Warnings: Nothing much for this chapter
Disclaimer: Characters are property of a certain Masashi Kishimoto, I'm just borrowing them.
A/N: Again, I can't thank you enough for the reviews! They really make my day every time and keep me going ~ (and thank you for the reviews on Pick me up as well! I'm glad you enjoyed that story too)
But off to other things. This fic is keeping me insanely motivated. It's crazy, actually, because I've never been a fast writer, and yesterday I wrote over 5,000 words of this chapter. And I just feel like writing more and more. I'm sorry if the plot isn't moving on all that fast, but I promise something will start happening soon. See you in a few again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well~
As for the song Naruto plays in the end, I didn't have anything clear in mind when I wrote it but now I think "Oh Shenandoah" might be the song. Or at least something similar to that. You might wanna listen to it.
Oh, and hey, if you have any ideas for what I should write for the NaruSasu day, please tell me. I'm kinda lacking a good idea and the time is running out again :'D
For Didi
"Oh, by the way. We have a new companion."
Sometimes Naruto just wanted to punch that smirk off Sasuke's face. That bastard just couldn't be any more arrogant and cocky, now could he? He had dropped those lines soon after the little episode with the gun, and then refused to tell Naruto anything more, hinting that much but never going into details seemed to give him some kind of twisted pleasure. It was almost as if Sasuke just enjoyed riling him up.
Then again, Naruto was pretty sure that was exactly the truth.
The dark-haired man had also refused to tell anything more about the gun he had with him and the new clothes, he had just waved his hand to dismiss all the questions, briefly muttering something about Rattlesnake. That, of course, had again alerted Naruto, making him briefly think that Rattlesnake had somehow come back to life and followed them just to give Sasuke a gun. It was a stupid idea and he knew it, but then again, his mind often worked funny ways.
After a quick lunch Naruto had finally pulled himself together and demanded Sasuke to hand over the gun when he obviously couldn't use it at all. Honestly, how could he know how to use a gun when Naruto was sure he hadn't been let close to them during all his time with Rattlesnake.
Sasuke scoffed, looking at Naruto as if the blonde had something wrong with his head.
"What makes you think I can't shoot?" he asked scornfully, securing the belt around his hips. The revolver was resting in it's holster and looking rather innocent and peaceful, but Naruto could still remember the shock of seeing the barrel right in front of his face.
His golden brows knit together and he tugged the scarf over his face again, not wanting to be recognized. They were leaving already, Sasuke had refused to listen to any of his protests and all the questions about his legs were ignored blatantly, and it was better to leave a town as a stranger. There wasn't too many nights ride to Leaf Creek left anyway and Naruto was already looking forward to sleeping under an open sky. Watching the stars always helped him relax.
"Well, you obviously haven't had much time to practice, you were dancing and all that..." Naruto's voice trailed off as he realized how stupid he actually sounded.
And just when he was about to correct his words, Sasuke voiced his thoughts with the most condescending tone.
"Do you think all I did there was dancing?" The raven shook his head and picked up his pace, heading to the stables.
Naruto felt his temper immediately flare, Sasuke's arrogance starting to slowly really get to him. He was getting tired of listening to the other's shit all the time, he had done his best to help the man and all Sasuke did was mocking him and trying to make him feel stupid.
"Of course not!" he snapped, hurrying to keep up with Sasuke. Where was the man running anyway, they weren't in a hurry to get anywhere!
"I just thought... Did Rattlesnake really let you have a gun?"
Naruto almost bumped into Sasuke's back, so unexpected was his sudden stop. They were almost at the stables already, the bounty hunter noticed, but it did a little to help his mood. He felt bad for Whirl already, having to make the poor horse carry that princess again.
"It's not", Sasuke began, his voice sounding weird to Naruto's ears,"that he let me have a gun. I had other... sources for such things. I'm not as helpless as you seem to think." His shoulders rose and fell again with a sigh and Naruto found himself staring at the dark spikes of hair again as they gently swayed in the light wind.
"And don't worry about that horse. I said we have a new companion, didn't I?"
With that, Sasuke was moving again, and as Naruto watched he stepped into the stable, leaving the blonde standing outside. In all honesty he just felt like banging his head to the board wall, the frustration accumulating and making his fists clench, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. Regardless of what Sasuke had just said and how he now acted most of the time, Naruto knew, he just knew that the raven wasn't that strong and that there was still something bothering him. Something wasn't right and he couldn't get over the feeling, and it was that premonition that held him back from bursting and taking it all out on Sasuke.
And besides, even if he did know how to pull the trigger, there was no way Sasuke would be any good if it came down to a fist fight. It would be like beating up a woman.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Naruto stomped his foot once before reluctantly following Sasuke into the building, carrying the necessary stuff with him.
This time, something definitely had changed. Now there was a new horse in the stall next to Whirl's, and right there with the horse stood Sasuke, attempting to bridle the resisting animal. Naruto stood silent, watching the man fight the horse, and it brought him great satisfaction to see that the horse was winning. It kept lifting its head so high in the air that Sasuke had no chance of reaching its muzzle, and the current situation seemed to annoy the raven to no end.
Clearing his throat Naruto took a step closer, schooling his featured into a neutral look. He was sure his laughter shone through his eyes, though, but lucky for him Sasuke refused to look his way, still trying to force the horse to obey him.
"Could I give you a hand?" Naruto asked as innocently as he could, his voice shaking lightly as he walked still closer, leaving all his stuff next to Whirl's stall.
Sasuke shot a murderous glare at him before hissing 'No!' between his teeth. For the horse, however, that little moment of distraction was enough. Gracefully the animal took a step to the side and Sasuke found himself squeezed between the stall's wall and the horse. Swearing out loud the raven attempted to push the animal away, the crushing intent clear in the large eyes that stared at him from a long head.
It started as a small, barely audible snicker. But when that was out, the sound grew louder and louder, finally drawing Sasuke's attention, until Naruto was starting to turn blue from holding his laughter in so he wouldn't scare the horses. He bit his hand, staring at Sasuke with wide eyes that laughed shamelessly at him, and finally he grabbed a blanket that was neatly folded on the top of one saddlebag on the floor, and pressed it against his mouth as he practically howled with laughter.
It was too much. It was just too much, seeing the arrogant I-can-do-everything-I-want bastard being fought off by a mere horse and then crushed to the wall, his dark eyes staring at Naruto with that look that should've scared him shitless but that was now just hilarious when the raven couldn't move an inch until the horse let him.
Apparently confused with the weird sound behind its back, the new horse was the first to give up and step aside. Not having expected such a thing Sasuke almost collapsed to the floor, his eyes glistening with anger as he glared at Naruto, only resulting in one more burst of laugh from the blonde. Scoffing as if he was actually hurt by such childish behavior, Sasuke turned back to the horse's head and grabbed the bristle from the floor. There was no way he'd give up the fight after making such a fool out of himself.
Ten minutes later Sasuke still had made no progress while Naruto had Whirl saddled and ready to go, the horse stepping impatiently in his stall. The latter man had secretly hoped that the raven would swallow his pride for once and use him as an example of how to bridle a horse, but that bastard had just turned his back on him and sworn under his breath in language Naruto was sure wasn't English.
His curiosity poked, the blue-eyed man left Whirl in his stall and walked over to Sasuke, keeping as much distance as he could to the dark horse that was apparently cradling some unfriendly thoughts in its head.
"What did you say?" he asked, trying to keep his tone conversational. Sasuke refused to look at him still, the dark eyes narrowing at the words.
"Nothing much." The pale hands were gripping the dark mane, trying to drag the horse's head down with force, without any success.
Naruto let out a heavy sighed as he watched the struggle, feeling like he should do something but not knowing what he could say without pissing Sasuke off again. Thoughtfully he reached forward and patted the horse, stepping immediately backward as he saw a hind leg raising from the ground and preparing to kick. Slightly bitter, Naruto couldn't help thinking that at least Sasuke had chosen a horse that matched his character.
However, he wasn't ready to drop the previous subject yet. Stepping closer to Sasuke, the blonde cleared his throat and reached to poke the other's back.
"No, I meant that language. What was it?"
Sasuke still remained silent for a while until another curse escaped his lips when the horse tried to knock him off balance.
"Spanish. I'm trying to... Damn it, stay still you ass... Her name is Rayo, so I figured she might respond to Spanish better..."
It was Naruto's turn to keep quiet, but this time it was from surprise. He stared at Sasuke, watching the man getting more and more frustrated with the mare, and tried to understand why it surprised him so much that Sasuke knew Spanish. It wasn't an uncommon language here and he should've guessed that Sasuke's only hidden skill wasn't shooting. Yet he just couldn't hide his surprise.
"You speak Spanish?" That was all Naruto got out, but before he had a chance to demand a response, Sasuke let out an odd, triumphant grunt and within seconds he had secured the bridle. Rayo shifted again restlessly, glaring daggers at both men and looking like she was preparing to crush one of them to the stall wall again.
Sasuke's hand came up like a snake, startling the horse, and grabbed the reins right below the bit, answering the mare's glare with an equal one.
"Ya no mas, chica, stop that. You're going to be stuck with me for a while so you'd better start behaving...", he growled, staring the horse in the eye. For a moment neither of them moved, but finally Rayo let out a puff and stilled.
Naruto watched Sasuke's shoulders relax a little and he shook his head. Perhaps if he said something like that to Sasuke, the raven would start behaving and stop being so damn grumpy all the time. Now just wasn't the time to dwell in such thoughts and Naruto pushed them aside, patting the other on the shoulder.
"Let's go, then?"
In less than fifteen minutes they were out of the town. During those minutes, though, Sasuke had been thrown to the ground twice, frustrating him to the point where he had decided to walk the horse until they were out of townspeople's sight. To his honor it had to be said that he hadn't let go of the reins one single time, even when his body had collided with the hard ground a couple of times. Rayo had looked rather upset about that, trying to tug the reins free to run away, but Sasuke had kept his hold and eventually the mare had stopped resisting.
Well, maybe she wasn't entirely calm as she walked forward next to Whirl and clacking her teeth at the brown animal every once in a while, but at least she wasn't attempting to buck off her rider with every chance she got.
"So... How come you can speak Spanish?" Naruto attempted to strike up a conversation. The silence bothered him, and as grateful as he was for being able to ride alone again he couldn't help worrying about Sasuke's legs. How much worse would they get before the night?
"And where did you get money for a horse anyway?"
An impatient look crossed Sasuke's face and he made an attempt to relax, immediately rewarded with an irritated sidestep by his mount. The young man reached for the rim of his hat and adjusted it a little before shrugging nonchalantly.
"He did lots of business with Spanish-speaking people, I had to learn", the raven answered shortly, adjusting his hold of the reins. He had a water bottle near now and every now and then he took a sip, not wanting to faint on Naruto again.
Naruto nodded, waiting for him to continue, but when the silence stretched out he glanced at Sasuke, just to see him closing his water bottle again. His lips were still glistening with the liquid and Naruto unconsciously licked his own.
"Not that it's any of your business."
Sasuke's harsh words brought another frown to Naruto's face but he decided not to say anything, seeing that Sasuke was going to continue.
"But I did have some money saved."
Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep from asking where he'd gotten it. He didn't want to know, really.
They fell into uncomfortable silence again, neither wanting to voice their thoughts. The constant fighting was starting to really get to Naruto, even if he did quite enjoy pissing Sasuke off. But to argue all the fucking time as if Sasuke really hated him, it was different to just annoying the other and then continuing their journey in good spirits.
Letting out an irritable sigh Naruto gave his companion another glance, trying to stealthily find out if Sasuke's legs hurt. Much to his surprise the raven didn't look half as uncomfortable he had expected. Sure, he winced every now and then when Rayo took a sidestep or two, but other than that he looked almost too relaxed, as if he had been born to saddle. Perhaps it resulted from the male's background as a dancer, but he moved really gracefully with the horse, not letting the mare surprise him even once anymore now that he had gained some of his confidence back. Of course there was still lots of clumsiness and unnecessary moving, but basically Sasuke was doing very well.
Grinning inwardly Naruto decided that Sasuke's choice of horse had indeed been perfect.
The bounty hunter realized he'd been staring a bit too long when the said raven turned to look at him, his eyes indifferent. Slowly the annoyingly graceful brows arched, as if asking what Naruto had in mind. He didn't look angry, a remark that made the blonde almost sigh in relief, but instead of sighing he just grinned.
"You ride pretty well. Did you have a chance to practice that too at Rattlesnake's?"
The way Sasuke tensed for a moment made Naruto afraid that he might've asked the wrong question, but as soon as Rayo noticed the change and started stepping nervously the raven relaxed again.
"No."
He brushed dark strands away from his face and pressed his legs tighter against the mare's barrel, Rayo immediately picking up speed.
"But I used to. Before I... went to live with the Snake." Sasuke's voice sounded distant and Naruto couldn't help feeling left out. He knew, however, that he shouldn't ask anything more.
Being him, it would've been a disappointment if he didn't.
"Oh? And how long ago was that?"
Sasuke gave him a dark glare.
"You don't need to-"
Frustrated, Naruto threw his hands in the air, his smile completely disappeared again.
"Fine, bastard! Keep your secrets! I just... I'm just curious, okay? So stop acting like I'm going to turn everything you say against you."
To be honest, Naruto wasn't half as angry as he was pretending to be, he just wanted to see Sasuke's forehead wrinkle as he frowned and he wanted... He wanted a real reaction. Not a snappy remark about how he was asking the wrong question, no, he wanted to see something else. And if he had to get angry to see it, he would.
"And now, because you're such a perfect rider already, let's put your skills to a test..."
Naruto would've never done it if he hadn't believed Sasuke could get through it, he wasn't mean like that. But because the raven seemed so comfortable in saddle, Naruto didn't hesitate as he let out a loud yell that was probably meant to resemble a war cry of the Indians. Whirl picked up his pace immediately, his hooves stomping the ground with the fast gallop, and Naruto didn't have to look back to check if Sasuke was following. He had heard the shocked yelp from the raven's direction and he had the feeling Rayo was not only stubborn, but also extremely competitive.
Very extremely competitive as it appeared.
Naruto had barely adjusted to the new tempo when something dark flashed past them, leaving only a cloud of dust in its wake. The blonde blinked and quickly tugged the scarf to protect his mouth from the dust, trying to focus on the horse and its rider in front of him. Well, at least Sasuke hadn't fallen off.
"Damn it... Hurry up, boy!"
Not needing anything more, Whirl sprinted on, determined to catch the mare that was dashing uncontrollably forward. From here Naruto couldn't see it clearly, but he had the feeling Sasuke was just clinging to the saddle and trying not to fall.
Oh well. The man grinned wildly, letting out another yell. Adrenaline rushed through his body and at that moment, he wouldn't have cared if that was their last day together and Sasuke would never spill his guts to him.
And besides, if the raven didn't fall off, they could have a good laugh about this later.
Sasuke had managed to cling to the saddle after all, but as predicted he hadn't been able to stop Rayo anytime soon. The mare hadn't even let Naruto close enough to grab the reins, so the blonde had just settled to following them until the dark horse was exhausted enough to slow down. With the amount of equipment they were carrying, it was a small wonder that nothing had fallen off. Naruto had apparently done good job with tying everything to the saddle.
After that, the blonde had had his laugh but Sasuke not so much; the raven had refused to give him a word, not even a single glance was spared to his direction as Sasuke tried to relax in the saddle. Naruto couldn't help a tiny pinch of guilt as he noticed how the raven tried to keep his legs away from the saddle, a look of pain crossing the sharp features briefly. Perhaps it had been a bit too much, after all.
For once, Naruto's memory had served him right, and in the late afternoon they arrived at a small river. It was somehow solemn-looking as it meandered through the prairie, trees and bushes bordering both banks, and even if it wasn't marked in any way Naruto knew that there was a bank that could be used for crossing the river just half a mile downriver. He had planned to go over to the other side tonight, but seeing as exhausted both Sasuke and his mount were, he couldn't bring himself to suggest moving on.
"We're staying here for the night", he announced and let Whirl stop before he dismounted and dropped the reins to the ground. Naruto didn't dare to look as he heard Sasuke slowly getting down, and a muffled thud signalized that the raven had most likely fallen down. Much to his luck, Rayo appeared too tired to run off.
Walking Whirl to the shade under the trees near the river, Naruto heard Sasuke follow him, Rayo huffing and puffing as if displeased about something. She probably was, though, the only thing Naruto had seen her like was running like mad; other than that the mare looked just as annoyed with everything as her new owner.
"We're putting up a camp here. Give her to me and go gather some firewood so we can make a fire." Naruto held out his hand to Sasuke's direction, expecting to get the reins, but nothing happened. After a moment of waiting, the man turned around, to meet Sasuke's slightly disapproving gaze.
"What?" he asked, confused, not even trying to guess what was going on inside Sasuke's head.
"I... Firewood?" The raven looked honestly surprised, and he slowly handed over the reins to Naruto, looking around.
"You expect me to go gather something from there?" He pointed at the trees, his eyes turning slightly nervous as he glanced down at the bushes.
A frown crossed Naruto's face as he turned to look at the same direction, expecting to see at least an Indian lurking in the shadows. Seeing nothing, he turned to Sasuke again, ignoring Rayo's impatient nudging.
"What's wrong with that? They're just trees."
Sasuke looked even more uneasy, the emotion showing through even though he was trying to hide it.
"Nothing, I just... Whatever." He shrugged and turned around, walking oddly with his legs spread.
Naruto would've chuckled at the sight had he not been pitying the raven.
He had started whistling again as he took off the saddles from both horses and tied Rayo to a tree that was a bit separated from the rest. The ground was clear here so it was easy to make sure there was no snakes or anything else near it. Whirl was left free, and immediately the horse wandered a bit further, starting to nibble at the grass on the ground. Near rivers it was always greener and apparently more tasty.
Naruto had just put the second saddle down and started looking around for some larger rocks to use for the fire when he heard someone approaching. Quickly he glanced up, hand already on his gun, just to see Sasuke staring at him with around fifteen sticks in his hands.
"What is it?" Naruto asked, concern lacing his voice. Perhaps Sasuke was not feeling good? He did look rather odd again.
"I'm done." The finality in Sasuke's tone caught the other by surprise, and Naruto's eyes darted to the gathered sticks again.
He snorted.
"No, you're not. That's hardly enough to start the fire, those sticks will never keep the fire alive long enough to ever warm the water."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed and let the sticks fall to the ground, crossing his arms across his chest.
"I am. I did what you asked, idiot, I gathered you the wood you asked for. It's your own fault for not stating how much you needed."
Naruto found himself gawking at the raven, the incredulous look making his eyes wide. What the fiery hell, was Sasuke really serious? He couldn't be, that had to be a joke...
"Are you kidding me?" he asked, scanning Sasuke's face with his eyes to find even a hint of a joke there.
"Of course not." The pale jaw looked tense and the raven took a step back, glaring down at Naruto.
Suddenly the blonde realized that Sasuke looked defensive, and the understanding struck him.
The ex-dancer hadn't known. He had probably never made a fire before, at least not after he had been taken to Orochimaru, and he had no idea how to make a fire, let alone to keep it alive. He knew nothing about real life, making a camp, things that were part of Naruto's everyday life.
But then again, Naruto had been under the impression that Sasuke had some common sense in his head. The way he was acting now... It was unbelievable. No matter how inexperience he was, Sasuke couldn't honestly think such tiny sticks would be any good, now could he?
Taking a deep breath, Naruto forced himself to remain calm. For a moment he considered telling the man to gather the rocks and go search for wood by himself, but realizing that the raven would probably make them a small circle of pebbles he gave up the idea and just shook his head, standing up.
"Right. Well, you should go gather some more. We'll be lucky if we can even light the fire with those. We're going to need at least five times that much and larger chunks of wood if there's any." Silently, Naruto congratulated himself for how calm and collected he had sounded.
Tthe irritated look on Sasuke's face didn't change as he listened, looking like he was getting ready to punch the blonde in the face.
To Naruto's surprise, he didn't. Instead, Sasuke's lips pressed together into a thin line and he nodded sharply, turning around. Naruto watched the tense figure retreat quickly to the trees and he had the feeling he had heard a quiet "Fine!" but he couldn't be entirely sure.
Frustration flaring again, the blonde angrily kicked the sticks on the ground, immediately feeling bad about what he had done. Glancing up to make sure Sasuke hadn't noticed, he knelt down and quickly gathered the sticks to a small pile. Even if it wasn't much, at least Sasuke had collected them and it should count as something; Naruto rarely looked down on the work someone had done, as long as it was the result of one doing their best.
Collecting the rocks was more difficult than Naruto had expected, and finally he found himself knee-deep in the river, trying to fish some larger stones from the bottom. He glanced at Sasuke's direction every now and then to make sure the raven was alright, and after a while he had found enough of materials for their campfire. Smiling to himself he climbed out of the river, water dripping from his sleeves and hair; he had the ability to get himself wet all over even when there wasn't much water at all.
The sun was already starting to set so Naruto's moves were rushed as he quickly cleared the ground and made a circle of the stones, setting the sticks Sasuke had brought before to the middle of it. Then he sat down and waited for Sasuke to come back. And waited. And waited.
"Sasuke?" he finally called after a long moment of impatient fidgeting. He was freakin' hungry, he didn't want to wait any longer!
"You alive?"
Receiving no answer, Naruto jumped to his feet, scanning the lines of trees for Sasuke. Nothing was moving there as far as he was concerned, and anxiety peeked inside him. Where in the name of heavens had that stupid bastard gone now? Naruto really wasn't the one to act as a babysitter for a grown-up man like this.
Regardless of is less happy thoughts, Naruto was already half-running towards the place where he'd seen Sasuke last, calling his name out again. Still no answer, and his imagination was starting to do tricks on him. It was getting dark and Sasuke wasn't used to places like this... There wasn't enough trees for any kind of larger animal to hide behind, but the raven probably wasn't looking at his feet and sometimes some venomous snakes hid under those bushes. Naruto ignored the fact that it was getting dark and no snake would want to hide under any kind bush in a time like this. The environment wasn't the one for them either, but he really couldn't control his imagination all that well.
A dry leaf cracked under his boots and made the blonde almost jump. God, he was getting way too nervous, he would've noticed if anything had happened to Sasuke...
"Sasuke! Where are you?" Naruto knew this was unreasonable. Sasuke had a revolver with him and who knew what other weapons and he obviously knew how to use them, so he shouldn't be in any danger, and besides, the area really was tiny.
"Aargh!" Naruto's yell broke the semi-silence and he jumped backwards, landing on his behind on the ground. He had a gun in his hand, pointing at the person that had scared him, but as soon as he realized who exactly he was threatening to fill with bullets he immediately let it drop, his chest heaving.
Sasuke glared right back at him, having just stood up from where he'd been kneeling behind a large bush, gathering some wood he had dropped. He didn't say anything, but as he watched Naruto's startled appearance his mouth twitched and the irritating smirk crept to his face.
Naruto immediately decided he wouldn't have cared if that bastard had ended up being eaten.
"So impatient to see me?" Sasuke asked, his voice laced with amusement, and all Naruto could do was climb to his feet and glare at the man.
"Very funny", he growled, his manly pride obviously hurt, and the dusted his pants.
"Hurry up, bastard, you've been here for ages. I need the wood for the fire!"
Sasuke's smirk was slowly dying away and a frown replaced it, his eyebrow twitching.
"I didn't take that long, so stop yelling at me. I was coming right back."
"I'm not yelling at you!"
"Yes you are. What's the matter anyway, it's not that dark yet."
Naruto was starting to see red, Sasuke's indifference pissing him off for real.
"I'm not! And that is not the point! You just... You don't get it!" He almost stomped his feet, but not wanting to lose the remains of his dignity he just spun around and strode back to where he had started to build the campfire.
Naruto already had a small flame slowly eating away the first sticks when Sasuke finally walked over and dropped the wood he'd gathered far enough from the fire. He didn't say a thing as he walked away from it to Rayo and untied the horse, taking her over to the river to drink.
Naruto watched from distance as the horse pressed down her head and started to drink in quick gulps, the slender human figure standing next to her with his hand resting on her shoulder. It was a peaceful, relaxing sight, right now those two were radiating such harmony that Naruto hadn't believed was possible. The moment was quiet, the sun still looming over the horizon and shining down on the prairie, and the only sounds were a few birds chirping in the trees and some smaller animals or perhaps lizards moving further away, their feet creating low rustling noise.
Turning back to the fire Naruto sighed, the moment broken for him. Slowly he started feeding more wood to the flame, watching it grow. As soon as he'd get it burn steadily enough he'd set a Dutch oven on it to boil some water and make them something to eat. He was almost tempted to ask Sasuke if he had ever done any cooking at Rattlesnake's, but remembering their little fight earlier he held himself back, biting his tongue. No need to start another fight.
That was also why he waited until Sasuke had Rayo tied to the tree again before moving over to the river to fill the Dutch oven with water. Naruto was almost sure he could feel eyes on his back, but despite the shiver running down his spine he refused to turn around, not wanting to meet the scornful black eyes just yet. He even went as far as keeping his eyes on the ground as he returned to the campfire, just to find Sasuke sitting there, giving more wood to the flame.
Naruto sat down as well and set the three-legged pot on the fire, placing the lid on the top of it. Still not looking at Sasuke he got up again and went to grab some dried meat and beans as well as some hardtack from his saddle bag, bringing along one fork and two smaller cups for eating. While Sasuke had been away in the previous town he had done some shopping for necessary things, also adding a new harmonica to the list. The said instrument was now resting in his pocket, waiting to be used.
Sasuke was still sitting in the same spot, staring at the fire with his legs spread just enough to prevent his thighs from touching each other. He had an unreadable look on his face and his hair was covering his other eye, hiding his feelings from Naruto. Not that the bounty hunter had ever been able to read the raven well, but whatever.
Naruto didn't realize he had been staring before Sasuke finally raised his gaze to meet the blue eyes and a tiny smirk twisted his mouth. The blonde froze for a second before answering the smirk with a smile, satisfaction bubbling inside him as he saw Sasuke relax a little.
"You could go swimming, you know", he found himself saying before curiosity took over and he just had to peek into the pot. Nothing was happening there yet, but then again, this wasn't the fastest cooking method, and no matter how hungry he was he refused to eat his hardtack without softening it first. He had had a bit too much of it during the years.
Sasuke arched his brows before glancing at the river and then the setting sun. They would have light maybe for half an hour, and after that it would be too dark to really move around. He seemed to hesitate before shaking his head.
"I don't think I will", he answered flatly, standing up anyway. It wasn't that he didn't feel dirty all over, but more like he didn't really enjoy cold water. Perhaps he could just talk Naruto over to visiting a bath house while in Leaf Creek...
"Why not?" Naruto inquired, throwing another chunk of food to the fire. He backed of a little, the heat starting to get a bit too intense for him.
"I don't feel like it." Again, his words and actions didn't match. Sasuke walked slowly closer to the river again, fishing white bandage straps from another saddle bag, and then made his way to the river bank.
Naruto watched the raven as he quickly stripped off his pants and sat down on the ground on them, starting to unwrap the bandages from his thighs. By what he could judge from here, the bounty hunter didn't think the other was in too much pain, but that didn't really tell anything. As said, Sasuke was really good at hiding what he felt.
Feeling like an unwanted stalker, watching Sasuke like that, Naruto turned back to the fire and checked the water again. Steam was beginning to rise from under the lid so it was at least heating up and without a second thought Naruto threw in the dried strips of meat as well as the beans. The hardtack could wait until they had a nice broth ready, so he left the food on the fire and went over to get their sleeping blankets.
"You were worried about me."
For the second time today Naruto jumped from surprise, not having expected Sasuke's voice from right behind him. He didn't turn around though, but bent down to grab the blankets they needed. The saddles were close enough to the fire to be safe and he was going to stay awake for a while to keep watch anyway.
When he didn't answer anything, Naruto heard Sasuke shifted behind him.
"...weren't you?"
For some reason, the bounty hunter felt like Sasuke could've been speaking to himself as well as to him. His shoulders slumped as he nodded slowly, finally turning to look as the raven again.
"Maybe I was. Got a problem with that?"
Sasuke stared at Naruto for a moment before shaking his head and grabbing his own blanket from Naruto.
"No."
And with that, they returned to the campfire, just to find the water boiling happily and a scent of meat reaching their noses.
Naruto's stomach immediately let out a loud rumble and he chuckled, ignoring Sasuke's disapproving snort. The blankets were set to the ground and he hurried to check the pot, the delicious scent of the meat hitting even harder. His stomach churned from hunger but he forced himself to think about Sasuke as well.
The raven had set his blankets on the other side of the fire and was now sitting on them, again watching the fire. He didn't appear to be hungry at all, but now that he had changed the bandages he didn't look as pained as he had before. Naruto hoped it was a sign of the blisters maybe starting to heal, even if it was too early for that in reality.
The young bounty hunter reached to the pot and stirred it with the large fork he had, picking up a piece of meat and testing if it had softened at all.
After a while they both had cups of the broth in front of them, pieces of meat and some beans in the liquid. Naruto had also advised Sasuke to put a piece of hardtack to his cup to let it soften like a dumpling, but the raven had refused and informed him that he'd rather have his crackers cracking. Naruto had just shrugged and murmured about idiots who wanted to break their teeth before dumping two large pieces of the said cracker to his cup.
They ate in appreciative silence, the nature providing enough noise to keep the uncomfortable feeling away. The sun had set already and behind Naruto the moon was looming low on the sky, the stars slowly lighting up on the dark sky. The shadows casted by the fire danced on the ground and both men, closing them into the small circle of light on the prairie as well as shutting everything else out.
Naruto found himself again staring at Sasuke, fascinated by the way the shadows played on his face. One moment they would be making his eyes completely hidden in the darkness, and no more than second later the flames were reflected vividly in the dark orbs that served as mirrors for them. The light made his lips glisten thanks to the remains of the broth on them and his dark hair had an odd glow in it, the air around him appearing suddenly a lot more mysterious. Naruto narrowed his eyes and for a moment as the flames cast the shadows differently Sasuke resembled his old self, Raven, the wild dancer from the stage so much that it caused an odd flip in Naruto's stomach.
Quickly the man turned his eyes away, back to his food, and he stared wolfing it down, trying to drown his thoughts on the food. He didn't even try to understand why his heart was suddenly beating faster and his eyes kept drawing to Sasuke again and again, he only concentrated to fight down those needs. Naruto knew he shouldn't be feeling like this, he knew that Sasuke wasn't Raven, that whoever Raven had been didn't exist anymore, not in the sense she had before.
Raven had been a reflection of their desires, and now that she was gone, Naruto's feelings for her should've been too. Except that they weren't, and it made the blonde really nervous.
To ease it out he set down his cup after finishing his meal, deciding that he'd go wash it quickly in the morning, and then dug the harmonica from his pocket with shaky hands.
Sasuke glanced up from his broth when Naruto started playing, the rusty notes making him cringe. But as he played, the blonde got more confident with his tiny instrument and the simple melody started to flow slowly and naturally, replacing the noises from the night.
His eyes now fixed in Naruto, Sasuke set his almost-empty cup to the ground and focused on listening to Naruto. He had crossed his legs Indian style and hands resting in his lap as he focused on the simple music, his fingers gently tapping the rhythm on his leg. In a way he almost felt like dancing, his toes curling, because despite the fact that he'd been forced to do it, Sasuke had never hated the dancing. It had been the audience and the way of dancing, but not the dancing itself.
Sighing almost a bit sadly, he grabbed a small saddle bag and placed it on his blanket, meaning to use it as a pillow. But he never made it to the temporary bed as Naruto changed the song, making the dark eyes focus intensely on him again.
The sharp look on Sasuke's face made Naruto frown and he cut the song, tilting his head with a worried look.
"Something wrong?" he asked with low, soft voice, not wanting to destroy the almost intimate atmosphere there was at the moment.
Sasuke appeared to be thinking about the question for a while, his head hanging lower. Even while not seeing his eyes, Naruto could tell the raven was still watching him.
"No, I don't think so", Sasuke finally answered, and for once his voice was completely devoid of its usual arrogance. In fact, it was almost sad.
"Then what is it?" Naruto urged on, gently and carefully as if to not scare away a wild animal. He could see that Sasuke wasn't totally okay and regardless of what the raven said, something was bothering him.
Sasuke didn't raised his head as he answered, his voice low and thoughtful.
"I think my mother used to sing that song often..."
Naruto's breath caught. This was the first time Sasuke had ever mentioned his family voluntarily, and the blonde just knew it had to mean something.
"I see", he spoke softly, a smile still on his face before he moved the harmonica back to his lips and started that same song again from the beginning, closely watching Sasuke's face.
This time, the raven slowly raised his gaze to the bounty hunter, but he didn't seem to be looking at Naruto but rather through him, at something that had been gone for a long time now. The only movement were his fingers that were again moving to the rhythm, and his hair shifting as warm wind blew through it. The flames were slowly dying and creating a softer glow on his face, emphasizing the lost look on the slim face.
The song ended after a moment, and Naruto let the instrument fall from his lips. Sasuke seemed to snap out of his daze but slower than Naruto had predicted, and without another word the raven crept to his blankets and curled under one, his head on the saddle bag. After giving Naruto one more mysterious look he rolled over to face away from the fire, leaving Naruto feeling confusingly alone.
Yet as he sat in the silence, the blonde was sure he heard a murmured "good night", and a smile graced his features.
"Good night, bastard", he half-whispered in return, knowing that Sasuke would hear him anyway.
A cry of a coyote startled Naruto awake from his dozing state. He was sitting on his blanket, facing the dying fire and his chin pressed against his chest as he'd fallen asleep. A huge yawn splitting his face he yawned and rubbed his eyes, glancing at the sky. It was hardly past the midnight yet and sleep was lurking so close, making the idea of crawling under the blanket and sleeping until sunrise more tempting than anything else.
If only he'd been alone. When he was, Naruto usually had no trouble sleeping, even if there was no-one to watch over him, but for some reason he now felt like he was responsible for Sasuke's safety and that made him try to stay awake, even if it was almost killing him. He was a man that needed his sleep, if only to keep his sanity. The bounty hunter could easily stay awake through the night if necessary, but it was to happen on a rare occasion and now wasn't the time.
Stifling another yawn, Naruto reached to throw more food to the fire, not wanting to stay awake in the dark. It wasn't that he minded the darkness much when he had to sleep, but he didn't really like being surrounded by the shadows when he was up. Even for someone that had practically raised himself on the prairie, there was something about the darkest nights, something that made his skin crawl. Or maybe it was just the knowledge that they were getting closer to that old haunted ranch near Leaf Creek...
Refusing to think about ghosts or anything alike, Naruto turned to look at Sasuke, a soft smiling appearing to his face uninvited. The raven had been sleeping peacefully, but just before Naruto had started dozing off the pale man had rolled over to his back, frowning in his sleep. Then he had stopped moving altogether again, his covers revealing only a bit of his neck and his left hand.
Naruto felt his smile slowly melt away as his hand twitched, urging him to walk over and brush some strands of hair away from Sasuke's sleeping face. The only thing keeping him still was knowing that his efforts wouldn't be appreciated. Sasuke was more likely to punch him than anything else.
Well, that, and Naruto knew that it would be good to put some distance between himself and Sasuke for now. It was still bothering him how clearly he had seen Raven on the other man's face earlier that night, and it wasn't something he wanted to happen again. There were lots of other women in the world, it made no sense to grieve over the only one that had never been neither woman nor his in the first place.
Which was why Naruto found it extremely irritating how his gaze shifted back to Sasuke's sleeping form, resting there and taking in the other's relaxed appearance. Now that he wasn't frowning so much anymore, the blonde could again see why it was so easy to mistake Sasuke to a female in proper clothing and some paint on his face. His features were really delicate yet he didn't look all that fragile, not anymore now that Naruto had gotten used to him and knew what to look.
And for God's sake, when Sasuke opened his mouth, there was nothing fragile about him.
Sighing softly, Naruto tore his gaze away from the sleeping man and instead reached for the wood again, his hand then searching for his harmonica. He knew that Sasuke was quite a light sleeper, but perhaps he could play just quietly without waking him up; the silence was getting to his nerves.
And so he brought the instrument to his lips, starting out a low melody, but it came to a stop as soon as Sasuke let out a low groan and shifted, looking like he might've been waking up. Naruto frowned and put the harmonica down, settling to staring at the fire again. It was slowly dying, but he didn't feel like feeding it anymore. Maybe he was being only paranoid, nothing would come to them tonight. It was stupid to keep himself up like this when it was practically useless...
Yawning again, Naruto waited until the flames were almost gone and then slipped under his blanket, his eyes sliding shut almost immediately. He forced them open for one more second, to get the last look at Sasuke's face, and seeing the raven staring right back blew away all his sleepiness.
"What are you doing up?" Sasuke's voice sounded muffled and rough from sleep and Naruto doubted he was even truly awake.
A smile gracing his features again, Naruto got up and on the spur of the moment he dragged his blankets around the fire closer to Sasuke. It wasn't often that he had company, and he wanted to get everything out of it, already having forgotten his decision about staying away from Sasuke.
"Nothing much. Just go back to sleep, ma'am."
An irritated look crossed Sasuke's face as he heard that, but it was so lame it only made Naruto's smile wider.
"I'm no madam, you idiot..." he grumbled, his eyes drooping already. All in all, Sasuke looked like he would fall asleep at any second.
"Don't worry so much, it's okay..."
Naruto had no idea what the last comment had meant, but whatever it was it made him forget all the boundaries there was to break and he leaned closer, brushing hair off from Sasuke's face. His fingers slid over the soft cheek and slowly another hand came up, grabbing his.
For a moment, Sasuke turned to look at him, his eyes surprisingly clear, before a sigh escaped his lips and he let his eyes fall shut. He didn't, however, let go of Naruto's hand just yet, and for a moment the blonde just sat there, watching Sasuke's face and fighting the sudden and overwhelming urge to kiss him.
As said, there was something in the air during the darkest nights on the prairie, something different.