While her brother was outside, lost in thought, Soba was otherwise occupied. Gone was the previously timid Naruto; faced with not being able to be near Soba for an extended period, he decided to make the most of it. The kunoichi was not one to argue. Their bodies were pushing the boundaries of proximity again, Soba's as close to being crushed to the wall as was comfortable. He slowly planted kisses everywhere he could reach, more for his benefit than the kunoichi's. He wanted Soba to remember him, because he most definitely wouldn't be able to forget her. They let their hands roam freely, albeit sloppily; it was not the time for grace. One of her hands found its way into his hair and tugged him back slightly from her neck. Puzzled, Naruto looked her in the eyes.

"You don't like that?" The woman shook her head.

"No, I do. Really. A lot. Buuut, I don't get to give you much attention this way."

"That's fine!" Soba shook her head again.

"You act like I'm the only one that's supposed to enjoy this." The man didn't have any time to correct her. She unzipped his jacket, grabbed the fabric around his upper arms and flipped the two of them around in one fluid motion. Naruto's mind took a minute to catch up to what happened, and found himself pinned against the same wall he had been facing moments prior. His facial expression lingered between confused and aroused, his lips parted to speak words he couldn't summon. Soba's eyes had taken on a predatory gleam that had instantly become one of his favorite expressions to see on her face. She, on the other hand, was beside herself. Waves of heat rolled, crested and crashed within her. She couldn't figure out whether it was the humidity of the air around them or the looming separation that heightened the intensity of the criminally pleasurable burn of Naruto's presence. "Don't let your guard down!" She teased, her voice more confident than she felt. Now what? Naruto's heart was beating so hard that he felt it was about to burst out of his chest, his now sweaty hair was stuck to his forehead, and despite it all, he had a stupid grin plastered across his face. Soba threw away any doubts she may have had and captured his mouth in a searing kiss, taking the opportunity to snake both her comparatively cool palms up his mesh undershirt. He initially shivered at the sudden temperature difference, but swiftly recomposed himself, digging his fingers into the soft skin of her hips. Feeling bolder by the second, Naruto teased her bottom lip with his tongue, gauging her reaction. He was rewarded with parted lips and a mewl. Soba pulled back, mortified at the sound she had made, face blanching. Naruto let out a low chuckle and brought one hand up to her cheek. Her face shot through a spectrum of colors so quickly that it almost made her head spin. He kissed her again and she completely forgot to be embarrassed; it was a shame they hadn't gotten around to this earlier.

Reluctantly, Soba pushed away from Naruto, offering a weak smile.

"We really do need to get going if I'm going to give Icha Icha back to Kakashi-sensei before we leave." The blonde rested his forehead against hers, admiring how brilliantly green her eyes were in the morning light.

"I don't think he'll notice."

"I'm pretty sure he will. I'll just drop by the Hokage tower and give it to him."

"Kakashi-sensei doesn't know what the word early means. He's not going to be there."

"Then I'll give it to Iruka-sensei."

"He doesn't like touching those books."

"You can take it back, then!" Naruto shook his head, shaking hers in the process. He suddenly stepped back, eyes alight.

"How about...you keep it! Then you have an excuse to come back!" Soba kissed him briefly.

"Okay. I'll do that then." The blonde looked like he had just received the best present of his entire life.

"Good! Make sure you finish it quickly."

"I will! But I really need to go before Dai dies of old age outside. The birds might be picking his bones clean as we speak. Ugh, what a mess that would be. Nii-san's bones are so big."

The gates of Konoha loomed before the trio. Fuzzy-eared Dai was a few steps ahead of Soba and Naruto, the latter two aiming to drag the departure out as long as possible. They let their hands graze each other as they took slow strides, trying not to be obvious. Though they thought they were making an effort, the sheer fact that there was not a sliver of empty space between their arms gave them away. The morning sun had risen round and golden, and the village was slowly starting to wake up. Shops were opening around them, but none of that really mattered to either. All three stopped beneath the gate; Dai took one last sweeping glance at the village, and Soba took one last look at the impossibly charming grin that had driven her insane a mere three weeks prior. Nervous butterflies flitted around in her gut when the blonde pulled her in for a warm hug. Naruto felt an unpleasant twinge in his chest, but he willed it away. There would be time for missing her after she was gone, the blonde told himself.

"Don't do anything too crazy." He whispered into her ear, pulling away. "And don't forget to finish the book soon!" Naruto winked in a comically exaggerated way that Soba was confident wasn't intentional. She pecked him on the cheek, breathing in his sandalwood scent once more. Soba and Naruto stood, gazing fondly at each other for what was, in Dai's opinion, an eternity.

"Imouto?" She turned to face the voice. Her twin gestured towards the exit with his head, his pink ears and graceful tail caught in the breeze.

"Do you need validation again? You look ravishing, nii-san."

"I hate you, Captain. We need to get going. Bye, Naruto. Thanks for keeping my sister busy and for saving the world and stuff. I'm sure we'll see you soon enough!" Naruto nodded fervently.

"Okay, now we're actually leaving. Bye." Soba turned on her heel, letting her gaze linger on him. As she stepped away, the blonde's hand slid down from her shoulder to her hand, and then back down to his side. The two Konoha nin manning the gate looked from Naruto to Soba, then exchanged a knowing look. Naruto caught one of them and glowered to the best of his ability. The nin's face became impassive once more. The kunoichi caught up to her brother's long strides, the katanas on her back swaying. The blonde stood in the gate, watching until the twins had shrunk in size in the distance. He caught Soba throwing glances over her shoulder every so often, and waved enthusiastically. A brisk breeze picked up and Soba turned to face him, her drying hair rippling in the air current. The scene enraptured the blonde, while Dai doubled over laughing behind her.

"Soba, did you turn because the wind blew and you wanted the wind to make your hair look like you were posing for a romance novel cover? Really?" The man snorted, covering his face with his hands. "You are so lame. Akira is going to lose it when I tell him." His sister's head swiveled in his direction, fury radiating from her in waves. He would've been scared, but the flush in her cheeks confirmed his suspicions. Dai guffawed, wiggling his pink cat ears at her with his fingers.

From his vantage point, all Naruto saw was Soba taking a flying leap at her taller brother. After she connected, the scuffle kicked up a fine cloud of dirt that obscured what was happening. The blonde assumed Dai had said something to enrage her, but was otherwise unfazed by the brawl. Spending several weeks in the company of the kunoichi had taught him that nary a day went by without the two getting into some form of physical altercation. This didn't strike him as bizarre because, realistically, he and Sasuke communicated in much the same way. Once the reddish brown dirt had settled back down, Naruto saw Dai smack his giggling twin upside the head before throwing an arm around her shoulders. They resumed their walk down the path. A few loud insults floated back on the wind and the blonde chuckled despite himself. He felt overcome by the desire to pick a fight with a certain brooding, black-haired idiot to fill the sudden vacancy that had appeared in his routine.

Foreboding grey clouds had begun to roll in from the east, threatening the otherwise blue sky. The Matsui twins were several hours into a journey that was supposed to be both dry and warm. Soba wasn't fond of rain for several reasons that she deemed completely reasonable. Firstly, it made her hair very frizzy, even in a bun, and that was unbecoming of a shinobi. How was she supposed to intimidate enemies looking like she had a nest for a crown? Secondly, the damp earth smelled vaguely of rot to the kunoichi, and it was an odor that lingered. Lastly, the feeling of her clothes being plastered to her made her skin crawl. She grumbled at the clouds, speeding up her pace. Dai wasn't what one would call thrilled by rain, but he was averse to having his hairdo ruined. There was something about the Matsui clan and having a perpetually flawless coif; it really couldn't be explained by logic or sense. Before the traveling duo knew it, the darkness had gathered directly overhead and had begun to unleash what could only be described as vengeful amounts of rain. Soba stopped dead in her tracks. Her hair was plastered across her whole body, cloak drooping miserably. She directed a few choice words at the droplets, then realized glowering would probably be just as effective a protest. Rivulets streamed down her face.

"Pathetic fallacy is funny, isn't it? You're being all mopey, and then the torrential downpour comes?" Dai took a less than subtle jab at his sister.

"I was not moping. I was leaping through the trees like the majestic kunoichi that I am."

"No, imouto, you have been broody since we left."

"I'm fine."

"You miss lover-boy, don't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"He is not my 'lover-boy,'" Soba added the quotation marks with her fingers for emphasis, "and I don't miss him yet. We've barely been gone a few hours! That would be pathetic of me." She avoided her brother's searching gaze.

"Heh. You said 'yet!' If that is what you deem pathetic, Soba, then you are pathetic."

"Am not! I don't miss him." She really did.

Naruto found Sasuke lounging with his eyes closed in one of the training fields, back up against a tree. His dark-haired friend didn't give any indication of having sensed his presence, save for a singular, unique greeting.

"Usuratonkachi."

"When are you going to stop calling me that, teme?"

"About the time you stop calling me that." Naruto should have seen that bored sounding reply coming. The blonde flopped down next to his friend, resting up against the same tree. He bent both his legs so he could rest his arms on them comfortably.

"Wanna spar?"

"Not now."

"Awww, why?"

"I'm tired." Sasuke snapped his bloodshot eyes open. "After you left me with all those people last night, dobe, drunk Ino and Sakura wouldn't leave me alone. They followed me home, and since they know where I live now, I came here to sleep."

"Couldn't they follow you here?"

"No. I disappeared from my apartment when they were inside and came here."

"So, you slept on the training grounds? Why didn't you just tell them to leave?"

"Baka."

"Hah! You're the one that slept outside because you couldn't ask people to leave your home!"

"Hn." Sasuke's dark eyes closed, a minute frown curling the corners of his thin mouth. Naruto playfully nudged his friend and rival, chuckling.

"And people think you're the smart one." The blonde laughed riotously, but closed his eyes to keep the man company. They dozed in the shade of the tree's large branches together, enjoying the breeze.

"She must have left early this morning for you to be up just after sunrise. Or did you even go to sleep?" Naruto cracked his eyes open a tad, just enough to look over and catch what appeared to be an amused expression on Sasuke's face. The blonde studied it for a moment, suspicious, before replying.

"They wanted to get back as soon as possible, so yeah, they left early. We hardly got any sleep though, so I'm tired too." A dark eyebrow arched up fleetingly. The blonde missed the gesture, lost in his own head. "I think I'm going to ask Kakashi-sensei to give me missions that take me over in that direction."

"Are you going to go annoy her into a relationship?" Naruto swung his head to the right at a breakneck speed. Sasuke didn't so much as flinch.

"I'm not going to annoy her into anything!" All it took was that one comment to make Naruto rethink everything that had happened in the past few weeks. The black haired shinobi just smirked in an infuriatingly condescending way.

"It seems to have worked in the past."

"What is that supposed to mean, teme?" A frown creased the blonde's forehead. His companion offered no response; he just leaned back and resumed relaxing. Naruto leaned his head back against the tree and sighed deeply. He wasn't much for overthinking, nor for thinking in the first place, but for some reason, his mind was working overtime. Sasuke could hear Naruto's brain processing what he had said. The blonde's breathing was agitated and punctuated with periodic huffs. The black eyes snapped open. There was no way that Sasuke could enjoy his peace and quiet with the blonde sounding like a windbag next to him.

"What." The irate man hissed at his noisy friend.

"I didn't say anything!"

"Stop breathing so loudly."

"I'm not!"

"You are. I can even hear you thinking."

"I'm just worried!"

"About what?" A long-suffering sigh.

"Well, you said that I was going to annoy her with-"

"You are stupider than I ever gave you credit for if you think she's not interested."

"But you said-" Sasuke would take the thought to his grave, but he was secretly pleased that Naruto and Soba had started something, whatever it may be. He would deny it and ignore all mention of the topic in public, but he knew Naruto needed a breath of fresh air in his life. Plus, he had grown fond of the belligerent kunoichi, who was tenacious, stubborn beyond all good reason, and most of all, not in need of being saved. Admirable. Being as averse to feeling positive emotions as he was, Sasuke compartmentalized that tiny little joy for his friend and composed himself.

"Usuratonkachi, either shut up, or leave me alone." Naruto looked put out by the sudden outburst, but moderately more at ease about Sasuke's earlier comments. He closed his eyes and took a nap.

Sasuke stared forward, eyes narrowed with displeasure. Yes, Naruto had fallen asleep, which normally made him quieter; however, he had also begun snoring at a volume that made the black haired man's brain jangle in its confines. Sasuke stood, praying his apartment would be empty, and leapt off towards his home. Maybe he'd have a moment of respite sometime in the next life. The blonde only continued to snore.

A still wet Soba swung her legs from the branch she was sitting on, looking at the grass below. The rain had stopped, thankfully, but she and Dai were too tired to continue. She took a bag of snacks from a side pocket of her pack and began munching; her human tolerance level was inching closer to zero, and she needed to remedy that. Dai was next to her, sitting much the same way.

"Hey, Dai?"

"Hm?"

"What if I tell the elders that I've changed my mind about the ANBU thing?" Soba had received an offer to join the ANBU shortly after turning seventeen. She had only been a jounin for a year, but her dogged determination and dedication to training and missions had put her far above many of her teammates. The elders knew she would have performed admirably in the role, but her brother had wholeheartedly disagreed. If she had kept the offer secret, as she was supposed to, her life would have likely taken a different path; Dai was immeasurably grateful for having been consulted.

"This again?" Her brother rolled his eyes.

"Yes, again. Maybe it would be good for me."

"No, it would be terrible for you. We've come to this conclusion every. Single. Time."

"No, you have. I mean, think about it-"

"I have. Whenever you accidentally rediscover you are both human and have feelings, and then feel the need to go throw yourself into a high-risk organization to erase contact with your humanity."

"That's not it at all."

"It is. Remember the last time you decided to entertain the idea."

"It wasn't after anything bad had happened."

"No, it was. You wanted to run away from being a person."

"Are you just jealous that I'm better than you?" Soba smirked, teasing her brother.

"Be serious for a moment. Look, we both know that you are a much better shinobi than I am. This was never in question, and I am totally okay with it. Really. I like books better than fighting people, and you know that. What you're trying to do right now is convince yourself that feelings are bad and a weakness and that you should go assassinate people for a living to get rid of them. You'd do the opposite. Stop acting like you're this hard-hearted killing machine and face the fact that you still count the number of people you've felled and feel the need to atone for it."

"I don't count anymore!"

"Really? What's the number now?" Soba quietly mumbled a number that had recently increased by four. "Exactly."

"But I love battles and roughing people up!"

"Loving to fight people has nothing to do with a desire to end lives, imouto. Don't be stupid. I mean, you can't stop being stupid. What am I saying? It's like asking a tiger to change its-" He grinned as she delivered a flick to his earlobe. "Ow!"

"I concede. I guess I am pretty stupid."

"All these years, and my thinking is only now validated. Ugh."

"Shut up."

"Promise me you're not going to go try to join the stupid ANBU again. I'll drag you back like I did the last time. Think about why you wanted to join a few years ago, and compare it to today."

"I can hardly compare wartime and having a crush."

"Not the scenario, you twit. How you reacted to it."

"Dai, what if I go all soft and someone kills me because I let my guard down?"

"That won't happen because you have trained to prevent that happening."

"But when I was sparring with Sasuke a few days ago, the only reason I got cut was because Naruto's voice distracted me. I got distracted! That has never happened before!"

"You goofball. Yes, it has. Remember that one time that I got hurt and you nearly got crushed by that earth jutsu because you heard me whining?"

"You had broken twelve bones, you tool."

"Thirteen, actually."

"I guess I got distracted then, but that was a long time ago. That hasn't happened in years."

"In battle, no. This was a sparring match and you were messing around. I bet you hadn't even pulled out your other katana."

"No, that's true."

"So, there. Crisis averted and your magical brother has solved all of your problems. Now I just have to figure out how to get you and Naruto to date long-distance."

"Dai."

"What?"

"You can stop worrying about my life now. Worry about yours."

"Why would I worry about mine when it's perfect? I'm utterly handsome and mentally stable! What more do I need?"

"To get over your ex-girlfriend. What was her name? August?"

"For the last time, we met in May."

"Ah, whatever. She was still useless."

"We dated for four years and you still have nothing nice to say?"

"No. She was never good enough."

"Why is that?"

"I've told you! You know, useless shinobi, more interested in her physical appearance than making you happy, and she had uncomfortably big boobs. Like, really big."

"You're telling me. How is that a bad thing?" He sighed wistfully.

"I couldn't make eye contact with her because they would stare at me. She was so dumb, though. So dumb. She's the type to test a katana's sharpness by licking it."

"Soba."

"What? She's your ex for a reason, dimwit. Go date that pretty jounin we did that mission with once."

"That pretty jounin we did that mission with once." Dai deadpanned.

"Yeah! That one." Dai shoved Soba out of the tree.

Hooray, a longer chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing :) I appreciate each and every one of you!