I...uh...got lost on the road of life?

4 - the lotus of konoha blooms however many damn times it pleases

"I can't find it anywhere!" Naruto cried, pulling on her pigtails in frustration.

"Idiot," Sasuke commented as per usual. (To be honest, Sasuke had a lot of respect for the energetic blonde, but he'd never tell that to her face, even after she eventually became Hokage. Also, to be fair, she was still an idiot sometimes. Most of the time, even.)

At the moment, both Naruto and Sasuke were helping Tsunade with administrative duties; Naruto because she was in training to be Tsunade's successor, Sasuke because he was stuck in the village anyway and Tsunade had no qualms about using what minions she had at hand. However, while Sasuke may have mostly reformed he was still the bastion of kindness and friendship that he'd always been—that is, he continued to be a complete asshole, but at least in a less revenge-obsessed homicidal kind of way.

Sasuke continued speaking. "Are you talking about a file or something?"

Naruto absentmindedly scribbled a comment on a document before flipping it over, scanning the boring language as quickly as possible in order to get it over with. (Sadly, rising up in the world only ever meant more paperwork.) "Nah. It's Kakashi-sensei's birthday next month, and I thought of the most awesome but relatively low-effort prank ever! Or it was supposed to be, but I can't find Gai-style green jumpsuits anywhere! I actually managed to find a bright orange version which tempted me for a moment," (Sasuke mentally shivered at the image), "but it has to be green!"

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards incrementally. "Why don't you just ask Gai where he gets his?"

"But what if he tells Kakashi-sensei? They chat pretty often these days, surprisingly."

"Dobe," Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Then ask Lee."

Naruto whipped her head around, staring at Sasuke with wide eyes. "I'm an idiot."

"No shit."

The next thing he knew, Naruto had disappeared from the room, presumably in search of Lee.

Sasuke turned to the large piles of paperwork that remained heaped on the desk in front of him. A few loose sheets floated around, having been disrupted by Naruto's abrupt exit out the window. As they gently made their way to the floor, Sasuke's eyelid twitched in (barely) repressed irritation.

"I'm going to kill her."

notes: This has been sitting on my drive for way too long. I'm sorry. I really did get kind of overwhelmed by life though - I'm currently in Japan on a language immersion program (and our final exam yesterday was what motivated me to restart this again. Typical. Necessity ain't the mother of invention, y'all. Procrastination is.)

So yaay! Not abandoned. Also, in happier news, this story has reached over 50 favorites, 100 follows, and 5000 views! What even. I'm shocked. That's more views than there are words in this fic (which is ridiculous)! I'm so, so thankful.

To make up for this unnecessarily long-ass wait, I'll post the next drabble tomorrow night~ (I'm actually traveling to Osaka tonight! I'm so excited.)

Reviews are always highly appreciated ;)