Naruto pumps a fist in the air. "Yes, Sasuke, yes!"

They are finally in the clearing, after Naruto was leading guide to avoid the leftover prank traps. Sasuke had quietly followed and now he flops long against the plush grass, head in his hands, green stalks tickling his chin. He smiles and closes his eyes.

"Oh man, oh man, this is the mother lode!" Naruto cackles, rolling back and forth like a puppy, and his excitement is catching. Sasuke tries to keep from encouraging him but he can't help that his chest puffs proudly.

"Of course it is. An Uchiha would never fail." He recounts and moves to sit proper. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

With a few pants, Naruto calms down into a smile. "I just kinda wanna look at it. It's looks too pretty to eat." He says, staring right at Sasuke. Sasuke's heart skips, and it takes all he can not to roll on his back like a dog too.

"W-well, that's stupid." he stares pointedly away from Naruto. That grass over there looks like its growing.

But… Naruto does make a point. Sasuke peeks a look back at the spread they've made. Cottony blanket serves as a barrier between the sweets displayed out and the grass, not to mention that its baby blue color seems to complement the dango perfectly. Stacks of creamy spheres on sticks, in soft colors of pink, green, yellow, and white seem to blend in kaleidoscope with each other. There's bocchan dango, goma dango, mitarashi dango every kind of dango he can think of, even the rare one's off season! [1, 2]

He clears his throat. "You're the only one who's going to eat it. I don't like sweets."

Naruto pouts. "Well, that's stupid. You stole this from your brother and you're not even gonna eat any?" The boy beside him haphazardly sits up, gripping his ankles in crossed legs. He leans in and gives him the stink eye.

"…That's not cool."

Sasuke tries to ignore how his heart sinks a little. He sniffs and turns up a dainty nose. "Hmph. So?"

"So! You have to eat with me, Sasuke!"

He really tries to get a grip of himself. Naruto's always been someone he couldn't say no to, and his big blue eyes and wide smile make it hard for Sasuke to keep his cool. He owes his friend, and a secret though they may be he wants him to be openly happy when he can. There's finally no hateful village stares here, so, Sasuke sighs, and he looks up at Naruto. His slim eyebrows twitch and he bites his lip. "…Okay."

"Alright!" Naruto moves in a flurry, grabbing the first two skewers of white goodness off the pile. He offers one to Sasuke and crams the other in his mouth. "Fwry ith?"

Sasuke grimaces but obediently takes the dango, pinching the skewer away from his face. Sweets always made him feel nauseous but if it's Naruto… Sasuke sniffs the dango a little, and he can see his friend rolling his eyes. He smirks, and takes a nibble.

"…It's okay."

Offended, Naruto gasps.

"What?! How can you say that?! It's so yummy and it's stolen. Its forbidden dango, that's the best kind there is!"

Sasuke smiles dolefully and his eyebrows scrunch in a frown. "I don't like stealing from nii-san."

Only true. Stumped for a moment, Naruto chews on the cleaned wooden skewer. Suddenly, he perks up, his smile bright again.

"Use your fire thingy!"

Sasuke's breathing stops. He was afraid of that. He avoids Naruto's eyes and mumbles. "…gokakyuu no jutsu…"

Naruto nods emphatically. "Yeah! That one! Roasting it will make it taste better!" [3, 4]

But… Sasuke doesn't want to do it. It's his secret weakness and he doesn't want anyone, much less his best friend to see him try. Because everyone in his village talks about how close to Itachi he is, how he's first in class and oh so polite but they don't know that he can't make a decent fireball even at seven years old.

Not that he hasn't tried. His lips have burned, skin peeling red, sometimes even bleeding because he really wants to make his father proud and maybe have him ruffle his hair or smile or laugh. But no matter what he tries he can't make a great fireball like his nii-san. More like a flame puffball, he thinks with petulant expression.

"Please?" Naruto sticks another dango in his face but all he can see are blue eyes. "For me?"

Sasuke tentatively takes the sweet and holds it within his firing range. Which isn't very far at all. He looks fiercely at Naruto.

"You can't laugh."

His friend lets out a nervous giggle. "Haah, no way, Sas, why would I laugh?"

Suspicious. His eyes narrow. "You have to promise me."

"Okayyy. I promise not to laugh at your fire thingy. Now go! Do it!"

Hn. Even though Sasuke's memorized the hand signs he performs them slow and with an obvious lackluster. Naruto's watching him closely. Inside, he groans.

"...Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu."

As he feels the familiar rush of chakra, Sasuke prays. Please work, please work, please work! He gathers as much of his chi as he can before channeling it to his mouth; his little cheeks puff red as he takes a deep breath. He shuts his eyes tight and exhales.

Fwooosh. An eye peeks open.

The dango before him is different. The sugar in the balls of mochi have caramelized, changing from a pearly white to a tawny brown. He can smell the sweetness, a soft, honeyed kind of sweet, and for once he doesn't feel even a bit nauseous. He can feel a little residual heat from the wooden skewer but unfortunately he can't see any black scorch marks. It didn't work, he thinks dejectedly, and he coughs a puff of smoke.

He offers the dango to his friend. "I'm sorry, I'm not as good as my brother." Cough. "It's not really cooked through and it's not black enough-"

"It's perfect!"

Huh?

Naruto grins so brightly at him. "…I think it's perfect." Sasuke's heart can't stop fluttering. But Naruto doesn't stop. "See, the way I figure is, that if your brother did it the dango would burn to a black crisp and like, snow into mini little ashes. And if one of your younger Uchiha cousins did it they'd probably wouldn't even get a flame going! But you… You're perfect!"

Sasuke's brain officially broke. He can only gape in shock.

Naruto scoots closer and points at the dango. Not that Sasuke was paying any attention. "Look, it's all brown and crispy and nutty on the outside, but soft, chewy and sweet on the inside! Try it now!"

Sasuke doesn't hesitate. He takes a bite.

"Mmmrph." He's chewing slowly, savoring the fact that Naruto was right. He swallows. It is good. Blushing, he silently offers the rest to Naruto.

"Thanks!"

…Yet, Sasuke's eyes can't help but follow as Naruto takes a bite of his dango. That he thinks is perfect. Sasuke's cheeks glow with pride. He's always heard many complements from the other Uchihas but it's been the first time in a while that he's believed it. His heart swells and he can feel his chakra swirl stronger in his belly. It's feels powerful.

He's smiling.

1: Bocchan dango: Dango that has three colors. One is colored by red beans, the second by eggs, and the third by green tea.

Goma dango: Sesame seeds. It is both sweet and salty.

Mitarashi dango: Covered with a syrup made from shouyu (soy sauce), sugar and starch. (My fav)

(from )

2: Itachi conserving dango wayyyy past its due date, lol. You don't know how much that thought killed me.

3: Roasting (read: grilling) dango is usually done before serving with Mitarashi sauce. (Did I mention my fav?)

4: And yeah, that doesn't excuse the fact that he still stole, unwillingly, from 'nii-san'. But like, logical conclusions (in my fanfics) are overrated. Roasting things is obviously the solution to all our problems. And all my plot turning points. Duh.

And yes, I know, I know, in the show Sasuke can most definitely do a great fireball jutsu at a really young age but, the degree of strength from the beginning episodes to the later episodes in the same jutsu's have, uh, shall I say, 'inflated'? Does that word work? First season Kakashi is surprised that Sasuke can even do a fireball jutsu. Later on, it's like, commonplace… I'm so confused. Anyway, in this fanfic he barely can.

*Well kids, the lesson here is complements don't (always) hurt. They can push you farther, make you stronger. I feel as if Sasuke never learned that, that only when he'd feel pain and fear that meant he was actually succeeding (Which I'm writing another fanfic about based on this interpretation!). Like when I put acne medication and it burns I feel as if it's working. Well, it's not. Sometimes you should accept things the way they are and do the best you can, the safest way. Because even if not you, there's at least one person who thinks you're perfect. And it's true. You are.

Thanks for reading!

-hanareader