Not a single review? Ouch. I hope you all like this chapter better anyway.
Warnings and Disclaimer: See chapter 1
The two boys sparred together almost every day for the next month except those that Naruto was away on missions for. Sasuke didn't really need it to pass the exam. If he had stayed, he probably would have been a jounin already. But it felt good to fight at his full potential and push himself. He knew that the fights at the exam stadium could be difficult and felt that the extra practice would be good for him. Plus he enjoyed sparring with the blond. He hadn't realized how much he missed it while he was gone. He also worked with his team every day. He knew the exam began in groups of three, and he wanted them to be ready. Daisuke improved immensely on ninjutsu, and Kaori's strength and taijitsu was getting much better. Kanami was extremely proud. She told Sasuke he would make an excellent teacher. He had only scowled in response. The first test was passed easily, it was the same one Sasuke had gotten four years earlier, and he had prepared his team for it. The second exam was similar to his previous one as well except in a different training area. Glad to be away from the memory ridden Forest of Death, they encountered very few problems and were the fifth team to arrive at designated area, scrolls in hand. The summoning spell produced an excited Naruto. He danced around in a circle.
"Go Team Kanami!" He double high fived and then hugged Kaori, who squealed happily. Then he did a quick spinning turn and snatched Daisuke into a hug as well.
"Whoohoo! You guys were fast!" He let go of the blushing red head and turned to Sasuke. There was a brief moment of hesitation. Is he going to hug me? Do I want him to? Before the blond punched him hard in the arm.
"Bet the teme was bitching the whole time, huh?" Sasuke smirked. He decided a punch was much better than a hug. He knew what to do when he was punched. Naruto was on the ground laughing, hand behind his head, a moment later.
Sasuke placed first in the final exam, as most expected he would. There were a few boos and heckles from the audience, some still didn't trust him, but they were drowned out by loud cheers of "Kick his ass, teme!" In the end only Sasuke, two kids from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and one from the Grass Village made it to Chunin. It was a great relief to finally move up, and the brunette was actually looking forward to the prospect of being sent on a mission right away. He pondered whether or not they would assign him missions with Naruto. Maybe Sakura would be placed as their medical nin. It would be just like old times. He decided to ask his friend the next day when they met for ramen. But to his surprise, Naruto wasn't there. He wasn't there the following Friday either. He concluded that the blond was on a long mission. After another week, he found himself missing him. He did not like the feeling at all. He had become very familiar with it during the time he was with Orochimaru. It annoyed him not to have the blond around, and his first two weeks of being chunin were spent in a bad mood. He still went Ichiraku's when he was supposed to meet Naruto just in case, and ate the noodles angrily. He was mad both at himself for coming and at Naruto for not showing up. I don't even like ramen.
It had been two and a half weeks in the middle of the night when he felt the jounin move to change shifts as he made himself some tea in the kitchen. He couldn't sleep again. Insomnia was part of being an Uchiha. They all had nightmares. He could remember being woken up by one of his family members' shouts many times. As the new guard got closer to the house and the old got further away, he recognized the chakra.
"Naruto?" The blond walked into his kitchen. Sasuke could instantly tell that wherever the blond had been, he was glad not to be there anymore. There was something in his blue eyes that he couldn't place. Something bad must of happened. Or maybe something good. He really wasn't sure. But it was something very important. Naruto leaned against the counter across from Sasuke.
"I'm a jounin." The brunette placed his tea down quickly.
"What?"
"I'm a jounin. That's where I've been. They didn't tell me it was coming. I was at home, asleep, and then bam! I was taking the exam."
"What was the exam?"
"A mission." Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"I can't tell you. Sworn to secrecy and all that." He crossed his pale arms and frowned.
"I suppose you're happy. I made chunin. You made jounin. You're winning." Naruto gave a small half hearted grin and shrugged. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.
"What's wrong, dobe?"
"I'm glad you weren't there, teme. I wouldn't have wanted you to see that." The Uchiha sneered.
"I can handle anything they throw at me, dobe." He was surprised by the intensity of the blue eyes that snapped up at him.
"No. I wouldn't have wanted you to see me like that." Sasuke straightened up and stared at him, leaving his unasked question in the air. What happened?
"Sorry, Sasuke. I can't talk about it. And I really don't want to ever think about it again. So let's just let it go, okay?" He smiled brightly, and the brunette glared at the emptiness behind it.
"Hn. Tea, dobe?" Naruto scratched at the back of his head.
"Yeah."
For the next year Naruto was assigned the overnight shift of Uchiha Babysitting, as the jounin had come to call it despite the vicious death glares they all got when Sasuke found out, almost every night. The brunette was surprised when he only feigned annoyance at not having more serious missions for the first month and gave up even that soon after. They talked aimably some nights, drank tea in silence others. Occasionally, Sasuke would awaken covered in a fine sheen of sweat to Naruto leaning over him having shaken him out of his nightmares. He never asked what images were haunting his best friend, but the look on his face practically demanded an answer.
"Itachi." Always in a small whisper, never anything more. Once in a while, when echoes of his brother's cold voice and the sight of his parent's bodies behind his closed eyes prevented him from returning to sleep, the two of them would sit on the roof together and look out over the Uchiha compound.
"I get nightmares sometimes too, teme." That night the air was warm and heavy. The waning moon cast light on the two of them as it moved from behind a few stray clouds. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"I do! I always have. They've been coming less and less now though. I think it's 'cause I'm sleeping during the day. The sunlight chases them away or something." He grinned and scrunched up his nose.
"Hn." They sat watching the horizon for a long time. Sasuke tried not to think about the empty houses around them, the empty house they sat on. He was the only Uchiha left in a place that had once held many. He was the only Uchiha left anywhere, besides his murdering bastard of a brother. He sighed and picked at a scratch he had gotten earlier that day from training. The pain didn't distract him though, and quite suddenly the normally welcoming silence was becoming sinister. It felt like the oppresive stillness after Itachi had left him with the corpses of his entire family and he hadn't been able to fill it with sobs anymore. That terrible quiet would never leave him. He needed noise, anything to fill the empty void that was pulling him back into his memories. He looked toward Naruto.
"What do you dream about, dobe?" The blond looked over surprised.
"You mean my nightmares?" Sasuke shrugged. Naruto turned back toward the horizon.
"A lot of the time, I dream about being alone. But not just the regular kind of alone. I live with that when I'm awake. It's the kind of alone where I'm in the middle of the village and there are people everywhere, but they don't see me. They don't notice no matter what I do. I yell and scream and even try pushing them, but I never get a reaction. There are people I know there, Shikamaru, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei, Sakura, everybody. But no one can see me at all. They look right through me. It's like I'm invisible. I hate those dreams." He shook his head.
"Are they really that bad?"
"Yeah, they are. But recently they've gotten better." Sasuke waited for him to continue. A small blush appeared on his whiskered cheeks.
"Since you came back..." He paused before continuing more sure of himself, blush fading. "Since you came back, after everyone ignores me, and I can't take it anymore, I run down to the river. You're always there sitting on the dock. I run up behind you, and you turn around. You look at me, Sasuke. You can see me. You never talk at all. You just look at me for a second and then turn back around. Sometimes I just stay standing there, and you ignore me. Sometimes I sit down next to you, and you ignore me. And once, you patted the dock next to you when I didn't come right away. It doesn't matter that you never look at me or talk to me again because when you did, you saw me. And that makes the nightmares not so bad."
"Hn." There was a warm feeling in the Sharingan user's chest, and he chose to dismiss it. Naruto grinned again. They watched as the sun's rays started to lighten the sky. Slowly, the light spread as the sun rose. The moon and the stars and the blackness of the night faded away. Birds began singing in the trees around them; a soft wind finally broke the heavy stagnation of air that had hung around them all night. The blond jumped to his feet suddenly and put his hands on his hips in a very Gai-like pose.
"Today's gonna be a great day, teme! I can tell."
"Can you, usurakontachi?"
"Yeah."
"Hn."
"What time is it?"
"What's the matter, dobe? You don't know?"
"Damnit, teme! Just tell me!" Sasuke looked out at the horizon.
"I would say it's 5:45."
"Okay. You have fifteen minutes to get ready."
"Ready for what?"
"The jounin exam."
"What?" The brunette scrambled quickly to his feet.
"Your exam starts in fifteen minutes at the front gate. I was supposed to tell you when you had ten minutes to get there, but I'm giving you a head start."
"You let me stay up half the night knowing I had this exam? What were you thinking, dobe?" Sasuke fumed, his hands in fists at his sides.
"Whatever, teme. I know you better than anybody.You wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep anyway." The Uchiha hurried downstairs ignoring the blond. He was right. Sleep wouldn't have come no matter how hard he tried. He quickly dressed and packed his weapons and supplies. He was stopped from bursting through the front door by Naruto. They looked at each other for a moment.
"You're going to pass."
"I know." The blond placed a hand on his shoulder. Black eyes darted to it. They had never shared a comforting gesture like that before. He struggled to keep from squirming. Uchiha Sasuke did not squirm. He looked back to Naruto.
"I'll be here when you get back. We'll get some sushi or something since we're always eating ramen."
"Okay." He almost winced at the quietness of his voice. The grip on his shoulder tightened for a moment before pulling away.
"You're gonna be late." Sasuke smirked.
"Hn." And he was out the door.
When he arrived at the designated spot, he found a shock of silver hair and an obscured face leaning against a post staring down at a small orange book.
"You're three minutes early, Sasuke."
"You're on time for a change." The book snapped closed and disappeared into the man's green vest. His eye roved over the younger man. They hadn't really talked at all since his return. They looked at each other, and an awkward silence settled. Sasuke could feel the thoughts behind his appraising glare. Have you really changed at all? He wondered if his former teacher would ask out loud as well as how he would respond. More than you know. Their nonverbal exchange was inturrupted by the appearence of the other participants in the exam. Rock Lee showed up in a flurry of movement. He skidded to a stop in front of Kakashi.
"Ah, my sensei's eternal rival. I am glad to have such a capable jounin administering my exam." He turned quickly on his heel. "And Sasuke, I am glad to see you here as well!" The green clad teen gave him a big thumbs up and flashed a smile.
"Lee." He nodded in reply. Moments later a nearly breathless Hyuuga Hinata arrived as well.
"Hinata-san! Will you be joining us on this momentous step up to jounin?" She lifted her head from leaning over with her hands on her knees.
"Y-yes, Lee-san. Good morning Uchiha-san and Kakashi-san."
"Sasuke is fine." Kaskashi glanced over at him, his visible eye widened in surprise.
"Let's go." The older man darted out the gates, the three examees on his heels. They moved quickly for two hours before abruptly stopping in a clearing far from the village. Kaskashi sat down on a log. Lee and Hinata sat in front of him. Sasuke leaned on a tree nearby.
"This test is a mission," he began without preamble, "It is different than the missions you have been on before. It is A rank and requires that we eliminate a group of rouge ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Sand that have been terrorizing travelers recently. That doesn't mean capture. It means eliminate. At that time we will send out a message and stay with the bodies until a sand ninja comes to claim them." There was silence for a moment before the Copy Nin continued.
"In order to progress to the rank of Jounin, you must have the capability to destroy your enemies without hesitation. A ninja of this level must be able to kill." He looked at Hinata and Lee as he said this. " There is a possibility that all of you will pass or none of you. Last year only one of the examees made it." His gaze turned to Sasuke. "His team was in danger, so he destroyed the enemy. All thirty of them. By himself."
Sasuke felt his chest tighten. Images of Konoha's newest jounin flashed in his mind. I didn't want you to see me like that. He imagined a feral look on his face, blue eyes turned red, Kyuubi's chakra flaring around him, around the corpses that lay before him. The empty smile he wore that night, the eyes he couldn't read before suddenly were very clear. I took many lives today. Sasuke's fingers fluttered to his shoulder where Naruto's hand had been. You're going to pass. He knew he would. All he had to do was kill someone.
A/N: Okay. Please shoot me a review and tell me what you think. I'm still in search of a beta...