Naruto burst in the door looking both worried and annoyed. Not surprising, since Sasuke had blocked him from teleporting directly into the livingroom. His forehead protector was in the bathroom so Naruto could have gone directly to that if it had been an emergency. Sasuke just hadn't wanted him popping in and messing up his scrolls. He had pushed the couch and table back so he had enough room to spread four overlapping scrolls, leaving just enough space for him to sit in the middle.
Meditation was nothing new. He had figured that out years ago. Doing it properly, however, made a huge difference. He would have to thank Iruka. The scrolls the man had given him contained no restricted techniques, no tips or tricks or sensitive information, nothing at all but a general history of shinobi and the fundamentals of the ninjutsu they performed. The history was interesting. He would take his time wading through that to see how the different countries and villages were tied together. The rest was exactly what he had been missing. His understanding of the fundamentals of ninjutsu, namely chakra manipulation, was so fragmented it was pure relief to finally be able to start filling in those gaps. He had been taught bits and pieces, and had stumbled onto quite a bit on his own. Knowing how it all tied together made all the difference. There were many things he would need Iruka or someone else to clarify for him, but he had read enough to start with. And since Naruto was afraid to have him out on his own, there was no better time to begin than right now.
"What are you doing?" asked Naruto.
"I was meditating in order to ground my chakra." He doubted he would be able to focus enough for that now that Naruto was back. Just as well. He had been at this for at least an hour. He should probably see how well the practice carried over to his real body before he wasted more time and chakra by having a bunshin do it.
"But why are you doing it in here?"
A glance found Naruto staring at the couch. He looked upset. Sasuke sent a quick look at the couch himself before he went back to rolling up his scrolls. "I didn't scrape the floor. I'll move everything back. I just needed space."
Naruto rounded at that, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "I don't care about scrapes on the floor! I want to know why you were doing that in here. You could have gone outside. I just asked you not to go to the forest without me. I didn't mean you had to stay inside until I got back. You could have gone to one of the other training grounds, or anywhere besides the forest. That's why I left Gamakichi with you! So you wouldn't be stuck in here until I got back."
"I know that," Sasuke informed him. "I didn't stay because I felt I had to. I stayed because what I'm doing is better done without being interrupted by anyone who happens to be passing by." Like Kakashi, Sakura, or any of the many people inhabiting this village. If he had a choice in the matter he would never train in one of those open training grounds again without Naruto there to handle any 'visitors' who dropped by. If Naruto didn't want him going to the forest without him, that was fine. There were other things he could do in the meantime. If after a few days Naruto was still trying to restrict him, then he would argue about it. He had spent all of yesterday lazing about while one of Naruto's clones fussed over him until Naruto returned to do the fussing himself. His injury felt fine, barely a twinge no matter how hard he pressed on it. In another day or two he would go back to the hospital and let a medic look at it, if that was what it took to prove to Naruto that he was healed enough to be let off this leash.
He rolled up the last scroll and set them all on the shelf where he had placed the others. Naruto rushed past him before he could reach the table and moved it himself. Was he going to lecture him about lifting heavy things? He had better not. The meditation had helped to improve his mood, but not by much. "I had help lifting the couch. Not that I needed it."
"Gamakichi?" asked Naruto. He sighed with relief. "That's good. If you pull a stitch or something I'll never get you back out of the hospital."
"I don't have any stitches," Sasuke muttered. Naruto knew that. Naruto had given his stomach enough feathery light touches in the last day that Sasuke had threatened to knee him in the chin if he didn't stop it. He had only been forced to make good on that threat twice before Naruto had finally left his stomach alone.
"Not on the outside. But we don't know what is still healing on the inside. I'm serious," Naruto said earnestly, as he moved the couch back. "If you make it worse before it's fully healed, Baachan might admit you back in the hospital just because she can. If it really feels fine, then at least let Sakura take a look to make sure. She won't lie and make it sound worse than it is just so you rest longer. She'll tell you straight out if you're good to go or if there are certain things you should avoid doing. She's good about that."
That would be preferable to being poked and prodded by complete strangers. He certainly didn't want to risk being trapped in a hospital room again. And if Sakura was honest in her appraisal then it would get Naruto to settle down. Naruto had slipped out of the bed last night and gone to sleep on the couch. There was no need for that. Sasuke had called him on that this morning and Naruto's lie, that he hadn't wanted to roll over and disturb him, had been painfully transparent. The point of the wards in the bedroom were to protect Naruto while he slept, not him.
"Where is Gamakichi?" Naruto asked suddenly. He put his hands on his hips and scowled. "Did you tell him you were going to stay inside and he just believed you?"
As if he shouldn't have believed him? Well, that was probably fair. He wouldn't have hesitated to lie to Naruto's summon if he had wanted to.
"No," said Sasuke. "I put him in the bathtub."
"You did what?"
Sasuke dispelled himself with a smirk.
The feedback from the clone hit Sasuke a moment before he heard the footsteps rushing down the hall. He wondered what Naruto had thought. That he had somehow trapped his summon in the bathroom so it wouldn't disturb him? If Naruto had thought that, it meant there was a way to do that. He would have to look into that. He didn't glance up when Naruto entered the room. Gamakichi did, though. The toad's right front foot broke the surface of the water for just a moment before he got over his surprise. The room was quiet aside from the splishing of the water. After a minute, Sasuke gave in and looked over. Naruto was standing in the doorway with a weird look on his face. Sasuke frowned back at the toad. Gamakichi had made himself bigger as Sasuke had increased the amount of the water holding him up. He was as big as a watermelon now, balanced on the spray of water and rotating slowly. Sasuke supposed it did look rather strange.
"What are you doing?" Naruto asked, finally. The laughter was audible in his voice.
Sasuke jerked his head at the toad, who hopped onto the side of the tub. He released the jutsu so the water fell back into the tub. Then he frowned over at Naruto. "Water and wind." That should have been obvious. Naruto still looked amused. It was annoying. "I have never been able to use wind. At all. Now I finally know why." Gamakichi was grinning at Naruto, clearly enjoying how amused Naruto was. Unlike him. Sasuke scowled at the toad. "Kick for me."
"Say please," Gamakichi taunted.
"Please," Sasuke said flatly.
"He's not so bad," Gamakichi told Naruto. "For a snake summoner."
"What?" Naruto yelped. He shot a startled look at Sasuke. "You told him? I warned you not to tell-"
"I didn't have to," Sasuke cut him off.
"No kidding," said Gamakichi. "I smelled snake the second you left. It was all over the bookshelf. I can't believe you tried to hide it." He gave Naruto a pitying look. "What were you planning to say the first time he summoned one around one of us? That you just forgot to mention it? Not like it matters, anyway. I can take on any snake except Manda. I'd let Pops take care of him. So, yeah, no point trying to keep that a secret. Pretty dumb, in fact. Don't embarrass me like that. I nearly went full sized when I smelled snake in here. If I had known he summoned them, I wouldn't have been so startled. You're supposed to tell us stuff like that, not keep it a secret."
"Sorry," Naruto said sheepishly. "I know how Gamabunta feels about Manda, so-"
"I don't summon Manda," said Sasuke.
"Exactly," said Gamakichi. "He doesn't summon Manda. Stop making trouble where there isn't any."
"Sorry," Naruto said again. For a moment he looked properly chastised. It was gone almost immediately, replaced by a wide grin, which he shot at Sasuke. "You're getting along with him. See? I told you everyone likes Gamakichi!"
"I wouldn't go that far," Sasuke muttered. He and the toad stared at each other for a moment, then he sighed. "Kick for me?"
"Oh, right." Gamakichi stretched his hind legs and kicked the water so droplets splashed into the air.
Sasuke performed the hand sign for wind and focused his chakra until the droplets moved. It was a slow and light swirl, but the movement was clearly visible. He kept it up until Naruto had gotten a good look, and then released the jutsu. A glance found Naruto still looking confused. Sasuke frowned up at him. "Wind. Not much, I know, but I can do it. The only reason I couldn't do it before is because my instructor taught me wrong. Intentionally."
"What?" Naruto's eyes widened. "Why would he do that?"
"Because it was something I didn't already know and the clan didn't want him teaching me new things." He glared at the water. "We spent months going over his wind techniques and even with the sharingan I couldn't reproduce a single one. I don't know which of the hand signs he taught me were fake. Maybe they all were and he was able to perform those techniques without using any." The worst part was that he hadn't known it was possible to teach someone the wrong way to perform a technique. It was so obvious now. He had copied the hand signs his teacher had used to make his chakra form skewers and cover the weapons, and when he hadn't been able to reproduce the techniques with the 'proper' hand signs he had kept at it until he could do it without any hand signs. But no matter how hard he tried he hadn't been able to transform even a bit of his chakra into wind. Obviously. "Even outside of those particular techniques, I was never able to use wind at all. That's because wind is tori. He taught me to use uma."
And he had simply believed him because he was the man assigned to teach him such things. Ignorant and obedient? He could add trusting and naive to that. It was disgusting.
Naruto didn't say anything. Sasuke looked up with a bitter smile. Naruto didn't know what to say that wouldn't insult him. Honestly, there was nothing anyone could say to that. "I know. Even your pregenin are taught which signs are aligned with each element. It was in one of the scrolls Iruka gave me. That's one of the most basic things anyone interested in the shinobi arts should know. Instead of training with you, maybe I should enroll in your academy."
"Sasuke-"
"What bothers me the most," he admitted, "isn't that he lied and I fell for it. What bothers me," what infuriated him, "is that he had the nerve to rub it in. He was so frustrated and disappointed that I continually failed to learn the things he spent so much time and effort attempting to teach to me. He knew how much I hated failing to learn something and he rubbed it in constantly. And I let him." That was a weakness he'd had since failing to learn that first katon quickly enough to impress his father. His teacher had seen that weakness and exploited it fully. And he had let him, because he had been convinced the flaw lay in him.
"Get lost," Naruto murmured.
Sasuke scowled when the toad dispelled and Naruto came over to lean against his back, wrapping his arms around him. "I don't want comfort," Sasuke grimaced. "I'm just angry."
"You might not want comfort, but I want to comfort you. You gonna let me?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Of course," Naruto said brightly. "Comfort or groping. Whichever you choose is fine by me!"
He snorted at that, a reluctant smile pulling at his mouth. "If I had a choice, I would be on my way to Sand right now to beat the hell out of that man."
"And I'd be right beside you. Dad won't go for that, though. We'll have to settle for having Gaara bring your former teacher with him when he comes for a visit. Then we can take turns beating on him and Kakashi can drown what's left of him. Would that work?"
"I suppose that would suffice." There wouldn't be much left for Naruto to beat on, though. He certainly wouldn't leave anything for Kakashi. "How soon can Gaara come for a visit?"
"I'll find out," Naruto promised. He dropped his chin on Sasuke's shoulder, and one of his hands shifted to feel Sasuke's stomach through his shirt.
Even with the cloth in the way, that light touch tickled. "Naruto."
"It just occurred to me to that if you're well enough to kneel by the tub and on the livingroom floor, maybe you'd be up to doing it somewhere else. You're not supposed to do anything strenuous, but you went and moved the furniture. You're not supposed to be using chakra, but here you are using it anyway. If you're doing things you're not supposed to, why can't I? That only seems fair."
Sasuke couldn't think of anything he might actually want to do with Naruto that involved him on his knees. The first thing that came to mind was oral sex, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Now really wasn't a good time to ask him to open that 'someday, if you really want to' drawer. He caught Naruto's wrist before that hand could slide any lower. "Don't grope me in here." He shrugged Naruto off his back and quickly drained the tub. "We can't have sex in the bathroom."
"Sure we can," Naruto grinned. "We can do it anywhere in the apartment. If you consider the bathroom off limits, that's fine. But we could do it in here if we wanted to."
How? The tub was tiny and the toilet and sink barely left enough floor space for them to both sit, much less move around. He stared at the cramped little room for a moment, wondering, and then he mentally smacked himself. He was not the slightest bit interested in having sex in a bathroom. It didn't matter how other people might go about doing such a thing. He wasn't going to. "I will never have sex with you in this bathroom," he informed Naruto. "The bathroom is off limits."
Naruto shrugged, "Okay. Let's do it in the livingroom instead! I have wanted to get you on the couch since I first brought you home with me."
"I didn't agree to do anything anywhere," Sasuke pointed out. He frowned when Naruto caught his hand and tugged him to the door.
"I know, but you haven't refused yet." Naruto shot him a quick look. "Are you going to? I promise I'll be careful with you. We can do it nice and gentle."
Sasuke yanked his hand away. "I refuse. The last thing I am in the mood for right now is gentle. If that's the sort of sex you want, forget it. I'd rather go beat on a training post."
Naruto returned his scowl and grabbed his hand again. "I bet you'd like it gentle if you just tried it. But if you're in the mood for violence, I can give you that. No training post for you, though. All you get to do is sit and watch."
"Watch what?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. The grin Naruto flashed him was awfully playful considering he had just refused to have sex with him. Wasn't he going to pout? Or had Naruto expected him to refuse from the start? Maybe that 'sex in the livingroom' thing had merely been an attempt to distract him and even Naruto wasn't perverted enough to want to have sex in a room meant to entertain guests.
"Remember when you said you wanted to see how I fight my bunshin? Well, I gave it a lot of thought and I don't think you'd like it that much. They're me and think like me, so when we fight each other it's probably not very entertaining. So instead of watching me fight them, you can watch me and Lee fight them. Better, right?"
"Lee," said Sasuke. "The taijutsu specialist?"
"Got you interested, didn't I?" If Naruto grinned any wider his face would split in half. "I knew that would do it. I talked to him a little while ago. That's why I came back early. He's going to be in the village for at least two days. He was planning to do some running tomorrow morning, stupid early, but if you want to go with him I bet he'd jump at the chance to run around the forest. He hasn't been back there since the chunin exam. Too many traps and snakes. Those wouldn't be a problem with you there. You're not allowed to train, but running and jumping around should be okay. And you can watch me and my bunshin spar with him as much as you want. He's always up for that."
That sounded wonderful. He would rather join in the bunshin fight himself, but watching was the next best thing. He was automatically suspicious at having Naruto give him exactly what he wanted. "What's the catch?" Because there had to be one.
Naruto didn't even try to hide it. "No heavy lifting or punching or doing anything that would risk you taking a hit to the gut until you get cleared by a medic or Sakura-chan," he said quickly. "That means no beating on a training post, no sparring, and no swinging around on your wires and risking a fall. And if you push yourself until your injury starts hurting while you're out tomorrow, and Lee notices it, he gets to carry you back. He can't teleport, so that would be really embarrassing for you."
He was too good at hiding pain to be worried about someone else noticing, so he wasn't concerned about that threat. He hadn't planned to do any sparring or training that would risk making his injury worse before it finished healing, so agreeing to that was fine, too. Naruto's 'catch' was nothing of the sort. His suspicion deepened. "If his inability to teleport is an issue, does that mean you won't be going along? Not even with a bunshin?"
"No way," Naruto grinned. "That's way too early for me. We're talking the crack of dawn. I might wake up enough to say bye, but you're on your own if you go with him. Even a bunshin would refuse to get up and out that early for anything other than a mission. Gamakichi is a great jumper, but making himself small enough to go by tree and then being expected to keep up with you guys that early in the morning? Forget it. Don't worry, though. Lee kicks ass. If you run into something you can't handle, you couldn't ask for a better person to back you up. Besides, if it's just you and Lee you'll have a better chance to get to know him."
And hopefully like him? Of course. That was the catch. He should have guessed as much. Lee was one of Naruto's friends, and Naruto wanted more than anything for Sasuke to like his friends. Naruto was using Lee to give him what he wanted because that forced him to interact with his friend. Honestly, Sasuke didn't mind. He would get to see how Lee behaved both with and away from Naruto. And even if Lee turned out to be as irritating as Kakashi, it would be worth it to see how other people fought Naruto's bunshin. Getting to return to the forest and stretch his legs was another bonus.
"That sounds fine, then." Better than fine, it still sounded wonderful, getting exactly what he wanted when he wanted it the most. And Naruto was getting something out of it, too, so he wouldn't feel like he owed him something in return. Something like gentle sex, for instance. He would rather never know if Naruto was actually capable of making him like that. The very idea was disturbing.
Naruto released his hand when they reached the livingroom, and asked him fix whatever he had done to prevent him from teleporting in. Sasuke was startled to find that Naruto had no idea how the apartment was set to allow teleportations, because his father had set all of that for him and Sakura had helped him add Sasuke's hair to allow him in. That explained why Naruto had promised to find someone else to teach him how to teleport. He had begun to suspect it was because the Hokage didn't want him knowing that technique. Instead, it was simply because Naruto himself didn't understand how the technique worked well enough to teach it to someone else. Like Sasuke with his storage scrolls, Naruto knew how to do it without understanding anything about why it worked the way it did. Sasuke didn't know how teleporting worked, but he knew enough about chakra to disrupt a seal preventing or allowing a person entry past traps. He had simply cut one of the spiderwebbing chakra paths on the ceiling, the one leading to Naruto's picture on the bookshelf. That was far easier now that he could actually see the chakra with his sharingan. He quickly gave up trying to explain to Naruto how one went about disabling parts of a seal by using one's own chakra to break the flow. So long as he was able to repair it, Naruto was happy. It was uncomfortable how much Naruto trusted him. Letting him alter the seals on the door so he could come and go freely was very different from knowing he had messed with the interior seals that Naruto's father had set up.
He quickly decided it didn't matter. He would never do anything to the seals set up in the bedroom. That was Naruto's real sanctuary in the apartment. Even if he had messed something up and left the livingroom more vulnerable, it wouldn't make much of a difference. Terra had gotten in easily, which meant anyone could if they really wanted to. Instead of being bothered by Naruto's easy trust, he would just repay it by figuring out a way to prevent summons from slipping in so easily. He had been taught quite a few ways to get into a protected area. Finding ways to close those cracks would be a challenge. He appreciated a good challenge.
He eyed Naruto as he considered that. This wouldn't be the first time Naruto had played on his eagerness to do anything relating to training. This was certainly far better than being hugged or groped. "Is this your idea of comfort?"
Naruto laughed. "You're learning me too fast. I was enjoying being ahead for a change. What gave it away?"
"Your lack of reaction at my refusal."
"To have gentle sex?" Naruto grinned. "In the livingroom? On the couch? Even I know you're too fussy for that. You'd probably make me put a sheet down and towels and, ugh, talk about killing the mood. Not that I don't plan to get you on that couch before we move. And in the kitchen. Oh, that'll be fun. You'll really hate that."
As if him hating it would be a good thing. Naruto wasn't just a pervert, he was gross. Sex in the kitchen? That went far beyond unsanitary. There was no way he would ever agree to that, so he didn't bother commenting on it. "So you suggested it with the expectation that I would refuse?"
"Partly. If you had gone along with it, that would have been great. Unexpected chance to fulfill a fantasy. Can't complain about that. But to be honest the couch idea doesn't really fit with gentle. That would have been awkward no matter how well I improvised. I could have pulled it off, though," he said quickly, as if he was concerned Sasuke might doubt his ability to be an utter pervert. "It's been days! You don't know how close I came to jumping you last night..."
"Of course I do," Sasuke scoffed. "You slept on the couch."
"That was for your own good. And mine," Naruto admitted. "Although it did get me thinking about how nice it would have been if you had slept on the couch with me. Hence the couch sex being at the front of my mind today. But, no, I didn't really expect you to go along with it. I haven't forgotten what you're like when you need to vent. Since you're not well enough to vent with deliciously violent sex, outside we go. Getting to see some violence is the next best thing to doing some yourself, right? And if it lets me take the edge off my own urges, then, yeah, this is the best choice. That will keep me from running straight to my dad and telling him how that Sand bastard tricked you. I figure you don't want me telling anyone. I don't think you should be embarrassed, but you probably are. You really expect way too much of yourself. Even with the handsigns and good teachers, most people are lucky if they can do one nature transformation. Kakashi will give you earful on that. He can do most of them, but he's had years of experience and training, plus the sharingan, and he still calls himself a dabbler because he's only really great at the one that comes naturally. If you ask me, you should focus on what comes naturally until you're better than anyone else who uses those, and then you can play with the rest if you get bored and really want to."
Considering Naruto didn't do 'wind techniques' despite his natural affinity for wind, his opinion didn't mean much. Sasuke didn't want to argue with him on the issue. Unfortunately Naruto was in charge of his training. It was a good thing Sasuke was used to teaching himself or he would very annoyed by that attitude. "Whether I ever become proficient enough for it to be useful in battle isn't the point. I like learning new things."
"I know. I get that." Naruto flashed him a quick grin. "Everyone is hoping some of that rubs off on me. If it does, you'll have teachers popping up all over the place because anything they teach you I'll have to at least learn to counter if I want to keep up with you. My ego can't take having you leave me in the dust. So don't worry, I might not get why you want to learn everything you can get your hands on, but I'm all for it. Keeping up with you will be challenging and fun. And learning makes you happy, which makes me happy. Everyone wins!"
Maybe so. It would be very nice if things worked out that way. He considered informing Naruto that there was no such thing as 'expecting too much' out of an Uchiha. He decided against it. If Naruto considered 'learning each other' a race, then this was something Naruto could figure out on his own. As far as Sasuke was concerned, Naruto already knew him a little too well. If he wasn't currently benefiting from that, it would bother him more. He clearly had some catching up to do.
.-.
After sending a bunshin off to fetch Lee, Naruto led him to the lake. Aside from the grass being thin in spots where new grass had been planted, it was completely restored. Sasuke expressed his surprise and suppressed his annoyance at this proof of just how long he had been out of action. Naruto must have taken his surprise as praise, because he immediately swaggered and boasted about how his toads had replaced the missing water.
After few minutes of preening, Naruto deflated enough to admit, "I had help."
This was supposed to be their punishment. He didn't like the idea of other people taking care of his share of the mess. Though, even if he hadn't wound up in the hospital Naruto's bunshin would probably have done the majority of the work. His idea to replace the water had been to fire enough katons at the sky to make a storm. Naruto's toads were definitely a quicker and more surefire method. He was still annoyed that he had missed the chance to find out if his method would have worked. He had especially been looking forward to Naruto's expression when he suggested it. It would have been amusing. He tore his eyes away from the lake with a frown. "Help from whom?"
"A certain Anbu," Naruto drawled, his eyes narrowing deviously, "who would really like to have a rematch with you. And a friend of Kakashi's, who does wood release. That was really cool. I'm sorry you missed seeing that."
"Wood?"
"I don't know how to explain that, either," Naruto admitted. "The first Hokage was famous for that. I didn't know anyone else had ever managed it. Kakashi says it's some sort of combination of earth and water, but it's more like a bloodline limit where you have to be born with it."
That explained why it hadn't been mentioned in Iruka's scrolls. Sasuke was also sorry he had missed seeing that. He had never heard of someone combining earth and water to grow anything, much less some sort of plant that could mimic manmade structures. He went over to inspect the dock. There were no visible nails, but it certainly didn't look like that something that had been grown into place. It was a nearly perfect replica of the original one, enough so that he disliked standing at the edge of it. He turned around to find Naruto right behind him. He raised an eyebrow at his pouting expression. "What?"
"You're not even going to comment on the Anbu? I thought you'd be jumping all over that."
He might have been eager for a rematch had he considered himself the loser of that fight. But that Anbu had been determined to kill him with his sword. He was confident that would never have happened. "If you hadn't shown up when you did, he would never have cut me. His wind gave him an advantage, but I'm probably better with a sword than he is."
"I figured that by how badly he wants a rematch," Naruto scoffed. "Dad said he's not allowed to bug you about it, so I promised him I'd ask. I really thought you'd say yes. I don't know anyone outside of Anbu who uses a sword. If you're that good with one, we'll have to get you one. But there's not much point if you don't have anyone to use it with. Slicing up my bunshin would get real boring real fast."
"That remains to be seen," Sasuke said sharply. He had to forcefully reign in his eagerness. He was not going to trade a rematch with that Anbu in exchange for a sword. There were three swords for sale in the weapons shop he and Naruto had visited. Although they didn't compare to his father's blade, they were far superior to any of the ones his employers had supplied him with. If he really could get B-rank pay for milking snakes, whether it was for medics or Ibiki, then he would be able to buy his own sword. Even doing C and D rank missions would be better than letting Naruto 'gift' him with one in exchange for interacting with someone who had such a clear bias against him and possibly his entire clan. "If I decide to get a sword, I may find dispatching your bunshin with it vastly entertaining. For now, I'm far more interested in improving my taijutsu, especially where your bunshin are concerned."
"So...no rematch?"
"No rematch."
Naruto sighed, eyeing him doubtfully. "I was sure you'd say yes."
"You were wrong." But only because Naruto wasn't aware of the words he and that Anbu had exchanged. He had no intention of mentioning that to him. For all he knew, that man regretted his immediate suspicions and had helped Naruto with the lake in order to make up for his behavior. If he wanted to make up for it with Naruto, that was fine. As a future Hokage, Naruto needed to be on good terms with his people. Sasuke, however, had no such need. He fully intended to view all Anbu with suspicion from now on. No amicable rematches or nice gestures would change that. Terra's warning had been exactly right, after all. The first sign of trouble and he was the one blamed. Maybe a few years of his presence here or a formal alliance with the clan would change that. He would be on guard in the meantime.
"Naruto-kun!"
Sasuke turned, looked up at the crest of the hill, and promptly winced. He wiped the expression off his face as quickly as he could and hoped Naruto's clone hadn't caught it. The green-clad boy might have caught it, but considering his appearance the boy should be used to that reaction. He was wearing a form-fitting green jumpsuit, had very thick blocky black eyebrows, an awful hair cut, enormous eyes, and unnaturally white teeth. Sasuke knew better than to judge a person by their appearance, he really did, but sometimes it was difficult not to. The boy didn't even look particularly muscular for a so-called taijutsu expert. Maybe like Sakura he had some ability that made him far stronger than he appeared to be. Or he could be surprisingly fast and agile, which would definitely make up for a lack of sheer brute strength. By the time Naruto's friend reached them, Sasuke had talked himself into giving him the benefit of the doubt. Then the boy spoke and Sasuke's first impression was cemented.
Pure exuberant enthusiasm and the confidence to match. It was a bit off-putting, like his appearance, but he greeted Sasuke with an edge of formality that proved he was quite capable of toning things down depending on who he was dealing with. Together with Naruto, Lee was a ball of energy in search of something to explode against. Sasuke was curious to see whether he suppressed that or expressed it in a different manner when they went out alone tomorrow. He was looking forward to that and he hadn't even seen the boy fight yet. All told, it was a positive first impression. He wouldn't tell Naruto that, though. The hopeful looks Naruto kept shooting his way were too annoying. He held his silence for the most part and then retreated to the crest of the hill. Leave it to Naruto to decide to have his bunshin fight on the freshly repaired lake. Lee vowed they would not do anything that might damage the new dock or the fragile young grass, and Naruto acted insulted that Sasuke would even suggest such a thing. Sasuke didn't particularly care. If they damaged something, he would help them repair it. A taijutsu fight on water was far more difficult than doing it on land. He couldn't wait to see it. Naruto really was going out of his way to make him happy. It was working.
.-.
TBC