CHAPTER 11: A GENIN'S CONFESSION

The wind rustled across the potted plants, pulling insistently at the edges of the scroll that was unfolded across Sasuke's lap. Sitting on a beach-house chair made of wood in his balcony, the ninja's somber eyes swept across the inked words scratched into the rice-paper. His photographic memory worked at memorizing the details of the next mission. The descriptions of the inn they would be staying at, the neighboring utility shops and easily accessible restaurants. Briefly he estimated how much pocket money he would have to bring, before continuing to read across the paragraph that described the highlights of the objectives. Relatively similar to the past three missions he had been assigned by the godaime.

Sakura had been in the hospital for two weeks, and as soon as he had been well-enough to move himself, he had been assigned more than six missions teaming up with a various assortment of chuunin exam winners.
His thoughts went back to Hyuuga Neji and his impressive defense technique. Though the boy's guard method seemed to use up much of his chakra, he worked efficiently at protecting his fellow team members, and Sasuke had been able to stand his ground just enough to escape with a few scratches from the only impressive jutsu attack that had caught them by surprise. In the end, it had been his lion combo and the Hyuuga's sixty-four points to the chakra gateways that had ended the battle.
It was an annoying Wind ninja that had gotten into their way this time, with personal issues that required him to retrieve the same book of scrolls that an Earth Village's landlord needed.
He had pulled a technique that utilized the air around them to solidify into sharp, hot invisible needles that shot across your skin, burning the body at the slightest brush of contact.
But three genins from Konoha against one chuunin was almost an instant victory, and they had successfully retrieved the twine-bound clump of parchment and earned their respective cuts of profit.
Ten-ten of course with a few injuries of her own, had been sympathetic enough to convince Neji and him to carry the critically injured Wind ninja's body to the nearest village hospital.
They were presented with the bill for his recovery, and he remembered flashing Ten-ten a violent look when she had insisted that they pay for it as well.

She resorted to googly-eyeing the Hyuuga, who surprisingly did not hesitate to pay for the bills after her insistent nagging and threats of refusing to spar with him for the next week.
Ever since the raven-haired boy had his first intimate encounters with the opposite sex, he had noticed a change in him.
A slightly-held curiosity for other girls was one thing, but also there was the tenacious spike to place himself in the line of fire for comrades assigned on the same mission with him.
It was, Sasuke discovered, the result of his passion for his duties.

His eyes swept over more details jotted down into the scroll, before the shrill cry of a bird above his head interrupted him.
Rolling up the parchment, he turned his face to the sky, observing the swift, sweeping circular motions of the majestic black hawk that flew further on to a rooftop at his left.
He assumed it was a messenger of the fifth and another team of jounins were being called to the office. Perhaps for a high ranking S-class mission.
Sasuke felt a familiar, incessant pull inside him. It was the motivational drive to be able to get to that level, when he had the ability to handle such a dangerous task, when he would finally outdo the best ninjas of Konoha and be considered the most skilled amongst others.
Then I would be satisfied, and I can hunt him down.
Hunt that bastard down and bury him deep into the hell he deserves.

The sudden flare of maddening hatred, and the sheer will for power suddenly consumed him and he grunted, his eyes narrowing into icy slits of vehemence before he swept his legs across the reclining chair and stood, the scroll slightly crumpled into his fingers.

Sasuke had already stalked across his balcony and was pulling at the glass doors that led to the inside of his apartment when he realized he was once again angry.
Perhaps he could never truly dispose of the hatred he still held for Itachi. That he had been naïve enough to think a girl like Sakura could change that fact, made him cringe.

The glass panels behind him shut with a solid thump, and he tossed the scroll into the corner of his bed, the sleek locks of his long bangs flitting across his cheeks at the motion.
His mind thought back on the events that same morning.
Naruto had not been particularly conversational and more surprisingly was not the least bit hostile and over-confident. Their battle had been brief, efficient and free of taunts. Just the way Sasuke had always thought he had wanted.
Only it wasn't. He found he actually enjoyed the blonde's self-patriotic mouth and over-indulgent remarks. Regardless of how it made him angry, it pushed him to want to outdo Naruto, made victories like now all the more sweet.

And it felt good when Sasuke pushed the growling whiskered-ninja's face into the dust under them, but it could have been better. The blonde struggled with impressive flexibility to throw him off, but the Uchiha's legs remained firmly pressed against his sides, his solid forearm digging into the curve of Naruto's neck.
An interruption of a little whirl of air and leaves in the tree next to the sparring ground signaled the appearance of Kakashi, only thirty minutes late this time.
"Ohayo!"
And because Naruto's face was pushed into the dirt, the ninja failed to berate him properly, before the Uchiha pulled his straddling weight off the boy's back and stood.

As was the routine, Kakashi started to hit at the weak points of the battle like he always managed to do, regardless of how late he showed up.
"Sasuke, you need to work on your left leg. The side-sweeps are a little delayed and Naruto-" the gray-haired Jounin lazily slipped a gloved hand into his navy-blue pants pocket as he looked at the fang-bearing blonde shaking the dust from his hair, "…be more receptive. Read your opponents movements. Sasuke is fast, but you should be able to predict his moves by now."
Just as always, the Jounin's one visible eye had not missed anything and Sasuke wondered how long he had been watching, concealing his chakra.
The blonde boy grumbled, and Sasuke stepped away, tucking his hands into his pockets as he regarded the Jounin with expressionless eyes.
"Sasuke…" Kakashi suddenly said, and he leapt down from the tree trunk he had been crouching on.
His eye focused on the raven-haired boy, still unreadable but gravely business-like.
"Meet me at the restaurant in front of the sweet's shop later on. Around mid-afternoon. I've something to discuss with you."
The raven-haired boy slipped a kunai back into his holster before turning his face to his teacher and replying in a low voice. "Alright."

It was the perfect opportunity to bring up what had been bothering him.
"As of now,…" the Jounin's spiky gray hair slid over the left side of his face, where the black mask of his mouth met with the symbolic forehead protector that hid his Sharingan. He tilted his head almost comically, making the transition from serious to merry.
"I have something else to do… and you're both dismissed."
The blonde ninja had barely opened his mouth to object at the abruptness of it when Kakashi was already forming a connection of hand-seals.
He disappeared in a whirl of dust just as briefly as he had arrived.
Naruto closed his mouth, barely sparing his teammate a glance. And the raven-haired boy looked at him as he pulled away with a snort.
Wordlessly, he walked past the Uchiha.
It was an obvious fact that the blonde-ninja was still flustered over the way Sasuke had heard his whole confession in the forest.
It was to be expected.
After all, Sasuke would have been as mortified in his shoes.
"Naruto…" the raven-haired boy's tone of voice, caused the blonde ninja to turn his head back, shady blue irises guarded.
To the fox-ninja's curiosity, the Uchiha gave him a brief look that held none of the usual hostility or flashing intimidation. Naruto's eyebrows rose in confusion.
Sasuke still had that meaningful look on his face when he slowly turned away.
The fox ninja's blue eyes followed the boy's steady, even steps before they once again slowed to a stop and Naruto waited for something else to come from the boy, shifting his weight from one foot to another before, he snapped, his impatience finally burning through.
"What. Are you waiting for me to follow you or can I leave?" The blonde boy asked, his voice partially laced in sarcasm, yet stressed with perplexity.
Sasuke didn't bother facing the orange-clad ninja. And Naruto's gaze swept over the clan logo on the prodigy's back. The voice startled him.
"Have you had breakfast, Naruto?"

The blonde's lightly-etched eyebrows drew together and he studied his teammate's back for a long moment. "No…" he slowly answered, "I haven't replenished my stocks at home."
Sasuke finally turned around to face him, and as the wind whipped past his hair and nipped at his clothes, Naruto once again saw the quiet beauty of the boy. His presence was silent, yet radiated with ripples of suppressed capability and power hidden within that lean frame and stoical manner with which he now regarded him.
At a nudge of his head, Sasuke gestured towards the road in front of them that inevitably led to Ichiraku.

"You're hungry and I have pocket money. Let's go."
The fox-ninja's pride kicked in and he crossed his arms stubbornly, his mouth drawing down, furrowing into the corners of his bottom lip. "You don't have to pay for my meals, Sasuke."
The Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed, his mouth dipping slightly, and then surfacing with a subtle smirk. "Then, I'm hungry and I have pocket money. Join me."
The blue-speckled eyes that stared back at Sasuke wavered for a moment.
"But… You never do this."
"I only want to talk, blockhead. Now are you coming?"

As expected, Naruto's eyes flashed at the insult and he almost growled if the Uchiha had not turned his back to him the second time around and resumed walking away.
"You're the blockhead, doing this all of a sudden!" the blonde ninja shouted after him.
And as if his stomach knew better than to pass up an opportunity, it betrayed him, and gave a low rumble of hunger just enough that the Uchiha heard it.
"I'm paying for your meal." Sasuke drawled out flatly, without looking back. And then he stepped past the sparring field into the dirt road that inevitably led to the street.
Naruto cursed feebly at the ground and at his stomach, before his eyes went back to the boy.
Sasuke now had one lazy arm in the air, the fingers on his hand gestured forward as if tempting the blonde to follow.

The fox-ninja's whiskered cheeks pulled into a dim smile he allowed only because the Uchiha still had not bothered to look back.
Despite Naruto's now crippled dignity, Sasuke was being nicer than usual and he could definitely take advantage of that rarity.
"Fine." The blonde muttered, only half-grudgingly and more to himself before he followed his friend out of the clearing towards the cemented road.

Once again, the owner of Ichiraku was nowhere to be seen and Ayame had taken over the counter.
Sasuke extracted a paper bill from his pocket and slipped it across the table as Naruto plopped down on the seat beside him.
"Tempura ramen-" the dark-haired genin said, before tilting his chin down at the boy beside him,
"and one miso ramen for Naruto."
The orange-clad ninja folded his arms across his chest, and he studied Sasuke with considering eyes, blonde hair exploding vibrantly about his head.
"How do you know it's miso ramen I want?"

The Uchiha's slanted eyes looked sideways at Naruto and the sun danced off the side of his finely-bridged nose as he sat. "You're predictable, and that's what you always order. Dobe."
"Heh! In fact that's not what I wanted but since you already ordered it, I'll have it."
Sasuke ignored him, knowing the boy was only trying to salvage pieces of his pride.
He had not been kidding. Naruto was fairly predictable as long as the situation didn't have anything to do with battle. The Uchiha noticed that his teammate was quite capable of coming up with radically idiotic, and sometimes brilliantly impressive tactics during sparring sessions and actual battle. But when it came down to food, Sasuke knew the boy didn't need a menu.
It was always ramen.
At Ichiraku, it was miso ramen.

"I heard it took you two days before you could start missions again." Naruto said, giving Ayame a wide smile, before narrowing his eyes arrogantly at Sasuke.
"Hnh. Two days just moving around the house isn't so bad." Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly.
"Yes, not so bad. Just boring." Naruto deadpanned in response before his chin fell into his hand.

His eyes silently studied the cluster of chopsticks in front of him before finally wandering over to his teammate.
Sasuke's own eyes remained closed even when he could sense Naruto's calculating gaze on him.
His breath stirred at the curls of steam rising from the cup and he leaned forward into the counter, strands of blue-black hair escaping against his cheeks. A remembered thought struck him as he brought the tea cup to his mouth.
"Kiba was looking for you the other day."
"What does he want?" Naruto mumbled, to which Sasuke indifferently lifted his shoulders in response.
"Naruto..." Ayame's voice pulled the blonde ninja out of his state of lethargy, and his eyes perked at the sight of the steaming bowl of ramen being lowered in front of him.
"Thanks, nee-chan." He slurred delightedly, his eyes twin beams of joy.
Ayame mirrored his smile and Sasuke lowered his face to sip quietly from his cup.
"Well, then my day tomorrow is all set…" Naruto continued, after he had fumbled for chopsticks "…after I visit Tsunade ba-chan, I'll go look for him."

"The Hokage…" Sasuke's eyes shifted and he looked at Naruto as he swirled the cup in his hand repeatedly. "What for?"
"She's giving me a mission." The blonde declared, and he gave Sasuke a superior grin, his blue eyes steadying on the Uchiha's unreadable stare.
There was a moment of slight irritation, when Sasuke almost wanted to push a fist into the boy's mouth just to stop him from grinning so deliberately. It was the kind of thing he always seemed to have only around Naruto: that indispensable sense of competition between them. The blonde was always dangling supremacy under his nose like bait. But Sasuke had never given in, though the dimwit did push him over the edge sometimes. Still he didn't want to give the blonde boy the satisfaction.
The bowl of ramen being set in front of the dark-haired genin ushered in a silence wherein Naruto shouted his usual "Itadakimasu!" and Sasuke started nibbling on his starch-fried shrimps.

The quiet demeanor of his raven-haired teammate was never something Naruto had particularly liked, and between a gulp of tea and a sliver of noodle, the blonde felt the urge to talk.
"Sasuke…"
"Mm." his teammate answered from behind his tempura.
"I heard Sakura-chan isn't in the hospital anymore."
There was a short pause as Sasuke lowered his chopsticks and dug into the noodles. All Naruto could see of the Uchiha's face was the graceful tip of his pale nose and the fine line of his lips, which the blonde suddenly realized were tugging at the corners, in what appeared to be a subtle smile.
"I know." He said, before holding the tea cup in his hand, taking a few swallows and setting the cup down. He turned to his teammate after the short silence, studying Naruto intently now for the first time since they had arrived at Ichiraku.
The sudden interest of the Uchiha prompted him to keep talking.

Naruto laced his hands at the back of his head and his whiskered cheeks twitched as he gave a haughty chuckle. "I gave her half my stock of ramen for when she was in the hospital. And I don't sacrifice like that for just anyone. Geez, I really went hungry." He slurped at his soup, as if to punctuate the point.

"Do you like her, Naruto?" the sudden question almost made the blonde choke, and he hastily forced the hot miso down, even as his wide, teal eyes settled on Sasuke's inquiring look.
In one moment, the fox-ninja's mind worked on the most appropriate way to answer the question.
In the end, he settled on genuine honesty because the Uchiha's look seemed to request it of him.
"Of course I like Sakura-chan." He finally said.

"Well, Naruto…" Sasuke's eyes flickered over to the bowl of noodles in front of him, and Naruto followed his gaze as Sasuke lowered his chopsticks into the soup causing small bubbles to slip between the mounds of noodle.

His pale hands then rose to clasp underneath his chin.
A feeling of uncertainty suddenly twisted inside the fox-ninja's stomach as Sasuke's dark onyx eyes met his. The gravity of his stare outweighed Naruto's clamoring hunger and suddenly the boy forgot all about his meal when Sasuke's low voice solidified into the silence.

"So do I."

Sasuke felt the stirrings of mental exhaustion pitter through him as the event replayed itself in his mind.
He pulled his white cotton shirt over his head and slipped it into the gaping laundry basket. Looking over at the clock right above his kitchen counter, he estimated two hours till his meeting with Kakashi, wondering briefly what exactly it was the Jounin wanted to tell him. It wouldn't be a surprise if it was the very same thing that Sasuke had been meaning to ask him about.
The boy made his way towards the bathroom, flipping the switch open and crossing the marbleized tiles over to the shower.

Of the few rooms in his apartment, Sasuke favored the bedroom and the bathroom most. Both places were spacious, his bedroom having a king-sized mattress, a t.v. and a balcony. And his bathroom, aside from having a shower, also had a white, claw-footed bathtub.

The water was hot but not scalding. Sasuke's feathered locks were now soaked, pressing wet against the sides of his cheeks and neck. His eyes watched the mist below him distractedly, as the droplets of water trickled off the tips of his locks and rolled off his nose and chin. Beyond the hiss of the showerhead, and inside his mind, he could hear Naruto's disbelieving screech, his wooden chair dragging noisily against the floor, his hands balling into tight fists.
Most of all Sasuke remembered those eyes, the starkness of his ocean-blue irises flashing into a narrowed glower - a cold counter to the short spikes of sunny blonde hair against his forehead as he roared Sasuke's name.

"…You want the limelight on you? Steal everything that makes me happy away from me?! Is that what you want?"
"It already happened, Naruto." Sasuke's voice was strained. For the first time the blonde boy heard it that way, but it did nothing to alleviate the pain clenching at his chest, the heat behind his ears and the sudden rush of anger contorting the river-shades of his eyes.

"It? what happened!?"
"I kissed her."
Naruto's hands landed over the counter harshly and his teeth meshed together.
"Ki- Y-…What!"
"I didn't want to lie to myself and clearly, it was something I wanted. So what else was I supposed to do?" Sasuke said in a low, controlled voice, even when he could feel the hostile flare of the boy's raging chakra.
"What else were you supposed to do?! You were supposed to be more considerate Sasuke, you piece of shit! Why would you go so far as to use Sakura-chan just to piss me off!"
The Uchiha's face briefly faltered before he caught himself and his eyebrows narrowed. Clear black eyes squinting at the blonde. His mouth parted, and a tone of withheld vehemence escaped triggering the blonde's eyes to flash.
"Naruto, the world doesn't revolve around you."
"I very well know that, you bastard. Since you seem to think it revolves around you."
Briefly, Sasuke saw Ayame's bewildered expression at the sudden tension between the two friends and the prodigy ignored her, turning his face abruptly at the enraged ninja.
"That's not why I kissed her. Idiot."

Ayame let out a small gasp as Naruto's leg pushed into the wooden stool in front of him, his blonde hair crackling with intensity, the whiskered snarl now marring into boyish features.
"Raaaaaahhh, Sasuke-"
"I like her, Naruto." The dark-eyed boy said firmly. And his low voice successfully strangled the snarl of the blonde ninja, because it was honest. Laced in the Uchiha's calm fluidity, yet wholly resigned to a fact that was now starting to lodge itself painfully in the blonde's chest.
"I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but I do. And I didn't ask for it to happen. I didn't want this."
The fists that were clutched tightly at Naruto's sides wanted badly to punch out at the Uchiha. It was simply too ironic, Naruto wanting and not getting and the tensai-dolt getting without wanting. The whiskered ninja stood in a half-crouch, anger fanning out around him, deciding whether he should allow the moment of disgrace in front of the ramen girl, or if he should listen to the faint nudges of instinct.

And at the moment, his instinct was mingling quite excessively, to his dismay, with his conscience.
Naruto had always been the type of person who found a bit of himself in different people. He had an empathic heart that made him stronger, and consequently at times made him weak.

"I didn't want it, Naruto. But I'm not saying that I regret it…" Sasuke's voice trailed off.
A bit of what Naruto had always seen between his complicated relationship with the Uchiha, the narrow line that separated them as friends and rivals, suddenly dissolved when the boy's dark eyes captured his.
In the honesty of the moment, Naruto was allowed to see beyond the usually guarded, inaccessible façade of the boy.
The bond they shared, had never fulfilled the makings of a normal friendship. But it was during times like these, when Sasuke willingly pulled back his armor so Naruto could catch a glimpse of the humanity hidden inside his tough exterior that the boy finally saw the significance of whatever it is they had.

Sasuke trusted him.
The boy could have kept the relationship from him, could have laughed at his idiocy as he repeatedly tried to reach for something unattainable, could have sealed himself away like he did with most everyone else. But here the Uchiha was now, stripped in all honesty, admitting to Naruto that yes, somewhere along the insides of his chest, there was a human heart, that somehow he was capable of giving and responding to affection. And maybe it was over-interpretation on his part, but it seemed as if Sasuke was even subtly asking for permission… and readying himself for the beating Naruto now so badly wanted to give him.
He knew it well. He disliked being a martyr.
But he also knew how much it hurt to swallow pride.
And as hard as it was for Sasuke, he had forced a big lump of it down with Ichiraku ramen soup and green tea.

This realization kicked in, and Naruto found himself trusting the boy back.
Trusting the boy's decisions, his feelings, his truthfulness…
Trusting him to lessen the blow of the pain by treating Sakura-chan properly… The way Naruto always had and still did.

"I get it." the blonde ninja finally muttered. And in the moment's silence, his shoulders slumped and his fists settled back to his sides.
He knew he was incessantly taking the abuse of torment.
Sasuke was finally starting to see what he had always seen in Sakura and as for the girl, she already undoubtedly loved him.
He raised his eyes and looked into Sasuke's dark, unflinching irises.
A tug of guilt barely noticeable, crossed the planes of the Uchiha's face and he looked away just as the blonde noticed it.

"Naruto, sit down…" the dark-haired genin finally said, giving his teammate a glance devoid of the superiority and aggravation that was considered usual treatment. The calm stoical manner was back but was now coated in a certain fervor.
Naruto accepted the Uchiha's sensitivity as he wordlessly slipped into his seat.
Ayame raised her head from behind the counter, where she was seated and her brown eyes swept over the slumped forms of both her customers. Her heart wrenched as she watched Naruto, his hunger forgotten.
Tthe ramen in front of him remained untouched, steam dancing above the hot soup had dissipated and she knew that the miso was cold.
Apparently there was a first time for everything.
Silently, she slipped behind the curtains towards the inside kitchen to clean out the utensils.

Sasuke didn't know how long he stood there in the shower, hair clinging to his nape and face, droplets of water hitting his shoulders, and the tiles below him. Soap foam brushed along the sides of his feet and he slipped one lean leg forward, letting the hot water wash away the remaining bubbles that clung to his knee and thigh. For a moment longer he studied the pattern engraved into the marble in front of him, and then he reached up and twisted at the metal knob, feeling the slow rush of air from beyond the bathroom as the water stopped falling.
Wrapping a royal-blue towel around his waist, he stepped out, head tilting up to gaze across the light fixture as he stretched an arm back to loosen his muscles.
His mind was as always, a silent, busy whir of clicking thoughts that never ceased.
The familiar coolness of the floor under him pressed into the soles of his warm feet.

And then he felt his toes touch into a slick wetness that wasn't the consistency of water.
Sasuke looked down, and the breath in his throat stopped.