Some people should not touch seals. Naruto was one of those people, everyone knew that he should never be allowed to study them. Shikamaru would have put a stop to it before he even got the idea into his head. In some ways this was a good thing, Konoha was still standing after all, but right now Sasuke wished nothing more than for Naruto to have just picked up a little bit.
Some people couldn't be so lucky though. Naruto was more than happy to leave the seal work to more capable hands. Like say, Sakura! Or even Kakashi-Sensai if they were in a real pinch.
No one would have thought that Sasuke should be given the chance. Sasuke was just as bull headed and stubborn as Naruto. He didn't have the patience or imagination.
Is what he would have been told if he had gone to anyone but Kiba before trying out seals.
It was just bad luck that Naruto was stuck in a long boring meeting that involved just about everyone except the two people who should never be left alone together.
"So we just have to draw this squiggly line and put a heart and BAM!" Kiba shouted. Akamaru yipped next to him equally as excited as his partner.
"...seems a little simplistic." Sasuke said. He scratched his chin with a contemplating expression. "You don't know anything about seals."
"Of course I don't." Kiba snorted. "Some people are good at something and others some other things."
"So we shouldn't be trying seals is what you're saying?"
"No no I'm saying we should try them. Cause listen, imagine the chaos we can cause with them. No one would suspect a thing!"
Sasuke frowned, staring at the little design Kiba had made into the mud. The training ground was filled with little doodles the two had come up with as they discussed the merits of sealing.
"Explosions." Kiba said suddenly serious. He sensed the apprehension from a mile away, but he wanted to learn and there was only one person who could do the job with him.
Shino would be his second choice, but he didn't want to risk getting talked out of it. Naruto was too much like him, they would get into a fight while trying to learn. Sasuke on the other hand…
Well they had been good friends in the academy for a reason.
Explosions. They had bonded over them in their first year, setting the third year's classroom on fire in a mass glory. No one truly understood the passion and happiness that explosions caused.
No one but Sasuke.
Finally Sasuke smiled. As if the word was enough to pull a happy memory out of the boy. Akamaru gave a comical sigh and readied himself to pull the two idiots from a fire. Again.
"Explosions." Sasuke nodded. "We can make our own!" Oh yes, this is where it all started.
On one faithful day in Konoha Sasuke and Kiba got together and decided to learn how to seal. After all, the normal explosion tags weren't enough. They wanted something better, harder, flashier, more them.
They had to sneak around the first few weeks learning. Sealing books were locked up in so many clan archives to prevent idiots like them from getting ahold of them.
Sasuke was lucky enough to have a sizable collection, a little too advanced for them but it was a good start he reasoned. They were fast learners and they could do this.
Kiba had only managed to steal two from the Hyuuga and one from his own clan library. Akamaru had to do a whole lot of pretending to be a statue and puppy eyes but he stole one from the Senju clan housing as well.
With their small collection they put their minds together and came out of it confused.
They sat in a small apartment they had decided to rent to hide what they were doing. Did it look like they were dating to everyone? Yes. But see that was the idea, Kiba would argue. Misdirection!
Sasuke was just happy fangirls stopped approaching him, too scared to face down Kiba and Akamaru.
"So it's more than just drawing?" Kiba rubbed his forehead. "There's way more math in this than I thought." He fought the urge to slam the book onto the cheap table. Afraid he would break it with his super strength.
Sasuke grimaced back. "I really hated math." With a sudden startled look he closed the book. "You think if we ask Iruka he would help us?"
"He's still a teacher though. He would never pass the opportunity to teach!"
"You're completely right." Kiba nodded.
When they eventually made their way to the Academy they were kept there for an extra six hours learning advanced math courses.
Both walked out with steam pouring from their ears.
Iruka was just happy his former students were so interested in continuing their studies!
"Okay we've got the math-"
"Uh do you know how to draw?"
Sasuke put his head into his hands. "Explosions are my thing not drawing."
Akamaru barked.
"Oh." Sasuke said. "Akamaru knows how to draw?"
"Duh, who do you think painted my clan markings?"
"...I thought you were born with them."
"Dude, that's ridiculous."
"Right, more weird than the dog painting them."
"Alright! So what should our first seal be?" Sasuke said a small smile pulling at his lips.
"Explosions?"
"No, we have to keep that for later. It seems too easy to mess up."
"You're right." Kiba scratched his head. "How about space travel? That seems easy."
"Like what the Fourth Hokage did?"
"Yeah exactly that!"
Sasuke frowned at the other boy and his partner. For the first time he wondered if he should really be trusting Kiba with something as volatile as seals.
"You think we should run this by Sakura? Or Shino?" You know the smart ones from our team went unsaid.
"No way! They'll stop us."
But should we be stopped?
"You know what, space time travel it is."
After all, what was the worst that could happen? Sasuke reasoned. It wasn't likely it would work.
How wrong he was.
"Worth a try?" Kiba shrugged. "He kinda liked Naruto more than us though. So would he even answer?"