X.
"C'mon, teme! I'm not getting any younger, ya know!" He pulled at his hand, making to the door before Sasuke could even properly take his apron off.
"You never stop, do you?" The black-haired boy questions with a side glance, casting the garment aside once given the chance.
"Nope!" Naruto replied with sincerity, sticking out his tongue with a malicious smirk. As they neared the welcome mat, Naruto suddenly stopped walking and pulled something out. When he saw him changing himself, however, he had ultimately decided against it. "H - hey! Not right in front of me, dobe!" He urged, looking away, as the blonde stripped himself naked in only his boxers.
"Nya ha haha! That's what you get for bein' a big ol' bastard!" He cackled with glee, pointing an accusing finger at the Uchiha. 'Awwwww, nooooo !' Inner Sasuke cried, 'Now you're just pulling at my heartstrings!' His inner self sobbed. On the outside, he grunted. "What's so wrong with my clothing, anyway?" The boy grumbled, crossing his arms. "Orange is WAAAY better than blue!" The blonde says, as he threw on his fishnet shirt. "Buh-lieve it!"
The Uchiha didn't really care either way. Say his talk no jutsu all he wants, but Sasuke had his priorities. First, to beat Naruto as a testimony to his strength. And second, well...he still hadn't thought about that, yet. That's why he had no problems ignoring him right now, even when the blonde was trying to bond with him. Or, as friendly as you can be with an Uchiha, anyway.
When they closed the door behind them, Naruto took in his surroundings.
The grass looked gray and downcast near the front, even more so than the back. It looked like it hadn't seen a speck of sunlight in years, again reflecting on how dark and abandoned his place really was. All of the other houses surrounding the compound were decayed ruins of their former selves. A wonder why no one else touched foot in this part of the village, the only exception being a boy bearing the weight of his dead family and working hard all of his life to become stronger so that one day he'd see the man who killed them dead.
"Man, this looks really...erm...barren in the daytime. Is it always like that?" Naruto asks shrewdly, eye scanning the area.
"My old housekeeper quit taking care of it years ago. He cleaned the shed, but...then he died shortly soon after of old age."
'And also the dead bodies of my late parents...but you don't need to know that.' He added in internally.
"Man, I'm sorry. I dunno what ta say to that." Sasuke made an 'nn' sound, but then shoved his hands in his pockets and averted his eyes. "Don't be. It's not like you should care...it was all in the past. His life didn't mean anything to me."
"I - I guess," the blonde says sheepishly, sort of confused by his choice of words. Uzumaki shrugged, in the end it didn't really matter. It was just a reminder of the Uchiha Massacre, something he knew he would have to ask about later. But, now they had training to do to makeup for lost time. The Chunin Exams were coming up, after all.
As they crossed over the police tape blocking his entrance, they entered through the gate and outside to happy and lively Konoha village, where people greeted them with a wave. As they passed by the streets, Naruto hummed to himself a song with his hands behind his neck and a big goofy grin plastered on his face. Sasuke could only imagine what he could possibly be up to next.
Many of the females giggled to themselves once they saw Sasuke walk alongside Naruto. "Oh, they look so cute together!" One of the three fangirls. "Just kiss each other already!"
"Nah, they're just rivals," the second one says. "Besides, how could two people that hate each other ever fall in love. That's just unheard of!"
"Uh, guys? Ever heard of friends? They're just really good bros, that's all." The third one scoffs. Their eyes stared as they saw them stroll hand in hand. "Ahhhhhh~!" They cooed all together, swooning their hips as they watched them with hearts in their eyes.
"Hey, Boss!" Someone skidded over to him with a gang of other children behind him. "Whoa, who's this guy?" The brown haired brat asked snobbishly, sliding to a stop, and jabbing a finger at the Uchiha. "Oh, this? Sasuke, this is Konohamaru. Konohamaru, this is Sasuke." Naruto introduced them with a toothy grin.
"I know." His best friend mumbles, already not wanting to be part of the conversation. The newcomer held out a hand to shake, to which the teen did so hesitantly.
"Nice to meet ya! Though you don't seem too happy to see me."
"The feeling is mutual." Sasuke answers back bitterly, pulling his hand away with narrowed eyes.
"Guys! Cut it out!" Naruto waves his hands wildly. "We're friends, remember! So keep the fighting to a minimum, 'kay?"
"Hn. Whatever."
"Aye aye, cap'n!"
"Ooo, ooo, Boss. Can ya teach me a new technique? Pretty please?" Konohamaru begs with babydoll eyes. Naruto claps him on the back good naturedly. "Sorry, bud. Sasuke here and I have got stuff to do. Y'know, kicking bad guy butt kinda thing!" A big, wide smile stretched across the boy's face. "Ooooo! Good luck, Boss! You're gonna need it!"
As they watched him go, the Uchiha sighed to himself.
"Hmph, he's such a child."
The blonde wanted to smack him across the face because, yes, he IS a child. It's not like he was an adult, much less a shinobi! He was just an innocent little kid who didn't know any better.
Instead, he remembered back to when Konohamaru had admitted that people never cared about him, only about him being the hokage's son. The blonde could honestly relate to that feeling, trying to earn attention by pulling pranks and being the class clown. But, in the end, no one spared him a look his way. It was because of this that he could see himself in the child, who had yearned for a life to become a hokage himself.
"He's kinda a lot like me, actually," He says sympathetically, "He just wanted to be acknowledged by somebody. No matter how hard he tried, no one accepted him for who he is. He was just an outsider, for all they cared."
Sasuke openly stared at him for awhile, not even paying attention as to when they had walked right over their spot they were supposed to train at. 'Does he really mean that? ... Or did the idiot just make that up on the fly? Now he's just messing with me.'
"Yoohoo! We made it!" A smile broke off on his face as soon as he dashed towards their destination. Standing on a small red wooden bridge over a pathway of water, the older of the two decided this was the best place for training. Sasuke looked at it with a nod of approval. "Hnn, I bet even a clumsy ninja like you can't master the art of chakra control. Let's see if you can stand on the water without splashing." With a sardonic smirk, he glanced at Naruto as if begging him to do so otherwise.
"Maa maa. Just you wait, Sasuke! They don't call me the best for nothin'!" He says, a sparkle emitting in his eyes. There was something about seeing the excitement that reminded him when he was a child himself. When he had hopes, and dreams, and a future to believe in. Hell, maybe even the desire to become a hokage someday and have the whole village under his fingertips. But his destiny had other plans for him instead; to fulfill his life he would have to one day avenge his family.
Leaving the village now would be as easy as it comes.
But then...he'd never ever have someone like Naruto ever again. And, honestly, he was all he had left to look forward to in life. Losing him now would be like losing a part of himself. That was the last thing he wanted.
Once he looked up again, he was mortified to see the exact opposite effect of what he had expected.
Naruto was standing on the water with such ease it put even Sasuke to shame. He stared, dumbfounded, as he moved with swift grace across the surface.
'W - what? But that's...a chuunin technique! And yet, he does it so flawlessly...but how?'
"Ha haha ha! I did it!" The blonde cheered, a big smile plastered upon his face, as if he had just won the lottery or something.
"Hn, I suppose I underestimated you, dumbass." The two fist bumped each other and Sasuke helped him up onto the bridge."Told ya I could do it!" Sasuke didn't want to admit it, so he turned away ashamedly. Even though he inwardly marvelled at how he beat even himself at something so special, he couldn't just flat out acknowledge it. It would only wound what little left of his pride and humiliate him to no end. So he ignored that praising feeling for the time being.
"Humph. I guess that concludes it for the day. Unless, there's something else you want to do?" The Uchiha cocked a raised eyebrow at the other boy, who looked sheepish all of a sudden.
"A - actually, I gotta go somewhere. See ya later!"
"Alright. Just don't take too long." Sasuke waved off after him, wondering what he was up to now.
As Naruto was racing past the sidewalks, one restaurant in particular caught his eye.
"Akimichi's All You Can Eat Buffet."
'Sweet!' He thinks, licking his lips, and making a mad dash to the entrance where he was greeted by a pretty face. "N - Naruto-kun?"
"Huh? Oh, hey, Hinata!" He smiles at her with a bright grin. She stares with loving eyes, before she remembered what she was doing. "Oh! Um, hi. Come on in inside. Chouji-kun is hosting a party for all of us. Isn't that nice of him?"
"Y - yeah." He still felt awkward around her. From hardly knowing her from the academy to becoming a fellow friend of two enter inside and are greeted by a myriad of smells wafting from the kitchen. His friends had already sat at a table with a bowl full of BBQ. Over them, colorful lights were flickering on and off, as music played in the background. Naruto wa shaving a lot of cool vibes just walking in on this place.
"Whoa! Hey there, bud!" Kiba greets him with a wave, and Akimaru woofs in agreement. "How the hell you doin', man?"
"Doin' great, actually." He says, sitting down after the Hyuga and resting his head on his hand. "You?" Kiba leaned against their table and states,"Turns out Team Guy is already on a mission as we speak. So we figured we could take a break from fightin' and just chill out."
"Chouji's dad said we could have some fun tonight. Everyone's so uptight lately 'cuz we all know the Chunin Exams are comin' up, we just don't know when. So we're just lettin' loose of all that and doin' ourselves a favor. Ain't that right, Akimaru?"
The dog barks and shakes his tail on his lap.
"How troublesome," Shikamaru sighs, looking down at the menu thoughtfully. "there's so much to choose from, and yet, so little time."
"Order's on me," Chouji, the new waiter, says with a handful of covered dishes. "Take your time, no need to rush!"
As he left, he felt someone tug on his sleeve. Turning around, he saw Hinata's blank eyes stare into him. "Um, Naruto-kun," her forefingers touch each other nervously, "I - no. We were worried. Where were you?"
"Oh, I was at Sasuke's, that's all," he says casually. All of them openly gaped at Naruto. "W - what's the big idea?" He asks nervously, not used to them looking at him like that. All this attention was sorta weirdin' him out! "Oh. My. Bugs." Shino says, spitting out cockroaches. "...What a drag."
"Dude, what were you doin' at his house?" Kiba snaps increduosly. "Don't you know that no one - and I mean no one - in their right mind would sleepover with that prick. What were you doing? Enjoying some tea party to sit down and chat?"
He howled at his own joke, and the blonde sends him a glare. "I - I agree. He hates you, doesn't he, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asks quietly. "It was nothing, honest!" Naruto says wringing his hands around wildly. "This is all just a big misunderstanding! We were hangin' out at his house and I slept over just this once, that's all!"
It was then that the door opened with a ring of a bell, and all of their heads turned to look at a familiar blonde. "Sorry, boys, to drop in on such short notice," Ino flips her hair and looks around at all of them. "What the heck is goin' on? Did I miss out on something or what?"
"Nope. Nothing at all." Kiba answers, lying between his doglike teeth. "You must be imagining things, however troublesome they may be," Shikamaru faked a yawn, trying to act like nothing ever happened.
"Are you sure? I was hearing some pretty heavy conversation, let me tell you. Too bad I wasn't here to hear all of it."
Naruto sunk lower and lower against the chair, trying to make himself as small as possible. Which was hard, considering he stuck out like a sore thumb, what with his blonde hair and orange clothes. "It's OK, Naruto-kun. I'm here for you." The Hyuga whispers from beside him, folding her fingers into his and stared bashfully at him. He gulped, gazing into her eyes nervously.
Shikamaru's head seemed to be in the clouds, and Kiba was busying himself and stalling for time by playing fetch for Akimaru with a dog bone. And Shino was...well. Shino was just being Shino.
The blonde kunoichi sighed to herself,'These four are so helpless, I swear. What would they even do without me? If it weren't for me, they wouldn't have come this far, honestly.' Ino thinks egotistically, with a hum to herself.
"Uh, hello, people?" Ino snapped her fingers in front of their faces, looking at them angrily. "I asked you a question." Hinata spoke up, her voice very small amongst the crowd. "W - Well, Naruto-kun slept over at Sasuke-kun's house. A - and then they spent time. T - together."
The blonde gaped like a fish and then laughed her ass off.
"Are you serious right now? Geez. Why didn't you just tell me in the first place?. Oh, Sakura's totally gonna get a scoop out of this, just you wait! Ino out~!" In just a few speedlines, she had already left the restaurant in a nick of time. Naruto instantly sat his head on the table, pouting cutely. 'Aww, man. Now the whole village is gonna know what we did! I'm doomed!' The blonde wrung his hands in his hair, his patience wearing thin. If Sakura was the most popular girl in Konoha, it was only a matter of time before word got out. He was so screwed. "I - I'm so sorry," Hinata squeaked, "I shouldn't have done that...that was so mean of me. Please, forgive me, Naruto-kun!" Her eyes were teary as she watched him sadly.
"Nah, it's fine. Really." He waved it aside, but it had still hurt. Naruto checked the time on his half broken watch and instantly cringed. 'Holy balls!'
"Guys, I gotta go. Catch ya later!" Before he could even get some of that sweet, saucy, BBQ, he was already out the door.
On top of the building, the Uchiha sat and stared out at the sun. The sky by now was a gradient shade of red, pink, yellow and orange.
"Sasuke." Was what brought him out of the scenery.
"You sure took your sweet time without me, didn't you?" The boy spat out bitterly, without even looking at him. "Look, I'm sorry, okay? I was -"
Sasuke stood up and turned to face him with an aggravating glare. Naruto almost took a step back, caught up by how angry his teammate appeared to be. "Let's just go home." He says, brushing past his shoulder.
It was now sunset as they were walking to the compound. Sasuke still hadn't said a word to him, and Naruto had a funny feeling that it was going to last all day if he didn't say sorry or anything .
Even as they shut the door behind him, he still received the cold shoulder.
Heck, he didn't even look at him once. It was like he wasn't even there. That made Naruto feel a little angry
As soon as he sat at the table, he was drumming his fingers on the table, in anticipation. If Sasuke wasn't going to say it, then he would. From the kitchen, Sasuke had come out with a steaming hot platter with oven mitts on. Walking over to Naruto, without any eye contact, he had plated a sizeable donburi onto his plate and then sat at the opposite end of the table, hands clasped and fingers crossed. His eyes were livid.
The atmosphere grew serious all over again.
"Ne ne. That sure was fun, wasn't it?" He asked with full cheeks, trying to break the awkward silence between them.
"Hnn," Sasuke cleared his throat and stood up."Listen...I wanted to talk about what happened last night." The blonde's face falls. Sasuke rolls his eyes.
"I...oh." Naruto says sullenly; his blonde bangs shadowing his eyes. Sasuke feels like supporting him somehow, but he had something to say. "I heard you talking in your sleep, about stupid things." Sasuke states matter-of-factly, blunt and to the point, "I couldn't sleep at all. And you were annoying as always. Even when you were asleep." Sighing to himself, he started again.
"You were talking about your mom and dad. I told you to shut up. And even then, you were crying. Why is that? What happened to them?" Naruto gulped, torn between telling the truth or laughing it off. He chose the latter. "Hehe! It was nothin', really. Just me and my funny imagination!" He says sheepishly, and laughs for the whole effect. The Uchiha frowns at his "fakeness".
In a spur of speed, Sasuke grabbed him by the arm forcibly, and snarled with teeth bare. "NO! You're lying to me again. Acting like an idiot doesn't work on me, Naruto! Play a fool all you want, but I sure as hell am NOT buying it!" Naruto looks down at the table, away from Sasuke.
"Look at ME!" Sasuke shouts, at full speed pins him against the wall. The Uzumaki shivers under his iron-like grip and at their close proximity. Sasuke stops once the blonde clears his throat. He lets him go with a heated glare."Listen, I -!" he was about to say something, but then the front door burst open. Sakura was at the door, waving to them.
"There you two are! Kakashi-sensei and I were wondering where you were. Anyway, no missions today! There's a new ninja in our village, and we're going to introduce her to everyone." She says cheerily. "Look, Karin, say hi -!" She's stopped mid-sentence by Naruto, who flings across from Sasuke and to outside like a spring."Hey, Naruto!" Sakura shouts after him, with the redhead kunoichi by her side. Karin steps aside in favor of the other Uzumaki; who breaks down because of everything all at once. The dream, his mom and dad, Sasuke, and even his dream in life to become someone acknowledged. How could he do that, when everyone around him still treated like trash all the time? They still hated him just the same. That's the thing, nothing changed. They were still as corrupt as they were now.
It seemed so far, even now, to earn their attention. Trying to smile for the sake of others; just so he could cry when they weren't there. But, no. His happiness was never enough!
With tears in his eyes, Naruto's already out the door. And like a flicker of the wind, he's gone.
