You are smarter than anyone knows, you have a will as strong as the strongest Konoha Shinobi and you are stronger than almost anyone here. Naruto, you have shown me that this village is truly my home, and it's people my family. And because of that, I have realized just how misguided my Clan really was. I may still love my family, but they did not know what was most important. You are my brother Naruto, and I have never been able to see you as younger than me- this is why I call you Anija" the blond was wide eyed.
"Sasuke, I- I don't know what to say- I've never been an older brother before, what if I mess it up?" he asked. Sasuke scoffed, "that day that you are not a good older brother, is the day I destroy Konoha, in short- it's never going to happen" he replied, then smiled. Naruto chuckled, "thank you- Otouto" he replied. The Uchiha smiled, a true smile that he'd only ever show to Naruto, "no problem Anija, now, let's eat before the dinner you made us gets cold" he said. The two went back to eating the Stir-fry and Sasuke was surprised at how good it was. Dinner went by in a comfortable silence and Naruto washed the dishes up when they were finished.
Afterwards, Naruto went to have a bath while Sasuke, still feeling tired from the days training went up to bed. After washing his hair and body, the Uzumaki got dressed in some clean pajamas as well. Then he walked into his bedroom, ready to sleep. He was surprised though when he saw Sasuke already fast asleep on top of the bed. Naruto smiled softly at his 'Otouto' and walked over to his bed. He pulled the covers back on his side and laid down, pulling the blankets over the both of them. Sasuke groaned slightly and turned to face him in the bed, his face twisted and pained. Without thinking, Naruto took one of the other boy's hands and wrapped his other arm around the Uchiha's back, pulling him closer. Sasuke buried his face in Naruto's chest and calmed almost instantly.
Feeling the even breaths on his chest, and feeling his own eyes become heavy, Naruto closed his eyes and relaxed. Soon enough the Uzumaki was fast asleep himself.
ŃĚĤ
The next day after getting ready, the two boys walked to the lake together. Naruto stood on the pier and flexed his fingers. Sasuke watched intently from next to the other boy. Forming the hand signs for the jutsu, Naruto took a deep breath, 'Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!' he shouted the name of the technique in his mind. Then he blew out as hard as he could. To his surprise, a medium sized fireball was blown out of his mouth and over the water. When the technique ended, Naruto grinned in excitement, "I did it! who cares if it's not complete yet- I managed to create a fire ball!" he cried, fist pumping the air.
Naruto turned to Sasuke, "heh, thanks Otouto" he replied. The black-haired boy smirked slightly, "don't worry about it, I'm just glad I was able to help you" he replied. Naruto grinned, "you wanna go get some Ramen from Ichiraku's to celebrate?" he asked. Sasuke thought for a while, "alright, but I'm not that big a fan of Ramen, so I might only get one bowl, and something else" he replied. The two boys walked to Ichiraku, while the villagers all glared at Naruto. The Uzumaki did his best to ignore them, while Sasuke was becoming angry at the way they were looking at his Anija. He would have attacked some of them if Naruto hadn't grabbed his arm and held him back.
"Why are they glaring at you like that Anija! It's not right! They have no reason to look at you that way!" he seethed. Naruto sighed, "I'll tell you some other time Sasuke, I don't want to talk about it right now" he said, really starting to feel the heat of everyone's glares. The hatred for him was almost pliable in the air and it weighed down on him like a heavy blanket of dark feelings. He wasn't sure where this ability to sense the negative emotions around him was coming from, but he did his best to block them out and focus on what they were going to do. They were going to have some of the world's best Ramen together, and he knew that Teuchi and Ayame didn't hate him at least, neither did Sasuke, so he could deal with it. He hoped.
They made it to the Ramen stand, "hey Teuchi-Oji-San, Ayame-nee-San!" Naruto called with forced cheer. His hope was if he forced it, maybe it would become real again after a while. Teuchi, a man with tan skin, dark shaved hair and perpetually squinted eyes turned at the sound of his favorite customer's voice, "Naruto, welcome, It's been a while! Haven't gone off Ramen have you?" he asked. The blond shook his head, "of course not, I'll never go off your Ramen Oji-San" he said and grinned. The Ichiraku nodded, "well that's good," he turned to face Sasuke, "and who's this?" he asked. Naruto's grin became wider, "this is Sasuke Uchiha, my first and only best friend and my younger brother!" he proclaimed proudly. Teuchi let up, "is that right?" he asked. He looked at Sasuke again, "any friend of Naruto's is welcome here- we might even decide to give you a discount as well since you're Naruto's Otouto" he said kindly.
"You don't have to do that-" Sasuke started, but was cut off, "nonsense, now, take a seat boys, and order whatever you want!" the Ramen Chief said happily. "I'll have my usual please" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked over the menu, "can I have some vegetable Ramen please sir?" he asked politely. Teuchi nodded, "of course, coming right up- Ayame, one large Pork Ramen with extra pork, and one regular sized vegetable Ramen!" he called in to shop. After a moment, a young woman's voice called back, "alright, just a minute!" Naruto turned to face his brother, "so Otouto, what do you want to do after we eat?" he asked. Sasuke thought for a moment, "how about we work on our endurance- we could buy some weights and use them to increase our physical and mental strength" he suggested. The Uzumaki nodded, "sounds good" he replied.
After they'd finished eating and payed for their food, the boys left the restaurant. Naruto and Sasuke made their way to a weapons store. Entering inside they looked around. There were all kinds of weapons everywhere- on the walls, on benches, everywhere except the ceiling and the floor. A man came up to them, "hello their, welcome to my shop, please, feel free to browse and choose anything you like" he said cheerfully. Naruto nodded, "thank you very much" he replied. The two boys began perusing the weapons on display. Sasuke found a Chokoto just slightly longer than what he was comfortable with. The Uchiha smiled and picked it up. He gave a small grin.
It felt like it would suit him perfectly in a few years. Naruto was looking around, before he caught sight of a red Gunbai with dark blue around the edges of it. It was the perfect size, maybe a little bigger, but still the right size. He went over to it and picked it up. It was a good weight. Naruto gave it a few practice swings. It felt like it fit perfectly in his hand. The blond grinned. Just the kind of weapon for him. The man came up again, "have you found everything you need?" he asked. Sasuke turned to the shop owner, "actually we were hoping to find some training weights as well" he explained. The owner nodded, "well, I do have some for beginners, why don't we take a look and see if there are any that suit you?" he asked.
Naruto chose a pair of arm and leg weights of 30.1 kg each. Sasuke decided on weights of slightly heavier design at 35.1 kg each. After they had payed for their purchases and thanked the friendly owner, the two brothers left the store with large, or large in Sasuke's case, grins on their faces. The two decided to head to the training field and practice with their new weapons. Sasuke turned to his older brother, an excited smirk on his face, "so Anija, want to have a spar to get used to our new weapons?" he asked in anticipation. The blond Uzumaki returned the look, "you took the words right out of my mouth Otouto" he replied. The two boys stood five feet apart. Sasuke slowly slid his Chokoto out of its sheath white Naruto grasped the handle of his Gunbai and pulled it off his back. There was a moment of silence, while the wind blew through the area.
A single leaf fluttered to the ground between them. The two suddenly shot forwards, ready for one epic spar.
To Be Continued
