Chapter Ten; The Love of A Brother
I'm so sorry that this is later than I wanted it to be but I've been getting really bad tension headaches all due to my damn allergies! Anyway, here's the next chapter and I apologize again for the delay. By the way, even when I'm not writing about Naruto I'm watching it! (I'm in season three now since I restarted and plan to go to the last episode this time before I start Boruto again)
"Cannonball!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly while he leapt off the diving board hugging his knees.
"Take cover!" Sasuke cried as he started swimming out of the way but it was already too late. There came a humongous splash after he had landed in the water and a few seconds later Naruto's head popped up to the surface and he started to giggle while Sasuke turned away from him.
"Gee Sasuke, I really got you wet didn't I?" he questioned him.
"Yeah, and you don't seem all that sorry about it." Sasuke said.
"Hmm…" Naruto began pretending to think it over while tapping his finger to his chin. "Nope!" he cried with another malicious giggle as Sasuke grinned.
"Hn. Just for that I'm dunking you." He told him as he started swimming towards him.
"Oh yeah? Well not if you can't catch me!" Naruto shrieked before swimming behind Sakura.
"Seriously? That's the best that you can do?" Sasuke inquired.
"Yep! Sakura's the base, you can't touch me as long as I'm with her." Naruto told him.
"Hmm, that's funny. I didn't remember that that was the rule. However, in that case I guess that means that I just have to go after Sakura." He said with a sly grin.
"Oh great! Thanks a lot Naruto, now you brought me into this." She told him with a roll of her eyes.
"What's the matter? When you were twelve you would have given anything in the world for me to chase you since you were always chasing me." Sasuke said.
"I know, I'm sorry." Sakura began while hanging her head sadly. "It's just that I'm really worried about Sasame." She said.
"Huh? What about Sasame?" Naruto asked her raising his eyebrows questioningly.
"She's not here is she?" Sasuke questioned him back before Naruto started turning his head around in different directions.
"No." he replied.
"So why do you think that is?" Sasuke asked him.
"Gee, I guess I really didn't think about that. Sasame loves swimming and it is rather strange that she decided to stay up in the hotel. Unless,.. she's not on her_" he began.
"No." Sasuke quickly responded with a shake of his head. "I think that she was just using that as an excuse. And even if she wasn't she would never let that stop her from coming down to the pool with everyone else." He told him as Sakura nodded.
"I swear that that girl was a mermaid in her past life." She began. "I just can't seem to figure out what's bothering her." She finished as Naruto sadly hung his head.
"I think I know." He began before slowly raising his head to meet her gaze.
"Really? Why?" she questioned him eagerly.
"I can't tell you. I promised her that I wouldn't say anything about it." He told her.
"Listen Naruto, I know how much you love her and how much it means to you to keep your promise, but if she is having a serious problem that involves her being in some sort of danger then you need to tell us." Sasuke told him.
"Well, alright. I guess if you put it like that. I don't want her to get hurt." He began before he took a deep breath and sighed heavily. "She had another vision. And this time it was about Doragon." He told him.
"Oh no." Sakura whispered with a gasp of astonishment.
"But please don't tell her that I told you. She didn't want you guys to get upset and start worrying about it. That's why she didn't tell you herself." Naruto explained.
"Don't worry we won't." Sasuke reassured him while placing a comforting hand upon his shoulder and resting it there.
"Sasuke, you don't think that Doragon's actually here in Hawaii do you?" Sakura asked him anxiously.
"I'm not sure. But if he is, the first thing that he's going to do is to go after her and Naruto. We have to go back up to the hotel room. We can't let either one of them out of our sight." Sasuke said.
"It's alright Sasuke, I can take care of myself." Naruto told him.
"I know. But I almost lost you once and I'm not going to let that happen again. You're my brother and that means that your part of my family. And all of my family member means the world to me." Sasuke told him.
"I already told you Sasuke I'm fine!" Naruto snapped. "Besides, Sasame is the one that you should be worried about. She's a child and I'm an adult! Or have you forgotten that part?" he questioned him with a glare before he hopped out of the pool and hurried over to the table.
"Naruto." Sasuke said quietly with a gasp as he watched him somberly before Sakura turned her head and looked over at him.
"It's alright Sasuke, I'll go talk to him." She told him before she started climbing out of the pool while Naruto finished drying his face and then wrapped his towel around him before sitting down at the table. That's when he noticed Sakura walking towards him from the corner of his eye.
"May I help you?" he asked her not completely meeting her gaze.
"That depends, can I talk to you for a second?" she asked him back before sitting down across from him.
"Are you going to lecture me like Sasuke does?" he questioned.
"Sasuke doesn't mean to lecture you Naruto." Sakura told him as he scoffed and rolled his eyes at her.
"Yeah right! Nothing gives Sasuke more pleasure than being able to tell me what to do! He always treats me like I'm a little kid or something!" he exclaimed.
"Sasuke loves you Naruto. You really are like his little brother. He cares about you more than you even realize. He's just trying to protect you that's all." She told him. "I mean I know sometimes he can come off as a bit harsh, but he wouldn't be so hard on you if he didn't love you as much as he does." Sakura told him before he took a deep breath and sighed.
"But why? I mean I didn't ask for this." He said.
"I'm not sure. But when somebody loves you that much, do you really want to question it?" she asked him as he heaved another deep and heavy sigh and slowly hung his head. That's when all of a sudden Sasuke climbed out of the pool and walked over to the table.
"Sakura, do you mind if I have a moment alone with him?" he asked her.
"Sure, go ahead. I'll be right over there if you need me." She told him before she got up from her chair and walked away and then Sasuke sat down instead.
"Listen Naruto, I'm sorry if it always seems like I'm treating you like a little kid." He began before Naruto glanced over at him.
"It's alright. Sakura's right. She explained everything to me. It's just because you love me isn't it? You want to protect to me." He said.
"Well, look who just woke up." Sasuke told him. "Naruto, you mean as much to me as Itachi did." He said.
"I know that. And you mean a lot to me too Sasuke. But so does Sakura and Sasame. I care about their lives more than I do my own. If Sasame's vision is true and Doragon is back, then I feel like it's our job to protect them. I can live with it if something happens to me in the process." Naruto told him.
"Yeah, well, I can't." Sasuke told him. "I mean, I want to protect them just as much as you do. I love them with all of my heart. But that doesn't mean that I'll just abandon you." He said before Naruto took a deep breath.
"I have an idea. How about we stay together as a group until we know for sure whether or not Sasame's vision is true alright?" Naruto questioned him as Sasuke smiled at him.
"Sounds like a plan to me." He told him. "Come on Naruto, let's go back." He said before they got to their feet and Naruto's stomach started to rumble.
"Good. That's just as well, because swimming always makes me hungry and I could really go for a bowl of ramen right now." He said as Sasuke chuckled.
"You could always go for a bowl of ramen." He told him.
"Yeah, well can you blame me? I mean it's the food of the gods for goodness sake! In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if they served it on Mount Olympus." He said as Sasuke laughed again.
"I swear, I don't know where you get all this stuff." He told him. "Come on you little knucklehead." He said with a grin while pulling him into a tight brotherly hug and giving his head a noogie before they turned around and walked away together.