Our Coconut Sprinkled Disclaimer: When love did grant first kiss, it was not placed on thy wrist, but the face of course, it was an ugly source, oh and nothing is owned but for this.

The Strawberry Cream Filled Author's Note: Hello All! Sugar here and we thank you for turning out and reading our fic! we love all of you who review, and please keep sending them in! We love your feedback, and try our best to please you guys. Peppermint is really better at Author's notes than me, but it was my turn today so, on with the fic! Oh and once again Peppermint wrote the disclaimers poem.

With Grace,

Peppermint and Sugar

Chapter 3 The Carriage Ride To Thunder

Sasuke flipped through his script book, browsing over all of the lines, paying special attention to his own. He grimaced in disgust at some of the things that he had to say, as well as how he had to interact with others in the play. The only exception to his unease was Naruto. He didn't mind having to do the things he had to do with Juliet, (although he would never admit it aloud.) He also enjoyed Romeo's gothic disposition throughout the majority of the play, he was good at being depressed, and depressing others.

Sasuke hadn't missed Kazuhiko's little, 'accident' upon Naruto's entering of the carriage. He now knew he had to keep a close eye on the noble, NO ONE was going to have HIS Naruto. The raven shook his head, messing up his already strangely placed locks, while clearing his mind of such possessive thoughts. He was also drawing attention to himself, something Sasuke didn't normally do.

"Oi, Sasuke-Teme" Slowly Sasuke lifted his head, regarding Naruto blankly. "What dobe?" Naruto felt his eye twitch at the nickname; he was getting sick of hearing it. Glaring he said "Don't call me that teme!" Sasuke just smirked before looking back at his script. An almost feral growl ripped from Naruto, Sasuke ignored it.

When Naruto went to stand up Kazuhiko cut in "Naruto-Kun, why don't you tell em about yourself? What's your favourite food?" Answering without thinking Naruto said "Chicken Stir-fry or Fried rice." When the words left his mouth Naruto started a mental mantra that only increased when Sasuke looked up with wide eyes.

Sasuke was shocked by Naruto's answer; he had always thought the blonde was in love with Ramen. Hell- EVERYONE thought the blonde dobe was in love with the stuff. "Holy shit…..I learned something new today..." Sasuke let the thought slip past his lips, immediately clamping his mouth shut after he said it. Sasuke rarely ever formed complete sentences, and never had ANY of them hold any sort of emotion. He angrily realized that Naruto was the only person to ever be able to get under his emotional shell, and was currently mentally kicking himself because of it.

"Oh my god…..did the Uchiha…actually speak a complete sentence?" Naruto asked with a huge shit eating grin on his face. Lifting his head Sasuke glared "Shut it dobe." Naruto just smiled his little fox smile before saying "Jeez don't get your knickers in a knot." Sasuke's glare intensified. "Since when Is Ramen not your favourite food?" he countered. Naruto's grin faltered for a second before going back to normal. "Since when have you cared?"

Sasuke clenched his hand into a fist. "What's up with you?" He asked offering no explanation to his question, although he had one. Naruto was not acting like himself. First he admits to ramen not being his favourite food, and then he goes and puts up a decent argument. It was confusing, and Sasuke didn't like it. When Naruto was not acting according to character, it bothered him. Because it meant that he didn't know all there was to know about his blonde rival, his friend, his crush.

Naruto shrugged in response to the question, preferring to ask his own "Again since when do you care?" They stayed locked in each others glare; they only broke eye contact when Kazuhiko spoke up. "I should have just stayed anti social…..this is what happens when you try and make friends." Turning to him Naruto gave a humour filled smile "Jeez, you sound like a cross between Shikamaru and the teme." Kazuhiko gave him a mildly confused look before saying "I assure, you I sound like myself and no other."

Naruto gave a small laugh. "Man your personality changes like the wind." Kazuhiko shrugged. "Maybe I have multiple personalities." Naruto smirked "That or you're schizophrenic." Kazuhiko laughed, causing Naruto to. They stopped however when Sasuke said "What the hell is wrong with you Naruto?" Naruto mentally groaned. When did he stupidly decide to be his real self when Sasuke of all people was around? Turning to Sasuke he said carefully "Nothing, I'm acting!" He stressed the word acting, hoping Sasuke would by it.

Sasuke didn't buy it at first, but given the fact that he did not like being confused, and this offered a logical explanation to Naruto's strange behaviour, he took it with a dissatisfied, "Hn." He looked out the window, distracting himself from the other two occupants of the vehicle by observing the surrounding landscape. Sasuke could see the surrounding forest thinning, giving way to more grassy areas. It would be a few hours yet until they actually left the forest, however. The dense thicket was no small commodity and could take even the fastest Ninja days to get out of on foot.

When Sasuke turned and looked out the window Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. He had bought….well at least for the moment. Turning back to Kazuhiko he asked "So why did you want to play the role of Paris? You do know that he falls in love with Juliet." When he replayed the sentence he mentally groaned, he would have to watch how smart he sounded. This was the annoying thing about letting your mask slip for even a second; sometimes it was hard to get back into character.

Sasuke, over the next few hours of their trip, alternated between flipping through his script, and staring lethargically out the window. Staying seated for long amounts of time always made him sleepy, but he forced himself to stay awake. he refused to fall asleep in front of Naruto, his dignity couldn't take it. Sasuke glanced up from his script for the umpteenth time, and out the window to see a welcome change in scenery.

The forest had finally given way to small amounts of plains, their horizon obscured by hills, some almost large enough to be called mountains. Sasuke observed with interest; except for a few choice missions, he was accustomed to only seeing the forest that hid the village he called home. Watching the scenery flow by, he witnessed cattle and sheep grazing on planned fields, and was even lucky enough to see a band of wild horses running through the golden stalks.

The horses, used to human contact, ran beside the carriages for a few minutes. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The continuous thrumming of hoofed feet striking the hard-packed earth was soothing to Sasuke, placing his arm on the window sill and his head on his arm to watch the horses gallop. Before he even knew what he was doing, Sasuke was asleep. His face relaxed from its usual scowl, and took on a peaceful image, his breath coming in even strokes.

Naruto however had used the travel time more effectively, curling up in one of the seat corners he had read through the script before re-reading it, mouthing his lines as he read. When he was halfway through for what would be his fourth reading he heard the sound of hooves. Lifting up his head he watched horses run by the carriage. A small smile formed on his lips, no one, not even Shikamaru knew about his fascination with them.

After a few minutes they ran away from the carriage, going away to do what ever they saw fit to do. He was about to go back to the script when he noticed Sasuke; sound asleep against the carriage. His smile widened slightly. Sasuke's face was relaxed and peaceful. He knew he should turn away, but for some unknown reason he couldn't take his eyes off his rivals face. He started to lean forward when the carriage came to a startling halt causing him to jump. Quickly hiding his face back into the script he hoped neither Sasuke or Kazuhiko had noticed anything.

Sasuke was jolted from his pleasant nap just in time to see a slightly blushing Naruto cover his face with his script, he scowled and turned a glare on Kazuhiko….what had that guy done? Mentally kicking himself at falling asleep, he slowly stood up with a stretch, being unable to suppress it. He was mortified when he accidentally squeaked in the process. He quickly lowering his arms, he refused to let a blush show. Making his way towards door of the carriage he said "Move it Dobe."

Naruto frowned at Sasuke before standing up and opening the door. He went to step out but Sasuke beat him to it. Shaking his head he turned to talk to Kazuhiko but hesitated. The teen he had become accustomed to was back to the gloomy, 'don't talk to me' boy that they had first seen back in Konoha. Mentally sighing he walked out of the carriage, trying to ignore the fact that they were the two guys he was going to have to kiss.

When he reached the ground he went to move forward but bumped into Sasuke who was still standing in front of the carriage exit. "Oi teme, what are you doing?" When he didn't get a response he move out from behind him, preparing to yell at him, but before he could get to Sasuke's face his eyes caught the 'castle' causing his jaw to drop. "Holy shit" Was all he could think of to say.

The castle in front of them had 7 levels of windows and they couldn't see the end of either side. As he was gaping over the size a voice came up behind him and murmured "Welcome to Le château de Tonnerre" Without looking away Sasuke asked "What does that mean?" However before Kazuhiko could respond Naruto muttered "The castle of thunder."

The Dodging Of Various Chocolate Cookies: Hello Peppermint here, there will sadly be no conversation cause Sugar is practically dead from lack of sleep so I shall simply say that we hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Not much on plot/SasuNaru but it was needed so that the plot could actually build. Anyways please review and tell us what you think, it would be much appreciated! Oh and excuse the French, I have no idea if it's right or not but it was as close as I could get!

With Grace,

Peppermint and Sugar