"She's being so unfair, giving me a lower grade just because I missed a lesson! I mean, what about Chouji? He's never there, and he's getting a B!"

Sasuke hummed and pushed another shirt into his bag. He had the phone placed between his cheek and his shoulder, busy packing for the trip to Sweden. He had promised to call Ino before they went to the airport. Said and done; he was now listening to her talking about school, about how jealous she was that Chouji was getting a higher grade than her and about how it was so obvious that he was rubbing it in her face.

Sasuke cut her off in the middle of a sentence.

"Listen, Ino, I gotta go. I'm sorry about the grade and all that, but we're already late."

Ino sighed, but Sasuke could hear the smile through the phone.

"Alright, Sasuke. Have a nice trip; I'll see you when you get back."

"Yea, thanks. Bye."

They hung up and Sasuke went back to packing.

He hadn't really noticed at first, but they somehow had become friends. That's what Sasuke would call it, anyway; a friendship. Maybe it was because Ino wasn't out to get him anymore, and they actually kind of got along even when they – or, she – weren't talking about boys or school. She made him understand himself better, and it felt good that he could call her if he wanted to. Not that he would, but still.

"Itachi, Sasuke, hurry up! They won't hold the plane for us!"

Sasuke hesitated and raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, mom, it's our plane. They'll wait."

Itachi stole the words out of Sasuke's mind and he snickered. Yes, they even had their own plane. It was good being an Uchiha sometimes.

"It's still not polite to keep them waiting."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The staff would probably apologize for being early if the Uchiha family somehow were late.

With that thought, he zipped his bag closed and grabbed his phone, wallet and keys before going downstairs. His brother joined them only seconds later, and before they knew it, they were on their way.

It was raining and Sasuke couldn't help but feel that it would be a relief to get out of town for a while. It didn't really matter that they lived in such a big city as New York; it still felt way too home to feel free. Sweden was far away and Stockholm seemed like a rather big place, so it would be nice to get to see something else for a change.

Sasuke glanced towards his brother and got the feeling that he was thinking the same thing. His glasses were slightly foggy from the rain and he was looking out of the window with a bothered, yet exhausted, look.

When they arrived at the airport, they checked in and greeted the pilot that would take them overseas. They boarded the plane and took their usual places while they waited for everything to get ready before they could go. Itachi sat down at the bar, their mother was talking to the chef about some recipe and their father was somewhere in the cockpit, giving the pilot some further instructions.

Sasuke grabbed a book and sat down at the table in the middle of the plane. Before he started reading the book, he grabbed his phone and opened his and Naruto's conversation.

"We're on the plane now, I'll text you when I'm on your side of the world."

It only took a minute before and answer came.

"Sweet! Have a nice trip. You'll love Stockholm!"

Sasuke smiled, put his phone in his pocket and opened the book.

He woke up when someone shook his shoulder, making him open his eyes. He saw his mother gently smiling down at him, and it took Sasuke a few seconds to notice that it was dark outside and that the staff on the plane had disappeared from the salon. Suddenly, his heart was racing like crazy.

"Are we there?"

His mother nodded.

"We're landing in about ten minutes."

He felt out of breath. They were actually arriving in Sweden in ten minutes! He would breathe the same air as Naruto in ten friggin' minutes!

He stood up and almost dropped his book in the action, but caught it in the last second. His mother giggled.

"No need to rush, dear. Do you want something to eat before we get there?"

Sasuke shook his head and walked over to one of the windows on the side of the plane. He saw thousands of tiny, glimmering lights spread across the land underneath them, and once again felt out of breath. It probably didn't look much different from New York, but the fact that this was Stockholm, where Naruto lived, made it all so much more glorified.

He spent what felt like an eternity in that window when the pilot asked them to take a seat and fasten their seatbelts.

For Sasuke, the landing seemed to take hours. When they arrived inside the building of the airport, some men came to greet them and shake their hands. Sasuke recognized them from the Uchiha Industries, and didn't pay them any further attention. He managed to excuse himself, and grabbed his phone while receiving a death glare from Itachi. It seemed that lately, Itachi had been the one of the brothers to stay behind and cover up for his little brother. Sasuke made a mental note to himself about thanking him in some smooth way.

He turned to his phone and started typing.

"And we're here."

He sent it to Naruto and then looked out of one of the huge windows. The sun had just set, and left the sky in a red and light blue color. The part of the city that he could see seemed to sparkle in front of him. He got the feeling that he would be enjoying their stay there, and the fact that he would be meeting up with Naruto in just a few days only made it better.

"Sasuke, we're going."

He turned towards his brother and then jogged after him to catch up with the rest of their family.

"They already picked up our luggage. Me and your father are thinking about grabbing a bite, how do you feel about that?"

Sasuke and Itachi shared a quick look before turning to their mother again.

"I think we'd rather just go straight to the hotel, mom."

Itachi nodded and added 'if that's alright' out of pure politeness. Their mother ensured them that it was okay, and minutes later, the two brothers were sitting in a taxi on their way to a shower and a room service. Sasuke's phone beeping made him jump a bit.

"Welcome to Sweden! How do you like it so far?"

Sasuke was so into reading the message that he didn't notice it when Itachi leaned over and glanced towards his phone.

"Now I'm curious. Who can make my brother smile just by sending a text?"

Sasuke winced, hid the screen of his phone and glared at Itachi.

"That's none of your damn business."

Itachi snickered.

"Ooh, cranky, are we?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned away to answer the message.

"It looked nice from the plane, it's getting kinda dark now."

He sent it and found that he was unable to concentrate on anything but the phone for the whole ride. Had he really been smiling when he got a text from Naruto?

When they arrived at their hotel suit, Sasuke immediately threw his belongings on a bed and went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. Those trips my plane always made him feel dusty, and it was a huge relief to feel the hot water running down his body.

After a while, he started to guess that he had been in there for way too long and that Itachi probably was irritated about not getting to shower. Sasuke couldn't care any less, but his fingertips had started to wrinkle, so he got out of the shower and dried up. He tied a towel around his hips and went out to his and Itachi's bedroom, looking for his bag.

That's when a cold shiver made its way down his spine, and he glanced towards his brother.

"Well, well, well."

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"May I ask who this Naruto is?"

Sasuke growled, opened his eyes and batted the phone out of Itachi's hands.

"None of your damn business."

His tone would have made anyone else to leave the room, hyperventilating, but his brother was used to it. He just snickered with a smug smile on his lips.

"You can't really blame me. Anyone that makes you smile like that is worthy of a check-up."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and felt that damn blush coming creeping up his neck. He grabbed the phone and pretended to look for his bag while he checked for any new messages.

"If you like old buildings and blonde, Swedish guys, you'll love it!"

Sasuke felt like punching Naruto – again. Yes, he obviously liked blonde, Swedish guys. Actually, one blonde, Swedish guy.

He tensed when he heard his brother shift.

"Want me to grab that Sakura girl away from him?"

Sasuke was about to say 'yes, please do', but stopped himself. He didn't want to get Itachi involved with Naruto, it was complicated enough without him in the picture.

"Well."

Itachi stretched and stood up from the bed.

"Good luck on Friday, then."

Itachi chuckled as he went to take a shower.