Sasuke slowly drifted back to consciousness. He slowly became aware of the sunlight shining through his eyelids, and then slowly woke up. The raven blinked his eyes, and looked out the window. Buttery yellow sunlight shone through, and he could see the individual rays as they sparkled on through the pane of glass. Something dawned upon Sasuke.

I haven't slept that well in… years.

Sasuke was prone to nightmares that jerked him out of his sleep in a cold sweat. He'd wake up screaming, thrashing, and calling out a certain someone's name. Then, ever since he'd started the shinobi missions, he'd had nightmares about them as well. Especially ones with Zabuza and Haku. Those two prowled his dreams, Zabuza with his huge executioner's blade and Haku with his needles and ice mirrors. Then there was the common nightmare of that night, always ending on Itachi's retreating form, or his Mangekyou Sharingan eyes glowing red at Sasuke through a field of black smoke.

But tonight he couldn't recall one nightmare. One dream. Or one sudden jerk out of sleep. He had slept like a log.

Hold on… who's window was that?

Naruto…

It all came rushing back… as well as exactly WHERE he was.

Sasuke suddenly became aware of several things.

One, he was in Naruto's bed. Two, they were using the same pillow now; how was that? Well that would be number three. Naruto was spooned up against Sasuke's back, with his chin tucked up over Sasuke's head, and their legs tangled together. Sasuke was laying on Naruto's glued arm, and their joined hands were laying in front of Sasuke's face, almost taunting him. As for their other two hands? Sasuke had Naruto's free hand grasped in his own… tucked tightly against his chest.

Sasuke was about to have a mental breakdown.

Then things got SO much worse. Naruto woke up.

Sasuke shivered as he felt the blonde take in a big breath, and sigh it back out. Then shivered again as his exhale dusted down Sasuke's face.

The Uchiha knew the exact moment Naruto realized their position.

Because Naruto gasped, and yelled.

The dobe's yell snapped Sasuke out of his panicked trance, and the two of them shot 4 whole feet up from the bed, in full freak out mode. Naruto was yelling and cursing like Sasuke was a cockroach, and Sasuke hated to admit that he was uttering a high pitched squeal.


Naruto crashed to the ground beside his bed, and Sasuke-of course, because it would be too easy for this not to happen-landed on top of him. The blonde got the wind knocked out of him, but he didn't care, he was too busy pushing Sasuke off and trying to get away.

Unfortunately Sasuke had the same idea, and for about the thousandth time since they had been glued together, they ran in opposite directions only to be elastically snapped back together.

Sasuke hissed as they knocked heads. "Usuratonkachi," he snarled, followed by a creative string of curses.

"Well good morning to you too," Naruto grumbled, rubbing his aching head.

Sasuke's cursing ended abruptly.

"What is it now?" Naruto groaned.

"What time is it?"

"Uh…"


Sasuke and Naruto sprinted through the village. Sasuke was too concerned with making it to the bridge on time to worry about the fact that he was wearing one of Naruto's T-shirts and a pair of his hideous orange pants, not to mention the strange looks they were getting. They had arrived at the Hidden Leaf in the late afternoon the day before, so there hadn't been as many people out when they had first arrived back at the village.

But now?

It seemed like everyone was out and about.

He and Naruto had slept in way late, the scramble to get out of the house had been utter chaos. They had barely managed to summon the combo clone to get their clothes on, not to mention get the mess it took to get on their shoes. They had also skipped breakfast, with Naruto out of food and late enough as it was they had had no time to stop somewhere.

With being late taking up so much mental space, they also had no time to overthink running in sync, and were matching each other stride for stride without flaw. Just like the battle with the bandits.

Of course, when it comes to working together with Naruto, the only answer is to not use your brain at all.

The two crashed onto the bridge, and came to a screeching halt in front of Sakura… and Kakashi Sensei. They were so late that even Kakashi had beaten them?! What a hellhole of a day this was turning out to be.

"Well, good morning to you two," Kakashi Sensei said in that laid back, slacker sounding voice of his. "I assume you slept well?"

Sasuke glared at the white haired man, and dragged his free hand through his hair-to find it was in utter disarray. Lovely. At least Naruto's hair always looked messy, he looked like he had just rolled out of bed! Which was exactly what had happened…

"Stupid Naruto!" Sasuke held in a groan as Sakura began her hourly, more like minutely, lecture on Naruto. "Why'd you have to make Sasuke-kun late?! You mess everything up!"

"It's not all my fault, Sakura! He's the one who was cuddl-"

Sasuke slapped his hand over Naruto's mouth. He did NOT want ANYONE to hear about that morning. In fact, HE didn't want to hear about it. It was best to ignore the entire mess and think about the implications later, or more preferably never again.

Kakashi snorted. "Well I'm glad that you two had fun, now, let's discuss our mission."

Sasuke released his grip on Naruto's mouth, and the two of them stepped apart… more accurately, as far apart as their arms could reach. Which was not far enough.

"I checked in with the metal workers, and it will take about a week to fix the treasure of the feudal lord's daughter. You two sure made quite the mess of it. Because of that, we will not have any missions for this next week since technically this one is not yet finished. We will be on wait until the treasure is fixed, hopefully it will take less than a week, and hopefully it does not take more. Now, onto the elephant in the room." He turned his gaze to Sasuke and Naruto.

"I am going to take a closer look at the glue you've got there." Kakashi reached his hand up, and removed the headband from his Sharingan eye. He then walked up to Naruto and Sasuke and observed their joined hands.

Why did Sasuke feel like he was being examined by a doctor over a fatal disease?

"It's just as I feared," Kakashi said.

"What? What's just as you feared?!" Naruto demanded, his voice getting higher with each word. Sasuke acted apathetic, but he was hanging on every letter coming from Kakashi Sensei's mouth.

"This glue is like spider silk. It is a natural substance, and incredibly strong. However, it is infused with chakra, and appears to be a specific variation of its original form."

"Which means?" Naruto asked.

"This silk is designed for battle," Kakashi explained. "It is almost indestructible, which is why I can do nothing about it. On top of all that, the more you stretch it and struggle, the longer it will take to dissolve. And considering the amount of tension you two have put on it, who knows how long it will take before you two are free. All I can say is that it will be more than a couple of days."

Sasuke's mind froze.

"WHAT!?" Naruto demanded. "I've already had to pee with this guy, eat with him, poop with him, bathe with him, dress with him, sleep in the same bed as him, and you're telling me that there's no telling how long it will take to be separated?!"

Naruto took the words right out of Sasuke's mouth.

"That is what I am saying," Kakashi responded, sounding far too amused with the whole ordeal.

Sasuke told him as much.

"Ya, Kakashi Sensei! It's not fair!" Sakura whined.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. The only thing worse than being glued to Naruto would be being glued to Sakura. He shuddered at the thought of all that had happened with himself and Naruto having to happen with him and Sakura.

"There is one bright side to this situation," Kakashi said cheerily… too cheerily. He was even smiling, eyes closed and turned upward and all.

"What could that possibly be?!" Naruto all but screamed.

"They say that the more time you spend with a person, the better you get to know them. This way, you and Sasuke can get a mutual understanding, and hopefully learn to get along better."

Sasuke contemplated this. Get to know Naruto? Not exactly his cup of tea; actually, that analogy was a complete understatement. Then out of nowhere the ramen incident flashed across his mind. Sasuke remembered Naruto laughing at him, but also how quickly he had caught on to Sasuke's hangry nature… and how he had taken his first chance and shoved the food into Sasuke's mouth. He recalled Naruto's expression. He had looked… affectionate. The word made Sasuke's stomach turn. Naruto had hand fed Sasuke, and had put up with every one of his demands. He cooperated with the shoe and bath incident. Maybe… maybe it wouldn't be so bad to get to know Naruto.

Naruto groaned, "I hate this! Uh… Sasuke? I have to go to the bathroom."

Nevermind. This would be horrible.


"No! We need to go to the Uchiha complex and get my clothes right now!"

Sasuke is so aggravating!

"We haven't eaten anything all day! Come on, Sasuke! I'm starving!"

The raven glared at Naruto, and Naruto glared back.

They were currently stuck at an intersection, arguing about where to go. They had split up with Sakura and Kakashi Sensei, then gone to the bathroom (with a lot of grumblings from Sasuke, they had used a public restroom and Sasuke had been horrified at having to walk into the same stall, they had gotten MANY strange looks), and now they couldn't agree on where to go next.

Sasuke had declared that he would not be seen in public in Naruto's clothing, and demanded that they go straight to the Uchiha complex to get Sasuke a pair of his own clothes.

He is already in public with my clothes on! Why does it matter this much?! I gave him a black shirt cause he only ever wears emo colors, yet he still complains! It's not MY fault that all my pants are orange!

Naruto had disagreed, saying that they needed to stop for breakfast first. He was starving, and knew Sasuke was as well. The onyx eyed gremlin was hangry enough as it was, and Naruto did not want to have to walk all the way to the Uchiha complex with grumpus-puss Sasuke.

Sasuke was leaning in the direction of his home, and Naruto was leaning in the direction of the food district. They were held upright only by the glue, and used each other's weight to balance. Naruto heard a giggle from a passing pair of women, and Sasuke glared them down.

"Why are you so prickly, Sasuke?"

The blonde jumped and made a disturbed noise as Sasuke whipped his head in his direction, Sharingan glowing red.

Naruto laughed, "Oh Sasuke, we both know why you are so upset! You are hangry! Let's just go eat, you know you wanna!"

"I am not hangry!" Sasuke declared.

"Then why are you pointing your Sharingan at me?" Naruto taunted with a wicked smirk.

Sasuke literally growled.

Wait… that was his stomach

Naruto laughed again, "See Sasuke? Hangry!"

"Why you, USURATONKACHI!" Sasuke lunged at Naruto, and Naruto ran in the opposite direction. The blonde zig-zagged at the last second so that their glue got caught around a pole as they each took a different side. With the two of them stopped, Naruto proposed: "Rock-paper-scissors!"

Sasuke glared, and agreed. He held out his fist.

"Hey! No Sharingan! That's cheating!"

Sasuke closed his eyes, and when he opened them they were back to their usual black.

"1, 2, 3!" They announced at the same time, and on three showed their choices.

"YESSS!" Naruto cried out in victory, "Paper beats rock!"

The raven glared at his fisted hand, clearly upset with his second loss against Naruto at rock-paper-scissors.

"To Ichiraku!"

"Ichiraku?!" Naruto's onyx eyed companion demanded. "Why would we eat ramen for breakfast?! We just had it for dinner!"

"The real question is why would we NOT eat ramen? Ramen is the best! Besides, I won so I pick where we eat! Had you won, we would have gotten your clothes and you would have picked where to eat!"

Sasuke grumbled, "Fine. But you're paying."


Iruka Sensei walked down the main street of the food district on his way to Ichiraku. He thought he might see Naruto there, and be able to share breakfast with the boy. And pay for his meal, of course!

What Iruka did not expect to see was both Naruto AND Sasuke.

To top things off, they were sitting side by side, with their stools pushed close together.

What on earth? Am I still dreaming, or am I in some sort of genjutsu? An Infinite Tsukuyomi?! Why would Sasuke be eating with Naruto?

Iruka ducked under the flaps of cloth and sat on Naruto's other side. "Goodmorning, Naruto, Sasuke."

"Iruka Sensei!" the blonde Jinchuriki called out joyously.

"Hey, Iruka Sensei," the Uchiha survivor said with much less enthusiasm, if any at all.

The two of them didn't even mention the fact that they were sitting almost shoulder to shoulder, well, I guess I'll just have to ask.

"If you don't mind my asking, are you two-"

"Glue," Sasuke said blankly and held up his hand which was in between himself and Naruto. The raven's hand was connected to the Jinchuriki's through a huge blob of glue! It was then that Iruka noticed Sasuke's clothing. He was in one of Naruto's black T-shirts and a pair of Naruto's orange pants.

The Uchiha did not seem pleased in the least with the situation.

That explains it. They have to be that close. And here I thought they were dating! Silly Iruka!

"How did that happen?" Iruka asked, knowing full well that Naruto would be dying to vent his frustration about the situation.

The blonde drained the last of his broth and launched into a colorful story about how he and Sasuke had gotten glued together at the hand during their last mission. Every so often Sasuke would interrupt to correct an exaggerated detail or redirect the blame from himself onto Naruto.

"And that's when I discovered that Sasuke here has a hangry streak!"

Iruka laughed goodnaturedly. That was certainly unexpected.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was clenching his chopsticks in his fist so tight that they were shaking. Iruka knew that Sasuke did not like showing weakness, and this silly tale was stock full of embarrassing moments and shocking details.

Iruka listened to Naruto recount the events of the previous night, and started on his bowl of ramen. Sasuke, meanwhile, slowly downed his own with his nondominant hand. Ichiraku and his daughter continued their work around the ramen shop, smiling as Naruto and occasionally Sasuke explained how they had gotten to where they were.

One thing Iruka noticed during his meal and conversation with the two (though it was mostly with Naruto) was that the way they interacted had changed slightly. They seemed almost more comfortable in each other's presence. Less spiteful to the other. Sasuke seemed just as apathetic as always, but he seemed more at ease around the Jinchuriki than ever before.

Iruka knew that two of them were not particularly enjoying this situation, especially the whole bathing and sleeping together part (both had blushed a little recalling those moments) but this truly was good for them and their relationship. If Naruto and Sasuke could get along better, then team 7's flow would improve quite a bit. They would mold into quite the formidable team.

Iruka knew that Kakashi had not intended for this to happen, but it was one sure-fire-to-work bonding exercise if Iruka had ever seen one.


Naruto walked side by side with Sasuke in the direction of the Uchiha complex. The gentle swinging motion of their joined hands almost lulled Naruto into a trance. They had parted ways with Iruka Sensei and were back on their own. Sasuke was definitely less grumpy now that he had eaten, but he was clearly uncomfortable with the numerous glances they were getting from their fellow villagers.

"Hey, ignore them, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with the most surprised expression. Probably because the blonde was speaking to him without the intention of getting a rise out of him for once.

The jinchuriki looked into Sasuke's onyx eyes and spoke from the bottom of his heart of hearts: "It doesn't matter what they think. It may be easy for me to say, bening used to the looks and all. But if I've learned anything from my lifetime it's that it is best to ignore other people and follow your ninja way. It does not matter if others do not understand; it is your path, not theirs. They couldn't possibly understand this situation, and strange as it is no one likely ever will. All we can do is hold our heads high and continue on as if nothing is wrong! Just remember, I'll be Hokage one day, and you'll be a powerful shinobi! It doesn't matter how bad it feels now, 'cause someday they will look at us with respect! Just follow your ninja way, Sasuke! So long as you follow your self-rule you will never stray into the wrong! Believe it!"

Naruto smiled at Sasuke, if anything was reassuring in a tough situation it was a grin! The raven gazed at the blonde for a few seconds, before a small smile crossed his face. A very small smile, yes, but a smile nonetheless.

"Heh, thanks… dobe," he said softly.


Naruto…

His speech had really reassured Sasuke. Now he ignored the gazes and just walked along with his blonde teammate. "All we can do is hold our heads high and continue on as if nothing is wrong! Just remember, I'll be Hokage one day, and you'll be a powerful shinobi!"

Naruto had actually admitted that to him. Sasuke could tell he hadn't been lying. Naruto truly believed that Sasuke would turn out a strong ninja. The thought warmed his chest for some reason.

What was it about Uzumaki Naruto… that made Sasuke want to follow him? He had some strange power to reassure and encourage. Strangely enough, all the "believe its!" and "dattebayos!" seemed to actually work.

Sasuke remembered Naruto's smile for about the 50th time.

He had just grinned at him like nothing was wrong. Like they weren't stuck together for some unknown amount of time, like everyone didn't obviously think they were crazy, like they didn't fight constantly! Sasuke couldn't help but to smile back, not when Naruto used that odd power of his. When the dumb blonde was like this… Sasuke couldn't help but enjoy being in his presence. Usually he acted all idiotic and superior, always struggling to surpass Sasuke, impress Kakashi Sensei, and catch Sakura's attention. But now…

He was relaxed and acting like a normal human being… and Sasuke didn't hate Naruto's regular personality. As much as he hated to admit it, the real Naruto wasn't too horrible to be around.

Sasuke looked over at the blonde at his side.

He had a relaxed expression on his face, and the sunlight set his hair to golden fire. His eyes really did match the sky…

Sasuke was pulled from his thoughts by a loud voice.

"Naruto? Sasuke? Hahaha, is that you?!"

Oh no. Kiba.

The dog boy jogged up to Naruto and Sasuke, giggling like a child. Akamaru was perched atop his head like a king on a throne.

"Sasuke, are you wearing Naruto's clothes?" Kiba laughed.

Sasuke remembered what Naruto had said. "Yeah, so?" He replied.

Kiba laughed again, "Why? And why are you holding hands?"

"Because we got glued together on our last mission!" Naruto declared, holding their joined hands up for Kiba to see.

Kiba laughed again. "That sucks dude!"

"Oh really?" Sasuke deadpanned.

Naruto laughed, surprising Sasuke.

I made Naruto laugh? Huh.

"Why are you in Naruto's clothes, Sasuke?" came a dry voice. It was Shino.

"They got glued together on their last mission," Kiba said, filling Shino in.

"That doesn't explain why Sasuke isn't in his own clothing."

"I had to spend the night at Naruto's and apparently this dobe doesn't own a washing machine," Sasuke said, getting annoyed with all of this unwanted attention.

"If you didn't want to wear my clothes then you should have remembered your own!" Naruto exclaimed, annoyingly making a good point.

"Shut up, usuratonakchi," Sasuke grumbled as he shoved Naruto with his shoulder.

Naruto squealed in surprise, and then shoved Sasuke back.

Before they could get into another wrestling match, another voice assaulted Sasuke's ears.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said timidly.

"Hinata!" Kiba said cheerfully. "Sasuke and Naruto here got glued together on their last mission and now are stuck together. Oh ya! How long will you two be like that?"

"Kakashi Sensei said two to three days," Naruto responded.

"But the glue gets stronger the more it is stretched so there is no telling how long it will be," Sasuke corrected.

"Knowing you two, it has already been stretched an unholy amount," Shino guessed.

"That would be correct," Sasuke said, feeling his eyebrow twitching.

"Heheh, how's it feel to be stuck at Naruto's side all hours of the day?" Kiba asked, and Akamaru punctuated with a little "woof."

"And night," Shino added.

A hundred little flashes of the chaos Sasuke had so far endured flashed across his eyes.

"Imagine utter hell. Then triple that."

"Hey!" Naruto said, immediately taking offense. "You're not all rainbows and butterflies to be around either, ya' know!"

"Dobe," Sasuke shot at him.

"Stupid Sasuke," Naruto shot back.

"Um-Um…" Hinata stuttered out, then gave up because of her face turning red.

I really do not understand why Hinata likes Naruto.

An unwelcome flash of Naruto's grinning face from earlier surfaced in Sasuke's mind, which he immediately pushed back down.

Kiba picked up for Hinata, "We were gonna ask you if you wanted to go to the lake with us! We were gonna train on the water today, since we are on a break from missions. Shikamaru, Ino, and Choji are all on a mission right now, and we already invited Sakura-she's coming, by the way."

Sasuke weighed his options. He really wanted to go to the Uchiha complex and get his clothes, and he REALLY didn't want to be shirtless in water with Naruto again… also he was still wearing Naruto's boxers and wanted to spare himself the embarrassment of swimming in them. Then there was the fact that training while tied to Naruto-without his dominant hand, no less-would be near impossible. Plus it would be better to just-

"Ya! It sounds awesome!" Naruto cried out before consulting with Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at Naruto in horror, and was about to interject when Kiba said, "Great! We're going right now! Come on!"

Kiba, Shino, and Hinata then took off across the rooftops. Naruto jumped after them.

"Ya! This'll be great! Ack!"

Sasuke stumbled to the ground after Naruto, who had once again forgotten that they were glued together. "Naruto! No! We are going to the Uchiha complex now!"

"But SasuKE, everybody's already leaving! We'll be late! Plus, it will take forever to go all the way to the Uchiha complex! It will be backtracking! On top of all that, we'll just be going there to get clothes for you to get all dirty! It makes more sense to just go to the lake, and then go to the Uchiha complex afterwards to change when we are all soaking wet!"

"No! We agreed to go to the Uchiha complex next!"

"Sasuuuke, pleeease?" Naruto then made a pouty face, and gazed up at Sasuke with wide, blue eyes, trembling his lower lip for effect.

Sasuke took in a breath, ready to reject this absurd boy-when a breeze blew through. It rustled Naruto's hair, and blew it into his face. Neither of them were wearing their headbands so it blew down into his eyes. Naruto then tilted his head and contorted his eyebrows even more. The sun sparkled in Naruto's fake tears, and set his sky blue eyes sparkling. It was like nature itself was on Naruto's side.

Something did a flip in Sasuke's stomach.

"Argh, FINE! Just, stop making that stupid face!"

Sasuke then turned away from Naruto to hide his pink cheeks.

Why am I blushing at this dobe?!

Sasuke knew why. Naruto had looked absolutely adorable. Like a lost puppy.

He pushed that incident deep, deep down, to the most dark and secluded part of his mind. He would NEVER think of this EVER again.


Naruto and Sasuke arrived at the lake. The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and set light reflecting off the water in twinkling rays. The sparkling blue water looked so clean and refreshing, and the warm sand looked like it was just waiting to be walked through.

"Ya! This'll be great!" Naruto cried out, and plopped down on the ground near the other 4 genin who were all removing their shoes. "Sasuke! Hurry up!"

Naruto watched as Sasuke grumbled, and then helped Naruto remove his shoes. Then they together removed Sasuke's shoes. The blonde stuck his tongue out at Kiba, who was laughing at the whole ordeal.

The group of 6 walked onto the sand. "What training are we doing, Kiba?" Sakura asked.

"Swim training, of course!" Kiba called out excitedly, then shucked off his coat, pants, and mesh undershirt and dove into the lake. Akamaru scampered into the water after him.

"So pretty much just 'lake fun day,'" Shino said annoyedly. "Here I thought we would be doing something productive."

"Swimming is too productive, right Sasuke-kun?" Sakura said as she stripped down to her bathing suit. "Come on, swim with me!"

"No," Sasuke said. He was NOT swimming. He could only imagine how difficult that would be attached to Naruto.

Sakura began to pout but perked up when Hinata invited her to splash around in the little lake-waves with her. Shino sighed and took off his trench coat, he then released an enormous swarm of insects, and joined Kiba in the lake-he kept on his sunglasses though.

Sasuke was fully prepared to take a nap under the shade of the trees, but that dream was shattered when Naruto suddenly pulled both his and Sasuke's T-shirt and pants off, leaving them both in their swimming wear… which just happened to be Naruto's boxers. "H-Hey! Usuratonkachi! What do you think you're doing?!" Sasuke demanded.

Now I've not only been fed by Naruto, but undressed by him as well.

"Swimming, Sasuke!" He said before sprinting to the water, he ran so fast that Sasuke had no choice but to stumble along after him. Naruto hit the water with a splash and crashed through the waves. Sasuke on the other hand, had other ideas.

"Sasuke! What's wrong with you?!" Naruto demanded.

"I said I wasn't swimming," Sasuke answered simply. While Naruto had rushed right into the water, Sasuke had rushed right over the water, as in he had focused his chakra into his feet to walk across the surface of the lake.

Naruto glared up at him, his arm stretched over his head to meet Sasuke's hand, which was hanging at his side. "You sure do love sucking the fun out of everything, don't you?"

"Yup."

"Sasuke, come 'ere!" Kiba called.

"Be right there!" Sasuke responded, suppressing a grin as he walked across the lake, dragging a sputtering Naruto through the water behind him.


Naruto glared as Sasuke dragged him through the lake. Stupid Sasuke! Of course he could walk on water!

Who does he think he is? Friggin' Jesus?

Naruto turned in the direction of Kiba's laugh. He tried to ignore the fact that he could no longer touch the bottom, and the only thing holding him afloat was Sasuke's hand.

"How are you doing that, Sasuke?" Kiba asked.

"I just focus the chakra into my feet, it's simple, really."

"Cool!"

Naruto watched as Kiba tried, and failed. Naruto then tried… and failed. Shino then climbed atop the water, and stood next to Sasuke.

"You can do it too, Shino?!" Kiba demanded.

"Yes, like Sasuke said. It is easy."

"Easy for you to say!" Kiba complained as he tried and again failed to stand on the water.

"Dobe! Stop, if you can't do it, you can't do it!" Sasuke snapped at Naruto as the blonde failed again and almost made Sasuke fall into the lake.

"I-it's not so difficult," Hinata said. Naruto looked up at the quiet girl. She was standing on the water as well, and holding a shaking Sakura up by the hands as the pink haired girl struggled to get a hold of the technique.

Naruto tried once more, and failed once more.

"Seems impossible, doesn't it," Kiba said with a shaky laugh.

Naruto frowned. Sasuke was laughing at him as he failed. "Don't watch me so closely as I fail, Sasuke. 'It's distracting.'"

The blonde grinned as Sasuke recognized Naruto's reference to the ramen incident. Sasuke glared at him.

Kiba gave the two a quizzical look. Sakura hadn't noticed the exchange, as she had just gotten the hang of the technique. Shino was too busy working on balancing while gripping Kiba's hands.


The next 30-something minutes were spent trying to teach Naruto and Kiba how to walk on water. It didn't work. Sasuke had to admit, it was incredibly fun watching Naruto fail over and over. What amazed him was how the blonde just wouldn't stop trying, even as it proved impossible for himself and Kiba to get the hang of it.

Every once in a while they would shakily squat on the water, then lose focus and fall in again. At one point Sasuke had laid on his stomach on the surface of the lake and gazed teasingly down at Naruto, who glared defiantly back up at him.

At this point Kiba seemed to have lost his patience, and when Shino grabbed his hands to try and help him to the surface again, Kiba yanked his friend into the lake. Hinata and Sakura looked at each other, laughed, and jumped in after them. Sasuke looked dreadingly down at Naruto-

And before he knew what was happening Naruto had leapt out of the water at him and tackled him into the lake. Sasuke's head submerged, and his hair floated up around his head. He could feel Naruto's strong arms wrapped around his chest, and bubbles tickled his face as the tan boy laughed at him.

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Naruto hovering in the water above him, his eyes were open and crinkled at the edges, he was laughing and bubbles spilled from his mouth. His blond hair was tinted dark and floated about his head like a halo.

The raven glared, not wanting to be outdone by this dobe, and whipped around towards Naruto. He pumped his legs and swam them up to the surface. When their heads hit the air they both gasped in large lungfulls, before Naruto pushed Sasuke's head under again.

It was then that Sasuke entered the most fearsome splash fight in his life. He and Naruto struggled for dominance, dominance being the accomplishment of holding the other under the water. Sasuke had the clear advantage of being able to stand on the surface, but that did not stop the village's most hyperactive ninja. Soon Kiba, Shino, Sakura, and Hinata had joined in as well.

Before Sasuke knew it, he was laughing out loud as he swallowed water and splashed everyone with all his strength. Surprisingly, Hinata was a particularly savage water fighter; Sasuke had to climb out of the water and onto the surface of the lake to get away from her ruthless splashes. Keeping up with Naruto as well as himself was proving difficult, but the Uchiha was more than up for the challenge.

Sasuke had just clambered onto the surface to avoid a sudden attack from Hinata, when suddenly Naruto appeared out of nowhere. The blonde jumped onto Sasuke's back, and cackled like a madman, trying to push the raven back into the water.

The onyx eyed boy would not be so easily taken down, and quickly took a step to avoid falling back in. He focused more chakra into his feet to keep up with Naruto's extra added weight.

Sasuke grinned as Naruto pulled his hair and thrashed the two of them back and forth, desperately trying to get Sasuke submerged again. The blonde grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and swung the two of them in a circle. The Uchiha spun with the force of the motion and managed to keep on the surface of the lake.

Naruto laughed out loud and called out to Kiba, who immediately responded by jumping onto Naruto's back, who was still on Sasuke's. The raven stumbled with the added weight of Kiba, but managed to keep balanced.

He could hear Sakura scolding them for being reckless, and Hinata's soft voice timidly cheering Naruto on. Shino shook his head as he observed the spectacle.

"Hah!" Sasuke laughed. "Nice try!"

Sasuke could practically smell Naruto's grin. Kiba and Naruto gave a battle cry, lunged to one side, and sent Sasuke toppling into the water. The raven couldn't hold in the embarrassing squeal as he crashed back into the water.

The three boys surfaced again, and Naruto and Sasuke continued their battle.

Then out of nowhere Kiba cried out: "CHICKEN FIGHT!"

Naruto grinned, and started swimming for the shallow-ish end where they could all touch the bottom. Sasuke struggled to swim in sync with the blonde, but they managed it. Once all 4 were in position, Kiba ducked under the water and resurfaced with Sakura on his shoulders. Sakura giggled and squealed, waving her arms about to keep her balance. Shino and Hinata nodded to each other and then Hinata climbed onto his shoulders.

Naruto looked at Sasuke and Sasuke looked at Naruto.

"Hold still, SasUKE!" Naruto called out suggestively and then shoved the raven under the water.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and forced his way to the surface, ready to beat the ever loving shit out of Naruto for that comment. However when he stood up, he stood up with Naruto sitting on his shoulders.

Damn it, Naruto!

Sasuke glared up at him, and Naruto merely grinned triumphantly back down. Then the two lost their balance. Naruto waved his arms about like Sakura had and Sasuke used his free arm to grab the blonde's leg. Once they had gotten situated, it was on.

Kiba was sloshing through the water towards them with Sakura, and the Uchiha knew that he and Naruto needed to get their heads in the game. He had no intention of losing.

"You ready, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke asked darkly, prepared for battle.

"Heh, you know it!"

Sasuke stomped forward, ignoring the feeling of Naruto's legs against his neck. The glued pair were at a disadvantage, what with each of them only having one usable hand. However, both the other pairs had girls on top, so it evened out in the end.

Naruto ducked away from Sakura's grabbing hands, and Sasuke felt himself shift into shinobi mode-relying on his instincts and putting all of his energy into synchronizing with Naruto. Just like they had done against the bandits.

Sasuke ducked arond Kiba, and Naruto leaned into his motion with perfect timing. Then the blonde pushed Sakura off and into the water from behind. She shrieked as the fell in, and Kiba uttered a surprised sound effect as he toppled over.

Naruto "whooped" and pumped his fists in the air-only to be pushed by Hinata from behind. Sasuke cried out in surprise as Naruto fell forward, and brought the raven with him. Sasuke pushed Naruto off of him and resurfaced, flipping his soaked hair out of his eyes.

"Hahaha, that was awesome Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed.

"Ya, I never saw you coming!" Naruto called out.

Hinata proceeded to stutter and blush, in the end unable to get a word out. Naruto gave her a confused look, shrugged, and went on to smack-talk Kiba about how he had been the first to lose.

Completely clueless.

"Let's do it again!" Sakura called out excitedly as she hopped back onto Kiba's shoulders. "This time we'll win! Cha!" She said while punching the air.

Naruto turned to Sasuke, and Sasuke acted immediately. He grabbed the blonde's shoulder, and used it as leverage to flip himself up over his head and onto his shoulders.

"Hey, Sasuke!" Naruto complained as he struggled to regain his footing.

The Uchiha held out his free arm to balance, "shut up and focus, dobe!" He had no intention of losing again, and told Naruto as much. A smile slid onto the tan boy's face; he gripped Sasuke's leg with his free hand and widened his stance.

"Ready, go!" Kiba yelled, and rushed straight for Naruto and Sasuke again.

Naruto jumped to the side, and Sasuke was surprised at how good the blonde was at being the legs. He held up Sasuke's weight with ease, and moved about like he didn't have another boy on his shoulders. When the onyx eyed Uchiha had been the legs, he had stumbled more than a few times, struggling to keep balance and move about with Naruto sitting on his shoulders. Sasuke hated to think that Naruto was stronger and heavier than him, but it was clearly the case. When he thought about it, they just had different muscle structures. Naruto built up bulk with ease, and filled out as his muscles grew. Sasuke's muscles, on the other hand, stayed lean and thin, and he did not fill out as effortlessly as the blonde. Compared to Naruto, Sasuke was a bean pole.

He did not like that Naruto was superior in physical strength. It went against his morals! Or… something like that.

Sasuke saw Kiba and Sakura coming in for another attack, and he felt Naruto brace himself for the impact. The raven waited until he could see the whites of Sakura's eyes, and then activated his Sharingan. When the pink haired konichi saw his glowing visual jutsu, she squealed and hesitated in her swing for a fraction of a second. Sasuke used that opportunity to shove Sakura off of Kiba.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without Naruto flawlessly holding Kiba in place. Sasuke grinned, and could feel Naruto's grin as well. Surprisingly, Naruto did not celebrate. He turned immediately to Hinata and Shino, who were approaching.

Wow. We really do make a good team… what with Naruto as the legs and myself as the arms.

Hinata gazed into Sasuke's Sharingan and unlike Sakura, was not phased in the least.

"Byakugan!" Hinata exclaimed as she held her fingers up in a hand sign. Veins popped around her eyes and little saucer-like pupils spun into being in her usually pupil-less eyes. The pupils were the same color as her eyes and only visible due to a thin ring of black around the perimeter. The little saucers rotated and spun in one way, and then the other. Taking everything in. All these little details of the Byakugan were only visible to Sasuke, since he was using his Sharingan.

"Oh ya! Visual jutsu battle!" Kiba cheered in excitement!

"WOOOO! Go Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.

"You got this Hinata!" Kiba countered.

Oddly enough, they did not cheer for either Shino or Naruto. Likely because the blonde already had the insect master in a tight hold, leaving Sasuke with a clear, stable battlefield against Hinata.

Smart, Naruto. Hinata and Shino's strategy bases off of Shino's ability to move Hinata constantly, and she can keep up with it because of her visual prowess. With them stuck in one place, it is all down to hand-to-hand combat, which Naruto knows I excel at.

Sasuke felt a smirk slide onto his face as he stood off with Hinata. He could feel Naruto's arms shaking with the strain of holding Shino in place, but the blonde was not showing any signs of faltering.

The Uchiha and the Hyuga sat atop their teammates in battle stances. They stared into each other's eyes, looking for any hint as to when the other would make a move. Sasuke recognized Hinata's gentle-fist stance, and decided to take advantage of the fact that she would not jump to the offensive.

Sasuke darted right in with punches and chops; Hinata blocked all of them flawlessly, her Byakugan saucer-pupils swirling as they picked up each of Sasuke's movements. Neither of them used any chakra-amped force, but it was still a battle of visual jutsu.

Sasuke's plan was to get a rhythm going, then suddenly break it. He was already using his Sharingan to memorize Hinata's pattern of movement. The raven blocked out Kiba and Sakura's excited cheers, and focused on the battle at hand.

It was all good-natured, of course, but he could tell that Hinata was taking this seriously. The black-haired girl was clearly vying for Naruto's acknowledgement, and countering Sasuke's every move without holding back. Of course, Sasuke would not lose. Not when Naruto was right there to rub it in his face.

Here's my chance!

Sasuke took the opening he knew was coming, and whipped into motion. He used his specialty attack of switching seamlessly from hand to foot attacks: the raven braced his free hand on Naruto's shoulder (fully trusting the boy to keep balance) and acrobatically swung his leg fast at Hinata.

Sasuke's plan worked, and Hinata-unable to react quickly enough because of Sasuke's perfectly chosen moment-was knocked off Shino's shoulders in a blur of motion. Sasuke continued his gymnastics and finished the spin on his palm to plant himself back on Naruto's shoulders.

Kiba and Sakura were going wild, Sakura in victory and Kiba in half-defeat and half-amazement as Sasuke's finishing move. Naruto was also going wild, he was jumping all around, dancing himself and Sasuke-who was still on his shoulders) in circles.

"YESSSS!" The blonde cheered. "Take that! No one can beat Uzumaki Naruto!"

"What about me, dobe?" Sasuke demanded good naturedly while smacking Naruto's head playfully.

"Well, Sasuke helped! A little!"

After 30 more seconds of Naruto's victory dance, Sasuke had had enough and smacked Naruto's blonde head until he stopped dancing and put him down. The two sloshed through the water to where the other four were.

"G-good job, N-N-Naruto," Hinata squeaked out.

"That was amazing, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled, wrapping her arms around Sasuke and interrupting Naruto's response to Hinata. Sasuke rolled his eyes and struggled out of the pink haired girl's embrace.

"Sasuke, that was incredible!" Kiba said. "And Hinata, you may have lost, but that was the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

Hinata blushed and the raven closed his eyes and smiled.

"Naruto, that was an impressive hold. I was rendered helpless," Shino told the blonde.

"Heehee, thanks Shino!" he said with a smug grin.

"Ya, that was one hell-of-a strategy! With Naruto on bottom and Sasuke on top there's no beating you!" Kiba said.

"Hear that, usuratonkachi? I told you you were the uke," Sasuke taunted.

Naruto growled, "We'll see about that! Let's go again! On your knees, Sasuke! I'm the arms this time!"


Naruto was having so much fun! This was the best! He had forgotten all about hating Sasuke, and was just having fun. They had a few more chicken fights, and Naruto had eventually agreed to stop alternating who was on top to keep Sasuke on top every time. Once they did that, the raven and the blonde racked up a win streak so long that their companions suggested they just stop and eat.

The most fun thing had been pestering Sasuke about how he was too skinny to hold Naruto up, that had gotten Naruto through all of the "uke" jabs.

Now they were all sitting on the beach watching the sun reflect off of the water while waiting for their stomachs to settle. Hinata had brought food, and they had all eaten a delicious lunch. Naruto now sat conversing with Kiba and Hinata (though mainly Kiba) whild Sasuke laid on the ground ignoring Sakura's flirtatious chatter. Shino was asleep on Sakura's other side, and Sasuke was clearly doing his best to follow the insect master's example.

This had been so much fun! Maybe a little more fun had he not been glued to Sasuke, but still fun! The remainder of the day was spent messing around at the lake. Naruto's new favorite part had been waking the sleeping Sasuke up by carrying him bridal style to the lake and dropping him in. His stomach had given an unexpected flip when scooping the raven into his arms, but Naruto had passed it off as just gas.

Sasuke had chased him all across the beach once dropped in, and had just about drowned Naruto, but it had been worth it!

Now Naruto and Sasuke were walking back through the village. They were carrying their soaking clothes with them (even though Sasuke said it was his fault, Naruto knew it was Kiba's!) and on the way home in only their swimwear. It wasn't that strange, typically lake-bound people walked home wet and in swimsuits all the time… but Sasuke was still upset about having to wear Naruto's boxers.

The walk was peaceful, the swinging of their joined hands once again lulling Naruto into a relaxed trance. Naruto breathed in and out slowly, taking in the fresh scent of the air. The setting sun stained the village orange, and the light warmed Naruto's bare chest.

The jinchuriki glanced over at Sasuke. The Uchiha looked particularly relaxed, happy almost. His brows were not down in their usual scowl, and his lips seemed to be tilted slightly up. Was Sasuke's resting face generally a smile, but he made it a scowl on purpose?

That would be such a Sasuke thing to do, Naruto thought with a smile.

Sasuke looked at Naruto in confusion, "why are you staring at me like that?" he asked skeptically.

"Like what?"

"Like, all happy and smiling." Sasuke looked genuinely scared.

Naruto laughed, "I can't look at my friend and smile once in a while?"

A light blush dusted Sasuke's pale cheeks, so faint Naruto almost believed it was a trick of the light. He looked at Naruto with wide onyx eyes. "'Friend?'"

"Uh," Now Naruto was blushing. He looked away, this was so embarrassing! Sasuke was his hated rival! Wasn't it obvious that they were friends? Well it does sound kind of like they cancel each other out that way… Oh great, now I have to say it…

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't we be friends? We saved each other's lives on the bridge with Zabuza and Haku and work side by side on missions all the time."

"I guess I… never thought of it that way…" Sasuke trailed off, his eyes glazing over a little.

"What?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

Sasuke looked back ahead, the subject officially dropped.

The uncalled for memory of Sasuke sleeping on the beach crossed Naruto's mind. He had looked so peaceful, just like now. The sunlight gleamed on Sasuke's face, and reflected in his dark eyes. His wet hair sparkled in the sunset's orange glow, and his pale skin was a little pink from being in the sun all day. A breeze blew through and the wet strands of hair moved gently with the air current. Naruto's eyes slipped down a little, and he could see Sasuke's chest rise and fall with his breaths. He lifted his eyes back up to the raven's face again, and as he gazed upon the boy his chest began to warm.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, and his heart skipped a beat. The raven held his gaze as they walked and Naruto was trapped, he couldn't look away. He was locked in a sea of inky black.


Kakashi gazed down at his two most troublesome genin from his treetop perch. He had been checking on them to make sure they hadn't killed each other yet, and certainly had not expected this. The two were walking in the direction of the Uchiha complex holding their soaking clothes (or Naruto's, for that matter) with wet hair and sunkissed skin.

They two were walking side by side, almost shoulder to shoulder rather than as far apart as possible, and staring into each other's eyes.

It must be a full moon tonight… or, they are finally getting an understanding of each other. They are finally learning to get along. Iruka was right, this really is helping.

Another Uchiha crossed Kakashi's mind, one with orange goggles and a goofy grin. A bittersweet sensation settled down in Kakashi's chest, if only he had experienced something like this, if only he had tried to be friends. He so wished he could go back… try to do as Naruto and Sasuke were doing now. Get to know the teammate he had not gotten along with but missed so dearly.

Kakashi sighed. The past was in the past. All he could do was march on to a bright future, he could pass his dead wishes onto these two. He may have woken up to reality too late, but Sasuke and Naruto would not.

The white haired shinobi stood up, slipped his book back into his pocket, and slipped off into the sunset. Pleased to see that Sasuke and Naruto were starting to get along.


"Here we are."

Naruto looked in awe up at the gate to the Uchiha complex. The place was surrounded by a huge stone wall, covered in the Uchiha crest. This was where Sasuke lived?

The raven led his blonde companion through the gates and into the empty complex. Naruto's awe molded into sadness as he looked around the almost mini-village. Dust blew on the path and ripped lanterns with faded Uchiha crests blew in the breeze. The jinchuriki could just feel the emptiness of this place… it was meant to be full of people… but those people were all dead.

I can't believe Sasuke lives in this place… all by himself. At least I live in the heart of the village surrounded by neighbors. Sasuke lives on the outskirts far away from anyone else. I bet he is so lonely all the time. I know how that feels…

"This one is my house," the raven said in a voice void of any emotion.

The house was white with brown trim, and pretty fancy. Sasuke's family must have been loaded. Sasuke led Naruto through the door, and they kicked off their shoes at the little step in the foyer. As the blonde followed his onyx eyed companion through the quiet house, he took everything in. The place was so big compared to his own! He couldn't decide if that was better or worse…

Another difference was that everything was clean. The floors were shiny and the walls had fresh paint. It smelled clean, and everything was in order. Plants were scattered about, and each was green and healthy.

Sasuke must take care of all of these pants… didn't expect him to be a plant person.

Sasuke led Naruto through a doorway, and into his room. The room was pretty bare of… anything. There were ninja tools organized in boxes but that was it. No possessions, nothing that called out as "Sasuke's." The raven walked up to the dresser and pulled out a pair of his own clothes.

"Can I have some?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke gave him a "what the fuck?" look. "You didn't bring your own clothes? Then what is in that bag?!"

"My money, ninja stuff, and my sleep hat."

"And why the fuck didn't you bring your own clothes?"

"Well, I figured it would only be fair since you had to walk around in my clothes today, that I walk around in your clothes next! That way we're even, you know, with the stares."

Sasuke looked at him with that "what the fuck?" look for a few more seconds before saying: "I guess that makes since… in its own idiotic way."

Sasuke then threw a ball of his clothes into Naruto's chest. The blonde caught them and grinned at Sasuke; the raven shook his head, muttered "usuratonkachi," and turned the other way.


Once the two had summoned their shadow clone and gotten on Sasuke's pajamas (which consisted of black pj pants with navy T-shirts emblazoned with the Uchiha crest) Sasuke led Naruto to the kitchen where he proceeded to order the blonde to stay out of the way as he made them dinner.

Naruto watched in amazement as Sasuke arranged a menagerie of cooking supplies and got to work (all with his non-dominant hand too). The blonde watched with his jaw dropped as the Uchiha expertly sliced up several vegetables.

"Woah! What're you making, Sasuke?"

"Vegetables and rice."

"Just vegetables and rice? No meat?"

"That is what I said, dobe."

"What kind of a meal is that?! No meat? No noodles?"

"Well, it's easy and Tuesday is always vegetarian night!" Sasuke yelled.

Naruto snickered, "you have a vegetarian night?"

Sasuke glared as he dumped rice into a pot of boiling water, his ears turning pink. "Yeah. What's it to you?"

The blonde giggled again, "It's just funny, that's all. The great Uchiha Sasuke: yes, he does the cooking; yes, he does the cleaning. And the sewing too."

Naruto squealed and ducked as the raven stabbed at him with the knife. "Oi, OI! SASUKE, stop it! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Yare, yare, let me live!"

The Uchiha halted his assault, glared at the blonde, and continued cooking.


This felt so wrong, cooking for Naruto. In FRONT of Naruto.

I hate my life so much.

Sasuke flipped the vegetables in their pan, and added more oil just for good measure. It would be much easier if he would just ask Naruto to pass him things and order him to help, but he didn't trust the dobe to do anything right.

However, anything would be better than cooking as the tan boy just sat there watching his every move. Luckily, Sasuke was pretty skilled when it came to the kitchen and could do everything perfectly with his non-dominant hand.

Sasuke choked down a smirk as Naruto "oohed" and "ahhed" at the raven flipping the vegetables out and back into the pan. He then put the pan back down, checked the rice and stirred it a little, then returned to the vegetables again. It was almost ready.


Naruto sat at the table in the Uchiha residence, feeling pretty awkward. Sasuke had a traditional Japanese table, low to the ground with no chairs. Naruto just had a fold-up table with more fold-up chairs. This felt much more… formal. Not to mention the fact that they were eating a fresh, home-cooked meal.

The blonde picked up his chopsticks and scooped up a bite stock full of vegetables and rice. He glanced at Sasuke, who was already eating. It's just down right impressive that Sasuke has already mastered eating with his left hand. Just leave it to Sasuke to get a hang of it so fast. Why does my chest get so warm when I think that?! It's almost like I'm… proud of Sasuke? Why the hell would that be?

"You gonna eat, usuratonkachi? I didn't poison it, you know. It would be too much of a bother to drag your dead corpse around the village for god knows how long."

Naruto jumped at Sasuke's voice, feeling strangely naughty after being jerked from his irregular thought pattern. The blonde gulped, and shoved Sasuke's cooking into his mouth.

Eh?!

It was amazing! Sasuke was an incredible cook!

Naruto schooled his expression, making sure that he did not show his awe and adoration of the food to the raven across from him. That would be awkward, even more awkward than them having to eat while holding hands across the table… which was already happening.

Do I tell him how good it is? Or tell him it's terrible just to be an ass? Normally I would choose the second option… but I've been on such good terms with Sasuke lately that I don't wanna ruin it. Wait, why should I care whether or not Sasuke is mad at me?! It's never bothered me before! But this food is sooo good! And he might make me eat cereal or something tomorrow rather than cook again if I offend him… I think I'll just say nothing! Ya! That'll work!


Sasuke watched as the blonde ate his cooking. Why was his heart racing? Why did this matter to him so much?! Naruto was eating normally, he hadn't made one expression to give away what he thought. Sasuke was also schooling his expressions, as he always did. He didn't want Naruto to realize how freaked out he was.

Why hasn't he said anything? What, does he not like it? No… he wouldn't be eating it if he didn't like it. Does that mean he DOES like it!? Hold up, why am I freaking out? Why should I care what Naruto thinks of my cooking?! It's not like I'll be cooking for him ever again once we're separated. I feel like I should demand his opinion on my food. He didn't even thank me! He hasn't said one word about how it tastes! I should yell at him right now! But… we haven't been fighting much (or more accurately as much as usual) lately, and I don't wanna start one right now. Wait, why do I care about that?! Why should I-

"Sasuke. Thanks for the food."

Sasuke's jaw dropped, and thank god there had been no food in it cause then it would have fallen right out. The raven managed to force himself to choke out a response before the silence got awkward: "It was nothing."

Why is my belly so warm? He just thanked me for the dinner. That is what people do, it's just good manners. He didn't even compliment me or anything.

Sasuke continued eating his meal, contemplating the previous interaction. The thing was, with Naruto and Sasuke, they were always at each other's throats. They did not generally interact like polite human beings. The two were always bickering, competing, or taking insulting jabs at the other. Interacting casually… and getting the chance to actually get to know each other personally… was not normal. It felt strange getting to know who exactly Uzumaki Naruto was on the inside, under all that competitive nature.

That's why Sasuke stayed silent. He didn't know what to say. And truthfully? Was scared of what would happen if he did start a normal conversation. Yeah, he was a coward. But something inside him held him back, made him nervous to approach the boy across from him with a question or conversation starter. Why was that?


Naruto yawned as he helped Sasuke wash the dishes and wipe off the table, he happily leaned into the routine, happy to do something he knew how to do. Something that was normal, unlike interacting humanely with this onyx eyed emo.

Once the kitchen was cleaned and the lights switched off for the night, the two went to the bathroom to bathe. They stunk like the lake and still had sand in their hair. The bath was super awkward, just like the last time, and Naruto started a bickering match over why Sasuke only had lavender scented soap. He ended up beaten over the head with said soap, and had stopped his complaints.

Now it was time to turn into bed, and Naruto was ready as ever. He yawned and crawled into the bed after Sasuke. The blonde gasped in surprise as he sunk into the soft mattress. "Woah!" he exclaimed.

"Usuratonkachi, what is it now?" Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. "Your bed is so comfortable!" The blond watched the raven's cheeks go a little pink, but he ignored it. "Why didn't we sleep here last night?!"

"Uh, because you refused to?" Sasuke responded, sounding confused.

Naruto stood up, and then tilted back so that he fell back onto the pillows. "Hey!" Sasuke exclaimed as he was pulled along for the ride. "It's like a cloud," Naruto said in a dopey sounding voice.

Sasuke scoffed, "just go to sleep, dobe."

From there, the two of them squirmed around until they were comfortable (Naruto getting himself punched multiple times) and once they were situated Sasuke switched off the light.

The jinchuriki signed contentedly as snuggled his cheek against the fluffy down pillow. Of all the people to have such soft beds, he had not expected it to be Sasuke! This one was way better than Naruto's at home! "Goodnight, Sasuke," Naruto said as he drifted off. Feeling blanketed by a feeling of peace and safety.

What is it about Sasuke's house that is making me so relaxed? Is it because he seems so oddly relaxed here and that's making me relax? Maybe it's because I am seeing this whole new side to Sasuke and he isn't as big of a do*chbag as I thought he was? Which is true, now that I think of it. My whole life I've been too scared to talk and interact with Sasuke, and now I have too… It's kinda nice. I wonder what I'll learn about Sasuke tomorrow…


Sasuke lay awake, stuck listening to Naruto's breaths as they slowed until he was in a deep sleep. Thoughts prowled in his mind. Most of them revolved around what the blonde had just said.

"Goodnight, Sasuke."

It was so simple, yet had caught Sasuke so far off guard.

On missions when he and team 7 would sleep camped out together, Naruto would never say goodnight to Sasuke. It was usually a jab about something or the other. It was true, interacting with Naruto like they were on good terms certainly was strange. Their whole lives they had been separated by a certain animosity. The blonde had always been trying to beat Sasuke at everything, and the raven had never allowed him to gain any ground.

Today at the lake… I actually had fun. Usually I would never have even considered accepting such a ridiculous invitation, but Naruto dragged me with him. It was fun, very fun. I would have missed out on all that had Naruto and I not been glued together… I'm glad I didn't miss it. I do not have any friends, and have never had fun like that with anyone before. Of course, I am only able to get that experience through Naruto.

He said that we were friends today… I've never had one before.

To think Naruto, of all people, would be my first friend… "Take the life of your best friend. And when you possess the same eyes as I do, come and face me." No, it couldn't be…

Sasuke shuddered and pushed such thoughts out of his head. Remembering that moment had been what had caught him so off guard when Naruto had proclaimed him to be his friend.

I can't think of that right now. I am an avenger, but I do not have to do things Itachi's way. Besides, it's not like Naruto could ever be my best friend, right? We are sort of getting along now, but I doubt we could be best friends.

A part deep down told Sasuke that it was because he just couldn't bring himself to even think of killing Naruto, and that if the time came, he would not be able to do it. But he ignored that part of him, as well as the part of him that even thought of Itachi at all. The day had been so peaceful… Well, that was inaccurate. The day had been a string of constant chaos. But strangely in that chaos Sasuke had found a certain type of peace. An odd sense of belonging.

Is that due to… Naruto? What exactly is this feeling I feel for Naruto? Friendship? I've never had a friend before… I kind of… like it.

"Heh, goodnight. Usuratonkachi."