Here's another chapter. I hope you enjoy it because I worked on my ass for 5 god damn hours to produce the two chapters.

Disclaimer: the usual...bla...bla...bla...

6

"Kuso!"

Sasuke glared down at his palm, where yet another painful blister had burst. He wiped his sleeve across his sweaty forehead and cast a hate-filled glance toward the scorching sun.

Sasuke cursed at his own undoing. He should not have said anything about not wanting to get a meal without working for it. Stupid pride! Stupid Naruto for taking the chance and now Sasuke was working his ass off like a slave. His back ached, his arms ached, his legs, feet, his hand – it seemed he had more aches and pains than he had places to put them. God, he hated Naruto for everything bad that had happened to him.

Naruto…He looked for him and found him on the forecastle (fo'c's'le). Stripped to the waist, his body bronzed and gleaming with sweat, he was a splendid…specimen for observation. Sasuke couldn't help admiring him.

"Damn him!" he muttered. "I knew dressing as a girl would damaged my head one of this days." Though he reminded himself that he hated the blonde, it seemed he could never quite force his eyes away one they'd found him.

"Get back to work, Fujiwara," came the shouted order from Naruto, "or there'll be no supper for you."

"Like I'm going to regret that," Sasuke scowled ferociously. It was true too, since the cook is out of commissioned due to a coughing fit and both Haku and Iruka replaced him. They might have a talent with needlework (Iruka; sewing and patching up injuries, while Haku was good at it as weapons) they both sucked at cooking.

"Smug bastard. He's so full of himself." Sasuke growled. "Who does he think himself? God? The son of a whore probably has a small…" He plunged his brush back into the bucket, the soapy water bathed his freshly broken blister. "Fucking hellfire!"

"What's wrong, Sasuki-chan?"

He looked up to find Iruka standing beside him with concern written all over his face. The man squatted down.

"Let me see."

Sasuke held back the glare he might bestow on someone else. To the ship's doctor alone he gave his genuine, if grudging, respect, for he tried to save his brother's life. He owed him a debt of gratitude. The boy held out his hands.

Iruka took one hand and examined it.

"I'll give you a salve for them," he told the pale boy. "These mustn't get infected."

"It wouldn't make a difference," he answered bitterly as he pulled his hands away. "I'll just get more of these."

"I guess you're right," Iruka sighed. "I honestly didn't know what Naruto's thinking setting a girl to a sailor's task; a recently recovered girl at that too. I'll have another word with him."

Sasuke just stay quiet. Sensing unease, Iruka just smile. "You really should express yourself more you know. Bottling up your emotions isn't good."

Still no response from Sasuke. Iruka sighed in defeat.

If I give you the salve, will you put it on at night?"

If it had been anyone else Sasuke would have told him where to stick his salve in, along with the compassion in his eyes. In the end he just nodded in agreement.

"Good," the taller man said as he stood up and walked away.

Sasuke ventured one last look toward Naruto. He had turned away, talking to his brother whose hands Sasuke noticed were protected from the salty air by gloves of the finest skinned kid. Sasuke's eyes narrowed with resentment. The pampered little bastard probably never seen anything vulgar as a blister, let alone had one of his own.

An emotion that was equal parts jealousy and resentment welled in Sasuke's chest. As he tore away his gaze from the other boy, an unwelcome pang of guilt came. On more than one occasion the Uzumaki Kyusuke had tried to extend a hand of friendship but Sasuke had made it clear that he meant to do his duties and had no interest in befriending anyone. Especially the captain's brother.

His rejection didn't seem to deter the other boy, in fact, it just made him more persistent. Truthfully Sasuke wished he could be a friend with Kyu. By making friends with Naruto's brother, he could learn something if what his mother had been like and know perhaps, what he himself might have been like had his father not prevented his mother from completing her journey to the New Village of Konoha and the man who was to have been her husband.

But being friendly with Kyu was a risk Sasuke could not afford to take. There was a thin thread between a friend and a confidante. He might grew too friendly with Kyu and betray himself in the process. Then what would become of him?

It was not the whole truth, he admitted. He didn't want to lie awake and wonder what it would have been like to be the son of some great and respected planter rather than the 'sister' of a feared and dreaded pirate. Granted, life had been more exciting and adventurous on Hell's Peak Island but it was also filled with fear and the ever-present danger of discovery. Even though his love for his brother never wavered, there lay a small amount of resentment for what had been taken away from him in return for his life.

"Sasuki?"

He started, dropping the brush. He had been to deep in his thoughts that he didn't sense Naruto's approaching presence. As Naruto squatted down beside him, Sasuke could smell the musky and refreshing aroma that reminded Sasuke of the forest. Against his will, he remembered the dreams he had of a certain blonde in the recent nights. Sasuke involuntarily blushed.

His finger itched to touch those muscles, felling his throat tightening and his heart throbbing madly. He closed his eyes against those confusing emotions whirling inside him. What the hell is happening to him? And why the hell did it have to be Naruto who was able to bring these things alive in him?

Naruto was continuing: "Iruka-sensei tells me you should keep your hands dry and do lighter work until your blisters heal."

Sasuke would not, could not meet his azure gaze. "Iruka-sensei worries like an old woman."

"I could find another task for you to do in the meantime."

"Whatever. You'll just have another excuse to accuse me of being a lazy bum."

Naruto sighed. The girl sorely tried his patience. He would gladly let the girl sail on the ship without doing any tasks but he cannot help but try to punish that stubborn streak in that dark head. He looked at Sasuke who stare out over the gentle sea, expressionless except for the jaws that were set stubbornly.

Those flawless smooth cheeks reminded him of Itachi's, his skin glowed in the same pale color not even the sun can burn. Naruto was strongly reminded of the celestial night every time he gazed into the black pools. Then there were those lips: red and small, probably still innocent and so damned kissable. If he could just…

"What are you looking at dobe?" Sasuke demanded peevishly. Naruto's minute examination was making him uncomfortable.

Naruto came back to reality with a start. A dark flush spread beneath his golden skin.

"Watch your tongue!" he snarled, rising to tower over the boy. "Go below and see to my cabin. And keep your hands dry. I don't want you dying on infection and marred my ship's perfect record."

Sasuke thrust himself on his feet and stormed off. "Bastard!" he growled.

Naruto watched him go. Unbidden, his eyes lingered on the slight sways of Sasuke's narrow hips. An unwelcoming realization stirred hotly in his loins.

What the hell is happening to him? Sure he had gone out and had desired both men and women alike but never innocents.

He shook his head. He's been at sea for a long time and he had never had the time to relief his…sexual tension.

Just then Kyu and Haku appeared from the back parts of the ship. Kyu was panting really badly. Apparently Kyu had just finished his one of his daily training with Haku. From the looks of it, it had been a grueling one for Kyu.

Naruto's azure eyes skimmed admiringly over the raven-haired beauty beside his brother. The feelings he had the moment before came flooding back with vengeance, his grin was one of pure relief.

"I'm just away at sea too long, that was all," he mused to himself. His eyes began to venture anew.

Haku, Naruto noted always wear plain clothing, his hair tied in a bun except for the two side bangs, but he is still a pretty man. Prettier than most girls he met and known. Maybe except Sasuki. Even Naruto had to admit that fact even if grudgingly.

"Hmmm…" Maybe it is time to get more acquainted with Haku." (A/N: Oooh you perv!)

Below deck, in a large comfortable cabin Sasuke was straightening up any objects that were out of place (or things that seemed out of place to him). There was little to do since Naruto had a habit to keep his surrounding neat. The only thing Sasuke did was to make the bed again and again until he was sure there wasn't even a tiny crease.

The working table was next as his conquest. While doing so he accidentally knocked over a delicate, elegant, gilded frame holding the picture of the woman the 'Sakura' was named after.

Haruno Sakura… Eyes narrowed, Sasuke pursed his lips in displeasure. Sakura…Naruto's fiancée. No, not yet his fiancée, Sasuke reminded himself. Naruto said that he loved her and wanted to marry her. Kyu told him that Sakura was the prize of a friendly rivalry between Naruto and his best friend, Hyuuga Neji.

Sasuke shook his head. Those two must be brain-damaged to compete for her.

"She has a gigantic forehead for God's sake." He muttered. "And that pink hair must be fake. Even from the picture she looked like a whiny bitch!"

Sasuke sank onto the chair. On one occasion, during which he was cleaning the cabin with Naruto present, he saw Naruto gazing intently onto the picture. The look Sasuke saw in Naruto's eyes disquieted him. Naruto was in love with her. Or at least deeply infatuated with her. For two whole long hours Sasuke listened to Naruto spoke of Sakura's beauty and her desirability as a woman. This somehow disheartened Sasuke, making him more confused.

The thought of Naruto returning to Sakura tore at his heart. The prospect of Naruto wooing her was agonizing.

Sasuke wondered what it would be like to be pursued by a man like Naruto. He wondered what Hyuuga Neji looked like. Handsome? But no, nobody could be more handsome than Naruto!

"Chikusou!" He threw the picture on the table. Thankfully it landed softly on a stack of papers, if it didn't, it would have broke and Sasuke would face Naruto's wrath. But he didn't care for that right now. "Damn it! Damn her! Damn them all! I wish I was still in Hell's Peak."

Sasuke threw himself on the bed and allowed himself the luxury of tears. He had been crying a great deal lately. As a principle he never much before but right now his world was already tumbling down.

Not once had he regretted in being raised as a girl. Not once; until he met Naruto that is.

"I hate him!" he screamed into Naruto's pillow.

Still he reached toward the bottle of Naruto's cologne on the table. He uncorked it and inhaled it beneath his nose.

The bottle tipped from his hands made clumsy by the painful blisters. Then a drop of it came in contact with Sasuke's rawest blister causing the boy to drop the bottle in reflex.

Sasuke managed to save half of the bottle's contents while the rest had drenched his clothes. Naruto is going to find about the spill and there'll be hell to pay. Painfully he put the bottle back on the table.

He looked at the damaged done.

"Kuso!" he swore. "I smell like a cheap whore!"

He took off his kimono (A/N: Gaara didn't pack any other dress beside Kimonos) and threw it in a basin full with water. Damn! Now he has to wear one of Naruto's shirts and trousers. God, he'll look like…

His skin was soaked with the cologne, he reeked of it. Just how in the hell, he wondered, that Naruto smell good in it and stink on him? Maybe as a rule, Naruto never splashed himself to half of the bottle's contents. His nose wrinkled with displeasure.

So absorbed was he with the smell that he didn't notice the footsteps echoing outside the door. The door opened and Uzumaki Kyusuke had no idea that discovery of one of the greatest secret was at hand.

"Sasuki-chan, would you be a darling and help me…" Kyu trailed off as he gawked at the naked boy in front of him.

Sasuke's hands had instinctively tried to cover his secret but it was too late. Kyu had seen, but he still couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Sasuki…you…you…" he sputtered, unable to force the words out. "Sasuki! You're a boy!"