Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 5: Getting to the Village

Naruto's P.O.V.

"Dobe, I think you've been in too long. You're face is starting to get red."

I swallow to get rid of the lump in my throat. It doesn't work. I just nod, feeling dizzy. Sasuke walks away to the changing room and I watch him go, confused. I shake my head violently and look forward. No! I will soak in this bath and NOT think about Sasuke. I stubbornly lie back and close my eyes. Sasuke bent over the bath flashes behind my eyelids. I jump up and grumble as I climb out. Damn Sasuke, ruining this for me.

Wrapping a towel around my waist, I walk into the changing room. I glance up and almost choke when I see Sasuke drop his towel to pull on his boxers. I pull my eyes away and walk stiffly to my locker where I quickly get dressed and practically run to our room in the inn. I curl up in the futon quickly and squeeze my eyes together. Go to sleep. Go to sleep. The door to the room opens and I freeze, hoping the person doesn't talk to me. They go to their futon and remains silent, falling asleep quickly if I can go by their breathing. Their rhythmic breathing ends up lulling me to sleep.

Sasuke's P.O.V.

When the sun rises, Kakashi wakes us up. I sleepily sit up, rubbing my eyes. I go to the bathroom and wash my face. When I go back to the room, everyone looks ready to head out. I notice Naruto's being unusually quiet. Hmm. Must still be tired. He isn't much of a morning person. We gather our gear and check out of the inn quickly.

After a couple hours of walking, I start to get worried. Naruto still isn't back to himself. He looks focused on his thoughts and more than once, he's fallen behind the team. Is that jacket not enough against the cold after all? Maybe he's not completely over that fever like I thought. When Sakura and Kakashi are busy talking, I slow down to match up with Naruto. "Are you cold?"

Naruto snaps his gaze at me, as if surprised that I was talking to him. Well, maybe I am acting nicer than I usually act to him. He just shakes his head and forces a smile. "No! Thanks again for the jacket. I'd be frozen without it!"

I study the blond's face. Something's off with him. "Do you still feel sick?"

Naruto's face reddens a little. "N-yeah. I'm still feeling sluggish. It's nothing to worry about though! I'll be fine once we get to the village!"

Naruto's P.O.V.

Sasuke watches me closesly, making my heart beat painfully in my chest. He can't know that I've been thinking about him, can he? He's just starting to be nice to me, I can't ruin it by developing a crush on him. Wait! Is that what this is? Do I have a crush on Sasuke?

"Dobe, maybe we should take a break. You don't seem okay," Sasuke says, watching me with, is that concern?

I huff and look away from him. "I said I'm fine. Let's keep going," I say, speeding up to get away from him. How did this happen? I was supposed to be in love with Sakura. I glance at Sakura and see her smiling at Kakashi-sensei as they talk. Speaking of Sakura, I haven't even thought about her since we left the inn. I am usually superaware of her presence. When did that change?

We walk for a couple more hours. Sasuke hasn't talked to me since and I've been feeling guilty about it the whole time. We finally reach the gate of the Hidden Village of the Dark and I have to stop to admire the fancy carvings in the gate. "Whoa," I whisper.

"It is impressive. The village was home to several artists before it shifted focus to nightlife businesses," Kakashi-sensei says before he talks to the guards at the gates.

I follow the team to an inn where we check in. In the room, we gather around to plan out our mission. Sakura suggests we stake out the bar to see what we are up against first and Kakashi-sensei agrees. Sasuke remains quiet like usual. Why doesn't he talk? I agree loudly, trying to act normal. The girl and sensei don't seem to notice anything different. Are they blind?

"Okay. The bar we are looking for is named The Neon Sun. Try to be inconspicuous," Kakashi-sensei says as we leave the inn and split up.

I go down the street, looking at each business, marvelling at the flashy signs. Almost every building still open at this time of the day has loud music playing and colorful blinding lights blinking. A man bumps into me and I turn to him with my fist up. "Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The man stops and holds up his hands. "I'm so sorry. I was just trying to make a reservation."

Now I'm curious. "A reservation?"

The man smiles. "Yeah. I usually don't do anything like this, but after a couple weeks, I finally decided that I'm ready to make a reservation and if you don't mind, I'm missing a date with a Neon Son."

"Wait! Did you say Neon Sun?"

The man's smile changes and he grabs my arm. "Are you looking for it? Here, let me show you."

I follow the man, feeling victorious. Yes! I'll be the one to find it before the others! The man holds my elbow the whole time. Should I tell him to let go of me? Before I can voice my thought, we stop in front of a building with rock music playing loudly. The flashing sign in front is smaller than some of the other bars surrounding it and has a sun symbol with alternating colors flashing through it, going from yellow to orange to red to blue to green back to yellow. In steady pink, swirly letters, it says The Neon Sun through the sun symbol. The man laughs and finally lets go of my arm. "I'll leave you here to admire the sign some more. I have to go. I'm already late."

Shaking my head, I smile and punch the air. Now all I have to do is find the others and lead them here. I turn and bump into Sakura. "There you are. We've been looking everywhere for you, Naruto," she scolds. I frown.

"But Sakura! I just found it!"

She rolls her eyes. "Sasuke found it a while ago."

At the mention of his name, I get a weird feeling in my stomach. Usually, I feel anger or competetiveness or jealousy. Why do I feel anxious now? I huff and say nothing else as I follow Sakura to the rest of the team. "Glad you can join us, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei says.

I smile and rub the back of my head. "Sure."

"We've seen several people enter the building. Mainly men, but some women have entered as well. We haven't found any evidence yet that the business houses prostitutes though. As much as I dislike the idea, we're going to need Sakura to go undercover as a new hire and then one of you boys to pretend to pay for her services. With that evidence, we'll have enough to shut it down."

"I want Sasuke to be the customer," Sakura says quickly, looking at him with hearts in her eyes.

I roll my eyes and grunt. Whatever. Sakura takes a breath and goes into the bar, the rest of us watching. In five minutes, Sakura barges out in a huff and stomps over to us. "You won't believe this!"

"What's the matter," I ask, a little concerned that she's so angry. She normally hits me when she's this angry.

"They don't hire girls."

"What do you mean they don't hire girls? Are you sure you hinted at the secret business?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes! I made sure they knew what I meant and they just laughed! They said my information was wrong. They don't hire girls. It's guys only!"

"Then why were so many guys going in?" I ask, very confused.

Sasuke and Sakura look at me, but it's Sakura who finally spells it out for me. "The Neon Sun houses gay prostitutes, Naruto."

Kakashi-sensei sighs. "Okay, change of plans. Naruto, you will be going undercover as a new hire tomorrow and once you get situated, we'll send Sasuke in to ask for your services and once money has exchanged hands, we'll have enough evidence."

"Wait! Whaat? Why do I have to be the prostitute?" I ask, upset. I don't look like a prostitute do I? Sasuke is prettier than me! Wait! No he's not! Ugh!

Sasuke smirks at me. "Scared?"

I glare at him. "No! Fine! I'll do it, just to show you that I could pull it off better than you ever could. So there!" I taunt, sticking my tongue out at him. Just you wait, Sasuke. I'll be the best gay prostitute in there. Wait. That's not what I meant...