A/N: There's actual plot development in this chapter. O_O

Tools of the Trade

Though Kakashi hadn't asked him to come, Naruto sprinted to his sensei's office the next morning. He burst in without even knocking.

"Morning, sensei!" he exclaimed. "Did you get that training tool you mentioned?"

Kakashi didn't look up from whatever paperwork he was doing. Or maybe pretending to be doing. If it was Naruto, he would only be pretending.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. Impatient as ever, I see."

"It's been two days," Naruto pointed out. He thought he'd been really patient.

Kakashi snorted softly, putting his pen down. "As a matter of fact, I did get one. I sent a message to Sasuke's room to meet me in a private training room today after lunch. You two will both benefit from this tool, and it can only be used by a Coordinator and Controller in tandem. You and Sasuke may not have the best scores together, but he works harder with you than any other Controller."

The words made Naruto straighten, and he couldn't help a soft smile. "You really care about him, don't you?"

Kakashi's only visible eye regarded him. "Of course. He's my kid. You obviously care about him too, and that's what matters to me. Sasuke wouldn't partner so much with someone he didn't hold in high esteem, so clearly he sees something in you." He paused, drumming his fingers on his desk. "This training tool should be able to help you control your third form. Your second form is much more powerful than your first. I'm correct in assuming your third form is exponentially more so?"

Naruto nodded, feeling like he was floating from Kakashi's words. He holds me in high esteem. "I don't really like using it yet."

Kakashi nodded, too. "Iruka told me you struggled with it. At any rate, the better your overall control, the more prepared you will be to use your third form with more regularity. So after lunch today, come down and meet us. We'll see how you two like the tool. I suspect you will both find it very helpful."

"Thanks, sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, beaming him a bright smile. "I'll see you after lunch!" So saying, he sprinted back the way he'd come.

He'd nearly reached the cafeteria when he saw Sasuke, walking alone. Naruto easily caught up with him. For some reason, Sasuke gave him a highly venomous glare.

"Go away," he growled. "I don't want to deal with you right now."

Naruto ignored the order. "One of these days you're gonna smile at me and greet me with a big hug, and the shock is going to kill me," he said shaking his head.

To his delight, Sasuke's lips twitched in that way Naruto was coming to learn meant the other teen wanted to smile. "Never gonna happen, usuratonkachi."

A retort sprang to Naruto's lips at once, but something gave him pause. The slightly smaller boy looked kind of pale. Well, paler than usual. His eyes were a little shadowed. He already knew Sasuke didn't like overtures of concern, but Naruto couldn't help asking,

"You feeling okay?"

Whatever hint of mirth might have been in Sasuke's countenance vanished. "No, I'm not," he snapped, still not looking at Naruto as he walked. "I didn't use last night, thanks to you, so I feel like shit. It's been three days."

"What?" Naruto demanded, jogging forward enough to plant himself in Sasuke's way. "Whaddaya mean thanks to me? I didn't stop you, did I? You went to that ass Neji."

"And I couldn't stop thinking about your whining voice," Sasuke spat, shoving past Naruto. "It really killed the mood."

Despite the words, despite the obvious repercussions, Naruto couldn't help grinning. He couldn't use because he was thinking about how much I hate it? He quickly caught up with Sasuke, draping an arm around his thin shoulders.

"You have no idea how much that means to me."

Ebony eyes flicked up to meet sky blue, and the murderous rage in them almost made Naruto recoil. A split second later it snuffed out, replaced with something tired. "You're such an idiot. Go away. I'll see you after lunch. I'm starving, and I don't want to look at your stupid face while I eat."

Naruto was too pleased to hear Sasuke was hungry to take his bitchy command personally. He just grinned, squeezed those skinny shoulders once, and then released him to jog off to the cafeteria. A strange - but good - morning.

~o0o~

At noon, Naruto met up with Kiba in the cafeteria. Shikamaru and Choji were there, and Naruto grinned to see Temari sitting by Shika.

"Hi!" he greeted her. "Glad to see you again. I wanted to tell you yesterday, but I didn't get the chance. You're an awesome Controller."

She smiled. "Thanks. You weren't so bad yourself. Not as good as me, but still pretty good."

He chuckled and didn't disagree. He knew he wasn't number one. Yet. The four boys and one girl chatted through their meal, Naruto asking Temari questions about where she was from and did she have her eyes on any particular Coordinator yet and how she liked The Academy so far. She asked him the same questions.

"You've got your eye on Uchiha, don't you?" she asked, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands.

"Sure do," Naruto confirmed.

"He's got a lot of raw power," she said, nodding. "A little inconsistent, though. I'd rather have a Coordinator like Gaara. Steady as a rock, that one."

Naruto found himself wondering if Sasuke's inconsistency had anything to do with his past. Could emotional trauma and/or drug use affect someone's performance in the sparring ring? He wasn't sure how he could safely ask that question, and of whom.

When they were done eating, he waved goodbye to his friends and jogged to the sparring wing. He found Kakashi right away, waiting outside one of the rooms. He squint-eye-smiled at Naruto.

"Yo, Naruto-kun. Come on in, Sasuke's already inside stretching."

Grinning, feeling giddy with excitement, Naruto trotted in after him. To his surprise (and amusement), Sasuke wasn't so much "stretching" as simply sprawled all over the mat, flat on his back. He gave Naruto a somewhat apathetic look and didn't bother getting up.

Naruto snorted. "Someone's obviously looking forward to this."

"I ate too much," Sasuke explained. "And this tool you're so excited over is quite a fashion statement." He held up his left hand.

On the wrist was a band of metal that looked thin and flexible, a shimmery gray in color. It was probably six centimeters wide.

"What's this?" Naruto asked, looking up at Kakashi.

Who held up another one exactly like it. "It's a very useful tool to monitor your chakra levels. It's filled with all kinds of sensors and fun stuff. Give me your left hand."

Naruto obediently held up his left hand, and Kakashi snapped the other band around it. "Now what?" he asked.

"Now, you two might just be able to help each other in your weakest area," Kakashi explained. "Before I activate them, you should know that every time you waste chakra, this thing will deliver you a jolt of pain. That something you can live with?"

Pain? Naruto thought, frowning. Well, that was certainly incentive to learn quickly. He steeled his resolve. "Yeah."

"Good," Kakashi said. "Last thing. I'm the only one with the key to unlock them, you two won't be able to get them off until I'm satisfied with the results."

"What?" Sasuke finally got interested in the proceedings.

"Your averages," Kakashi said. "I want to see marked improvement in you both. Oh, and as long as you have those on, you two won't be able to pair with anyone else."

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

"Go ahead and try one of your basic exercises, Naruto-kun," Kakashi instructed.

Feeling less confident about this thing, Naruto obediently began to form a ball of chakra. The response was instantaneous and way more than a fucking 'jolt' of pain. It was so painful and sudden his legs went numb, and he sort of collapsed down to his knees. But the thing he found way more concerning was Sasuke's reaction.

The raven-haired teen rolled onto his side with a yelp, clutching his head, eyes squeezing shut.

"What the fuck!" Naruto gasped. "You said it would cause me pain!" He gave Kakashi an accusatory glare.

"I simply omitted the part about Sasuke," Kakashi admitted blithely, "because he wouldn't have agreed. He's my kid, so I can trick him."

Naruto could see the anger rising in Sasuke's eyes, but this time Naruto's own beat him. He leaped to his feet, seriously wanting to punch Kakashi. "You can't do shit like that to him! I don't care if I'm punished for my shitty control, but I don't want him to be hurt, too! This is bullshit, sensei. Take them off!"

"Nope," Kakashi said, tone airy as he trotted to the door. "You'll learn quicker this way, and you'll both thank me." With that, he was gone.

Naruto stared at the closed door, seething, fists clenched. "That bastard," he gritted.

Sasuke suddenly sighed and flopped back down onto the mat. "Whatever. I'm too tired to argue. Let's just practice with this thing and see if we can get the hang of it."

His acceptance made Naruto blink, and he studied Sasuke closely for a few seconds. He really doesn't feel well. Folding himself down beside Sasuke, he couldn't resist the urge to reach over and put a hand on Sasuke's forehead.

The smaller teen made a rude sound but didn't smack his hand away like he'd half expected. "I'm not sick, dobe."

"You look kinda sick," Naruto murmured.

"It's withdrawal," Sasuke said, voice quiet. "I'll be fine in the morning."

Because you're gonna use tonight. "I hate this," Naruto whispered.

Finally, Sasuke pushed his hand off and sat up, eyes narrowed. "Why?"

Shrugging, Naruto peered into ebony eyes. "You're not well. You had the shittiest thing in the world happen to you, and the wrong person offered you the wrong solution. I hate it."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You make it sound so sordid. Neji didn't take advantage of me, or anything. I asked him to find something for me. It was my idea."

"So what?" Naruto growled. "He's the ass who provided drugs to a minor."

"Technically, he was too," Sasuke retorted. "Can't you just let this go?"

"No," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I want to understand. Wasn't there a better way to - ?"

"To what?" Sasuke immediately cut him off. "To deal with it? To deal with watching my entire family be killed by someone I loved more than life? Why don't you tell me, Uzumaki? If you're so virtuous, what would you have done? Because from where I was at the time, it was either that or death."

Naruto felt the air freeze in his lungs. Every muscle in his body tightened, screaming at him to lean forward and envelop Sasuke in a hug and never let him go. He really didn't have the right to sit here and talk about shit like he had any idea what that scenario would be like.

"I don't know," he finally admitted, low and soft.

"Well, neither do I," Sasuke said, the anger gone, replaced by that tiredness again. "And I really hate talking about it, so just pretend you don't know or whatever you need to do to drop this subject and not bring it up again. Since I can't spar with anyone else until Kakashi says, let's practice until you're actually good. If that's even possible."

The hostility was back. Naruto supposed he had only himself to blame. But he just couldn't let this go. Maybe because the pain and loneliness he saw in Sasuke reminded him, even if only a little, of himself.

~*o0o o0o*~

Three days later, Sasuke's dark mood over Kakashi's sentence began to lighten. In a weird way, being bound to Naruto was nearly as cathartic as drugs. Every single afternoon and evening was filled with a monumental struggle between control and pain, pain and control. It would strike him at odd times, how little he thought of Itachi. Naruto stopped talking about Sasuke's drug use, and he was grateful.

But he still used a lot less than before. It began to show. Sasuke's appetite improved, and he gained two pounds. Not much, but it meant maybe by his next physical there would be enough change for Kakashi to relax. Last thing he wanted was for his guardian to watch him closely again.

And despite his early-on fury, he and Naruto improved all the faster for the torture-device Kakashi had called a "training tool". It was enough that Sasuke felt his sense of humor return, and he could view the situation with less rage. Naruto noticed his improved mood and responded in ways that Sasuke found rather confusing.

The blonde touched him a lot. A hand on his back, an arm around his shoulders, brushing hair off his neck, brushing fingers over the back of his wrist, and embracing him a few moments longer than strictly necessary when they linked up. The confusing part was how little Sasuke minded. How seldom he brushed away those warm hands, how he sort of leaned into the arms that embraced him when they linked.

"Yanno," Naruto said with a chuckle, "you're pretty damn mellow around me today. Who knew you were such a masochist."

Sasuke gave him a flat look.

Naruto laughed. "I thought you'd bitch and moan and complain every minute."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke let go of Naruto's hands and leaned back. "Why would I waste my energy complaining? I know Kakashi much better than you. Once he's made up his mind about something, there's no arguing."

"Tell me about it," Naruto said, abruptly flopping over on his back. "I thought he wanted to kill me, that's why he did this shit to me."

The urge to reach over and punch Naruto in the arm overwhelmed Sasuke. "I think I'm the only one who has the right to complain, dobe. You volunteered for this. I did not. And when I channel, we can barely feel it. It's only when you channel that we suffer."

The blonde gave him that wide fox grin of his. "Heh, yeah . . . that's true!"

Growling, Sasuke leaned forward to finally punch this idiot right in the mouth. Laughing, Naruto held up his hands to protect his face. However, the door opened then and put an end to Sasuke's violent intent.

"Glad to see you're hard at work," Kakashi's voice drawled.

Giving Naruto one last glare, Sasuke stood up and faced his guardian. The glare's heat ratcheted up a few degrees. "Are you finally going to take these stupid things off us?" he demanded.

Kakashi clicked his tongue. "Now, now, Sasuke. Don't be impatient." He turned to the small control panel mounted on the wall and activated it, turning the settings to display and record energy readings. "You two are going to spar against me today. If I like the results I see, I'll take the bands off."

Sasuke's heart sank. No way could he and Naruto provide any kind of challenge to Kakashi. The man had decades more experience, and the word skilled didn't begin to do him justice. Even without his Coordinator, Kakashi was dangerous.

"Heck yeah!" Naruto enthused, bounding to his feet. "We're gonna kick your ass! C'mon, Sasuke!"

Sasuke regarded him in silence for a few moments. "The only person whose ass will be kicked is yours, idiot," he grunted.

Naruto just laughed, holding out his hands. "Let's show him what we've learned."

Sighing, really not wanting to do this but supposing he was outnumbered, Sasuke took his hands and let himself be turned around. That broad chest plastered itself to his back and guided him down, holding him inescapably close. The last two days, these moments always made Sasuke's heart do an odd little flip and his belly clench in uncertainty.

The long black katana materialized in his hands. "C'mon, Sasuke!" Naruto said again. "We got this."

Despite Naruto's confidence, Sasuke didn't take the offense. For once, he held himself in a defensive stance. A low and tolerable tingle of pain zinged along his nerves, and by now he barely noticed it. He kept his eyes locked on Kakashi, whose posture was relaxed and almost idle. Sasuke tried not to tense up, knowing that would only slow his reaction to whatever attack Kakashi unleashed first.

Naruto snorted. "It's not like he's an actual enemy."

"Don't underestimate him," Sasuke said shortly, wishing just this once his guardian would remove the mask. If he could see his whole face, maybe it would give him some sort of visual cue as to his next move.

It happened so fast Sasuke didn't actually see it until after Kakashi had moved. His guardian was just suddenly right fucking there behind him, fist raised, his silvery-blue chakra swirling around it. Sasuke sprang forward, using his own chakra to speed his leap, slashing backward with the blade. It connected with thin air, and Sasuke felt a bolt of panic when he saw Kakashi was now right above him.

Naruto responded with astonishing speed, gathering chakra. The pain was worse this time, though still bearable. They were good at channeling the correct amounts slowly, but obviously actual combat still needed work. Sasuke swept the katana in two wide arcs, slicing blades of air toward Kakashi. He formed the hand seal for fireball and filled his lungs with chakra, but even as the blades exploded into flame he could see it wouldn't be fast enough.

Indeed, Kakashi had already moved. Now he was standing on the ceiling like some weird bat, forming another hand seal with blinding speed. Sasuke recognized fireball and tapped down onto the mat only to spring away when the huge, swirling ball of flame came right for him. He could feel its heat nipping at his back.

"Fuck, he's good at ninjutsu," Naruto grunted. "Can you get closer to him?"

Sasuke's whole body cried out in protest at the notion. He so fucking did not want to get closer to Kakashi. "Remember that trick we were working on?" he asked, avoiding another fireball. "The one where you wrapped thin flows of chakra around your blade? Do that. As thin and flexible as you can. I'll add my fire, and we can use it like a whip."

"Damn, that'll be awesome as shit if we can pull it off!" Naruto exclaimed, already obeying.

He had to work quickly, and Sasuke grimaced through the pain burning along his chakra channels. It wasn't debilitating, so he ignored it and quickly formed another seal for fireball. Naruto managed a passable fabrication of what he'd asked, and fire blazed along the ropes of chakra.

"That's fucking awesome!" Naruto crowed.

Sasuke had to agree. It looked like he now had a long, flaming whip in his hands, and he slashed it toward Kakashi while lunging upward. The chakra whip extended and moved exactly where he wanted it, and Sasuke reminded himself to be proud of this accomplishment later - they'd just invented a new jutsu. Right now, however, was not the time. Right now all his focus had to stay on Kakashi.

Less than a fraction of a second before the rapidly moving chakra whip struck him, Kakashi vanished. Sasuke twisted in midair, already snapping the whip behind him as he slashed the sword down. Kakashi wasn't there, and Sasuke landed lightly on the mat, spinning in a full circle to try visually locating his opponent. A quick glance upward didn't reveal him on the ceiling.

Beginning to feel irritated, Sasuke rapidly formed another fire seal. This time he gathered chakra at his feet and broke into a full-on sprint around the room. A bit of pain burned along his nerves, but still not as bad as Naruto's channeling. Streaks of fire burst out behind him, and Sasuke finally activated the unique ability only the Uchiha family possessed.

Sharingan.

His eyes turned red and his pupils divided. He hated using this ability, and he especially hated using it with the thing on his wrist. His control was less than perfect, and the pain flaring in him reminded him of that quite viciously. But a split second later he saw Kakashi, using a light-scattering jutsu to conceal himself. Sasuke lunged forward, using chakra to give himself more speed, slashing forward in a wide arc, the whip lashing ahead of the blade.

It accomplished the task of forcing Kakashi to release the genjutsu, at least. He danced nimbly out of the way of the whip, leaping with impossible speed right over Sasuke's head. Sasuke simply couldn't react fast enough to avoid the glowing fist. He only managed to twist partially out of the way, and he swallowed a cry when the force of it slammed him down onto the mat.

Going down was a luxury he could not afford, and it was the least of his problems. The strain of maintaining a complicated jutsu finally was too much. Sasuke felt Naruto's flow widen, and the pain forced him to release it altogether.

"Fuck this, we're not getting anywhere," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke didn't even finish blinking before the katana changed into the enormous gun. The spines flew off in all directions, but Sasuke felt his whole body tremble at the fresh wave of pain the transformation caused. It soared higher and higher when Naruto powered the three huge barrels.

He had no idea if Naruto actually discharged the attack. Everything went white in a blinding wash of agony, and Sasuke vaguely felt himself collapse as if his spine had been severed. Their bond shattered, and a booted foot pressed down on the back of his neck.

"Bam. Your Coordinator is dead."

A moment later, large and strong hands eased him into a sitting position. "Easy," Kakashi said, rubbing his back. "Just breathe."

"You okay, Sasuke?" he dimly heard Naruto fuss.

Kakashi chuckled softly. "Guess you two weren't quite ready for that, hm? He's fine, Naruto. Just needs a minute."

After several seconds of short, panicky gasps, Sasuke's lungs abruptly expanded, allowing him to breathe normally. He forced himself not to lean on Kakashi for support, and he threw Naruto a weak glare.

"We haven't practiced that enough to be working with your second form," he said.

Kakashi nodded. "Powering up your strongest attack is a good strategy, but Sasuke's right. Something like that should be the resort of the highly skilled and well practiced. Still, you two performed a couple good moves with each other, and you have improved." He stood up and walked to the control panel to study the recorded information on the monitor.

Sasuke didn't protest Naruto's help in standing, but he refused to lean on him. He watched Kakashi. "So?" he demanded. "Can we take these damn things off?"

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed. "Well, your averages have both gone up a little. But nope. I think we'll leave them on for one more week. Sasuke, come by my office before you head back to your room for the night. There's something we need to discuss."

Any angry protests Sasuke might have spit at his guardian curdled on his tongue. A sour kind of dread welled up in his stomach as he watched Kakashi leave. His voice was strange. What could he want -?

"You don't think he knows?" Naruto asked softly.

Sasuke stared at the door, swallowing thickly before turning away. "Let's keep practicing," he said, ignoring both the question and his own anxiety. The former was easy. The latter, not so much.

"Okay," Naruto agreed. Then he grinned. "Let's work on that wicked chakra whip. I can't believe we created our first ninjutsu together! We're basically awesome."

Lips twitching in amusement, an emotion he seldom felt, Sasuke just nodded and held out his hands. "Slowly. I still feel a little shaky from your last dumbass attack."

Naruto took his hands and spun him around, squeezing him in a definite embrace. "Sorry about that. I just got mad and stopped thinking. I won't do that again. And I might have done something stupid, but you were fucking amazing. You kept your cool, and thanks to you we held our own against him."

"Until you fucked up," Sasuke said, feeling yet another urge to grin. And why did he feel no resistance to being held like this? He squeezed the hands still holding his in warning. "Are you ready to link, or what?"

"Mm, I don't know," Naruto said. "You're kinda cute like this."

Blinking, caught completely off guard, Sasuke twisted to glare up at Naruto. "Cute? Clearly I'm not the only one on drugs."

Naruto grinned. "I'm serious. You're the perfect size. Like a little human body pillow."

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke pushed back with his shoulders a bit. "First, I'm maybe one centimeter shorter than you. Second, I'm probably older than you. Third, I'm not cute."

"Older than me? No way. My birthday is February seventh. Yours?"

Sasuke grit his teeth. Damn it. "May thirteenth."

"Ha! I'm three months older than you."

"What an accomplishment. Would you open up already so we can link?"

With a last chuckle and squeeze, Naruto finally obeyed. Sasuke immediately linked them, and the black katana gleamed in his hands. After several days of this, he was growing accustomed to the spiky feel of Naruto's chakra, but he still didn't really like the way it hungrily scoured at his insides. Almost like it had a will of its own and wanted him. Independently of Naruto. It was the weirdest chakra he'd ever felt.

"All right," Naruto said, building up a flow nice and slowly. "Wicked awesome new jutsu, here we come."

~o0o~

By eight pm, Sasuke called it quits. He didn't want to, but he knew he should. The anxiety, which had actually lessened quite a bit, came back. He put his boots back on, and Naruto did the same. They'd gotten better with the new jutsu, and he was looking forward to working on it more.

"You gonna go straight over and see Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah," Sasuke said, standing. "But I might change first. I'm really hot."

"Yeah, me too," Naruto said, fanning himself with a hand. "We should get massive points for how hard we've been working."

Sasuke snorted. "Our so-called battle with Kakashi will have dropped our averages massively, thanks to your last attack. On paper, at least, we're probably getting worse."

"Ah, who cares about that," Naruto dismissed it. "Yanno, if you think about it, Kakashi's making me do exactly what he told me not to." He snorted.

"Which is?" Sasuke asked, only sort of curious.

"Partner with only you," Naruto chuckled. "Not that I mind, I love partnering with you."

Sasuke studied the blonde for several moments in silence, wondering exactly what it was that Naruto loved. Weren't all Controllers warned they should look for a prospective Coordinator whose personality didn't clash?

"I mind," he said. "There are a few Controllers from whom I could learn a lot, but now I can't practice with them."

Naruto leaned his weight back, folding his hands behind his head. "Don't worry about that, Kakashi-sensei won't make us keep these on too much longer."

Glad the blonde hadn't taken his comment personally, since he hadn't meant it that way, Sasuke threw him a half-hearted wave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"G'night!" Naruto said, abruptly grabbing him and yanking him close to his chest. "Sleep well!"

It took Sasuke several seconds to realize he was being hugged. Hugged without the excuse of needing to touch to link up. His brain geared up into overdrive, frantically wondering what he should do. Naruto released him before he could decide, giving him a cheery smile before trotting out of the room.

Warmth burned all over the surface of Sasuke's skin, and he didn't think it was entirely due to the sparring. Why am I so comfortable around him? A sense of wonderment floated around in Sasuke's mind the whole way back to his dorm, trying to puzzle out exactly what it was about Naruto that made him so . . . He didn't even know what word to use. So at ease?

Naruto knew about his past, but he didn't treat Sasuke like some fragile basket-case or walk on eggshells around him. He knew about Sasuke's drug habit but didn't judge him. He asked a lot of annoying questions, sure, but he didn't judge. He even tried to understand, which was a first from anyone except Neji, Gaara, Suigetsu, and Jugo.

It was strange, disconcerting, confusing, and somewhat vexing.

In a weirdly good mood, Sasuke went to his and Gaara's dorm, peeling off the arm covers of his uniform. His best friend wasn't here yet, but no surprise. A dedicated student like him would most likely still be down in the sparring arena. As he passed by the communications terminal, the blinking blue light drew his eye. It indicated he had unheard messages, and he frowned. A blue light meant it had come from outside The Academy.

Pretty much everyone he knew was already here. Well, he amended, reaching for the terminal, there was still one person. Kakashi's partner, Iruka, wasn't. He felt a sudden pulse of hope, wondering if the man was coming to visit. He genuinely liked his guardian's gentle, kind lover. He palmed the control, and the blank screen flickered to life.

"Hello, little brother."