blazer-6

2005-03-03

ch 1, signed Interesting storyline. I hope u do some Sasuke bashing I hate the prick.

This was my very first review ever! (smiles and bats eyes sweetly) (snicker's to self) I hope I've succeeded in making this request come true…and at such a convenient time too! ((((D.U. just loves making people happy!))) OMG! (((What?))) Episode 133… (((OMG!))) Hahahah! WTF? (((I know!))) Sasuke, instead of transforming into a super saiyan, has become…a… (((MWAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!))) …a… kukukukukukukuku (((KUKUKUKUKUKUKU!))) …oh my gosh…kukukuku …I can't bring myself to say it… (((…A flat chested woman?))) (clutches belly and falls over)

Oh anyway…yeah…MOVING ON THEN!

!FIRST OFF: DO NOT PROCEDE UNLESS YOU'VE READ THE "NEW ENDING" TO CHAPTER 8! YOU WILL HAVE NO CLUE WHAT IS GOING ON! Um…yeah…if you didn't catch the Ita/Shi/Sas shit with the stabbing and the bleeding and the …OH! Sorry, …yeah…um read it… Also, I went back and fixed some errors that I found in the last chapter…cuz I was a little…um…intoxicated…when I wrote it…spring break and all…sorry… (((Yeah, she's been working on this chapter THAT LONG! Hurry up you dumb bitch!))) Shut up! This chapter is going to kick ass! You think I didn't want to post it sooner? I've been peeing myself with anticipation! Oh yeah, this is a really long chapter, so lot's of author notes…sorry…

WARNINGS: (I hate this part...so troublesome.) Kind of an angsty chapter. Some naughtiness… a 'hint of' LIME, WAFF ((((That just SOUNDS stupid.)))) Big time UST. Suiside? OMG! (((What's gunna happen?))) Oh yeah…there is another OC…this one has no dialogue though…heehee. (((It's a BIRD!))) No. It's a plane. (((Crap! you forgot about the other one!))) Crap. Okay, sigh Sakura's mother is in here too. Does she even count? (((snicker Mary Sue…slaps forehead))) YEAH RIGHT! She's like Charlie Brown's parents! (((Wa Wa WA wa wa WA WA wa))) You never even see her on the show. She exits only as a voice from another room! (((Not in this story, she's really there!))) Shounin ai? (((KUKUKUKUKUKUKU!))) (evil grin)

(((Hey! What about fluffy?))) I got bitched at for saying "fluffy" before, in "TEASE". I'm not even gunna claim that one, since I don't seem to know what it is… (((Oh, okay just checking…Hey but what about the Sasu/Naru Naru/Sasupart?))) I don't think that would be considered fluffy…maybe I'm wrong…I don't know… (((MAN, I NEED SOME ACTION!)))

SPOILERS: I'm just gunna say this: if it's spoiled, well, feel free to let me know, and then, if you care that much, go ahead and write me a new spoiler section, cuz my head is too full to care about a thing like that now. (smoochies!)

NOTES: All my words and translations come from either a Japanese/English dictionary, or my book on slang…I know almost NOTHING about Japanese grammar, as I only had one 9 week class in Japanese before having to quit for my new school (((Animation is fucking troublesome!)))…so here goes my translations:

"kuroi" "black" (as in, the color)… "maru" a popular ending to a boy's name. i.e.—Orochimaru, Akamaru, Konohamaru, you get the idea…(sigh) "Kono Ha" "This Blade" (the grammar is probably wrong, I KNOW, but I couldn't resist. It fit so perfectly! You'll see.) "tsunami" duh…A huge friggin' tidal wave…or whatever…

Quoted from last chapter "It wasn't a single spiral. It was nine separate lines that pin wheeled out from a circular center." This has relevance later.

ENOUGHOF MY IDIOT BABBLING…ON WITH THE FRIGGIN' STORY! (((DAMN IT! ABOUT FRIGGIN' TIME!)))

Last time, Obito had forgotten something very important, Naruto and Sakura were in a bit of an awkward position, and Sasuke was about to die. Have fun! This chapter is getting over 20,000 words! Hope it was worth the wait!

"If it went this way… I wonder what would have happened that day… when they became Genin."

When They Became Genin: The Ninth Tale
"Okay, this is getting ridiculous! Where did I put that damned thing?" Obito wandered through each of the many rooms of his new 'home', searching for the item he'd somehow unfortunately misplaced. He was getting terribly frustrated. He HATED getting off track! He had something he HAD to do, but he was stuck! He yanked at the thick spiky plumes that were his hair. "WHERE THE HELL IS IT!" 'Okay, I had it last night. Retrace your steps. Hmmm…I followed Sasuke and Naruto to the old smithy shop… spied on them from the tree outside…fell asleep…woke up…came here…Sake…wait…' Suddenly, something occurred to him. He bit into his thumb and pressed his hand to the floor. "Kuchiyose no Justu!"

In a loud puff of smoke, a large black bird appeared with its wings spread, and its head bowed to its master, it cocked his head to the side and squawked as if bothered, then hopped up and perched on its master's outstretched arm.

Obito held the bird before him and looked into its small dark eyes. "Kuroimaru, was I wearing my jacket when I summoned you last night? Did you see it?"

Naruto still had his eyes closed, lost in concentration. Out of nowhere, he felt soft, gentle, fingers faintly brush the area just below his belly button. It tickled. A LOT. He didn't tremble, or burst into giggles though. It just made him wake up, and take notice of what was happening right in front of him. His eyes slid open just barely. He let his hands fall to his sides. The girl didn't even notice. She was lost in her own little world. A pair of demon eyes peered down at her. Naruto's lips twisted into a smile. Right then, he thought if he wanted her, he could have her. He loved that feeling. Control. He closed his eyes again. There was no longer any need for concentration or focus. The demon had already surfaced. It had perfect control.
"Aw crap! That's right! I used it as a pillow! Thanks Kuroimaru! KAI!" The bird was released from it's summon and vanished in the same way it had arrived, except, even for a bird, it looked a little irritated by it's master. Obito wasted no time. He teleported back to the area in front of the ahem Kono Ha Smithy Shop and hopped up into the tree that grew next to the building. He felt like a total jack ass. There it was! Right there! It was still hanging from the branch he was sitting in while he was watching over Naruto last night, waiting for him to wake up. He mentally smacked himself and crouched down to pick it up.

Having retrieved what he came for, he was about to teleport back to Naruto's apartment, but when he glanced up after slipping the jacket on, he noticed something peculiar. The door to Sasuke's bedroom had been left open. He could see through it to the main room. He squinted to see it better. Sasuke wasn't asleep, he was sitting up now. Obito leaned forward as if the extra couple of inches would help him see the scene more clearly. Red…on white…? A tiny hint of dread set in. "Aw, what the hell!" He teleported into the room to see what the problem was. This did not look good at all. He suddenly became extraordinarily pissed off. He did NOT want to have to deliver the remains of another dead Uchiha to his Hokage. "You little bastard!" He grumbled under his breath. "You told me you weren't going to kill yourself! AND I BELIEVED YOU!" Obito reached out, grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his shirt, and smacked the boy hard in the face. Sasuke coughed and started mumbling something to him. 'Good.' He wasn't dead yet.

"…wasn't trying…hit an artery…too much blood…too fast…" Sasuke struggled to make his eyes focus. His head bobbed limply at either side.

"Hey!" Obito smacked him again, but not as hard. He gripped Sasuke's jaw to steady his head. "Listen to me. Eat this." He reached into one of his many pockets and produced a small white pill. "It's a blood clotting pill." He jammed it into the boy's mouth. Sasuke nearly choked on it. "CHEW IT!"

Sasuke did as best as he could and then he swallowed it. He felt himself being lowered back down slowly and Obito released his grip on his shirt. He lay slack on the futon, gazing up at his new teacher, trying very hard not to pass out. "Sensei…"

"There. You shouldn't die now. I'm not going to heal that for you though. You did that to yourself. Fix it yourself." Obito peered down at his young relative, without an ounce of compassion on his face. "You saw my jutsu earlier. You had your Sharingan out, watching me; now's the time to see if you can actually use it. Pretend this is combat. Your comrades are with you. You've just been injured heavily, but one of your comrades is in danger." Obito paused, thinking. "Naruto has taken serious damage as well. Only Sakura is left to defend herself. What do you think a True Shinobi would do in that situation?"

"I like to watch."

Sakura flinched at the voice and jerked her hand away from Naruto's stomach. She blinked a couple of times and looked up at him. His eyes were barely open, and they were that weird dark blue again. The pupils were huge, and oddly shaped, not quite round. It startled her to look at them. Naruto's eyes widened a bit, and when the light from the room hit them, they contracted slightly, allowing her recognize the peculiar shape fully. 'Like a cat...' "Wha…?"

"People, I mean. I follow them around and watch them…to see how they behave. That's how I got so good at Henge no Jutsu." Naruto's face changed, as if he was curious about something. "Even still, don't you think that was a little out of character for Sasuke to do? Has he ever behaved that way around you before?" Sakura narrowed her eyes at him. She grabbed his hips and shoved him hard, causing him to fall back on his ass.

"Heghheghhegh." Naruto remained seated on the floor. He crossed his legs and grabbed his feet, then looked up at her grinning. She was pouting. "Are you really that mad at me?"

Sakura prayed that her cheeks weren't burning red. "Yes."

That one word contained more venom and spite than Naruto had ever heard anyone express to him, even in a full sentence! That said a lot, considering who he was, after all. "Aw, come on, it wasn't THAT bad was it?" His eyes got wide and a genuine smile danced across his features. "I liked it…a lot. You're good at it." He felt himself blush slightly at his own words. "You liked it too." He smirked at her.

"I thought you were Sasuke! Not…"

"A filthy, bastard, monster?"

"That's NOT what I meant!"

"But that's what you said." Naruto grinned up at Sakura. "Don't worry about it. Sticks and stones, right? They're just words…even though…coming from you…they do tend to sting a little." He winked at her.

Sakura huffed and jerked her head to the side, not wanting to have her words used against her. She knew this was an argument that she would lose, so she thought she might as well just accept defeat and end it here before she got the urge to hit him again. "I'm…sorry." She was still looking away now. Her words were full of hurt pride.

She didn't sound like she was very sorry to Naruto. His grin widened. "Are you really?" He stretched out his legs and supported himself with his arms. "You know," He paused, giving her a maniacal look, "I can be anyone you want…"

Sakura turned back to him with a confounded look on her face. 'Who the hell does he think he is?'

Naruto smirked at her again. "…even Obito sensei."

"What? What the hell are you getting at?" Sakura demanded. Naruto moved to stand again, but as he did, his form changed. Sakura gasped. She had no idea that Naruto was so adept at using Henge no Jutsu, even after the events that happened earlier at the bench. He seemed to have mastered it completely! His form was almost flawless. He could have actually been… "Obito sensei…?"

"You like me, don't you Sakura…" Naruto approached the bewildered girl and bent down to meet eyes with her. He leaned forward and rested his hands on the cushion behind her, trapping her between his arms. She leaned back to avoid him, but he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear. "I caught you staring."

"Na…"

"What are you waiting for? Naruto is about to be killed by enemy ninja! Sakura is injured now too! You're running out of time!" Obito was not going to sit there and fuck around with the kid. It was time for him to show what he was made of, damn it!

"Naru…to…"

"IS GOING TO DIE! YOU CAN HEAL HIM! STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD AND SAVE YOUR COMRADES!"

Sasuke closed his eyes for a second to try to collect his weary thoughts. He wanted to help them…save them…his comrades…he was just so tired… '…damn it…'

"You're not the ninja I thought you were. You're just a stupid child. Trash." Obito made sure that every ounce of contempt and spite he had shown through in his voice. Sasuke didn't seem to like being taunted.

Sasuke shook his head and tried his best to focus again. He looked down at his leg. The bleeding had almost stopped, but the gash was still there. He brought his hands up, formed the seals that he saw Obito make earlier, and held them just over the damaged area. He focused everything he had left into forcing his chakra out to heal the wound but it was a difficult task. The chakra felt like liquid fire burning his hands, but that said nothing for the screaming pain he felt from his leg. "Gyaaa!" He gasped. The pain was incredible! He felt a terrible sensation as the wound slowly began to stitch itself together. He panted frantically as his vision spun again. He didn't have much left. His chakra felt like it was being sucked out at an incredible rate, no, he was pushing it out. He never realized that such a simple jutsu could drain one's reserve so quickly. "Aaagh!" He bit down on his lip and drew blood. The air that heaved in and out of his lungs didn't seem to be doing its job properly. He felt starved for oxygen, yet he was consuming it as fast as he could. Perhaps he was going into shock?

"Keep going. Don't stop until it's finished." Obito watched as the young Uchiha tried desperately to complete his task. He knew the boy couldn't hold out much longer though. He just didn't have the chakra to do it just yet. He was still too young. He noticed that Sasuke had instinctively brought out his Sharingan. "If I were you, I wouldn't try using Sharingan. It eats up your chakra and it serves no purpose for this task."

Sasuke glanced up at his sensei. He hadn't even realized his Sharingan was out. He paused to force his bloodline skill away and quickly returned to his task. It seemed slightly better, but not by much. He'd barley even begun to heal the wound. How the hell was he supposed to keep it up long enough to finish? He was so tired. He just wanted to rest. His chakra was nearly gone, and he had no idea what he was doing, yet he continued to push as hard as he could. He couldn't give up yet. He wasn't going to lose, damn it! He…had…to…

Sasuke's body made his decision for him. His hands fell away and he slumped forward, exhausted. Obito reached his arm out caught the boy before he collapsed. "You have a strong will, but your control leaves much to be desired." He pushed Sasuke back and knelt down in front of him. "Well, at least you gave it your all." He grinned up at the unconscious heap that was Sasuke. "Too bad, this time you and your comrades are dead." He rubbed his hands together and mentally prepared himself for his new task. "There's always next time." He chuckled at the irony in those words. "I guess I can lend you a hand, since I can't have you all damaged for tomorrow." Obito brought up his hands, laid them over the wound, and got to work fixing his unfortunate relative's little injury.

Sakura suddenly felt much warmer than she had a second ago. She had to force herself to project a cool and uncaring attitude. That was easier said than done, considering there was a demon disguised as her 'oh so terribly sexy' instructor, currently licking and sucking at her ear. It sent currents of electric heat straight down her spine and made her want to gasp. But she WOULD NOT let that happen! "It's not…right."

"Hnnn...Why's that…Sakura?" Naruto spoke softly into her ear, but didn't stop with his teasing. The sweet smell of her hair was doing it's best to make him go all funny in the head. OH the thoughts he was having right then. He was even okay with pretending to be someone else, as long as it made that horrible girl squirm. He wanted to make her crazy…like he felt. It was loads of fun trying. He wanted so badly to wrap his…'sensei's'…arms around her and continue where they'd left off before they were so rudely interrupted earlier. He would have to remember to slap Sasuke for that later. 'Damn Bastard…ruining all my fun. HMPH!'

Aside from his mouth, and the tip of his nose, Naruto hadn't touched Sakura at all. Yeah, he held her there, between his arms, but he was much bigger now than he really was, so it was easy for him to avoid any other contact. Sakura mentally slapped herself for even THINKING about that fact! 'Stupid NARUTO and his stupid GAMES! HE'S DOING THIS ON PURPOSE! FUCKING JERK!' Sakura lifted her hand and gently traced her finger on Naruto's neck, across the area just under his right ear. She felt him inhale sharply at the touch, but his musings persisted. Sakura smiled evilly to herself. "Right here…" She tapped the spot lightly. Naruto immediately traced his tongue down to that same area on Sakura. He kissed it and nipped gently at the flesh with his teeth. Sakura gasped. She sounded way more excited than she had earlier and not nervous at all. "Mmmmm…" She let out a little laugh. "Mmm…Naruto…you…" She laughed again. "You're…so…stupid…"

"…But you like me…" Naruto replied smugly.

"…Obito sensei…" She paused to breathe. Still resting her hand on his neck, she brought her other one up to his chest and pushed him back just slightly. He complied. Sakura looked into his fake black eyes and smiled the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen. "Obito sensei…has a mark right here." She tapped the spot she'd seen the mark when she'd been ogling him earlier. Her beautiful smile turned into a triumphantly wicked grin. "Looks like you should have been paying closer attention." She giggled.

Naruto's eyes got large. His mouth dropped open into a disbelieving smile. "OH! Ooooh…YOU…!" he growled and gritted his teeth, and then shook his head and laughed pathetically to himself. "All right. Fine." He pushed himself away and stood up. "I see how you are."

His illusion vanished before Sakura's eyes. He stood before her, still shirtless, and still quite a bit worked up from their little…game. Sakura laughed. "That's what you get for being a jerk!"

"Whatever." He shrugged and bent down to collect his shirt from its place on the floor, pulled it over his head, and glanced at the horrible girl once more. He sighed and walked off as if he didn't even care and plopped down on his bed. He reached his hand under the mattress, pulled out a magazine, and flipped through it, ignoring her.

Sakura was mad now. She wanted him to yell at her so she could yell at him some more! 'DAMN IT!' Why was he able to get under her skin so easily? God she hated him! She turned to him from her place on the 'couch'. Her eyes widened when she saw what 'the idiot' was now doing to occupy himself. "YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK AT PORN NOW? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? YOU'RE DISGUSTING!"

Naruto peeked a squinted eye out from behind the centerfold and regarded his annoying guest. "Um…excuse me…but…this isn't porn. It's smut. There's a difference." He flipped the magazine around to prove his point and then raised an eyebrow at the blushing girl that was glaring at him. "I'm not getting off on it Sakura. This is research. You know…attention to detail."

Sakura's eyes met with the image of a pretty blond girl in pigtails and a skimpy bathing suit. She looked naughty. "So that's where you learned to do that stupid Orioke no Jutsu. Pig."

"Wow that's a new one!" Naruto sat up and laid his magazine aside. "I thought you saved that one special for that bitch, Ino."

"Don't you talk about Ino like that!"

"Why not? You do it all the time!"

"That's different!"

"Why is it different? Because I don't like her?"

"No! Because you're stupid and I said so!"

"Sasuke is allowed to call her a bitch."

"SASUKE is allowed to do what ever he wants!"

Naruto laughed at that. "Yeah. I noticed." He winked at her.

"I HATE YOU!"

"Whatever." Naruto retuned to his 'research' and continued ignoring her. 'Where the hell is Obito sensei? I don't know how much more of this I can take!'

Sasuke felt wet…and cold. Was it raining? He felt cold droplets almost pouring down on him from above. 'What happened…just now…where…?' How did he end up like this? His eyes flickered open. The first thing he noticed was the red tinted water that was pooling beneath him. He followed its path with his eyes. It ran across the white surface of the floor and swirled its way down the drain. Reality crept up on him. He jerked to attention. 'Shower?...What?'

"Oh look! You're awake! How nice." Obito was sitting hunched over in the corner of the room, with his hands folded neatly in his lap.

"Sensei…?" Sasuke blinked at him questioningly.

"I went ahead and fixed it for you…since you tried so hard." Obito stood and approached his student.

Sasuke paused, thought for a second, and then looked down at his leg. He stretched the hole that his kunai had made in his shorts and checked the area. It looked pristine. There was nothing but a smooth white scar. Sasuke bit his lip and sat with his head lowered for a moment. His tongue fondled the sore that was left on his lip from earlier when he'd almost bit clean though it. It was the same place that had split open when Sakura pushed Naruto into him that morning. It was still sore. The freezing water still rained down on him, plastering his hair to his face. "…Thank you…"

"So you're glad you're not dead?"

The fact that he was freezing dawned on him. Suddenly Sasuke felt his whole body shaking. He wrapped his arms around himself in a feeble attempt at getting some warmth. "I didn't say that." His teeth chattered as he spoke. He hated the way it sounded.

Obito sighed and shook his head. He grabbed a towel, knelt down next to Sasuke, and reached over to turn off the shower. "Sorry, but, I had to wake you." He unfolded the towel. "Here." He wrapped it around Sasuke's shoulders and helped him stand. "Go put some fresh clothes on. We need to get going."

"Going?" He was still chattering, but he was trying his best not to.

"What, you think I'd leave you here by yourself after all that? Heh! Not a chance. I don't trust you."

"Where?" He sounded exhausted.

"I'm supposed to be meeting with Naruto. He's probably mad that I haven't shown up there yet. So hurry up."

"Whatever." Sasuke exited the bathroom, headed to his room, and shut the door behind him. He rid himself of his soggy attire quickly and tied the towel around his waist. He dug in his closet for something warm to put on. He was still chilled to the bone. He figured it was probably more from the blood loss than the ice cold shower he'd been given. He looked down at his arm, and the scars that nearly ran the length of it. He sighed and shook his head. He decided to just give up…and pray to whatever kind of being would listen to him that he wouldn't have to do that to himself anymore. It made him sick just thinking about it. He should be dead right now. But he wasn't. Now what was he supposed to do?

There was a knock at the door. "Hey! You're not cutting yourself in there are you?" Obito was trying his best to lighten the mood. He wasn't really good at that sort of thing.

Sasuke shook himself out of his daze and continued rummaging through his closet. "No."

"Hurry up then. We have business to attend to."

Sasuke didn't reply. He pulled out a long sleeved black shirt and a pair of plain black pants from his closet and tossed them on the bed. He turned back instinctively for weapons. While he was examining his stash for what he wanted, his sensei again beat on the door. "Fuck off for a minute!"

"Don't get smart with me little kid! Just get your shit and let's go!"

Sasuke sighed to himself and dressed quickly. Then slid open the door and entered the main room. His expression had returned to normal now. That is, until he saw the huge dark stain on the futon. It looked as if someone had been murdered in that spot! "I should be dead right now." He squirmed under his flesh.

"About damn time! What were you doing in there? Jerking off?"

Sasuke scowled at Obito. "Not quite, asshole."

"Well you do seem to have a 'hard on' for death. How did it feel?"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Sasuke asked flatly.

"Absolutely not. I'd say about thirty more seconds. Half a minute longer and I wouldn't have been able to save you. Was it…" Obito grinned at Sasuke. "…what you expected?"

"I don't get off on it."

"Then stop doing it. It's that simple."

"What the fuck do you know?"

"A hell of a lot more than you, you arrogant little prick."

"Fuck you."

"Hn! At least you're back to normal."

"I thought you wanted to leave?"

"Let's go!" Obito stepped behind Sasuke, grabbed him by his shoulder, and pulled him close. He wrapped his arm across the boy's chest and formed the seals for his jutsu with his other hand. The pair vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Why do you always have to be like this?"

"Like what?"

"You're a total fucking jerk!"

"Um…excuse me…wait…did you just say that I was a jerk?"

"YES!"

"How…can you…even SAY that to me?"

"Just like I just did! JERK!"

"Who the FUCK do you think you're talking to?"

"You're the only one here! Jerk!"

Obito stood outside the door with his unfortunate relative. He reached for the handle, but paused when he heard the shouting behind the door. Sasuke shook himself free from Obito and stepped away from him with an irritated look on his face.
"What the FUCK did I EVER do to you except try to be fucking NICE?"

"OH! Let's see…HMMM…YOU PRETENDED TO BE SASUKE AND TRIED TO FUCKING MOLEST ME TODAY! AND THEN YOU TRIED TO DO IT AGAIN JUST NOW…ONLY AS OUR TEACHER!"

"You were BEGGING FOR IT! WHAT THE FUCK?"

"I WAS NOT BEGGING!"

"You…are making me INSANE! What the hell do I have to do? Just PLEASE STOP BITCHING AT ME!"

"YOU'RE A FUCKING PERVERT!"

Sasuke sighed heavily. "See, I told you. He's a predator." Obito shot him a displeased look. Sasuke rested himself against the rail across from Naruto's door, still feeling petty shitty after his little 'accident'. He just wanted some fucking sleep. He tuned out the incessant bitching that was going on behind the door. He'd heard it all before, well not quite the same CONTENT, but still, it was just Naruto and Sakura bitching at each other, not like they hadn't done it a million times before. Sakura was bitching about Naruto being 'stupid' and Naruto was bitching about 'him' (that means Sasuke) being a fucking jerk. That just always seemed to be the case with those two. 'So this is where Naruto lives huh?' He looked around to see if he recognized the neighborhood. He'd seen this place before. He noticed a large red spiral had been painted on one of the buildings across from him. That wasn't there last time he was in the area. He wondered how Sakura even knew where Naruto lived. Had she been here before? Why would she come here? Had she noticed the spiral on his shirt too? '…or did he bring her here…?'

"You think we should interrupt them?" Obito chuckled back at Sasuke, who wasn't even paying attention. That was interesting. Obito noted that. "This is kind of fun. Sitting here listening to their private affairs…don't you think so?"

"Tch. Whatever."

"You're a TEASE!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? HOW DARE YOU!"

"What? You are."

Obito heard what sounded like a 'thump'. His eyes got large.
"OW! WHY'D YOU THROW THAT AT ME?"

"DON'T YOU TRY TO ACT STUPID! YOU KNOW WHY I THREW THAT AT YOU!"

Sasuke turned back to his 'guardian'. "Are you planning on breaking that up in there anytime soon? She's going to start kicking the shit out of him."

Obito was giggling into his hand. He glanced up at Sasuke's question and smiled lightheartedly at him. "They argue like they're married!"

"My parents never acted like that."

Obito's grin faded and he furrowed his brow. "Do you always have to be so morbid?"

"I wasn't being morbid. I was making a comment."

"Whatever little kid. Wait out here for a minute." Obito turned to knock on the door.

Sakura rushed him. She couldn't take it anymore. She needed to hit him AT LEAST ONCE! He just called her a fucking TEASE! He was the one who started this whole mess in the first place! She swung at him. Naruto saw that one coming. He knew it would happen sooner or later. He didn't really feel like getting his ass kicked right then though. He'd had quite enough for today, thank you very much. He caught her punch, squeezed just a tiny bit on her fist, and got in her face. "I don't really have to let you treat me the way you do, you know."

Sakura stared into red, demon eyes. The slit pupil extended and thinned just slightly before it widened and became circular again. Naruto glanced over towards the door and loosened his grip, then he let go of her and stepped away just seconds before…

There was a knock at the door. "It's not locked," Naruto said absently, in a calm voice. The knob turned and the door creaked open to reveal the man they'd been waiting for.

Sakura turned towards the door. She hadn't even had the chance to react to what Naruto had just said to her. 'His eyes…'

"IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH!" Sakura and Naruto shouted simultaneously.

"Sorry," their instructor said as he stepped through the door. "I got caught up." He examined his two young students. Both looked a little…'out of sorts'. "Naruto, I told you to take Sakura home. I didn't mean yours."

"I DID take her home! She stalked me here!" He gave Sakura his very finest dirty look. "She wanted to wait for you." Naruto's eyes never left her. He glared at her as if he hoped his gaze would pierce her skin. He was in a bad mood now. "She has something to ask you."

"Sakura?" Obito blinked in confusion. "What did you want to ask me?"

"I…" She couldn't just say it now! 'Damn Naruto! Stupid!' She had to think fast. "I wanted you…to…talk to my parents for me!"

Obito thought it funny at first, the way her words came out, that is. He stifled a laugh, and tried his best to look serious. "About…?"

"When I tell them that I'm on a team with HIM," she pointed an angry finger at Naruto. "They're going to freak out. They'll…I don't know, but it will be bad…and I really can't deal with that right now."

Obito sighed. He should have known. 'Damned ignorant people.' He'd have to get creative with this one. "All right. I can do that. Leave it to me." He winked at her. He noted that she avoided looking at him and chuckled in his head. He'd have to ask Naruto about that little piece of information he'd overheard. There was a long uncomfortable pause. The tension in the air was so thick he thought he would choke on it. "…All right then! Um, okay, Sakura, why don't you wait outside for me, for a minute? Naruto and I have something to discuss. Then I'll take you home and talk to them, is that okay?"

Sakura nodded politely to her teacher and headed for the door. She glanced back at Naruto on her way out and shot him an angry look. Naruto noticed something else too, something hidden…hurt? He shook his head and turned to the man who was supposed to be his 'guardian' just as the door clicked closed behind her. He took in a deep breath and let out a long exhausted sigh.

Sakura stepped outside and looked around for a minute. The second floor walkway provided a nice view. She rested her arms on the railing and stared out across the quiet streets of the neighborhood, lost in her thoughts. A couple of people were wandering about below her. 'Common civilians,' she thought to herself. They laughed and chatted casually amongst themselves. She took notice and sighed when she heard one of them mention the mysterious Uchiha who had bested the traitor a few days ago. It reminded her of the fact that her life was changing so quickly. She felt the terrible pressure to keep up with it's pace press just a tiny bit harder. How was she ever going to deal with it? In the middle of trying to answer that question to herself, she heard a rustling behind her and turned, startled at what she found.

Sasuke was crouched down next to the door, his form half hidden in the shadows cast by the evening's failing light. He'd noticed her come out of course, but when he realized she hadn't seen him, he decided to just be still, and let a quiet moment pass between them before he made himself known. He found himself unable to process his thoughts and stared vacantly at her silhouette, watching her gaze drearily down at the randomly passing villagers. His mind wandered back to when he'd first been introduced to her, he'd noticed her before that though, of course. How could he not? She really was quite pretty. She always had been. 'The prettiest girl in school…' He closed his eyes in an attempt to recapture the subtle texture of the memory. That day…he could recall it with stunning clarity. It was the same day Shisui had come to him and told him of his brother's troubles…and of the nature of their…'relationship'.

"Sasuke, if you're done flirting with that girl, I wonder if I could speak to you for a moment?"

"Sh—Shisui? What?"

"Come on, I'll show you some shuriken tricks."

"Ugh...okay…hang on a sec…Well, I guess since you're okay…I'll see you later…Sakura." Sasuke quickly stood and ran to meet up with his brother's 'friend', leaving the cute, little, pink haired, girl behind.

Shisui turned and began walking, leading Itachi's little brother away from where prying ears might hear what he'd come to say. Sasuke caught up and fell in next to him. "She's cute."

Sasuke was feeling a little uncomfortable. He jammed his hands into his pockets and examined his footsteps as he walked. "She's okay I guess."

"Aren't you a little young to be thinking about getting a girl's attention? Boys your age are supposed to be afraid of girls." Shisui smiled over at the little boy who'd seemed so interested 'boys' last night.

"I-I'm not afraid of girls! They're girls! They aren't strong..."

Shisui laughed. "Right." He reached over and ruffled the boy's hair.

Sasuke jerked away from the touch. He frowned up at Shisui and cocked an eyebrow at him, but it soon twisted into a smirk and the boy relaxed a little. "So… what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I wanted to talk to you about your brother."

"Oh…well, if it's about last night…I won't say anything. I already promised Itachi that I wouldn't."

"Yes, he told me he talked to you about it. I wonder though, do you understand what you were seeing?"

"I um…well yeah, I guess I do. You were kissing him…but why? You and my brother…"

"I love him Sasuke. We love each other, very much."

Sasuke stared questioningly at Shisui. His eyes widened. "You…LOVE him?"

"Yes. Itachi is very important to me. Do you understand what I mean when I say that I love him? It isn't the same as the love that one would feel for their parents…or their siblings."

"No. You love him like…boys are supposed to love girls, right?"

Shisui smiled. "Yes. I do."

"But…why?"

"Sometimes, it seems, you do not get to choose the ones you love. It simply happens, and you decide to either deny yourself those feelings, or to accept them. Itachi and I have accepted our feelings."

"So…he loves you back…"

"Yes, I believe he does. Does that upset you?"

"Well, no… It's just… You and Itachi… are really close… He always ignores me…and I'm his brother!"

"That's a part of what I wanted to talk to you about Sasuke. I know how much you desire Itachi's attention, and I know that he doesn't spend much time with you, but you must understand the difference between yourself and him. He looks at you and he sees all the things he wishes he had for himself. It upsets him."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"You see, because Itachi is different…powerful…people have certain expectations of him. Because of his position in the family, he must constantly maintain a level of quality that befits those expectations. He is the future of our clan. You on the other hand, have been gifted with an easy existence. Sometimes, he begrudges you that."

"You mean…he's mad at me…because I'm not like him?"

"No, no. That isn't it. He simply envies that you are allowed to be a carefree child, and he was never allowed that. His existence has always been that of one who will, one day, inherit the will of this clan. It is a very heavy burden for him to carry."

"Oh…"

"It doesn't help that your father has now entered him into a rather binding marriage contract. You know about that, don't you?"

"Yeah…I was with our father when he went to speak with Hyuuga Sama. My father said that it was arranged to help resolve the tension between our clans…" Sasuke bit his lip and paused, thinking about that day. "So he's upset because of…" He looked at Shisui, then looked away, recalling what he'd seen the night before, in his older brother's room.

"He's just been under a great deal of stress recently, Sasuke. You needn't worry for him. Just let him be for right now…I'm sure he'll come around one of these days. Come on, right up here is a perfect spot to train. I hope you have more shuriken."

Sasuke quickly stowed the memory. He didn't want to think about those things; he just wanted to be able to forget. He ran a tired hand through his hair and slid down the rest of the way into a seated position. Sakura heard the rustling, that's when she finally turned and noticed him.

"! Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

He lifted his head from his thoughts and regarded his teammate. "Obito sensei made me come…" He leaned his head back on the wall and closed his eyes again, the need for peaceful rest bearing down on him hard.

"Oh…" There was a long pause. Sakura didn't even know what to say. She wanted to talk to him so badly earlier, but now that he was right here in front of her, she was at a loss for words.

"So, what are you doing here?" He was curious about her motives. He didn't think she'd ever be caught dead hanging around Naruto of her own free will, especially after what happened earlier. This day was chock full of surprising twists.

"I was just…um…" Sakura frantically searched her mind for something to tell her inquisitor, but was suddenly struck by a terrible feeling of embarrassment. Had he heard what they were arguing about? She gasped mentally. 'DID OBITO SENSEI HEAR? Oh my god…this is the worst day of my life.' She huffed and covered her face with her hands in an attempt to shield herself fromhaving to be analyzed by the person who was somehow able to see right through her no matter how much she tried to hide.

She looked so delicate and fragile right then. Sasuke felt compelled to make some kind of amends for his terrible behavior towards her. "I'm sorry about earlier…I didn't mean to go off on you like that…"

Sakura was shocked by his words. He'd never said anything even remotely like that to her…ever…or to anyone else for that matter, not since...before. "Sasuke…" Sakura suddenly recalled what she had come in search of when she wandered down the street that her loud mouthed teammate said was his own. It didn't take much to find him. She'd just asked around. She did not stalk him here! She just wanted to find out where Sasuke had been hiding himself and Naruto seemed to be the only one who knew. The pain from earlier returned to her and she had to fight back her tears. She wanted to be strong. "I'm sorry…about…I didn't know about…"

"It's all right. Don't let it bother you." He looked up at her calmly. "Look, can I…talk to you…about something…since we're both here?" His voice was soft and weary. He sounded terribly exhausted.

"Y-yeah…what is it…Sasuke?"

"I like you Sakura…"

Sakura's heart stopped beating. The ground seemed to fall out from beneath her feet. She absently griped the rail she was holding, just a bit tighter.

"You really are nice…"

She knew that there had to be more to it than that. This was something that just wouldn't ever happen. She wasn't stupid enough to allow herself to have false hopes anymore.

"But look…it's not like how you feel about me."

She knew she was right. He wouldn't ever return her feelings. She sighed, almost relieved.

"Those kinds of things…I'm not interested in them."

There was a long pause as Sakura tried to gather her senses enough to make a reply. "…Oh…I see…" It was all she could manage.

Sasuke labored with the task of pulling himself to his feet. "I just…I don't really want to have to think about that kind of stuff." He trailed off, and stepped over to fall in next to the girl he was speaking to. She looked so sad. He didn't want to hurt her feelings. He hated making people sad. She'd always been there, and was always nice to him, even when he was mean to her. He'd been doing a lot of soul searching since yesterday, and he had come to the conclusion that he wanted things to change, to get better, now that Itachi was gone. He was fumbling his way through it though. "I'd like for us to try to get along better…be friends…but that's all. Is that all right with you?"

"…Uh…I…I…"

"Please Sakura…this is hard enough for me as it is…"

"Of course Sasuke! I've always thought of you as my friend…I mean, I know you didn't…I mean…I haven't really been a very good friend to you…but…"

"That's not true." He turned and looked intently into her weary eyes.

"What…isn't true?" Sakura's voice had suddenly become quite timid as she looked into the abyss that was his eyes. They looked tired and weary and they had a slight pink tint to them. To Sakura, it looked like he'd been crying

"If there was anyone…that I could really call my friend…over these last couple of years…you'd be it. I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you…I just don't…really…like to be touched…and you…" He was stopped by the sound of her muffled sob. "Sakura?"

Sakura turned away from him. She didn't want him to have to see her that way. She couldn't help it. She'd been desperately fighting with her emotions, trying to keep them in check, but it was a hard thing for her to do. She was just stretched too thin. It had been a very hard day for her. "I'm sorry…I just…"

"Hey…ugh…don't do that. Please? I didn't mean to…"

"It's not you, it's just…I'm just…so stupid…I should have…"

"You're not stupid. You didn't do anything wrong. Don't…don't trouble yourself with me…please…I hate it."

"How can I not? I care for you so much…I just want to see you happy again! I thought I could make you happy…" She sobbed into her hands.

"Sakura…" Sasuke reached a tentative hand out and placed it on the girl's shoulder in a fumbling attempt to soothe her, and gently turned her back around to face him.

Sakura turned and reached her arms out, moving to embrace the boy that made her ache. She stopped short though and flinched, jerking her hands away and returning them to there place at her sides. She remembered what he'd just said about not wanting to be touched and she felt bad that she'd even considered it.

Sasuke felt bad. He realized what she wanted to do, but she'd stopped because of what he'd said to her. "Aw…hey…it's…okay…you can…if you want…" He waited, and mentally prepared himself for the sensation, but it never came. Sakura just stared at her feet and bit her lip; a look of anxiety marring her delicate features. "Here…" He decided that he should go to her. He stepped forward and hesitantly brought his arms up to pull her close. It felt terribly awkward. He blushed at his own trembling hands. Her body felt stiff and apprehensive at first, but after a moment, she softened and relaxed into the embrace. Her body felt warm against him. It was nice. Comfortable. He held her tighter, clinging to that warmth. He hadn't felt that kind of sensation in a very long time. He'd never even fully realized how much he'd actually missed it.

"Sasuke…you're so cold!" He was wet too. Well, his hair was anyway. She could feel him shaking slightly in her arms.

"You're warm," he breathed into her ear, "It's nice."

Sakura's arms wrapped around his waist and gripped his back. Her fingertips brushed against the texture of the fan emblem he wore. It reminded her of his tragic loss and made her feel even more horrible. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it must be like for him. "Sasuke…" Sakura snuggled her face into his shoulder. His wet hair was cold against her skin.

"Shhh…" Sasuke raised a hand to pet her hair. Its scent filled his nose and reminded him of springtime…and cherry blossoms. "Forgive me…" His voice was barely audible, but Sakura still heard his request.

"Of course, Sasuke…" she answered, "…anything for you…"

"So, I guess you're here to bitch at me too?" Naruto regarded his guest with a not so pleasant look on his face.

"Actually, no. I was thinking you were going to bitch at me for not getting here sooner."

"Let's just skip it then. So what DO you want?"

"Well, I have something for you." Obito removed his jacket and tossed it over to Naruto.

Naruto caught it and held it up, observing it with a questioning look. "Wow. Um…"

"It's yours."

"Okay…"

"It was your mother's."

"…I see."

"You'll notice the spiral on the back of it…the Uzumaki crest."

Naruto examined the red 'whirlpool' insignia. He traced his finger around one of the curving lines. Without warning, a jumbled image flashed in his mind. 'What the hell was that?' He blinked, as if startled, then shook it off and looked back up at his sensei. "…I know what it is…"

"I see that." Obito was, of course, referring to the hand made one that graced the back of Naruto's tee shirt, and also the bar across the street.

"…Yeah."

"Yeah."

"So…"

"Yeah." Obito wasn't exactly sure if he should continue the conversation or wait for later when they could discuss it fully. He decided it would be more polite to at least get a few things out of the way right now. Sasuke would be fine with Sakura out there keeping an eye on him, and he really wasn't looking forward to having to break the news to Sakura's parents that she had the 'evil demon boy' on her team. Damn it, this whole situation was a pain in the ass. He prayed that things would start to work themselves out soon because he was sure not looking forward to having to watch them constantly to keep them from killing each other…or themselves. 'PAIN in the ASS.' He decided not to dwell on it. 'They'll work it out. Now for the task at hand…' "How much do you know of her? Your mother, I mean. Has the Hokage told you anything?"

"Not much. She used to live here. She worked at Ichiraku. She liked Ramen. She died giving birth to me. Her name was," Naruto paused, thinking, "…Kitsune."

Obito's eyes widened slightly. He was absolutely positive that nobody, NOBODY, knew her real name, except for himself and his now deceased grandmother. She always referred to herself as Tsunami, or Tsune for short. That little piece of information was an interesting one indeed.

"Old man Hokage told me that stuff when he dropped me off here. He never said anything about you though. So what's up with that?"

"I WAS asked to keep an eye on you…make sure you didn't get into trouble."

"Is that how it is…"

"Yeah, something like that, kid. So, I guess you want to know why I ditched you."

"If it's something you think I should know."

"After you were born, this village was nearly destroyed, and we were in fragile negotiations with our neighboring countries. We were fresh out of a long standing war that had stretched our resources way too thin as it was. Every available Jounin and Chuunin was called into active duty, including myself. Hokage Sama flatly refused my request to take you in as my own child because I was only like fifteen at that time…and of course, I was not married. He ordered you placed in the orphanage for the children who had lost both parents during the war, but said that he would allow me take you when both of us got to be a little older, and my missions would not take me away from you as often."

"I had to beg him relentlessly to let me the fuck out of that place."

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't want them to put you there, but I had no choice."

"It's nothing really. I didn't stay there that much anyway."

"I know. I used to visit you, you know. They'd call me whenever you caused too much trouble…or ran away." Obito recalled an old memory of Naruto when he was small and cute and full of energy. He'd been emergency summoned by the orphanage. It seemed as though little Naruto was no where to be found, so they'd sent him out to look for the wild, little, brat. Obito smiled to himself when he recalled the image of the Naruto curled up under a bush in the woods. When he'd finally found the boy, and picked him up to take him back to the orphanage, he noticed that the boy's face and clothes were smeared with blood. It was so cute… He'd been snuggling with the poor forest critter's mutilated carcass after he'd gutted and eaten the rest of it. Not bad for a two year old. He was certainly good at taking care of himself.

"Old man Hokage brought me here when I got accepted into the Ninja Academy. He gave me bunch of books and scrolls and said, 'Here you go, do well with them.' …He still stops in and checks on me sometimes…and yells at me when I vandalize things."

"Trying to be recognized?"

"I only like being unnoticed when I want to be. Being ignored all the time though…it gets a little frustrating after a while, you know?"

"I imagine it would. Don't worry. I'm not going to ignore you. I assure you, I am especially interested in you."

"That creeps me out a little, Mister."

"That's 'sensei' to you. Or you could just call me 'master' if you want." Obito grinned down at the small blonde terror.

Naruto laughed at that. "Hahaha! Why would I do something like that? It's you who's going to be calling me 'master' before long…or should I say 'lord'. I'm terribly patient, you know." He stretched out on his bed and got comfortable. "It'll feel quite good, I think, when the time comes."

Obito was caught completely off guard. The kid's tone, it wasn't arrogant at all. It was very sincere and confident, but nowhere near arrogance. It reminded him of old times. He smiled. "Do you remember the conversation we had when I first talked to you in that alley?"

"Yeah. You asked me if I really was a demon."

"And what did you ask me in return?"

"I asked you if you were really the demon you claimed to be."

"And what did I say to that?"

"Most definitely…" Naruto paused, considering the words. "So it's really true then?"

"That, my little friend, is forbidden to speak about, even with you."

Naruto's brow furrowed and he got a peculiar look on his face, as if he was thinking really hard. "Within an Uchiha, there lays a spirit aflame."

Obito was surprised, 'Where the hell did the kid hear something like that?' His thoughts drifted back to what seemed so very long ago, when he was still a child. His father's words rang clearly in his ears. "Well…it actually goes, 'Within an Uchiha there lays a spirit aflame, burning eternally, for the fire inside an Uchiha will never cease.' It was kind of like a 'mantra' or something, for the clan. Wherever did you hear that?"

"From the only other Uchiha I ever knew…when I was little. I didn't get it though." Naruto paused again, recalling the memory. "He was just so intent on talking to me. Haha! That sounds pretty funny now."

Obito sighed and rolled his eyes. 'Oh great…now what am I gunna do! I am NOT taking that weird kid over to Sakura's house with me!' "That reminds me…" Obito scratched his temple and grinned sheepishly down at the kid.

"What's that?"

'It'd be best to just get it out of the way…' "He's outside."

Naruto shot up, knowing exactly who he meant. "YOU LEFT HIM OUT THERE WITH SAKURA!"

Obito quickly reached out his hand and covered the boy's mouth to silence him. "Shhhh! Don't worry. I'm sure they're fine." After a moment, he drew his hand away, trusting that Naruto would not scream again.

"That guy's not right in the head!" Naruto continued, in a quieter but stressed tone. "He tried to kill her earlier today! If I wouldn't have been there…"

"I would have stopped him."

"What, like you stopped him from nearly killing ME yesterday?"

Obito sucked his teeth. "I knew you would be okay."

"Oh yeah, just great! I was really okay when I nearly died earlier!"

Obito laughed a little. "You weren't going to die. Your body was probably just trying to shut down to have more energy to repair the damage, itself. Look here, your 'chakra' doesn't like mine. Mine doesn't like yours either. I had to put a lot more effort into it than I would have if I was trying to heal someone else because I had to force it to want to waste its energy healing you. It's like you said, you didn't NEED me to heal it for you. Get what I'm saying?"

Naruto just huffed at him. "Gee thanks. So why the heck did you bother then?"

Obito jabbed his thumb towards the door. "I wanted to show THEM the technique in a real situation. Plus, I wanted to see how they reacted when I made them think your life was in danger." He looked down at the kid and smirked. "Both of them came to your aid, by the way."

Naruto shrugged and turned away, recalling the way he had been feeling earlier… when…

'Did he just…blush? That's interesting.' Obito mentally grinned. "So, I guess you can count on them to get your back if you need it. That's a good thing, be thankful."

Naruto huffed again. "Aren't you supposed to be taking Sakura home?"

Obito thought Naruto sounded a little pissed off all of a sudden. "Yeah. I should get to that."

"Later then."

"Don't think we are done talking. I'm coming right back here when I'm done with her."

"Whatever. I had plenty of rest yesterday and last night," Naruto said sarcastically. "I suppose I can entertain some more tonight."

"Really? Then you won't mind if I leave Sasuke here?"

"CHE! I didn't say THAT!" Naruto huffed AGAIN!

"Come on, watch him for me. He needs to just sit and chill out for a while. He's had a rough couple of days."

Naruto gritted his teeth as if trying his best not to start screaming. His eye suddenly began to twitch. "…Sure. Fine. Whatever. Hurry up though. I'm not getting into another fight today. It's becoming a little irritating."

"Hahaha…It shouldn't take long."

"Go then. Get it over with."

"Right." With that Obito stepped over, opened the door, and slipped out. He peeked out first to make sure nothing funny was going on. It was a good thing he did because Sasuke was currently lying with his head in Sakura's lap and both were asleep. Naruto wouldn't have liked to have seen that. Obito sighed and bent down. He shook Sasuke awake, much to the boy's objection. "Come on. You have to get up. You can't sleep here."

Sasuke was extremely grumpy now. He had been dead asleep and perfectly content, and now he had to get up again. No. That was not cool. Not at all. Sasuke was irritated. He smacked Obito's hand away, pushed himself up, and rubbed his tired eyes.

"I have to take her home. You're staying here."

Sasuke didn't argue. He didn't have the energy to. He stood up, walked over to Naruto's door, and knocked while Obito woke up Sakura. "It's not locked!" Naruto shouted from inside. He sounded irritated too. Sasuke entered and stood by the door, eyeing Naruto, not sure what to do.

The first thing Sakura saw when she opened her eyes was the red and white fan emblem on Sasuke's shirt as it disappeared into Naruto's apartment. She was startled by being so suddenly awakened, it didn't help that it was Obito that was doing the waking.

"Come on Sakura, let's get you home now." Obito reached for the girl's hand to help her to her feet.

Sakura jerked her hand away real fast! You couldn't really blame her. She'd been traumatized by the image of her sensei after all. 'Damned stupid Naruto!' She let out a sigh and shifted slightly so that she could confirm that her sensei was genuine. The mark was there. Good. Wait…Naruto knew where it was now…what if… Her face twisted into a scowl. "You're not Naruto are you?"

Obito grimaced and smacked his forehead. "No. Thank you. I'm Obito. Want me to prove it?"

Sakura continued giving him an untrusting look.

Obito stood away and made the channeling seal. "Kai!" Nothing happened, of course. There was nothing to dispel. "See? I'm genuine."

Convinced for the moment, Sakura helped HERSELF to her feet and fixed her rumpled clothing. "So, what are you going to tell them? My parents I mean."

"I have no idea. Well, maybe you could help me out with that. Come on let's walk." The pair made their way down the hall, the flight of stairs, and out into the quiet street. Their destination wasn't really very far away, just a few blocks. Obito would have to think fast. "So I'm assuming that your parents told you already about Naruto…and they don't really like him very much, is that about right?"

"They never told me about him. They just hate him. They know I was in his class, so they told me to stay away from him."

"I see." Obito sighed. They probably knew nothing about him at all. 'Stupid people.' "All right, so, are they both going to be home when we get there? I need to know what to prepare for."

"My mother will definitely be there…I don't know about my father though…he works late a lot."

"Okay." That was good. Obito thought it might be a little bit easier if he was just dealing with the woman. He hoped Sakura was right about her father probably not being there. 'Yeah.' That would make it a HELL OF A LOT easier for him. It was easy to charm a woman. Men though, it seemed that they didn't particularly like him, not to mention you can't charm a woman when her man is standing right there, after all, and he didn't want to have to get into a fight.

Naruto cocked an eyebrow at his guest. The third one today! It must have been an extra special day! Naruto's cheerful façade had long since gone the way of the Uchiha clan, however. Like them, he had about two fragile nerves left, and was almost HOPING that the Bastard would pick a fight with him. He was really feeling like he wanted to smash and break something. "You look like shit."

"I imagine I do. I feel much worse than I look though." Sasuke gave him a fake 'cheerful' smile, crossed the room, and collapsed onto Naruto's 'couch' with a loud sigh.

He really did look like shit. His hair was all snarled and tangled and…wet? He was wearing some 'get up' that Naruto thought Obito would be more likely be seen wearing, and he didn't even have shoes on, let alone the fact that it looked like he wasn't carrying any weapons! "Make yourself at home." Naruto was being sarcastic of course.

"I will. Thanks. Then we can call it even." Sasuke immediately began fluffing up a lumpy spot to lay his head on, still mad that he'd been forced to get up in the first place. Sakura's thigh had been more comfortable than he would have ever believed, had he not experienced it for himself. He suddenly wished he had it with him for a pillow more often. The gentle fingers that ran through the tangles of his damp hair and caressed his scalp were a nice touch too. He didn't suppose he could convince the Dead Last to do that for him. It really didn't matter who did it, it was just fucking great any way you looked at it. It took all of about thirty seconds of bliss before he'd been asleep like a dead man. He could definitely go for that on a regular basis. Bah. 'Too much to ask for.' He'd settle for plain old sleep. That'd be fine.

"Even?" Naruto sounded a little offended.

Sasuke continued his 'fluffing' as he replied. "I let you crash at my place last night, and I had to stay up watching you to make sure you didn't fucking die."

"I didn't ask you to bring me there! And I certainly didn't ask you to sit there and WATCH me all night!" Again the image of Sasuke standing above him, looking down at him, in that huge bed, entered Naruto's mind. Only this time, there was a hand poised a few inches from his throat and an evil smile was twisted on his host's face. He cringed inwardly. Why? WHY did he have to think about such things?

"I didn't ask you to be stupid and nearly kill yourself…" Sasuke finally decided that Naruto's 'couch' was an acceptable amount of 'fluffy' and curled up on his side. He felt naked with out his kunai. "…but what difference does it make now? It already happened. Nothing's gunna change it. Why are we even arguing about this?" He curled his arm around his eyes to block out the light of the room.

"Shut up Bastard!"

"Gladly."

"So did you hear us?"

"What?" Obito turned to his student, he knew what she was talking about, but he thought it best to play stupid.

"What Naruto and I were arguing about? Did you hear us?"

"Oh, well, sort of, a little bit."

"Do you know what that bastard tried to do to me?"

"Well, I have an idea…" Obito blushed slightly, trying to hold down a laugh.

"It's NOT FUNNY! He…He…He's such a fucking jerk."

She sounded a little sad. Obito felt suddenly a little bad for her. Naruto was an accomplished shape-shifter after all, and he DID have the use of Kage Bunshin now too. The worst part was he had apparently decided that she was in need of punishment for her nasty behavior. That could become a serious problem later. Sasuke's comment from earlier came back to him, 'He's a predator.' 'Damn it! Why? Stupid old man Hokage!' This was a fragile situation indeed. "Why do you hate him so much Sakura, if I might ask? I mean, besides what he did earlier, what made you decide you hated him? Other than your parent's dislike for him, that is."

"Well…" Sakura was put on the spot. She didn't really know how to answer. She looked at her feet and thought very hard about her feelings for the blonde idiot. "I don't know! He just gets on my nerves!"

"Ah. I see." Obito fell silent for a moment. He looked around and took in the scenery, allowing Sakura more time to ponder his question. The nostalgia set in again…it was threatening to ruin his mood.

A long awkward moment passed between the two rival boys. Naruto was starting to squirm. Did he just win that argument? And how weird was it that SASUKE, THE Bastard, was just sitting there sprawled out on his 'couch?'

Sasuke didn't really care if he'd offended the Dead Last. Naruto always seemed to just shrug off his comments anyway. And how weird was it that he was sitting in the guy's apartment? He just wanted to go to sleep. He snuggled his head into one of the lumpy pillows. The smell of the fabric took his senses by surprise. It smelled…good! Sasuke closed his eyes and breathed it in. The scent was nostalgic. It reminded him of summer…and fireworks. It was soothing. Sasuke's mind began unwinding and he relaxed, dosing peacefully between random thoughts. 'Grass…and dirt…and burning leaves…'

Then…he thought about last night…

Sasuke heaved the weight of his rival onto his bed, careful not to aggravate his injury. It had finally stopped bleeding and Sasuke was thankful for that. He hurried out of the room and reappeared carrying a steaming bowl and a cloth. He laid the items on the bedside table and turned back to Naruto. His jacket sleeve had become soaked with blood. Sasuke sighed and looked down at himself. His now ripped up shirt was also covered in that blood as well. "Damn it Naruto! Why do you always have to be so difficult?" He pulled his tattered shirt up over his head and dropped it on the floor next to the bed. He'd have to remember to burn it later. 'Damn it.' He reluctantly looked back over to the unconscious boy and sighed again.

He drug his chair over to the edge of the bed, pulled out one of his kunai, and cut away the blue, makeshift, bandage on Naruto's upper arm. 'What a fucking idiot… Making me do all this…' He leaned over and carefully pinched his thumb and first finger on the zipper of the idiot's jacket. He ran it up along the curve of the boy's neck and back down until it had freed itself from it's other half. 'Okay, so…how should I go about doing this…?'

Hesitantly, he sat down on the edge of the mattress and turned to face the nearly lifeless figure in front of him. He bit his lip. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated his next course of action. He decided it would be best if he got it over with quickly, so, not allowing himself time to turn back, Sasuke closed his eyes and reached his hands out. The callous of his fingertips found the texture of the other boy's mesh shirt and slid up underneath the folds of the jacket. They snaked their way up his torso, pushing the opposing sides of the jacket apart as they went. Bracing himself, Sasuke slid his hands between Naruto's back and the mattress, lifted him slightly, and fumbled to get his right arm completely around him. Not wanting to disturb Naruto's injured arm, he leaned down all the way and gripped his hand on the other boy's neck so he could support his head as he lifted him up to remove the jacket. For apparently no reason, he mentally noted that Naruto did, in fact, have incredibly soft hair. 'How stupid…' he thought to himself. Slowly, he sat up, bringing Naruto with him. Sasuke knew that he'd have to prop Naruto up against himself if he wanted to be able to get that jacket off without a struggle. He gritted his teeth and pulled Naruto close.

Naruto's cheek brushed his ear, and then the other came to rest on his shoulder, much as Sasuke had tried to avoid something like that happening. Sasuke didn't like the way his skin seemed to tingle at the touch. He did not like that at all. He breathed in deeply and sighed loud. With that breath, he couldn't escape experiencing the scent of Naruto's hair. Like grass, and dirt, and sweat.

Sasuke was appalled at the realization that he didn't find anything about it unpleasant. That bothered him. A lot. He felt Naruto's shallow breaths as they sent rhythmic waves of warmth ghosting over the skin of his neck. It gave him goose bumps and sent shivers down his spine. He sighed again and closed his eyes. Why the heck did he take his shirt off? His heart was pounding in his chest. He'd never in his life felt so awkward. Not ever! He'd forgotten what he was doing completely! What the hell was he doing?

Sasuke scolded himself mentally and reached his free arm up to push the jacket down as far as he could. It was then that he noticed how heavily he was breathing. He was feeling a little… queasy. He tugged at the sleeve until Naruto's right arm was free and tried his best to get the jacket out of the way quickly. He needed Naruto to be off him. Now.

He brought his arm up again and leaned forward, allowing Naruto's body to fall back into his hands. He felt the heat of Naruto's skin through the holes in his mesh shirt. It was warm…and nice. 'Damn it ALL!' It wasn't over yet though. Just before he'd laid the other boy back down completely, he felt what had to be, Naruto's calloused fingertips lightly brush the skin of his back He nearly panicked when he felt himself flush. Beads of sweat were threatening to form on his forehead.

Blue eyes slid open just barely and strained, as if in pain. "…warm…"

Sasuke saw the boy's lips move, but couldn't really hear the word over the internal chaos that was ensuing. 'Please do not wake up! PLEASE GOD! DO NOT LET HIM WAKE UP!'

Naruto's eyes closed again and his head fell to the side.

'THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!' Sasuke praised whatever being was listening as he sat panting. That was absolutely THE most horrible thing that had ever happened to him! …Almost. What the heck had just happened just then? 'WHY?' He suddenly realized he was still sitting too close to the other boy and jumped to his feet, quickly exiting the room.

He paced…back and forth…and back and forth…along the length of the main room…trying to get a grip on himself. That was just too intense. 'I SHOULD HAVE JUST TAKEN HIM TO THE MOTHER FUCKING HOSPITAL! THEN NONE OF THIS WOULD BE HAPPENING! FUCK! I CAN'T DEAL WITH THIS SHIT RIGHT NOW! WHAT THE FUCK! THAT MOTHER FUCKER! GODDAMN IT!" Sasuke breathed in long slow breaths, trying to calm himself. "ITACHI YOU SICK TWISTED FUCK! I HOPE THAT GUY FUCKING RAPED YOU TO DEATH BEFORE HE CUT YOUR HEAD OFF!'

It went on like that for a while, though, you wouldn't have known it to look at him. Aside from a slightly furrowed brow and the fact that he was clenching his fist so tightly he was almost drawing blood, his face looked like it always did, a mix between bored and irritated. Maybe 'frustration' would have been a better word for it.

Forcing himself to be calm, he remembered that he still needed to complete the task of tending to Naruto's injury. Yes. That needed to be done. No turning back now.

"Fuck." Sasuke made his way back into the bedroom and once again examined the boy that was lying sprawled out on his bed. 'Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! WHY?' Irritated, he stepped over and began to undo the knot on the other bandage so he could have a look at what he was dealing with. 'Haven't I been through enough?' If what he was doing wasn't bad enough, he was still pissed off that he was even troubling himself with the matter. This whole situation was irritating!

He avoided looking at the boy and instead labored with the task of removing the bandage and cleaning the area as best he could without doing any further damage. He sopped the towel in the bowl of hot, well now it was warm, water and got to washing away the blood. Why did he try so hard to get that knife back again? It wouldn't have been half as bad if the stupid Dead Last hadn't put up such a fuss about letting him have it either! 'I was NOT really trying to kill him! DAMN IT!' Just then, Sasuke noticed the wounded tissue inside the gash looked…as if it was squirming… "It's…starting to…heal itself…like before! Holy shit!" Not being the least bit stupid, Sasuke called out his Sharingan to watch the process. That would be a very nice skill to have!

But alas, his Sharingan could only watch as the mist like tendrils of chakra weakly spread their way around Naruto's arm to lick at the wound. His Mirror sight couldn't even comprehend the action…let alone copy it. "What the hell…is that?"

"He's not…he's not like other little boys!"

"This is a 'Demon Seal' Curse, isn't it?"

"…just promise me that you will never speak to him again Sasuke!"

"…I'm always alone…"

'Naruto…' Sasuke's eyes shot open. Feeling suddenly uncomfortable, he decided to risk being told to 'shut up' again, and speak. "I did what you wanted."

"Egh?" Naruto didn't sound particularly interested.

"I apologized to Sakura…for being a dick to her." He recalled the look of pure hatred that Naruto had on his face when he demanded the apology from him earlier, after he'd yelled at Sakura.

"Great. Now she's probably even MORE in love with you." Naruto didn't sound pleased.

Sasuke wasn't really anticipating Naruto's reaction. He thought Naruto might have been glad that he'd done it. He thought that was what Naruto wanted him to do. "Why do you say that? I thought you'd be happy. Geez! Ungrateful!" He shifted to look at Naruto, who was now flipping through a magazine. Sasuke took notice of the way Naruto would stick his tongue out and lick his thumb occasionally to turn the page. It just seemed… peculiar…for some reason.

Naruto didn't turn from his 'research'. He just kept speaking and tried to avoid having to look at the Bastard. "Well yeah, since you WERE a total fucking DICK to her, but now that you did that, she's just going to cling to you even more, and you'll just be dick to her again…then I'll have to kick your ass."

Sasuke sat up. There was no way he was getting to sleep now. He could just feel the aggravation starting to take control. "No. I told her I wasn't interested. I think she gets it. So there, she's all yours. Good luck with that."

"Tch. Right." Naruto paused to stow his attitude. He wasn't trying to piss off the psychopath. He'd had quite enough misadventures for the day, much as he would have liked a little 'smash and break' action. He set his magazine aside and reluctantly looked at his guest. "You know, after you said all that stuff to us earlier…when I was walking Sakura home, she flipped out really bad. She was crying her eyes out for you. Do you even get that? Hearing that stuff you told us about your brother and killing yourself and shit…that hurt her really fucking bad! And you probably don't even care! How can you just treat her like that? She…she'd do anything for you! And you called HER a shallow bitch! She cares about your feelings more than she cares about her own! How is that shallow? For that matter, why, if you hate her so much, would you even apologize in the first place?"

Sasuke was taken completely off guard. He wasn't expecting to get bitched at for doing like he was told. "I don't know what you mean, Dead Last."

"You're supposed to be a genius," Naruto said as he folded his arms across his chest. "So don't play stupid with me. I'd rather you'd not have said anything at all, than just do it because I told you to…And for a fucking Justu!" He pointed an angry finger in the dark haired boy's direction. "You jerk!"

Sasuke had forgotten all about learning Shadow Replication. He didn't have a hidden agenda when he'd done that! He was just trying to make peace with them! That's what he was supposed to do wasn't it? They were a team now! They all had to get along! Naruto didn't seem interested in that, though! He was only interested in Sakura! "Dead Last, I don't really hate her!" He paused, stowing his attitude, he didn't want to end up putting his fist though the Dead Last's chest after all. It seemed like a likely thing to happen, the way he was currently feeling, even if he didn't think he was all that strong yet, he'd try his hardest if further provoked. If only he had a kunai. "I just really wanted her to stay away from me. Get it? When I say I'm not interested, I mean it. Incase you were wondering, I don't hate you either. I don't really hate anybody...except Itachi." Naruto thought he saw Sasuke's eye twitch just slightly. "I just wanted to be left alone, that's all. You've seen the way I get sometimes…" Sasuke paused, feeling as if he'd said too much. He pondered the whole situation. It was a hard thing to grasp. His life, as he knew it, had just ended, for the second time! He couldn't even think straight. He just wanted some fucking uninterrupted sleep! For some reason though, he felt compelled to say more. "Don't you ever…just get tired? …Of being alone?"

"…" Naruto lowered his head and bit his lip.

It had been so long since he'd been here…in Konoha. That feeling…of home… it started to grip him again. It was the one that held him here so long ago. He still hated it. Yeah, he had been alone for a long time now, but being here again, he felt even more so than back then. When he was away…it didn't hurt so much to think about things…his friends… his family… They were really all gone now. His precious ones. Their names ran through his mind…all the ones he'd never see again. His grandmother…his sensei…his teammates…even his clan… Everyone in the world who meant anything to him was gone. Everyone…save one. "Naruto…it seems, really likes you. It would be nice if you two could come to some kind of understanding. You could, I don't know, try to be nice to him? It would make working together a whole lot easier, don't you think?"

"…"

When Sakura didn't reply, Obito's mind again began to wander back into the past again…

"…I wonder what we should call him…" Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, was standing above an unrolled bit of parchment on his old desk, in his old office. He was stroking his beard and pondering his unfortunate situation very hard.

Obito was shaken out of his daze and looked down at the child that now lay asleep in his arms. He managed to stow his sobbing long enough to produce an answer for the old man. "His name is Naru-to…" He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "That's…what she said…Naruto…she wanted to call him that…"

"Hokage Sama, we need to take the boy with us now." A nurse had appeared next to the old man.

"You're not taking him anywhere lady!" Obito snapped at the woman.

"Sir, the child needs to be examined and fed. And we need to clean him off."

"No."

"Obito, she is simply doing what is best for the child. Please comply. I assure you he will be well cared for." Sarutobi turned towards the woman, "Please see to it that the boy is brought back here immediately after you've tended to him."

The woman approached the young Jounin and held out her arms to receive the child. Obito grudgingly complied and delivered the boy into her arms. "Take care of him." The woman nodded and exited without another word. Obito walked over and looked down at the name that Sandaime had scrawled onto the Certificate of Birth that belonged to the aforementioned child. He was angered by what he saw. "Uzumaki… Naruto… Sandaime Sama? How could you…?"

"It is customary Obito, for a child to be given its mother's family name when the woman isn't married."

"Forgive me Sandaime Sama, but that's bullshit!"

"Obito, what has occurred here these past days? What do you know of these things?"

"Sandaime Sama, have you not seen that boy? How can you just disgrace him like that?"

"The disgrace, Uchiha San, would be for this village to learn that their leader, whom they loved dearly, has just died for such a scandal!"

"Sandaime Sama!"

"The child will not be given his name. And this disgrace will never be spoken of again. Is that clear? Yondaime Sama is dead and Konoha is destroyed because of that child. I will not have that name tarnished with the blood and destruction of our village. Do you take my meaning?"

Obito suddenly felt a little sick. What the fuck was he doing here with this girl? He should be looking after those kids! 'Fuck!' He decided to do a little genjutsu on the girl and get away from this horrible situation. Well, at least put it off for a while. He stopped walking and turned the girl to face him. He quickly formed the seals for the mesmerizing spell and cast it. Sakura never knew what hit her. Once he had the girl in a daze, he stepped back, made the seals for Kage Bunshin, and another of himself poofed into existence. "Okay, deal with Sakura's mother, but come back to me when you are done with her. I wanna be ready for it. Got it?"

"Right. No problem. I'll handle it."

"Alright good. I'll just be going then." With that, Obito took off and released his jutsu on Sakura as he ran.

Sakura snapped out of it immediately. "Obito sensei? What?"

Kage Obito went with it. "Oh! You have something in your hair." He reached out and pretended to grab at the something that was supposedly in her hair. "Is that a…a ramen noodle?"

Sakura flipped out. "WHAT? There WAS NOT a RAMEN NOODLE in MY HAIR! YOU FUCKING JERK!"

"Now, now, Sakura calm down! Why are you getting so angry? You didn't do anything with him did you?"

"What? NO! OF COURSE NOT! HEY! YOU'RE NOT NARUTO ARE YOU? YOU ARE! AREN'T YOU!"

"NO! Lower your voice please! We are in public! Remember the rule! You agreed to it!"

"Do you have any idea about the amount of SHIT I've been through today?"

"I'm sorry! Please don't start bitching at me!"

The fact that he'd used almost the exact words that Naruto had used earlier was the deciding factor that she'd better just shut up. She huffed and continued on her homeward journey.

Obito followed behind her for a while, but when the silence was getting a little too much to handle he decided to speak again. "It wouldn't be that hard to tell him what you feel, really. Even if you don't like him back, it would be better if he knew that." Obito faked 'intense thought' and then looked back at Sakura with a cheerful grin on his face. "You and him should sit down and talk about it! It would certainly make things easier on me! Sheesh! I can't baby sit you kids constantly after all!"

Sakura thought back to when Sasuke told her that he didn't return her feelings. It wasn't as bad as she'd imagined it would be…and they were really friends now! Well, it seemed like they might be…maybe. But he'd talked to her willingly in any case. That was good. 'And he…' Sakura's cheeks burned red as she thought about the sensation of actually being able to touch him. 'It was…' A million different 'nice' things that described it ran through her mind. It wasn't anything like with Naruto… 'DANM IT! NO! Don't think about him! NO!'

"Sasuke! That was great! You're so awesome!" Sakura was sitting on a fence watching him practice. He hadn't yelled at her to go away yet. That was good! Maybe he was coming around! Okay, so he hadn't spoken to her either, but maybe, if she was patient…

"Che! He ain't that great." Sakura sighed at the voice coming from behind her. She hadn't noticed HIM standing there.

"Naruto. Go away."

"This is a public training area. I have every right to stand here."

"Yeah well you're invading MY space! Now leave before I have to get down and beat your face in!"

"Why do you waste your time on that guy?" Naruto jabbed a thumb in Sasuke's direction.

"Because he's not a loser like you?"

"Ha! He ain't THAT good! Look! He can only hit it like that if he's standing right in that spot!"

"Shut up Naruto! Don't talk like that about Sasuke! You're just jealous because he's so good! AND YOU'RE A LOSER!"

"I could DO that TOO if I stood there aiming at it every day!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, a kunai grazed Naruto's face and stuck in the tree that was behind him. It startled him. He turned towards the direction it had come from.

Sasuke had changed positions, he smirked and closed his eyes while reaching into his weapons pouch, then he let a barrage of shuriken fly directly at Naruto. All of them just missed and stuck in the tree… in the outline of the blonde's silhouette. "You need to be aiming for it every day, not me."

Naruto huffed and gave him the finger. "Hey! Fuck YOU! Bastard!"

"Ha ha! I guess he showed you! Loser!"

Naruto was about to snap something back at her, but a voice stopped him. "Heeey Narutooo…" the voice drawled out, " Choji and I are going to ditch class…wanna come?"

Naruto turned to regard the 'inseparable pair' that was Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Shikamaru was the 'lazy ass' and Choji was the 'fat ass'. They made the perfect couple. "What you decided to go somewhere else to sleep today INSTEAD of class? Lazy ass."

"Yeah! Go with them! Get out of here and leave me and Sasuke alone!"

Naruto sighed and turned back to Sakura, the tiniest bit of annoyance shown on his face. "Sakura, why don't you come and find me when you realize that guy's a jerk and you want someone to treat you the way you deserve. Bye."

With that, Naruto headed off in the direction of his 'delinquent buddies', probably to go vandalize something. Sakura completely disregarded his comment. She turned her attention back to her 'crush', only to find herself alone. Sasuke had run off again. 'That jerk.'

Maybe Naruto wasn't really all that stupid after all. Maybe he really did want her to be happy. Maybe he…maybe it wouldn't be so bad if she… "Oh! That's my house right there!"

Obito sighed. "Alright, here's the plan. When we get there, you introduce me to your mother, then go away and let me talk to her alone. Got that?"

"Um…sure…I guess."

"Oh yeah, one last thing, how old is she?"

"Why do want to know that sensei?"

"Just because. Now be a good girl and tell me."

"She's…in her thirties…"

"Early or late?"

"What?"

"Early or late thirties?"

"Why is that important?"

"It just is! Now come on! I wanna get this over with!"

"Late! Geez!"

"Okay then. I'm ready, let's go."

Sasuke's question nagged at Naruto. Hurt him. "Yeah." Naruto didn't necessarily care all that much that he didn't have any parents, but being shunned by everyone all the time…that was the awful part. Being alone in the world was okay, but the loneliness…

"You know, I always wanted to talk to you…"

Naruto's eyes got large, as if he was truly stunned. "To me? Why?"

"I don't know…" Sasuke yawned and leaned forward, stretching. He rested his elbows on his knees and held his head up with his hands. His damp hair spilled into his face and masked his expression. He continued speaking while he gazed absently at the floor. "I guess I just wanted to talk to someone who might understand what it's like… The loneliness, I mean."

"Oh…yeah."

Sasuke lifted his head and looked over to Naruto, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, examining his feet, and trying to avoid looking too uncomfortable. "…You were never nice to me."

"What?" Naruto's gaze fell on Sasuke. He was taken by surprise.

"You were never nice to me." It was simply stated, not whining or accusing, just spoken without feeling. "Not like I care anyway, but ever since I've known you, you've always been so…confrontational with me. That's why I never bothered trying to talk to you before. I figured you hated me." He paused, but when Naruto didn't reply, he spoke again. "That's alright though; it's probably better that way. It probably isn't a good thing for me to have friends." There was a hint of humor in those words.

"What the heck are you talking about? Are you okay? You're being really…weird…it's freaking me out!"

"Yeah. I think I'm okay…now…or maybe not. I can't really say." Sasuke laughed a little to himself. "You know, last night…I thought about killing you." A lazy smirk took over his face.

'I KNEW IT! THAT BASTARD WAS GOING TO CHOKE ME!' "Oh…how nice of you to share that with me! Bastard."

"Really, it would have been so easy to just strangle you in your sleep… or cut you… or toss you in the bath and hold you under…" Sasuke was in his own little world now, chuckling to himself. He didn't notice the stabbing glare that Naruto was giving him. "I wonder if it would have worked," he questioned himself.

"And you wonder why I never liked you? You're…you…why are you saying all this to me?"

Sasuke looked back up at Naruto sharply, as if he'd just had a wonderful idea. "It's because of Sakura, isn't it?"

"What?" Naruto was so confused…

"You like her, she likes me. You don't like me because of her."

"That's NOT TRUE! I don't like you because you are a fucking nutcase who wants to kill me."

"Just admit it."

"Admit WHAT?"

"You're jealous. It's okay. She's a pretty reasonable thing to get jealous over."

"I don't even think I LIKE her anymore! How could I be jealous?" Naruto folded his hands over his chest and huffed.

"If you didn't care about her, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Naruto looked more than a little annoyed…and confused…and furious…and... "Fine, okay, maybe I WAS a little jealous…but,"

Sasuke cut him off. "Well, now you don't have to worry about that anymore. Let's just call it even. I'm tired of it. We should all work together now and get stronger, as a team."

Just who did Sasuke think he was talking to? "Che! I'm all for that, but, I figured that you would think you're too good to 'play' with me, since I'm just a fuck up, loser, dead last, and I can't even do a stupid Bunshin!"

"Yeah, I admit, I thought that before, but things are…different now. You...I don't feel that way anymore. That's why I bothered with "making nice" with Sakura. Now that that's out of the way, we should be friends." Sasuke grinned at Naruto in a way that made him look like pure evil incarnate.

Naruto was dumbstruck. What was he supposed to say? Was this some kind of sick joke? Why would Sasuke say something like that…to him? "I don't get you…you…"

"I like you Naruto."

"…"

"You make me laugh. That's a hard thing to do."

"…" Naruto thought about the couple of rare occasions when he'd been there to hear Sasuke actually laugh, both of them, by the way, were in the last couple of days and both times it had been under rather unusual circumstances…and it wasn't even really a laugh…it was more like a maniacal cackle…evil sounding…and almost scary.

"Look, I think we can help each other, that's all. I want to get stronger; you want Sakura to like you. You help me, I help you. Doesn't that sound like a reasonable offer?"

"Offer…how can you just use Sakura as bargaining piece?"

"It's not like that. Haven't you noticed? She likes to hang around me. It's a bother a lot of the time, but I don't think it would be so bad if you were there…to keep her off me. Being with her, even if it's with me, would surly give you an opportunity to make her recognize you, wouldn't it?"

Sasuke had a very valid point. "I…guess…"

"So…? Can we be friends now?"

"Mom! I'm home!"

"Sakura! Where have you been? You missed dinner…? Sakura? Who…" Sakura's mother's eyes got large when she stepped around the corner and saw the man who accompanied her daughter.

"Oh! Hee hee. This is my new sensei." Sakura put on a nice, giddy, smile for her mother.

"Obito Uchiha, nice to meet you," he bowed deeply, "I'm sorry for keeping Sakura out so late, ma'am. We just really got into the training today…" Kage Obito smiled sweetly at Sakura's mother.

"Uchiha…" Sakura's mother was taken by surprise. Just like Kage Obito planned.

"Yeah. Uchiha…" Kage Obito cringed inwardly, "Um, anyway, I wonder if I might have a word with you…about Sakura…It's nothing bad of course. She's such a bright girl." He patted Sakura on her head and Sakura, playing along, smiled sweetly and giggled as if embarrassed.

Sakura took that as her cue to leave. "Oh my gosh! I'm so tired after all that! I think I'll take a bath and go straight to bed."

"Now don't forget, we are meeting at dawn tomorrow, for survival training, so bring all of your gear." This, Kage Obito noted, would solidify her excuse to go to bed early and not have to be there to see him work his magic on her mother. Bra-vo!

"I won't forget sensei. Good night!" She gave a little wave then ran up stairs to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. While undressing for her bath, she again fought with the images that were invading her thoughts without any sort of compassion. 'Damn stupid Naruto!'

"You're…evil!" Naruto stood and pointed an accusing finger at his 'new best friend'.

Sasuke smiled wickedly. "So are you, apparently. Who cares? What's it gunna be?"

Naruto smirked. It was probably going to get him into some seriously weird shit, but this was definitely sounding like interesting proposal. "Alright…" Naruto offered his hand to the other boy in an attempt as forging a fragile 'alliance'. It seemed he'd been outwitted this time. Even though it pissed him off a little to say it, he continued, "Sure…let's be friends then."

Satisfied, Sasuke grinned back at the demon boy, and shook on it, "You should know though, what my brother did to me…I may actually try to kill you again…not necessarily on purpose, but still."

Naruto jerked his hand away real fast! "Why do you always have to say things like that? It's not funny!"

"No, it's not funny, it's true though, none the less." Sasuke noted the look that Naruto gave him. It said that his statement required further explaining. He was reluctant, but what the hell, might as well let Naruto know why he was always so…unpleasant. "My brother, it seems, was trying to fashion me after himself. He wanted me to become a heartless murderer like he was, so he could test his own strength on me. See, Mangekyou Sharingan is Genjutsu used for mental torture, and he used it on me in such a way that I could 'experience' what it was like…to be him." Sasuke paused and looked away, apprehensive about saying what he wanted to say, but he really felt like he needed to get it off his chest. He wanted to be able to sleep again, like he used to, a full night, without waking up screaming or having to cut himself. Maybe talking about it really would help. "When I was little…well, not long before he did it…killed them all," He looked at Naruto as if to say 'of course' and then continued, "See…I told him…I wanted to be like him…so he…" Sasuke started laughing again. It couldn't be helped. How many people could actually say that they had the same kind of problem as him? It was just too pathetic. "…he…helped me out…he…" Sasuke paused, wrestling with the compulsion to smash and break things. "I was a little kid god damn it! What the FUCK!" Sasuke shook his head angrily, and pressed his fingers to his forehead, as if he was trying to get something out of his thoughts.

Naruto stood watching him carefully. He didn't know what to say. 'What a weird guy!' This was going to get interesting. "…What did he…do…to you?"

Sasuke took a couple of calming breathes and continued. "See, apparently, Itachi wanted to teach me a lesson…about lust… and about how far he was willing to go to get what he wanted…how far I would have to go… I think he really, REALLY, wanted me to get Mangekyou Sharingan, because the shit he showed me, no matter what I do, it just won't go away…"

Naruto sat down on the floor in front of Sasuke. He looked up at the other boy, compassion filling his eyes. "What exactly, did he show you? How to get that Mangekyou thingy? What did he want you to do?"

Sasuke blinked and looked down at Naruto, again surprised by the blonde's concern. He couldn't believe he was actually talking about it with someone! Let alone, the Dead Last! Should he tell him? No…No way! Not that. Never. "I'm not talking about it with you. Sorry. I just…can't." Sasuke leaned back against the cushions and let his head fall back. He stared at the ceiling for a while.

Kage Obito sat, sipping tea with Sakura's mother, trying his absolute best to look civilized and well refined. Watching his old sensei deal eloquently with hostile people had helped him out on many an occasion, but he still felt pretty tense, even though you wouldn't know it to look at him. "You know, Mrs. Haruno, your daughter has excellent potential. She really is brilliant. I can see why Hokage Sama chose her for this particular team." Obito smiled sweetly at the stunned woman sitting across from him. "I think she will do very well with the boys." 'Crap! That came out wrong!'

"Oh? Who are the others on her team, if I might ask?" Sakura's mother wasn't a dirty minded woman; she had taken the comment the way it was meant to be heard.

'Thank you!' "Actually, that is the matter I wish to discuss with you. You see, the boys on Sakura's team have been given to my custody, so I would prefer to instruct them from my residence. There is ample room you see, and it would save the three of us from having to travel across town to the training grounds. What I mean to say is… I would like for Sakura to be able to spend as much time as she likes utilizing the resources I have at my disposal. There is a rather large and well stocked library, and a greenhouse that with some proper attention, could also be very helpful to your daughter."

"I'm sorry; I don't understand what you mean."

"Well, you see, the Hokage and I have discussed it, and he believes that your daughter is best suited for training in the medical field."

"A medical ninja? Is that so?"

"Absolutely yes. It seems her ability to manipulate chakra far exceeds any of her classmates. Besides that, she also has a great deal of actual combat ability. See, normal Medic-Nin are usually not the greatest fighters, so, they become a liability on team missions, but Sakura, with proper training, should be able to hold her own quite well in battle as well as act as medic. That makes her training a very high priority as far as the Hokage is concerned. That is why I have been assigned as her instructor."

"So, are you also a medical ninja?"

"Oh, well, not exactly… you see, being an Uchiha, I have the clan's bloodline skill, which allows me to copy techniques. I know of many basic healing techniques that I can teach your daughter while she is still at Genin level, though I'm sure that she will be assigned a new teacher when she becomes a Chuunin. That is, one of a higher skill level in the Healing Arts." Obito paused and sipped his tea. It was about time to quit dancing around his point. "You must be so proud of her…her teammates are the two most promising young ninja this village has seen in a long time."

"Who are they? You never mentioned it."

"Oh, well, of course I've been asked to train the young Uchiha prodigy. I'm sure you've heard of him."

"Sasuke? Really? I'm sure Sakura is just thrilled to be on the same team as him. She has quite the crush on that boy."

"Hahaha…yes."

"What about the other one? Is it one of the Hyuuga perhaps?"

"Oh, well, the other one is actually my ward. You see, before my sensei died, he asked me to personally see to it that the boy was well taken care of. You see, my sensei was Yondaime Sama. I terribly regret having to be away from him for so long…It would seem that I have shamed him by abandoning him…" Kage Obito paused as if lost in his thoughts. Only this time, he had done it on purpose. "Oh! Forgive me! I've lost track of myself. He is Naruto Uzumaki."

"…" Silence.

Naruto went over every thing that Sasuke had told them earlier at the bridge, in his mind. He wanted to say something comforting 'or something' since they were friends now, and all. "Well…um…maybe… Well, you said that he made you see all the stuff HE did, in your head, right? And you can't stop remembering it?"

"Yeah. That's pretty much the long and short of it."

"Well, maybe you should own it," Naruto stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sasuke looked back up at Naruto with a questioning expression on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I mean, make it your own. See, maybe it would be easier for you if you just accept that YOU did those things." Naruto paused. Sasuke nodded for him to keep going. "See, I killed my parents…and a whole bunch more people than your brother ever did, AND I destroyed this village... Umm…what I mean to say is… if you acted like 'Yeah, I did that, so?' well wouldn't it be easier for you to get your head around it? Really, no matter how fucked what happened was, well, I got you beat when it comes to downright death and destruction."

Sasuke stared, stunned, into Naruto's deep blue eyes. They were honest and sincere. It was weird… hearing Naruto talk like that, about what the Nine Tailed Fox did to Konoha. He'd only heard about that day in his history class. The incidents that happened leading up to it, and how the situation was resolved, was now a very NOT TALKED ABOUT subject in the village. Sasuke always did wonder why it was never really made clear exactly WHY the Demon Fox attacked the village. Hardly any information was known about it in fact. Just that Yondaime Hokage had defeated the Nine Tailed Fox and then died. The full realization of just exactly WHO he was talking to hit him. Naruto was Kyuubi no Kitsune, the fucking Nine Tailed Fox! It was a big thing to grasp. The Dead Last was a real god damned demon! No wonder his mother told him to stay away from him! He was, after all, just an innocent little boy back then. Sasuke pondered whether or not his mother was frowning down at him from where ever her soul had gone to…for making friends with 'the demon'. It didn't really matter though, he wasn't innocent anymore, there was nearly nothing left for Naruto to 'taint'. He considered 'the demon's' words carefully. Naruto had a point. Still, Sasuke wasn't quite sure yet what it was. "…I never thought about it that way."

Naruto, suddenly feeling a little bashful, shifted in his seat to avoid being analyzed by Sasuke's alarmingly dark eyes. It wasn't that he minded being stared at…but this was Sasuke! Sasuke had that way… of looking at someone… it was piercing and uncomfortable. He continued his explanation. "Yeah, I mean, people will still accept you like they always do, but your head will be different, that's all. Get it? It would be like getting away with it…or no…maybe, getting a second chance…yeah, that would be better!"

'Getting a…second chance?' The words sounded good, but Sasuke wasn't sure what they meant. "So you're saying I should…pretend like I'm Itachi?"

"NO! Dumb ass! Just be yourself! See, I see it like this…I always get blamed for Kyuubi no Kitsune right? Well, I don't remember doing all that shit! But still, I did it. It was me. Naruto. The opposite could be true for you. Itachi did that right? But it's you that has to live with it, so, wouldn't it be easier to live with it if you just went about your business as if it was over with and forgiven? Well, as long as you don't start killing people…" Naruto shot him an untrusting look.

"So, I should…stop blaming myself?" Sasuke searched Naruto's face for some kind of hint that he was on the right track. Naruto smiled at him.

"Yeah! Do whatever you got to do to get over it! Who's going to say shit to you about it? Nobody will ever question you, so who care's?"

'Get over it…' It sounded like a pretty reasonable thing to try to do. He hadn't actually ever considered it before. He was too caught up in wanting to murder his brother. "That's a good idea, Dead Last." Sasuke took a long breath. Obviously it was time for him to abandon his futile quest and try to have some kind of 'normal' existence, but it just seemed too good to be true. "I don't know. It's just, weird…that's all."

"Yeah, but so are you. Who's going to notice? I certainly don't care. As long as you never lay a hand on Sakura, that is."

Sasuke allowed Naruto's little insult to slide, and focused on reassuring his 'new best friend' that their 'new arrangement' was solid, and he wouldn't go back on his end of the bargain. "You don't have to worry about that. Trust me. 'Touching' her, doesn't interest me in the slightest, violently, or 'otherwise'…most of the time anyway."

"What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Just that I'm not attracted to her, and I really don't think I ever will be. She's cute and all, I see why you swoon over her, but it…ain't my thing. And I wouldn't ever try to hurt her on purpose…I consider her a friend, but you've seen how damned annoying she can be…don't you just want to slap her sometimes? …Or set her on fire?"

Naruto couldn't help but chuckle, even though it wasn't really funny, coming from HIM anyway. Uchiha's DID have a thing about setting things on fire, after all, and he wasn't sure that Sasuke was kidding. He did agree with the whole 'wanting to slap her' thing though. She could be such a bitch sometimes! But she was fucking hot regardless. That made up for her smart mouth and insulting comments. "Just stay away from her okay? Unless you are planning to be nice…" Naruto knew that the best way to make that terrible girl happy would be for Sasuke to give her his attention…and not say anything mean. 'Damn you Sakura…making me do all of this…'

"I still don't get why you like her so much, even though she IS cute. She's always such a bitch to you!"

"And you are always such a BITCH to her! Yet, she still likes YOU doesn't she?"

"Both of you are annoying…"

"Oh, and you AREN'T?"

"She only likes me because she likes the way I look. I would hope that YOU wouldn't be like this if that was all you liked about her…you don't seem like the kind of guy who goes through this much trouble for someone you just want to fuck. That's what I meant when I said she was shallow. You don't seem like the shallow type. That's annoying."

"HAhahahaha! What, are you trying to look out for me?"

"No. I just feel like I'm in the middle of something that I don't want any part of. I already told you that I don't have a problem with you, or with her, separately that is, but the two of you together… Look, just stop putting me in the middle of it okay? I already told you that I'm not interested in her, I told her too. There. I'm out of it. You can give it your all, but don't start blaming me for your problems with her, because I already told you what I think about her treating you like shit. Don't even bring up my name. It ain't my problem anymore."

"Hmph! Fine then."

"And stop trying to look like me to get her attention!"

"Hey! That wasn't even supposed to happen!"

"How would you like it if I Bunshin-ed into HER and tried to fuck YOU?"

"If you did that to me…I'D KILL YOU!"

"Yeah, well, that's how she feels about YOU right now, so I suggest you stop fucking around and act like a decent human being…even though you ARE a demon. And what were you doing trying to fuck her as Obito sensei? That's just wrong!"

"Hey! She had that coming! I wasn't really trying to fuck her anyway! I just wanted to piss her off!"

"GOD you're stupid! Both of you! I think I get it now. You…and her…that's just how you talk to each other, isn't it?"

"WHAT?"

"You can't carry on a conversation with out bitching at each other. HAHA! I never noticed it before! Every time you try to talk to her, she yells at you! And then you yell back…and instead of just walking away…you just keep bitching until she hits you…you exist to bitch at each other. That's too funny!"

"Just when the heck did YOU start liking HER so much?"

"It's like you said. She'd do anything for me. That isn't a bad thing, is it?"

"Well, no…but…"

"Yeah. I figure it won't be so bad, having someone like that around. Don't you think?"

"…Ug-gh…" Naruto choked on his reply.

"You want me to get her to be nice to you? I can you know. I'll bet you."

"You…"

"I'm serious. I bet you. Sakura will be nice to you. If she isn't, then I owe you, if she does, then you owe me. How about that?"

Before Naruto could reply…

There was a knock at the door.

Naruto sat staring at Sasuke, in a daze, pondering his offer, and then he snapped out of it and called out, "It's not locked," in the direction of the door.

"Open up! My hands are full!" Obito's voice called from behind the door.

Naruto shot Sasuke a questioning look. Then he stood up and swung open the door for his sensei. He wasn't lying when he said his hands were full. 'Hell yeah!' Naruto's opinion of Obito drastically changed in that short span of time. 'Fucking food! Yes!'

"I bought dinner. Here grab something."

Naruto snatched a couple of bags and retreated to his spot on the floor to rummage through them. He sniffed each little white take-out box carefully. 'Rice… some kind of meat…mmm Teryaki chicken! …some Egg rolls… Squid! mmm! …Yuck! Vegetables! Gag! …Sushi! Ahhh...so good!' He'd procured some chopsticks along the way and broken them open; ready to dig right in, when he found something that looked appealing. He'd been hoping for a cup of noodles, but didn't find one. Maybe it was in one of the other bags. Oh well, there was plenty of good things to choose from. All of today's rather strange occurrences were suddenly put on the back burner in favor of enjoying the mass of food in front of him. For now, he was completely happy and content.

Sasuke hadn't moved from his position on the couch. He just sat there watching Naruto go all 'ape shit' over the food that he'd been given. It was funny to watch. He examined each little box as if was a long awaited birthday gift. That thought made Sasuke frown. He looked at Obito, who had now joined Naruto on the floor, and gave him a particularly dirty look. Suddenly, the man in question held out a box towards him, and then turned to regard him fully. Sasuke didn't bother removing the scowl from his face. "What?"

"Eat something."

"Not feeling very hungry at the moment. Thanks."

"Just eat it. You need to get your strength back."

"I need to take a fucking nap. That's what I need."

"EAT IT!"

"Come on Sasuke! munchmunch This is really good! munchmunch Give it a try! I tried that 'crunchy' shit at your place this morning. munchmunchmunch" Naruto held out the box he'd been working on emptying, and offered it's remains to the irritated boy on the couch.

Sasuke reluctantly took it and poked at it a couple of times with the chopsticks. He decided he could probably stomach a bite of something since he hadn't had anything since the cereal he had for breakfast. He grudgingly slid onto the floor and worked on polishing it off.

Obito gawked at him for a minute and then decided it would be better to just sit there and focus on eating his food. Yeah. That would be better. 'He sure has gotten pretty friendly with Naruto all of a sudden. I wonder what they've been doing here…'

The three sat in silence around the pile of food that graced Naruto's floor. No one spoke. Naruto stuffed his face as if he'd never eaten before, Obito brooded about the past in his head, and Sasuke, well… I guess he was brooding too…if you wanted to call it that. What were they supposed to talk about? It seemed like every subject they had in common would start some kind of argument, and this needed to be a peaceful time.

Obito surveyed the small apartment. He couldn't help but look around. It had been a very long time since the last time he'd seen it and it had changed a lot. It wasn't nearly bare like it had been; there was a lot of stuff in it now. All the things a little boy would like. Well, a ninja boy, that is. One that was all alone…and had nothing to do but sit around and read ninja scrolls and play with weapons. Obito felt a horrible pain when he saw that all of the boy's actual toys were now pinned to the walls with kunai and throwing stars. Half of him was proud. The other half however… 'I can't deal with this shit right now…'

"Um…excuse me…what did you just say? I know you didn't just really say that."

"His NAME is NARUTO!"

A hand slammed onto the countertop, causing Obito to nearly choke on his noodles. He looked up at the woman on the other side of the counter. She looked livid.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard! How can you do that to a child!" His sensei sounded upset too. That was weird. He'd stood up to glare at the angry woman who was staring him down. Obito thought it was funny. His sensei all but towered over her, yet she stood her ground and managed to look even more threatening that he did, and his sensei was, in fact, a pretty scary guy, especially when he was angry. That said a lot for the woman.

"It's MY kid! I'll call him whatever I want! Besides, it's a perfect name for him." Obito chuckled as he watched the woman fold her arms across her chest and smirk at his sensei.

"It's a stupid little fish wafer that you eat on top of ramen! How is it perfect?"

"Because it looks like a swirl…" She held out one of the swirly wafers for his sensei to get a good look at, popped it in her mouth, and crunched it loudly. "And because when he writes it, it will be like NA-RU-TOOOO," she made a swirl in the 'TO' as she traced it on the countertop with her long pointy fingernail. She looked up at his sensei and shouted the rest of her verbal assault. "U-ZU-MA-KI! Swirling Whirlpool! Get it?"

"Whirlpool…"

Obito examined his sensei's face. He didn't really look pissed off anymore. He looked…a little…disappointed? "Hey! I think it's a cool name, Sensei."

"Of course you do! You just love that…shit!" His sensei wrinkled his nose and waved a snobbish finger in the direction of his bowl of miso ramen.

"Sensei! Never talk bad about ramen in front of me! And it's not shit! It's just noodles! Geez! Why do hate it so much?"

"…It just…makes me sick…just thinking about it..." Obito wasn't sure if his sensei was talking to him…or the woman… He was glaring at her as he said it. 'Sensei?'

"Too bad for you! Obito and I, happen to like ramen. Isn't that right kid?" She was demanding more than asking.

"Yup."

"See? You should really just get used to it. Who knows, maybe you will even come to like it."

"I'll never like it. Not ever."

"Why's that then?"

"Because…" His sensei looked at him and then looked back at the woman, "It's stupid. I refuse to…like it." It sounded to Obito as if his sensei was trying to choose his words very carefully along with wrestling to stow his attitude.

"Well, what are YOU going to do about it?"

Before his sensei could answer her, a random Chuunin appeared behind them in a poof. "Hokage Sama, I've been sent to find you. You are needed at the tower."

"Alright. I'll…be right there." Obito watched as his sensei slowly stood and turned to face the woman behind the counter again. "I guess I'll be seeing you. Miss Tsunami…Uzumaki." He then tuned and looked down at Obito, "Send Kuroimaru to me later. I'll let him know where you can meet me."

"Right!" He gave his sensei a 'thumbs up' and winked at him.

His sensei gave him a funny look. "You know, you should really stop hanging around that Gai…guy… He's becoming a bad influence on you."

"Whatever sensei. See you later. Have fun at 'work'." Obito smirked when he notice his sensei roll his eyes before he disappeared in a swirl of leaves. 'Haha! Swirl,' he thought as he turned back to the woman behind the counter. "Tsune…what's up with you and my sensei?"

"Your sensei pisses me off."

"Why? What did he do to piss you off?"

"He was born! Haha…really, it's nothing, he just gets on my nerves, you know?"

"Right."

"Right."

"My sensei's got a thing for you."

"You think so? Haha! What makes you say a thing like that?"

"He was trying his best to be nice, even though you pissed him off. It's weird…Look! He even left you a big tip! He didn't even buy anything!" Obito held out a wad of money and Tsunami quickly snatched it from him.

"So you want another bowl or what? This more than covers it."

"Sure! One can never have enough ramen!"

"Heh heh…you're a cute little kid you know that?"

"I'm not a little kid! I'm fifteen!"

"Heh! Still cute though."

"Where's my ramen?"

"Yeah, yeah…whatever…here you go…kid." Obito smiled as the steaming fresh ramen was pored into his bowl, but he gasped when his friend suddenly cried out in pain and half doubled over. "Tsunami! What happened?"

Tsunami panted and gritted her teeth as steadied herself with the countertop and stood back up. "I just got kicked in the spine from the inside. Naruto is going to a mean one…heh heh heh."

Naruto paused from chewing his mouthful of food and looked up at his sensei. Obito had been chuckling to himself a minute ago, now he looked…a little…unsettled? He must have sensed Naruto staring because he looked up, chuckled nervously at him, and reached into one of his pockets, but Naruto didn't see him pull anything out though. Today was weird. He felt weird. 'What the hell is going on today?'

It looked like Sasuke had finished eating to Obito. He was just sitting there with his head resting back on the couch, staring at the ceiling. The now empty take out box was dangerously close to slipping out of his hand. He looked like shit. Defeated and exhausted. 'Poor kid.' "Sasuke…"

"What…"

"Look over here for a minute." When Sasuke raised his head to meet eyes with him, Obito quickly formed what looked like a chain of seals, but then, without calling out a jutsu, he flattened his palm beneath his chin and blew some kind of dust directly into the boy's face.

Sasuke didn't even know what hit him. He flinched at the fake out, then, realizing something wasn't right, rubbed at his eyes. He sneezed, and then looked up at sensei as if to ask him 'What the fuck?', then promptly fell over, unconscious.

Naruto watched curiously. That wasn't expected at all. "Um…"

"It's sleep dust. Nothing bad. I thought it was about time I put him down for a nap."

Naruto just stared at Obito for a minute, then, feeling a little…weird…he decided to again focus his attention on eating what was left of the small feast. Obito was doing his best, Naruto thought, to make him feel extremely uncomfortable by just sitting there staring at him with a disturbing look on his face. Naruto didn't like it. "What?"

Obito suddenly looked as though he was trying to find the words he wanted to say. "Naruto…um…so…are you like…pissed at me?"

"Why would I be pissed at you? I don't care if you think that guy needs a nap. He needs a hell of lot more than that, if you ask me."

Obito chuckled, "That's not what I meant."

"Then you mean about making me show them my seal? Nah, I ain't mad about that. It's kind of nice…having them know. It makes it easier on me."

"About your seal…well no, that's not what I meant either."

"Then what? Why would I even have a reason to be pissed at you in the first place? You just bought me a huge fucking dinner! I'm full and content! Except for the fact that you keep staring at me with that weird look on your face…and you chuckle to yourself in a way that is just a little too close to the way that weird fucker right there tends to do."

"I was talking about the fact that I left you here…by yourself…I feel really bad…"

"Look mister, I don't even know you. It's cool that you're here now, and you are my sensei… really. I'm excited to learn from you. But as far what happened when I was too small to remember, I guess it doesn't really matter now, so why would I hold a grudge? And just so you know…I don't wanna talk about my parents. I don't know them, and I'd prefer to keep it that way. I don't care what happened. It's over. There's just me now, so I'd really rather not get into all that, if you don't mind."

"Right…"

"Oh yeah…now that I'm thinking about it… Earlier, when you finished choking me…you called me a little bastard. I didn't like that. Don't do that…or I'll cut your fucking tongue out."

Obito was taken completely by surprise. Naruto said it in a way that wasn't really angry…it was almost cheerful…but still very serious. He even had a cheerful grin on his face and his eyes were squinted, almost closed. When the kid opened his eyes again, Obito saw them fade from red to blue again, then his expression changed. He looked a tad confused for a minute, but relaxed when he saw that Obito wasn't going to pummel the shit out of him for getting mouthy. 'Naruto…!'

"So…what now?" Naruto was feeling more than a little strange. He kind of felt the need to just be alone and let his twisted mess of thoughts unwind, but he was reluctant to be rude to one of the only people who seemed to truly want to spend time with him. How weird was today? Before Obito could answer him, as if on cue…there was a knock at the door. "Who the fuck could that be…?"

"Oh! I think that's for me." Obito stood and opened up the door, revealing that the mysterious visitor was, in fact, HIMSELF! "So what did she say?"

"Do you really want to know?"

"No. But I'm going to find out sooner or later…so…" The shadow clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Obito braced himself on the door frame and winced as the clones memories flooded into his mind. "Ah…okay…that's a relief…sheesh…I was worried for a minute!"

Naruto watched the scene, not entirely surprised. It was reasonable for his sensei to know Kage Bunshin after all, but it did seem weird that he was so affected by absorbing just one clone's memories. He never really had that problem, even though he'd only just learned that technique like a week ago, but he'd used it enough to get the gist of what was happening. The clone moves and thinks separately once they've been summoned, but when it disperses its memories become one with the summoner's. Naruto had noticed that of course. It sucked in battle because it could be distracting, but he hadn't really had that much trouble adjusting to the mental shift. Sure, it was really weird at first, but he got used to it quickly. It freaked him out of course…interacting with his clones…because they already knew what he was thinking, just because they WERE exactly HIM, and they acted on their own in exactly the same way that he would. Weird. "Obito sensei?"

"Hey kid…I need you to do something for me…"

"What's that?"

"Let him stay here with you tonight." Obito pointed to the unconscious boy on the floor next to the couch.

Naruto sighed loud. "It would be mean to just wake him up after all that…I guess…" He looked from his new friend to his new sensei, "What are you gunna do then? I thought we were supposed to meet you at dawn, at the training grounds."
"Come here."

"Why? You're not going to choke me again are you?"

Obito sighed. "Just do it."

Reluctantly, Naruto stood and approached him. Obito stepped into the doorway and motioned for Naruto to follow him outside.

Once there, Obito closed the door and turned to face his student. "Look," he pointed towards the bar across the street and up the block, "I'm going to go over there…and I'm going to hook up with an old pal…and once that's done, I'm going for a long walk. I need to think some things through very carefully. I wasn't expecting all of this…shit. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do…see?" Naruto nodded in understanding. "Naruto…look…that kid…he's…really fucked up…I don't know what to do with him. Earlier… I found him… Look, he seems to trust you…help me out."

"Want me to tell you what he told me?"

"What did he tell you?"

'That he wanted to kill me?' Naruto sighed. "That his brother gave him his memories, to torture him, or to…make him 'like' him…whatever that means. He said that Itachi guy wanted to make him into some kind of twisted murderer…or something…to test his own skills."

"He didn't tell you what he saw?"

"No. He said he couldn't talk about it with me."

Obito smiled pathetically and sighed. 'Well that's just fucking great.' The Hokage's words came back to him. '…I'm afraid that he may have severe emotional problems. His instructors tell me that, though the other children seem to like him, he has no friends and is rarely seen doing anything but training.' Obito felt a tiny hint of dread set in. 'Sasuke has a new friend. Great. What the fuck…' "Is that all he said?"

"Oh! No, he said something about that Mangekyou thing."

'FUCK! DAMN IT!' "Naruto, is he stronger than you? Be honest. This is important."

Naruto didn't know what to say. Sasuke was…the best…at everything. He was nearly flawless. Everything he did was just fucking perfect…but still…Naruto saw that as a weakness…it was mechanical…not adaptive…it was pure instinct and nothing else. Naruto knew all about instinct…he could see right through it…to the core. Sasuke wasn't always in total control of his actions. He moved without totally thinking things through and that was what could get him killed. Naruto paused at the memories of his clones being repeatedly stabbed and beaten yesterday. That was a troublesome little thing that hadn't been given the chance to come out and bite him yet. He understood completely why Kage Bunshin was a forbidden jutsu. Some people probably had a real rough time with using it in a fight, considering their minds would still remember what it was like to be killed even though they were still around to ponder it. 'He's a fucking killing machine.' "He's an annoying bastard that's for sure. He's fucking persistent, and dangerous even without weapons, but I could probably take him if I was given another shot."

Naruto seemed confident in his answer. That would have to be good enough. "Alright then…I'm off. Don't forget about tomorrow. I've got a big surprise for you kids." Obito turned and waved over his shoulder as he made his way towards the staircase. He stopped at the top of the stairs and tuned back to Naruto. "Just so you know…it isn't a curse."

"What…my seal? Ha! That's what you think, mister."

"I'm serious. If it wasn't for that seal…you'd be dead right now… It's not a curse."

"Whatever you say, Obito sensei." Naruto carelessly waved as he twisted the doorknob and entered his apartment.

Obito sighed and made his way leisurely down the staircase. Off to meet up with his old pal. It had been a long time since he'd seen him. They had a lot of catching up to do.

Naruto looked down at the unconscious boy on his floor. 'Damn it. He could have at least put him in the bed…or on the couch… Damn it! This sucks!' He huffed as he bent down to get a good grip on Sasuke's arms. He dragged the dead weight across the floor and sat him up against the edge of the bed, and then he bent down and somehow managed to sling Sasuke over his shoulder. Readjusting his balance, he struggled to his feet, and hoisted Sasuke onto the bed. He adjusted him so that his whole body lay on it, and considered leaving it at that, but then he remembered the state he'd woken up in that morning. Sasuke at leased had the courtesy to put him under the covers, and take off his shoes…and his jacket…AND HE'D WASHED IT! And he even cleaned his wound…and wrapped it…and he'd offered him breakfast and a shower! Okay, well he was ordered to take a shower, but still! 'Well he ain't got no shoes…or a jacket… A blanket will have to do.' He walked over to the 'pillow heap' couch and dug out a blanket, then returned, spread it out, and laid it over the sleeping boy.

Naruto noticed that Sasuke's hair had fallen in his face. He thought it might tickle him and wake him up so he reached out and gently brushed it away. His fingertips traced the curve of the boys jaw as he pulled his hand back. He stared down at Sasuke's flawless, pale, features for a moment, studying them. Sasuke certainly was a beautiful thing to look at, when he wasn't all pissed off. 'Bastard's downright pretty when he's sleeping.' He could see why Sakura liked him so much. 'Pretty boy…heh…bastard.'

Naruto brushed off the thought and walked away. He was tired now…and full…and contented. He yawned, walked over to the lamp, and clicked it off. It was time to call it a day. 'Time to relax. Time to sleep.' He had to get up early tomorrow, after all. Pulling his nightcap over his head, he flopped onto the couch, closed his eyes, and slept…and dreamed...

OKAY! So there it is. The end of "When They Became Genin". That day is now over. Time to move on.

REVIEWER STUFF: Holy crap. That's all I have to say. So far, I have been threatened with death, humped, proposed to bear children…and a bunch of other weird stuff… What can I say to that? I fucking love you guys! Hahahaha! (((Not in that weird way.))) Don't get mad that I'm not exactly announcing what pairings are going to happen in this…I think I'm sticking with the claim that there are going to be multiple ones…NONE of which, by the way, will involve an adult and a child. (((Or Kakashi and Iruka…come on…have some respect. snicker's evilly))) We'll just have to see how it goes from here…and then, from there, to the next one, and the next one, and the next one…(((Damn are you ever a pervert!))) Shut up!

So really, I'm serious, how am I doing? Is it good? Is it too slow? Do you like my characterizations? Is it funny? Sexy? Stupid? Are you excited about what's happening or what's going to happen? Want to see something? Curious to know about something? What? This chapter is about the length of two or three decent length chapters, sooo, I hope you consider that when you review. (((snuggles)))

So yeah! I've had a lot of people give me some really great reviews; even the one's that just mentioned one little thing that they liked or wanted to see. I'm really very thankful for that! I hope you guys know who you are. You've been very inspirational to me! Otherwise I would have quit a long time ago. I'm doing my best to keep this story interesting and trying my hardest to do the characters justice, so, to all of you who read this (and don't review), WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! (((SHEESH!))) HERE! I'M DOING A DANCE FOR YOU! flails arms and legs wildly COME ON! AHHHH!

OMG! WHAT'S GUNNA HAPPEN?

(((HAKU! I LOVE YOU SO!))) Hey! Keep your fucking panties on! We'll get there in time! These poor kids need time to rest and train before they can take on that whole heap of shit! And poor Obito! He needs time to adjust! (((Obito Sama…sniffle))) Yes. That's right. We have other business to attend to at the moment. It is finally time for us to do drum roll "With Bells On". crickets (((Kakashi! Woohoo! Kakashi is such a pimp! (waves Kakashi flag and gives a "peace" sign oOv))) Yeah, but he's a dead pimp, none the less. (((OOOOO! LET'S GO SEE WHAT HAPPENED!))) Shut up. I have homework to do. (((NOOOOOOO!))) Do you want to end up flunking out of school and working at our shitty job for the rest of our life? (((no))) Then just be fucking patient! (((…okay…sniffle))) Aw…isn't that cute… (((AHHHH!))) What now? (((YONDAIME SAMA!))) AHHHHHHHHH! (Two thumbs up!)(((WOOHOO!))) I think I'll just take a nap now. waves Later then. Review please. (((Perdy-pwease…with bells…I mean, with cherries on top? bats eyes))) !On top of what! (((Pervert.)))

FRIGGIN' SNEEK PREVIEW FOR THOSE WHO ACTUALLY READ THIS FAR!
With Bells On: Old Friends

Obito was drunk. Well, no, he was more than that. He was fall down, sloppy, shit faced, hammered. Sake? Nah. That was not NEARLY what this occasion called for, so Obito had asked his old pal Whiskey to accompany him for the evening. He and Whiskey hadn't talked for a while. See, after their last adventure, Obito had sworn never to play with Whiskey again because he decided that Whiskey was a bad influence on him. But TODAY? Obito decided that he wasn't angry anymore and it was time to forgive his old pal and get hammered to celebrate their renewed friendship. Whiskey seemed to agree. Yeah. That sounded like an excellent idea to him.

Until then...