Shorter chapter this time around, it is more of a bridge chapter, I thought about moving onto the next part in this, but it would not have flowed right for me.

I will post another one soon, but as you may or may not have noticed, I haave four stories on the go here, and I have to give time to all of them (unless inspiration drives me to do otherwise) and I am also working on a novel, so wish me luck on it! (and you know… buy the book if I ever get published XDD))

Reviews always welcome!


It was an odd feeling, like a weight had been lifted from his chest, a lot of things had been running through his mind, he was examining things, the way he had been thinking about a lot of situations, his feelings for Sakura for instance, after Sai had kissed him, and he was not disgusted by it, he began to think that maybe he had been gay all along? But as he thought about his long time crush, he realised that, no, he still definitely would.

But then there were the others, the girls he had met on his journey, he thought about them, and even though they were good looking, and some were his age too, but, they never really took the time to know him, most of them just liked him because he was a ninja, others because he had helped them in some way, or, in the case of some of the older women, because they were drunk; he remembered one of them being rather forceful on him, and she didn't even know his name.

But then he turned his attention to the guys he had met, he thought of all of the ones he knew, and of them, not a single one jumped out in his mind as being one he was attracted too, surely if he was gay, he would like more than just one guy, but the more he thought on it, the more he was sure he did not like anyone else like this, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Lee, Shino and Neji, he even thought about Gaara, none of them held any other feelings than just being friends. He turned his thoughts to Sasuke then, and to this he frowned a bit, just how did he feel about him… up till this point, he had never considered that he might like a guy in this way, so Sasuke would have been just a close friend…

But what if it was more? He looked back on everything they had done together, the bond they had, he was a rival, that much he was sure of, and Sasuke had been a constant goal for him to aspire too, but was there anything more then that? He compared how he felt now to how he had felt about Sasuke, and it was entirely different, Sai frustrated him like Sasuke had yes, but in a very different way, Naurto competed with Sasuke, where as Sai teased him, though he knew the reason behind it now.

So what was it that was the main difference? It was something that preoccupied his thoughts most of the nights, and while Sai and himself did not talk about the kiss, nor did they do anything else; which to be honest, he had worried about after the first day. No, they just went on as though nothing happened, and Sai; well he was just Sai, he continued cataloguing his new emotions and the reactions Naruto had, and he continued on with the mission without as much as a second thought to the happenings of that night; or at least that was how it seemed to Naruto.

But it was the last night in camping that something occurred to him, Sai was peeling an apple for them both, and before handing Naruto his pieces, he cored them, now normally Naruto would not have thought much on it, but now that he was reading into things himself, something hit home. Sai was thoughtful of him. The previous day when they bought the apples from a farmer, he had made a passing comment on how people only ever peeled apples for him when he was too injured to do it himself, Sai asked why people would bring apples to begin with if he was not able to eat them unassisted, and it resulted in them both having a long talk about how there should be a list of foods approved for the hospital visits

Sai had been smart about it, saying things like grapes and berries, foods that required nothing more then placing them in your mouth, and Naruto, well, he had begun saying Candies, but Sai kept pointing out that wrappers would need to be undone, in the end they compromised on cakes and muffins without cases, though Sai was still complaining that anything that unhealthy should not be on the list anyway. But now, Naruto looked at the apple and smiled, Sai did not seem to be paying much attention to him, he was leaning back against a tree with a pencil in hand and a book propped against his knee; there was a bird on a high branch and Sai had begun to sketch it.

It was a such a nice thing, just a small gesture of kindness, but it was one of many that Sai had a habit of doing, and never in return for something else; up to this point, Naruto knew he had never noticed them, and always took them for granted, but now, now was a bit different, Naruto spoke softly, so as not to disturb the bird "Hey Sai." Obsidian eyes turned to meet his for a moment, just to show he was listening "Thanks, ya know… for peeling my apple for me" Sai let a small smile spill over his lips and he looked back to Naruto "My pleasure" his tone was soft and sincere, and Naruto knew that for Sai, it was enough just to be thanked.

There was something so selfless about Sai that made him special, and Naruto, when thinking on it, supposed that was also down to the life Sai had been made to lead, after all, he had never done anything for himself, always just with the village in mind, he fought battles to eliminate dangers, and risked his life knowing that even should he die, his name would never be remember… he didn't even have a name to be remembered… it was, difficult to imagine what it would be like… and yet, Sai escaped that life… it was…

Now more then ever Naruto felt that heat flaring up inside of him, he wanted to protect Sai from ever having to be like that again, but more then that, he wanted him to be happy, he wanted to do things for him too! To be thoughtful and too go out of his way, but it was not something he had ever really tried… he was not sure he would even be good at it; even as he was thinking this, Sai snapped his book closed and the bird took fight, Naruto looked up to him and Sai smiled to him softly "Thank you Naruto, for whispering"

Naruto's eyes widened as he said that, but Sai did not make any more of it, he just stood up and went off to hunt for supper; leaving Naruto on his own again. It was during these times that Naruto got to think, being left alone had never bothered him before on other missions, as he used that time to train, but here, he was not a ninja, and so training was out, and it gave him pause on how other people lived. He knew a lot of regular people tended to travel alone, camping out with only basic skills, but this was the first time he experienced the monotony of it, and being left to his own thoughts had already stirred up things he was not sure he was willing to admit to himself.

But as he realised, it was also making him more aware of who he was, it had never occurred to him that whispering would be considered thoughtful, but when Sai thanked him and left, it gave him a moment to feel a bit proud of himself, perhaps Sai's want to be nice to him, is not solely selfless? By the time Sai returned to the camp, Naruto was feeling pretty good about himself, after a meal they packed up and began moving out once more, they were meant to reach the town later on that evening, and just before dusk the gates came into view. Naruto found himself frowning as he got a good look at the place, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

For a village that lay on the outskirts of Konoha, with no viable means f income, it seemed… well, a bit too big. The moved through the gates, and Naruto put his head down slightly, he knew they were being watched, but now it was from almost every window, not that he could clearly see the people watching him, but he knew, and it felt creepy, it was Sai that broke the silence then "Hey Naruto?" Naruto looked up to him and tilted his head in question, so Sai just continued on, putting on the act that they had been playing for a fair while "We should look for the inn, and I will see if there is anywhere in town I can offer my services" Naruto nodded and they separated.

This was what their ambushers had been waiting for. It had not taken long for them to appear in front of Sai, and only for the scream, Naruto would not have known, he turned, as he was meant too, and began running back in the direction he had left his partner, that was when two men appeared in front of him, he skid to a halt and looked from one to the other "W-what do you want?" they didn't reply to him and so he turned and began to run, though for him, this was the hardest thing he had ever done in his life, running, was in his nature, leaping and bounding and, well; for want of a better description, almost flying had become second nature to the ninja. So now, to be running at a normal pace, and to be faking stumbles and running out of breath, felt ridiculous, and every fibre of his being wanted to turn and punch their lights out.

He rounded a corner only to find himself face to face with a third man, and this one punched him flatly in the stomach, and though for Naruto, it was hardly even worth noting, he doubled over none the less, but he did not fall to the ground, he had spoken to Sai about this already, that they should both put up a fight, seeing as both of them were in very good shape physically, it would seem odd if they didn't. and so Naruto looked up at the bald man that was standing over him and tackled him to the ground, throwing what seemed to him to be light punches at the man, and yet the man began to scream under the weight of the blond, and as the other men came round to see what was going on, they seemed to think that the two of them needed to pin him to the ground in order to restrain him.

After a string of curses and endless 'struggling' they finally managed to drag him to the place they had brought Sai as well, Sai was sitting against a wall, also bound, and the beginnings of a large bruise could be seen on his exposed shoulder, the sight of this bought about a sudden wave of anger, and Naruto jerked free enough to fall forward, and he might have broke his ropes if not For Sai's voice "Naruto? They got you too?" Naruto looked to Sai and he could see the warning in his eyes 'don't do anything stupid' Naruto spat on the ground and attempted to 'wriggle free' only to be met with the heel of a boot right between his shoulder blades

"Caught ourselves a pair of lively ones didn't we?" This came from the youngest looking one of the group, now consisting of five men, he had one of them hoist Naruto up enough so he could see his face "You're not as pretty as the other one over there, but I heard you did a number on Jackson, so you will have your uses" Naruto did the only thing he could do, given the situation, He spat in the man's face, This didn't seem to faze the man as much as he thought it would, but it did earn him a reward he was not expecting, the last thing Naruto felt was a sharp pinch at the back of his neck, and then the world seemed to fade to black.


Thanks you as Always to GoodMorningFlower for your review, hurray for fangirl screams, though, as in the comic, I found that timing this was difficult, I didn't want it to seem to forced, and at the same time, I didn't want it to be completely out of the blue either ^^; unfortunately inspiration did not come so readily for this chapter (tales of graces and Jelsa apprehended my fanfiction brain for a while) but I will certainly be working on the next one soon, I have plans! Oh the plans I have! And by the next one, we will have caught up to the comic!

Lopithecus: thank you so much for the review, I have to admit, I had WAY too much fun writing them as none ninja's myself, and as for Naruto's reaction, I was wondering how to go about it myself, I didn't want to have him, freak out, considering it was something he had been thinking on himself anyway, but I did not want him to outright enjoy it either, he is confused, and rightly so… but I could not help a bit of fluff, and I am glad I was able to give you a smile ^_^

Hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone! more on the way soon, but if you are impatient, why not check out some of my other writings? cause yah know... I'm cool like that .