A/N: Yeah, before you say anything, I know it's been, what, FOREVER. lol. But I come with a new story, sort of sad, minor SasuNaru references. Sorry about that, but I'm having these weird nightmares about my dad and everything, so I'm in sort of a sad mood. So this one is actually kind of sad. Like I said, I'm sorry but I hope you like it anyway. XD


One-Shot #79
Becoming Naruto

It was as if the world was suspended in motion. No one was moving around him, or her, or their undying love. After years of waiting to be reunited, this was their moment. No one would ruin it, not this time, never again.

She slowly began to undo her shirt-

Naruto growled and crinkled the piece of paper in front of him, throwing it toward an overflowing trash bin. The paper bounced off the top of the stack and fell to the floor, not more than three feet away from Sasuke's sock covered toe. The man looked up from his newspaper and raised an eyebrow at the frustrated blonde.

Ever since the world had calmed down, Naruto began attempting to become his beloved sensei, Jiraiya. From carrying the obscenely large scroll around on his back to attempting to write dirty novels, Naruto had been trying it all. Nothing seemed to work, however. It's difficult to become someone when they were something bigger than life to begin with. He felt for his boyfriend, Sasuke really did, but there was nothing he could do to help him. Naruto had to realize that becoming Jiraiya wasn't the way to go. Missing someone and becoming them are two different things, a realization Naruto needed to come to on his own. It didn't stop Sasuke from wishing there was something, anything he could do to help.

After scribbling a few lines of a fresh piece of paper, Naruto began scratching his head, pulling his hair, and eventually growling out obscenities and crinkling the offending paper, tossing it in the overflowing bin. The floor, Sasuke noticed, was littered with notebook paper, crinkled into misshapen balls, with writing on it that barely fit a third of the page's length.

Three more sheets of paper were tossed to the ground before Sasuke decided he had to try something. He stood up, dropping his newspaper in the seat he vacated and stretched his long legs. Naruto didn't even notice Sasuke had moved, he was too engrossed in writing on the next clean sheet of paper. Sasuke idly took notice in Naruto's dwindling paper supply. Pretty soon he would be shopping for more notebooks. Maybe it was a smart idea to buy stock in a paper company.

Slowly walking up behind the blonde, Sasuke placed a hand on each of his shoulders and began giving his frustrated boyfriend a slow massage. Immediately the blonde snapped his attention to the massage and let his head lean back.

"Thanks, 'suke. That feels great." Naruto left out a deep sigh before dropping his head toward the paper and began scribbling again.

His fingers felt like fire against her honey colored skin. All she could do was arch her back and moan as the man moved his hands slowly down her mid-section. He was making her want him to the point of going insane. She was loving every minute of –

Naruto left out a growl, this time slightly lower in tone than the last one, and threw the misshapen ball of paper toward the trash can. It missed completely and landed in a tall house plant instead. The ball dangled between a couple leaves like an eccentric Christmas ornament.

Sasuke took notice in a small stack of papers sitting above the place Naruto's notebook currently sat. They were papers he'd already written, apparently the "keepers", so to speak. Letting his dark eyes skim over the pages, Sasuke realized that the writing wasn't half bad. Naruto had a gift for alliteration, which shouldn't surprise him with hearing Naruto's colorful phrases on a daily basis. But seeing it written down was different.

The paper Naruto was scribbling on was soon threw out, his body becoming more tense with each scrapped page. Sasuke sighed and took a seat next to Naruto. He was going to try something, anything, if it meant keeping his boyfriend happy.

"Naruto, what are you having so much trouble writing?"

The blonde gave a sad laugh as he sat back in his chair. "Everything! Well, I guess not everything. See, when I write the other scenes, the one's with them meeting, talking, all the drama and whatever, I'm fine. As soon as I try to write any sort of a romantic scene, I get all blocked up. It's like my writing skill, if I have any, goes right out the window like a bird escaping from a cage!"

Sasuke smiled. "You do have a gift, Naruto. You have a skill for creating colorful phrases. I think you're trying too hard. Take a break, you don't have to finish all this in one day."

"But if I take a break, I might not get another free day for quite a while. You know how our schedule is, 'suke. We barely have any time for each other let alone other things." Naruto slouched in his seat. "Pervy-sage used to write whole chapters in one night. Why can't I do that?"

"Naruto, you're not Jiraiya. And, as hard as you are trying, you won't become him over night. It doesn't work that way."

"I made a promise, Sasuke. I promised myself I would become an amazing ninja, just like him. I can't just quit. I'm his student, his apprentice, I should have all the skills he had by now. Just because Jiraiya is go- isn't here…you know…doesn't mean I can't continue to train."

Naruto's voice was cracking, tears threatening to escape. He hadn't talked about Jiraiya's death in so long, a lot of people thought he was over it, that he'd coped. They were wrong.

"C'mere." Sasuke motioned and Naruto clung to him, tears spilling onto Sasuke's shirt. "I think that you can still be like Jiraiya and be like you at the same time. Instead of writing these stories the way Jiraiya did, write them like you would."

Naruto pulled back, a confused expression gracing his face. "What'dya mean, 'suke?"

"You're trying to write a sex scene with a man and a woman, something you have no experience about." Sasuke paused as Naruto glared at him. "Instead, change your story around. Write about two men and I'll bet you'd have more inspiration. And, if you need some more, I'm sure we could think of something."

"Yeah," Naruto said slowly. "I guess that makes sense."

"You can't become Jiraiya. Become Naruto instead." Sasuke wiped a tear off of Naruto's cheek and smiled.

Naruto nodded in agreement and set off to write a new story, one about two men falling in love, something he'd know a lot about. Sasuke gathered up all the discarded papers and walked them out to the dumpster. It was getting dark and stars were shining brightly in the clear sky. He imagined Jiraiya was up there, looking down at Naruto, smiling that perverted smile of his. Although he didn't know the old man long, he knew that Naruto loved him like a father.

Taking his gaze away from the stars, he walked back into the apartment. Naruto was hovered over the table, writing feverishly. Sasuke leaned over Naruto's shoulder, taking a glance at the paper. In the scratchy handwriting, Sasuke read the title of Naruto's new story.

Becoming Naruto: A Story of Eternal Bonds and True Love

Sasuke smiled. It sounded like a damn good story so far.