Crap, crap, crappity, crap. Naruto fumbled with the removable shower head before finding a grip and rinsing herself off. Her towel was folded in her lap for modesty's sake, and she could feel her blood pounding in her ears as she struggled to clean herself without causing a scene. There was no way she could get herself safely into the bath before her teacher showed up.

Naruto didn't know why she was freaking out. She had never been body conscious, really (after all, it's not like she had anything to be conscious about). And she had always loved going to the hotsprings, but for some reason the idea of going to one with Sasuke totally had her in for a loop.

Sure, she was pretty sure they slept in the same bed ever sense he had shown up less than a week ago (but this was only a suspicion since she had never really caught him in the act, unless you counted that one time on the first night). And yeah, it wasn't like she had anything to hide (again, Naruto had no boobs whatsoever). But still.

The kunoichi scrambled towards the baths, attempting to hurry and be sneaky at the same time. Of, course, she failed in the form of slipping on a strategically placed puddle and landing painfully on her butt.

Suprisingly enough, it had been Sasuke's idea to go the onsen in the first place. He had claimed it was because she was doing well in training, but Naruto suspected otherwise. First of all, judging from the lack of freaking hot water everytime she tried to take a shower, the guy just really liked baths, period. And second of all, she was pretty sure her unrelenting complaining about not being able to bathe finally broke through that thick skull of his somehow.

Naruto swam sulkily through the hot water, only her nose and up were above the steaming H2O. Her towel was folded neatly atop of her head, pushing her unruly hair down and into a state of control. But she knew it was only temporary; the moment she took the towel off her blonde locks were sure to spring up again. Seriously, the only reason she kept it short was because she suspected they would still stick up if her hair was long, and she'd be forced to keep it in pigtails or something to make up for it. Naruto shuddered, finally finding a comfortable place tucked into a rocky corner. How she hated pigtails.

But anyways, getting back on the subject, it had been stupid Sasuke's stupid idea to pick a mixed bath area. But she supposed that it was just his form of torturing her, and she would just have to-

Naruto froze. There was someone next to her, there was someone next to her! Normally she wouldn't mind a person being only a couple feet away (it was a public bath, after all), but there weren't a lot of people bathing right now, and the person wasn't only a 'couple feet away'. Their shoulders was touching, for god's sake!

Naruto jerked back, her towel almost falling off of her head. "Sasuke!" she sputtered, feeling relieved and horrified at the same time.

"Naruto." He replied, cool as ever. "Shut up." And with that, he shut his eyes and leaned his head against the cool grey stone behind him.

Seriously, the only reason he had wanted to go to the hot springs in the first place was because volcanic origins were not only beneficial to his health (mental and physical), but because the water truly helped him focus his chakra. This trip in itself was a sort of chakra control training, and Naruto needed to be quiet if he had any hope of concentrating enough to get anything done.

Speaking of Naruto, the blonde idiot had been a little weird about going to the hotsprings. As soon as Sasuke had suggested it, Naruto had began to act out of sorts. It wasn't like the twelve year old was embarrassed, but something was up, and Sasuke couldn't quite put his finger on it. After some thought, he had a sudden idea. It was that braid-boy, Ranmaru's fault, no doubt. He had probably made Naruto permanently suspicious of humans, thanks to that molestation a few days ago.

Sasuke sank a little deeper into the steaming water, feeling his muscles slowly start to loosen up. Feeling very relaxed, he almost lazily turned over to glance at Naruto, who for some reason, was staring at him with shocked expression. Was it because he had snuck up on him? Sasuke smirked, and resumed his meditating.

Naruto was indignant. Furious. Here she was, freaking out that she was practically naked two feet away from Sasuke, and the punk didn't seem to care at all. In fact, he had just sat himself down right next to her, as if was wasn't bothered in the least! It was the same as the bed situation, Sasuke had always managed to keep his cool about everything, and now here she was, looking like a fool.

Naruto screwed her face up in determination. Well fine then. If he didn't care, then she sure as hell wouldn't care either. No way was she going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he could pull that kind of response from her without even trying. Naruto took a deep breath. She had to calm down, play it cool.

The kunoichi slowly made her way back over to where Sasuke was sitting, until she was gradually back in the original position she was in, with her arms touching his. She waited apprehensively, wondering if she could get some kind of reaction out of the older ninja.

Seconds passed, and nothing happened.

She swallowed. Of course not. Sasuke had sat like that of his own free will, it was stupid of her to think he'd be unsettled by something he himself just did. Naruto's competitive spirit began to stir, just a little. She had to show him how much she really didn't care about his presence.

With a display of mental willpower, Naruto slid a little closer to Sasuke, under the pretense of leaning to look over at some kids who were splashing happily nearby. Naruto stared at the sky, unsure what to do now. Before, it had been a casual brushing of arms, but now the two limbs were firmly pressed together, and Naruto could clearly feel his lean muscles against her stringy ones. Of course, as a kunoichi, it wasn't like she was flabby or skinny or anything, but Naruto had always been a runt, and as a result she never really grew evenly muscled like her female comrades.

Sasuke's subconscious stirred out of the first levels of meditation. While he hadn't noticed when Naruto had first sat down next to him, he finally took some attention when Naruto leaned over to peer at some nearby ruckus. Naturally, he had expected him to move back when he was done, but for some reason the twelve year old had decided to stay in close proximity. Sasuke's gaze flickered over to Naruto momentarily before shutting again. What was the idiot trying to pull now? If Naruto had been a girl, he would've suspected him of trying to seduce him, but Sasuke knew that Naruto was probably plotting something in that simple mind of his. Sasuke remembered how Naruto had reacted when he had first sat down. Was he trying to take some kind of revenge for being startled? Was Naruto trying to psyche him out or something?

Sasuke's mouth turned up ever so slightly. Like that was ever going to happen.

Naruto felt something brush against her bare leg, and she jerked her limb back rapidly. What was that? Her mind was scrabbling through all the possibilities (shark attack, kids pranking, ect.) when she spotted some movement out of the corner of her eye that made her freeze.

Sasuke was smiling. Sure it was only a ghost of a smile, but Naruto could clearly see that it reached his onyx eyes, which happened to be locked on her. She blinked, then her own blue orbs narrowed. Was he challenging her? She knew that the likelihood of that was slim to nothing, but there was no other reason Naruto could think of for her teacher to be looking at her like 'Hey, whatcha gonna do now?' The kunoichi's brow furrowed. Oh hell no.

So yeah. Next chapter, obviously, is going to be exciting. You know what I just realised? My chapters are short. If anyone wants them longer, just say so.

Oh, and the community that added 'As Things Currently Were' is called 'Awesome Stories That Should Be Shared With the World', or something similar.