Three times Sasuke didn't want to talk to a girl, and one time when he did

Rating: M

Disclaimer: I don't own, you don't sue.

Pairing: NaruSasu. Or SasuNaru. Or both. They're trying to figure that out.

Warning: spoilers for recent issues of the manga.

As always, big thanks to my first reader Kantayra and to everyone who will care enough to review. This is my first Naruto fic so it's nice to hear what I'm doing right – or wrong. Concrit is always appreciated.

"Sasuke-chan!"

Sasuke clenched his jaw and tried not to frown. Frowning wasn't good when one was trying to hit a target. Ignoring the blur of red dress and pigtails on his left, he focused the way he had been taught and, when he was ready, threw the kunai. It hit the target just a little off center. He let out a huff of breath, disappointed.

"Oh! You're so good, Sasuke-chan!"

He went to retrieve the kunai, throwing a scowl at Uchiha Kumiko. She was clapping and watching him with big, bright eyes, and an even brighter smile that showed she had lost her front tooth.

"Leave me alone," he said, returning to his mark. "I'm training."

"But you've been training for hours," she protested. "Don't you want to play?"

He didn't answer and focused on his target again. Maybe if he angled his hand just a little more…

"Sasuke-chan… please?"

There was a tremor in Kumiko's voice, as though she had been close to tears. Sasuke threw again, this time hitting the very edge of the target. Again, he went to retrieve the kunai. By the time he had walked back to his mark, Kumiko had turned away. Sasuke watched her go. Her head was bowed. She looked sad.

He shook his head and turned his eyes back to the target. He didn't have time for games anymore, not if he had any hope to become as good as his brother some day.

…

Sakura's words seemed loud in the night, louder for Sasuke's unwillingness to hear them. He had made his goodbyes to Team Seven and Konoha in private. Her insistence on stopping him now wasn't making his departure any more difficult than it already was, nor did it make him rethink his decision. She was wasting her time – and his.

"I love you so much!"

Sasuke couldn't say he was surprised that she did, but he hadn't expected her to say it so boldly. And still, it didn't change anything. Even if he had returned her feelings, he had no time for love. Itachi had said it again when their paths had crossed recently. Hate was all that should consume Sasuke. Couldn't she understand that? Couldn't she see that he had no time for love or happiness?

"If you can't stay here, then take me with you."

For a fleeting second, he let the idea touch his mind. What would it have been like to treat Itachi's punishment as any other mission, with Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto at his side? He dismissed the thought as easily as it had come. It was his clan, his brother, his revenge. He could no more accept their help than he could forget about it all. But something deep inside him warmed at the thought that, if he had allowed himself to ask for their help, they would have given it.

He thanked her before he made sure she wouldn't raise the alarm.

…

Just a few feet away, Karin looked at Sasuke again. Suigetsu and Juugo sat further away next to the fire, finishing their meal. Sasuke hadn't touched the grilled fish Karin had offered him. His stomach was roiling in anticipation, and he didn't think he could eat. Sitting cross-legged on the edge of the waterfall, he merely waited – and tried very hard to ignore Karin.

"Sasuke? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

He didn't look at her or dignify her question with an answer. She had asked it before. He didn't care to repeat himself.

"If the Nine Tails is as strong as Akatsuki said—"

"He is," he interrupted her, barely refraining from correcting her. His name was Naruto. Not 'Nine Tails' or 'Jinchuuriki.' Naruto. And he was on his way.

"Then we're too close to his village," she insisted, as always unable to figure out when she should be quiet. "If others come to help him—"

"They won't," he interrupted her again, even though he wasn't as confident as he would have liked.

Sasuke had left enough hints and clues in the past couple of weeks to make it clear to Naruto where he was headed. Coming to the Valley of the End was as good as an invitation, or so he hoped. Others would not understand as easily as Naruto would. He hoped, also, that Naruto would come alone. He had planned everything, every possibility, every move, every word – but it would all go much more easily if they were alone.

"Then at least—"

Sasuke stood abruptly, startling Karin. She fell silent when he looked at her coldly. Behind her, their two companions had finished eating and had packed up their things, clearly ready to go.

"Enough. I'll fight him alone and that's the end of it. You three have your orders. Now go."

Once more, she started protesting. "But we could—"

Sasuke blinked slowly, revealing the mangekyou sharingan. Karin stumbled backward.

"Go. Now. Before I lose patience."

He turned his back on her before seeing whether she would listen now. He heard her curse, but the words didn't reach him. His mind was already on the coming fight. The time for games was over.

…

Three times, on the way to the ramen stand, Naruto caught Sasuke bringing a hand to his forehead. He wasn't sure why his stomach tightened every time. He had to be hungrier than he had thought.

They sat next to each other in the small booth. Naruto ordered for the two of them and was surprised when Teuchi just stood there, arms crossed, a frown on his face.

"What's wrong, old man?"

Teuchi thrust his chin in Sasuke's direction but addressed Naruto.

"His kind is not welcome here."

Naruto could feel Sasuke tensing next to him, though he didn't say a word, leaving it to Naruto to ask, "His kind? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Traitors," Teuchi answered. "People who have hurt Konoha."

Naruto stared at him in incomprehension. For years, Teuchi and his daughter had been some of the few inhabitants of the village who showed kindness to Naruto when everyone else could only see the Kyuubi in him. He would never have imagined this from him.

Without a word, Sasuke stood and stepped out of the stand. Shaking his head, Naruto stood as well and gave Teuchi a hard look.

"He's not a traitor. He's my friend. And if he can't eat here, I won't either."

The flash of surprise of Teuchi's face before he left was hardly worth the bitterness Naruto felt. Nothing had gone the way he had imagined since he had brought Sasuke back, but until now he hadn't minded the differences.

"I wasn't in the mood for ramen anyway," he lied, catching up with Sasuke. "Want to have barbecue?"

Sasuke shrugged, which was a good enough answer, Naruto supposed. They walked to the barbecue restaurant without another word, and only after they had sat in a booth did Sasuke say:

"Next time you can just go have ramen by yourself."

Naruto scowled. "Of course I won't."

He held Sasuke's eyes, willing him to see that he wasn't joking. A small frown creased Sasuke's forehead before he looked away.

"I wouldn't mind," he said with a light shrug.

"But I would," Naruto replied, both unwilling and unable to explain a dozen years' worth of being refused service by various shopkeepers. "And anyway, I have to keep an eye on you, remember?"

Sasuke snorted, but the lightest upturn of his lips said enough.

They ate fast, then hurried to go see Tsunade. She was alone when one of the two ANBU that guarded her door accompanied them inside.

"You're late," she said her eyes still on the pile of papers in front of her. "That's not a wise thing to do when you're already in so much…"

Her voice trailed off when she looked up. She frowned at Naruto, then at Sasuke.

"Trouble. Sasuke, wait outside. I want to talk to Naruto alone."

The demand surprised Naruto. Tsunade had told them the previous night that she'd want to see both of them again, so why was she sending Sasuke away now? He looked at Sasuke, who raised an eyebrow at him. Without thinking, Naruto formed the familiar hand seals and a shadow clone appeared. The ANBU guard stepped forward at once, alarmed.

"What are you doing?" Tsunade asked.

"I'm supposed—"

"To keep an eye on me," Sasuke finished for him, a fleeting smile on his lips.

He strolled out, followed closely by the clone. The ANBU guard looked at Tsunade for directions, then went after them, closing the door behind him. Naruto turned back to Tsunade, wondering again what she needed to tell him that Sasuke couldn't hear.

"Have you two been fighting?"

He frowned, taken aback. "What? Fighting? Why are you asking…"

She pointed at his forehead first, then at his neck.

"What did he do, bite you?"

Wide-eyed, Naruto covered the bruise with his hand, his mind flashing back to Sasuke's mouth and how good it had felt. His cheeks were burning. Embarrassed, he wondered why the Kyuubi hadn't healed this particular bruise. He could have sworn a low chuckle answered him.

"No, we haven't been fighting," he assured Tsunade with a self-conscious smile. "It's going fine, really."

She looked like she was going to ask for an explanation for the bruise and the battered state of his forehead protector. He hurriedly found something to distract her. "It'd be nice if we had more space, though."

She frowned. "More space?"

"Yeah. My apartment is too small for two people, and since the Uchiha district is empty, I was thinking…"

Both her fists resting on the desk, Tsunade stood. She was still frowning.

"He betrayed—" she started, her voice almost harsh.

Naruto interrupted her right away. "He went to punish a criminal who murdered dozens of citizens of this village. Why didn't Konoha ever do anything about Itachi?"

The question had nagged him for years, but there had been more important things to worry about. Now that Sasuke was back, though, and he needed to regain his status, Naruto could ask.

For a few seconds, Tsunade didn't reply. She merely looked at him, a thoughtful expression on her face. Finally, a thin smile stretched her lips.

"Keep it up," she said, almost playful, "and you'll end up on this side of the desk."

Naruto grinned, pleased by the unexpected remark.

"You really think so?"

She didn't answer; her smile did, though. She sat back at her desk and interlinked her fingers in front of her, resting her chin on them.

"OK. Give me until tomorrow, and I'll draft the order for Sasuke to get his property back."

Naruto could hardly believe it had been so easy. Maybe if he just asked for a little more…"What about the chuunin exam? We can't—"

Her smile vanished in a flash.

"Don't push it, Naruto. He's not been back for a full day yet. Maybe you trust him—"

"I do!" he said at once, stepping closer to the desk.

"—but I'll need more than your gut feeling for that. Especially if you keep getting bruises. And get a new forehead protector. This one is—"

He crossed his arms. "It's mine. I'm keeping it."

She sighed. "Always so stubborn."

For a few seconds, she turned her attention to the papers that littered her desk, searching through them until she pulled a sheet out.

"I have a mission for you two."

Naruto was so excited he could barely stop himself from bouncing. A mission with Sasuke; it would be just like old times, and—and then he heard what the mission was exactly. He looked at Tsunade askance.

"But it's…"

"A D-rank mission, yes," she finished, her voice emotionless. "And until I have a reason to trust him, that's what he'll do. You volunteered to stay with him. You're not leaving the village until I decide that he can."

Naruto frowned, suddenly suspicious. Before he had gone to get Sasuke back, she had been trying to keep him in the village, or really close. It was all just too convenient.

"Is it Sasuke you're keeping close," he asked, "or is it me?"

She didn't even bat an eyelash. "Akatsuki is still out there, and they still want you. I am not handing you to them on a silver platter again. You should be grateful that I forged an order for you to go after Sasuke on your own, or you'd have been considered missing as well, and you'd be under the same surveillance he is."

All of Naruto's anger disappeared. He had wondered, the previous night, why no one had brought up that he had left Konoha without authorization. He knew now. He looked down, torn between his annoyance at being confined to the village and his gratefulness that Tsunade had saved his neck.

"I am grateful," he mumbled, abashed.

Before he could add anything more, he felt the clone disperse, and its memories of the past few minutes jolted him.

"Be careful."

He nodded, a little distracted. What was Sasuke up to? "I'm always careful."

She chuckled. "Be more careful, then."

With another nod, he walked out, replaying the memories of his clone in his mind.

Naruto's clone strolled out of the Fifth's office after Sasuke, and, hands in his pockets, leaned against the wall next to him. The ANBU guard closed the door as he came out. The clone wondered what Tsunade could possibly want to tell him that she didn't want Sasuke to hear. He'd know soon enough, he supposed.

"Are you the guard who took my things last night?" Sasuke asked suddenly to the ANBU on the left of the door.

"Yes."

"Can I have them back?"

The guard didn't reply for a few seconds, then finally nodded. "The clothes and money, yes."

"But not my sword," Sasuke said blankly.

"Not the sword, no. Not until the Hokage tells me otherwise. "

The small twitch in Sasuke's jaw revealed that he wasn't happy. Maybe Naruto could help convince the guard. After all, Sasuke wasn't an enemy.

"I'm sure she—"

"Drop it," Sasuke interrupted him, talking very low. "I don't need it."

They stood by the wall while the guard went to retrieve Sasuke's things from a nearby room. Naruto's clone kept glancing at him, wondering whether he truly didn't mind the loss of his sword. Sasuke thanked the ANBU guard with a light nod when he returned, and swung a strap over his shoulder without checking the contents of the bag.

"You mentioned Sakura works with the Hokage," he said, looking at the clone. "Do you know where she is?"

Naruto's clone shrugged. "Sometimes she's in the office over there."

He indicated the right side of the hall. After a second, Sasuke started walking that way, Naruto's clone immediately at his side. As they walked down the hallway, Sasuke turned to the clone and flashed the sharingan at him. Naruto's clone blinked, startled.

"What was that?"

Sasuke's eyes returned to the hallway in front of them. "Just checking that you're a clone."

"Why?"

"Because I don't kiss clones."

Naruto's clone stumbled, wondering whether he was serious. He caught up with Sasuke just as he had stepped through an open door, and was amused to find Sakura already hugging Sasuke – amused, and a bit jealous too until he noticed how uncomfortable Sasuke looked.

"I only heard you were back this morning," she babbled when she let go of Sasuke. "I was hoping I'd see you." She flashed a smile at the clone. "Both of you. How are you?"

"Fine," Sasuke replied coolly. "Can I speak with you alone?"

He glanced at Tsunade's secretary as he said it. She raised her eyebrows at him, but complied wordlessly when Sakura asked if she would leave them for a few minutes. The clone went to close the door after her, curious as to what this was about. He was surprised, and more than a little hurt, to find Sasuke with a kunai in hand when he turned back toward him and Sakura.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke said, "but you need to leave, too."

The kunai flew. Taken by surprise, Naruto's clone couldn't avoid it and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Naruto could feel the ANBU guards' eyes on him as he walked down the hallway. If they hadn't been watching him, he would have run. What was Sasuke up to? Why did he need to speak to Sakura alone? Why did he need to make everything so complicated?

He entered the office without knocking. At once, Sasuke and Sakura turned to him. They were sitting together on the side of the room. Sakura looked upset. Sasuke's face didn't show anything.

"You're a bastard," he informed Sasuke, hands on his hips and glaring for all he was worth. "I do all I can to make them accept you and you… you just do stupid stuff like this."

"Stupid stuff?" Sasuke repeated, the barest thread of amusement in his voice. "You mean catching you off-guard, dead last?"

Naruto snorted. "Keep wishing. The clone dispelled on purpose to let me know you were up to no good."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and stood. Sakura still hadn't said a word. She was now frowning at nothing in particular, seemingly lost in her thoughts.

"Everything OK, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, both worried and curious.

"Everything's fine," she assured him with a small smile. "I've just… I've got a lot of work to do."

She stood and approached the shelves, still frowning slightly. Naruto watched her, then Sasuke, wondering what had transpired between the two of them after Sasuke had gotten rid of his clone.

"We've got a mission," he informed Sasuke, and they left together. "What did you two talk about, then?" he asked once they had reached the street.

"Nothing much," Sasuke replied with a shrug. "You know, just catching up."

Naruto bit his lip rather than accuse him of lying. Sasuke hadn't been back to Konoha for a full day, and already he was hiding something. He hadn't changed one bit, Naruto thought, not for the first time, but for the first time the idea left a bitter taste on his tongue.