A/N: I'm really sorry that this took so long! I was working on the chapter, and then I got into Kimetsu no Yaiba... and I had burnout... and I had to wait. Nevertheless, I really hope you enjoy it!

The air was warm and smelled of seafood in the restaurant. As soon as they'd arrived, Sasuke's stomach had growled loudly enough for Naruto to laugh. They were seated quickly and they ordered. Everything on the menu looked so good, it was hard to initially decide, but eventually they all found something good. Sasuke had decided on a dynamite roll (with extra wasabi, which made Naruto shudder in disgust) while Naruto had settled on a California roll. Jiraiya and Tsunade took a little longer, but decided to share a platter.

As soon as the waitress brought their drinks and took their food orders, the group broke off into easy chatter. Sasuke focused on his warm tea, still in a low mood from earlier.

Naruto sighed in content and took another sip of his drink. "So."

Sasuke rose an eyebrow, deciding to play his game. "So."

"Are you gonna be a grumpy bumpy for the whole night, or do I need to cheer you up via excessive force?" The blond wiggled his eyebrows with a sly grin.

Sasuke groaned, shaking his head. "You aren't seriously gonna bring that back up again, are you?"

"What are you talking about?" Jiraiya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He beats me at Double Dash five times and decides that that's a good way to 'cheer me up' from then on," The Uchiha explained with air quotes and a scowl. "Need I remind you that I've beaten you fifty?"

"Need I remind you that you absolutely suck at Solitaire?" Naruto retorted, folding his hands across his chest. "Who's beaten who fifty times there, even under the influence of two whole liters of soda?"

"Well, I-" Sasuke paused before closing his mouth and frowning. "... we don't talk about that night."

"Like hell we don't talk about that night," the blond grumbled.

"You play Solitaire?" Tsunade asked, intrigued.

Sasuke shrugged. "Sometimes, I guess."

"Competitively?"

"No."

From beside him, the other boy snorted. "He couldn't play competitively to say his life! Don't quit your day job, Sasuke."

"How's school going for both of you?" Tsunade changed the subject, resting her chin in her hand. "You doin' okay? Staying out of trouble?"

"It's fine, I guess," the blond shook his shoulders loosely.

"That last English test we got was a nightmare," Sasuke added.

Naruto scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Ugh, don't even remind me."

Jiraiya chuckled at this, folding his arms across his broad chest. "Ah, I remember high school. You remember, right Tsunade?"

"How could I forget?" The woman snorted, giving him the stink-eye. "You were quite the pervert, as I recall."

"I like to think of myself as an amateur ladies' man," he defended with a mock offended look.

Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head in amusement.

"Remember Hanako?" Tsunade countered, raising a delicate blonde eyebrow. "You practically traumatized her with your little stunt at Homecoming our junior year."

Jiraiya had been taking a long sip of his soda, but he abruptly choked on it and set it down, coughing into his sleeve with bulged eyes. He hacked for a few moments before weakly pointing a finger at his friend and declaring, "Y- you can't prove that it was me who did that!"

"Oh yeah? And who else could've done it?" The woman folded her own arms across her chest. "You caused almost a thousand dollars in damage to the gym alone AND caused us to be out of school for two weeks."

"Nice," Sasuke commented. Naruto solemnly nodded in agreement.

She sent both boys an exasperated look.

"Like I said, you can't prove that it was me!" Jiraiya insisted. "What about Orochimaru?"

"He was at home sick, remember?" Tsunade countered. "What about the big stink you kicked up about it on Homecoming night? I vividly remember that, as I should, 'cause I was your date."

"Hiruzen knew I couldn't have done it!"

"Hiruzen was one of the ones who really did know you did it, but just didn't say anything."

Jiraiya dramatically shook his head and chugged his soda some more. After he was done, he wiped his lips with his sleeve and sighed, "Such astounding gall. How rude. I cannot."

Sasuke turned to Naruto with an almost bewildered look on his face. "Is this how it always goes with both of them together?"

The boy just chuckled, shrugging his shoulders again. "You'd be surprised how chummy they get when they start drinking."

Right at that moment, the waitress finally came back with their sushi. She gave the group a polite smile and nodded as Tsunade thanked her. She very pointedly avoided eye-contact with Jiraiya, which made the blonde woman frown at him.

"Hey hey, no time for questioning, we should eat this before it gets cold!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"... sushi doesn't get cold," Tsunade pointed out calmly, giving him a saccharine smile that read We are definitely talking about this later.

Naruto exhaled, leaning back in the chair with a satisfied face. "Maaaaan, that hit the spot! We have to do this more often, Granny!"

Tsunade nodded, finishing off the last of her drink. "This was fun, wasn't it? Since Naruto chose dinner, Sasuke, you can choose dessert. Whaddya want?"

Sasuke immediately knew what he would pick. It was a shop that he and Naruto had discussed quite a lot recently, and he'd been very curious as to what it was like.

Naruto froze, turning to him with a dead stare. "You know what to do." He whispered, intensely staring.

"Let him pick, Naruto," Jiraiya chuckled.

Sasuke just shrugged, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. "Uh... Delano's?"

"Sure." Tsunade shrugged.

Naruto fist-pumped, hissing a "Yessss!"

Jiraiya shook his head in amusement, and Sasuke just bowed his head, hiding a smile.

They paid and left the building. Jiraiya and Tsunade hung back a little while the boys walked ahead of them, Naruto chattering on about what desserts he wanted to try and Sasuke listening quietly.

They got to a little store with big glass windows displaying a shelf of different, sweet-looking desserts. Macarons, cheesecakes, pies, mousses - Even Sasuke's mouth was watering when they eased inside, and he didn't even care for sweet desserts.

In the end, he ended up getting a savory galette, Naruto got a cinnamon cheesecake, and Jiraiya bought both him and Tsunade a take-out cup of boozy chocolate truffles.

"Man, this is good!" Naruto held out a fork to the other boy. "C'mon, dude, you've gotta try this."

Sasuke wrinkled his nose a bit, still chewing his galette. "... no thanks."

"C'mon, please?" The blond pouted, pulling out the puppy eyes. "It's not really that sweet, I promise! You really taste the cinnamon in it."

Sasuke paused in chewing for a moment, before he swallowed, nodded, and sighed. "Sure, why not."

He took the fork and took the bite hesitantly before his eyes widened, turning his head to stare at the plate. "... Whoa..."

"Right?" Naruto echoed with a grin, gesturing with a hand. "Can I have my fork back?"

Sasuke nodded and handed it back, before looking at his own. "Do you... wanna try mine?"

"Sure!" Naruto happily took a small piece and shoved it into his mouth. He immediately made a strange expression, chewing daintily for a few seconds before swallowing. "... That tastes... really weird."

"Do you want some more?"

"No thank you," the blond plastered on a smile, shaking his head. "I think you'd get more enjoyment out of it than I would."

The teenager frowned a little, but went back to it.

Behind them, Jiraiya and Tsunade talked quietly amongst themselves, pausing once every so often to enjoy popping a truffle into their mouths.

"They get along so well," Jiraiya commented with a chuckle. "I'm jealous."

"Well, to be fair, their mothers were friends," Tsunade chimed in with a little shrug. "It's obvious that the boys would be familiar. I'm just happy that they're able to act like kids at a time like this."

The white-haired man paused, looking over in concern. "You don't actually think...?"

"We can't think anything right now," she warned, raising her eyebrows. "I know this is hurting you, but..."

He shook his head. "No, no, I know. I get it. I just... I just don't want to think that..."

Somewhere ahead of them, the boys paused, turning around. Naruto waved to them, and Sasuke's face was blank.

Tsunade sighed heavily, clapping her friend on the shoulder. "This is hurting me just as much, Jiraiya. I was his friend too. At one point... maybe more. But you know we can't be dwelling on the past right now. Right now, we have a duty."

Jiraiya simply nodded, the both of them watching as the boys hurried back to them.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay the night, kid?" Jiraiya questioned, giving Sasuke a grin. "We've got room for one more if you need to."

For a moment, Sasuke really considered it. Naruto was still staring at him from the backseat, his cerulean eyes glittering with hope. Tsunade was preoccupied with her phone, but the slight frown that graced her face clued him in that she was listening.

The loneliness was beginning to twist his stomach again, and he could taste the sushi and galette from earlier returning to his tongue. The weight of the dark, empty apartment sagged his shoulders more than usual, and the omnipresent fear and knowledge that she was gone made him swallow harshly.

But then, a traitorous thought came to mind: what if he missed her? What if she somehow came home while he was away? What if she would need his help?

He swallowed again, his fingers clenching softly. What to do? His best friend? Or Izumi's hopeful return? His support system? Or a soul-crushingly empty apartment?

He finally sighed. "No thank you, sir," Sasuke politely shook his head, gripping his jacket tighter around his body. "I don't want to... be away for too long, just in case."

"I understand," Jiraiya agreed with a solemn frown. "Well, it is a school night..."

"Naruto," Tsunade suddenly piped up, making the boy flinch. "Do you want to stay?"

"R- really?" Naruto immediately brightened before turning to Sasuke. "Can I?"

The boy's heart warmed a bit at the look. He shrugged. "You already know."

Naruto paused, turning back to the adults with a suspicious glare. "You aren't just asking me so you can do pervy stuff, are you?"

"What? Pssssh," Jiraiya choked, slapping the dash. Tsunade started to laugh.

His eyes narrowed further at the nervous reaction, and he sighed heavily, opening the door. "You're really gross, old man..."

"I'll see you tomorrow afternoon," the white-haired man coughed between bringing his blush in check, "unless you want to stay the weekend instead."

"Can we?" Naruto asked again, turning to his friend.

Sasuke fought the urge to chuckle. "Idiot."

"I think I'll stay, then!" Naruto cheered, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "Give you two more time to be gross, and all that. I'll have to pick up my stuff tomorrow, though."

"Sure, sure," Tsunade waved it off with a smile at the boy. "See you. It was nice seeing you again, kid."

Sasuke gave her a polite nod.

"See you kids tomorrow!" Jiraiya called before rolling up the window. As the car drove off, the boys waved it off until it disappeared around the corner out of sight.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with a grin. "So! What do you wanna do? Watch a movie? Check up on Sakura-chan?"

"I'm exhausted," the boy replied instead, turning to go back towards the building. "Let's just clean up and head to bed."

A/N: Again, I hope you enjoyed the small respite. Also, I know I'm late, but happy Solstice! Man, the summer has just flown by, hasn't it? Before you know it, we'll be getting those awful back-to-school ads and chilly weather.

Please tell me what you thought of it. I'll see you later!