Disclaimer: I own it. Yep. I do. I bought it yesterday…oh, I'm talking about my pack of gum. Yeah, Naruto isn't mine.

Author's Note: There is a reason I've classified this fic as an Action/Romance fic. The first part has a lot of angst and action, but as it goes on, we'll see romance. And now, you'll begin to see our little Naruto wrestle with his feelings. I also haven't been getting many reviews. I'd love to hear what you all think, so please just click that review button on the bottom? Only one person got ice cream for reviewing!

Chapter Six:
I don't think what he said really seeped in until I heard Kakashi's response.

"You never know, Sasuke. Maybe he loves you too."

I was frozen. Sasuke loved me! That was impossible I was Naruto - the knucklehead of the Leaf Village. He was Sasuke - Uchiha, avenger, heartthrob of the Leaf Village. There was no way he loved me.

But he had said it. And Kakashi obviously knew about it. Everything started making sense. Why he was so upset when Kabuto almost killed me. Why he was crying when he thought I had died. Why he had left our group when Sakura and I started going out. He wasn't uncomfortable because he liked Sakura! He was uncomfortable because he loved me! And it couldn't be a coincidence that when Sakura left the group, he rejoined.

It all made logical sense, but it didn't at the same time. All the puzzle pieces were together, but they made the wrong picture. We were both guys. It couldn't really happen. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Sasuke was gay. That's why no matter how many girls fawned over him, he didn't care. He didn't want to be protected because he felt that being protected by me was like a girlfriend being protected by her boyfriend. He saw it as a sign of weakness! It was all fitting together.

But I still couldn't believe it. This was Sasuke. It wasn't possible.
Sasuke loves me.
Sasuke loves me.
Sasuke loves me.

There was no way. It was like a wolf loving a sheep. He was my rival. My enemy. My teammate. My best friend. All in one. He couldn't love me. Not like that.

I was shaken from my paralysis when I heard Kakashi tell Sasuke that they had better head back to camp. Not trusting myself to not stumble and make them aware of my presence, I hid up in the tree as they passed me.

That night, I didn't return to camp. I don't know when it was, but at about 3 in the morning, I heard voices calling my name. First Lee, then Ino, then Neji, then Sasuke. Sasuke.

Of course, it was him who found me first.

"Naruto!" he yelled. "Thank god we found you."

His yell attracted the others.

"We were worried," Ino said, appearing out of a bush. We were soon joined by Neji and Lee. "Why are you here? We haven't seen you since we set up camp?"

Sasuke must have recognized that I was where he had been talking to Kakashi and gasped. "When did you get here?" he asked harshly.

I don't know why, but I decided to keep my eavesdropping a secret. "Just a little while ago."

"Why didn't you come back to camp?" Lee asked.

"He looks tired," Neji said. "Using the nine-tails chakra to use the rasengan, summoning jutsu, and then heal Sasuke must have really drained him."

I was glad to have an excuse. "Yeah," I said. "When I got here, I just kind of collapsed, and decided to rest a bit. I just woke up a few minutes ago."

"Can you walk?" Ino asked. I nodded. I returned to the camp, where Kiba, Akamaru, Mishikajiki, and Kakashi were sitting.

"I see you've found Naruto," Kakashi said.

"Yeah," I said. "I was just really tired after the battle, so I crashed by a few trees."

The others seemed content with my answer, but Sasuke was a little worried. I guess he thought I might have overheard him.

OoOoOoOoO

But by the next day, he had realized that he was overreacting, and I hadn't heard anything. We reached the border to the Land of Beasts, and Kakashi, Lee, Neji and Kiba and Akamaru left us.

We continued through the Land of Beasts with little incident, arriving at the Land of Shadows. It was a very creepy place, but again, we made it through without incident.

We reached the Land of Lightning, and we met up with a few Cloud Village shinobi. We gave Mishikajiki back to them, and we were paid for our services. We had lunch, before heading back to the Hidden Leaf Village.

We decided to take the long way to avoid the Land of Sound. We would go back through the Lands of Beasts and Shadows to get to the Land of Fire, but it would take longer to get to the village.

Our second time in the Land of Shadows was uneventful, but when we got back to the Land of Beasts, things started going awry.

We had set up camp, and had settled in. We started talking, and I couldn't help but look into every one of Sasuke's reactions whenever Ino came on to him. His body language sure confirmed my suspicions that he's gay.

I was about to broach the subject of what girl Sasuke likes (I needed some more evidence before jumping to conclusions…I might have heard his conversation with Kakashi wrong), when a fire arrow barely missed my head, and set fire to our tent and supplies.

Sasuke, Ino and I were ready for battle instantly. A single shinobi, wearing a Hidden Mist forehead protector, revealed himself. He was wearing a blue long sleeved shirt with a silver vest over it. He wore black pants, and had two weapons pouches on his legs. He also had two swords, which he kept by his waist.

"It's you," he said. He pulled out two small swords, holding one in each hand. Apparently, he knew who we were, but I had absolutely no clue as to who he was, although his swords and forehead protector made me think he might be a Swordsman of the Mist.

"Who are you?" I asked. "What do you want with us?"

"My name is Ishichi Hoshigaki," he said. "And I've come to avenge my brother's death. You killed him."

"Hoshigaki?" Sasuke said. "I guess you're talking about Kisame."

"That's right. And if you thought he was tough, wait until you see me." He pointed his swords at Sasuke before saying, "Fire Style: Flaming Swords of Death." His swords lit up with fire around them, and he came at us. We dispersed and surrounded him.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan, while I preformed a Shadow clone jutsu. My shadow clones went at him, overpowering him. Ino threw a kunai at Ishichi, getting him in the back. In his moment of pain, Sasuke took the opportunity to use chidori against him. Right before he was about to hit, Ishichi used the substitution jutsu.

"You thought you could defeat me that easily?" he asked. "Lightning Style: Thunder Strike Blades." The fire went out, and his swords became illuminated with electricity. He jabbed it in my direction, sending a lightning bolt at me. Sasuke jumped in the way to take the blow.

"Sasuke!" I yelled. He fell to the ground, as Ishichi laughed. "Sasuke!" I yelled again.

"Now we're almost even," he said with a smile, as he faded away.

"Sasuke!" Ino yelled. "You'll pay for that," she said, turning to Ishichi.

"I have no time for a weak kunoichi," Ishichi said. "Especially since you weren't involved with Kisame. You can leave, and I won't follow you."

"I will not leave my teammates to fend for themselves," Ino said. She did a handsign. "Mind paralysis jutsu." Both Ino and Ishichi fell to the ground. I'd never seen this jutsu before. I was afraid to do anything to Ishichi. With the mind transfer, whatever happens to one happens to the other. I didn't want to hurt her, so I turned my attention to Sasuke.

I lowered my ear to his heart and didn't hear it beating. I began to do CPR, and eventually, he began to breathe. But he didn't wake up. I guess Ino's jutsu was wearing off, because I heard Ishichi grunt. I decided to get Sasuke to safety nearby before the Mist shinobi woke up.

When I got back, Ino and Ishichi had just started to be revived.

"You didn't attack him!" Ino yelled.

"I thought it might hurt you!" I yelled.

"What a waste of chakra!" Ino yelled.

"If you're done sniping at each other," Ishichi said, "I'll kill you now." He jabbed his swords towards me and Ino, and we dodged for our lives. "If I can't have the Uchiha, I'll just take you two." He continued, and managed to hit Ino's foot. She fell backwards with a yelp. She wasn't in as bad condition as Sasuke, but she couldn't run.

"Now, I'll finish you off," he said. He pointed it at Ino, and I threw a kunai to take the brunt of the lightning.

"No you won't," I said. "I will stop you." I began to use my Rasengan, but he was too quick.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Strike!" he raised the swords to the sky and a bolt of lightning came down on me. I barely dodged it.

He aimed his blades - one at me, one at Ino, and prepared to fire lightning again. We were done for. But then, I heard the familiar sound of many birds chirping.

"Chidori!" I heard Sasuke yell. He came from behind. He was able to throw Ishichi across the field. Ishichi picked himself up, but he was holding his arm in pain. Sasuke's attack must have done a lot of damage.

"I let my guard down," Ishachi said. "It won't happen again. I will leave for now, but I will be back. And I will kill you three, and those other two who fought Kisame with you." He sank into the ground, leaving behind an injured Ino, and a tired Sasuke. As for me, I was pretty beat.

"And now we're even, Sasuke," I said.

"I guess we are," he said.

OoOoOoOoO

In the aftermath of our battle with Ishichi, I had almost forgotten that Sasuke might be in love with me - until we reached the first town in the Land of Fire. Like usual, Ino got one room, and Sasuke and I got the other. Everything was fine until he took a shower.

It wasn't the shower itself, it was afterwards, when Sasuke came out of the shower and accidentally dropped his towel. We both blushed, but it was too close for my comfort. I took my shower and kept my towel tight around my waist. I got into my pajamas and went to bed.

After we turned the lights off, Sasuke decided to start up a conversation.

"Hey, Naruto," he said. "Are you in love with Sakura?" he asked.

This threw me. I didn't want to tell him a lie, but I didn't want him to think that I might be available. After the towel incident, I came to the conclusion that I probably heard right. All the evidence pointed towards it, but I can't imagine we would ever be together. "I-I don't...no." I can't believe I was going to say this. I had barely admitted it to myself. "I'm not. I don't really feel anything romantic towards her."

"But you're dating her," he said.

"I know," I said. "I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"You're going to have to tell her," he said. "Eventually."

"I know," I said.

"So is there someone else you have your eye on?" he asked. I could tell he was really nervous about talking to me like this.

"Not really," I said, honestly. I didn't want to seem rude, so I asked Sasuke back, my throat dry.

"Is there anyone you have your eye on?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. "But they don't return my feelings."

"That's too bad," I said. "Who is it?" The second I said those words, I regretted it. I knew what I had said was too far.

"I...I can't...I shouldn't tell you."

"I understand," I said. "But, Sasuke," I began.

"Yeah, Naruto?" he asked.

"If you ever need someone to talk to, remember, you're my best friend, and I can keep a secret for you, if you need it."

"Thanks, Naruto," he said. I eventually drifted into sleep, and didn't wake up until morning. I was pretty surprised waking up, as Sasuke was shaking me awake.

"Hey, loser," he said. I guess his love for me didn't prohibit the use of insults. "It's time to go."

"Huh?" I asked.

"You overslept. But we have to leave now if we want to get back to the village before sundown."

"Fine," I said. I got ready, and we left. It took all day, but we eventually reached the Hidden Leaf Village. I was still shocked about Sasuke, and I didn't know what to do. I needed to talk to Iruka.

As soon as we got back, the three of us went our separate ways. I went to find Iruka, Sasuke went to find Kakashi, and Ino went back to her house.

"So, Naruto," Iruka said when we finally sat down at Ichiraku's, "why did you ask me to have ramen with you?"

"I need to talk to you about something, Iruka sensei."

"What about?" he asked.

"I found out that someone likes me," I said. "And I don't know what to do."

"Who is it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I can't tell. He doesn't even know that I know."

"He?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah," I said. "It's a guy. And I'm friends with him, but I don't know what to do."

"Well," he said, "you're with Sakura, right?" I nodded. "Then there's no problem. You won't return his feelings, and he'll eventually get over it."

"That's the second part," I said. "I have to break up with Sakura."

"What? Why?" he asked. "You've always had a crush on her. Now you've finally got her, so why are you breaking up with her?"

"I just don't feel it. Do you know what I mean?"

"Naruto," he said. "I'm going to ask you a question. Think about it, sleep on it. Do you not feel anything with Sakura because it's Sakura, or is it because she's a girl?"

"What are you saying?" I asked him.

"Is it possible that your problems with Sakura and the reason you're so upset about this guy liking you because you might be gay?"

"No!" I said. "I'm not...gay."

"Alright," he said. "I was just asking."

"I'm freaked out about him because he said he loves me, and he's on my team!" I yelled. Then I realized the extent of what I said. The only guy on my team was Sasuke. I guess Iruka picked up on it, because he gasped.

"Sasuke Uchiha is in love with you!" he yelled in a whisper. Fuck. There was no getting out of this one.

"You can't tell anyone, Iruka. I only know because I overheard him talking to Kakashi."

"Fine, Naruto," he said. "But think about what I said."

He left, and I finished my ramen. I returned to my apartment, hoping for this whole last week to have been a dream. I'll wake up tomorrow and Sakura and I will be perect, and Sasuke will be straight.

OoOoOoOoO

I woke up the next morning feeling like, well, shit. I couldn't sleep. The stress over Sakura and Sasuke and Iruka...it was just too much. I decided to go outside and train.

In the middle of my training, I realized that someone was there. It was Sasuke.

"Hey," I said. "Whatcha doing?"

"Not much," he said. "I wanted to know if you knew where Kakashi was."

"He's probably lost on the road of life," I said. Sasuke chuckled at Kakashi's frequent excuse. "Have you tried asking Guy, Asuma or Kurenai?"

"They haven't seen him. Where does he go everytime he's late?" he yelled in exasperation. "What jutsu are you working on?" he asked.

"I'm trying to do what you did. Making a fire tornado instead of wind."

"I was only able to do it because of my sharingan," he told me.

"Can you teach me?" I asked.

"You'd have to know how to do a fire elemental release," he said. "It's hard to do an elemental release that's not your own. Without the sharingan."

"Fine," I said. I turned back to my training.

"I'm going to go find Kakashi," he said.

"Alright, Sasuke," I yelled. "See you later." After another hour of trying to do a fire jutsu, I gave up, and decided to ask the pervy sage to help me. I was on the way to the Hokage's mansion, when I was interrupted by Sakura.

"Hey, Naruto!" she yelled. She came over. I couldn't stand not telling her that we couldn't be together anymore. I had to let her know. It was only fair to her.

"Sakura," I said. "I have to talk to you." I didn't really know how to go about this. I'd never broken up with someone before. Forgetting about the fact that I've had a crush on her since I could remember!

"About what?" she asked. Here it goes.

"Us," I said. "Sakura, I love you, but not in the way you think." I let out a breath. Now that I had taken the first step, I had no choice. There was no more backing down.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" she asked. Her voice was getting slightly shakier with each word she said.

"You're like a sister to me," I said. "I love you like a sister. Not as a girlfriend."

"Are you...are you breaking up with me?" she asked. I could see the tears begin to form in her eyes. I wish I could just take it all back before I said anything else, but I couldn't go back now.

"Yes, Sakura," I said. "I realize that we'd be much better friends than anything else. So what do you say? Friends?" I asked. I held out my hand for her to shake, but she just ran away, leaving my hand outstretched.

"Dude," a voice said behind me. "What did you do!" It was Shikamaru Nara. I didn't have time for him. "Did you just break up with Sakura?"

"Were you listening in?" I asked, angry.

"No," he said. "I just saw her run out of here crying like a bat out of hell."

"Mind your own business, Shikamaru," I said.

"Hey," he yelled, grabbing my arm. "Relationships are a drag, which is why I don't get involved with them. But Sakura is my teammate now, so what makes her upset can be detrimental to our squad. Get what I'm saying?"

I pulled my arm from his grasp. "I couldn't go on stringing her along."

"Why'd you do it? Did you cheat? You cheated with Ino, didn't you?" He looked pissed. Come to think of it, it was the first time I've ever really seen emotion other than boredom on his face.

"No!" I yelled. "I just don't see Sakura as anything more than a friend. Why would you care, anyway?"

"Listen, Naruto," he said. "You're my friend, but you can't just break up with Skaura. You might have just ruined our squad's chances at our next mission. If you didn't like her, you shouldn't have gone out with her."

"What mission?" I asked, more focused on that than his last statement.

"We're going on a A ranked mission in the Land of Rain tomorrow to collect intelligence about a possible alliance between the Hidden Rain Village and the Hidden Sound Village. We might be headed into danger, and we all have to be at the top of our game."

"There would always be a reason why I shouldn't do it," I said. "I just had to, before it was too late, and she was too far in. The longer we go out, the worse it was going to be. It's better this way." He rolled his eyes and walked away, but I'm sure I heard him mutter something about love being a drag.

I left Shikamaru there, and headed again towards the Hokage mansion. But before I could reach it, Kakashi found me. It seems I was very popular today. Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru, and now Kakashi.

"Naruto! I need to talk to you," he said.

"Sasuke's looking for you on the road to life," I said, waving him off. I had been distracted too much. I had to see the pervy sage!

"I was busy in a meeting with the Hokage. I've already spoken to Sasuke.. We have a new mission. An A rank."

"What is it?"

"Another chunin squad is headed towards the Land of Rain to collect intelligence. We are going to be doing the same at the Land of Grass. We are concerned about some ties Orochimaru is trying to make." It was the same mission that Shikamaru, Sakura and Shino had.

"When do we leave?" I asked.

"We're meeting at the bridge tomorrow. At nine. Be there." With that, he disappeared. I left to find Jiraya before more people found me.

Author's Note: Well, I hope that Naruto finding out about Sasuke's feelings lived up to your expectations. Please click that little review button on the bottom. There are some bad guys who kidnapped my dog, and they said that to get him back, I needed five reviews. I want my little puppy back. Review?