And suddenly, Naruto realized that Sasuke wasn't really going to ride on the top of the bus.
Sasuke ended up on the bus when Iruka walked in early that morning to find Sasuke still embracing Naruto, who had fallen asleep accidentally. Annoyed and irritated as he was, Sasuke willingly continued the field trip with the rest of his class, saying that there was no point in going home because there was no one there waiting for him.
He stayed close to Naruto, now changed into a pair of his own regular clothes ("Those were the pajamas that I had packed in case you came at night; I've got normal clothes, too" Naruto had surprised Sasuke), regardless of the fact that neither could find words to say.
Suddenly – and everyone that had been in the Village since Sasuke had left noticed – a change happened in Naruto. Smiles and jokes and laughter was all that he could do, and he wasn't only speaking to Sasuke. Like the normal, peppy-happy Naruto, he was fluttering around, talking to anyone who would listen, and he was happy. But one thing bothered him.
Sakura was spending an odd amount of time with Sasuke, even for her.
Naruto suddenly began watching them, always glancing over at them even when he was talking to someone else. After single-handedly bringing Sasuke back, Naruto wasn't letting him go again, and if it sounded possessive and gay then so be it. But he wasn't letting Sasuke go; not even with Sakura in private. Every time she tried to get him alone, he would follow, talking in Sasuke's ear about how wet it was last night and about food and almost anything to get his attention off of Sakura. And it worked, for the most part. Sasuke would focus on what Naruto was saying only because it was a different conversation then the latest gossip in Konoha, and Sakura would frown and cross her arms, giving Naruto obvious signs that she wished that he'd leave them alone.
When they finally arrived out of the forest and at the bus stop, they waited, Sakura standing next to Sasuke. Naruto found him grinding his teeth with rage when she hugged his arm, clinging to him as if he was her boyfriend. Naruto had separated himself from the group again with that, his fury overcoming him. He'd always loved Sakura, but this feeling was anything but. He didn't really recognize this feeling, because he'd only felt it twice; when he'd first met Sasuke and when Sasuke had left.
When the bus arrived, Naruto made sure that he was first on the bus, and settled himself in the back so that he could watch everyone. When Sakura and Sasuke finally got on the bus, there were no empty seats but two of the three-seats where Naruto was sitting, and Naruto praised himself silently for thinking ahead with such brilliance. Sasuke sat next to him, and Sakura on Sasuke's other side, glowering at Naruto.
"So, Sasuke, did your clothes ever dry off?" Naruto asked, "You woke up before I did, and they were packed up before I was awake."
"Iruka packed them up in your suitcase." Sasuke stated, "I don't know if they were dry or not."
Naruto nodded, receiving the desired glare of envy from Sakura. What ever the reason that this was giving him pleasure was, it was giving him enough to smile. "I see. So, are you excited about going to the aquarium? I heard they have a fish bigger then my head." He held up his hands as an example.
"That must be a huge fish…" Sakura sneered, "Because you're head is the biggest thing I've ever seen."
"Whatever." Naruto laughed, "Anyway, Sasuke, I was wondering if you wanted to pair up, since we have to have partners."
Sasuke shrugged. "That's fine with me, I guess." He stated plaintively once again, snaking his arm out of Sakura's embrace. Her jaw dropped to the floor, staring at Naruto with a complete look of hatred written upon her face.
"Sasuke, I was going to ask you if we could be partners…!" She whined, and Sasuke shrugged.
"Sorry. Naruto asked first, Sakura." He stated, "You'll have to ask him if he doesn't want to be partners with me anymore. I don't really care who I'm partnered with."
"I'm sorry, Sakura. I don't have anyone else to be partnered with; everyone else was partnered up last night, and I was the odd one out, remember?" Naruto reminded her, "And Iruka paired the two of us together to a hotel room this morning, too. And I'm not going with Ino; no way."
"You're trying to come between me and Sasuke, aren't you?!" Sakura screeched in frustration, over the rest of the noise in the bus. "All day, you've been trying to keep him away from me! What's your problem, Naruto?! Just because he came to you when he needed help doesn't mean that he doesn't want to spend time with anyone else!"
Sasuke shook his head at that point, looking at the ceiling of the bus. Naruto bit his lip, attempting to think of a reasonable excuse, but the bus pulled up to it's first stop and Iruka called for attention, so he didn't have to. He spoke about being partners with the person that they had shared their cabins with, and that they were going to share the hotel room with the same person, so they had to all be the same gender and no coed groups.
Naruto smirked lightly and filed off of the bus with a content smile written across his face, feeling that he had triumphed over the biggest evil in the world. "C'mon, Sasuke. Let's go see that huge fish." He stated once Iruka had let them go, and Sasuke followed with his hands tucked familiarly into his pockets and Sakura sneering at them.
They went to see the disheartening fish that was no bigger then Sakura's forehead, and then simply strolled around the rest of the day, chatting and looking at the fish; Sasuke intrigued and Naruto taunting the sharks and the manta rays. Sasuke had gotten Naruto out of trouble five times by the time that they stopped to eat the lunch that Sasuke had packed before they'd left the cabin. They sat in a desolate area of the aquarium, supposedly tunneled under ground.
"Wow…" Naruto murmured, face pressed against the glass as Sasuke watched him, eating. "It's really amazing, Sasuke. I think it really is under water; the fish look so different here; less tame."
"I don't think that anyone works with the fish down here…" Sasuke muttered, taking a bite out of his tomato sandwich. "I'm sure it's just another aquarium."
"Don't ruin the fun for me, Sasuke." Naruto laughed, walking back to the table that they had settled at and taking his chopsticks in his hands, eating his ramen again.
"So… what was that with you and Sakura earlier?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto noted that he'd relaxed a considerable amount since they'd been walking around alone. "I mean, she got the angriest that I've ever seen her get at anyone. And you have been hogging me; you know you have. So what's the deal, Naruto? I think I deserve to know."
Naruto twiddled his thumbs. "I'm scared you're going to run away again, and instead of telling me where you're going and what you're going to do… that you'll tell someone else. And that… you're my best friend, Sasuke. I guess that's the only way that I can put it. And I want to be the first one to know when you leave, and if you're spending time with Sakura then you'll get closer to her and you won't tell me when you're-!" Sasuke stood up, catching Naruto's attention. "What?"
"Just be quiet for two seconds." Sasuke whispered and walked around the table, tracing the rim of the table with his index finger. "One…" He was next to Naruto in a second, "Two…" He knelt down and pressed his lips against Naruto's, his eyes closed and Naruto's opened wide.
Naruto pulled away, and Sasuke simply stood erect once again and walked back to his side of the table, settling himself and taking another bite from his sandwich. "What the hell was that?!" Naruto's face flushed, "What was that?! Why did you… why did you kiss me?!"
Sasuke shrugged, looking at the fish. "So, do you really think that they're wild? Because that one's been eyeing my sandwich since I took it out of the bag…" The joke was unnatural for Sasuke, which made something click in Naruto's head: Sasuke wasn't getting closer to Sakura. In fact, he wasn't interested in her as a companion at all.
Because Naruto had not only single-handedly brought him home, but he'd single-handedly flipped Sasuke's sexuality.
"Ah… Sasuke, I…!"
"Shut up." Sasuke muttered, taking the final bite of his sandwich, "Unless it's about the fish, I don't want to talk about it now." He grumbled, and Naruto found the perfect question to ask in order to ask what he wanted.
"Do you find fish attractive?" He muttered, seriously and yet with a hint of a snort in his voice, and Sasuke pulled an Onigiri out of his lunch box and tossed it at Naruto.
And even though Naruto would have sticky rice and sushi on him for the rest of the day, he was happy. He had Sasuke right where he wanted him, and Sakura and her misery couldn't take him away.