Three years was much shorter than it seemed.

Maybe it was the constant stream of missions only being broken up by short periods of time off and training that made the time seem to fly by. Whatever it was, it felt like one second Sasuke was a thirteen-year-old genin and in the next he was sixteen and a jounin. He'd been the first of his graduating class to make jounin, but he'd seen that coming. He'd been surrounded by high level shinobi from the moment he was born. And now he was considered among their ranks.

"You should rest," Kakashi idly pointed out as he flipped to another page in his book. Sasuke didn't bother to respond to the man. He stared down at the fire between them, his arm resting atop his bent leg. The sound of Kakashi turning another page filled the silence.

Sasuke didn't mind running missions with Kakashi. The older jounin was more than competent and a very tolerable partner. Kakashi didn't feel the need to chatter pointlessly and was very quick to tell when Sasuke wasn't in the mood for his teasing.

After their team had dissolved, Kakashi was the only one Sasuke had bothered to keep relatively in contact with. Kakashi was just as awkward and hesitant at reaching out to others as Sasuke was. So when their paths kept bumping into each other whether through Itachi or pure circumstance, it made it much easier to build common ground between them.

When Sasuke had wanted to train for the Chunin Exams, it had been Kakashi that he'd asked. His former sensei had been surprised to say the least. Granted Itachi and Shisui had both been away from the village on an extended mission at the time, but it was the thought that counted. Kakashi must have seen Sasuke's drive to not only pass the exam but to step out of Itachi's shadow. While he was an only child and probably didn't fully understand the kind of pressure that Sasuke had been under, Kakashi had done his best to prepare Sasuke. Looking back on it, he may have gone a bit overboard and made Sasuke a bit too prepared, but Sasuke hadn't complained. If anything, the strength and skill he'd displayed had only brought pride to his clan and the village. After that, Sasuke had regularly sought him out for training sessions and Kakashi had taken it all in stride.

Sasuke couldn't say the same for his relationship with Sakura. He supposed he did consider her a friend, more so than most of the people in the village. She did try to see him when she wasn't busy with her training and hospital duties, but they rarely found time to meet outside his regular physicals and the rare stay in the hospital after a difficult mission.

Sasuke breathed deeply before leaning back against the tree behind him and closing his eyes. They weren't due to be back in Konoha for several days and tomorrow their mission would officially start. "Wake me in a few hours," Sasuke said. Kakashi hummed once in acknowledgement.

~:~

His sandals were muddy, sweat was gathering on his back, and he vaguely smelled of old blood. Sasuke was sure that he was starting to get bags under his eyes from the minimal amounts of sleep he'd gotten the past few days. What was supposed to be a simple infiltration and scouting mission of one of Orochimaru's possible bases quickly turned into an ambush and fight for their lives. The kinds of creatures that they'd found in that underground cavern hadn't even looked human.

Sasuke eyed the bandages around Kakashi's arm from the corner of his eyes as the leapt over tree branches. Kakashi had taken a vicious bite from a large, snakelike creature in an effort to protect Sasuke. The older man had immediately gone down from the hit and Sasuke's body had responded before he'd even realized it. Eyes blazing red, Sasuke had weaved and moved around the hissing creatures with his hands flowing through the mudras for the strongest fire jutsus in his arsenal.

Sasuke hadn't realized that he'd put Kakashi up on a pedestal like he'd done Itachi until he'd crouched at his former sensei's side and watched him slowly bleed out and lose consciousness. Kakashi had always seemed so larger than life. His hands had shaken only slightly as he administered the antitoxin that they'd brought with them. Using the rising smoke and ashes as cover, Sasuke had pulled Kakashi's limp body onto his back and make a quick retreat from the base. He'd kept watch over Kakashi for over a day before the man had finally woken. They hadn't spoken about the exchange, but Sasuke was sure that Kakashi was aware of the frequent checks that he was doing to Kakashi's well-being.

Now, here they were, on their way back to Konoha. The Yondaime had called them back and had already sent out another team to continue in their place. Normally, Sasuke would feel insulted that he was being recalled from a mission and replaced as if he couldn't handle it, but he'd more than recognized the need to fall back.

"If you worry any more, you'll get frown lines," Kakashi said.

"Hn. If you weren't so reckless, then I wouldn't have to save your ass," Sasuke replied. 'Then I wouldn't have to worry.'

"If I had let you get hurt, then Itachi would have put me in the hospital anyways," Kakashi pointed out. Sasuke shot Kakashi another look, his mind running on an old memory.

"I won't allow my comrades to die. I'll protect you with my life."

Sasuke scoffed softly and refocused on their path.

~:~

It had been Tsunade that had treated them when they'd gotten back to Konoha. Sasuke still wasn't sure how he felt about the woman. He recognized her strength and he was vaguely familiar with her reputation. He didn't care for her alcoholism or gambling ways, but he'd gained a small sense of respect for her after she'd treated his brother. About two years ago, Itachi had started showing signs of an unknown illness. Even when none of the doctors or medics in Konoha could help him, Sasuke still hadn't wanted to give up hope. The Yondaime had requested that Tsunade return to the village as a favor to the Uchiha. Sasuke had dared to let the hope in his chest grow- the world's best medic? She'd definitely be able to save Itachi. But when Sasuke had heard that the slug Sannin hadn't responded in the politest of ways, he'd instead cursed the woman's name and bloodline to hell and back, making his mother blush and father admonish him for the creativity of his insults. But then suddenly, Tsunade had arrived in the village claiming to have lost a bet to Naruko and to point her toward the Uchiha brat. Honestly, he wasn't sure what Naruko had done, but he'd felt a deep sense of gratitude to the girl.

Tsunade still had to prove herself in Sasuke's eyes, however. Despite Itachi's warnings of showing respect, Sasuke hadn't held his tongue and had told the woman exactly what he thought of her. Sasuke supposes that he was lucky that she hadn't broken his ribs for the disrespect, but he'd had Naruko to thank for that show of mercy yet again. Tsunade had taken one good look at him and instantly recognized him with a knowing smirk. And now there was another person in the village was convinced that there was some sort of relationship between him and Naruko. Just what had she told Tsunade?

Sasuke felt the arrival of his brother's chakra in the room less than a second before his brother shushined at his bedside. Itachi's eyes roved over Sasuke's form as he spoke in a rushed tone, "Are you alright? I just got back and heard from Kaa-san that you were in the hospital. What happened?"

Sasuke wanted to shrink away from his brother's worried gaze, but a part of him felt a bit lighter to have his brother's full attention on him. "I'm fine, Nii-san."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine as well," Kakashi said from his bed across the room.

Itachi spared him a glance and Sasuke watched them communicate without words. Sasuke was sure that it had to be a prodigy thing, because their silent conversation was lost on him. "Thank you, Kakashi-san." Itachi had sounded deeply grateful.

Kakashi smiled brightly, his eye closing with a curve, and said, "Of course. I'm more than used to keeping an eye on him by now."

Sasuke scowled.

"It's nice to know that he has others that care for him," Itachi said, making the tips of Sasuke's ears warm. Ignoring Sasuke's hiss of annoyance, Itachi opened the window next to Sasuke's bed and stared out. "I think I'll be feeling even better knowing that he'll have another familiar face around," Itachi said and moved to lean against the wall. Kakashi lowered his book and let out an intrigued hum.

Sasuke loved his brother, but he was always so cryptic. He was about to ask what the hell Itachi was talking about when a blur of orange and yellow dashed through the open window and landed at his bedside. "Teme!" Naruko shouted as she pulled him by the front of his shirt into her personal space.

Blue. He thought he remembered what she looked like, but his memory must have faded. Her eyes were even brighter than he remembered. Her bangs were longer now, the tips brushing against her long eye lashes. Her face had slimmed, the baby fat disappearing from her cheeks. The whisker marks on her cheeks were twitching and moving quickly as she spoke, but he couldn't hear a word she said. Her lips hadn't been that pink when they were younger.

"-hurt like an idiot!" she finished shouting.

He narrowed his gaze at her and shoved her hands off him. "Hn. Between the two of us, you've gotten hurt more times than you can count from doing something idiotic, Dobe."

Instantly, her face flamed. "Teme! Here I was worried about you for no reason. I guess it's too much to hope that someone would have hit you hard enough to knock that stick out your ass," she said and folded her arms over her chest. Chest. Chest. She had-

"No worry for your former sensei, Naruko?" Kakashi asked in his best attempt at sounding pitiful.

"Ne, Kakashi-nii… You're always getting hurt and exhausting yourself," Naruko pointed out. Kakashi seemed to deflate with a low groan while Itachi smiled in amusement.

"How did you know I was here anyways?" Sasuke asked.

Naruko turned back to him and pointed at Itachi over her shoulder. "I ran into Itachi-nii outside your house. He told me that he was going to see you in the hospital. I didn't want to get in his way because he looked like he was ready to tear down the Hokage Monument, 'ttebayo."

Itachi didn't confirm or deny her words.

"Did Tsunade-Baa-chan heal you?" she asked.

"I'm fine. They'll be letting me out by tomorrow," Sasuke answered.

Instantly, her face lit up. She took a step closer to him and Sasuke felt a breath leave him at the intensity of her stare. She had a small fist raised in front of her as she grinned at him. "Good! Because you owe me a fight, Teme."

Sasuke blinked twice before scoffing. "Are you in that much of a rush to lose?"

She laughed loudly with her hands on her hips. Her laugh wasn't delicate by any means. It wasn't a ladylike laugh, but a loud, full-body guffaw. She still laughed with her whole body. "You wish, Teme. I gotta go see Tou-chan to let him know that I'm back. I just wanted to make sure you weren't dying first," she said and leapt onto the windowsill. Sasuke scoffed. "Make sure you heal up. I don't want you to make any excuses when I kick your ass," she said with a smirk and jumped.

Sasuke stared at the spot where she had been for a few seconds before looking away. Immediately, he noticed the knowing looks Itachi and Kakashi were giving him. Sasuke scowled at them both before kicking away his covers and leaving with a flimsy excuse tossed over his shoulder.

~:~

Itachi had been curious as to how the relationship between his little brother and Naruko would change after their time apart. He was very pleased to have witnessed their reunion firsthand. His mother would want to know all the details later, so he had made sure to pay very close attention.

His little brother was even more enamored with the girl. But even more than that, he had seen the mutual interest in her eyes as well.

But how to proceed?

Judging by how his little brother had quickly fled the room, Itachi could tell that Sasuke wasn't going to make this easy on him. Unfortunately, his little brother had a tendency to be difficult. Thankfully, Itachi loved a challenge.

"Minato-sensei won't be pleased about this," Kakashi remarked idly as he read his book.

Itachi hummed once. Kakashi was right. The Yondaime was notorious for his protective streak. If Itachi were a more insubordinate shinobi, he would have already directly addressed the Yondaime's less than friendly attitude towards his younger brother. Granted, the Hokage had been much more receptive towards Sasuke once Naruko had left the village. But the man was sure to pose a challenge once again.

"It's a good thing, Kushina-san has the final say," Kakashi said and turned a page.

And just like that, an idea started to form in his mind. "Thank you, Kakashi-san," Itachi said and turned to leave through the window.

"Hmm? For what?" Kakashi replied with a tilt of his head and a glint in his grey eye.

~:~

Somehow, without prior discussion, they'd decided to meet in training ground 7 at the crack of dawn the next morning. Sasuke had found her meditating in front of the wooden pole that she had once been tied to, her body completely still with only her blonde hair swaying in the light breeze. For a second, he stopped and stared. He'd never seen her so…still. Naruko was always a whirlwind of movement and energy, never able to sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. Continuing on with his approach, he watched her for any sign that she was aware of him, but he got none. "I didn't know you could sit still long enough to meditate."

She smiled and opened her eyes. "I've picked up a few tricks these past few years, 'ttebayo!"

Sasuke felt his heart rate pick up as a familiar energy filled him. He'd sparred with several people both in and out of the village the past three years, but none of them gave him the feeling that he got when he fought her. When they were kids in the academy, he'd thought he was just frustrated and annoyed by her. But after being on the same team with her, that frustrated energy had left him, and a new feeling of excitement took its place. He liked a good challenge and Naruko had always been that. Even when he won their bouts, she'd always made him work for it- reacting and moving in ways that had him sometimes abandoning what he'd known and resorting brawling with her. And now, she had new strengths to show him.

He let the chakra gather behind his eyes as he watched her stand. His vision sharpened as he watched her return his gaze with a small smile. "If you're going to take me seriously, then I'll do the same for you," she said and took her stance.

"You're going to have to. You won't last long if you don't," he taunted with a smirk.

His heart was starting to pound now. He normally kept a leash on his chakra, something he'd picked up from Kakashi, but he released it now. He could see and feel her chakra swirling around her in response. His sharingan allowed him to see all the minute details about her. He could see the vein on her neck thrumming away. Idly, he noticed that their hearts were pounding almost in sync. He released a slow breath before moving.

The first few minutes were strictly taijutsu. He used the time to test her, leaving some obvious and some not so obvious holes in his defenses to see what she would do. More than once, she fell for it and he was always quick to punish those mistakes with a well-aimed punch or kick. Slowly, he started to increase the intensity and speed at which he attacked. He left fewer holes for her this time, but she seemed to catch on quickly enough anyways.

Their movements were starting to blur together now. He could see the intense focus in her eyes as she watched him. When they were younger, it had been easy to distract her with an extra wave of his arm or an aborted movement. But her focus didn't waver. It wasn't like he had too many chances to test her, however. She was picking up the pace this time.

Despite the almost frenetic way she was striking at him, his eyes could keep up with every move. He could see the frustration starting to well up behind her eyes and smirked. Her eyes widened just before she actually growled at him and shot out a fist at his face. He was quick to duck and dodge the strike while delivering a punch of his own to her gut. He heard the air leave her in a whoosh as she staggered backwards. Using a move that he had copied from Kakashi, he did a quick spin and delivered a kick to her face that sent her flying.

He followed her as she tumbled roughly with a cry, his fingers already pulling a kunai free from the pouch at his thigh. She landed on her back and before she could get back up, he had his kunai pointed at her face. He could see the surprise in her eyes before a smile slid onto her face. He almost smirked again, but she stuck out her tongue at him and disappeared with a pop.

His instincts were screaming at him to dodge and he barely managed to avoid her hand as she went flying over his head from behind. He hadn't even noticed her weave the hand signs for her clones! There were four of her now, each one attacking him from all sides with kunai in their hands. He was still controlling the flow of the fight, however.

When he was decently confident that he'd seen enough of her improved taijutsu, he tossed one clone into another and substituted away. Hands flying, he gathered up the chakra for a fire ball. He was sure that she was little more than a blur to the average eye, but he could see her every step in the wide arc she was taking to avoid his attack. The fireball had barely left his lips before he was summoning lighting to his palm. He watched her eyes go wide as she stopped dead in her tracks, but she didn't move fast enough to dodge the stream of lightning he was moving through the ground.

He heard her cry out just before she popped again.

He felt the ground shift beneath him too late and got a vicious uppercut for his trouble. He heard the wind whipping past his ears as he flipped in the air and before he could right himself, he felt her hands grab his feet and throw him onto the ground with a shout.

Their fight proceeded like this for a while. He used lightning and fire to trip her up, but she was always sneaky with her clones- as if she'd prepared specifically for his eyes. (He ignored the pleased feeling moving through him to know that she'd gone through so much trouble for him.) After about an hour, he could feel himself starting to tire as his chakra reserves began to dip.

But she just kept getting back up. She would take a punch to the face and still get back up to hit him in the gut. He could land a kick to her stomach that sent her flying just to send out some clones to distract him while she got ready for a counterattack. She was by no means as skilled as Kakashi or Itachi, but she definitely lasted longer than them.

Eventually, he lost track of time. Their fight had lasted for hours. It was nearing sundown now, and she was only juststarting to tire. He could feel the sweat soaking his shirt and how his muscles were starting to scream at him. He was trying to get his breathing under control from where he was kneeling on the ground. She was bent at the waist and panting slightly, her jacket opened and the black tank top beneath it starting to collect her own sweat. When she slowly stood up again, Sasuke nearly cursed. Breathing deeply, he pushed himself back up again.

He watched her summon a clone and hold out her hand to it. His eyes widened at the new jutsu. It looked like a small ball of raw chakra spinning wildly in her palm. He watched as the chakra continued to spin without losing shape- shape manipulation. A dense ball of compressed chakra. A hit from attack like that would definitely knock him out. Sasuke felt mildly impressed.

He didn't have too much chakra left and he was decently tired. But he was sure that he could dodge her attack. Dodge her and try to restrain her… somehow. But then he saw the look in her eyes. She was challenging him- daring him to dodge her. Almost like a cat, he felt his hackles rise and summoned lightning to his palm. It wasn't enough to cause any serious damage, but it would be enough to meet her head on.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruko!"

The resulting light from their combined attacks was blinding. Maybe it was the exhaustion messing with his head. Maybe it was the light from their combined jutsus messing with his eyes and making him see things. But he was sure that in that moment that their jutsu connected that he was seeing himself- a much younger version of himself standing on the dock at the lake near the Uchiha compound.

From where he was standing atop the hill, he looked down at his younger self that was standing next to a much older Naruko. He could recognize the bandages on his face and arms from when he had been first learning the fireball jutsu. He watched his younger self breathe out a small stream of fire and heard the soft gasp at his side. He looked off to his left and noticed a younger Naruko watching his younger self practice with a wide-eyed stare. He watched as his younger self momentarily stopped his practice to look back and notice her. The smaller Sasuke stared for only a second before scowling and looking away. And just like that, she scowled as well and started to stomp away. Sasuke watched her go down the path with a pout on her face, but she slowed after a few steps. She looked back at the young boy still practicing his jutsu before quickly dashing away.

When the hallucination (or was it a memory?) faded away, Sasuke blinked up at the orange and reds tinting the sky. He wasn't panting and his heart rate had returned to normal. How long had he been laying here? His limbs were still screaming, but he forced himself to sit up anyways. He spotted Naruko laying on her back a few feet away. "Oi! Don't tell me you're knocked out over there," Sasuke called out.

He heard her laugh lightly before she pulled herself up as well to give him a tired look. She slowly pushed herself up from the ground before walking over to him. "You look like shit," she said and offered him a hand.

He rolled his eyes and clasped her hand with his. "Can you even see anything with that eye?" he asked and pointedly stared at her rapidly swelling and bruised eye.

She huffed at him and stretched her arms over her head. "I'm starving. I could go for some ramen right about now."

"When don't you want ramen?" he asked and started walking back towards the village. No matter how things change, they stay the same.

~:~

Sasuke wasn't sure how it started, but he suspected that Itachi was to blame. His elder brother sipped from his teacup, the perfect picture of a well-mannered son. He completely ignored the loud voices at the other end of the table as he placed his cup down and continued to eat his dinner.

"And then he started sneezing so much that he ended up spilling his ramen all over himself!" Kushina exclaimed with a loud laugh. Mikoto giggled lightly from behind her hand while the Yondaime slumped in his seat with pink cheeks.

Naruko was snickering from her seat next to her father. "Geez, Tou-chan. I didn't know you were so lame."

Minato looked positively scandalized at his daughter's words, as if she had shot an arrow through his heart. Before he could do anything to redeem himself in his daughter's eyes, Kushina interjected, "He was the lamest when we first started going out. We would have gotten nowhere if I hadn't taken charge, 'ttebane."

Sasuke watched the usually stern and dignified Hokage, slump over his plate with an air of dejection. Sasuke probably would have felt some pity for the man if he hadn't been such a hardass towards Sasuke in the past. Sasuke knew that the Hokage was just overprotective of his only daughter. A part of Sasuke tried not to care too much about it. He imagined it must be hard to have a daughter, especially one as beautiful as-

Sasuke coughed lightly as he tried to clear the rice that he'd accidentally choked on. Immediately, he garnered the attention of everyone else at the dinner table and he tried to calm his body's violent reaction to his crazy thinking. "Sasuke?" Itachi questioned with a brow raised.

"Geez, Teme. I didn't think you needed someone to feed you just so you don't choke," Naruko teased.

Sasuke glared at her from across the table. "Dobe," he croaked.

This had been his life as of late. One random Friday, his mother had asked him to pick up extra groceries for her because they were having guests over for dinner. He'd been surprised by this. His parents did entertain guests, but it was usually other clan heads or dignitaries that visited the village. Normally, he had adequate warning ahead of time when that happened.

So, he'd been moderately surprised when the Uzumaki-Namikaze household had been led into the house by Itachi and Naruko had immediately teased Sasuke for the pink apron he'd been wearing at the time. His mother had asked him to help her with the miso! Like a dutiful son, he'd lent a hand while Itachi and his father had been busy discussing something important. When Kushina had cooed that Minato had one just like it, Sasuke had nearly tossed the apron on the floor and set it ablaze.

That had been almost a month ago. These combined family dinners happened once a week and alternated between both homes. Sasuke was sure that Itachi was to blame. His mother would normally have lunch with Kushina when she wanted to see her. Never before had she so adamantly demanded that they would be having frequent dinner guests. His father had initially objected- Kushina had a tendency to completely bulldoze over his father's opinions and butt heads with the man. But one sharp look from his mother was all it took for his father to back down and retreat to his study. Normally, Fugaku kept his peace for most of the meal and only bothered to speak when discussing village matters with Itachi and the Yondaime.

Once dinner had ended, Kushina had gotten up to help his mother clear the table while his father had left with the Yondaime to discuss some new trade agreement with Suna. Itachi had quietly excused himself and that left Sasuke and Naruko to their own devices. Sasuke had led her out to the backyard and they sat at the porch to enjoy the cooling, night air.

"Tou-chan says that the next Chunin Exams are being held in Sunagakure," she said randomly. Sasuke raised a brow at her in question. Her cheeks seemed to grow a little pink as she quietly admitted, "I'll be able to compete and be promoted then."

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly. He'd forgotten that she was still a genin. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something, so he shrugged. "So what if you don't have the jacket? You're definitely stronger than a chunin and even a few of the jounin," Sasuke offered and kept his gaze on the night sky.

She seemed to bolster at his words before saying, "Yeah. I've gotten pretty strong, 'ttebayo! But they're still going to make me take the test. Something about paperwork or whatever."

"Hn."

Once again, there was a lull in conversation. He could hear their mothers laughing inside and the sounds of crickets filling the air. He almost missed it, but he picked up the sound of a window upstairs closing softly just before he spotted his brother land on the top of the wall surrounding the property. Itachi spared him a glance from over his shoulder before he leapt away and into the dark.

"Where's he going?" Naruko asked a bit too loudly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He made sure to keep his voice down as he responded, "Shisui's out of the village right now so he's definitely going to see Izumi."

"Eh!?"

Sasuke covered her mouth with his hand and shot her a look. When it looked like she wasn't going to alert their parents, he released her. "Your brother…sneaks out… to see a girl?" she asked as if the idea was completely foreign to her. And really, he didn't blame her.

The idea of his stoic, older brother sneaking out to do whatever he did with Izumi that Sasuke refused to think about or to meet with Shisui at a bar downtown was ludicrous. Sasuke had first noticed that Itachi was sneaking out two years ago. When he'd actually caught his brother sneaking back into the house very early in the morning, Itachi had made him promise to keep it between them- a secret between brothers. Naturally, Sasuke had kept quiet. He'd even managed to cover for Itachi a few times. A part of him had felt bad about lying to his parents, but a much larger part of him had felt good about keeping Itachi's secret.

"Sometimes he goes out drinking with Shisui. But yes, he does."

Naruko's jaw dropped. "But… but he doesn't seem…"

"I told him to just move out, then he wouldn't have to sneak out. But he knows that if he moves out, Tou-san would start pressuring him to get more involved in clan affairs and get married," Sasuke explained. Naruko remained quiet as she digested the information.

Honestly, Sasuke wasn't fond of the idea of Itachi moving out. He did want his brother to be happy. But a part of Sasuke was concerned about what would happen to him without Itachi around to act as the buffer between him and their father. Sasuke knew that he would have to learn how to deal with his father's expectations eventually. He couldn't have Itachi stand up for him forever.

"Do you drink?" Naruko whispered with hand around her mouth as she leaned towards him. She looked almost scandalized to be asking and Sasuke nearly laughed at her expression.

Sasuke shrugged. "A couple of times. It's okay," he replied casually. At the surprised look on her face, he rolled his eyes. "I went out with Itachi and Shisui once, but I usually go with Kakashi."

"Do you go with Sakura-chan?" she asked softly.

Sasuke scoffed. "Sakura nagged us about the effects of alcohol poisoning on the body when we invited her out with us. It's easier to not tell her if we go."

"Would you go with me?" she asked this time.

He shrugged again. Why not? "As long as you can hold your liquor," Sasuke challenged with a smirk. He watched her cheeks redden slightly as she blinked at him before glaring. She snorted at him while looking away, spewing boasts about how she was sure that if he could do it, she could do it with no problem. Sasuke turned back to the night sky and leaned back on his palms. He let the sound of her voice wash over him, not really listening to what she was saying. Despite how animated and quickly she spoke, Sasuke felt himself relaxing. It was nice to have her chatter in the background of his life again.

"Oi! Teme! Are you even listening to me!?"