I do not own Naruto, nor do I make any money off of this.

"talking"

'thinking'

Chapter 16:

Sasuke frowned. He stood in silence staring at the part of the part he didn't want to enter. If there was one thing Sasuke was afraid of it was water. He wasn't afraid of taking a shower or drinking water, be he refused to even go near the swimming pool his mother had made his father get for the mansion. Of course one of Itachi's ex-friends was to blame for Sasuke's fear of water when the teen threw Sasuke, who was only three at the time, into the pool. When Itachi found his friend just standing there while Sasuke was drowning, Itachi nearly drowned his ex-friends. This was of course after he saved Sasuke. Sasuke still hated to admit that Itachi saved his life.

"Come on Sasuke!" Kurama yelled. "We're all waiting on you!"

"I think I have to pass," Sasuke said. "I just remembered that I left some work undone that I…"

"Don't be afraid," Kurama said, grabbing Sasuke's arm. "Itachi told me. You'll be fine." Kurama began to drag Sasuke into the Water Park. Sasuke put up a good fight, but Kurama was stronger than him. When Kurama finally let him go, they were standing in front of a water slide. Sasuke glared at it. It had to be a hundred feet tall. He glanced at the pool at the end of it. His eyes widened in fear. It was a lot of water. Several excuses went through his mind as he tried to get out of not only going on this ride, but out of this part of the park. Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his.

"Are you ok?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't know why, but something about Naruto's eyes had a calming effect on him. He simply nodded. Naruto smiled. "Good. Come with Kohaku and I." Sasuke let Naruto pull him to the line of the water slide. They climbed up over five hundred steps; Shukaku and Kurama had counted them out loud until Matatabi started getting afraid of being up so high. Shukaku pulled her into his arms and told her that everything would be ok. He gulped when he got to the top. Shukaku glanced at Naruto, then back at the slide. Not wanting to admit that he too had a fear of heights, Shukaku stepped forward. Sasuke watched Shukaku, get in first with Matatabi in his arms. Kurama got in last, her legs going around Shukaku.

"Next!" The man operating the slide said. That's when Sasuke saw that there were actually two slides. They were set up to look like one, but there was a wall that separated them. Now Sasuke understood why the ride was called Racing Slides. Naruto picked up Kohaku and got on first. Sasuke took one last look at the sky before convincing himself that he could do this. He got down behind Naruto. "Ready?" Sasuke and Shukaku honestly wanted to say no, but they stayed silent. The next thing they knew, they were racing down the slide.

Naruto and Kohaku as well as Kurama and Matatabi screamed in happiness as they went. Shukaku's eyes flew open as he too began to laugh. Since he no longer could tell how high he was up, he was no longer afraid. Sasuke on the other hand was terrified. He held the support rope on the sides of the raft. His eye were wide as he continued down, too afraid to close his eyes. As it sped up, he began to shake. Unknowingly, his legs hit Naruto's sides and the blood glanced backwards at him. Sasuke was too focused on not falling to see the concerned look on Naruto's face. Hearing the splash ahead, Naruto moved backwards, grabbing one of Sasuke's hands and wrapping the pale arm around himself. The surprise at Naruto's action caused Sasuke to hug Naruto, just as the raft flew into the pool. Naruto made sure that Sasuke was still holding on to him when they floated back up. Shukaku bragged about getting to the pool first while Naruto said he only won since he got a head start. Only Kurama seemed to notice that Sasuke still had an arm around Naruto as the three got off the ride. Two staff members grabbed the rafts and sent them back up to the top.

"Again Nawu?" Kohaku asked.

"Why don't we go on a different ride first?" Naruto asked. "Maybe we can come back to this one later. You do want to go on all of the rides, right?"

Kohaku seemed to think about it for only a second. "Ok!" He made grab-hands and Naruto picked up the happy boy. Matatabi did the same to Shukaku, who easily picked up his sister. Kurama glanced at Sasuke who had stopped shaking. She smiled. Naruto was going to help Sasuke get over his fear.

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It became obvious to Kurama and Shukaku that Naruto was trying to keep Sasuke calm by going on all of the water rides with him. The only time Sasuke and Naruto didn't go on the same ride together was when they go to a ride that neither Matatabi nor Kohaku could ride yet despite their guardian/parent being with them. Not wanting to forced Shukaku, Naruto, and Kurama to ignore the ride, Sasuke offered to wait with Kohaku and Matatabi. Kurama and Naruto quickly agreed while Shukaku seemed a bit hesitant to leave Matatabi behind. Naruto pointed to a ride that was only for kids which got Kohaku and Matatabi excited. Shukaku caved in and let Sasuke take the kids there while the others got on the ride. Sasuke was glad for the reprieve.

As time went on, it began to get dark. The water park was almost closed, but there was still one ride that the group, minus Sasuke, wanted to go on: the Water Coaster. It was the one roller coaster that Sasuke didn't want to go on just because the word water was in the name of the ride. It also didn't help that he'd have to sit next to Kurama. He gulped at the ride as he neared the front of the line. Naruto managed to get the first seat on the ride, while Shukaku wanted the back. Kurama couldn't make up her mind if she wanted to be in the back or the front. Her final decision came down to Sasuke's preference of staying close to Naruto. They'd be right behind them. Taking their seats, Sasuke made sure that not only was he safe, but that Naruto and Kohaku were secure as well. He gave one of the ride attendants a glare saying that if either of them got hurt, he'd have to find somewhere else to work.

The ride went a lot smoother than Sasuke thought. Most of it was a normal roller coaster. There were only small parts of it where it went into the water, but they were going so fast, that they weren't in the water for very long. The last part of the ride pissed him off though as he got sprayed in the face with what he'd sware was a gallon of water. Everyone laughed, though Sasuke only chuckled quietly, as they headed to look at their pictures. Quite pleased with how they came out, Sasuke bought the ones of himself and Kurama as well as the one of Naruto and Kohaku. One look at Shukaku caused him to buy a copy of their picture too.

The group exited the water park and continued to the large sitting area that was surrounded by several food stalls. Sasuke let Kurama pick something out for him. Once they were fed, they went around to the game stalls. Sasuke gave each of them a handful of money. Shukaku and Naruto tried to give the money back saying that it was too much, but Sasuke just 'hn'd' and walked over to a shooting game. Kurama smiled. Getting a chance to see Sasuke act like a kid was a rarity. The man was usually standoffish since he was forced to grow up so fast. Seeing him like this would have made Itachi happy.

A loud yell of happiness got Kurama out of her dream-like state. She looked over to see Sasuke handing Kohaku a giant wolf. Kurama walked forward to see how he had done it and her eyes widened. Sasuke had shot the same spot on ten different plates. The stall keeper stood looking at the plates in surprise even after he somehow managed to give Sasuke the wolf he had been shooting for. Kurama saw the red in Sasuke's eyes and nodded. Itachi had explained to her that when an Uchiha got serious over something they wanted their eyes got a strange red tint them. Sasuke must have wanted to make his son happy and no plate was getting in the way of that.

Kurama continued walking only to find Shukaku and Matatabi fishing for rubber ducks. There were several prizes at their feet. It was obvious that they were trying to win a stuffed cat. There was even a blue one, which was Matatabi's favorite color. Leaving them to it, Kurama made her way past several stalls until she found Naruto. He was more than halfway up the Ladder Climb. Kurama silently cheered him on. A few seconds later, just as he was about to ring the bell, his foot slipped, causing his body to fall. His fingers brushed against the bell, making a small noise. It was enough. The bell rang and the guy watching over the game helped Naruto to his feet. He smiled as he offered Naruto a prize. Naruto hesitated before picking a large fox plush.

Naruto looked up at the sound of clapping. Several people stood around Kurama watching Naruto. They were amazed at seeing Naruto win at the Ladder Climb. Some even decided to give it a try. Naruto smiled and walked over to Kurama. "Here." He held the fox out towards Kurama. Kurama gave Naruto a questioning look. "I know that you planned it. You must have noticed the distance between Sasuke-san and I and wanted to help. I'm thankful for you've done. It isn't much, but please accept the fox."

Kurama glanced at fox before giving it a squeeze. Her face brightened. "It was my pleasure. And I did notice the distance between you two. But it seems to have shortened, so my work wasn't for not."

"I just want to know why you helped us," Naruto said.

"Because I know what neither of you can say," Kurama said. "At least not yet. And I want you two to be happy."

Naruto smiled and hugged Kurama. "Promise me something." He looked up at her. "Promise me that you will find happiness as well."

Kurama smiled sadly. "I already have."

"That's…"

"Hey!" Shukaku called. "Looks like we aren't the only ones who got a big one." He had a bag full of small prizes swung over his shoulder. Matatabi was carefully walking while holding the giant blue cat. It was slightly bigger than her and Naruto struggled not to laugh.

"Nawu!" Kohaku called. The group turned to see Kohaku running towards them. Sasuke was behind him, holding the wolf he'd won. "I won a wolf!"

"Really?" Naruto asked, knowing that it was really Sasuke that had won it. He lifted Kohaku up. "You're amazing Ko-chan!" Kohaku blushed before he struggled to get out of Naruto's hold. Naruto placed him back down and the boy looked down at his feet, moving side to side in embarrassment. It was cute.

"Shu, hold?" Matatabi asked. She held up the cat. Shukaku carefully grabbed it. Matatabi turned and ran to Kohaku. She grabbed his hands. "Let's play?"

Kohaku smiled. "Sure!" He turned to Naruto. "Nawu?"

"Let's go!" The three of them headed towards a Water Gun Game.

"Thanks for inviting us," Shukaku said. Sasuke hn'd before following after his son. Shukaku turned towards Kurama. "He's a strange man."

"He's an Uchiha," Kurama said. "All of them are like that."

"Sai isn't," Shukaku said, remembering said man.

"True," Kurama said. "He's the only outlier in the family."

"I hope Kohaku doesn't become like Sasuke," Shukaku said.

"He won't," Kurama said. "He has Naruto." She watched as a race started between Naruto and Sasuke, both wanting to win for Kohaku. She shook her head at their childish behavior.

"He loves him," Shukaku said.

"Eh?" Kurama asked. Shukaku just grinned before joining the others. Kurama looked at the brunet. Just which of the three had Shukaku been talking about?

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A file landed on the man's desk. He looked up at the one standing before him. The man had black hair and strange yellowish green eyes. In all honesty, he was creepy. "You can't turn me down."

The man shifted in his seat before opening the file. His eyes widened. "What are you planning?"

The creepy man smiled. "You'll see."