AN: This is something I've been wanting to work on for a while now. While I mainly write tragedies, I need to get this silly idea out of my head. This story is set a month after the Waves arc. Naruto and Sasuke are twelve. This fic can be read as soft NaruSasu, but I'm more interested in exploring their friendship, so don't expect any romance. Maybe I'll change my mind. Who knows. Like I previously stated, everything I write ends up having a serious edge to it somewhere, but I promise this is going to be overall lighthearted/happy ending/goofy boys yucking it up.

"That's why I want you both to oversee this. Just the two of you."

It's cold water being dunked over his head. Sasuke begins to argue: "I can do it on my own. I don't need him. He'll only slow me down." The burgeoning desperation in his voice crinkles Kakashi's eye. Naruto is a brooding, sawed-off column of nerves beside him, no doubt foaming with similar ire. His bizarre composure makes Sasuke's frustration all the more conspicuous. For once, it's him who barks and complains. "You know I can. You said Sakura—"

Kakashi holds a hand up to halt his verbal writhing. "Sakura isn't feeling well enough. Look at it this way: I need someone to keep Naruto in check while you're there."

"Hey!" Naruto snaps, breaking his brief silence. "Why can't you come instead?"

"So you're sending him knowing he's going to be difficult," adds Sasuke.

"Boys—"

"If anyone needs looking after it's Sasuke!"

"Kakashi, you can't—"

Large hands grab both of their foreheads, Sasuke squaring his nose and leering at Naruto through flattened bangs. Naruto shoots back at him with narrow eyes, lips pursed in a pout.

"Boys, this isn't up for debate." Kakashi roughly lets them go.

Sasuke offers him a deep, pleading scowl. I'm your favorite, he's saying. Don't do this to me.

Kakashi cuffs the side of his head. "No more, Sasuke." The lilt to his voice is insultingly coy. Grunting in retort, Sasuke sees Kakashi's simpering grin beneath his mask.

"Yeah," mocks Naruto, already lifting an open palm at him, "no more, Sas—" Sasuke claps their hands together and drives Naruto's knuckles into his nose. Naruto yips in surprise and shoves back, their arms locking at the elbows before beginning to joust back and forth.

"Stop pushing me."

"You started it!"

"Boys." Kakashi separates them by dropping a hard fist over their hands. "Stop fighting or I'm wiring your ankles together." It's enough of a threat to quell their scuffle, Sasuke puffing out a hot snort of disdain. Naruto mirrors his expression. "I expect you both back by Monday with proof of completion. I was planning to offer you kids some spending money, but I've changed my mind."

"Aw, sensei!" howls Naruto.

"That's right." There's a muffled pop of a tongue clicking. Sasuke's eye twitches at his apparent glee. Kakashi's enjoying every minute of this, feasting on their misery. "I'm not always so stingy. You'll have to remember to behave next time for your doting sensei, won't you?"

Sasuke levels him with a scowl. "Kakashi—"

But Kakashi is already nudging them along, both boys growling. "Best be on your way. No time for dilly-dallying." He taps his watchless wrist. "See you Monday." With that, his body flickers out and leaves both of them standing rigid on the bridge. Sasuke decides to move first, turning on his heel before warm fingers grab his arm.

"Hey, uh, Sasuke?"

He draws in air through his nose and aims an ear at Naruto.

"So, I don't—have any money. So we're gonna . . . have to, uh, use yours . . ."

Sasuke stares vacantly ahead. At this point, he can only respond with a half-hearted hum. Of course he doesn't. Why wouldn't he waste it all on ramen when they've been notified four days prior to a mission? It would've been more surprising had he actually prepared. Shaking Naruto off, Sasuke grouses out a low, "Come on," and leaves it at that. Naruto spends the next few minutes babbling about all the ways he can pay him back—none of which involve money.

Three hours and Naruto still isn't talked out.

Even in the shade of the trees with the wind on his face, it's hot. Sasuke uses the back of his arm to wipe sweat from his brow with a sour frown. The staggered burps Naruto refuses to stifle are equally as disgusting, Sasuke having already sent him a handful of warning glares every time his teammate drew too close. To his disappointment, Naruto has made a game out of it: springing off branches and purposefully bumping into him, blowing in his face with that dumbass grin of his. It takes only three times for Sasuke to retaliate, twisting at the waist and smashing four knuckles into Naruto's cheek, sending him squealing to the forest floor. Sasuke lands soft beside him in a crouch.

"Stop messing around. You're wasting time."

Naruto shoots up with a twig in his hair, face red as a rooster's. "You're the reason I fell, asshole!"

"Quit yelling. We're on a miss—"

"You hit me!"

Sasuke raises his fist for a mock punch and Naruto covers his head. "Come on. Get up." Standing, Sasuke holds his hand out for Naruto. Gingerly peeking out from between the shield of his arms, Naruto eyeballs his offer suspiciously before he accepts, rocking back to his feet. Sasuke twists away before he can belch in his face. "Stop, idiot!"

Naruto makes a soft, syrupy, sniggering noise. "Okay, okay."

They take to the road as they draw closer to their checkpoint, the sun having reached its apex and become a blazing god-eye overhead. It mercilessly beats down on them both. Sasuke hugs the left side of the path where the trees offer mottled shade, idly searching his backpack for sunscreen. Naruto hangs close despite Sasuke vying for space. While Naruto seems to have abandoned his irritation in favor of fantasizing over their mission, Sasuke clings tight with unsheathed claws.

"Have you seen a zebra before? Do you think they'll have dolphins?"

Sasuke rubs lotion on the back of his neck. "It's on land, Naruto."

Naruto butts his head into his back, Sasuke skipping with the force but otherwise unresponsive. He's not in a playful mood. He never is, really.

"Ever heard of a fish tank, stupid?"

"A fish tank big enough for a dolphin," Sasuke muses dryly. "Multiple dolphins. In one fish tank. Under one tent."

"It's not inpeasible."

Backpack half zipped, Sasuke pauses to look at him. "What?"

"It's not impossible," Naruto mutters with thinning eyes.

A muscle twitches at the corner of Sasuke's mouth. "No, what'd you just say."

"I just said it."

"Before that."

". . . Inpeasible."

Sasuke can't stop himself from snorting. "That's what I thought."

Naruto butts him again with the top of his head, this time in the ribs. "Then why'd you even ask?"

"I wanted to see if you'd say it again."

Naruto grumbles under his breath. "You're such a weirdo." He lengthens his stride for two steps so that their paces match, brushing shoulders with Sasuke. "I wish Sakura could've come. She's gonna be really disappointed when sensei tells her."

"She isn't missing out on anything important," says Sasuke, though privately he wishes she were here with him instead. Her enthusiasm is always far more bearable. "This is boring."

"Sakura loves animals! Of course she'll be upset!" Naruto's shoulders sag with a petulant sigh. "And she's more fun than you. Aren't you even a little excited?"

Sasuke's brow furrows as he closes his eyes. "I'm relieved to have another mission to complete." It's the only way he's going to be able to take this stupid thing seriously.

"Ah! I knew it!" A hand falls on Sasuke's shoulder and tilts him sideways, his dark eyes snapping open. Beside him, Naruto beams. "You are excited!"

"No," says Sasuke. He rolls the other's hand off. It's not enough to douse Naruto's amusement.

"Oh, screw off. Too cool to have fun for once in your life?"

"No." Despite quickening his pace, Sasuke knows he isn't going to escape. They're miserably stuck together until next week. Sasuke catches a bead of sweat rolling down his temple with the flat of his wrist. Gods, why does it have to be so hot?

Naruto lets out a long, drawn out coo. "Aw! Sasuke, you're blushing!"

His face heats up at the mere accusation. "No, I'm not. It's hot." Naruto looks so damn punchable right now. Hitting him will only make things worse, Kakashi's lecture still fresh on his mind from two weeks ago. He'd rather not get his ass chewed out if they get back and Naruto is a bloody, orange pulp. Still, it's tremendously tempting. The sun glaring down on the crown of his head isn't offering any respite. Where'd the shade go?

"It is hot," Naruto concedes.

Sasuke sighs. "Yeah."

Another thirty or so minutes of walking reveals rooftops in the distance, the earth falling in a downward slope where the forest begins to thin. They come to a stop at the crest of the hill and survey the town from above, silently relishing the rush of wind breathing over them. The village is still amidst a sea of shivering leaves, tiny and quiet and empty looking. Shrunken ferns jut out over the dirt path criss-crossing down the face of the sun-swallowed hillside. An insignificant part of him itches to catalogue the different species with his newly awakened sharingan, but the desire is set aside for now. Reaching over his head into his backpack, Sasuke's fingers blindly search for the top of their mission scroll.

"Na—" Sasuke can't get his name out before Naruto skitters forward, belly down on a grassy outcrop and peering over the edge. Unwinding the scroll with a roll of his eyes, Sasuke ignores his childish antics. He squints at their instructions. Kakashi's handwriting, Sasuke has discovered, is something one must become acclimated to.

"Psst!"

Dark eyes flicker up beneath the shadow of his brow, Sasuke leering at Naruto. There can't be more than five feet of grass separating them.

Arm extending in a dramatic curve, Naruto points to somewhere further downhill. "Sasuke, look," he giddily whispers. Slapping the scroll closed, Sasuke takes a step toward him. Naruto flails and motions with his hands for him to get down. For a moment, Sasuke debates whether to take him seriously. The expression Naruto wears proves too difficult to brush off. Continuing with his belly low, Sasuke creeps up beside him and peeks over the edge. Tall grass fans out from the hillside, obscuring the road further down. Opening his sharingan, Sasuke sees five balls of chakra huddled inches away, tucked away in the grass. He frowns.

"See 'em?" whispers Naruto. Sasuke's sharingan closes with a dull drumbeat. Naruto reaches out to gently part the grass, revealing a clump of bunnies. Sasuke has him by the wrist before he manages to touch them, the shrill noise Naruto emits causing the bunnies to squeak and raise their heads. "Hey! I saw first!"

"Don't touch," Sasuke hisses, dragging Naruto up by the hold on his arm.

"Huh? Why not?"

Sasuke blinks, pausing. "You'll scare them." The fact he can't remember what his mother used to say makes his stomach hurt. Naruto crosses his arms with a huff, but does as he's told. His reluctant submission is a suitable distraction from the guilt temporarily gnawing his innards, Sasuke returning his focus to the mission—however dull it may be. "Kakashi says we have to change before going any further. Hurry up." Already yanking out the clothes he bought the day before, Sasuke notices the lack of movement from Naruto. He lours at him with one hand still in his backpack. "You remembered to get clothes, right?"

Naruto sways with his thumbs beneath his shoulder straps, idly kicking his left foot. He doesn't say anything.

"Naruto," begins Sasuke in a low voice, "you remembered to get clothes, right?"

Blue eyes slowly find him. Beneath Sasuke's glare, Naruto performs a nervous, lopsided shrug.

"I dunno . . ."

"You don't know?"

"I mean—I—do you have some? That I can wear?"

Huffing, Sasuke roots around his bag before throwing a shirt at him, Naruto managing to catch it. He blows a frustrated raspberry when he fails to stop a pair of shorts from smacking his face. Already yanking his shirt off, Sasuke sees Naruto looking the clothes over in disgust. If his face tells him anything, Sasuke imagines he's already forgotten what Kakashi instructed—to no one's surprise. Sasuke grumbles, "You put it on over your head."

"I know that!" snaps Naruto. "They just . . ." He holds the shirt up in front of him. "It's kinda . . . lame. Like you."

"That's the point."

Lowering the shirt, Naruto sends him a puzzled stare. "Uh, these are supposed to get people to not look at us?"

"Yes," says Sasuke.

Naruto makes a warbling whine inside his mouth and seems to flounder. "What about my jacket?"

"No. And take off your headband."

"Why? I can hide it with my hair?"

Sasuke stalks toward the treeline, shorts in hand. "No. Change." He hears Naruto following him and holds up a hand. "Away from me," he clarifies.

"I'm not getting naked in the middle of the road! You can't hog the whole forest!"

"Then—" Fumbling, Sasuke waves him off. "Go over there, or something."

"I've already seen you naked!" bleats Naruto. Sasuke's shoulders visibly lift. "What's the big deal?" Spinning around, Sasuke shoves his splayed fingers into Naruto's chest to force him back. He fails to think up a decent argument, relying on his scowl instead. Naruto makes a face. "Fine, ya' prude." With that, he slinks off to the opposite side of the road.

Meeting back up around their backpacks, Sasuke takes a second look over the scroll Kakashi gave them. He can already feel his fresh shirt clinging to the sweat on his spine. The lack of thick fabric covering his forehead is a relief he won't mention. Naruto sits across from him in morose silence, very unlike himself. Sasuke doesn't waste time figuring out what exactly he's upset about.

"Do you remember anything Kakashi told us?" he eventually asks.

Naruto pouts and hugs a knee to his chest. "Yeah." His ears are going red with embarrassment, probably feeling belittled. Sasuke tongues the inside of his cheek with a pause. There's no way around it. Naruto will get over it. He always does.

"What do we do from this point?"

They stare at each other, both stubbornly holding the other's gaze. Naruto is the first to look down.

". . . Go to the stupid village."

Sasuke tilts his head forward with a raised brow. "And?"

"No jutsu," mumbles Naruto.

"At all. Nothing. No hands signs, no tree walking, no clones, no—"

"No sharingan."

Sasuke's eyes narrow for a split second. "Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

"Good." Sasuke stands up before Naruto can do the same, already holding his hand out for him to take. "Come on." He notices the weird smirk Naruto makes at his shirt, but it's easy enough to brush off.

They reach the outskirts of the village an hour after nightfall, Sasuke making due with the darkness as best he can. It's painfully difficult not to indulge his sharingan after finally awakening it. Avoiding its use seems almost heretical. Though he's only had it for a month, the time spent learning it with Kakashi has shattered whatever delusions Sasuke once held regarding his perception. The world never looks so magnificently detailed as it does when his sharingan is open. More than once has his chest swelled with newfound pride whilst admiring the crest stitched into the backs of his shirts, a pride he has always refrained from partaking in too much of. But he's finally earned it—if only just a bit. Sometimes, when he's unable to sleep due to jitters or restless legs or the ghost of a red alleyway, Sasuke imagines the conversations he would have with his father and mother about his growth, acting them out in the darkness of his apartment where it's easier to pretend he's not alone. Like the time Sasuke snuck his way into their bed one night and curled up next to his father, Sasuke sometimes whispers up at the shadowed ceiling fan and asks if he's proud of him.

Father would say it again, if he could. He would call him his boy. He knows—he hopes so much. Sasuke thinks it would feel the same as how the glint of pride in Kakashi's eye does whenever he manages to glimpse it.

Now, temporarily barred from using any jutsu, Sasuke is forced back into a world of muddy near-sightedness where everything moves fast—a little too fast. While his born vision remains better than Naruto's, he fumbled his way through the thicker portions of the wood, Naruto laughing and cawing before inevitably tripping himself. Thankfully, the village itself is lit up and glowing. An impressive tent looms black against the night sky, taller than the village surrounding it, spanning far along the treetop horizon. Flags set at its highest points embellish its massive scale. It's impossible not to stare. He's never seen one this big.

"Wow," Naruto exhales when they pass into its shadow, head tilted back with his mouth open. Sasuke pretends he didn't do the same just a moment ago. "That's it, right?"

"I'd imagine," says Sasuke. "Come on. We'll see it tomorrow."

A wide smirk stretches across Naruto's face. "A fish tank big enough for a dolphin?" he mocks in a stupid voice.

"So you only remember the things I say? Makes sense."

"Hey—"

"I thought I told you guys to go home already."

Both of them twist at the waist, Sasuke making sure to keep an eye on Naruto when he notices his body tense. A girl stands behind them with a fistful of something shiny. Her eyes widen upon seeing their faces. Naruto tilts his head to the side, obviously trying to make out whatever she's holding. Squinting, Sasuke notes how it catches the light every now and then. The girl abruptly hides her fist behind her.

"Oh! I'm—I'm sorry," she stammers. Sasuke is already turning away when he hears her step closer. "Oh, hey!" The girl points to their shirts. "I love Princess Shiki!"

Sasuke looks down to examine his front in the citrine light. Upon closer inspection there is, in fact, a large graphic print on his shirt, Sasuke making out the name Princess Shiki accompanied by a very imaginatively styled deer. The sight of full, upside-down breasts turns his blood to ice. He balks. Who makes shirts like this? Who wears them? How the hell did he not notice? Sasuke purses his lips. Slowly lifting his head, he stares at the girl. She looks between the two of them expectantly.

Naruto abruptly laughs. "Same! It's his favorite movie." He jams an elbow into Sasuke's ribs. The pain is nothing compared to the humiliation. "I told him if he really needed someone else to wear it with him, I would."

The girl holds a hand to her chest and smiles, still keeping the other hidden. "That's so sweet!" Her gaze falls on Sasuke with the hint of a flush. "Well, I think it's cool. Don't worry."

Naruto wraps his arm around Sasuke's shoulders and draws him snug against his side. "Thanks! He gets bullied a lot for it, but it makes him happy." Snaking a hand up, he pinches Sasuke's cheeks together—perhaps to hide just how murderous Sasuke feels. "Who can say no to this face?"

Sasuke interprets the harsh squeeze as a signal to speak up. ". . . Yeah," he grits out. Naruto's hold remains bruising. "Thanks." Brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, the girl's flush deepens. She apologizes again for interrupting and appears relieved when Naruto reassures her. The second she's far enough down the street Sasuke shoves Naruto off of him. "Don't you dare sa—"

Naruto cuts him off with a harsh whisper. "Nuh-uh! Kakashi told us to blend in!" He sticks a finger in Sasuke's face, causing his dark eyes to cross. "Start blending, stupid." He insufferably pops his lips around the 'p', Sasuke batting his hand away in revulsion. Naruto's finger drops down to poke Sasuke's stomach hard enough to earn a stifled grunt. "You're the one who bought titty-deer t-shirts."

Sasuke glares with his entire face. "I didn't check what was on them. I grabbed whatever was there," he seethes below his breath.

"Sure, Sasuke. Sure."

They quietly bicker back and forth until Naruto spots an inn, Sasuke refusing to step inside until after he's turned his shirt inside out.

"Looks dumber that way," Naruto grumbles with his hands on his hips, backlit by fluorescent light; a dumb, moronic angel.

Sasuke's hands are at the back of his neck fiddling with his shirt's tag. "Shut up," he murmurs.

They manage to get the last room with the aid of Naruto's mysterious ability to haggle and beg, Sasuke left feeling insulted when the owner is far more interested in helping Naruto than helping him. In fact, the guy doesn't even look in his direction after Naruto steps in to try his hand at persuasion. Watching Naruto unlock their door after dropping the keys twice, Sasuke can't help but wonder when on earth he became more useful. If he could use his sharingan, Sasuke assures himself, then he would've gotten them a room just as easily if not more so. He's still better. He has to be.

Unrolling one of the futons propped against the wall, Naruto lets out a long-winded exhale and shrugs off his backpack. "You or me first?" he asks. When Sasuke doesn't answer him, he shoots a curious look over his shoulder. "Still mad?"

Sasuke stands stiff at the bathroom door, glaring inside. After a stretch of silence, Naruto slinks up beside him to peer in.

"What's—oh."

A single bucket of water sits on the tile floor. Beside it rests a folded towel.

"Where's the bathtub?" asks Naruto, suddenly inhaling and pointing at the towel. "Ew!" he shrieks. "It's mine! I call dibs!"

"We share, dumbass," Sasuke snarls.

"I'm not sharing a towel with you." Naruto scans him up and down before furrowing his brow, evidently trying to spit something out. "You'll get—you'll get your pubes on me."

Clenching his jaw, Sasuke glowers. "What?" What the hell are pubes? "We're sharing, idiot."

Naruto steps into the bathroom and circles the bucket with a horrified expression. Watching him for only a moment, Sasuke makes a low noise in his throat before stepping away to unpack. Glancing down at the futon Naruto rolled out, Sasuke scans the room for another, his expression becoming grim.

"Naruto," he begins, checking the bathroom to find Naruto already undressed. Startled, Sasuke retreats back. "Go ask for another futon."

Naruto's feet plap over the tile as he shuffles around. "Why can't you?"

"Because." Sasuke crosses his arms with his back to him.

"What's wrong with yours?"

"I don't have one."

"Oh," hums Naruto, voice closer. Sasuke gives him a moment to inspect the situation in the bedroom. "Huh. Tough luck, stupid."

Dark eyes find blue, Sasuke's mouth smearing in a grimace. "What?"

Naruto smiles from where he leans out of the bathroom. "That one's big enough. We'll share!" He disappears and shuts the door behind him.

Standing in the darkness of the room, Sasuke glares at the space where Naruto's face used to be. Why couldn't it have been Sakura? He eventually huffs and flicks the light on to start unpacking. Kakashi's scroll is placed on the nearby table to look over after he bathes, Sasuke knowing Naruto certainly isn't going to study it on his own. Then again, Naruto doesn't really need to since he's here. Sasuke always ends up keeping track of mission details, especially when Sakura isn't around. He takes a breath. If only she were here instead. As if on cue, Naruto steps out with the towel over his head. Sasuke jerks his eyes back down to his backpack.

"You're turn," Naruto chirps, his bare feet appearing at the corner of Sasuke's periphery. "Here."

Without looking up, Sasuke takes the towel with a grunt. He pretends to busy himself while waiting for Naruto to go away. Sadly, he doesn't.

"You never act like this when Kakashi's around."

Sasuke tilts his head back enough to meet Naruto's befuddled stare, his stooped posture obscuring his nudity. Naruto's face twists up like he's hurt. After a heartbeat of silence, he moves to dress himself. Seizing the opening, Sasuke drags his clothes out from his backpack and hurries toward the bathroom. A hand gently grabs at his arm, letting go when Sasuke turns his head. Naruto is staring at him with soft eyes.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable or anything," says Naruto. Sasuke blinks, sweatpants clutched over his stomach. Naruto twiddles his fingers. "I can—uh, I'll go ask for another fut—"

"It's fine." Sasuke doesn't know why he says it, or why Naruto's remorse is actually affecting him, but the contrite way Naruto's mouth shyly curls up at the edge has Sasuke swallowing. "Just—forget it." It takes Herculean effort to keep his pace steady while fleeing into the bathroom.

When they both lie down to sleep, Sasuke realizes the futon isn't any bigger than normal. Naruto doesn't seem at all bothered, so Sasuke doesn't mention it.

"Hey," whispers Naruto, rolling on his side with both hands pillowed beneath a whiskered cheek. Sasuke acknowledges him with a silent turn of his head. Veils of darkness are between them, yet Sasuke can imagine his expression by voice alone. "I was kidding. About you being gross and stuff."

Sasuke blows a light snort. "Whatever." He pauses before adding a soft, "Idiot." His grumbled affection garners a breathy laugh. Sasuke feels Naruto playfully nudging him with the pads of his feet.

"Does it make you nervous Kakashi-sensei isn't here?"

The question takes Sasuke by surprise, if only due to its perceptiveness. He stares up at the ceiling and tries not to remember their last mission. Truthfully, he does wish Kakashi were here, but admitting that to Naruto isn't something that interests him. He'd rather not admit it to himself, either.

"It's okay if you are," assures Naruto, voice edging above a whisper. Sasuke turns away to hide his face even if Naruto can't see him. "Last time—" There's the sound of a hard swallow. It's painfully quiet. None of them have talked about what happened at the bridge. Sasuke wants to keep it that way. "Because I am."

It's a fragile confession—and a costly one. Sasuke turns his head, sharingan opening to catalogue his teammate's expression out of curiosity. Illuminated by its diaphanous glow, Naruto's face stretches wide with fear, shoulder jumping up near his ear. Sasuke realizes his mistake. The room is cast back into shadow with a blink of his eyes. Rolling onto his side, Sasuke brings his knees up and slips his hands between his thighs for warmth.

"Don't be," he says. It comes out more stern than comforting, admittedly. "This hardly equates to a real mission."

Naruto mimics him and brings his knees up, toes brushing Sasuke's clothed shins. "I guess."

"Don't be," repeats Sasuke. "It isn't like last time." Through the darkness, he can barely make out a smile on Naruto's face. They don't say anything else about it. Sasuke falls asleep to Naruto's snoring.

If it were hell outside, the inside of the tent is much, much worse. The heat from numerous bodies all packed together and steam-wrapped in plastic—Sasuke can't think of a worse place to be at this moment. Naruto is once again showing him up, making friends with the ticket clerk and whoever else is stationed alongside her. Sasuke stands back with his arms crossed over his chest, brooding, concealing as much of his shirt as possible with little thought given to subtlety. Two girls appear on his left and he braces for whatever flirting they may attempt. They regard him curiously before eyeballing each other, simpering and whispering in one another's ear. Sasuke overhears their hushed jeering no matter how hard they try to hide it, if they're even trying at all. Despite the colorful hair clips and bracelets, they are astoundingly vulgar. Sasuke hears a word he's never heard before. His ears turn hot.

"Ha! See that, Sasuke?" bleats Naruto, wagging two tickets in his face. "Told you so! I even got two for the dark house—"

"Hush," Sasuke murmurs, tugging Naruto away from the stall. "We're here to see the show," he reminds him through bared teeth.

Naruto moans. "Oh, right."

Dark eyes scan the crowd they currently wade through, the muscles in Sasuke's back viscerally twitching. This undercover horseshit is a lot easier in theory than in practice. He can barely hear his own heartbeat with all the noise. How is he supposed to hear an enemy?

"Stay alert," warns Sasuke with a glance over his shoulder. He does a double-take. Naruto is gone. Spinning, head swiveling back and forth, he can suddenly hear his heart thudding against his ribs. A drumbeat flares up in the hollows of his eyes and begs his permission. Sasuke hesitates. A mess of blond hair catches his attention when the crowd breaks, Naruto wiggling and showing his tattooed belly to a line of mirrors. The tension is immediately traded for stinging annoyance. Sasuke blows out a clipped, loud whistle. Naruto's head pokes up. Even with distance can Sasuke make out the gleam in his blue eyes once their gazes lock, his grin curving the whiskers on his cheeks.

"Come 'ere! Come 'ere!" Naruto calls.

Glowering, Sasuke approaches. His reflection stares back at him over Naruto's hopping shoulder, the mirror's face skewed in such a way to make both of them look squish-short. Naruto sputters and points and laughs like an idiot. Sasuke knows how stone-faced he is by his bristling reflection.

"Don't wander off like that," orders Sasuke.

Naruto blows a raspberry. "Relax, tightass. You see any shinobi around?"

"That's not my point." Certainly changed his tune from last night. Sasuke did tell him not to be nervous; maybe this is his fault. "Stop fooling around."

"Gosh, come on. When're we gonna get to do this again?" Naruto jostles him by the shoulders. "Lighten up. It's fun! Ever been to a fair?"

Sasuke stares blankly as he's shaken. "We have something to—" His expression warps violently when a tan finger presses to his lips.

"Nuh-uh! We have all week. We're gonna have fun." Naruto grabs his wrist and heads back toward the entrance of the tent. Tilting his head, Sasuke takes a second to gawk at the high ceiling. "We're gonna have fun," repeats Naruto. "You're gonna have fun. I'll make you."

"Naruto—"

"Did your brother ever take you to the fair?" Naruto asks, rewording his previous question and succeeding in making it not only pointless, but insulting. Sasuke's throat constricts. "They used to happen a lot when we were little."

A bead of sweat carves down the canyon of Sasuke's spine. It's painful how vividly he remembers. His father's smile is a blur of milk and ash, barely identifiable beside—

He cuts that train of thought off before it goes any further.

"Carnivals are for kids," derides Sasuke. "We're not kids anymore."

"Yeah we are? We're not teenagers yet."

A scowl smears Sasuke's mouth, careful not to pout. It's almost summer, which means he's almost thirteen, which means he's basically an adult.

"Whatever," he concedes.

Naruto furrows his brow, looking pleading. "You like animals, right?"

Sasuke frowns without denying it.

"See! And that's kinda what we gotta do, anyways. So we both win!" Taking off down another alley, Naruto continues dragging him along by the wrist, Sasuke all but limp in his hold.

When did Naruto become capable of placating him? Why is he allowing it? Even when Naruto fails to properly maneuver through the crowd, unceremoniously pinballing Sasuke into people, no one snaps at him—especially when Naruto pipes up to apologize in that grating baby-voice. They're not nearly as forgiving when met with Sasuke's empty stare and tight-lipped uncertainty. Bright pink lights flood his vision as they pass through a makeshift tunnel, Sasuke watching the color dapple Naruto's face and dance shadows off his nose. He's grinning ear to ear, keeps twisting around to check on him with bright eyes, excitedly seeking his reaction. Sasuke signals surrender with a shrug of his shoulders. Gloating, Naruto makes a breathy, sincere laugh. For a moment, Sasuke sort of understands—just a little.

Naruto leads them around aimlessly for what feels like forever. Sasuke remains quiet, choosing to spend his time mapping out the inside of the tent. The man made paths are as nonsensical as the spectacles on display, and subsequently the task becomes more difficult than it should be. As Naruto continues stopping every few feet to prattle and ogle something new, Sasuke's subconscious burrows into a crawlspace near the back of his head and refuses to come out. Even when Naruto finally discovers where the animals are is Sasuke still caught up in ruminating over their directive, dark eyes fogged over and glassy. One hand slips over his thigh to find nothing. The absence of his weapon pouch is a heavier discomfort than the weight of the kunai themselves.

"What're we looking for again?" Naruto asks, his sharp voice cutting through to him.

"A tiger," says Sasuke, Naruto springing back into action with him in tow. Sasuke's elbow pops. "Slow down," he growls. Naruto doesn't appear to hear him over the squealing kids, plowing through them in hot pursuit.

"What's it look like?"

". . . A tiger."

"Huh?" Naruto looks back in disbelief. "It's normal looking?"

"Yes," says Sasuke. "What were you expecting?"

"I dunno. Maybe, like, green?"

"Why would you expect that?"

The hold around Sasuke's wrist constricts, Naruto shooting him a sour pout. "'Cuz it's a henge, stupid."

Sasuke hisses. "Keep it do—"

"They can't even hear me!" yaps Naruto with a dramatic flail. He blurts out a string of nonsensical caws that end with a high-pitched woof. Sasuke fidgets under the array of curious eyes snapping toward them. "See? Relax." There's a small boy gawking at their shirts, his mother scrambling to cover his eyes right as they pass by. Sasuke can't remember wanting to see a tiger this much in his entire life—just to get this fucking over with. A sharp inhale from Naruto brings sweet relief. Flocked with curious civilians on all sides, a large cage looms ahead. Naruto rushes up to the bars and nearly slams Sasuke into them. "Look! Look!"

"I am," growls Sasuke. Five tigers huddle in the center of the cage with their backs to each other, muscled bodies tense beneath scarred, heavy pelts. It's immediately obvious how uncomfortable they are. There isn't a shred of coverage for them to hide behind. Sasuke brushes aside his sympathy to better inspect them.

"No sharingan," Naruto whispers.

"I know," mutters Sasuke. A shame, really: it would take seconds to decipher which was a henge with it open. After a brief silence shared between them, Sasuke jerks his head back when hands appear on either side of his face. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Secretly," murmurs Naruto, returning his hands to Sasuke's temples like horse blinders. "Do it secretly."

Gods, they look so stupid right now. He'd be lying to say he wasn't itching to break the rules, though.

With a small grunt, Sasuke complies and slips his sharingan open, immediately overwhelmed by dozens of chakra signatures bursting alight. Hanging off one of the bars, Sasuke leans back and bows his head. Naruto's hands are on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?"

Sasuke rubs his eyes. "Nothing."

"Does it hurt?" asks Naruto. Sasuke can't see his face, but he can hear his concern.

"No, it's just—" He huffs. "It's fine. Cover me." Naruto obeys as Sasuke looks back into the cage. There's so many signatures; he can barely parse what's what. Squinting, he tries harder to focus. "The one on the far right," Sasuke murmurs and closes his sharingan, scrubbing his eyes with the side of his wrist.

"Badass," breathes Naruto with a lopsided grin, his face pressed between the bars. "What's it look like?"

"Different," says Sasuke.

Naruto turns to him and visibly falters. "Are you crying?"

Louring with a stifled sniff, Sasuke bites out a clipped, "No, I'm not."

"Does it burn?"

Sasuke looks back at the tigers. "It's really bright," he admits. Naruto moves to cover his eyes again and Sasuke reels back.

"I'm shading them."

"Naruto, wai—" Sasuke ducks out of the way of his hands. "Naruto, stop."

"I'm trying to help! Come 'ere." Naruto grabs him by the sides of his face and uses his thumbs to pull his eyelids down, ignoring how Sasuke curses and the people nearby shift away. Sasuke takes him by the wrists and forces him off, eyes red from the assault. They glare at each other until Naruto's gaze lowers to his chest. "Pfft," he snickers. "I can't take you seriously with you wearing that."

Snarling at the back of his throat, Sasuke shoves Naruto away. "Focus," he commands.

Naruto salutes. "Yes, madam."

"We—" Sasuke's teeth click with how quickly he shuts his mouth to scowl. "We should head back to the room. Come on." Before he can step away from the cage, Naruto finds his sleeve.

"Wait! How're we gonna recognize it later?"

Sasuke blinks. He looks off to his left in thought. Naruto has a good point, surprisingly. Why didn't he consider that?

"Use your eyes again?" Naruto wonders aloud.

"No," says Sasuke. "It'll be too dark. People would notice."

Naruto nods and scratches his jaw. "Uh, sunglasses?"

Sasuke cocks a brow, knowing fullwell Naruto is aware of what he's thinking without having to say it.

"Yeah," sighs Naruto. Sasuke jumps when he claps his hands together. "Oh! Oh! I know!"

"What?"

"The, uh—those, uh—" Naruto is pointing at something behind him and tugging at his shirt. Sasuke turns to scan the line of stalls. "That one."

"Which one?"

"That one."

Sasuke allows Naruto to guide him closer, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully. "That one?" A yellow stall sits straight ahead, balloons covering the back wall. Sasuke can see red paint splatter where some have popped.

"Yeah," says Naruto, mischievously rubbing his hands together.

"And how do you plan to get the paint on it?" Sasuke asks, cocking his head with half-lidded eyes.

"What paint?"

Sasuke balks. "Huh?"

"What paint?"

They stare at each other, Naruto's head innocently tilted. Sasuke's brow raises in bewilderment.

"Wait, what were you planning to do?"

"Well. Like—you know." Naruto holds his arms out and performs a mysterious jab. "You know?"

"No."

"The balloons! I thought we could, like, pop them. To scare them."

"Why would you do that?"

Naruto's ears turn red. "To move them, stupid! They're all in the middle. How're we gonna reach?" He crosses his arms at the look Sasuke gives him. "I wasn't gonna scare them that bad. Jeez, relax."

Taking a deep breath, Sasuke looks back at the stall. "This would be so much easier if we could actually do anything," he grumbles.

"I know, right? We could just break into the cage."

"That's not what I meant."

"Whatever. I'm not wro—oh! Wait! I'll throw it at them!" A few people eye Naruto with nervous expressions, Sasuke included. "Just kidding," he adds. Sasuke takes his arm and leads them further away, Naruto gradually stopping his fussing once he realizes they're making a wide circle around the enclosure. "Sasuke, what're you doing?"

"Quiet," murmurs Sasuke. His mouth twitches. "I'm going to get one of the balloons and you're going to throw it."

"Oh, okay. I'm wrong for wanting to scare them and you're not for wanting to stone them."

"Hush," Sasuke snaps. "It's not a tiger. You won't hurt the others." Dark eyes turn thin as a knife's edge. "Don't you dare miss."

Naruto holds his hands up. "I won't!" Sasuke goes quiet while he eyes up the cage. Naruto hums uncertainly behind him. "You should throw it."

"What?" Sasuke looks back. Naruto cocks his brow, mirroring the way Sasuke looked at him before. It's almost insulting and Sasuke almost wants to punch him, but he's absolutely right. "Fine. You get the balloon. I'll—" Naruto is already squirming free from his hold and making a beeline to the stall, Sasuke opening his mouth to warn him before giving up. Continuing his slow circle around the cage, keeping a watchful eye on Naruto all the while, Sasuke searches for a vantage point to perform his throw. Despite the tent's metal skeleton offering little in the way of perches, the stalls have roofs to them and differ in height. If he can get on top of one, Sasuke thinks he could make it work. There's certainly enough distractions around to help with cover. He decides on a spot a few yards from where he is currently, the colored strobe lights stationed along the roof's trimming providing another layer of discretion.

It'll be a far throw to make, but Sasuke's been throwing things his entire life. A balloon should be simple enough.

"Okay!" Naruto's voice startles him. "He gave me two!"

Turning, Sasuke examines the two balloons held out for him. "Stay down here," begins Sasuke, motioning with his head upward. "I'm going up there."

"Where?"

"Where the lights are."

Naruto squints, blue eyes darting back and forth in their sockets. "Oh."

Sasuke nods. "Cover me. When it hits, you run."

"And if you miss?" asks Naruto.

"I won't. That's why I'm doing it, remember?" He receives a half-hearted shrug for his confidence. Sasuke's hackles bristle. "Just stay down here, alright?"

Naruto gives him a thumbs up and the two separate, Sasuke heading for the far alley and finding his way into the cramped aisle separating the stallbacks. It's dark and dirty and tight, but at least no one in their right mind would come back here—no civilian, at least. Balloons held by their knots in his left hand, Sasuke scales up to the landing across from the tiger cage, belly pressed to the wooden boards the second he can spread himself flat. As expected, the strobe lights are large enough to block him when he slumps in a crouch. The heat radiating off of them is enough warning for Sasuke not to get close. High above the alley and overlooking the tiger's cage, he opens his sharingan with a hesitant wince.

Chakra signatures span out in a lake of living fire, burning and undulating and searing into his permanent memory. His fists scrape against the wood beneath him, splinters biting into the skin of his knuckles. There are tears welling up in his left eye and beginning to cut warm streaks down his cheek. Cursing, Sasuke yanks his collar up to his hairline and hides his face. Closing his eyes makes him lightheaded. Why can't he do it? Kakashi makes it look so easy. Itachi made it look so easy. Sasuke angrily rubs his eyes through the fabric with both hands and coughs. What would his father say if he saw him right now? Shame hollows out his stomach.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke lets out a harsh exhale and hooks an elbow around the throat behind him, falling on his back against the roof and cranking his wrist up near his jawline. A crop of blond hair tickling his lips has Sasuke immediately releasing the hold.

Naruto shoots up and sucks in a ragged breath. "What the hell!" he wheezes, quietly as possible. A tan fist raises to strike him.

"Don't—" Sasuke cuts himself off to clutch his aching hip bone. Naruto pouts at him angrily. "What the hell are you doing up here?"

"You weren't doing anything, stupid!" Naruto whisper-shouts. Growling, Sasuke pushes up onto his elbows, making sure the balloons haven't rolled off. "Sasuke, you have to start telling me when your eyes hurt."

"I'm fine." It pains him how pathetic the words come out with his stuffed-up nose. Sasuke crawls back to his perch with one knee against his chest, left hand forming a possessive claw over the two balloons. "Get back down there or I'll make you." Even if his eyes are trained away, Sasuke can feel Naruto's stare burning the back of his head.

Naruto lets out a sigh. "Dude," he grumbles, sounding more exasperated than angry, "just let me help." He saddles up beside him at the ledge, Sasuke refusing to meet his eyes despite knowing Naruto is searching for them. "Look, you've been treating me like a baby since we left—and I get it. I do. But you're being the baby right now."

Dark eyes turn to him, a silent warning. Naruto holds his glare with ease, cocking an incredulous brow—the same look from before. They both know what it means without saying it. Lowering his chin, Sasuke uncomfortably adjusts his weight, pretending to busy himself a few sacred seconds.

"Fine," he submits.

"It's the one furthest from us. Left hand side," says Naruto. Sasuke forces himself to nod, picking up one of the balloons and acquainting himself with its sloshing weight. "It hasn't moved since you pointed it out. You can check if it doesn't hurt too much."

Taking in a breath, Sasuke murmurs, "It's not that it hurts," before trailing off. Keeping sight of the tiger Naruto pointed out, his sharingan blinks. There's a tear dangling off the cut of his jaw. "It's the henge," informs Sasuke with some difficulty.

"Turn it off. I won't lose it."

Sasuke reluctantly obeys, wiping his face. Tossing the balloon up and down, acclimating to the size, he begins to rise up.

"You got it," Naruto encourages in a hushed voice.

"Yeah," grunts Sasuke. "Get ready." His arm cocks back with calculated poise, Sasuke straightening his back enough to breach the cover of the strobe light. His vision splits horizontally, pink and purple and blue light swallowing the bottoms of his eyes. Down in the cage, beyond the blinding horizon, the tiger appears to be staring at him. Sasuke's fingers clench soft around the balloon. "Now—"

Pain spears the center of his right hand and the balloon bursts, hot paint splattering his profile and forcing Sasuke to reflexively drop. When he tries to catch himself something pushes up through his palm, drawing the skin on the back of his hand up with it. He sucks in through clenched teeth. Naruto is already grabbing him around the waist and flying off the roof, blindly clambering down into the back alley and slapping him down on the dirt. The air leaves Sasuke's lungs in a squeaking wheeze. Wincing, he lifts his hand up to his face, arm glistening cherry red. There's a senbon the length of a kunai speared clean through his palm.

"Sasuke—" It takes Naruto all of two heartbeats to realize what he's staring at. Sasuke coughs when his weight settles feverishly on top of him. Hands peel his shirt up to his armpit and expose sticky, paint-slicked ribs. Naruto gapes. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Sasuke—no." The words tumble mindlessly out his mouth, pupils blown wide, tears clumping his blond lashes. Sasuke recognizes the way the blood drains from his face. He reaches up with his good hand to push on Naruto's collar. Blue eyes briefly meet him before hurriedly returning to his side. He's desperately digging his fingers between the rungs of his ribs, carving out invisible needles. Sasuke bites down around a pained snarl.

"Calm down," he barks. Sasuke wishes he knew how to soften the command; the voice fleeing his throat sounds like his father's. "We're out in the open. You have to focus." Naruto is scouring his body, his hands now stained red. He doesn't seem to hear him. Sasuke grabs one of his wrists to stop his fruitless searching. "Naruto, there's only one. It's just paint."

A shriveled exhale escapes Naruto's mouth. "From the balloon?"

"It's on you, too."

Naruto's fingers twitch before he lets go of Sasuke, eyes continuing to flicker between his throat and face. Sasuke tries not to panic and check his neck. Picking himself up, awkwardly keeping his right hand out and isolated, Sasuke spits out paint. Naruto stays crouched at his feet with wide, trembling eyes.

"Who threw it?" he whispers.

It physically hurts to not have that answer. "We need to leave," Sasuke corrects. Whoever saw them is bound to realize they abandoned the roof. There's less than seconds to react. Sasuke holds his good hand out for Naruto to take. "Come on," he spurs. The ghostly film over Naruto's eyes lifts a fraction, just enough for him to reach out and for Sasuke to yank him up. The tent looks even bigger when they scale its wall, Naruto gripping him tighter and tighter with each passing second, each time his foot comes down too hard on the plastic and Sasuke lurches faster. Escaping through the sunlit hole at the center of the tent's ceiling is chaos; baby bunnies erupting from a burning burrow. Neither of them admits it, but Sasuke sees fog.

The silence between them lasts until their knees thump down on the floor of their room, the paint having dried in the wind. Still staring at the senbon speared through his hand, Sasuke catches a glimpse of Naruto's face warping painfully between the gaps in his red fingers. Before he can say anything, Naruto thunders past him with a half-strangled sob, crawling on all fours and escaping into the bathroom with a loud slam. Sasuke keeps his eyes down, slouching further when whimpers reach his ears. He pretends not to notice. If anything, the privacy allows Sasuke to actualize things, a shutter crawling up the right side of his body like a fever. Red paint cracks and splits across his pale skin. The tendons in his hand catch on the needle and Sasuke remembers how they felt inside his throat: stabbed through his windpipe, choking him on his guts, spearing his tongue in six directions. He blinks and he swears his eyelids hit metal.

Sasuke sits on the futon and attempts the process of forgetting piece by piece, inch by inch, body part by body part. Without Kakashi's guidance the effort is wasted. Sasuke feels himself dying over and over, again and again. He doesn't speak when Naruto rejoins him on the floor, blue eyes diamonds in the redness of his sclera. His knee brushes against Sasuke's and a part of him comes back. Naruto sits in front of him, very close to him, wearing a face he's never seen before. Tears stain his whiskered cheeks. Sasuke doesn't remember opening his sharingan but he recognizes its reflection in the wetness of his eyes.

Naruto gingerly reaches out to take his speared hand, cradling it in his lap and staring in horrified silence. Sasuke doesn't interrupt whatever it is he's doing; his touch is a suitable replacement for Kakashi's. Neither of them moves, not until Naruto's head tilts up and their gazes lock. He doesn't have to say anything for Sasuke to understand and it seems Sasuke doesn't have to, either. Naruto's tongue peaks out to wet his red-speckled lips.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes. "I got scared."

Looking back at his hand in Naruto's lap, Sasuke blinks. If he were anyone else, he would admit something similar. Sasuke settles for a strained, "You were right."

Naruto doesn't say anything. They sit together on the futon for a long time.