Chapter 1:
Naruto pushed the door open and entered. He was his normally over-energetic self. "Hey everybody".
"You're late" Tsunade said irritated. Naruto crossed his arms.
"It's not that much" He said defensively.
"It's too late, you idiot. We have been waiting for a long time. So is there any possibility that you could just shut up and let her tell us about our next mission" Sasuke didn't even look at him. Naruto scowled.
"Oh so sorry, I'll try to be quiet from now on, big leader" He said sarcastically.
"Now that we're finally all here, I can give you your next mission. Since you're doing so well I'll give you a more challenging mission. Here's your subject" She handed Sasuke the file. He opened it and looked at the picture of a seemingly ordinary man.
"He has gotten a lot of treats. You will be keeping an eye on him for a week"
"Why only a week?" Sasuke looked up from the file.
"The reason he has gotten the treats was because there is someone who doesn't want him to make an agreement with one of his business partners. The agreement has to be signed in a week, so you have to look after him until that moment." Sasuke nodded
"Which kind of treats? How difficult will this mission be?"
"Yeah, is it going to be exciting" Naruto looked hopeful at her. "Please. I'm getting bored here" He smiled widely. He was looking forward to something a little more daring than usually. He had to be better if he wanted to surpass Sasuke, and therefore he wanted better missions. Tsunade sighed
"It's just the normal kinds. People have written letters to him, not something that seems really dangerous. But the reason it might be a bit harder than normal" She looked at Naruto, who could hardly stand still at the implication. "Is that we have heard some rumours about a dangerous guy who might be involved in all this." Sasuke folded the file.
"Is that all?" He said impatiently.
"Yeah, you can leave now" Naruto bounced out the door.
"Come on, this is so exciting" Sai and Sasuke calmly followed him.
"Dobe, you don't even know where we're going" Naruto quickly turned around. He hated when Sasuke used that voice. No matter what he said it was always so clear that he thought he was superior to him and he hated that. He had promised himself that he would beat him. He wanted to surpass him, to be better than him. Naruto had been alone all his life. People usually just ignored him. Then one day he saw another child, who just like him was all alone. Naruto had thought that he would finally make a friend. That he at last could find someone who could rid him from this loneliness.
Unfortunately for him, that child had a horrible personality. He had been ruthlessly rejected, and not just that. He found out that everybody loved Sasuke. No matter what Sasuke did, he was perfect. No matter what Naruto did, Sasuke would always be better. He had quickly given up on the idea of being friends with him, instead he wanted to be better than him. He wanted to see the day were Sasuke would need his help, that maybe Sasuke would be envious of him instead of the other way around. Naruto sighed. But that would probably not happen any day soon. Sasuke smirked at Naruto.
"You should really try to behave appropriate. I'm the leader, so you should walk behind me" Naruto grinded his teeth. He wanted to hit that smirk right off his arrogant face, but he was right. He had no idea where they were going and Sasuke was the leader. They went to the stables and got the horse that was assigned to them. Sasuke quickly packed the necessary things and strapped them to the horse, before he got up.
"Why is it always the teme that gets to ride the horse" Naruto mumbled irritably.
"He is the leader" Sai just said as a matter of fact. Naruto just went ahead and mumbled about how annoying Sasuke was.
"And of he went" Sai said almost fondly.
"Should we hurry up before he gets too far away, he will probably just go in the wrong direction" Sasuke sighed. Taking care of Naruto was like taking care of a little child, it was just too much trouble. He gently kicked the horse and went out to make sure Naruto didn't disappear of to somewhere.
Sasuke found him further down the road and after some irritated remarks got him to go in the right direction. The rest of the walk to their subject's house was done in silence. Naruto was soo irritated by Sasuke's behaviour that he decided he didn't want to talk to him and Sasuke just enjoyed the silence for once.
"Shouldn't we talk? I have read that friends go on journeys from time to time and have fun"
"Who would want to have fun with that bastard" Naruto grumbled
"Where not here to have fun. We have a mission to complete" Sasuke said to stop the conversation.
"Mission, mission, mission. That's all you ever talk about" Sai smiled
"You sound like a jealous girlfriend"
"W-WHAT" Naruto spluttered.
"How could you say that… and if anything, he would be my girlfriend. He is too vain to be the boy in this relationship" Naruto nodded and glanced over at Sasuke.
"WHAT" Sasuke sneered at him. "Like you could dominate me, you weakling." Sai sighed
"Here we go again. Why don't you just try to be friends? This would be much easier if you weren't fighting all the time" Naruto kicked a stone and looked away. Like he hadn't tried that before. Sasuke was a cold bastard, no one could be friends with him. S
asuke clenched his hands around the reins. Friends. That was impossible. In this type of profession you couldn't have any kind of bonds with others. Bonds were built on feelings and feelings were a hindrance. If you were unfocused for just a split second in a fight, you could get seriously injured. It was because of him his brother died. He didn't want to make the same mistake. He didn't want to have someone who could mess it all up. That's why he couldn't just be friends with Naruto, and especially so now that they were working together. What if he got injured, what if he died. No. It was better to not feel anything for anyone, that way he would never loose anyone again.