AN: Hey guys! This chapter is a lot longer to make up for all the waiting you guys have done in the past. It also included two cute flashbacks. If there was one thing this story was lacking, it was flashbacks. I should warn you that while writing this I happened to here the dreidel song from South Park, so I got a bit… weird. I was also trying to plan like three new stories so… yeah. Enjoy!
Reviews:
Azamiko I'm glad you enjoyed the change of pace a bit.
Crazy-antman, starry096, HanaTenshiHimeko, Alana-StarSugarCat,Night-Owl123 I'm glad you liked it.
DeusXM umm… I'm not sure if you're review meant that you weren't going to read anymore, but thanks for answering the question. The reason I like slash is basically the same reason you don't like it. Then again, I'm a girl so I don't like chicks. If you are still reading this, the slash doesn't actually come in much.
Harukakanata,Shodaime Ramenkage I'm glad you liked it. After this chapter there are two more. For more on that, check my note at the end.
Wraith thanks! Sorry about the confusion. He's not gay; I was just referring to the fact that he's perverted enough to realize it!
Dual Rasengan I'm glad you've liked it so much. Sorry, no kyuubi here.
Insanechildfanfic yeah, "sparring" hehe. Enjoy!
Krn-kimbap Tsunade turned off whatever jutsu she was using to project the image so that everyone could see it. If you've ever seen Sandaime use it, you'll understand that the image is still visible in the crystal ball. Sasuke just happened to look closely enough that he saw what was in it. Enjoy!
This story is AU (Sasuke's still there) starting after about chapter 177 of the manga that means there will be spoilers if you haven't gotten that far. Information about the past five years will be told throughout the story.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
B regular stuff
B internal thoughts and such.
B flashback
Picture Day
The next morning, a very smug Hatake Kakashi could be seen walking down the streets of Konoha. He was on his way to his favorite store. He knew he would find everything his team needed there. With Sakura's help, they would finish with the shopping by the time he had to meet Tsunade-sama the next day.
"You're late!" Sakura shouted at Kakashi when he strolled up. Standing behind the girl were her teammates, both looked incredibly amused.
Kakashi looked at her in confusion for a moment before glancing down at his wrist; he looked up a moment later grinning. I forgot I don't where a watch anymore, he thought. "I'm not late today," he responded.
"Yes you are," Sakura shouted back at him.
"No he's not," Sasuke replied, pointing at his own watch. "He's actually a few minutes early," he added in amusement.
"Mah, if this is how you're going to treat me when I'm on time, I like coming late better," he said, "at least then I actually deserve to get yelled at."
"Can we just get this over with?" Naruto asked, resting his chin on Sakura's shoulder.
"Mah, you make it sound like a boring task," Kakashi said, pouting at his male students.
"It's stupid, and it wastes our time," Sasuke replied.
Kakashi frowned and pulled out his book; within a minute he was smiling giggling again. His students waited patiently for their sensei to notice them again. They had learned years ago that allowing him to read his book was the quickest way to put him in a good mood. They had also learned that, for the most part, Kakashi-sensei in a good mood meant less pain for them. Similarly, Kakashi had learned that his students expended only so much patience even when he was reading. He had quickly learned not to take advantage of it. Sakura losing her temper at me is not a scene I want to repeat, he thought grimly as he sighed in contentment and put his book away.
"This way," he said, beckoning for the three to follow. Sakura skipped happily along side her sensei; she was the only one of his students looking forward to the potentially long day ahead of them. Sasuke and Naruto hung back torn between laughing at their teammates…and killing them.
Kakashi stopped at the end of the street and smiled up at one of his favorite buildings in Konoha. Suppanuku, despite its name, sold everything he owned, including his mask. It was the only clothing store necessary for the fashion conscious shinobi. Fortunately very few people knew of his precious gem of a store and so, like on most days he visited, it was currently empty. The only exception was Ayadonsu, the establishment's wonderful owner.
Ayadonsu bowed respectfully as Kakashi escorted his students inside. She had been hoping he would pass down his knowledge of the store to them. After all, they were three of Konoha's most eligible shinobi. Unless of course the rumors of late were true, in which case only two of them were even possibly still on the market.
"Welcome to Suppanuku. I hope you find everything you are looking for. If you need anything, I'll be in back. Kakashi knows how to find me," she said before walking away. They'll be much more likely to relax if I'm not there, she thought smiling. She glanced back at the group once, before disappearing into a wall. The last thing she heard was the young Uchiha turning on his sharingan.
"How did she do that?" Naruto asked.
"Genjutsu," Sasuke replied. "It's a powerful one that hides the door in the wall. Probably a security measure against non-shinobi thieves," he added. Naruto and Sakura nodded in understanding.
"Well," Kakashi said, turning on his team. "Let's get started," he stated, much to the displeasure of Naruto and Sasuke.
"I still don't understand why we can't just wear our own clothing," Naruto mumbled.
"Tsunade wants the team shots to look organized," Kakashi explained.
"Organized?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi suddenly had no doubt that organization was a completely new concept to the blond. "Yes, she wants the team to… umm; I don't know how to explain it to you," Kakashi muttered, scratching the back of his head.
"She wants us to match," Sakura supplied.
"Why the hell would I want to look like him?" Naruto asked, pointing to Kakashi.
"My own students," Kakashi said pouting. Although it was meant as a joke, Naruto's face darkened imperceptibly as he remembered the scene in Tsunade's office the day before. Kakashi coughed once to snap the blond out of his growing depression. "She said we're supposed to coordinate," Kakashi elaborated a bit. Naruto blinked in confusion, and Kakashi rolled his eyes. No matter how much he matures, he will always be a dunce, he thought.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Training had finished for the day, and Team 7 was standing on the bridge preparing to part ways. Admittedly, they had no real training together any more. All three had reached Jounin level already and no longer worked together very often, but it was still fun to get together and train just like old times. As they stood there, Sakura looked at Naruto expectantly, almost hopefully.
"See you later," Naruto finally said, waving a hand as he walked away.
Sasuke watched in confusion as Sakura's face fell and she turned to him miserably. "He's been different lately," she muttered.
Sasuke merely mumbled "Hn," before turning and walking away.
"Sasuke, wait up," Sakura yelled, running after him. Half way down the street the pink haired girl caught up with her teammate and glared at him.
Sasuke smirked as Sakura panted up beside. "What?" he asked innocently.
"It's been a month since he's asked me out on a date," Sakura stated.
"Don't tell me you finally return his feelings," Sasuke said, turning to her.
"No," Sakura said, rolling her eyes, "but that's not the point."
"Then what is?" Sasuke asked.
"That was our thing," she said. When Sasuke looked at her in confusion, she sighed and explained, "Training would end. Naruto would ask me out on a date. I'd turn him down and ask you out on a date. You'd turn me down, and then we'd all wave and go our separate ways."
Sasuke blinked twice when Sakura had finally finished, and then he continued to stare at her until the girl began to fidget under his gaze. The Uchiha gave one final blink, before turning and continuing on his way. Sakura trotted along beside him until he finally asked, "Exactly how long has this been 'our thing'?"
"I don't know. A few months after the first Chuunin Exam, right after you got back I guess," Sakura said.
Sasuke glanced over at her for a moment. "That was when Naruto finally turned Hinata down," he said.
"Yeah, Tsunade began letting us go on more C-class missions, and Naruto started taking training even more seriously than before," Sakura stated, "You know, I think he really has a shot at becoming Hokage."
"If you're just now figuring that…" Sasuke began before his friend cut him off.
"Oh please, I've known that since the first Chuunin Exam when he beat Neji. I'm just saying that it's become obvious to everyone over the past several years," she said. After several minutes of silence, Sakura bit her lip slightly and asked, "Why do you think he finally decided to recognize Hinata's feelings and then turn them down?"
"He grew up," Sasuke stated bluntly.
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"He noticed that Kiba liked Hinata. She was too blind to notice because she focused on him all the time. He decided it wasn't fair because his feelings weren't going to change anytime soon," Sasuke said.
"So he did it to help her move on," Sakura stated.
"Yeah," Sasuke said a bit uncomfortably.
"Sasuke," Sakura said several minutes later. She planted herself in front of him to make sure she would get a straight answer. "It's never going to happen, right?" she said.
Sasuke gazed at her for several minutes before sighing. "Sorry Sakura; it's never going to happen," he said.
Sakura sighed and shrugged. "Figures," she mumbled, gaining a befuddled look from Sasuke. "So I should move on?" she asked.
"That would be best," Sasuke stated. "Hanging on to a childhood crush will get you no where. My feelings won't change, but yours already have," he added smirking at her.
"Oh, shut up," Sakura said, smiling back.
The two continued to walk on in silence for several minutes, before Sakura turned to Sasuke mischievously. "So, if you don't like me," she said.
Sasuke rolled his eyes at her implied question. "I'm not gracing that statement with an answer," he quipped.
"Oh, come on. You can trust me," she claimed, smiling at him. "I won't tell a soul. Who's the lucky girl?" she added.
Sasuke gazed at her for a moment before turning away. "Sakura, it's not a girl," he responded, smirking slightly.
Sakura stopped dead in her tracks as she contemplated what he had said. "Wait a minute," she shouted, finally coming out of her trance, and realizing that Sasuke hadn't stopped to wait for her. "Does that mean you really do take after Kakashi-sensei?" she asked slightly horrified, once she had caught up to him of course.
"Yes, Sakura," Sasuke replied, "Next thing you know, I'll be reading Icha, Icha Paradise as well."
"Wow," Sakura stated. "So who do you like?" she asked in excitement.
"You're handling this rather well," Sasuke stated.
Sakura waved off his statement and repeated her question, "Come on Uchiha, which lucky boy has caught your attention?"
"What makes you think anyone has?" Sasuke asked.
Sakura rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "Fine, if you won't tell me I'll just have to guess. You have to at least be attracted to someone," she decided proudly. Sasuke paused and raised an eyebrow at her. "Let's see, I know it's not Lee-san. Shino is too quiet, you two would never work; similarly, Kiba is too loud. Neji is very good looking, but there would be too much angst between the two of you," she stated causing Sasuke to glare at her.
"I don't angst," he stated.
"You are so lucky Naruto isn't here to hear you say that," Sakura said smiling at him. Sasuke's glare wilted slightly at the mention of his blond teammate and Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "That's it, isn't it?" she replied happily. "You like Naruto, don't you?" she said, hopping up and down happily.
"You seem incredibly pleased at that prospect," Sasuke stated smoothly.
"Am I right?" she asked, sidling up next to him.
Sasuke pondered for a moment and was about to reply when they were interrupted.
"Oh, so this is how it goes. The one day I decide to be brave and deny my undying love for the most beautiful kunoichi in the land, she finally gets a date with the bastard," Naruto said dramatically, dropping to hang upside down in a tree right in front of them.
Sakura grinned at him and shook her head not even bothering to say anything. "It's not a date dobe," Sasuke replied smirking, "we were planning ways to usurp your power when you become Hokage."
Naruto blinked, and his teammates could see the wheels turning as he decrypted what Sasuke had just said. "Whatever," he finally said with a shrug. "Hey, Ero-sennin isn't in town and there's nothing to do; you guys want to get lunch?" he asked.
"Oh, so we're entertainment now, is that it?" Sakura asked.
"Damn straight you are. The world is my entertainment," Naruto said with an over lavished bow that looked even funnier because he was still upside down on the branch. Sakura burst into giggles and collapsed onto the ground, as Naruto continued to give an overly dramatic speech from his perch.
"Let's go dobe," Sasuke said, reaching up and pulling Naruto down.
"Hang on, what time is it?" Sakura said, jumping up to her feet.
"About three forty five," Naruto replied.
"Well I have to go," Sakura said, turning to walk away and smoothing down her hair.
"Oi, where you going?" Naruto shouted after her.
"I'm going to try and catch Lee-san as he finishes training," she shouted back.
"Lee actually stops training?" Naruto said in confusion as he turned to Sasuke. After a moment, he seemed to finally realize what Sakura had said and turned to look at his teammate's retreating back in mock-horror. "I don't believe it. I've lost the epic battle for the pink haired flower's heart to Thick Brows," he shouted raising his voice even higher when he shouted his favorite nickname for Lee.
Sakura turned around and winked at the two, before disappearing around the corner. When she was gone, Naruto turned to Sasuke teary eyed, and for a moment Sasuke wondered if the other boy wasn't actually upset. That was until Naruto opened his mouth and whimpered, "Our little girl's all grown up."
Sasuke looked at him for a moment before laughing out loud and turning away from Naruto's ridiculous face. "Hold me," Naruto said, still pretending to cry.
"Get off dobe," Sasuke said, shrugging the giggling boy's arms off.
Naruto was interrupted from his giggle fit when he was immersed in a cloud of smoke. "Yo," Kakashi said, waving at the two. He looked down curiously as the smoke cleared to reveal a coughing Naruto. "You should get that looked at," he said sincerely. Naruto only glared at him and muttered obscenities about stupid sensei's who didn't look where they're landing. "Where's Sakura?" Kakashi asked, looking around.
"Trying to get a date with Lee," Sasuke replied smirking.
Kakashi stopped grinning and looked at the two seriously. "You're joking, right?" he said.
"Nope," Naruto said.
"I have to go stop her," Kakashi said turning to go. "Gai will never let me live it down if she dates Lee instead of one of you," was the last thing Sasuke and Naruto heard as he sped off.
"Did their rivalry get so pathetic that they had to bet on their students' love lives?" Naruto asked, turning to Sasuke.
"Was Kakashi-sensei actually stupid enough to believe Sakura would date one of us?" Sasuke replied.
"Well I don't know about you," Naruto replied, "but I stuck it out till the end. I really thought I had a good shot," he added jokingly.
"Neh, Sakura could never date you," Sasuke replied. "Especially if you become Hokage, if you become that powerful it just wouldn't work out," he added.
"True," Naruto agreed, "poor Lee, Sakura will wear the pants in that relationship. Speaking of pants… do you think she could use that power to get him out of spandex?"
"I hope so," Sasuke muttered, "because that is one of the most frightening things I have ever seen."
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
"We're not wearing masks," Naruto stated. Sakura and Sasuke nodded in agreement.
"I know, Tsunade-sama already told me I'm not allowed to let you wear them. I spoke to her last night to tell her that I had caught you," Kakashi had to pause speaking long enough for Sakura to stop laughing hysterically at the memory. "Anyway," he continued after Sakura had calmed down a bit, "Tsunade said specifically that there is to be no orange,"
"What?" Naruto shouted in outrage.
Kakashi ignored him and continued, "and no black."
"What kind of crackpot rule is that?" Sasuke shouted uncharacteristically.
"Sasuke-kun looks upset," Kakashi said jokingly.
"Shut up," Sasuke growled out.
"Kakashi-sensei, stop teasing Sasuke," Naruto added.
"Oh, now you're defending Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, turning to face Naruto.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto shouted back.
"Only that you and he-" Kakashi's remark was cut off when Sasuke smacked him.
"Just ignore him Naruto," Sasuke replied.
"Oh, so he's just Naruto now," Kakashi said, smirking as he stood back up and rubbed the back of his head where Sasuke had hit him.
Sakura gazed at her teammates as they bickered with Kakashi-sensei. Not a day went by that she wasn't thankful they had remained close. Those three were like her family; they had become part of her daily ritual. Even if we did change that ritual a bit, she thought smiling
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
"You're late!" Sakura and Naruto shouted.
"Hmm… I overslept," Kakashi responded, causing all three former students to stare at him.
"You overslept, or you slept over?" Naruto asked slyly. All three students knew that Genma's apartment was much farther from their meeting place then their sensei's.
Kakashi grinned lightly and giggled perversely. "I think that means slept over," Sasuke said smirking.
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura began, "Tsunade-sama told me that Jiraiya-sama was planning on ending the Icha, Icha series," she said, trying to discover if their sensei was paying attention.
When the silver-haired Jounin didn't respond, Naruto sighed and turned away. "Forget about it Sakura. When Kakashi-sensei is thinking about Genma-san, he is more distracted than Lee trying to challenge Naruto to another game of rock-paper-scissors," Sasuke said.
"Don't say that about Lee-kun," Sakura said.
"What did you say about Lee?" Kakashi said suspiciously, snapping out of his Genma induced trance.
"I told Sasuke not to insult him," Sakura replied a bit defiantly.
Kakashi huffed and turned away from the girl. Naruto snickered causing Kakashi to turn on him as well. "It's your fault," he said to the blond.
"How so?" Naruto asked.
"If you had beaten Lee, I never would have lost this bet to Gai," Kakashi responded.
"It's your own fault," Sasuke countered. He ignored Sakura's grin as he continued. "If you were attentive enough, you would have known what was going to happen," he said.
"I pay plenty of attention to my precious students," Kakashi responded. "In fact, I've failed five teams from the academy since you three were promoted, just so I could pay attention to you," he added.
"You failed five teams from the academy so that you wouldn't have to watch a bunch of runts perform D Class missions," Naruto countered.
"Actually that was quite fun," Kakashi muttered.
Unluckily for him, all three of his students heard. "I knew it!" Naruto shouted.
"You had us take those missions just so you could get paid and not do anything," Sakura added. Sasuke simply glared at his sensei.
"Mah, that's not fair," Kakashi replied. Their argument quickly descended into chaos.
Tsunade found them half an hour later. Kakashi had Naruto in headlock, was sitting on Sasuke, and was attempting to subdue Sakura as well. For the first time in a very stressful week, the Hokage collapsed into a fit of laughter.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Kakashi finally shut the two boys up by grabbing some shirts and telling them to try them on.
Sakura glanced out the window as she waited for the two to come out of the dressing room. She smirked when she saw Gai-sensei and his team walk by. Throughout the week she had noticed TenTen and Neji growing steadily closer. She did a double take as they passed and couldn't help but grin. Five years ago, I never would have taken Neji for a hand holding type of guy. Then again, five years ago I never would have guessed I'd end up dating Lee, she thought happily.
Speaking of her boyfriend, Lee was slowly trailing behind his friends and beloved sensei. She looked at him pitifully, but couldn't help laughing at him.
"Lee-kun, will you please tell us, your ever faithful team, what horrible phenomenon has dampened your ever youthful exuberance?" Gai asked.
Lee looked up at his sensei with wide eyes, not that anyone could tell that they were any wider than normal. The distracted look on his face seemed to pain his sensei, but Lee was unable answer his question. Sakura simply shook her head and turned when she heard Naruto behind her. "I think you may have scarred him for life," she said.
Lee turned when he thought he heard his lovely blossom's voice. Unfortunately, Sakura's presence was marred slightly by the blond standing beside her. He looked at the blond in stunned horror for a moment, but when Sasuke stepped up beside the other two, Lee's eyes widened even more and he took off in the other direction.
Back in Suppanuku, Kakashi's students were laughing hysterically at the poor boy's expense. Lee's team gave them one glance before taking off after him. "What was that about?" TenTen asked.
Neji merely shrugged in response and fought to keep up with his sensei.
"Seriously," Sakura said several minutes later when the three of them had calmed down. "I think Lee may have been permanently scarred," she said.
"It's not my fault," Sasuke said.
"Yeah, sure it isn't," Sakura replied.
"No it really wasn't," Naruto added.
"Wait you mean," Sakura said looking at the two in disbelief. Naruto smirked at the baffled girl and comprehension slowly dawned on her. "Well that is something I never expected," Sakura stated.
"What is?" Kakashi asked walking up to them.
"Nothing," Sasuke replied loftily. Kakashi glared at his students, but none of them said anything. Sakura was still trying to take in what they had told her, so she wasn't even aware her sensei had asked a question. I can't believe it. If he claims it was his fault…that means Naruto… "Damn, about time," Sakura whispered as a silly grin made its way onto her face.
Kakashi got the feeling he had missed something really good.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
Fifteen minutes after their spar began, Naruto managed to land a blow to the other boy that sent him skidding. Sasuke came to a stop several meters back. He attempted to get back up, but the blond quickly put a stop to that endeavor. Naruto had pounced Sasuke and was currently pinning the older boy down and grinning at him. "I win," Naruto smirked.
"Like hell you do," Sasuke replied.
Naruto only smiled widely at the other boy. "Admit it Sasuke; I won," he declared triumphantly.
Sasuke attempted to throw the smaller boy off of him, which was impossible to do since Naruto was using chakra to anchor himself to the ground. Naruto gave Sasuke an incredulous look. "Get off me, Naruto," Sasuke sighed.
"Don't feel like it," Naruto replied childishly. Sasuke gave him a disbelieving look and Naruto shrugged in return. "I have a question, and you won't answer it unless I make you," Naruto supplied.
No matter how curious I am, I must not ask. I must not ask. I must not ask, Sasuke continued to repeat in his mind. His mantra failed when he glanced up into Naruto's face. The boy's eyes could break even the most steadfast and stubborn person. He had proven this during his short internship with Ibiki. Sasuke broke quickly when Naruto pouted slightly and his eyes glossed over. "What is it?" Sasuke sighed.
Naruto grinned triumphantly at Sasuke. "I just wanted to know if what Sakura said was true," Naruto finally asked.
Sasuke blinked at the blond boy in confusion, but Naruto simply smiled at him. What did Sakura say? He thought. He went over the memories of the past several days, but could come up with nothing. Wait, he doesn't mean, Sasuke thought as he recalled the girl's statement in the Jounin lounge. "Naruto are you talking about what she said to Neji and the others like five days ago?" he said cautiously.
"What?" Naruto replied. After a minute, his eyes widened. "No," he said like it was the stupidest suggestion in the world. "I know that's true," he added a moment later.
"Eh?" Sasuke replied.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "And people say I'm dense," he muttered.
"Then what the hell are you asking about?" Sasuke growled; he had given up attempting to mask his frustration.
Naruto rolled his eyes again and smirked down at Sasuke. "When you finally turned Sakura down," Naruto replied.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke muttered, trying to ignore the nagging feeling that was steadily growing in the back of his mind. What the hell happened when I turned her down? He thought furiously.
Naruto sighed and shook his head at the other's frustration. "How is it you can call me a baka for years, when you're the one with the bad memory?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke thought back, but he couldn't come up with what Naruto was thinking of.
"You told her that I turned Hinata down to help her move on," Naruto supplied.
"Well then it's true," Sasuke said.
"That's not what I'm asking about," Naruto said pouting slightly.
If anything the pouting simply distracted Sasuke more. "I really don't know what you mean," Sasuke said.
"I also recall you telling her that you didn't angst," Naruto snickered out.
Oh, that conversation, Sasuke thought. "Umm," he trailed off, causing Naruto to snicker out loud.
"You're an idiot Sasuke," Naruto said, grinning and getting up off of Sasuke.
"How did you even hear our conversation?" Sasuke asked.
"I told you guys, Ero-sennin wasn't in town. I was bored; so when I saw the two of you take off together, I followed. I was hiding in the trees, and I have really good hearing," Naruto added, still smirking.
"Hn," Sasuke replied. I still don't know what he overheard, Sasuke thought trying to fight off his stupidity.
Naruto slid back into a fighting stance and Sasuke copied him. Sasuke was so distracted that it only took Naruto two hits to take him down. The blond sighed and walked over to his companion to help him to his feet. "Had enough for tonight?" Naruto asked.
"Eh?" Sasuke said in confusion.
Naruto shook his head at the other boy's behavior. I really shouldn't have tried, he thought a bit sadly, at least not in the middle of a perfectly good sparring session. "Sasuke, just forget I brought up," Naruto finally stated. "Let's just try to get in some training," he added happily.
Sasuke nodded, but he couldn't actually stop thinking about it. What did Sakura say that day? He thought. This time he actually managed a bit of multitasking. When the spar ended five minutes later, Sasuke had cornered Naruto. "I win," Sasuke said smirking.
Naruto blinked at him, before changing that to a glare. He lunged at the Uchiha attempting to regain his edge in the fight; he hadn't expected it to turn out this way. I definitely didn't expect to still be sparring at this point, Naruto thought. His glare faded slightly turning into a silly little grin.
"She was telling the truth," Sasuke whispered, catching Naruto off guard.
"Eh?" Naruto responded.
"She was telling the truth," Sasuke repeated. He wondered if Naruto realized that he had backed the smaller boy into a tree. "Why did you want to know?" he asked smirking.
Naruto looked at Sasuke suspiciously before replying, "No reason."
Sasuke was slightly taken aback by Naruto's response, but he recovered quickly when he saw the small grin still playing across the other's face. He took another small step forward, and Naruto instinctively took one backwards to compensate. The blond stifled a small squeak when his back hit a tree, causing Sasuke to smirk even more.
"Teme," Naruto said in annoyance. He pushed at the other boy to no avail, causing Sasuke to look at him smugly.
"I have a question, and you won't answer it unless I make you," Sasuke replied, using Naruto's own words against him.
Bastard, Naruto thought glaring lightly at Sasuke.
"Why did you want to know?" he repeated, leaning towards the blond.
Naruto glared at him. The smirk that replaced it a moment later should have alerted Sasuke to the devious plan lurking in the blonde's mind. You asked for it, Naruto thought before closing the small gap.
This is what I call sparring, Sasuke thought as he leaned into the kiss.
Kakashi, Sakura and Lee found them five minutes later. They were still sparring.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said, pointing at her teammates. Ten hours after entering Suppanuku, Kakashi turned to see that his work had paid off. Sakura sat comfortably to the side. She had only needed to try on three outfits to satisfy her sensei; in the end, he had picked the first one just to spite her. Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand had been forced to enter the dressing room four hundred and thirty three times. She had counted.
"Mah," Kakashi mumbled, looking over the two enraged boys. "I think that'll work," he finally said; his eyes curved up into a happy smile that seemed to infuriate the boys even more.
"You think?" Sasuke asked.
Kakashi giggled slightly at his anger. "It'll work," he added quickly, when Naruto growled at him.
"Good," Sasuke replied. "You're paying for dinner," he added, smirking at the older man.
Kakashi's smile fell, and he looked at them with a very annoyed expression. "Only if it isn't ramen," he finally said.
"But I want ramen," Naruto stated, pouting at his former sensei.
Kakashi glared and averted his gaze just enough that he didn't receive a full blast of the blonde's pout. Iruka-sensei is the only one I know with immunity to that look, he thought a bit angrily. It was sad how much the blond could get by pouting. "No ramen," Kakashi said resolutely.
"Barbeque?" Sakura suggested.
"Barbeque is fine," Kakashi answered.
"Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"But, I want ramen," he said pitifully.
"He'll treat you to ramen later," Sakura said happily.
"Okay then," Naruto said cheerfully.
His mood swings are scary sometimes, Kakashi thought, as he followed his team to the barbeque restaurant.
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
When Team 7 had finished their dinner and lunch combined, Kakashi leaned back and watched in silence as the three goofed off. After several minutes, he sat up and looked each over appraisingly. "What's next?" he asked, shocking the three a bit.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. "I thought we were finished with everything," he added, praying Kakashi wouldn't spring something else on them.
"I'm not talking about picture day," Kakashi replied. "We only have a little bit left for that, but I can't do any of it until we know when it actually is," he added nonchalantly. Naruto and Sasuke looked at him furiously, but Kakashi didn't give either the time to express their anger. "I mean what do you all plan on doing next. Career wise and all," he said.
Naruto and Sasuke quelled their anger slightly and joined their teammate in silent pondering. "Well," Naruto said, looking over at Sakura. "I expect wedding invitations within the next year," he added jokingly.
"The next year?" Sakura replied. "Please, it'll only take six months," she answered smirking. Even Kakashi joined in the laughter. Once they had settled down a bit, Sakura looked at her sensei a moment then shrugged. "I'm thinking about taking a team," she answered.
"Just thinking?" Naruto asked. "Just do it already; it's not like you can't fail the brats if you decide you don't want to teach them," he explained.
"It's not that simple Naruto," Sakura responded.
"It was for me," Kakashi countered.
"I don't know if I could teach a normal Genin team," she responded. "I specialize as a medic. I'm not sure I could handle kids with more chakra than me," she added.
"Unless Naruto somehow reverts to his twelve year old self that isn't going to happen," Kakashi said. "Your teammates may have accidentally tainted your perception of Genin teams. Most aren't as weird as the four you've known. Although technically, Asuma and Kurenai's teams were fairly normal," he added.
"You should do it anyway," Sasuke said.
"Yup, Sakura-chan's a genius," Naruto added childishly.
Sakura merely grinned at her teammates. Half an hour later, she stood in front of the Hokage and announced that she would like to be considered for taking on a Genin team during the upcoming academy graduation. Tsunade smiled at her and nodded.
And then she turned to Naruto and sweetly asked, "I'll just add you to the roster as well, shall I?"
"Not a chance in hell, Tsunade-baba," Naruto replied darkly. "I told you yesterday, I ain't making a single move for the title of Hokage till you are dead," he added.
"Stupid brat," Tsunade mumbled as she reached for a bottle of sake. Sake is my only friend, she thought depressingly. Naruto rolled his eyes, and she wondered if she had said that aloud. Judging by Uchiha's look, I did, she realized. That boy needs to get laid, she thought after a moment. Judging by Sakura's laughter, she had said that out loud as well.
AN: Suppanuku, the name of the store, essentially means to unmask or expose. This is the reasoning behind Kakashi's joke.
The second flashback was basically pointless. I just wanted to put another one in there.
A quick note on Lee: I have nothing against him, nor am I trying to say that he is a bigot. His reaction to Naruto and Sasuke is me making fun of his naïveté and innocence. As you may have noticed in this chapter, Sakura has been trying to get a date with him for years, but he's been too dense to notice. When Sakura told the entire group that Naruto and Sasuke were gay, Lee didn't seem to comprehend the concept very well. For someone that naïve, it would be a bit of shock to come upon two guys "sparring".
As I said in a review response: there are only two more chapters to this story. If you want an epilogue, I may write one. However, the epilogue will not come out right away. If I write one, I will take the time to edit this story a bit before posting it.