The house was in an unassuming neighborhood of Konoha. Parks and tea shops abounded and civilians were the majority of residents. The leafy trees had grown tall and broad, lining the shady streets.

Naruto knocked on the door. He shuffled his feet as he waited and waved to a little boy who pointed at him from across the street. His chuunin vest and forehead protector were somewhat out of place in the suburb as most ninja lived closer to the Hokage tower. But, Sasuke wasn't a ninja anymore.

The door opened, "It's you."

Smiling, "Hey Sasuke, what's up?"

The Uchiha sighed melodramatically, but opened the door wider, "Well?"

He walked in, removing his sandals before traveling through the hallway to the living room. The neutral walls were bare and the furnishings were spartan, but everything was impeccably clean. He shook his head, Sasuke must really not have much to do.

"I haven't seen you in a while," Sasuke said while Naruto lounged on his couch, "Sakura says you've been gone on another training mission."

"Yeah," he answered, "The Frog Sages are keeping me busy. Their training techniques are great, but the food..." he trailed off looking queasy, "I have to sneak away every once in a while to get some ramen."

"You come back just for ramen?"

"Well, Tsunade-baa-chan likes me around to yell at me, and Sakura-chan insists I don't drop off the face of the earth or I'll regret it. But Hinata-chan makes me lunch sometimes and I have to check in with Shikamaru too. Lee challenges me to a duel everytime I see him, he's going for Special Jounin."

"You sound busy," Sasuke replied blandly.

Ah crap, "Um, not really," he amended, "Besides, you have Sakura-chan coming to visit you all the time. I hear she's here more often than at her own house," waggling his eyebrows. He could count the number of times Sakura visited him at home on one hand.

"It's her idea, not mine," nonchalant, but Naruto didn't totally believe him.

"And Hinata-chan told me you've been training with Neji," now that had been news to him. He remembered staring at her for a few seconds over his bowl of ramen, "Sasuke training with Neji? When did this happen?"

She had glanced down at the counter, "Neji-nii-san told me he talked to Sasuke-kun while he was in prison. Now that he's under house arrest and has little to do, he makes a convenient sparring partner."

"Wow, I guess prison does weird stuff to people."

Hinata had given him a look and then laughed delicately behind her hand.

He finally got it later, but his memory was interrupted by Sasuke, "He is an excellent ninja, if a bit stern and dull."

Naruto was about to say he wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine himself, but he heard to door open and Sakura's voice call out, "Sasuke-kun, I brought you those books you wanted. I was surprised the library had so many," she poked her head around the corner, smiling, "Oh, Naruto," she seemed somewhat surprised, "I didn't know you were back."

"It's not for long, Shikamaru has a lead I want to check out."

Sakura put the pile of books down, and wiped her forehead, "Leaving again so soon? We've hardly seen you for months."

He shrugged apologetically, "Yeah, you know..."

Sasuke started to sort through the books, his expression bland, "He has things he needs to do," he said before picking up a pile and walking away.

Frowning, Naruto watched him go and was about to ask who put a stick up his ass, when Sakura answered, "He's been moody," she whispered, leaning against the table, "He needs something to do."

"So, entertain him," Naruto suggested, "It can't be that hard."

"That's not what I meant," she hissed, straining to keep her voice down, "Think a little deeper for once."

He crossed his arms, "I know what you meant," I'm not an idiot, he almost added on, but that would most certainly not go well, "But, what am I supposed to do? He won't listen to me."

She advanced on him, pointing a finger into his chest, "You could show up more often for one. You're his friend."

I'm not the one who ran off, he thought bitterly for a second before realizing he couldn't really blame Sasuke for doing the same thing as he was, "I know," he shook his head and pushed her hand away, "I know, but he'll understand."

"I hope so," she frowned.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he patted her shoulder before she shooed him away, "I'll kick Akatsuki's ass in no time."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't contradict him.

"You two can stop talking about me now," Sasuke said from the doorway.

"Like we would talk about you."

"Don't flatter yourself, Sasuke-kun," Sakura teased, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I was just telling Naruto how much I missed him."

Um...what?

"I'm so glad he's back," she purred, coming around behind the couch he was on and draping herself across the top, "I can hardly contain myself."

Sasuke's eye twitched, and Naruto smiled, "Oh, Sakura-chan!"

"Oh, Naruto!"

"Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto!"

"I'll leave you two alone, then," he left.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called after him, springing up from the couch and bounding over Naruto.

Disclaimer: Nothing's changed since last time.

A/N: A short one, and so is the next one. I think this will be a double chapter weekend, since both are so short and I've finished them in record time. A few notes:

I doubt Lee could make Jounin. They seemed too well rounded in general and he can only use taijutsu, so he's going for the more specialized Special Jounin.

I'm using the Frog Sage training in here, remember it's alternative timeline not alternative universe, yet.

Sakura is fairly hard to write, surprisingly. I'm never too sure if she should over react more or not.

As always, thanks for reading.