Chapter fourteen

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, only the occasional OC that may / will appear

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"Sasuke… I'm bored….." Naruto whined the next day. Sasuke stood in the cabin kitchen, cutting vegetables for a snack, while Naruto sat on the couch, legs stretched out and his head hanging over the back of the couch. His hair fell off his face, and his eyes seemed to look much bigger when his face was upside down.

"Well, go do something then." Sasuke replied, raising an eyebrow as he sliced a tomato in half. Naruto scrunched up his nose.

"I would, but there's nothing to do…" Naruto whined again, blinking once. He moved his arms up, so they hung back off the edge of the couch, with his upper arms braced against the back of the couch. Sasuke sighed.

"I don't know what you would want to do. I mean, if I was in your situation, I would probably read or train. But since this is you, and your brain cannot manage reading, and you cannot leave this cabin without my say so, there's really nothing you can do anyway." Sasuke replied.

Naruto sat up and swivelled around, so his knees were against the back of the couch, his feet hanging off the front and his arms on the back. He blew his cheeks out and huffed, "Oh shut up, Teme! I do so have a brain!"

"No, no you don't. You haven't thought of even making a Kage Bunshin to use." Sasuke raised an eyebrow when Naruto snorted.

"I have, but it's no fun when I have to play with myself." Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the Uchiha's eyebrows rise. "A CLONE of myself… a clone. Damnit that came out wrong…" Naruto dropped his head against the back of the couch. "It's no fun when I have to play with a clone… a CLONE…" Naruto shook his head and raised it again, with a red blotch forming on his forehead.

"See, no brain. If you had one, you wouldn't have come up with… that." Sasuke rolled his eyes and began to eat a half of a tomato. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"That was an accident. But you knew what I meant." Naruto said, glaring.

"Sure I did, dobe. Anyway, if you really want to do something, I guess there's no harm in sparring." Sasuke said, grabbing the other half of the tomato and eating that too.

"Really? We can?" Naruto said happily, practically wiggling in excitement. He went to jump of the couch, but his foot got caught on the arm which led him to face-planting on the floor. Naruto sat up, rubbing his nose, while Sasuke simply raised an eyebrow.

"Owwie…." Naruto muttered, before jumping up and running to the door. "Well, can we go?" He said impatiently, staring at Sasuke.

"Unless you want to reveal to everyone that you're here, I suggest you either use a henge or put your cloak and mask on." Sasuke said, chewing on a carrot as he slowly made his way to the door.

"And by god, if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought you were a dog. You're impatient at the door, like a dog waiting for a walk, and I could practically see you with a wagging tail." Sasuke shook his head as Naruto ran to grab his cloak.

"Oh shut up. Kyuubi's rubbing off on me." Naruto called from the bedroom, grabbing his cloak and tying it on.

'Like hell I am,' Kyuubi muttered. Naruto snorted.

"Sure, now you speak. Where the hell have you been all this time?" Naruto hissed pulling on the mask. He brought it up over his nose and the whisker marks on his cheeks.

'Sleeping. I'm still tired. Healing you took more chakra than usual.' The fox muttered. Naruto sighed and walked back to Sasuke, pulling the hood over his head.

"Ok Teme, let's go."

"… Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"…No."

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"You ready?" Naruto asked. Sasuke and Naruto stood face to face, almost one hundred metres separating them. Sasuke stood calmly, one hand on his Katanas' handle, the other resting comfortably by his side. Naruto had his arms crossed over his chest, while he braced himself.

"Sure. But there should be some restrictions." Sasuke replied, waving his free hand.

"Like…?"

"… well, an idiot could pick up your chakra signature a mile away. So we should stick to Taijutsu, and whatever weapons we have. Nothing more, nothing less." Sasuke replied, clicking his Katana out an inch. Naruto nodded, bringing a kunai out from under his cloak.

"Go." Naruto yelled, sprinting forward. Sasuke drew his katana out as Naruto got closer, then swiftly jumped up and down, bringing his katana down hard. Naruto looked up and jumped as the silver blade of the katana swooped down, just missing the blonde. Naruto swung his arm out, sending the kunai flying towards Sasuke.

Sasuke bent over backwards, the kunai brushing over his shirt and then flying into a tree. Sasuke grabbed the katana, and swiftly pulled it out of the earth (it was imbedded three inches into the ground from the strike), and swung it around, cutting through the air with a whizzing sound.

Naruto brought up another kunai, blocking the strike of the katana. The sound of metal colliding with metal rung out throughout the field. Naruto and Sasuke locked gazes for a second, before Naruto swung his leg out, narrowly missing Sasuke's chin as the Uchiha bent out of reach.

Sasuke swung his katana back and out, before bringing it towards the blonde again. Naruto jumped back, before crouching on all fours. Sasuke stood in a fighting stance, with his katana drawn in front of him. He ran forward the same time the blonde pounced.

Naruto let out a quick snarl, leap frogging the Uchiha and skidding along the earth, turning and sprinting towards the Uchiha's back.

The whole move was unexpected, so when Naruto kicked Sasuke's back, he flew forward. Sasuke grunted, swung his blade out and stuck the earth, slowing himself down, before rotating. He pushed off the earth with his feet, pulling the blade out from the ground and running towards Naruto.

Naruto shot out a kunai and several shuriken, each getting blocked by the Uchiha. Sasuke swung his blade, slicing the air as Naruto bent over backwards. He planned on using his hands to brace his fall, but they fell out from under him, causing him to thunk his head on the ground.

"Ah, crap!" Naruto whined, clutching his head. "Stop, stop!"

"That's it?" Sasuke asked, standing next to the blonde and watched as his friend rolled on the ground.

"Yes! That fucking hurt!" Naruto hissed, glaring at his friend. Sasuke snorted, sat himself on the ground and put his katana and its sheath beside him. Naruto sat up, rubbing the now obvious lump on his head.

"You're being such a baby…" Sasuke told him, leaning back on his arms. The sun was warm as it made its way across the sky, and little clouds floated in the sky.

"Oh shut up, Teme." Naruto huffed, stretching his arms. 'I should grab my kunai and shuriken…' Naruto though before shrugging. Maybe later.

"So… what's new?" Naruto asked, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Not much. Haven't got a mission today, so it's going to be a boring day."

"Huh. Can't be boring with me around though!" Naruto announced and Sasuke rolled his eyes. " Hey, what happened to that snake?"

"What snake?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow to the blonde.

"That giant three fanged snake that you sent after me and it stabbed me through the chest with its middle fang."

"Oh. That snake."

"Yes, that snake."

"Hm… I've still got him. He's blind now, though." Sasuke shook his head. Naruto looked at the ground before lying on his back with his hands behind his head.

"huh. Well, sorry about that.

"Dobe…" Sasuke muttered which got a glare from the blonde. They both sat in a comfortable silence for about an hour, before Sasuke turned to Naruto.

"Hey, tell me something." Sasuke asked, and Naruto turned his head to the raven, his eyes half closed. Enjoying the sun, Naruto was tempted to fall asleep.

"What is the 'Chi no Noroi'?" as soon as the words left his lips, Naruto stiffened.

"Why do you want to know?" Naruto asked, tense all over.

"Because, it's obviously got you on edge and I know you're hiding something from me. Tell me." Sasuke asked, and Naruto knew it wasn't a request. It was a demand.

"I… I don't know much about it." Naruto admitted, staring up at the clouds. He was momentarily distracted by a cloud that looked like a fox, before he drew his attention back to the conversation.

"As its name mentions, it has something to do with blood. I'm not sure if it means blood literally, or blood as in family blood. Like clans and such." Naruto said, bringing one hand out to scratch his stomach.

"And a wolf. Just one. The whole paragraph that mentions it says, 'By its birth, its coat soaked by blood, brings forth the curse, but with its death will bring the immortal curse to a mortal state, allowing the curse to fall into deaths embrace.' I'm not really sure what that means though. There are plenty of wolves in the world. So it could be any, right?" Naruto sighed. "That's about all I know. Everything else just mentions blood, and lots of it.

Sasuke glared towards the sky, before a rustle brings both their attentions to the forest edge. Naruto quickly straightened his cloak and mask, just as a blue eyed brown eyes person walked up to them.

"Yo! Sasuke, Naruto, what's up?" The person announced, grinning. Sasuke immediately jumped up, kicked the person hard in the chest so they fell back and stepped on their chest. He brought his sword up to their throat, gently pressing into it.

"Who are you?" Sasuke hissed. The person slapped a hand to their forehead.

"Right. I'm in a Henge…" the person muttered before becoming surrounded in smoke. Their silver haired sensei smiled up to the Uchiha.

"God damnit, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto growled as Sasuke eased up and helped Kakashi to his feet. Kakashi waved a hand in dismissal, smiling simply towards the blonde.

"Well, sorry to interrupt your fight, but I believe it is time for lunch." The Jounin smiled, than motioned for the two others to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked, standing up and stretching.

"Ichiraku ramen." Kakashi replied, bringing his book out and opening up where he last read it.

Naruto smiled, pushing back the hood and pulling down the mask. Sasuke raised a questioning eyebrow.

"It might be a bit suspicious if I walk in all covered up, right?" Naruto asked before using Henge. He turned himself back to 'Jari' again, and followed the others. Sasuke snorted and slid his katana into his sheath and re-attached it to his hip as they walked.

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"Slow down. If you keep going like that you'll choke." 'Masaki' scolded, pointing his chopsticks towards the blonde…er, brunette. 'Masaki' was the name Kakashi had chosen for a cover.

"Ahh, you know I won't." 'Jari' replied, grinning. Sasuke rolled his eyes and continued to poke his un-eaten miso ramen.

"Why did you even buy me some? I hate this crap." Sasuke asked, picking up a noodle then dropping it back into its bowl. 'Jari' looked over at him with a raised eyebrow.

"You should know better than to call it crap in my presence." He said, looking over to Sasuke's bowl. "… Are you going to eat that?"

"It doesn't matter what I call it, it's still crap." Sasuke replied dryly, than pushed the bowl along the bench to 'Jari', who caught it swiftly.

"Hey, old man! Get me another teriyaki chicken ramen, but with extra chicken… and add some wasabi too. Oh! And thyme... and basil. And extra chicken! I think I said that… add pork too!" 'Jari' asked, grinning like a fool and shovelling the miso ramen into his already half-filled mouth.

"That's a huge appetite you got there. Reminds me of my favourite customer… His name was Naruto. He had so much good in him, even if not many people could see that… sorry for rambling, I'll go get your order." Teuchi smiled towards 'Jari', before shuffling off to make the order. 'Jari' dropped his chopsticks and stared into the bowl.

"You ok?" 'Masaki' asked, putting a hand on his shoulder, bringing him back.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine." 'Jari' replied. Both Sasuke and the Jounin looked at Naruto, worry in both their faces, but 'Jari' grinned back at them.

"Really, I'm fine." But they both knew the grin was fake.

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"Wow, going back to the place brings back some awesome memories…" Naruto said, when they returned to the cabin. Naruto patted his bloated belly with a smile, and Sasuke scowled at him.

"You really are a glutton, you know that?" He said dryly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. Naruto shrugged, uncaring.

"Ok kids, I'm going to go visit a friend. Don't fight; don't burn down the house, yada yada…" Kakashi said to them, a grin hidden beneath his mask. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"We're not kids anymore!" Naruto huffed, blowing out his cheeks.

"Again? You've been coming and going a lot lately. Who are you going to see?" Sasuke asked. Naruto deflated his cheeks and looked over to the Jounin.

"Hmm… the Hokage, if you must know." Kakashi replied, using a Henge and walking to the door.

"Alright, we'll I'll be off now. Have fun and please don't kill each other." Kakashi said, and ducked behind the door before an orange pillow could hit him in the face. Naruto and Sasuke looked at the door before looking at each other again. Naruto frowned.

"Sasuke, go grab my pillow for me."

"Why? You're the one who threw it."

"So? You're closest."

"You're a child."

"No, I'm not! I'm twenty one, thank you very much!"

"With the mind and attention span of a three year old." Sasuke replied, rolling his eyes.

"Teme!"

"Dobe…"

"Argh! You should try removing the stick from your butt, you might be nicer." Naruto glared at the Uchiha before getting up and picking up the pillow. But just as Naruto's fingers brushed the fabric of the pillow, a loud knock broke the silence and the door swung open.

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Written by Urufu-chan

(Ochibi and Urufu)