The Heavens Above
By: Naisho

Summary: (AU) Konoha is a rogue aerial base Uchiha Sasuke accidentally trespassed upon. To pay for his freedom, he is forced to work for them…as a mercenary pilot.

Rating: T

DISCLAIMED
(If I owned Naruto, there would be random girls sighing contentedly every time Sasuke and Naruto make contact, physically or verbally.)

Note: This chapter is all about Sasuke and Naruto. I have to build a solid relationship between the two that's why I made them sorta-kinda childhood friends. Sorry for the cliché, dears. Aside from the two's relationship, this chapter will be used to show you guys the setting. You'll see Konoha! XDDDD

2nd Note: I forgot to mention this on the previous chappie. I DO NOT WATCH THE ANIME (fillers make me die). I've seen it a few times but that's only because the fighting scenes are better watched than read. I like watching the crack filler episodes but nothing else. All I'm trying to say is that this fic is MANGA-BASED.

Mission II. Mercenary

"Sa...Sa…Sasuke?" Naruto exhaled in an almost whistle. His tan skin was becoming a sickly brown and his azure eyes grew glassy enough to make them look like crystals. Sasuke took a step towards him. Naruto took a step back. Tired with the game, Sasuke raised his hand, ready to grab the blonde but—

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The blonde jumped away from the brunette and sprinted across the runway, flailing his arms in the air. "I'M BEING HAUNTED BY A DEAD UCHIHA!" Naruto screamed, calling the attention of everyone within the runway.

Uchiha Sasuke flinched, eyes narrowing at the running blonde. He quickly turned to the blonde's way, cursing under his breath, and ran after Naruto. He heard Sakura call his name in the confusion but she was ignored as he set all his attention and energy to the blonde that hadn't changed since the last time he saw him. He should've known that idiot would act this way. He'd not only get himself killed but he'd get Sasuke locked away for life.

Naruto clumsily stumbled on his legs but he quickly recovered and continued his way to the sides of the runway where the hangars were. He called the first two names that came to his mind when he saw the hangars. "NEJIIIIII! SHIKAMARUUUUU!" he half-whined, half-screamed the names. He kicked the slightly open doors to its full extent and jumped in, tumbling over the scattered tool boxes and plane parts. The blonde looked up and saw Neji looking down on him. Quickly, he stood up and grabbed the Hyuuga's arm. "Help me, Neji!" he said, swallowing the nervous hiccups he developed, "A ghost is chasing me!" He shook a tan finger towards the runway.

The Hyuuga glared at the doorway even though he was sure their prankster's just having a little shock from taking on three shifts to compensate for his pranks and the sudden appearance of the five planes. "Ghosts don't exist, Naruto. You must be having an aftershock. You should go see Hinata-sama." Neji looked over his shoulder where Naruto had settled behind Shikamaru's sleeping form.

"No! No! NO! GHOSTS DO EXIST AND THERE IS ONE HAUNTING ME RIGHT NOW!"

Shikamaru turned around. He groaned then sat up lazily, "Go hide somewhere else, Naruto. I'm sleeping." He rubbed the back of his head and stood up, picking a wrench on the way then throwing it to a toolbox.

"Ack, he's here! THE GHOST!" Naruto curled into a ball in a desperate attempt to be hidden in the shadows but his jumpsuit seemed to glow even more.

Sasuke put a hand on the door as though afraid it would close on its own. He was lightly panting. There was a trickle of sweat threatening to fall from his forehead. His charcoal eyes narrowed towards the blonde and he breathed his name with evident irritation, "Naruto." All he could see was Naruto and the pale hand that stopped him when he made a step towards the blonde did nothing to calm his mood.

"What do you want, captive?" Neji pushed the Uchiha but before they could get into a deeper brawl, his wrist was grabbed and thrown aside.

Sasuke walked towards Naruto who seemed to be mumbling a small prayer for his safety. He flinched at the blonde's childish acts. "Naruto." He called once again, this time more dangerous, but the addressed remained in his own little world. The Uchiha sighed, eyes closing in what seemed to be defeat. In a flash, he raised his fist and delivered one merciless punch on the blonde's head.

Needless to say, Neji and Shikamaru were quick to act. They were not letting this stranger abuse one of them – especially Naruto who gets into more than enough trouble on his own.

The blonde stood up straight, his palms rubbing his head in circles. "You touched me! You can touch me! YOU'RE NOT A GHOST! YOU'RE REAL!" Naruto beamed. He placed his hands on the brunette's shoulder and patted them softly, "I thought you were dead!"

"Dobe, why should you think that? I should be the one thinking that about you since you're the one that disappeared." Sasuke flicked at the blonde's forehead. "Still your stupid self, I can see. Six years didn't do much." He smirked, knowing how well he could aggravate the other boy with that statement.

"MOU! STOP CALLING ME THAT!" The blonde crossed his arms and pouted like a girl. "There was this fire and the base disappeared so…." He looked at Sasuke, eyes worried for a second then glaring the next minute. "Well, you should thank me you're still alive!" He beamed, extending his hand in the much asked for gratitude.

The brunette's eyes grew indifferent. He stared at the hand then delivered his coldest glare to its owner. "In your dreams, dobe. There's no need to give you something you don't deserve."

"Asshole." Naruto smiled. It was actually very reassuring to see that that bastard is still the same cold bastard he can remember. A little colder than usual but still the same – it's probably because there people he doesn't know in the hangar – "OH SHIT!" The blonde turned to Neji and Shikamaru.

Neji was standing stiff and straight with perfect posture just beside him. Shikamaru, on the other hand, had gone back to his habits. He was sitting on the concrete floor, leaning on the nearest well, seemingly asleep.

"Sasuke-chan!" A teasing foxy grin appeared on the blonde's face. It was nickname he loved to tease Sasuke to and one that the Uchiha loved to hate. There was this certain way that Sasuke's face would twitch and crunch that looked somewhere between hilarious and adorable…like as if he couldn't decide whether to shout in anger or just laugh it out.

"I guess I haven't introduced you to these guys yet." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. He grabbed the Sasuke's arm and swung him towards Neji. "This is Neji. He's a really good pilot, you know. Tsunade has actually promoted him to captain!"

"It's Hyuuga Neji." Neji raised his hand and shook the Uchiha's. He gave a tight squeeze to the other as though to remind him of the incident earlier.

"Uchiha Sasuke." Sasuke gave Neji an equally tight squeeze. "We've met a while ago, didn't we, captain?" The slight twitch on one of Neji's eyes didn't go unnoticed to Sasuke.

"Yes, indeed."

"Really? How did you meet? It's not everyday I get to see Neji be a bit social." The blonde grinned.

Neither answered the question. They only kept staring at each other, trying to deliver their coldest stares.

"Anyway, Neji may be captain but the old hag's gonna give up her position to me sooner or later so I'm still better than him!" Naruto triumphantly laughed. His obnoxious laughter caught the focus of the two stoic brunettes.

"In your dreams, dobe."

"I don't seem to recall you ever being better than me in the first place."

The blonde blew the two a raspberry, "Gah! You're just jealous that's why you're acting mean!"

A loud yawn interrupted the bickering of the three.

"Troublesome…so troublesome…those two and that new guy just had to add to all the trouble…." Shikamaru mumbled. He was about to leave the hangar already. Such noise was causing his brain cells to die faster than he was letting them.

"Ah! Ah! Shikamaru! Don't leave yet! I haven't introduced you to Sasuke yet!" Naruto abruptly pulled the Uchiha away from Neji. The two shot their last pair of glares before taking away their attention from each other.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm Nara Shikamaru. You're Uchiha Sasuke. Introduction over." Shikamaru waved his hand, shooing away the blonde. "Too troublesome…." With those words, the genius was gone from sight.

Naruto squinted his eyes, his face copying that of a confused cartoon fox. "That Shikamaru…so lazy…." He jerked his head to his companion, "Anyway, despite being such a bum, he's a genius in strategies. Tsunade-baachan lets him arrange flight formations on some occasions but basically, he's one of our top mechanics." He beamed.

Apparently, Sasuke had no interest with the bum and the blind though he does find them annoying. He's more interested with how he can get out of this place but with Naruto here, it would be very complicated. He's not really excited about leaving a person he thought he would never see again, a person who just vanished into thin air.

"Hey, Sasuke? Where do you want to go? Should I tour you around the base? Or was that Sakura-chan's job? But I'm hungry—" Naruto's stomach gave a long and loud growl "—and tired. We should go to the town below and then you can buy me ramen while we talk! There's this really good ramen stand in the town and the owner's so nice to me he even gives me additional servings!"

There's a town nearby? What kind of base would be so close to a town? , Sasuke asked himself and, knowing Naruto, said, "I'm not gonna pay for your food. Since your brain seems to be slower than usual, I'm a captive here so I don't have anything with me."

"Ah, that's okay! You can put it in your tab and pay for it later!" Without further words, the blonde, with Sasuke being dragged along, dashed towards the town.

From the rooftops, Kakashi watched as Naruto led Sasuke out of the base. He chuckled at their childish bickering, "Ah, I guess that Uchiha's genuine. No doubt." He stood up and stretched his back. "Time to report!" He turned around and slowly crawled off the roof. The crates he jumped on seemed to have been empty, which caused him to crash onto the cemented grounds of the base.

"Kakashi-sensei, you should be more careful. I was putting those empty crates away."

"Ah, Iruka-san."

- - -

The ramen house was full of people since it was near suppertime. Steam escaped from its curtains where the characters for "Ichiraku" were printed on. At one side of the counter sat Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.

"Oh, so you were caught trespassing! I was too." The blonde slurped down the soup and gobbled down as much noodles as he can in his mouth. "But then they told me I was expected so I couldn't have been trespassing." He pointed his chopsticks at the Uchiha, "Didn't believe them. I fought them bad, you know! I kicked Kiba's ass and killed Shino's bugs…which had me scratching for months. Afterwards, Tsunade-baachan had me punished for excessive violence." A sigh, "I was only protecting myself."

"Usarukontachi, there was nothing to protect from in the first place." Sasuke smirked.

"Anyway, what about you, Sasuke? What are they making do? You did trespass yourself."

"Nothing much. They're going to make me work for the base as a pilot but I'm still debating whether I'll play along or escape."

Naruto nearly choked on his ramen – wait, he did choke on his ramen. Sasuke handed him a glass of water, mumbling a string of insults. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned the escape part….

"ESCAPE? ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY!" He slammed his ceramic bowl on the counter. "What's wrong with being a pilot? I thought you were the one who were so dedicated on becoming one!"

Sasuke frowned, "And you're the one who didn't want to be one."

"Well, certain things happen and you can't survive in the world without a flow of moola!" Naruto rubbed his thumb on his index and middle finger. "You know, cash! How are you gonna pay for my ramen?" He ceremoniously lifted his bowl in praise.

The brunette shook his head, tapping a few fingers on his forehead, "I'm not really short of cash, you know. I just don't have it with me as of the moment. Besides, it's not like I can trust this base. I don't know it. It doesn't know me. Let it stay that way."

"But you trust me, right? And I trust you. We've both known each other for like forever!" Naruto's blue eyes grew deep in color, staring at the Uchiha's pools of black. "I'll own the base on day so if you trust me, then you must trust the base! AND BE A PILOT!"

Sasuke's eyes twitched. He turned away from the blonde and towards the bowl of ramen he hadn't touched. It's not like the situation would get worse if I stay. , He glanced at the determined eyes of the blonde. It won't be better either if I escape – probably even worse. He closed his eyes tightly and weighed his situation, "Only until my debt is paid."

"YES!" Naruto jumped up, punching the air with a tight fist. Everyone in the store looked at him. He laughed in shame and slid down to his seat. Luckily, most of the customers recognized him and were not bothered at all.

"But I still don't plan on staying."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "Feh, you'll change your mind soon enough." He waved a hand, "Are you ever gonna touch your ramen? Look how sad it is for being ignored!" he grabbed the bowl and caressed its ceramic surface lovingly. "Don't worry. You won't be ignored in my hands!"

Sasuke spotted the empty bowls near the blonde. No wonder. , he rolled his eyes. "Idiot. It's a bowl with noodles and soup. It won't respond."

Naruto gasped and hissed, "Dare you insult her!"

"It has a gender now?"

"Bastard!"

- - -

"Well, I'm glad you decide to play along instead of opposing the decision." Tsunade smiled. "But before we can put you into a plane, we require a test of skills. Obviously, we wouldn't employ useless pilots. It'll ruin Konoha's reputation! We're a rogue base with pride and fame that we cannot, by all chances, tarnish!"

Sasuke raised a brow, "My skills don't need to be tested."

"So you say, Uchiha, but procedure is procedure." The commander explained. She swiveled her chair towards the open windows behind her. "We'll pick someone from our crew. You'll get to meet most of our pilots." She turned to her desk and to the Uchiha who sat across her in an arm chair. She pressed a button on one of phones to her left. "Bring them in."

The door swung open and in came a woman with short black hair, a pen tucked behind her ear. A clipboard was in her hands, its numerous attached papers being flipped endlessly by her flustered fingers.

The commander cleared her throat loudly, "Shizune."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Shizune quickly shuffled to one end of the room. She looked at the Uchiha and bowed, smiling pleasantly. She lifted the board to her eyes and tapped on it with the pen. "Our best fighters are out on missions as of the moment so we can't have them for your testing. Adding to that, we wouldn't want you to die."

Sasuke's eyes twitched. It was wrong for them to underestimate an Uchiha.

"But don't worry, Uchiha-san. I'm sure they'll be able to challenge your abilities well enough." Again, Tsunade's secretary looked at him with that same pleasant smile. To Sasuke, it felt like mockery.

"Aburame Shino."

A boy of Sasuke's age came in. The shades he wore covered whatever expression that was in his eyes. He wore a similar jumpsuit to the ones he saw before. The only difference was that high collar covering most of his face. With a silent air, he went beside the secretary, hands in his pocket. Sasuke noted the little to no sound Shino's footsteps made.

"Inuzuka Kiba." A bark echoed from the door. Shizune sighed. "And Akamaru."

Sasuke couldn't help but cough a little. He had already thought that this guy was canine enough, especially with that furry hood he had on his had. To think that he would actually have a dog molecularly attached (1) to him.

Kiba glared at the Uchiha. He grumbled – but it sounded more like animal growls – as he went to his place beside Shino. With Tsunade's eyes at him, there's nothing much he can do as of the moment.

"Akimichi Chouji."

In came a big-boned guy, stuffing chips in his mouth.

"Chouji, please, don't scatter chips on the carpet. It's hard to remove." Tsunade said exasperatedly. Chouji dived his hand into the bag and out comes a hand full of chips. He opened his mouth and practically devoured his hand. Crumpling the now empty bag of chips, he smiled. "All finished. No more problem." Tsunade sighed, shaking her head.

"Hyuuga Neji."

The pale-eyed captain came in. Sasuke glared at him. Neji glared back.

"Haruno Sakura."

The pink-haired girl jumped into the room, a bright smile donning her face. Sasuke mentally cringed. He knew that kind of smile. He has seen that so many times and he knew it was something bad, very bad. He never liked fangirls and it seemed like he's hating them more.

"Yamanaka Ino."

A blonde girl with blue eyes came in and squealed. She ran up to Sakura and the two started whispering and giggling.

"Girls, girls. Behavior please." Tsunade reprimanded, rolling her eyes.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke's dark demeanor lightened at the mention of the familiar name.

"Shizune." The commander of the base called. She shook her head, "No, don't include that brat. It'll create more complications and he's not exactly the careful type."

Shizune shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, so you say." She swiped her pen across the clipboard, "But you know, he won't be happy about that. He'll be making hell for this."

"Yes, I know. That's why I told them not to let—"

"BAA-CHAN!"

"—him in. Damn those guards. Can't even keep a boy away."

The vulpine boy crashed into the office. He pushed Sakura and Ino apart and rushed towards Tsunade's table. The two girls screamed at him but he failed to notice. His palms pounded on the metal desk, making an annoying sound. "Baa-chan! Why aren't you letting me kick Sasuke's ass!"

Tsunade sighed, Why now? "Well, in the first place, I don't think you can test someone like Uchiha Sasuke well."

"WHAT!"

Wrong choice of words. , Tsunade put a couple of fingers at the sides of her temple and started massaging in small circles. She was feeling a headache coming her way.

"She means you suck as a fighter pilot, idiot." The Uchiha smirked.

"You bastard! I can take you on any time, any day!" Naruto pointed a shaking finger at Sasuke.

"Keep on dreaming, it's free." Sasuke smirked.

Azure eyes sharpened to a crystal blue. Naruto growled, "It's not like you have skills to show anyway! You didn't want to take the test in the first place! You wanted to escape from Konoha!"

"And if I remember correctly, you're the one that didn't want to even board a plane." Sasuke hissed. Naruto, you idiot. You don't go around telling people escape plans of captives!

The blonde turned to the commander, "Baa-chan! I'll kick his ass!" he stuck his tongue out at Sasuke and stomped away from the office. At the doorframe, he turned around and glared at the Uchiha, "You'll be sorry you ever messed with me, you asshole!" with those words, he raced out of the office.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, tapping her pen on the clipboard, "What are we going to do with Naruto-kun?"

Tsunade sighed. She leaned on the backrest of her leather armchair (the swivel type – because Naruto insisted). She put one arm across her chest and a hand on her forehead. "Let him do what he wants. We'll just do with what results he produces." She waved a hand and the other pilots exited the office. "I guess there's no choice but to see you play with Naruto."

Play? , Sasuke's brow twitched.

"Shizune, bring Uchiha-san to the hangars. Let them use the spare planes. The F-106? (2) Yes, that should do. We don't want more damage than we can handle." Tsunade swiveled her chair away from Sasuke as Shizune politely led him out of the office.

- - -

"Are you sure they'd be fine?" Ino asked for the 10th consecutive time. Her pale blue eyes focused on the two distant figures below: Sasuke and Naruto. She and the rest of the gang were sitting on the rooftop of one of the hangars. It was the best place possible to watch a mock battle from.

"Yes, Ino. They're using soft paintballs as bullets. The best damage they could do to each other is a shallow dent." Shikamaru turned away from the blonde chick. He wouldn't have answered but the poking just kept increasing. Girls are so troublesome.

"But they're friends, right? Sasuke and Naruto?" She tugged at Shikamaru's work clothes. "And Naruto isn't really that great of a flier. You don't think they could hurt each other, now do you?"

The lazy mechanic mumbled under his breath. "No, they couldn't. And besides, there's a hospital nearby and Tsunade-sama's an elite medic." His usually lazy voice was mixed with annoyance. "You shouldn't bother with them. Naruto's skull is thicker than diamonds and that other guy? You don't even know him!"

"But I know he's hot."

Shikamaru remained silent. His eyes looked up at the clear blue skies. There weren't much clouds up there today. It would be a good day for the spectators: no clouds to block the view of the battle.

"When I was there, Naruto and that other guy didn't look like friends at all." Chouji threw away the empty potato chips bag and grabbed another from the paper bag beside him. His trash was picked up by Hinata who neatly folded it and put it in a plastic bag. "Please don't throw your trash like that."

"Oh, but you have to look underneath the underneath, Chouji. It's so obvious that beneath those harsh words, they were cooing each other with pure words of platonic love." (3) The fluttering of Ino's eyes and her mischievous smile made the rest think otherwise. For someone explaining friendship, she sure does act like a cupid.

"But when you meet a friend you have not met in a long time, you're supposed to happily run into each others arms then catch up with times in a warm cup of tea in a restaurant that brings back memories. So you cannot call that throwing of insults friendship." (4) Shino mumbled. His eyes were focused on the dragonflies floating a few inches away from his face.

Ino scowled. Doesn't he say anything not annoying?

"Bah! Who cares?" Kiba threw his arms in the air and let his back fall lightly on the steel surface of the roof. "We just watch how Uchiha fares in the battle! Of course you can't expect much because he's just a runaway. But then, you can't expect anything from Naruto as well. He'd probably crash land into the forest or something!" He laughed loudly.

"Don't be so mean, Kiba. Naruto-kun does amazing things as well." Hinata stood up for the blonde fox.

The feral young man opened his mouth to – most probably – say something insulting and rude once again but the impact of a fist on his head shut him up. "OWWW!" Kiba turned and saw Sakura. "That made me bite my tongue! You could've made me mute, you pink monster!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and sat beside Ino. "Then the world would be a better place."

"Hey, aren't you supposed to help with the preparations?" Ino linked her arm with Sakura (5).

The pink-haired girl shook her head, "Lee-san offered to do the rest of my work so that I could watch the battle. Neji-san and Tenten are helping with the work as well so they won't be here." She giggled, "I guess Lee-san could be sweet sometimes as well. Oh, you could see Naruto and Sasuke-kun here." Her green eyes spotted the two figures from the rooftop. She could only see the silhouettes but Naruto's bright hair was hard to miss. It took only those few days of Sasuke's stay to figure out that wherever Naruto was, Sasuke would most likely be found with him.

"Yes, yes. That's why I chose this place." The two looked at each other. A knowing smile was shared between them. The next second, they were both fangirling.

"It's starting." Chouji said through a mouthful of chips.

Silence instantly came over everyone. The familiar whirring of engines could be heard somewhere below them. At the end of the runway, they could see a green figure (probably Lee) waving red flags in the air. Soon after, it was replaced by green ones and the roar of planes conquered the base.

The fight was starting.

- - -

Naruto grinned. It had been a long time since he played with Sasuke and it'll be the first time he'll play with him in the air – with planes to boot! A long time ago, this wouldn't have been possible. A long time ago, he wouldn't even think of boarding a plane, much less be a pilot. Well, not unless it was Sasuke flying the machine (6). The blue F-106 was ascending steadily in front of him. He turned his communicator on, "Ready to play, Sasuke?"

A lot of static was heard from the other line before Sasuke's voice came out in pauses, "You – bzzt – idiot! We're – bzzt – not here to – bzzt – play!"

Of course. Not here to play. Yep. Got that. , Naruto chuckled. "Of course we aren't, Sasuke-chan. I'm here to kick your butt. You're here to lose." But that doesn't mean I can't toy around. "Oh, and if you need help with the communicator, just holler."

With a gust of wind tilting Naruto's green camouflaged F-106, Sasuke was out of sight. The blonde frowned. He couldn't see Sasuke anymore. It's impossible that the proud Uchiha got pissed and ran away from him, right? Or worse, he really agreed to take the test so that he could escape with the plane. But Sasuke can't be stupid enough to not know the tracking device attached to the plane! , Naruto gasped. Don't tell me he gained brain damage! , His control of the plane faltered for a moment.

All the blonde's worries vanished as the rattling sound of a machine gun was heard from above. Blue eyes scanned the skies. A blue blur dropped from the heavens, almost hitting his left wing. His eyes followed Sasuke's plane. Glancing at his wingspan, he saw a large blotch of red paint. He frowned.

"I think you got that statement wrong, Naruto. You're going to lose to me." Sasuke grinned. He could feel Naruto's frown grow into a childish pout. He knew just what would tick the blonde into chaos. "Dobe."

Naruto growled as a string of curses came out of Sasuke's speakers. The green plane dropped right behind Sasuke and quickly shot at him without waiting for a steady target. Sasuke barely avoided the attack – one escaped and hit his tail. He expected Naruto to attack but not without a steady target at least…not like he was gonna be one. He only hoped that the paint wouldn't be in that hideous blinding orange.

Sasuke increased his altitude and speed but his attempts at shaking the blonde away was futile. He smirked. He loved a challenge. Slowly, the rhythm of Naruto's style seeped into him. His blonde friend won't be much of a rival anymore. He pulled on his joystick. Let's see you follow this.

The blue F-106 started to ascend at a sharp angle. Naruto followed the plane with his eyes. "Don't tell me he can—" He gave a sharp tug at his own joystick, tailing his opponent.

"Don't try to follow when you can't." Sasuke said through his communication box.

"Watch me, bastard!"

The blue F-106 plane made a 360-loop in the air, Naruto following closely behind. A relieved sigh escaped Naruto's lips but the surprise hadn't ended yet. The plane he was following was still ascending. It disappeared overhead. He heard a couple of shots. He knew he was hit, probably near the tail. The sound of the roaring engine confirmed Naruto of Sasuke's plane behind him.

"Che. A double loop." (7) Of course. Should've expected that. , Naruto frowned as he took his plane in a zigzagging maneuver to shake the ever persistent Sasuke.

"No need to feel sour about it, dobe." The blonde could feel the sarcasm dripping with those words. How Sasuke could remain such a bastard in so-called enemy territory, he could never know.

"The battle ain't finished yet, asshole!" Naruto screamed through his communicator, "I'LL BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF YOU YET!"

The green Delta Dart's engine stopped. Sasuke watched in horror as it made a sharp drop to the ground. He forced his worries away from his mind as he made another loop. From that view, he saw the plane ascend at top speed towards him, firing the paint bullets until they ran out. He released the breath he was holding and smirked. That idiot. What if the engine failed him and he died?

"I GOT YOU NOW!" Naruto screamed in triumph as he raced head-on towards Sasuke. He could hear the rattling sound of his own cannons and Sasuke's. And Sasuke's? , The blonde's eyes grew confused. He jerked his plane to the left but was too late. His windshield got splattered with red paint. The brittle glass cracked and the next paint bullet went past the glass and towards his face – his only defense: his helmet. The force of the wind brought sharp pieces of glass zooming towards Naruto. He let go of the stick and ducked, accidentally steering the plane downwards…straight to the forest beside.

"USURAKONTACHI! PULL UUUPPPP!"

At Sasuke's voice, Naruto grabbed the joystick and pulled hard. He didn't bother to lift his head for fear of getting blinded by the glass shards. He felt the vehicle decelerate. The ride suddenly turned bumpy as the plane hit the trees. Naruto held the joystick tightly, pressing his body closer. Finally, after a few minutes, the Delta Dart halted. He fell on his back with a sigh. He kicked the windshield open and climbed out carefully. Behind the plane, he could see a good 10 hectares of the forest destroyed, flattened by his eherm ever perfect landing.

"The old hag's gonna kill me for this." He chuckled nervously. Naruto took off his helmet, kissing it for saving him. He dusted off the glass crystals on his jumpsuit and picked off the bigger chunks from his shoulders. He unzipped his jacket, showing the black sleeveless undershirt and looked at his shoulders. "Well, at least if she does kill me. My carcass won't have scars on it…aside from the ones on my cheeks." He shrugged, "Thank you, jacket, for saving me!" He lifted the piece of clothing and held it ceremoniously in front of him.

A strong gust of wind blew his jacket. Naruto looked up and saw the blue F-106 pass by him. From his cockpit he heard Sasuke's muffled shouts, "Don't fly a jet when you can't even land it!"

The blonde stuck his tongue out though he was sure Sasuke wouldn't be able to see him from that far. Naruto jumped to the left wing where he was greeted with Sasuke's first hit at him. He scowled, "I should've been the first one to hit him…that bastard." He kicked the painted spot. Then a thought struck him. With a foxy smile, he went to the cannons and grabbed a paint ball. It was a good thing they were hard enough to hold. He grabbed his jacket (which got stuck at the tail when it got blown away) and headed to Konoha with a chuckle and a grin.

- - -

"Whoa. I've never seen anyone pull out a double loop so easy." Kiba found himself saying as the blue F-106 halted down the runway. He shook his head, "What am I saying?"

"I guess you haven't seen Lee-san on a plane, right?" Sakura commented as she jumped to the ground. "He's good with aerobatics." Behind her, Hinata carefully footed the ground. As soon as Naruto crashed to the forest, they rushed down the rooftops – well, the girls. Ino had to drag Shikamaru and Chouji before they would move. Shino and Kiba just followed without care.

Kiba shrugged, "Guess not. After all, he's not really a pilot. He's Gai's helper."

"I wonder if Naruto-kun's alright." Hinata worriedly looked towards the forest. With her sharp eyesight, she saw the Uchiha jump down gracefully from the cockpit and rush towards the forest, throwing away his helmet. She gasped and hurried her steps.

Ino dropped Shikamaru and Chouji's wrists and rushed towards Hinata. She gave the brunette a push and they were off. Sakura jogged closely behind them.

"Girls and their worries. Naruto's fine." Shikamaru grumbled. He rubbed the back of his head and turned towards the hangars.

"When your friend is in trouble, you should come to his aid. If not, misunderstandings will be made and people will get hurt." Shino's solemn voice reached the lazy genius.

Nara stopped. He sighed and said, "So annoying…."

Chouji smiled and followed his best friend. Kiba shrugged his shoulder, not knowing what's so annoying about Shino. That bug-obsessed freak was actually more quiet than talkative so shouldn't they be thankful that he was talking?

- - -

When Naruto stepped into the base, the first thing he saw were the horrified eyes of Hinata, Ino and Sakura. They were staring at his neck, pointing shaking fingers at him. He blinked and swiped a finger at his neck. Red. He saw red. Naruto looked at his hand and the girls and shrugged. "What? It's only paint."

The first thing Naruto looked for was Sasuke. Sure the guy never liked to act like he cared about him but he knew Sasuke could never resist his charms. He smiled as he saw the Uchiha standing a few feet behind the girls. He skipped towards the brunette and stopped, hands behind his back, a couple of inches before him. "Sasuke."

"Usurakontachi."

"Hey! My greeting was decent!"

"Hn."

Naruto scowled but that didn't last for long as a mischievous smirk flashed on his face. "You know, Sasuke-chan. You look real pretty today."

Sasuke raised a brow, looking at the blonde as though he was crazy. Maybe he hit his head when he landed…if you could call that a landing. , He smirked. "Yes, and you look horrible."

"Why, thank you, Sasuke-chan. Would you like to look prettier?"

Did he just say Sasuke-chan? , The Uchiha did a double take, "Are you—" but before he could finish a ball of orange hit him on the face. He spat out the bland taste of paint on his tongue. Oh joy. The paint really was orange. What a surprise.

"HAHA! TAKE THAT UCHIHA! THE LAST LAUGH WILL ALWAYS BELONG TO ME!" Naruto posed with his hands on his hips. Triumphantly, he gave a peace sign to the three girls but two fists knocked him down. He struggled to get up. Rubbing his temple, he looked at the fiery eyes of the culprits: Ino and Sakura. Figures.

"NARUTOOOO! YOU IDIOT!" Ino screamed, grabbing him by the collar and shaking the daylights out of him. He was passed to Sakura after the scream fest. "YOU JUST CRASHED AND THE FIRST THING YOU THINK ABOUT IS YOUR PRANK!" Sakura twirled the blonde around before letting him go. "AND TO SASUKE-KUN OF ALL THE PEOPLE! BAKA!" The duo yelled loud enough for the whole base to hear.

Naruto's head hit Sasuke's torso and knocked the two of them down. He grinned cheekily and sat up. "Sorry, Sasuke. Couldn't resist. After all, you did break my windshield." He shrugged and stood up, the Uchiha following afterwards.

Break your windshield? , Sasuke froze. He took a good look at Naruto. There was drying paint on Naruto's neck and chin but no serious wounds. Luckily, the blonde was too busy looking past his shoulder to notice. He would never live it down if the blonde ever finds out how worried he is about him…nor if he gets the blonde injured – for his sake and the commander's who seems to favor the blonde too much.

Naruto spotted Kiba and the others approaching and rushed towards them. "Oi, oi. You saw the paintball attack?" He grinned.

"You mean you getting clobbered by the Uchiha? Yep. Saw you get creamed." Kiba avoided the clumsy punch Naruto aimed at him before laughing at the blonde.

"No, the one a while ago – I mean, look at Sasuke!" Naruto pointed a tanned finger at the paint covered face of one Uchiha Sasuke. The blonde beamed at his 'fine piece of artwork' and nodded. A prank a day keep the—

"Once you're finished admiring your masterpiece. Tsunade-sama would like to see you in her office." Kakashi said from the rooftop of the nearest building. "Oh, get the Uchiha cleaned first before you go." The masked man nodded at a very pissed Uchiha. He turned to the rest of the group and smiled (from what was seen from his face). "You're dismissed…from…uh…whatever you're doing. Ja!" he made a mock salute and disappeared from view.

They all went their separate paths. The girls towards the control tower. The guys to the hangars. Naruto and Sasuke towards Naruto's bunk (to get cleaned…wouldn't want Tsunade to get angry). All with one thought in mind:

What was with Kakashi and rooftops?

(1) It's a phrase I give to couples who are…well…too attached to each other (e.g. Faust and Eliza from Shaman King) but obviously, it's used in a different sense in that sentence…not unless somebody out there thinks that Kiba and Akamaru should get married.

(2) Convair F-106 Delta Dart 1959 fighter plane of the US Air Force – excellent dogfighter with a max speed of 2020 km/h. The Foxhound (Naruto's plane, in case you don't remember) is from the Soviet Union/Russia (max speed 3000 km/h). If you guys want the Mach speed, just say (though I doubt you will…).

(3) If Ino would talk like this more, I would worship the ground she walks upon XD

(4) I'm basing the way Shino talks with his appearance in Chapter 282 of the manga: "Even though we met long ago, you should remember the face of your comrades because it can hurt the person who talks to you." Shino to Naruto. Don't you just love his annoying way of speaking? XD

(5) Friendship, dearies.

(6) I don't care if you interpret it as platonic or romantic. There's a reason behind saying that. You'll find out in either chapter 9, 15 or 16. BTW, I plan to have 17 chapters for this fic and maybe an author's note at the very end.

(7) Surely you know what a double loop is. From what I heard, it's very hard to execute so…yay Sasuke for doing it --; Haha.

- - -

I'm sorry. I really can't help it but I would probably write this with subtle shounen-ai – so subtle you wouldn't even notice it unless you're looking for it. Unfortunately, I won't focus on the relationship of Sasuke and Naruto. I don't want to make this too romantic (duh, GENRE: ACTION/ADVENTURE!). Let's all ignore the pairings and follow the plot, ne?

- - -

Oh, and I don't like Ino and Sakura fighting over Sasuke. It's too childish. They're roughly 18 here so it wouldn't fit their mentality. Fangirling is a universal habit. I'm 17. I fangirl…in public…and embarrass myself in process, yes. So should you XDXDXD