"Naruto, if we get lost, it's all your fault. Why did I agreed to this? And where are we going anyways?"
Rosy lips pouted and directed themselves back at the young Uchiha.
"Suke-chan, trust me", Naruto sighed, squeezing said boys hand as the blonde dragged them through the forest. "Besides, we're almost there, so stop complaining. And you agreed to come with me because...well I'm not really sure why, you just did. So too bad."
Sasuke's cheeks inflated with air as he turned his head away from his friend. Naruto let out a small giggle and continued to pull Sasuke down the forest trail. They had escaped from the Uchiha Compound and Kakashi, Sasukes's bodyguard and tutor, about ten minutes ago. And for some reason, Naruto was very eager to show him something deep in the forest.
The pair walked along in silence. Naruto would glance back every now and then to look at Sasuke. He was obviously irritated.
"Are you sure you know where we're going, Naruto?" Sasuke asked while frowning. "And how do you know about this place anyway?"
Naruto grinned sheepishly, "All will be revealed in time, Suke-chan."
"You're not going to murder me are you?" the Uchiha joked, walking a little faster, so that he and Naruto were walking side by side. The blonde giggled, but remained silent. "Otou-san always said that you were going to kill me one day."
"...Your father says a lot of things..."
More silence filled the air before Naruto smiled widely and took off running.
"Come on Sasuke! We'll get there faster if we run!" Naruto yelled over her shoulder.
Sasuke took off running after the blonde girl. He wouldn't admit it, but he was afraid of getting lost. He had never come down this way before.
"Naruto wait for me!"
They ran through the trees until Naruto tripped over a root growing out of the ground. She fell face down, arms stretched over her head. Slowly, she picked herself up into sitting position; tears quickly filling her blue eyes. When the Uchiha caught up, he bent down in front of the weeping girl, who had her fists covering her eyes as she cried. He removed her hands and began wiping away the tears with his shirt sleeve.
"You never look where you're going", he stated quietly. "You're so clumsy, Naruto. Do you hurt anywhere?" Naruto shook her head. "Can you walk?" She nodded. "Are you ready to get up now?" he stopped wiping.
"No, can you carry me?" Blue eyes, shinning from previously shed tears, focused on black ones.
Sasuke sighed, silently damning those eyes. He turned around, arms bent at his sides ready to give a piggy back ride. Naruto smiled, wrapped her arms the Uchiha's neck, placed her legs in his arms, and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Ready?" Sasuke asked after finding his balance.
"Yeah", Naruto whispered. "Keep going straight."
After a few steps Sasuke finally saw what Naruto wanted to show him. They came to a large waterfall cascading into a wide, blue lake. Wild flowers bloomed and scatter across the grass. Butterflies flutter from flower to flower. All the while song birds sang to their invisible audience. The sight emanated serenity and briefly took away the Uchiha's breath.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Sasuke nodded and walked towards the edge of the lake. Gently, he placed Naruto on the ground, took off his shoes, sat down, and stuck his feet into the cool water. The blonde join her friend on the forest floor.
"How do you know about this place?" Sasuke asked turning to the blonde.
"Okaa-san took me here once to get the water for the house." The Uchiha nodded, entangling his fingers with Naruto's. "Thanks for bringing me here."
The blonde leaned her head onto the Uchiha's shoulder and sighed. "I like being close to you Sasuke."
The two turned to look at one another. They locked eyes and began to lean in slowly until their lips met.
"Sasuke-kun wake up you have a special visitor coming soon!" The Uchiha groaned and pulled his blanket over his head in attempt to drown out Kakashi's voice."Come on, wakey-wakey!" Kakashi chirped, shaking his charge.
"Damn it Kakashi, you know I don't like being woken up," Sasuke growled, sitting up as he scratched the sleep from his eyes.
"Yes I know, but today the Haruno family is arriving."
Sasuke groaned out loud. Since he was four the Harunos, a family of noble blood, had visited at least once every year. Each visit his father would make him a lot of time with the Haruno's daughter, Sakura.
Sakura was a fairly nice person, but she was constantly fawning over him, which irritated Sasuke to no end. Or maybe it irritated him because Naruto would always look sad whenever Sakura was near him. But Naruto hadn't been around for about five years. It probably stuck out of habit.
"Get up now, okay", Kakashi said leaving the room to give the young Uchiha some privacy.
After sitting absent mindedly on his futon for about a minute, Sasuke finally decided to get up. As he washed his face and dressed he couldn't help but think about the dream he had been having before Kakashi had so rudely awakened him.
That had been the first and only time he had kissed Naruto; probably about two months before she left. It hadn't lasted long from what he remembered. Probably one five seconds before they pull apart and looked away from each other, blushing beet red. Right after Kakashi showed up out of nowhere and dragged them back to the compound.
Two hours later, Sasuke found himself in a hug too tight for comfort as a twelve year old girl with green eyes and pink hair, held together in a bun by chopsticks, practically squeezed him to death.
"Sasuke-kun how have you been?"
"I've been fine, Sakura-san."
The pink haired girl frowned and let go of the boy she admired. "Please Sasuke-kun, do not refer to me with an honorific. Just call me Sakura."
"I'd rather not", Sasuke whispered under his breath after he turned away form the girl. "Would you like something to eat? You have been traveling for a long time."
He began to head towards the kitchen, but was stopped by Sakura's voice. "Oh, no thank you. I'm on a diet."
'Joy', Sasuke thought to himself. 'Another girl who thinks that being able to see all her ribs is attractive.'
"How about we go for a walk in the garden?" she chirped grabbing Sasuke's hand and leading him outside.
'She shouldn't ask a question if she doesn't give me chance to reply.'
"Wrong, Naruto! That's all Wrong!"
"I'm sorry, Anko-nee-san", Naruto wailed, dropping the shamisen(1) in her hands onto the tanami mats and bowing her head.
Anko pinched her nose with her index finger and thumb as she sighed heavily. She had been instructed to help Naruto with her geisha training because: 1)The blonde was hopeless when it came to playing any musical instrument. 2) Naruto had trouble moving in a kimono and sandals, so she often fell down. 3)Tsunade-sama had forced Anko to do it because she also lived at the Godaime Okiya.
"Did you practice?"
"I did, but..."
"But, what?" Anko asked, trying hard not to let her voice show her irritation.
"I have trouble remembering some of the notes", Naruto replied, bringing her eyes to look at the floor in shame.
Anko sighed once again. She hated how innocent Naruto looked. It made things hard for Anko to be mad at her. Especially since she knew the blonde really did try hard to improve herself. She just didn't have much talent for music.
"It's okay Naruto. Just practice some more later." The blonde perked up a little and nodded. "Now, we need to practice your dancing."
"Ow, ow, ow", Naruto said to herself as she walked up the stairs of the Okiya to her room.
Dancing lessons always left her tired with sore legs. Each step she took made her knees want to give out underneath her. But she needed to get better at all the skills a geisha was expected to perfect. Only very famous, talented geisha get to entertain important men.
That was why Naruto was trying so hard. She hoped that if she became well known, she would get invited to entertain the nobles and hopefully Sasuke. It might sound crazy, to practice until she was ready to pass out, just see him again. But she loved him; as her best friend, as her protector, and--hopefully one day-- as her lover.
When Naruto finally got to her room, she looked out her wooden barred window, out at the night sky. She loved to look at the stars before she went to bed. They relaxed her and made it easier for her to sleep.
Naruto knew it was easier to sleep because she and Sasuke used to watch the nigh sky together just outside his room. He would often tell her engaging stories about the constellations that he had learned about. He even told her about shooting stars. About how if you saw one and made a wish, then it would come true.
Just then a bright yellow star shot across the sky. It left behind a trail, that looked like a line of glitter. The trail disappeared as quickly as it came.
"I wish that one day we'll meet again."
AN: Ahhh! Stoic is a VERY bad writer. I'm soooooo sorry it's been like five months since I updated. --weeps-- I'm a very bad person because I felt it didn't matter if I updated or not because I didn't have many reviews. But I've decided to continue to write this story anyways because I love the way the plot is going to turn. If you like this story please review. I'm not too confident with my writing so if I see that not a lot of people are reading, another five month update gap might occur. Oh and I'm sorry.
(1)shamisen-is a small guitar like instrument