4 : Naruto
By: Kokoro Kakera HP ^^
Disclaimer: Naruto, (Manga, anime, products, etc.), belongs to Kishimoto Masashi
Author's Notes:
Well, having reviewed all the chapters so far, it seems like Naruto's the only one who hasn't angsted yet - all his angsting (all two seconds of it) was in Sasuke's part! @_@ I think I'll have to use that somehow though... Oh, by the way, about the timeline... I guess it's kinda, KINDA AUish, since they're a bit older than they are in the series and there's no sign Orochimaru here...=P
By the way, has anyone heard the Naruto soundtrack yet??? 'Lonliness,' 'Sadness and Sorrow' and 'Evening' are nice songs to get someone into the writing mood. Sakura's theme isn't so great though... =( ...Want the new ending theme full version.
Sasuke was probably the weirdest guy he had ever met. Well, aside from the other weirdos like Jiraiya and Ebisu, (the closet pervert)... But not counting them, it was Sasuke he had the hardest time understanding.
It wasn't the smaller things, like why he acted like a scaredy cat sometimes, why he trained and tried so hard and why he protected his friends so passionately - those were easy to pin-point. Sasuke's will to live came partly from the fact that he didn't want to face his parents without killing his brother.
And because revenge on the bastard would be a great accomplishment in strength and will.
The other reasons that made him value his life so much were unknown to him, but Naruto was surprised he'd learned about Sasuke's goal to kill Itachi in the first place.
As for Sasuke's protectiveness... What he didn't have with family, he made up for with friends. He couldn't protect the ones he cared about most before, so he said sorry in whatever ways he could. It wasn't about saying sorry though. Whether he acted annoyed, indifferent or friendly towards them, Sasuke cherished and cared for his friends greatly.
What Naruto didn't understand, (besides why Sasuke showed no apparent interest in a cutie like Sakura), was his tendancy to act strangely nice at certain times.
Like now.
Like before when he'd saved him from Haku and exchanged his life for his sake.
It was times like those that he wondered if he really knew Sasuke. In amazing detail - he didn't of course, but he thought he'd gotten at least the basics down.
For instance: Sasuke didn't want to die until he killed his brother. But to keep him alive, Sasuke had jumped in to take the killing blow for him, (he thought it was at the time), and died. For him.
The guy he said he hated.
Wait... No...Sasuke hadn't said that. It was him that'd said he'd hated Sasuke. Yet he'd gone in and saved him anyway. Throwing away his greatest ambition in the process. This had shocked Naruto so badly, that he'd let the Nine-tails-fox sealed within him to regain control a little just to ease the trauma of the event.
It'd hurt to think he'd never be around anymore.
The idiot.
"Heh..." Naruto couldn't help the small sound of amusement from escaping his lips. "You're the weirdest guy I've ever met, Sasuke."
"What?" The other boy looked rightfully both flabberghasted and annoyed at Naruto's sudden and out of place comment.
"Nothing!" Naruto laughed, sweat collecting at his forehead. 'That wasn't supposed to be said outloud...' Contemplating something private while immersed in a conversation wasn't a good idea.
"There's going to be another mission for us tomorrow." Sasuke said, breaking through Naruto's still ongoing laugh of embarrassment.
"Huh?" He stopped, ears perked and attention centered completely on the boy before him.
"A mission. The usual-"
"What!? But what about those ninjas that attacked you and Sakura earlier!?" Naruto was sure that since they'd been the ones to see them, that they'd be the ones to take care of them.
"That was just an unexpected encounter. Rogue ninjas aren't what we're responsible for. That's a level A or B mission at least."
"But-but...BUT-" He could feel the excitement he felt before a great fight sink lower and lower. Besides, how else could he gain real battle experience and show off his great ninja skills at the same time!?
"Humph, if you wanted to fight them so much, you should have gotten out of that bathhouse quickly instead of getting distracted by the sights."
He really, really, really wanted to get mad then. But there was one thing that stopped him. The prospect of 'accidentally' running into the enemies tomorrow. Sure the chance of it happening wasn't great, but it wasn't zero either. So sucking up the scathing remark he'd been ready to shoot at Sasuke, Naruto surprised him by getting up and opening the door to his place.
"I'm going to sleep. And then tomorrow, I'll kick some ass to make up for today!!!" Naruto yelled, shooting his arm up.
He'd show everyone! Beating up a band of evil ninjas would be on his list of accomplishments before he became Hokage! He grinned, giving a thumbs up to Sasuke. He walked into his place. "Thanks for the small talk, Sasuke. See ya tomorrow!" He closed the door, sure that he'd left abruptly enough to look cool.
Naruto grinned. He was becoming really good at his entrances and exits to and from a scene. This combined with awesome ninja skills would make him the greatest Hokage ever in the history of his village!
Sasuke stood at Naruto's door for a full minute, still staring somewhat dumbfoundedly at it. He sighed. Only Naruto would...
"You forgot your keys in the lock, dumbass." He called.
Another minute passed, and the door opened a bit. Amidst grumbling noises which consisted mostly of the words, 'stupid' and 'Sasuke' put together, Naruto's hand appeared from the opening and grabbed the keys hurridly before shutting the door again.
"Dumbass..." Sasuke mummered again. Then he turned and walked home.
Naruto crawled into bed, grumbling about his failed dramatic exit as he fell asleep.