Chapter 6

Sasuke had been knocked unconscious but seemed to have suffered no injuries. He awoke with a moan to find Sakura leaning over him, her hand glowing a light blue. Apparently she'd used some sort of medical jutsu to wake him up. "Oh, Sasuke-chan, are you alright?" She asked frantically.

Sasuke moaned and nodded as he sat up. "I'm ok. I just didn't want you to hurt Naruto-kun." He smiled over at Naruto who stood on his other side. "He didn't do anything and you were being mean and trying to hurt him!"

Sakura glanced worriedly at Naruto and then back to Sasuke. "It's all right now. I won't hurt him. I promise."

"Thanks, kid," Naruto said, patting Sasuke's shoulder. "You may well have just saved my life!"

Sasuke smiled widely and Sakura glared over at Naruto. He could tell that she wasn't through with him. For the moment however, she was more worried about Sasuke than anything else. She helped the boy to his feet and together she and Naruto helped him to Naruto's house. "I'm tired," He said with a yawn when they got there.

Sakura and Naruto showed him to the bed and tucked him in. It would have been a strange sight for anyone who didn't know the situation; two full-fledged ninja tucking their teammate—who was the same age as them—into bed. Naruto handed Sasuke a teddy bear and Sakura kissed Sasuke's forehead. "Sleep well, Sasuke-chan." She whispered before leaving the room. Naruto followed quickly after her, not wanting Sasuke to change his mind and ask to play.

"It's about time he went to sleep." Naruto groaned. "That's the first time I've seen him sleep since he got here yesterday!"

"You're kidding, right?" Sakura asked in shock.

"Not at all." Naruto informed her. "But now that he's asleep, I'm making myself some Ramen and then going to sleep myself."

Sakura shook her head. "You're crazy." She stated. She walked to the door and stepped outside. "I'm beat. I'm going to go home and sleep as well. Bring him by to see me tomorrow, ok?"

Naruto nodded but was already too preoccupied with making Ramen to care. "Bye Sakura!" He called. He looked at his watch. The three minute wait had just begun.

When Naruto awoke the next morning he promptly checked in on Sasuke. The Uchiha boy was still asleep. Naruto grinned and decided that he'd have time to go to the Ichiraku Ramen shop for some breakfast before he began another tiresome day. He didn't think to call anyone to watch Sasuke while he was gone, just in case.

Shortly after he left, Sasuke awoke. "Naruto-kun?" He called. "Naruto-kun, I'm hungry!"

Sasuke searched the entire house, but found no Naruto. In a panic, he ran out onto the street screaming Naruto's name frantically. He didn't get far when Kakashi found him and asked what was wrong. Sasuke promptly informed him that Naruto was gone and he was worried that Sakura might have killed him even though she'd promised not to. Kakashi assured him that Naruto was undoubtedly fine and offered to help the boy find him.

As they walked along Sasuke found a frog. "I should give this to Naruto-kun!" He exclaimed. "He spent a lot of time yesterday trying to make one so maybe he won't have to work so hard now!"

Kakashi chuckled and decided not to tell the boy that Naruto's summonings were completely different from the usual frog. That would ruin his fun. "Yes, you do that." Kakashi laughed. Then he pointed to a shop up ahead labeled, 'Ichiraku Ramen.' "Look, we're almost there!"

"There he is, Kakashi-sensei!" Sasuke whispered giddily to the jounin beside him. He pointed wildly at Naruto as the boy ordered his third bowl of noodles. "Are you ready? Can you distract him for me, sensei?"

Kakashi nodded to his now-mentally-five student and stepped into the ramen shop. "Ohayo Gozaimasu, Naruto-kun." He called as he took a seat beside the orange clad boy. Sasuke followed closely on his heels and sat down on the opposite side of Naruto, waving at his teammate excitedly.

Naruto looked at the two of them in turn, finally settling his eyes on Kakashi. "What do you want? Can't you see that I'm eating?" He asked in annoyance. "And don't tell me that I need to eat more vegetables again…or that I need to watch him."

"No, no, not at all. Not a vegetable in sight" Kakashi laughed, raising his hands to show that he'd brought nothing even remotely close to a vegetable. Then he pointed to Sasuke. The Uchiha boy suddenly sat up straight and grinned innocently at Naruto. Kakashi laughed again. "But I'm afraid I did come to ask you to watch him. I have to leave the village for the day."

"Nani?!" Naruto cried. His face immediately melted into a pout and he crossed his arms in defiance. "Why can't Sakura do it again? I need to train and I can't have him around to distract me."

"Because, Naruto," Kakashi responded, suddenly becoming serious. "Sakura still isn't mentally prepared after what happened yesterday, what with the book and then Sasuke running off and all. She'll be by to help you later."

Naruto continued to pout and turned back to his ramen. He picked up his chopsticks and was just about to take a bite when he shrieked and fell backwards off his chair. Sasuke snickered, trying to hide the sound by placing his hands over his mouth. "You brat!" Naruto yelled as he jumped back to his feet to point an accusing finger at Sasuke. "You put that there, didn't you?!"

His finger whisked away from Sasuke, stopping on the bowl of ramen where a small frog was detangling itself from the noodles. Sasuke's eyes grew large and innocent and he smiled up at Naruto. "I knew you liked frogs," He said as he reached to pick up the creature, nudging the last of the noodles from its hind legs. "I watched you trying to summon them yesterday so I went and found you one to save you the trouble!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at Sasuke. "Baka," He grumbled. "I'm not trying to get that sort of frog."

Sasuke's lower lip quivered slightly and he turned his gaze pleadingly to Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei," He whimpered. "Naruto-kun is being mean to me! I was only trying to help and he called me a baka!"

"Now, now, Sasuke." Kakashi soothed. "I'm sure he didn't mean it in a bad way. Naruto-kun doesn't always act the way he should. I'm sure if you ask him nicely he'll stop being mean."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched and Kakashi glared at him in a 'you'd better be nice to him or else' sort of way. Naruto finally sighed heavily. "You'd better buy me a bowl of Ramen after all this." He grumbled. He shuffled out of the Ramen shop, dragging Sasuke along with him. He'd forgotten to pay, so with a sigh, Kakashi covered for him. It was the least he could do.

Naruto shuffled down the street, Sasuke trailing behind him in complete boredom. "Where are we going, Naruto-kun. I'm really bored. Are you taking me to see that scary Sakura girl again? I'm hungry. Can we go back to your house and eat now? Oh, oh! How about we go do something fun like swimming. I want to go swimming now. Are you listening to me Naruto-kun? I said I wanted to—Naruto-kun?" He leapt in front of Naruto and crossed his arms. "You weren't even listening to me, were you?"

"Huh? Did you say something?" Naruto asked, breaking out of whatever dream world he'd been in. Sasuke glared at him for several moments and then turned on his heel and ran down the street. Naruto sighed. "Here we go again…Get back here you little twerp!"