Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any of its associated characters!

Summary: Sasuke has spent three years trying to figure out how to live on his own. Maybe it's time to try something different. WIP. Future SNS, updates once a month. Canonverse. Rating may change!

A/N: Sorry for the wait! Please take this chapter as a thank you.

Two is a Crowd

Chapter 23: if not the sound of a laugh

They didn't kiss, after that. Naruto stayed breathing into Sasuke's mouth and Sasuke stayed slack, listless, lifeless, a vulnerable bud of feeling. Open to the air around him. Open to the look in Naruto's eyes.

It changed. Sasuke didn't know after how long. But it broke into a laugh, and that as a contagion Sasuke could not counter. He hid his smile in his hand, and Naruto rolled from him, curled into himself, breathing happiness into the air. Naruto looked at him, and Sasuke looked back.

"Sorry," Naruto said, and there was nothing sorry about him. "I think I caught your lip."

He had.

"You did."

Same as the last time.

"Same as the first time."

Naruto twisted and laughed and rolled back to him. Sasuke lifted his hand like Naruto's would fall into it. He was still drunk. It was a good thing. It was a bad thing. He thought his love might be screaming out of him.

"One day it'll be a good kiss," Naruto grumbled, and he was golden. He was bathed in light. It must have been midnight. There wasn't even a window to explain it.

He was bathed in light.

"Let's aim for decent," Sasuke offered, and Naruto punched him in the arm. It faltered into an open hand, knuckles resting against his skin. Warm. Affectionate. Naruto's breathing was calm and clear.

"Thank you," he said softly, and Sasuke was in danger. He felt it in his throat. He felt it in his eyes. He swallowed, but it was no use.

"No need," he tried, and he turned away. He tried. Naruto sat up as if he knew something was wrong, and Sasuke coughed into his hand. Choked on the feeling. His tears broke free, and he was swollen. He was swollen all over.

Naruto hovered, above him, eyes wide.

"This better be happy," he said, and he was an idiot. He was such an idiot. Sasuke was so drunk. He wanted to grab Naruto by the face and shake him. He thought he might.

He reached out, and Naruto.

Naruto took his hand.

Three more tears broke free. The idiot. The asshole. This was the cruelest possible response he could've had.

"You're an idiot," Sasuke told him, and Naruto sat there and held his hand between both of his. Hitched his breath and laughed it out and pressed his forehead to the knuckles of Sasuke's hand. They hadn't made it out completely, but they'd crossed something tonight. A border. A line. There was no sidestepping the burning hole in the building they'd managed to make.

"You okay?" Naruto asked, and he didn't look up. His eyes were still closed. His lips were still smiling. Sasuke felt an insane urge to wipe the tear tracks from his face. He'd never done that. He could barely remember even seeing that done. He didn't know where the impulse even came from.

Something Naruto had infected him with, probably.

His eyes opened, and the blue held Sasuke by his thick, lovesick throat.

"You okay?" he checked again, and Sasuke freed enough of his hand to push Naruto's smile into the padded floor. The motion broke it into a laugh, and that was enough to get them standing, too—Naruto holding out his hand, as if Sasuke was the one who would need the help to stand. He wasn't. Naruto needed the help. He did.

…

Sasuke took the stupid hand.

Naruto grinned the whole way back. Sasuke barely even remembered the path. The bedroom was tousled and untidy and bathed in moonlight. Sasuke laid down on his bed. Naruto flopped down next to him.

"Wanna spar again tomorrow?"

Sasuke stared up at the ceiling, and felt his heart in his throat.

"...Yes."

Gaara's greeting came late in the afternoon. Their sleep was deep and lingering, tangled in limbs and blankets and blessed lack of nightmares. They were slow to rise even when the sun forced their eyes to open. Naruto awoke with a perpetual smile on his face. Sasuke watched as he fell back asleep, and the smile remained unchanged.

…

Sasuke imprinted the side of his face into his pillow and barely moved. Barely spoke. He felt a flush on his face and a smile on his lips, too. He didn't have control over it yet. He felt like he needed to. He felt like this was too—open. Raw. A wound waiting to happen. Still—he was hungry. They were both. And Gaara was already in the kitchen, holding a new cup of tea.

Of course, Naruto had the subtlety of a rake. It barely needed to be stepped on before the full force of Naruto's happiness smacked the poor man in the face. He greeted them, and Naruto was beaming. He was going to bruise them both with the strength of his smile.

If Gaara had eyebrows, they would be raised.

"Well," he said, looking between them both. Sasuke found a chair. Sasuke found something else to look at. "You're in a good mood this afternoon."

"Yeah!" Naruto announced, and Sasuke ought to be planning an escape, really. "We—uh. I mean, we kind of had a bit of a—breakthrough."

Sasuke put his thumb and forefinger on his forehead and stared at the palm of his hand. The implications, Naruto.

"Phenomenal," Gaara said, sitting down. Sasuke blinked. "How so?"

He leaned forward. Naruto screeched his chair forward in a simultaneously insane motion.

"Sparring really helps," Naruto said. "The way it makes me stop thinking. It's like I don't even have the time to freak out."

"I suppose that makes sense," Gaara sighed, as if in consideration. "My instincts tend to betray me."

"I mean, so do mine, but sparring is different," Naruto said, and then he frowned. "I don't know."

Gaara peered over the edge of the glass.

"Sparring in general? Or sparring with him?"

He nodded at Sasuke. Sasuke continued to sit with one thumb pressed to his temple.

"With Sasuke," Naruto said, as if it was easy. "Or—I guess I don't know for sure. But I think it's just Sasuke. 'Cause I can read his movements. So everything else can just…stop."

Naruto shifted in his chair. Sasuke stared at the back of his head with his heart in his throat.

"And all that exists is just the two of you?" Gaara smiled a little. "How romantic."

"I—uh. I mean—" Naruto chanced a look at Sasuke, and Sasuke showed him no mercy. He'd begun this conversation. He could end it.

"I suppose it all comes back to your bond, doesn't it?" Gaara commented, twirling his spoon in his tea. He took it on ice, each morning. Naruto took it with sugar. Sasuke took it black, and scalding. "It always seems to."

Naruto couldn't seem to respond to that one. He just got visibly, explosively happy. It was worth bringing up that their successes had been confined to sparring, but Sasuke said nothing.

"Yes," Gaara said, tapping his spoon on the edge of his glass to free the last of the drops from it. "It does make sense. Sasuke's clothes are still helping?"

Naruto startled, as if he'd forgotten that Sasuke's fabrics now needed twice the laundering. The crest was meant to be on his back, but Naruto had twisted the shirt around, and Sasuke enjoyed the idiot as he had always been.

"Yeah," Naruto said, and the crest twisted in his gentle grip. "Yeah, they are. It's…familiar."

There was more to it than that, Sasuke was sure. He latched onto the word, though, turning it over in his head. Familiar. Known. Understood.

Gaara only smiled, taking a sip of his tea.

"You know," he said, "when you first arrived, I was so ready to be hurt." He leaned back, looking at Naruto. "You come here with the Uchiha crest on your heart—I thought I hadn't even been invited. To your wedding, I mean."

Yes. Well. Those implications hadn't gone unnoticed in Sasuke's mind. He'd just been content to let Naruto be the one to deal with them.

"What?!" Naruto yelled, appalled. "Of course we'd invite you! Don't be nuts—"

Gaara laughed, and Naruto laughed, too, in between his yelling. Sasuke sat in his solitary chair and left his hand over his mouth, wondering when Naruto had committed them to any public sort of anything. Things were certainly being decided without his input.

Naruto's eyes met his, and Sasuke didn't move his hand. He didn't look away, either.

Naruto bit his lip, and turned the conversation to whether Gaara had actually managed some sleep or not. Sasuke stood and moved to get them some—breakfast. Brunch. Lunch. He didn't know what time it was.

The conversation filtered in and out of his ears. Different responsibilities, different rules—Sasuke didn't know the regulation on discussing confidential matters to a former Hokage, but he was quite sure that none of this ought to be reaching a former missing-nin. Particularly one from an allied village.

But he supposed he had consideration of a new title that had granted him different rights. Naruto's husband-to-be.

He almost wanted to snort. He'd barely reacted to the thought at all. What had they done if not committed themselves to each other and no one else, over and over again? Half the time, they hadn't even been intending to. They just were. Marriage almost seemed too small a gesture.

The conversation drifted to Konoha, and Gaara had information there, too. A model, apparently—a new model of education that was being implemented in Konoha, and Suna would soon be following.

"And I received a letter, actually," Gaara continued. "Our newest Hokage intends to visit, on quite short notice."

Sasuke straightened up, and Naruto glanced at him.

"Word has appeared to have reached her," Gaara noted, and Naruto let out a small groan.

"She's gonna be so pissed I didn't tell her I was this close," he grumbled, and Sasuke was serving food. When had he decided to be the person serving food?

"We didn't not tell her," he muttered, snatching the syrup from Naruto's grasp before he doused the entire table. Gaara had done nothing but enable his sweet tooth. Sasuke was going to go crazy.

"That—it doesn't work like that!" Naruto protested, and Sasuke snorted, but didn't reply. He'd be in some trouble, too, he was sure. Had he ever not been? What greeting did he expect to get, exactly? What could even be done to change it?

Sasuke felt a familiar, dulled fatigue. He tucked it to the side, and continued on his way.

"I expect she'll be here in the afternoon," Gaara offered, and Naruto was looking at him.

"D'you wanna go?"

…

Sasuke looked at him as if he was insane.

"What?" he said, and Naruto—

"We can go. We don't have to be here when she gets here," he pointed out, as if it was something reasonable he was offering—

"Don't be stupid," Sasuke told him, and Naruto looked surprised.

"What? She'd understand," he insisted. "We didn't know she was coming and we've been here a while—I've already made you socialize with Gaara this whole time, too."

"Mm, I am miserable company," the man muttered, and Naruto threw him a grin. Sasuke spared a moment to grieve the way Naruto had accustomed him to having these conversations in front of the man. He'd had privacy, once. He barely even missed it.

"You're continuing to be stupid," Sasuke replied, and that was that. Sakura was clearly on her way to see them. Sasuke had rejected her outreach before. He'd been in no position to accept it.

He was better settled, now.

And he had understanding, in hindsight. In the moment, Sasuke's time with Orochimaru had really just been fury so blind and burning it had hollowed him from the inside out. Of course he had lashed out at Sakura. He was angry. There was no sense in piecing out where that fury came from. He was meant to be hatred and nothing else anyway.

But he'd been thinking about it. Thinking since the waterfall—since Naruto's eyes, and the whip that lashed through his head. Thinking of his youth, and the guilt that came with it. Thinking how much of that guilt was deserved, and how much was simply what he'd been taught to feel. How much was Konoha's fault? All of it, nearly. But how much was his own?

They were all twisted together. Ropes now half-frayed, tied and knotted and needing careful prying apart. He'd already damaged them enough, but he'd pulled some threads free. This was one of them. This was one that he'd been pulling on.

Sasuke had never reacted to love…particularly well. Perhaps when he was young, before it all, but after—

After, love had made him sick.

It had been so tactless. So disproportionate. Sasuke had been the top of his class, and of course that had garnered him some attention, but then—

But then he became different. But then he became desired. But then he became mysterious and quiet and everyone looked at him with interest and excitement and their eyes lit up when they'd whisper, did you hear? Did you hear his brother killed his whole family? Did you hear it happened right in front of him? Did you hear he saw it all, got the blood on his hands, ran after his brother and screamed—

Did you hear?

Sasuke wanted to be sick.

Sasuke had been the news. Sasuke had never been a person. Not in gossip. Not in love. And Sakura's feelings towards him had opened that wound over and over again. Whether that love had been real or not, Sasuke didn't know. It didn't really matter. She'd been there with the rest of them, and she represented the world that didn't care. That kept moving. That loved him, but didn't care.

What even was that love. What even was that twisted mass of counterfeit feeling. It wasn't the love Sasuke had known (before it all), but it was what he came to know (during) and so even the word had made him furious. That love was mockery. That love was cruelty. That love was thoughtlessness so profound it was actively worse than apathy.

And maybe, from Sakura, it had grown to be something more based on understanding, but it had been too late for Sasuke. He'd already grown blind. By the time she'd tried to reach him again—by the time Kakashi had tried to reach him on her behalf—he was in the eye of his fury. He hadn't been able to process it fully, not as a child. It had manifested as discomfort. Some disgust. Some superiority. But as a teenager, it had been pure, white anger.

He'd been so angry at her. How could she talk to him about love? He'd been so angry.

Naruto's attempts to reach him had been their own flavour of frustrating, which was an irony Sasuke was feeling in full force, now. Maybe it was good, in the end, that he had never named their bond one of love. Sasuke might have shut off completely. Naruto's repression had been obvious and infuriating. Naruto was honest to a fault. He'd spoken with his whole heart.

But he'd been lying.

Sasuke had tried so hard to place that anger on him. Tried so hard to argue that Naruto didn't understand, could never understand, could never care about the burden that had been placed on him, but—

Naruto had never fit into that world. Naruto had been the whispers, just like him. Naruto had been the one trying not to hear.

It just…felt different. And if Sasuke was honest with himself, he still couldn't believe Naruto loved him. If he was honest with himself, he couldn't believe he, himself, was still capable of love. He certainly hadn't expected it to come with ease—and yes, perhaps what Sasuke defined as easy wasn't the best representation of the word, but there was a part of Sasuke that was still just surprised he could love at all. It was surprised the feeling kept returning. Sasuke just hadn't known this was still left in him.

…

This different kind of love. It was the understanding, Sasuke thought, that had broken through. Naruto's fundamental sight of him. Sasuke had craved that sight so deeply. Just one person who knew. Just one person who wanted to. It wasn't fair to Sakura to judge her against him, but Sasuke did. It helped him understand his anger. It helped him understand his regret.

They await her arrival within the house, although Gaara goes out to meet her. He didn't even make it back before she'd barged through.

She arrived in such a force, Sasuke could have thought it was Naruto himself if not for the glaring pink at the top of her head. She tackled Naruto in a full body hug, sending him stumbling—a weaker man would have fallen completely, but Naruto lifted her up and spun—

"You cut your hair too!" Naruto yelled, letting her go, and Sakura ran a messy hand through her hair. It was too short to ruffle.

"I couldn't be left out, could I?" she said, tilting her grin to the side. They have similar body language, he noticed—Naruto and Sakura. A result of so many years together. Sasuke wondered what he'd find in himself.

"Besides," she said, "the shorter I go, the more it pisses Ino off. She's so mad she doesn't have the bone structure for short hair."

Naruto snorted out a laugh, and Sakura squeezed him in a one-armed hug. Her eyes turn to Sasuke, but her smile didn't fade.

…

He asked the first question in his head.

"Is there a particular bone structure for short hair?"

Sakura let out a delighted laugh.

"No," she told him. "But don't tell the bitch that. You guys look great!"

"You don't have to lie," Naruto laughed, just as Sasuke deadpanned a "no, we do not," and Sakura laughed at them both.

"Not that," she said. "The short hair's not that bad—though Kakashi won't shut up about your chakra use—"

"Oh! I've got him," Naruto interrupted—

"But I mean—you both. You look good," she said. "Like, your faces."

Sasuke blinked and looked at Naruto. Naruto looked back at him.

"...Probably helps that I'm sleeping," Naruto offered, and Sasuke let out a snort. "Speaking of—how the hell d'you have time to be out here? This isn't work, is it?"

"This can be work," Sakura denied. "This can totally be work. We're planning a million things with Gaara—our alliance is stronger than it's ever been, you know. Also, what, are you the only Kage allowed to skive off work or something?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes. Of all things, Sasuke was reminded of…Iruka.

"You left Shikamaru doing everything else, didn't you?"

"No!" Sakura scoffed, as if she was offended. "I left Shikamaru and Ino. And Sai. And Kakashi. It's a team effort."

Naruto grinned and shook his head.

"Better than I treated him, I guess," he said. "How's, um—"

Sakura squished his face together with her hand.

"No work," she said, and Naruto looked like a fish. "Not yet. Tell me everything. I know you already wrote your letters. Tell me it all again."

She shifted the Hokage cloak over her shoulders, and Naruto launched into stories. Sasuke revelled in the chance to hear it again from his mind. His stupid, stupid mind. He skipped half the details and filled in the rest with things that didn't matter, that never mattered—Sasuke was wrenched into the conversation against every bit of his will in order to correct him. Sakura got a look when he spoke, but didn't single him out.

No, that didn't come until later.

It was when Naruto had been distracted by Gaara, and Sasuke was a vulnerable off to the side. They were still in the same room, but distant enough for the semblance of privacy—Sasuke wasn't particularly looking forward to whatever this would be, but he'd bear it. He'd come to respect her enough for that much.

"Thank you," she started, and Sasuke was knocked off balance.

"...What?"

She looked at him, a wry smile on her lips.

"For getting him out," she said, nodding her head at Naruto. "He needed it. We'd been trying, but…just small things. Dinners or lunches or anything to get him out of that office."

Sakura rubbed at her face, stretching her shoulders back.

"I mean," she said, "we knew who he was really waiting for, but—still. Thank you for coming for him."

It was undeserved gratitude. Sasuke felt it in the thick of his throat. He hadn't come to spare Naruto from anything. He'd just been—failing. On his own. If anything, he'd come for help. The fact that Naruto needed it as much as he had wasn't something he'd even considered. He'd been too blind. Too focused on himself. He—

"You don't agree with me?" Sakura asked. "You don't think I owe you a thank you? Look at him."

Sasuke did. He couldn't help it. Naruto sensed the motion, and his eyes shone a bright, happy blue across the room. His smile brightened at the sight of Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't even sure he meant it to.

"I don't care how you got here," Sakura said. "You know? I'm just happy we're here. I didn't take the best path either."

She looked at him, and Sasuke didn't have a reply for that. She took pity, in a way. She left it there.

She moved on to something far worse.

"I did love you, you know," Sakura said. "I still do. The both of you—in a different way, now. I might not be an irreplaceable part of your life, but you've been that in mine. You helped me get to where I am now. Even when you were a dick about it."

"I…"

"Can I ask you, though," she began, "did you ever believe me? That I loved you."

"…No. Not really," Sasuke said, and Sakura looked down. He was no stranger to sad truths. "I received attention around a particular time, Sakura."

Sakura grimaced a little, but held steady.

"Yeah. We were pretty brutal," she offered. "Kids tend to be that way. I was, especially. I think more to Naruto than you, though."

Well. Sasuke would give her that. The bond between him and Naruto had roots deeper than he'd ever known. He felt the protectiveness in him, even now. He'd felt it then, but it always just showed up as anger. It was the one emotion Sasuke had allowed himself to show.

"I do understand why we were like that, though," she continued. "It was a selfish kind of desire, but I think we wanted to be the person who got through to you. We wanted to be important. I guess we wanted to be Naruto."

She laughed a little.

"But, for the record, I didn't like you because you were dark and mysterious, dumbass. I liked you because you were top in the class, like me. You don't remember? People would argue with the teachers and we'd always correct them."

…

That part of Sasuke's life was a blur. He barely even remembered it. He felt that with some…sadness.

"I felt like we were a team right from the start," Sakura continued, quietly. Kindly. "I liked you way before anything happened. I didn't totally understand that feeling, but I just thought you were smart. I could learn a lot from you. And hey, I did."

Sasuke's heart hurt. This was getting to be too much.

"Anyway. I think I just wanted to clear the air a little, around that," Sakura said. "And I'm—I'm glad you told me that. It makes sense. Why it made you so mad. That would've pissed me off, too."

She let out a breath.

"I guess I should apologize," she said, as if thinking out loud. "Yeah. I should. You deserved better than that."

Sasuke nodded. He didn't feel he could speak.

"If you ever feel like you want to," she continued, with a sigh, "not to make this about work again—hell, I'm as bad as Naruto. But a lot of kids lost their parents in the wars. And there's still a lot of tension in the Hyuuga clan, even with everything Naruto did—a lot of bullying and kids that don't really get why they shouldn't talk about the tattoos in a certain way, and—all of that. And I'm working on setting up a lot of supports, but I'm just conscious that I—I've only really lived part of it. And Naruto's too nice to tell me if I'm being an inconsiderate asshole. And I have been that before. So, if you're up for it, I might—check with you about some stuff every now and then."

"...So I can call you an inconsiderate asshole?" Sasuke asked, and Sakura nodded.

Sasuke almost felt himself want to smile.

"I'll consider it," he responded, and she smiled.

"Good. Thanks. Um. Also—" she looked over her shoulder with a quick glance, "you know he's completely in love with you, right?"

Sasuke's mouth opened a little.

"...Are you betraying your friend, Kage?"

"I'm betraying my best friend, yes," she said, "because he spends his entire life trying to make everybody other than himself happy, and this is probably the only chance I'm going to get. And I know that you two—you two have something. Don't you?"

Sasuke breathed out through his nose.

"Naruto!" he called over his shoulder, and Sakura's eyes bugged. "Sakura says you're in love with me."

"What the fuck, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, and her hands were immediately up. Her look at Sasuke was of utter betrayal, but Sasuke—

Sasuke was laughing.

"Is she wrong?" Sasuke asked, and Naruto—

"No, but that's not the point!" he protested, and Sasuke basked in his selfish glow of that confession. Sakura's mouth closed a little, but the betrayal stayed strong.

"You could've told me you already knew!" she yelled, but Sasuke shrugged.

"No fun in that," he said.

"That's it," Naruto announced. "Ramen for dinner. You both owe me."

"What did I do?" Sasuke asked, and Gaara immediately involved himself.

"You betrayed Sakura," Naruto told him, and Sakura looked positively smug.

"I don't think your opinion of ours will rate as highly as your Ichiraku's," Gaara pointed out. "Although I think it's quite good…"

"That's okay," Naruto said, "Sasuke can cook. Right, Sasuke?"

Naruto grinned. This was his revenge, the bastard. This was his absolute mischievous revenge for Sasuke forcing that flush into his cheeks.

"I am going to poison all three of you," Sasuke told them, and Naruto's grin widened.

"Yay! Can't wait."

The good thing about being forced to cook was that it provided him a barrier. An excuse. Sasuke could return to the pot whenever he needed a breather, and he needed one often—ramen with Naruto and Sakura with was a wildly unsettling experience. Sasuke was twelve years old. Sasuke was a hundred years old. It was a blessing that Gaara's managed to replace Kakashi, because a dinner with all three of them may have driven Sasuke completely mad. It was dripping with nostalgia. Drenched in memory. Sasuke was reminded of something with every movement they made.

It was muffled, in the kitchen. Something that filtered in and out of his ears without asking him to respond to it. Sasuke spooned Naruto another bowl and thought that, in another life, he might have liked it here. As the person behind a counter. A simple purpose. A necessary one. It reminded him of the farm, with less distance, and more heat. Repetitive motions, though. Clear instruction.

Perhaps Sasuke was seeking simplicity in his older age.

He sighed and returned to conversation. He cooked the ramen differently this time. Gaara has already complimented him—with Sakura vigorously nodding her agreement and Naruto beaming as if he'd been the one to make it—so that had gone well enough. It had been a longer cook. Long enough for much of Konoha to be discussed, along with those within it. Sasuke

Sasuke filters the names in and out, catching to those he recognizes. Memorizing those that he doesn't. Naruto wonders why Sakura came alone, and Sakura blames him—

"I don't think anymore," she says. "I just act. That's all you."

Naruto laughs and protests and Sakura shakes her head at him and herself. Yamato was on a mission, anyway, and Sai—his replacement—was helping maintain the office while she was gone. Kakashi was, too, but Naruto seemed to be stuck on that one.

Sasuke eyed him, and knew why.

"He's well, though?" Sasuke asked, because Naruto was dancing around the point again. "Kakashi. He's yet to send a reply to us."

"Oh—yes, he's okay," Sakura assured them. "We're still trying to convince him to retire or at least take some time away, but he won't let himself. He's read your letter like a hundred times. He keeps bringing it up. I think he just doesn't know how to reply. You know him."

She shrugged and tilted her head, spooning a piece of noodle to the side of her bowl.

"Aw," Naruto said, trying again, "tell him he should've come! I figured he would, when you did. I guess he's working, though…"

Sakura made a bit of a face.

"It's the guilt," she offered, and that made Naruto fall silent. He pressed his lips together, but only nodded.

Sasuke sat with the words for some time. In the evening light, after a dinner that felt as if the world had somehow grown simpler, Sasuke wrote another letter. Naruto changed into a different set of Sasuke's clothes and traced a hand along the back of his chair, and Sasuke let him read.

"To Kakashi?" he asked, leaning in. "Why?"

Sasuke signed his name.

"Because he's doing what I did."

They sent the letter off the next morning, and said their goodbyes. Sakura was due back in Konoha, and Sasuke and Naruto were headed an opposite way. Gaara waved them off with a reminder that he was awaiting an invitation, and Naruto laughed at him. Sasuke's smile twitched, too.

"We never got to spar," Naruto pointed out, not ten minutes into drifting along the path. Sasuke wondered when he was going to comment on it. The evening had thoroughly pulled them from each other, although Sasuke's mind had stayed lingering.

It was reassuring to know Naruto's had, too.

"There's still time," Sasuke said. "Come here."

"Here?" Naruto asked. "Where?"

"Here." Sasuke pulled him in by the wrist…and tucked his foot behind his ankle. Naruto went tumbling to the ground, and Sasuke was immediately running.

"Oi!" Naruto called, scrambling after him. "Oi, you asshole, get back here!"

Sasuke sped up.

(Naruto tackled him to the ground when he caught him.)

(They didn't kiss. They couldn't. It was too hard not to laugh.)

A/N: But they do try. They try very hard. Also a surprise Sakura this chapter! They weren't getting out of Suna without somebody hearing about it, haha. She'll have plenty to report when she gets back.

I hope this chapter was a fun end of the year send off. Thanks for being here, friends. I appreciate you!

Until next time,

- Kinomi