Disclaimer: If you have a twelve-inch nose, does it then become a foot?

Chapter Five:

The last rays of sunlight slowly disappeared behind the mountains surrounding the Hidden leaf and lights flickered on within the many buildings while late night shoppers scurried to and fro, hoping to escape the oncoming cold. The noise level of the village calmed to a low hum before dying out completely as the night's air was filled with the sounds of awakening insects.

In one of the many side roads of Konoha sat a boy, his legs drawn up in front of him and his back against the wall; his blue eye's staring unseeingly at the dirt ground. The boy had been sitting in that exact position for the past five hours, seemingly unaware of the cool night's air or the silence that now surrounded him. The boy's name was Uzumaki Naruto and he had issues. Well, one particular issue anyway.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Sasuke sneezed, the action causing him to pause for a brief moment before he continued with what he had been doing; moving his dinner dishes from the table to the sink and getting angry at Naruto.

Not that the other boy was around to be angry at, but Sasuke was doing it anyway. And for once the blonde idiot even deserved it.

The last week had been confusing for Sasuke. At first he hadn't been able to figure out what Naruto's problem was, it had seemed that the other boy had just woken up one morning and decided to go stark raving mad. Then they had stood watch together and Naruto had mentioned the rabbit.

Sasuke had to admit that he didn't immediately click; it was hard to follow the same thought pattern as Naruto, but the second Naruto had called him a pervert it had hit him. The reason Naruto was acting so bi-polar and panicking over the most innocent of events…was because he was afraid that Sasuke was going to kiss him.

Not without reason, of course. Just like Naruto, Sasuke was aware of their apparent 'tradition'; however, unlike Naruto, Sasuke wasn't worried about it. In fact, he felt exactly the opposite of worried. He was so not worried about it that it could only be described as supportive.

Sasuke was very supportive; and this year, once he'd figured out what the dobe's problem was, he was also actively supportive.

However that hadn't gone exactly as planned. It had seemed to be working at first…but then Naruto had decided to use the sexy no jutsu to combat him-Sasuke hadn't counted on that and had spent the entire day trailing behind Naruto and Lee trying to think of a way to get Naruto alone. The jutsu had been a dirty trick, Naruto would have had to know that there was no way Sasuke could be seen in public with a girl, even a girl that was actually a boy, without raising the ire of every teenage girl in Konoha. Plus there had been Rock Lee to deal with; the boy was careful, even if he was fanatically hyperactive over the entire affair.

The day had proved to be frustrating. With Naruto being protected by Lee, Sasuke hadn't been able to make even the slightest move and, just like Naruto, he was aware that their time limit would soon be up. Sasuke wasn't particularly thrilled with the idea that this year could spell the end of their 'tradition'; if Naruto avoided it this year, then there wouldn't be a next year, and if there wasn't going to be a next year Sasuke wanted it to be because the dobe had finally figured out how he felt, not because he'd somehow managed to slip out of it.

If Naruto slipped out of it…then the chance that the blonde would ever figure things out went from 'slim' to 'none'. Sasuke wasn't prepared to accept a zero percent success ratio.

Or, at least, earlier that day he hadn't been. After what had happened later though, after he'd managed to get Naruto away from Lee and had dispelled that stupid jutsu… Of all the things Naruto could have said, it had been a plea to simply get it over with. To kiss him; to end it. He hadn't figured it out at all. Not even a little bit. No matter how many little hints, and sometimes large hints, Sasuke had thrown at him, Naruto hadn't realised, at all, that 'getting it over with' was the one thing Sasuke wouldn't do. That kind of reasoning; that kind of decision… That wasn't what Sasuke wanted.

But obviously what Sasuke wanted wasn't along the same lines as what Naruto wanted.

Sasuke stared down at the dirty dishes lying in his sink, his expression warring between anger, frustration and resignation. If Naruto wanted nothing more than to simply have the week over with, then now, for the final day, Sasuke would oblige him and stay away. For the final day of their tradition, Naruto would have a completely and utterly Sasuke-free day.

Naruto replayed the incident with Sasuke over and over in his mind as he stared at the ground, trying to find a reason for the other boy's outburst and failing. It just didn't make sense. He hadn't said anything that granted a reaction like that, if anything, Sasuke should have laughed in his face at his cowardice. But Sasuke had been angry with him, really angry.

Going over what he had said to the other boy hadn't helped either, he hadn't said anything hurtful and even if he had Sasuke just wasn't the kind of person who was easily offended.

It just didn't make sense.

Lifting his head up slightly, the blond groaned at the stiffness in his neck, shifting his head from side to side to stretch his muscles and finally noticing the darkness around him as he did.

"Eh..?"

When had it gotten so late?

Standing up slowly, Naruto groaned yet again before gradually stretching out his now aching body and a few minutes later, began his stiff walk home.

Tomorrow would be the last day of their tradition and Naruto could finally relax, not having to look over his shoulder anymore…

Naruto screwed his face up at the unexpected feeling the thought provoked. He should be happy, right? That it was coming to an end?

"Yeah, happy. I am happy…it's just…"

Naruto slowed his steps, remembering the look Sasuke had given him earlier. He felt like he was missing something, like he wasn't seeing something that was right there-he wasn't seeing the big picture. Hell, he wasn't sure if he was seeing any picture!

Running a hand through his hair in frustration, Naruto picked up his pace again as he neared his apartment building all the while trying to distract himself with the thought of a hot meal once he reached home.

Yeah, he would eat, sleep and then figure all this out in the morning.

"Good plan…" the blond murmured to himself as he climbed the steps, pulling his keys out of his pocket as he went, "eat, sleep and then…" Naruto paused as he came to the top step."…Sakura-chan?" he said in surprise, watching as said pink-haired girl got to her feet from where she had previously been sitting-right outside Naruto's door, "w-what are you doing here?"

Sakura gave Naruto a hard look, "I thought you'd never come back," she said somewhat irritably, stepping back so Naruto could unlock his door. "I was wondering…" she began, her expression changing to one of uncertainty, "wondering if, maybe we could…talk?" she said and flashed Naruto a relived smile as he held the door open for her.

"Thanks."

Naruto followed Sakura in, shutting the door behind him, a frown marring his face.

This can't be good.

"So…" Naruto let out, shifting uncomfortably in his chair at his kitchen table and he glanced at Sakura across from him, watching as she idly tapped her fingernails on the table, "you…err…. wanted to talk?" he said awkwardly.

Sakura started and pulled her hand off the table to rest in her lap, "yeah…" she agreed, looking away for a moment, "I wanted to…it's silly, but I…and it would make sense…I just wanted—"

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto questioned uncertainly, eyeing the pink-haired girl nervously.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them to look directly at Naruto, "what is your relationship with Sasuke-kun?" she asked in a shaking voice, though her expression was one of determination.

Naruto stared at her.

"Umm…" he was tempted to laugh, in fact he almost did but with one look at his team mates unwavering gaze Naruto squashed the urge down; instead thinking about the question as seriously as Sakura had asked it.

What was his relationship with Sasuke?

Naruto pictured the other boy in his mind.

…What was his relationship with Sasuke?

"We're…friends?" yeah, they were friends. Well, sometimes they leaned more towards rivalry than anything else but you could call them friends. They were…best friends maybe?

Naruto furrowed his brows and thought back over their 'history'. No, 'best friends' wasn't exactly right. They didn't really…share. Anything. Not with each other, they were more…

"…Just friends?" Sakura's voice sounded, bringing Naruto out of his thoughts.

"Just friends?" Naruto echoed, still trying to find a word that could describe himself and Sasuke.

Just friends…that didn't sound right at all. They weren't just friends, they were…something. They had this…this thing that was…important.

The blond started suddenly as he was enveloped in an awkward hug from behind.

"I'm so glad!" Sakura said, her voice showing her obvious relief and she squeezed him once before letting go, "I don't know what I was thinking really…well, I mean, I've been watching you guys lately, the way you just always seem to end up in the same place and today I could've sworn he was following you and…I don't know. I thought that you were…" she trailed off, making vague hand gestures at him, "…that you were…you know."

Naruto stared up at Sakura as she attempted to hold back a laugh. Apparently, he didn't know.

"When I saw you two at the gates that night," she continued, oblivious to Naruto's confusion, "and Sasuke was…" she shuddered, "…fighting with you, it kind of…clicked you know?"

No, Naruto thought tiredly. I don't.

"And I wanted to talk to you about it but…when I came over, you and Sasuke were…fighting again and that's when I really started to think about it, about you and him," Sakura paused, her eyebrows drawing together, "you're always together, whether it's training, missions or just…just anything, if I wanted to speak to Sasuke all I'd have to do was find you, you know? Especially when team seven was broken up…and you, you know him. I mean, I know him, obviously, but you're the only he really talks too, even if half the time it is just banter, you get under his skin like no one else can-he can't ignore you. Without you, he-" she stopped suddenly, staring down at Naruto. "It just would've made sense," she said quietly, "if you two had of been…t-together."

Together?

"It's late, I-I, I should go."

Together, together?

"Thanks, Naruto."

As in, together?

The door clicked shut quietly and silence enveloped the room.

Naruto sat in the chair, his shoulders slumped and his head spinning. Sakura had thought that he and Sasuke were together?

"…together…" no, she can't have meant what he thought she meant. Together could mean any number of things…like, something other than what he thought it meant. Because they weren't. Together that is. They were so not together in fact that anyone who thought they were had to be insane.

And what did she mean it would have made sense! It didn't make any semblance of sense! They were…they were them!

"We're not together," Naruto said out loud, somewhat defensibly.

Wait…we're not together!

"Arg!" Naruto let his head drop onto the table with a dull thud. No, they were not together-so he didn't need to spend half the night convincing himself that they weren't. Because they really weren't.

Naruto slowly dragged himself out of the chair and walked towards his bedroom, any thoughts of eating gone from his mind-he just wanted to sleep.

Flopping down onto his bed, the blond slowly removed his jacket and climbed under the covers, all but burying his head into his pillow…

"Of course he can ignore me!" Naruto bit out suddenly, "he does it all the bloody time!" he continued, shifting onto his back and glaring at his roof. "And he doesn't talk to me. Not about important stuff anyway," the blond said in a huff, shifting again-this time onto his side so he was facing the window. "I don't know him-he's just an asshole I have the misfortune of…knowing," he finished lamely, punching his pillow in an attempt to make it more comfortable, "would've made sense my ass…it's not my fault we're always together, we were on the same team so it makes sense we'd pair up for missions and it would be stupid if we didn't train together-it works that way," Naruto mumbled, shifting yet again. "And it's not always. We're not always together-only when we have to be…Sakura doesn't know what she's talking about."

Naruto moved onto his back again and returned to glaring at the roof.

"What is your relationship with Sasuke-kun?"

Something important…

That was all he could come up with, something important.

What did that even mean?

"It just would've made sense,"

Naruto shut his eyes tightly in the hopes of shutting his off his mind as well.

"If you two had of been…t-together."

It wasn't working.

"Without you, he-"

"Without me he, what?" Naruto said in frustration, kicking out at nothing. Without me he would...? "Probably save a lot of money," he said after a moment's thought, thinking back to the many bowls of ramen the other boy had brought him-at times grudgingly but all the same…

But he doubted that was what Sakura was going to say.

Sighing, Naruto relaxed his face, his eyes fluttering open before closing again. It would all make sense in the morning…

"…the way you just always seem to end up in the same place…could've sworn he was following you…"

"We're…friends?"

Something important.

"…at the gates that night…clicked you know?"

"…when I came over, you and Sasuke were fighting…You're always together…"

"…under his skin like no one else can-he can't ignore you…"

"…get it over with!"

"You really are an idiot."

Naruto shot up in bed, his eyes wide, "I really am an idiot."

Naruto walked resolutely down the street, the previous night's epiphany still at the forefront of his mind. The blond had had an almost sleepless night, only managing a few hours' sleep in the wee hours of the morning and as soon as the sun had risen in the sky he was up and ready; rushing through an almost none existent shower and limiting his breakfast to one singular pack of cup ramen before heading out the door.

He was Sasuke hunting.

Following his realization last night, everything the dark-haired boy had done this week started to make sense and Naruto had spent half the night piecing everything together-the end conclusion being that not only was he had idiot, but Sasuke was as well.

And he, Uzumaki Naruto, was going to tell him so—

-as soon as he found him.

Yes, that was his first plan of action-finding him. He'd thought maybe he could just stop by the other boys' house but…he didn't know where it was. So now, he was looking for someone who did.

Walking a little faster, Naruto rounded the corner and found exactly who he was looking for.

Ino. The blond girl was bound to know where Sasuke lived.

"Hi." Naruto said awkwardly, watching as the girl turned away from the flowers she had been arranging to face him, a curious expression on her face.

"Naruto?" she said in mild surprise, wiping her hands on her apron, "what brings you here?" she went on, picking up a rather ugly looking bunch of flowers and walking into the shop.

"Well, I was just wondering if you-"

"I know!" Ino interrupted him suddenly, a smile breaking across her face, "got a hot date, eh?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "Looking to find the perfect bouquet of flowers for her, so later you can have your way with her maybe? Hmmm…?"

"Err…no," Naruto replied, his voice sounding slightly confused as to just what Ino was suggesting, "I just need to-"

"Woo…maybe you're going to start courting Hinata! Finally!" Ino said excitedly as she stepped behind the counter.

"W-what?" Naruto spluttered indignantly, glaring at Ino as she picked a dozen of the incredibly ugly purple flowers, arranging them out in front of her.

"It would be so cute! The two of you walking around the village hand in hand…awww!" she all but cooed at the flowers, now wrapping them in equally ugly yellow paper.

Face bright red, Naruto glared even harder at her, "no, it would not!" he snapped and opened his mouth to say more only to be stopped as Ino trust the bouquet of flowers in his face.

"That'll be 2400 yen."

Naruto grumbled loudly to himself as he stomped away from the shop, ugly purple flowers in hand and a bill for 2400 yen. He hadn't even been able to ask her where Sasuke lived.

"Bloody girls…"

Glaring at nothing in particular, Naruto continued to stomp down the street in the hopes of finding someone who knew where Sasuke lived-or Sasuke himself. The latter would be more convenient but he wasn't going to get his hopes up.

Coming to the village centre, the blond scanned the crowds around him.

No Sasuke.

"Damn it! Where the hell is he!" the past four days he hadn't been able to take two steps without seeing the other boy and now, when he actually wanted to see him-he was nowhere in sight.

"Bastard."

Sasuke was probably doing this on purpose too.

"Asshole."

He was most likely laughing it up somewhere right now.

"Argh! Just come out already, asshole! I know now, you can just come out and-"

"They say the first sign of madness is talking to yourself, you know?" said a lazy voice from behind him and Naruto spun around to glare at the speaker.

"I am not talking to myself!" the blond snapped out at Shikamaru, "I'm talking to Sasuke!"

Shikamaru looked around them for a moment before looking back at Naruto, his eyebrow raised in question, "you're talking to Sasuke?" he asked doubtfully, the same lazy expression on his face.

"Yes!" Naruto said forcibly, shaking the bouquet of flowers in the other boy's face.

"Uh-huh," Shikamaru muttered, batting the flowers away before walking around the blond boy, "and I'm the Hokage…"

Naruto glared at his retreating back for a moment before calling out to the other boy, "hey! Wait up!" he shouted as he ran to catch up with him, "err…I don't suppose you know where Sasuke lives?"

Shikamaru gave Naruto a flat look, "no, I don't. Why don't you just ask him yourself?" he said, stepping around Naruto again and disappearing into the crowd.

About to run after the boy again, Naruto was stopped when someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Eh?" the blond turned around to see Hinata, "hi…" He said unenthusiastically and hid the flowers behind his back, Ino's words from earlier echoing in his mind.

"H-hi…" the dark-haired girl stammered, a blush staining her cheeks, "h-how are you?"

"Oh…I'm good…" Naruto said distractedly, trying to think of a way he could leave without offending the girl.

"Those a-are pretty flowers, Naruto-kun…" Hinata trailed off, looking to the side.

"Eh? Oh…ummm…" he mumbled, bringing the flowers around in front of him. Pretty? "if you say so…"

"Are t-they for someone s-special?" she asked, still not meeting his eyes.

"Err…no, not really."

"Hinata," said a deep voice and they both turned to see Neji standing a few feet away, "we have to get back to the main house," he stated, acknowledging Naruto with a brief nod.

"Oh…I-I'll see you l-later then, Naruto-kun."

"Wait!" Naruto looked between the two Hyuuga's, "Do you, umm, know where Sasuke lives?" He asked.

"N-no..." the dark-haired girl replied while Neji just shook his head.

Naruto's shoulders slumped slightly, "oh, okay," he said and turned to walk towards the training area but was stopped by Neji's voice.

"Taking flowers to Uchiha?"

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and spun around to face them, "what!"

"Those flowers," Neji said, nodding his head towards them, "are they for Uchiha?"

Naruto stared down at the flowers in his hands, then looked back up at Neji, checking if the other boy was serious-which he was, "of course not!" Naruto began, his cheeks flushing red. "Why would I take Sasuke flowers! T-that doesn't…I wouldn't…just, just…no!" he finished, glaring at Neji who glared right back.

"Hn," was his only reply.

"They're not!" Naruto shouted and was about to continue when he saw a familiar blue and black blur leap on to a nearby building in his line of sight.

Sasuke!

"Here," Naruto said, thrusting the flowers at Neji distractedly, his entire focus now completely on the blur of colour he had seen.

Neji stood in shock for a moment as Naruto speed of, his face colouring at Hinata's badly hidden giggle and he glared at the offending flowers before shifting his glare back in the direction Naruto had gone in.

"Idiot."

Leaping onto the nearest building, Naruto quickly made his way over to where he had seen the other boy and scanned the area.

"Ha!"

Running forward suddenly, the blond swiftly picked up Sasuke's trail, the other boy's chakra trail unmistakable; Naruto was no more than a minute behind him. Naruto grinned to himself-it felt good to be the hunter this time, instead of the prey.

Still grinning, Naruto leaped over the buildings, his speed increasing as he went. Sasuke definitely knew he was being followed, the question was-did he know who by?

Of course he did.

Though Naruto couldn't see him, he just knew the asshole would be smirking as well, but the question of whether or not he knew Naruto had figured everything out was anyone's guess.

But Naruto didn't think so. Sasuke always underestimated him.

Naruto finally caught sight of the dark-haired boy as he dived into one of the crowded streets below, probably in the hopes of losing him-not that that was likely. Following the other boy closely, the blond dodged his way in and out of the crowd, never losing sight of Sasuke; even as the other boy turned abruptly, and leapt back on to the roof tops only to drop down yet again in a matter of minutes.

It was quickly turning into a cat and mouse game but, luckily for Naruto, the cat always won.

Naruto watched as Sasuke moved in and out of the crowd, waiting for his chance to strike. The other boy obviously thought that that little trick had fooled him (judging by the smirk on his face) but the street Sasuke had chosen for his escape route was going to be his down fall…so to speak. Naruto knew this street like the back of his hand-in fact he knew this street better than the back of his hand.

Sasuke was in his territory now.

Giving the ramen man a wave as he climbed out of his hiding place, Naruto slowly began to trail along behind Sasuke until the other boy came to the side road they had been in the day before, stopping to look down it.

Now!

Leaping forwards suddenly, Naruto flew towards the other boy, tackling him to the ground before Sasuke could even blink. There was a moment of shocked silence as Sasuke stared up at him and before Naruto could get a word out the other boys' fist connected with his face.

Stumbling backwards, the blond landed hard on his back, "what the hell!" Naruto yelled as he sat up, and noticed, a little belatedly, the small crowd now surrounding them.

Naruto watched as the other boy got to his feet and waited a moment before doing the same and then he glared, "what the hell was that for?" he asked in a harsh undertone, trying to ignore the whispers travelling around the crowd.

The dark-haired boy fixed Naruto with his best death glare, "what was that for?" Sasuke said in a low voice, his tone sarcastic, "you just fucking tackled me!" he ground out before shifting his glare to the crowd as a few girls all but screamed his name. Naruto too, glared at the girls and was in no way shocked to see his glare returned tenfold and noted, somewhat happily, that Sasuke's glare didn't seem to do much but spur them on.

Returning their attention back to each other, both boys continued their glaring contest.

"What do you want, dobe?" Sasuke snapped irritably and the girls in the crowd echoed his question, adding their own insults on the end.

It didn't seem to better Sasuke's mood at all; nor Naruto's for that matter.

Naruto's hands clenched and unclenched at his side as he watched the surrounding crowd. His plan had gone slightly better in his head; it certainly didn't involve this many people that's for sure.

Thinking quickly, Naruto shot forward and grabbed hold of Sasuke's shirt before pulling the other boy into the side road.

"I know," he said in a rush, his hand still fisted in Sasuke's shirt.

Sasuke had barely registered the words before he was abruptly pulled in the other direction and a loud screeching filled his ears.

"He's here! He's here!"

"Damnit! Would you let him go!" Naruto snapped at the girl who had latched onto Sasuke's other arm, emphasizing his words with hard pulls of Sasuke's shirt.

The girl tugged on Sasuke's arm again, pulling him closer, "you let go! You have no right t-" she stopped suddenly as puff of smoke obscured her view, "Sasuke-kun?" the girl said in confusion.

Two blocks of wood fell to the ground, the two boys nowhere in sight.

Naruto blinked as the world seemed to tilt and he fell forward, only to be stopped by two cool hands on each side of his face. Blinking again, Naruto focused his eyes and realised he was face to face with Sasuke.

"Eh?" Naruto stared wide-eyed at the dark-haired boy, taking in their new position. He was standing on his tiptoes, his entire body leaning forward; the only thing stopping him from falling face first into the ground of the alley was Sasuke.

This was an almost kiss, Naruto realised suddenly. If Sasuke hadn't have… then that meant Sasuke had stopped it but…didn't he want this?

The blond started as Sasuke gave him a light shove, causing him to stumble back a step before righting himself.

They stared at each other.

"You know what?" Sasuke asked into the silence, his expression blank as he watched the other boy.

"I…" Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap…maybe I'm wrong…but everything he…no, I'm right. I'm right, I'm right, I'm right.

Naruto squared his shoulders and looked at Sasuke, his expression almost defiant. "I know," he repeated simply.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "know what?" he snapped the question again, his eyes never leaving Naruto's.

"I know," the blond repeated, drawing the last word out as though it would help the other boy understand. When he didn't receive a reply he continued, "I know…about…" he gestured between himself and Sasuke, "… you know."

"No, I don't. Why don't you tell me," came the flat reply from Sasuke.

Bastard. He just wanted him to say it. "I know about…you…and...me…" Naruto trailed off, words failing him. How was he supposed to…?

"Hn," Sasuke put his hands in his pockets, turning away slightly.

Say it.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, closing it a moment later. He just couldn't say it. He couldn't even think of a way to say it.

Sasuke shook his head as he began to walk away, his fringe covering his eyes.

The blond opened his mouth yet again, but no words came to mind; instead, he let out a yell of frustration as he ran after the other boy. Reaching out, Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and without giving him a chance to speak, spun him around to face him, pressing his lips against the other boy's before he could protest.

Naruto kept his eyes focused on Sasuke's dark ones and watched; fascinated by the different emotions playing through the other boy's eyes before they slowly slipped shut. A moment later Naruto was pulled closer to the dark-haired boy as he deepened their kiss, Sasuke's arms sliding around his waist and holding him there. His own eyes widened and he felt heat rising in his cheeks at the other boy's actions but a beat later his eyes slid shut too.

"T-that…" Naruto said breathlessly when they finally broke apart, "that's…that's what I know."

Sasuke smirked at the other boy's breathlessness and leaned in to give him a chaste kiss across the cheek before stepping back and letting his arms fall, "I know," he replied simply, a small, genuine, smile on his face although there was underlining smugness in his voice as he said the words. His smile slipped into his usual smirk a second later and without another word he turned and walked down the alley, stopping at the end when it was clear Naruto wasn't following and he raised an eyebrow at the blue-eyed boy, "well?"

Naruto stared at Sasuke, shaking his head despite the slow grin spreading across his face, "bastard," he said, though minus the customary venom the word sounded more fond than anything else.

Maybe their tradition wasn't so bad after all…

Naruto's grin widened suddenly and he finally moved from where he stood, hurrying his steps to catch up with the other boy as he turned to continue walking. He couldn't wait till next year…but then again, maybe he didn't have to.

The End.

A/N: A big, big thank-you to everyone who reviewed – really – it is very much appreciated!

Justice-hime