The morning sun cast its bright rays through the window and into the bedroom. The birds chirped happily welcoming the light.

Sasuke woke up with his head feeling strange and his body feeling heavy. Though the latter perhaps was because of Naruto, who was asleep right on top of him.

Sasuke looked at him and his hand went to where he had been bitten. There was nothing there to indicate what had happened the night before. He sighed as he felt the strange feeling in his head slowly trying to turn into a headache.

Sasuke decide to get up. He tried removing himself from under Naruto but it just didn't seem to be possible.

"Oi, Naruto" Sasuke said, trying to wake him up. "Dobe!"

Naruto, who was barely awake shifted his body to make himself comfortable. "Mmm..." he mumbled.

"Get off of me" said Sasuke. He shoved Naruto slightly and he flopped to the side.

"Mm...five more minutes" he mumbled. He pulled Sasuke's pillow and hugged it in an attempt to keep sleeping.

As Sasuke looked at him, something sparked in his heart. He gave a small smile as Naruto snuggled in his bed with the most adorable sleeping face. Seeing him like this, he felt that he shouldn't disturb this precious little thing.

So he let Naruto be and went on his daily morning routine of brushing his teeth, cleaning the house and then making breakfast.

Sasuke made some rice and took out some leftover pickle. Then he fried some fish and zucchini. The smell filled the air and floated around the house.

Sasuke was almost finished with his breakfast. He mind however was occupied with lots of questions and thoughts. 'I need to talk to someone about Naruto' he thought. 'But with whom? And how supposed to explain?-"

"What're you making?" said a voice all of a sudden.

Sasuke's body jerked and he spun around to see Naruto, who somehow was standing behind him. "Usuratonkachi" he said exhaling a breath.

"Heh heh, scaredy cat" Naruto teased.

"Go sit down or I won't give you any fish" Sasuke threatened.

So they sat down at ate breakfast. Naruto once again remarked at Sasuke's cooking skills as he stuffed himself without remembering to breathe.

They decided to part ways and meet up at the designated area. Sasuke opened the door for Naruto. "Don't take too long" he said to him.

"Yeah, yeah" said Naruto. He looked at Sasuke and felt that he ought to say something before leaving. He felt his heart surging like a sweeping wind before he approached him.

Naruto wrapped his arms around Sasuke which made him tense for a moment. "Hey, what-?"

"Thanks for taking care of me" Naruto said softly.

Sasuke slowly relaxed into the embrace. He wrapped his arms around the blonde and patted his back. "Yeah, sure" he said. "You can come here anytime" his stupid mind added for him.

Naruto's smiled at his words. He snuck a peek at Sasuke from the side. He then turned his head and kissed him on the cheek.

Sasuke untangled himself immediately. "What the hell?"

Naruto chuckled and then started laughing. He moved closer to Sasuke who backed away. "Don't you dare!" he threatened.

Naruto seemed be excited for some reason. He moved closer and placed his head on Sasuke's neck. Sasuke's body scrunched up. "Stop that usuratonkachi!" he said to Naruto. He then pushed Naruto away from him. "Get going idiot!"

Naruto giggled with an almost flirtacious smile on his face. "Alright, alright" he said and jumped from the railing to the rooftop of another house.

As he landed he looked back up at Sasuke. He smiled as he saw the angry and annoyed look on Sasuke's face. Without thinking he blew him a kiss.

"Usuratonkachi!"

Sasuke arrived at the entrance to the Hokage's building to see Sakura slumped against the wall. Naruto was squatting on the ground lookig impatient.

"Good Morning, Sasuke-kun~ " she said sweetly.

Sasuke .

"Is sensei here yet?" he asked instead.

"No, I'm sure he's busy with something" Sakura quickly replied.
'CHA! I bet that stupid sensei overslept' her inner self complained.

"We've been waiting here for so long. Where the hell is he?!" Naruto complained.

The three then waited for Kakashi.

About an hour later, the said jonin appeared from around the corner. He made up some excuse about having burnt his breakfast which the genin commented on with disbelief.

As they made they made their way to the assignment office Naruto pulled Sasuke's sleeve. "Hey" he whispered.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

"I wanna ask you something. But I can't let Sakura hear this or she'll kill me" said Naruto.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, slighlty curious.

"I was thinking since I have an extra coupon...we could go to Ichiraku. After our mission...If you want to that is" Naruto said, nervously putting his hand on the back of his neck. "I mean...after all you've done for me" he added in a low voice.

Sasuke realized that Naruto was trying to say that he wanted to repay him. "Sure" he said.

Naruto's eyes gleamed. "Great! We'll meet there after we finish the mission and drop off our stuff at home" he said.

The team then arrived at the office. Inside, Lord Hokage was discussing with Iruka and Anko.

"Ah! Kakashi. You're here" said the Hokage.

Iruka peeked at him as he took out some scrolls from a nearby shelf. Remembering how they had parted last time he couldn't help but feel slightly awkward.

Nonetheless he smiled and greeted him "Good Morning. How are you?"

"Oh...Morning. I'm doing fine" said Kakashi. He tugged his mask out of nervousness. "What about you?" he asked.

"I'm doing ok" Iruka replied, his eyes fixed intently on the jonin.

Anko took one look at each of them and seemed to come to a realization.

"Lord Third. I'll complete the tasks you've given and maybe we should discuss afterwards" she said.

"Yes. Very well then, you're dismissed" said The Hokage.

Anko bowed. She then looked at Iruka, and then at Kakashi. "Good Luck" she said in a sarcastic but encouraging tone.

As she came near Kakashi her eyes teasingly pointed to Iruka. Kakashi rolled his eye at her. Anko was one of the few who knew Kakashi all too well.

The Hokage calmly puffed some smoke.

Iruka then proceeded to give them their mission. It was a D-rank mission to find a missing cat. Iruka explained the details while the Hokage made sure to shut up Naruto as he whined about the low rank of the mission.

"Be careful" Iruka said, his eyes lingering on Kakashi.

"Don't worry. We're just going to the nearby forests." Kakashi said.

Iruka smiled at nodded. Then he turned to the genin. "Good Luck, and do your best" he said.

It was around 2 o'clock and there was still no sign of the cat.

"Ugggghhhh! Why is it so hoooooooot?" Naruto complained. "And where's this stupid cat?"

"Shut up and keep looking" said Sasuke.

After entering the Konoha forest the team had searched for the cat for about an hour with no success. Thus, Kakashi had decided that they split up and search. Naruto and Sasuke were to search in the western area while Sakura and Kakashi searched in the eastern side.

"Don't worry. I'll be close enough that I can sense you two" Kakashi had said.

"Sasuke! Hey...slow down...I- I'm thirsty!" Naruto said as he panting with exhaustion.

Sasuke stopped abruptly. "The sooner we find that cat the sooner we can go home" he said.

"Yeah, I know. It's just...I'm so tired" Naruto said. He leaned his back against the tree. "And a little dizzy" he added.

Sasuke was worried so he went towards Naruto. "What's the matter?" he asked. But then as he observed Naruto...

He noticed Naruto's blonde hair...and the way his shirt stuck to his body due to sweat...he could vaguely see his torso. When he lifted his face Sasuke saw that he was panting and flushing...

Naruto looked back at him and seemed to lose himself in his gaze. His heart suddenly flipped seemingly making his chest vibrate. He was stuck in that moment, unable to think.

Only after a while did he snap out of it. "Hey Sasuke?" Naruto said.

"Is that the cat?" He pointed at a tree to the far left where there was a ginger cat.

Sasuke snapped out his thoughts wondering why he was so distracted. He looked at Naruto and said "I'll go get it. You stay here and rest."

So Sasuke went to grab the cat. When he got close enough however, it darted away from him. Sasuke clicked his tongue in annoyance and followed it.

Naruto sat on the tree branch he was standing on and drank some water. He felt tired for some reason. Even more than when he had trained himself for the shadow clone jutsu. He closed his eyes and relaxed while listening to the sounds of the forest.

After a while he got bored. He glanced at where he had last seen Sasuke. "Hey Sasuke?" he shouted. "Did you get the cat?"

There was no response.

"Hey! You there?" he called.

Still, no response.

Naruto stood up and went to the tree branch where he had seen the cat. "Sasuke?!"

'Where'd he go?' he thought. He went a bit further out and searched for him.

"Sasuke! This isn't funny teme!" he shouted.

He went around and searched for him. There was no sign of Sasuke anywhere.

He went back around then searched for him. Then he rounded back again and searched. But there was no sign of him.

"Sasuke!" Naruto cried out, his voice faltering. At this point he felt his chest getting heavier. He also felt as though there was a rock stuck in his stomach. Thoughts started swarming into his mind continuously.

'Maybe he's lost...or...Is he hurt?...Wait...what if he got attacked? Is he okay?'

A single thought then pierced his mind.

'What if he's dead... ?'

The thought spread into his mind like ink in water. He gulped as he felt an unknown nervousness creep into his body. 'No way. Not Sasuke' he thought. Subconsciously his body started moving faster and his heart felt like it was sinking.

Naruto was panicking.

But he didn't know why.

"Sasuke!" he called.

Suddenly Naruto heard the sound of clashing metal. He stopped abruptly. He looked in the direction of the sound curiously. After a while he went towards it.

As he stepped onto the ground a horrifying sight met his eyes.

A group of foreign shinobi wearing black robes and masks had surrounded Sasuke.

The boy had several injuries and was bleeding so much half his shirt was soaked. He looked very much worn out and was barely standing.

One of the shinobi turned to him. "Is this your friend?" he said in a mocking tone. "No matter then. We'll kill you both"

The shinobi to his left who was likely the leader considering he wore white robes looked at Naruto. "We'll need to capture this one" he said.

Naruto stood there his eyes fixed on Sasuke. The shinobi were closing in on him and yet.

His body froze. He couldn't move.

He was scared. He didn't know what to do. And most of all...

Sasuke was hurt. The sight of his blood flowing and dripping down to the grass below, his arms full of cuts and his body bruised all over. His legs about to collaspe as he strugled to breathe through the pain. It made Naruto's heart wrench uncomfortably.

Sasuke finally looked up at Naruto.

"Go...get away...from here" he said hoarsely.

"Sasuke..." Naruto tried to move but it was no use. 'No! Move dammit! I need to help him!' his mind screamed desperately. 'MOVE!'

"Well?" the shinobi asked. "Are you-?"

He was cut off as a blur passed his body. The shinobi, with a kunai in his stomach dropped dead. The others immediately stood guard.

Standing next to him was Kakashi who had already drawn out another kunai. He sighed "Here I thought I was going to have a wonderful and peaceful day".

Kakashi wondered why so many shinobi had appeared this close to the village. Usually the Anbu wouldn't even let them cross the border.

"Naruto. Take Sasuke and go" he ordered.

Naruto stood there for a moment before he scrambled towards Sasuke. He wrapped an arm around Sasuke and left immediately.

Kakashi then turned towards the shinobi.

Well. Time to get to work" he said.