Disclaimer: No legal claim to Naruto, not making profit through this.
Basics: PG13/T, General/Romance, Canon, 7/100
Warnings: Profanity, boy x boy love (notes: mild profanity, boy x boy very lightly implied)
Word count: 308
Theme: my reason to smile (524)

Author's note: 1000!theme challenge from Mint Pizza Queen. Organized into 10 fics, 100 ch each. They're loosely related, held together by an umbrella theme of love and life.

x. my reason to smile

One moment he was firmly tightening his hands' grip on Sai's shoulders, the next moment, he was pushing himself off the brunet and stumbling backwards, and then it was his ass to the grass. Sai sat up from his previously pinned position to look at the blond teenager. With concern. And Naruto noticed and felt another tiny part of his heart warm up.

"Are you… okay?" Sai inquired, slightly uncertain.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Naruto waved a hand, as if to brush it off.

"Then…"

"Oh, I dunno. Just didn't feel like it, I guess," the blond shrugged. Actually, the heat of battle-rage that they simulated during training had just abruptly fled him, drained from his blood. Something blossomed inside him, expanded, and Naruto could just feel everything meld into one feeling or else melt away. Closing his eyes, the blond added, "Plus, I coulda killed you half dozen ways when I pinned ya."

Sai made an indistinct noise in this throat. Perhaps a hum, Naruto thought.

Naruto smiled. A real, genuine smile, Sai observed. Or at least, he was fairly sure it was genuine. Fake-smilers could usually tell- took one to know one, they say.

"Why do you smile… like that?" Sai heard himself asking. Not what he wanted to ask, not precisely. 'Why do you smile like that when it's just me here?' He dared not hope that it could be for him.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I uh. Well. It just hit me that even with… the bastard gone and Konohagakure always being on red alert and everything… I think everything's going to be okay." It was going to be damn hard, Naruto acknowledged silently, but it was going to be okay.

Then Naruto pointed out something that Sai hadn't really noticed.

"And hey, Sai. You're smiling too."