"Thank you."

"No problem. I might be seeing you around. Goodbye, and good luck with your mission!" A man waved, allowing the three inside the small boat to get off before rowing off a distance. The three waved slightly, then started walking towards somewhere very familiar. They'd taken the route through the water instead of across the new bridge, and it was lucky of them to find someone willing to do such a task.

A familiar voice was close by.

"Inari, hurry up, we'll be late for dinner! Your mother will kill me if we're late again."

The boy, however, who was chasing after a grown, deep gray-haired man, stopped.

"Grandpa... It's Naruto-kun!"

"Naruto...?" The man suddenly looked behind him, at the three who were walking up.

Naruto grinned, waving a bit. "Yo!"

"Tazuna, Inari, good to see you guys again!" Sakura waved, smiling at them.

"Sakura, hey! How have you all been? Its been years." Tazuna smiled, turning his whole body to look at the three who, with Inari next to them, walked up to the old man. "You've all grown quite a bit. Ha! Naruto, you're not even a shrimp anymore."

"Yeah!" Naruto grinned, looking over at Inari. "He's grown a lot, too, huh?"

Sasuke suddenly interrupted as Inari was about to speak. "Tazuna, we have something of a problem."

The man looked up, a questioning look on his face. "Yes, what is it?"

The Uchiha looked around. "Perhaps it is better to speak of indoors."

"Oh, yes, of course. Please,"

Within a few minutes, the five of them were inside, sitting down at a table. Sakura smiled at the woman that was setting dishes down on the table in front of them. "So, Tsunami, how's everything been?" She rested her arms on the table, watching around the group.

"Fine, yourselves?"

"Pretty good,"

"Sasuke, you said there was a problem or something?" Inari suddenly asked, looking over at the black-haired boy. He frowned, staring at Naruto, who seemed uncomfortable with the new conversation.

Sasuke nodded, looking from Naruto to Inari. "Yeah, actually... it's pretty bad. To put it simply... Naruto's been put in the bingo-book of Konohagakure."

Inari and Tazuna gave a shocked expression, while Tsunami suddenly twitched, frowning deeply.

"Why?" Inari's voice was pretty shaky.

Sasuke shook his head. "He killed a sensei of the village academy, though while he was under a sort of... spell, by this sword. Anyway, he's done nothing wrong in his right mind, and we won't allow them to kill him. They want to completely destroy him, and all. We were hoping..." He trailed off, looking over at Naruto, who's arms were crossed, and his face was hidden.

"To stay here?" Tsunami suddenly asked, turning to face them with a pot in hand. She was smiling. "If that's what you were thinking, then of course you can stay here. There's always room, especially for you three. You were the ones that replenished hope for our island." She smiled, starting to pour a delicious-smelling vegetable soup into the bowls. When she was done, she set out glasses of icy water and a strange type of utensil, one similar to chopsticks only it ended and connected with a spoon shape. She sat down, at the end of the table.

Naruto looked up, frowning. Sakura said something before he could say anything. "Thank you, Tsunami. We were thinking of just coming to visit, and ask that if you were asked not to tell of us dropping by, but that would help us so greatly!" She smiled, picking up the spoon and tasting the soup. It was really good.

"Yeah, thanks." Sasuke nodded, then waited a minute, staring down at the soup. The others had already started eating. Naruto was, too, but pretty slowly. He was frowning, and hadn't said a word. The blonde must have been glad to see Inari again, but he was pretty depressed. Finally, Sasuke picked up the spoon and began eating his own.

Tazuna, Tsunami and Sakura sparked up a conversation, talking about how everything had been so great when the bridge was completed, and how trade was great and everything got so much better. Inari was pretty much in and out of the conversation, making little comments, remarks, and occasionally answering questions, though he was staring at Naruto a bit. Naruto just occasionally depleted his soup, but he stopped when he was half done and sipped from the glass, staring at it as he gulped half down at once, not talking at all.

Sasuke sighed, finishing up his soup after a few minutes as well as the water. He crossed his arms on the table, starting to pay more attention to the conversation between the two women and the older man.

"Excuse me," Naruto suddenly said, pushing up from his seat. "I'm going for a walk." He turned around, walking off, his hands in his pockets. He hadn't even finished more than half of his meal. Sasuke watched him walk off, as did the rest of the people that were seated. A minute later, Sasuke suddenly stood up.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura frowned.

He looked at her, half shrugging. "I'm going to go train." He started out, thankful that he hadn't been stopped. Once he was outside, he headed for the nearby forest, the one he remembered Kakashi first teaching them how to use chakra control to walk on trees and everything. He stopped, seeing Naruto standing at the forest's edge, staring into it. It was really late, and it was so dark that it was hard to see even ten yards ahead.

"Naruto-kun?" He walked over to him, staring at him, one hand on the blonde's shoulder.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun." He turned his head, sort of smiling at him. The smile hurt Sasuke, though, because it was so obvious of how false it was.

"Yo. Memories, right?" He looked out into the forest, where Naruto was staring off into.

"Yeah..."

Sasuke, next to him, suddenly smirked. "We trained pretty hard back then, just to beat each other at being able to go higher. We never even passed Sakura's mark back then... We can probably do a lot better now, so could Sakura..."

Naruto stared over at him, a questioning look on his face.

"You're depressed. I have an idea." He turned, his hands in his pockets. He pulled out two kunai, holding one in his left hand and the other out in his right. "You have to mark the top of the trees and count how many you got. You can't mark one that I've marked, and I can't mark ones you've marked. We don't stop until every tree in this forest has a mark in the top. Alright?"

Naruto grinned, taking the kunai in his right hand and giving a nod. "Yeah. Sounds good."

"Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Go!"

"Nine hundred... seventy-eight."

"..." Naruto looked at him, both their backs to a tree. He smirked. "Same."

The two looked up to the top of the tree. Both couldn't see above the darkness, but both knew they hadn't marked it. Without even looking at each other, the started in a sprint up it, jumping around branches. When they hit the top, both stuck in their kunais, creating slashes, and pulled them out, landing on the top two branches, looking at each other.

"This was the last tree, heh... It's a tie, then?"

Sasuke nodded, smirking. Both jumped down, landing next to each other, then fell to a sitting position, breathing heavily. They panted, their backs on the trees, eyes closed, seated next to each other on the roots.

A few minutes went by the of two just sitting there, taking breaths and trying to regulate their heartbeats. Finally, Naruto looked over at Sasuke.

"It was a lot like some little game, you know... That's really unlike you, Sasuke-kun..."

Sasuke shrugged, staring over at him. "You seemed extremely depressed, you know. You always get energetic and happy and shit when you're being challenged." He stared him in the eyes for a minute, before tearing his gaze away and closing his eyes.

"Thanks..." He pulled his vision away, staring out into the small clearing in the middle of the woods. There was a thin stream, and fireflies were moving all around. The sky was a navy color and the stars were plentiful, the moon full. He was smiling, then stood. "This whole thing's got me really worried... And you two, you and Sakura-chan, are here and everything... You two are bound to be added to the bingo book, as well."

"We'll be fine, alright? Try not to worry about it too much, really." He watched the blonde with one open eye, now, giving an emotionless stare.

Naruto hopped down to his knees, cupping both hands around something, before moving so his back was against the grass. He opened his hand after a second, revealing a little neon-greenish-yellow light in his hand. He smiled, staring at the firefly that was on one of his fingers, watching it. Sasuke couldn't help but smirk, amused by the other's actions.

He stayed there, quite and all, with the firefly on his finger for a few minutes. The moon was reflecting off of the river's water, which Naruto was on, giving him a rather beautiful appearance. It was pretty strange, how the light seemed to make him look like he was glowing or something. Sasuke stared at him, a bit in wonder, his mouth a tiny bit open and his eyes just half open, staring at him in a little bit of a dazed state. It looked unreal, like some sort of portrait or something, with him just sitting there and the moonlight reflecting off him, and the tiny little fireflies glowing in the background.

He stood up, silently so that Naruto couldn't hear him, and walked over, standing behind the blonde shinobi. For a second, the stayed there, before resting his hand in the other's hair and sitting next to him, right next to him. His side was against Naruto's arm. He leaned his head on the blonde's shoulder, closing his eyes, the hand on the boy's head moving down to being around Naruto's shoulders.

Naruto didn't move, figuring Sasuke would get mad, but just moved so he could stare over at him. It felt a bit awkward, with him leaning on his shoulder, but after a few minutes passed it felt... nice. Really nice. He smiled, inching his arm so it was around Sasuke's lower back, holding him gently.

"Tired, Sasuke-kun?"

"Mhr..." He nuzzled his head against the blonde's, making something of an attempt to hide his face.

"I'll take that as a yes..." He smiled, looking down at Sasuke's head, then resting his cheek against the other's head and closing his eyes. He was really tired, and he had been before they'd even had that little game. Besides, it was a welcomed change of attitude he was seeing from Sasuke.

A light yawn emerged from the lips of the woman, who sat up, rubbing her jade eyes, staring around the room. She sighed, frowning. "She heard a voice call down that breakfast was ready, and she quickly got up, walking over to the closet in a long, light-gray nightshirt. The door was closed, which was good. She was pretty glad that Tsunami let her share her room. She pulled out an outfit, quickly brushing her hair and dressing, laying the night shirt down on the futon and heading down, her feet bare as they touched the wooden floor. She sat down, rubbing her eyes, murmuring a 'good morning' to Inari, Tsunami and Tazuna, who were seated at the table.

"Naruto and Sasuke didn't come back last night, then?" Inari asked, leaning his elbows on the table. Tsunami was seated down, and sipping tea. She'd made a sweet-smelling breakfast, which was dished out evenly on the plates.

"No, I suppose not. They probably were busy. We shouldn't be too worried, you know." Tsunami smiled as she spoke, picking up a strawberry from her plate with her chopsticks and sticking the slice into her mouth, chewing it slowly and giving a pleased look.

Sakura picked up her chopsticks, downing a couple strawberry slices as she listened, frowning a bit. "I know, they're sure to be alright. They're both so strong, so that's not a problem. Hopefully they didn't get into some sort of fight or something."

"Let's not worry about it. If they aren't back by noon, you can always go bring lunch for them, Sakura." Tsunami offered, sipping her tea.

"Yeah, alright. That sounds good." Sakura nodded, then sipped from her own teacup before continuing to eat off the little white plate.

"Hey, wake up... Its pretty late."

"Mhr..."

"Sasuke-kun..." Naruto gently took Sasuke's shoulders, shaking him a bit. The Uchiha refused to wake up, however, so Naruto laid him down gently in the grass, cupped some water from the river in his hand, and splashed the icy liquid onto the other's face.

Sasuke instantly sat up, glaring at Naruto, wiping his face on his sleeve. "What the hell was that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up." Naruto smirked, sticking out his tongue a bit.

"Jackass..."

"You look adorable when you sleep, you know, Sasuke. Not at all so tough and touchy as you really are." Naruto poked fun at him, poking him gently in the arm with his left index finger. Sasuke felt his face warm up a bit, so he quickly looked another way, turning his back to the blonde. Naruto frowned. "Don't get so touchy..."

"Who said I was getting touchy!" He looked back, giving him a sort of glare.

"Well, you did when you put your head on my shoulder last night." He smirked, poking the Uchiha in the stomach. "Don't get angry at me, alright?"

"..." Sasuke looked away, half glaring at a tree, up at a mark either he or Naruto had made the night before. "Whatever..." It was hard, though, for him to stay angry at Naruto. Not to get angry, just to stay angry.

A few minutes of strange silence filled the area, then Naruto finally spoke up. His question was pretty odd, and both of them knew it. "Sasuke... what..." He was sort of stumbling over his own words. "What do you think is going to happen between us?" He twitched, suddenly stumbling even worse. "I-I mean, to us!"

Sasuke smirked, looking over at him with an emotionless stare. He shrugged, then looked away again. Though, when his face was hidden, he smirked again. He liked the first question better. "Naruto-kun, I honestly don't know... I'd guess we'll be staying here awhile, but when the ANBU find out we're here, we'll have to change location. I doubt we could really go anywhere else... We'll just have to find somewhere. We shouldn't jeopardize this country and its economy by our presence once its known by the Konohagakure shinobi."

"Sasuke, you say that like... like they are strangers to us. Like we aren't part of them." He crawled over to the Uchiha, sitting next to him, staring at him. Sasuke looked at him straight on.

"We aren't, not anymore. With everything that's happened, there is no way we could be part of that village's shinobi or even considered as shinobi of Konohagakure." He shook his head, closing his eyes, frowning.

"Sasuke..." He frowned, pulling his knees to his chest. "I'm scared... I don't want this... I want to go back to the village... I miss everyone..." He was starting to choke on his words and his eyes were glazing over.

Sasuke suddenly hugged him, tightly, his arms around Naruto's shoulders and the blonde's head against his chest. The blonde didn't even argue, just nuzzled his head and started crying into Sasuke's chest, on his shirt. The Uchiha just whispered a bunch of little things, trying to reassure him and calm him down.

Eventually, Naruto started to calm down, taking low, slow breaths. He pulled his head up, staring Sasuke straight in the eyes for a second, before resting his head down again. "Sorry..."

"You've always wanted to be Hokage, Naruto-kun..." He was still stroking the blonde's hair. "Now... you can't, because of all this... Don't say sorry for crying... You have every right... Naruto, your dreams... In this very country, I remember before that time I died, I once told you to never forget your dreams. Didn't I?"

"Y-yeah..."

"They've been taken away because of a stupid sword. Because of the effect it had on you... Because of what it made you do. Don't ever apologize after today for crying. Not over this subject..." His voice was light, reassuring, gentle and everything. Naruto just mumbled an 'alright' and 'ok,' then closed his eyes.

They ended up sitting there, like that, for probably a couple hours. Naruto ended up falling asleep again, and Sasuke just sat there, holding him and stroking his hair, staring at the river and thinking about everything. He looked up, hearing the sound of footsteps. Sakura was walking up, a basket in one hand. She stopped, suddenly staring at them, feeling extremely awkward.

"I, erm, I uh..." She twitched, seeing how Sasuke was holding Naruto, before looking down at the ground. "I get it now... But, hey, I brought lunch, if you're hungry..." Even though she felt so strange, she walked over regardless, sitting down and setting down the basket. Sasuke shook Naruto till he woke up, who just rubbed his head and stared at the basket eagerly, grinning.

He looked up at Sakura, not noticing that Sasuke had taken his arms away from him. "Hey, Sakura-chan... What time is it?" He looked up at the sky from the clearing, seeing it looked pretty bright and the sun was straight above them.

"It's around eleven thirty. You two were gone all night, I was pretty worried." She pulled out a plate of sandwiches, which were piled up with plastic on them, and then pulled off the plastic, setting it down and taking out napkins. "You two must be hungry, not eating a lot of dinner and skipping breakfast."

"Yeah, thanks!" Naruto, grinning, took a sandwich half, biting into it, chewing it down eagerly. Sasuke, next to him, just stayed quiet while he took a bite of a sandwich half of his own. After he finished it, he took another, and bit into a corner, watching Sakura as she ate her own. Sakura, all of a sudden, took out three bottles of water from the basket, setting one in front of herself, then Naruto, then Sasuke.

Naruto pulled it open, sipping from it, then set it down, leaning back a bit, propping himself up with his arm, staring up at the sky as he bit from his third sandwich half.

"So, what where you two doing last night?"

"Training," Sasuke said right away, sipping from the bottled water and finishing up his second sandwich half, going for another. Naruto nodded his agreement.

"You two will never change..." She sighed, shaking her head, and laying on her side while starting on her second sandwich half.

"Probably not," Naruto mumbled, finishing off his third. Sasuke finished his third off, as well, and both grabbed another, eating the fourth halves slowly. "But that's a good thing, because if we never change other than getting stronger we'll be really good. We'll be respected as such strong shinobi..."

"We'll be feared, if anything, you know." Sasuke murmured, finished the equivalent of a second sandwich and downing the rest of his water.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I know, but... people that know and trust us will respect us. We'll probably respect each other, too... Or not." He grinned, finishing his own water and sandwich, then standing up and stretching. "Thanks for the lunch, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, of course. That all you want?" She sipped from her drink, smiling.

"Yeah,"

"Same, here," Sasuke said, standing and walking over to the river, sitting next to it. He pulled off his shoes, laying back and closing his eyes. Naruto watched him for a second, then turned to Sakura chan.

"So, how's Inari, Tazuna and Tsunami? How've they been?"

"Pretty good." She started putting things away, then stood up. "I'll head back now, and tell them you two are alright and everything."

"Sakura-chan,"

She turned around, looking over at Sasuke. "Uh, yes, Sasuke-kun...?"

"What you saw..."

"Oh, I know. See you guys later!" She sort of waved, smiling, running off.

His eyes trailed after her, until she disappeared behind a tree, then he closed his eyes again, listening to the wind and the sound of the river. Naruto walked over, next to him, sitting beside him, staring down at him. After a few minutes of just that calm, he pulled off his shoes, pulled his jeans up, and set his legs to his knees in the--deep--river. He swayed his legs back and fourth, enjoying the cool, refreshing feel of the river water against his legs. He carefully peered over at Sasuke, with one eye, the other eye closed, smiling a bit.

"Hey, Sasuke..."

"Hmn?"

"About last night..." He looked down at the water, opening his left eye now. "Thanks..."

"For what?" Sasuke sat up, staring over at him.

"For, like... comforting me, and stuff..."

"Oh, that... It was nothing, really."

"It was a bit unlike you; it wasn't nothing..." He inched closer to the Uchiha, until he was right next to him, staring up at him. He was at least three inches shorter, still.

Sasuke looked at him, then shrugged, suddenly one hand against the blonde's back. "It was nothing... Hey, let's go find where this lets out. Like a lake or something." He stood, taking his sandal-like shoes in two fingers, starting to walk on the water in one direction. Naruto, quickly picking up his own shoes, followed him, also on the water. He grinned, watching Sasuke. It didn't take them long to go through the forest, and the trees, then they found a large lake, which was cool and refreshing with a small waterfall that was lead up by a hill. Sasuke threw his shoes over on the shore, as did Naruto, then pulled off his shirt and shorts, so he was in just his black boxers, submerging into the water. He watched Naruto, who stripped into just his boxers, and jumped on Sasuke. Though, of course, Sasuke moved, and Naruto ended up diving into the water.

"This was a really good idea, Sasuke; it's so hot out..." He closed his eyes, moving so he was floating on the water on his back, moving himself with movements of his hands. Sasuke watched him, smirking a bit.

"Yeah, I know."

"Yeah, of course; you know everything, don't you." He rolled his eyes, staring up at the light-colored sky.

"Exactly." Sasuke swam over to where Naruto was, treading, before half pouncing on him, pulling him under, hugging him by the stomach. When they reemerged, Naruto's head was on Sasuke's shoulder, and Sasuke's cheek was rested against Naruto's head. His eyesight traveled down, staring at the boy. "Happy?"

Grinning, the blonde nodded. "Oh, like you couldn't believe."

"Try me." He nuzzled against the blonde, sort of unable to believe he was really hugging Naruto, and holding him like that, and all. He'd wanted to forever, and he really was doing it, now. And Naruto wasn't objecting.

"I... don't feel like it..." He nuzzled against him, closing his eyes, hugging tightly around Sasuke's stomach. "I'm comfortable like this..."

Sasuke's grip tightened a bit around Naruto's shoulders. He swam the two over to the edge, leaning his back against the shore, and pulling himself up, holding Naruto against him. He stared at a spot on the blonde's stomach, where there was a long mark that looked like an injury still healing up. It was glistening, because of the water, though. He closed his eyes, pulling Naruto in a way so that the blonde's back was against his chest, and his arms were around the other's stomach. Naruto, of course, didn't object, just leaned back against the Uchiha.

"Sasuke-kun...?"

"Hmn... Yes?"

"Why... did you never try this before? As in... showing me how you feel...?"

"I have... You've just never caught on." The ebony-haired boy kissed Naruto's neck, tenderly. "You started it, though, you know..."

"What...?"

"Back, the first day of us being real shinobi, in the orientation where we got our group leaders years and years ago, you kissed me first. On the lips, too."

"Someone bumped into me, and knocked me into you..."

"Still, I was the one that pulled away..."

Naruto opened his eyes, sideways glancing at him. "You didn't want it back then, then?"

"Yeah, I did, but they were going to kill you, all those females. So I had to get away." He smirked.

Naruto smiled, closing his eyes again. "Sasuke-kun..."

"Shhh..." He started stroking Naruto's hair, moving his fingers in a soft, tender touch down Naruto's neck, trailing down his spine. The blonde shinobi shivered at the touch, arching forward a bit in surprise, a little, tiny gasp emerging from his sweet, barely-parted lips.

"Sa-Sasuke..."

"Shhh," he repeated, his lips trailing over the other's ears, breathing against the side of his neck. His lips rested on the other's shoulder, now, suckling on a certain spot, running his tongue against it. When he brought his lips away from the spot, there was a little red mark. He'd made it in an extremely obvious spot on the front of his collar bone. He grinned, trailing his lips up the side of the blonde's neck.

"Bu-uuahhh..." He wasn't able to finish his sentence or anything, because of the treatment Sasuke was giving him. Sasuke's eyes trailed down, to Naruto's lap, and smirked, noticing what the blonde was probably trying to tell him, about the little 'problem.'

"Oh, it's no problem," he whispered, teasingly, to him. One of his hands trailed down, sliding under the rim of the blonde's boxers.

Naruto gasped, sort of, breathing out in a long, exhilarated breath, shivering at the touch of the other. He suddenly pulled back, his hands against Sasuke's chest, moving his body around a bit, staring at him sadly. "No, no, Sasuke-kun, its just that... I don't know how to stay it... Uhm..." He looked away, biting into his bottom lip.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked gently, a concerned look on his face, his hand that was on the back of the blonde's neck moving to touch his forehead. "Something wrong, the matter?"

"Erm... Just that..." He closed his eyes, frowning. "Forget it..." he whispered.

"No, what is it?"

"Nothing, really!"

"It wouldn't be nothing if you brought it up in the first place, Naruto." he stated logically.

"... Damn you and your logic..."

"Heh," he whispered, running his finger down the blonde's spine, enjoying how Naruto shivered at it. "Its obviously not nothing; tell me..."

"I... I don't know, I... I can't..." He leaned back, his shoulders against the Uchiha's chest, eyes closed.

Sasuke frowned, staring down at him for a second, looking away. "Tch, I understand." He figured that even though the blonde seemed aroused, and all, that he didn't want it.

He doesn't want that. Nor you...

He leaned back, against a large rock, staring over at the waterfall. "I hate when you don't tell me things."

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun..." He looked up at him, frowning. "I, I just..." His eyes trailed over to the water. "I'm so sorry... I'm just still upset about this whole thing, I guess... With never being able to return to Konohagakure..."

"Oh, that's all?"

Damn, you were wrong...

"I understand, though... I mean, everything you wanted and had was back there... Your friends, the becoming of Hokage, all that." He gently stroked Naruto's hair in a comforting way.

"You had friends, too, in the village... You had a lot back there, too."

Sasuke looked up, closing his eyes. "Not really, other than bad memories, about my clan. My brother. Everything... You know, I didn't have anything except the team, and though I'm grateful that he was such a good teacher, Kakashi-sensei wasn't really anything to me."

Naruto looked up, then smiled, standing up. "We should probably get heading back, then. See how everyone's doing and stuff."

"Yeah, alright." Sasuke, giving a nod, stood up too, following Naruto as the blonde led back to where they were staying.

"So, which one is stronger?"

"That has yet to be determined, sir. Both are extremely talented and have the best talent we've seen thus far in the world of the shinobi. There were many stronger than them, yes, however the three--including the female--are supposed to have each been personally trained by the Legendary Three, suggesting that they each have exceptional power that resembles that of the three. This also suggests that they have replaced the three, or will within soon time."

"Inform Haruno Sakura of the changes to the plan, and quickly. She's outside, waiting, so make it fast. Oh, also, inform her that we have recovered the sword again."

"Yes, sir."

"Haruno Sakura?"

"Yes?" The girl looked down from her perch in a tree at the young, white-haired woman who stared up at her with red eyes. "What is it...?"

"There have been changes to the plan. We have recovered the sword, and it is also necessary for you to know that we will be needing your full cooperation."

"Of course, go on." She jumped down, giving a nod. "I'm listening."

"The two boys, we need you to bring them here. Urge them to fight each other when you see something out of the ordinary. You'll know what it is, of course, because you'll have seen it before somewhere. Encourage them to fight, and at the exact second when their attacks meet, pin them to the wall with these." The young woman held out her hand, two strange-looking kunai within them. "They are modified from the sort of kunai that you told us that the older male has. Instead of pronged out, these are pronged inward, so that they will pin a certain way, in which they will cannot come out without being removed surgically. Understand?"

"Yes," She took the two kunai, sliding them into her boot, looking back to the woman. "Tomorrow."

"Yes, ma'am."

"We're back,"

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, hey, welcome back!" Sakura called, waving. She was at the sink, washing dishes, while Tsunami was at the stove, mixing something in a pot, which smelled really good.

"Yo," Naruto smiled, sitting down in a chair after kicking his shoes into a corner of the area near the door. Sasuke, doing the same, sat across from him, arms crossed on the table, watching Sakura. He saw something in her boots, and gave her a strange stare.

"Oh, those, they're just something I found in the store today when I went shopping, and I thought that I could see how well they work. They're pretty cool, but they're the only two like it in the world."

"They're interesting. Let me see one."

She pulled her leg up, sliding one of the kunai out and throwing it at him. He caught it in two fingers, then set it down on the table, leaning back in his chair and inspecting it. Sakura went back to washing dishes.

"It's weird," Naruto stated, staring curiously at it.

"Its dangerous, is what it is, Naruto." He rolled his eyes, sort of, then threw it back over to Sakura, who caught it and slid it under her boot without even turning.

"So, you boys hungry? Its late, and since it's the first full day we're having together, I'm making something really good. Hope you guys will like it." Tsunami smiled, turning the stove fire off. "Mind setting the table when you're done, Sakura?"

"Of course, just finished." Smiling, Sakura dried off the last spoon with a nearby towel, and picked up the chop sticks and holders on a nearby tray, setting them in front of Naruto, then Sasuke, then around the table in front of the other seats. Then, she picked up the stack of curved-up plates, setting them in front of the chopsticks at the table.

Tazuna and Inari suddenly came in, talking of something about building something. Sitting down, they looked over at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Naruto-kun, heya! You've been gone all day!"

"Heheh, I know. What have you been up to?"

"Grandpa and I were just talking about building something, is all. Now that I'm fifteen, you know, he's been letting me help him whenever he's building. I've gotten good at it, too."

"Oh yeah, well that's cool." He grinned, looking up as Tsunami started over to them. Whatever was in the pot smelled delicious, and would be, of course. The woman dished out a pile of noodles, which seemed to be hollow on the inside. Sakura came around behind her, pouring a thick, red sauce over them and sprinkling some light-green season over it. The two women set down the two things, once they were done, and sat down.

"Thanks for the help," Tsunami said, smiling over at Sakura as she picked up her chopsticks, tasting her own cooking.

"Of course!" Grinning, the pink-haired girl started eating her own. There were already glasses of water set around. Naruto started eating, as did Sasuke, though the Uchiha stopped for a drink after a moment.

Sakura suddenly looked up, over next to her at Sasuke, then across from them at Naruto. "Uh, hey, guys?" She bit into her bottom lip, not really that sure.

"Hmn? What is it?" Sasuke looked over at her, swallowing a mouthful.

"I was thinking, how about we go train tomorrow...? I mean, I found this really good spot."

"Heh, alright. That's cool." Naruto, grinning, nodded with his comment, then started devouring his dinner again. Sasuke didn't really comment, other than giving something of a nod, and starting down on his own. He finished before the blonde, so he excused himself, setting his dishes in the sink and starting up for the bedrooms. He remembered which room Naruto and himself had shared before, and Inari made a comment it was the same room, so he headed there.

Sitting down, he opened a window, staring out of it on his knees with his arms crossed on the sill, chin rested on his wrist. The moon was out, and full again, reflecting onto the vast, wide ocean. It was really calm out, and the gentle breeze blew against his face, though he didn't blink or anything. It was so soft, and smelled and tasted like the ocean, so it was refreshing. He heard the door shut behind him, though he didn't look up. The sound of the footsteps told him it was Naruto.

The blonde, behind him, pulled off his jacket and set it down at the foot of his bed, pulling his shirt off and the pants. He looked over at Sasuke, walking over to him and staring out over his shoulder.

"What are you thinking about?"

"You, the village, everything. Even, for some reason, those kunai Sakura had, and her mentioning to train together tomorrow. Almost unlike her." He shook his head.

"You think too much, Sasuke-kun. You should... probably... You know, go to bed." He started pulling off the Uchiha's shirt, then threw it to the side when he was done, laying his cheek against his friend's back.

"I'm not tired." he muttered, staring over his shoulder at the blonde.

"I know..." He smiled playfully, starting to push Sasuke's pants down. "But you should, anyway... So you won't be too tired tomorrow..."

"... Whatever..." he muttered, moving to his knees and letting Naruto remove his pants. He crawled over to one of the mats, sliding down under the cover and turning to face Naruto, who had already slid into his own a few feet away from him.

"Night, Sasuke-kun." He already closed his eyes, curling up with his pillow.

"Yeah, goodnight..." He moved on his back, staring up at the ceiling, crossing his arms under his head.

"We should be back around dinner time. Sorry that I won't be able to help..."

"Oh, it's quite alright. You sure you don't want me to pack you anything?" Tsunami asked, smiling.

"You got us a large breakfast, so that should be able to hold us over fine."

"Alright, well, have fun you three! See you later." Tsunami waved after them, watching the group head off. Something seemed a bit off to her, but she realized it was probably nothing.

It didn't even take them that long, while they were sprinting, to reach the destination that Sakura led them to. They stood in the large clearing, with one humongous tree near the edge that must have been thirty feet wide. Sakura leaned back against a tree. "Well, this is it."

"It's cool," Naruto mumbled, grinning. He looked over at Sasuke. "Heh, ready?"

"Yeah," Sasuke nodded, smirking, heading straight to the middle of the clearing. Naruto was there instantly.

Sakura frowned. "This again?"

"You're complaining?"

"I guess I can't..." She sighed. She had the two kunai in her boot again, and that leg was leaned up a bit against the tree, pressing against it, near her hip.

"Ready when you are," Sasuke muttered, smirking.

"Yeah... Rasengan!"

"Chidori!"

Sakura watched them, giving a slight sigh. But, internally, she was grateful that they weren't wasting time. She quickly pulled out the two kunai, and just as the two of them were nearly holding hands, and their attacks seemed to be forming together, she flung the kunai, and--along with the attacks--the two were pinned to the tree by their wrists, which were bleeding perfusely.

"Sakura, what the hell are you doing?" Sasuke suddenly yelled, trying to pull it out, but the way it was stuck in the tree, he gave up quickly, holding onto a branch so that he wouldn't be yanking down on the injury.

"Yeah, what gives?" Naruto was able to stand on a branch, from his side, though he looked pissed.

"Sorry guys, but..." She slid a regular kunai from her other boot, walking over to them. The attack was still sparking, the white-blue sparks from the Chidori crackling around the medium-blue swirl from Rasengan, sort of combining within each other. "The capture of the two of you is what is important at this moment."

"You..." Sasuke growled, glaring at her. "I get what's going on... You are the worst kind of trash, Sakura. The absolute worst."

"Wha... What's going on here?" He looked over at Sasuke.

"It is true, that those who betray their village are trash. And that those who would betray their comrades are worse than trash... However, those that would allow their friends to betray their village... They are the worst of trash, Sasuke. I said I'd be damned if I were worse than trash, and I know that I probably now am damned... But I am not going to become the worst. If I were, indeed, the worst kind, I would just allow you to run away. I can't accept what they are going to do to you two, because... you are my friends... However..." She closed her eyes, on the edge of crying, then opened her eyes, staring at them with confidence. "However, my duty to not only Tsunade-sama, my sensei, and to Konohagakure, however it is to the two of you. I will not allow you two to betray the village... I cannot allow it."

"So you'll kill us, is that it?" Naruto growled, angrily, glaring hatefully towards the pink-haired girl.

She looked down at her feet, frowning. "No, that is not what is going to occur here."

From behind her, Tsunade walked out, arms crossed over her chest.

"Tsunade..." Naruto frowned, looking away, closing his eyes tightly.

"Uzumaki Naruto, former shinobi, Chunin, ANBU, and member of Team Kakashi, Squad Seven, of Konohagakure. Uchiha Sasuke, the same as previous..." She closed her eyes, for a moment, before opening them again and looking at them. "All shinobi have a dream. This dream allows them to strive as hard as they possibly can, to become not only the best shinobi they are able of becoming, but to fulfil this dream. It is the soul reason they live, far more often then not. However... for some, these dreams are really all they have. And, for some, these dreams are the most dangerous things. They are the most powerful. For you two, however... The dreams that you two have, and even ones you two might share, will not be able to come true. You two have become nukenin; you not only betrayed the village but your friends who might live there. Your power puts you as a threat to our village, and thus we cannot allow you to live onward."

Naruto growled, grabbing for the kunai that held his hand roughly to the tree, before starting to pull at it dangerously hard. He jerked it, yanked it, and it was starting to come out. It finally ripped out of his hand, and he pulled his hand away from Sasuke's so that the attacks no longer were one, and both could disable them. He broke the kunai in half, holding his bleeding hand. He quickly reactivated his Rasengan, before Tsunade or Sakura could react, hitting the tree with it and destroying the thing. He grabbed Sasuke's hand, the one with the kunai in it, and urged him to follow, pulling at his hand, both using Shunshin.

Tsunade sighed, looking over to Sakura. "They're going to destroy their bodies if that's how they take those kunai out. Well, don't worry, Sakura. We'll have some of the other ANBU track them down. You don't have to; I know, how hard it must be, so we'll have others, alright?"

"No... Tsunade-sensei, I want to lead the tracker team to destroy them." She stared at the woman with confidence. "This is my task, because the two shinobi that have just fled are a danger to our village. I have a duty to our village, one I must always keep."

Tsunade nodded, smiling a bit. "Very well, then."

"You're bleeding horribly..."

"So are you..." Sasuke mumbled, staring as Naruto gently worked with the kunai stuck in his hand. He winced, as the blonde gently pulled it out, slowly, in a manner that was less painful than he'd seen the blonde do to himself. "Thanks..." He pressed against both sides of his wound with his right hand, holding it tightly. Naruto pulled out some bandages from his pocket, wrapping Sasuke's hand and wrist with it. He took out another, starting to try to work in his own, though Sasuke grabbed it from him.

"Sasuke?"

"Here," He took Naruto's injured hand, holding it tenderly, wrapping it with a gentle touch. When he was done, he just let go slowly of Naruto's hand, leaning back against a tree, closing his eyes. "So, now what?"

"Well... Sakura betrayed us, and I don't know if we can go back to Inari and Tazuna's house... It might not be wise..."

"We could probably sneak in, get our stuff, and get out before anyone notices," Sasuke said slowly.

"Yeah, we should. Then where will we go?" He frowned, looking up at him.

"Honestly, I really don't know... Naruto... How long do you think you could live on your own, if we were to go our separate ways for awhile...?"

"I..." He looked down. "Probably a few years, at the least I'm sure."

"Then..." Sasuke stood up, slowly, looking down at him.

"Sasuke, you can't possibly..." He suddenly stood up, grabbing his arm tightly. "No! I couldn't!" He sniffed, seeming to suppress tears.

"Naruto-kun... Its best, for at least now. In three years, we'll meet up again."

The blonde looked down, his forehead against the Uchiha's shoulder. "Where?"

Sasuke gently touched Naruto's cheek, staring him down in the eyes. Behind them, the waterfall was roaring, blasting the water down. He leaned down, suddenly hugging him tightly, his cheek against the blonde's. "Right here, right on this waterfall." He let go, slowly, looking at him, then taking his hand--the injured one--with his own, injured hand, then let go of that, too, slowly. "Alright?"

"Yeah, uhm... alright..." He nodded, then took a step back. "Bye, Sasuke-kun..."

"Yeah... Bye..." Without looking back, the Uchiha, using Shunshin, pretty much disappeared.

Naruto, watching where Sasuke had stood, closed his eyes. Then did the same.

"So, which is stronger? The one who lost everyone he cared about with happy memories of them, or the one that never had anything to know and has always felt alone?"

"They are equal to each other... However, for that, I don't know. I'd assume that it would be the one who lost everything after knowing what he had, and remembering happiness though going through life alone."

"But never knowing the warmth that one had early on, even though the other lost it, he felt that way almost all his life..." A third commented.

"Yes," Sakura, the second voice, said, nodding. "I suppose that it would, then, make them equal."

"The attack that they create when they touch their Chidori and Rasengan... That attack is what we are after and what we need. However... we will wait awhile to track them down. If they are about to die, then we will go and collect either one, then shortly the other. They will get stronger over time, so that is good." the first voice said, nodding. The white-haired girl looked at Sakura and the nearby other.

Sakura frowned. "If we allow them to grow stronger..."

"We will also be growing stronger, of course, right?" The male looked up at the white-haired girl.

She nodded. "Now, go train over the next amount of time until you are called for."

The male and female disappeared, leaving the white-haired girl to sit on the top of a tree, staring down at where the two were. A smirk would have been on her lips, though it was unable.