Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was the first day of school and 7-year-old Sasuke was annoyed,  to say the least .

All he had wanted was a peaceful day, but no , this stupid blond kid just had to sit next to him, with his upbeat attitude and his stupid ocean blue eyes.

“Shut up” had been the first words out of Sasuke's mouth and the kid faltered, face dropping into something akin to a kicked puppy and Sasuke felt just the slightest smidge of guilt coursed through him before it was gone.

“Oh. Okay. I’m sorry” the kid had apologized and Sasuke made it a point to ignore it, instead of turning his attention back to the board.

The next few days continued on like that, the blond kid, whose name was Naruto as he had unfortunately told Sasuke, would come into class chattering away and he would try, again, to be friendly with Sasuke and Sasuke would shut him down every time.

But, Sasuke did have to admit, Naruto did keep those two girls away.

They seemed scared of Naruto for some reason or another, not that Sasuke particularly cared, but it was mildly off-putting. Why were they afraid of this kid?

Ino and Sakura were persistent in their crushes and honestly, it made Sasuke as uncomfortable as one can get. They were always trying to hold his hand or sit by him or talk to him and he hated it because they never seemed to care that he was uncomfortable, that's not someone he wants to be with.

Sasuke didn’t like to be touched, not even in the slightest and those two girls were always so intent on grabbing onto him and he just wished they’d go away.

Then Naruto had shown up and sat next to him, effectively filling the only open seat near Sasuke and Sasuke was ever the tiny bit grateful, not that he’d ever tell Naruto because he was really annoying.

Naruto had even stood up for him the first day, even though Sasuke didn’t ask him too .

Ino and Sakura both had crashed into Naruto's desk and yelled at Naruto that he was in their seat and they were going to sit by Sasuke and the thought alone was enough to make him shiver.

Sasuke wasn’t sure if Naruto noticed the slightly distressed look in his eyes or if Naruto was just being petty but Naruto had shut the two girls down.

Then, hell had broken loose .

“No one wants to sit by a smelly kid like you!” The one with pink hair, Sakura, Sasuke thinks, had sneered and Naruto had looked down at his clothes, panicked.

“I don’t smell do I?” He exclaimed before glancing at Sasuke. Naruto blinked at him a few times, waiting for an answer but Sasuke doesn’t answer. Instead, he keeps his face as neutral and uncaring as possible.

“See? He’s miserable so just do everyone a favor and leave. You should probably just leave the whole village actually” She sneered again and Naruto sat there for a moment, mouth gaping open and closed like a fish then something flashed in his eyes and he glared back at Sakura.

“Okay. I’ll move” Sasuke’s heart dropped. Oh no. Please no no no.

“But only if Sasuke tells me he wants me to move!” He exclaimed and both girls turned expectedly to Sasuke, who grit his teeth.

He really didn’t want to sit next to Naruto, because he was annoying, but Naruto had never done anything to make him uncomfortable.

Sure he was loud and talkative and he got really touchy when he leaned over to read something out of Sasuke’s textbook because he ‘forgot his’, but one look from Sasuke or one ‘shut up’ and Naruto would leave Sasuke alone right away, usually mumbling an apology as well.

Sasuke said nothing and both girls huffed angrily and stalked off.

Naruto grinned triumphantly at Sasuke before going back to his doodles, leaving Sasuke alone with his thoughts.

He was grateful for Naruto’s presence that day, not that he’d ever say anything to him about it.

It only took a week for Sasuke to discover that Naruto couldn’t read . He’d stare at the paper for the entire class and sometimes he’d lean over and very quietly ask what a certain word said and When Sasuke would answer Naruto would nod, with that dumb looks still on his face, eyebrows knitted and his bottom lip caught between his teeth...

That fact struck a chord deep inside Sasuke somewhere because who doesn’t know how to read? How did Naruto not know how to read?

It was only when Parents day arrived that he realized… Naruto doesn’t have a family either.

No one came in to sit next to Naruto, just like no one came to sit next to Sasuke and they ended up sitting at their shared desk. Alone.

There was a project that all the kids were supposed to do with their parents, it was supposed to be a family tree diagram that they filled in together.

Sasuke also noticed the looks that the other parents were sending his and Naruto’s way, ones of pity for him, which made his blood boil, but it was the way that they were looking at Naruto that really filled him with rage. They were afraid, disgusted. Those eyes were full of hatred for Naruto, and Sasuke felt frustrated because he didn’t understand .

Sasuke managed to fill his in, struggling with a few names as he went but when everyone went to turn theirs in, Naruto's was blank, not a single name was written down.

Sasuke refused to think about it until later that night as he unlocked the front door to his much too large, cold, and very very empty house.

It was only when Sasuke was relocking the door behind him did he realize, Naruto didn’t breath a single word to him all day.

That night, Sasuke didn’t eat anything and instead just crawled into bed, wrapping his blankets around himself and pressing up against his pillows in a vain attempt to feel like someone else was there.

They weren’t, and he was alone, but knowing that Naruto understood his pain to a degree, gave him a shred of relief and he soon fell asleep.

The next morning he grabbed an empty notebook, sat with Naruto during lunch, and over the course of the next year taught him how to read and when Naruto passed that year;s final and hugged him, thanking him with tears in his eyes, Sasuke may or may not have blushed. But only just a little.

The next few years passed by agonizingly slow, and barely anything actually changed.

Naruto still sat next to Sasuke ever day in class and sometimes during lunch he would seek Sasuke out and sit with him. But as the years went by Sasuke started to notice a change, Naruto was talking to him less and less.

It wasn’t as if the energetic blondes demeanor had changed or anything. His eyes still lit up most of the time when he thought of or saw something he thought was exciting, but Sasuke has noticed that one glance in his direction and Naruto was biting his lip and swallowing his words.

Maybe Sasuke felt another tiny stab of guilt at that realization.

But it's not like Sasuke was any good with words either, they were useless , they wouldn’t help him serve his life's purpose so he didn’t really need them.

Sasuke started paying a little more attention to Naruto’s rambles and actually found himself genuinely enjoying the company.

Over the years Sakura and Ino had changed as well, and not for the better. If anything they were far more aggressive in their flirting and Sasuke found himself far more uncomfortable and sometimes they’d get too close and his throat would constrict and he’d have to bolt to the bathroom to vomit.

Some days were better than others and there were some nights where Sasuke would have countless night terrors and would wake up with a scream caught in his throat, and he’d find himself trembling with the blankets wrapped around his shoulders.

Usually, he’d end up staring at the wall until the sun rose.

On those days, in particular, Sasuke couldn’t handle either of the girls getting too close to him, or basically anyone getting too close for that matter.

And on those days when Sasuke drug himself into class, exhausted , and his skin crawled at the meed thought of Ino or Sakura touching him, or god forbid, yanking on his arms or grabbing at his clothes, just the thought of it made him nauseous.

It was one of those days in particular that made Sasuke realize just how grateful he really was for Uzumaki Naruto.

On those days, when Sasuke just didn’t think he could move anymore, when he felt like he would vomit when those two, or really anyone, got too close to him, Sasuke noticed that Naruto sat just a little bit closer, talked a little bit more, and he definitely picked those days to eat with Sasuke.

And it was on one of those days in particular that Sasuke realized that Naruto was trying to comfort him in some Naruto way.

Whatever, dealing with Naruto was better than Sakura or Ino.

The weirdest thing to Sasuke was that it worked  because on those days where he didn’t feel like talking or being anywhere near people, anything was better than the static in his head, even Naruto.

Those day’s made Sasuke feel like he was drowning in an endless ocean, with no land in sight, but with Naruto sitting just close enough that Sasuke could feel the warmth radiating off his body, and god Naruto was always so warm, like a fire, or when Naruto would chatter so much that Sasuke couldn’t hear the static anymore, he felt just the smallest bit better.

Some of those days though, Sasuke felt himself leaning back against Naruto, ever so lightly, just enough so that they were touching and Sasuke could feel Naruto’s warmth, his energy .

Today, in particular, was one of those days, where he was drowning. Sasuke had jolted straight up in bed eyes wide and heart pounding. Every Time he’d try to go back to sleep, or just close his eyes he could see them all over again. All that red, so much red.

Sasuke tried to stare at the roof until he fell back asleep, his brain going back over all that they’d learned in class today.

Finally, frustrated and feeling like his blood was buzzing just below his skin, and he was itching, he had to move around. He decided that maybe a walk would help so, Sasuke stood and threw the covers off. He spared a glance at his alarm clock beside his bed as he pulled his sandals on, 2:07 am, lovely, at least they didn’t have training or anything tomorrow.

They’d finished exams and now they just had to wait for their final scores and team arrangements.

Some small shred of Sasuke hoped that Naruto was on his team, not that he’d ever tell Naruto.

Vaguely, Sasuke wondered if Naruto was hoping that Sasuke would be on his team.

Sasuke grabbed his house keys and unlocked the door, rebolting it behind him before setting out in the cool Autumn night.

Sasuke didn’t really pay attention to where he was going, but soon enough he found his feet had taken him to the docks, and there was someone sitting there.

Sasuke inched closer and froze when he realized it was Naruto, sitting on the edge of the dock, feet trailing in the water.

Just as Sasuke was trying to inch away backward, Naruto spotted him and waved excitedly.

Sasuke knew he could ignore him, could just walk away, but, Naruto was better than seeing all that red.

Mumbling a curse under his breath Sasuke made his way down the dock to where Naruto was seated and after a moment's contemplation, he too removed his sandals and sat down on the edge, letting his feet hang down and skim the cold water.

“What’re you doing out here so late Sasuke?” Naruto asked, eyes wide. Sasuke noted that Naruto’s eyes were red, but then again, Sasuke’s probably were too.

“Couldn’t sleep” Sasuke mumbled before he could think about it and Naruto nodded sagely.

“Me neither! I kept trying but I couldn’t get him to shut up long enough!” then Naruto paled at what he said and backtracked.

“I I I mean the neighbor's dog, he barks so loud I couldn’t sleep! Yep that's it!!” Naruto stumbled through the words, eyes wide and face reddening by the second. Sasuke blinked a few times, trying to understand just what Naruto was talking about, but on second thought, Sasuke really didn’t care, or at least he told himself that.

“But uh, anyway” Naruto was still talking, “ Do you live around here?” Naruto asked sending an unsure glance Sasuke’s way and Sasuke couldn’t help but quirk a brow at that because right over the bridge was the entire Uchiha territory, why didn’t Naruto know that? Why is he so clueless on all of the history of this place?

“Yeah, the Uchiha territory is right over that bridge” he muttered and Naruto’s eyes widened a fraction.

“You guys have a whole territory?!” he exclaimed and Sasuke winced because Naruto had said ‘you guys’ and now it was just Sasuke and he didn’t want to think about why it was just him.

Technically, there’s also Itachi

It was then that Sasuke realized he still hasn't answered Naruto’s question. Might as well rip the bandaid off and get this pity party started he thought before he cleared his throat. Sasuke wrestled with what else to say, should he tell Naruto about his brother?

But then, the words slipped past his lips before Sasuke even had a chance to think about them.

“It was theirs, but my entire clan is dead, my older brother, Itachi, murdered them all, it's just me left.” Sasuke didn’t know why he was sitting here telling someone else all this, least of all Uzumaki Naruto, but here he was, rambling away about his tragic backstory to some kid that he was supposed to hate.

“That's why, I’m going to, no I have to get really strong and kill Itachi.” the moment the words left Sasuke’s mouth he froze, he’d never said that aloud. Sasuke really didn’t want to see Naruto’s reaction, he already knew what he’d find there, pity, or he’ll think your monumentally crazy.

But, ever the glutton for punishment, Sasuke looked anyway and was thrown off by the look in Naruto’s eyes.

Naruto wasn’t looking at him with pity or sadness, there was no unspoken apology in his voice and Sasuke realized that Naruto never quite reacted the way he expected him too.

Naruto was staring out at the horizon, jaw set, and when he turned to look at Sasuke, there was a fire in his eyes, the likes of which Sasuke had never seen before.

“I lost all of my family before I was born so I really wouldn’t know how you feel, but, I understand the getting stronger part and no matter what Sasuke, I’ll be on your side. I have no doubt that you will get strong enough, but if you need any help, you can always call on Naruto Uzumaki for help” Naruto shot Sasuke a grin so bright, he actually had to glance at the moon and reassure himself that it was still nighttime. Sasuke blinked at Naruto, unable to find the words he wanted to speak, so he just stared and tried to convey the message with his eyes. Naruto must've got the message because he cautiously scooted just the tiniest bit closer and put his arm around Sasuke, giving him an awkward side hug and Sasuke found himself leaning into Naruto heavily. For a moment, Sasuke closes his eyes and breathed in deeply, Naruto smelled like strawberries and lavender.

When he looked back up at Naruto, he was back to staring out at the horizon. Naruto was worrying his bottom lip and seemed to be wrestling with a hard decision.

Why did he look so distressed all of a sudden?

“Hey, Sasuke,” Naruto said quietly, eyes not leaving the water, Sasuke gulped

“Yeah?” Sasuke asked quietly, praying Naruto couldn’t hear the uncertainty in his voice.

What was Naruto about to say?

Naruto continued, “Do you know why everyone hates me?” He asked quietly, trailing his foot along the water.

Sasuke watched the ripples expand and move farther away until they faded back into the water's surface. Sasuke blinked.

Once. Twice. Three times, before lifting his head to look at Naruto's once again.

“No, I don’t. They’ve only ever told me not to go near you” Sasuke responded quietly.

That much was true.

Many adults came to Sasuke once it was known that he was often seen sitting near Naruto that he shouldn’t associate with him, they’d told him that Naruto was bad news, but they wouldn’t say why. Only that Naruto Uzumaki was dangerous and Sasuke should stay away.

Sasuke never understood because no one explained and Naruto was annoying, that was a given, but there was nothing else he could see, after all, Naruto was an awful ninja. Plus, it kinda pissed all the adults off when Sasuke kept hanging around Naruto, so he did.

Naruto nodded quietly at Sasuke's words and turned back around to look up at the moon.

“I have a demon sealed inside of me, specifically Kyuubi, the nine-tailed fox” Naruto's voice was so quiet Sasuke was almost sure he’d misheard.

He opened his mouth to ask Naruto to repeat himself but Naruto beat him to speaking.

“Everyone doesn’t just hate me, they’re afraid of me, afraid of what I could become” Sasuke was halfway sure that Naruto was talking to himself now. Naruto pulled his knees up to his chest and laid his head on them, facing Sasuke.

“When they first told me I didn’t have to live at the orphanage anymore, and I would get to go to school, I was ecstatic.” Naruto grimaced like the word tasted funny to him. He blinked back tears and Sasuke, not knowing what to do, but really did he ever know what to do, rested his hands awkwardly in his lap.

“I was so excited, and so very very stupid. I thought that I would finally have some friends, that there would finally be people to talk to, other kids that wouldn’t fear me, but I was wrong . I tried so hard to be nice and I thought that if I just kept returning their insults with kindness that maybe they’d see I wasn’t a monster like everyone said.”

Sasuke held his breath. Naruto continued, “you were the first kid I talked to when I got there and you told me to shut up almost immediately ” Sasuke really wasn’t sure he liked where this was going, then again, he never liked talking much. Words were too complicated.

Friendships were unnecessary.

“I was so upset at first, but then I realized you hadn’t told me to go away, only to shut up” there were definitely tears sliding down Naruto's face now and Sasuke twisted his fingers together uncomfortably.

He wanted to run, run and never look back because this was uncomfortable. Naruto never makes him uncomfortable, annoyed yes but never anxious , so why now?

Naruto didn’t wipe away the tears, just let them drip down his face like a leaky faucet and Sasuke gulped again, trying desperately to quell the need, no, the want to run away.

“So I figured that if you were rude enough to tell me to shut up, then you’d tell me to go away when you didn’t want me near you, so I stayed, and you never told me to go away. Some days you would tell me to shut up immediately, but there were days where you let me just ramble, and I just…. I stuck to you because I felt like being ignored, was better than the crushing loneliness, because at least then I wasn’t alone . Even if you never responded but to tell me to stop talking, at least there was someone for me to talk to . And over the years you very slowly started to talk back to me and It was more than I could’ve ever hoped for” finally, Naruto sniffled and used the sleeve of his, are those frog pajamas??, to rub at his eyes.

Naruto met Sasuke’s eyes again and took a deep breath, sitting up straight he stared directly into Sasuke’s eyes and for a moment, nothing moved.

Then Naruto moved back and blinked a few times, trying to clear the last of the tears out of his eyes. He met Sasuke’s eyes again and held his gaze.

“Sasuke, I know that you probably really don’t care about much of what I’m saying, but I just wanted to say Thank You. Thank you for not telling me to go away all those times you could, no, probably should have, thank you for letting me ramble and sit with you at lunch, thank you for being my first ever friend.” Naruto’s voice was quiet at the end. His tears had dried by now but he looked like he might start crying again at any second.

Sasuke blinked and tried to let the words sink in.

Once,

He’s thanking me.

Twice,

For not telling him to go away,

Three times,

Naruto Uzumaki is thanking me for not telling him to go away.

Sasuke knew that he himself had no real friends, unless you count Naruto, so he couldn’t be 100% sure but he was like 99.99% sure that that was the barest minimum requirement for friendship in the world.

A big ball of guilt settled in the pit of Sasuke’s stomach.

All these years and he’d just been using Naruto to get Sakura and Ino to stay away.

Sasuke really was the worst .

Naruto was always watching out for him, noticing when he had his bad days and trying to help him out the best he could, and Sasuke had just used him .

Sasuke hadn’t really seen Naruto had a person, but an object, something to use, use for reassurance he wasn’t the only one, use to keep others at bay, use to keep his own demons at bay . Sasuke took a deep shaky breath and opened his eyes, when did he close them?

Sasuke wracked his brain for anything to say, Naruto had spilled his heart out and Sasuke was coming up blank. What he wanted to tell Naruto was that he was sorry , that he hadn’t really meant to , but instead the words wouldn’t form right and what came out was.

“I don’t know how to talk to people.” Sasuke wanted to facepalm, to scream, because what the fuck was that.

Naruto stared at Sasuke for a long time, neither of them spoke then Naruto laughed. It started off quiet but rose to a loud cackle as Naruto rolled only his side and was just laughing.

Maybe he had lost his mind.

Sasuke contemplating just throwing himself directly into the water and just… never resurfacing.

“I’m sorry but, oh my god, that was really the most ‘I don’t know how to talk to people’ sentence I’ve ever heard” Naruto was clutching at his stomach and trying to calm his laughter. Soon enough, Sasuke found himself giggling along with Naruto because  it really was the most socially awkward thing to say.  

Suddenly, Naruto was staring open-mouthed at Sasuke and Sasuke froze.

“What?” He asked scratching at his face. Naruto shook his head

“I think that was the first time I've ever heard you laugh in the 6 years I’ve known you” Naruto responded and Sasuke felt his face grow hot.

Now that he thought about it, he really didn’t think he’d laughed since then.

“Oh. Uh.” Sasuke really hated himself for his inability to form coherent words that weren’t battle strategies .

“It’s really cute. Your laugh I mean. It’s cute” Naruto said with a smile and Sasuke felt his brain just shut down because what did Naruto just say? Did he just call his laugh cute?? How is he supposed to respond to that ?

Sasuke’s face felt like it was on fire and he was grateful that it was dark outside.

“Thanks” Sasuke mumbled, hiding his smile behind his shirt. He couldn’t look at Naruto.

They fell into an awkward silence for a few minutes before Naruto hopped up.

“Well, I got a long walk back to my apartment so I beat get going because it’s pretty late” Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Sasuke could’ve sworn he saw a bit of a blush on Naruto's face, but he must’ve been imagining it.

“How far is your apartment from here?” Sasuke asked he decided to leave off the part where he told Naruto he wanted to walk him home.

“Oh, uh, well I live on the other side of Konoha, it’s about an hours walk” Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Sasuke’s brow furrowed. The other side of Konoha? But then what

“What are you doing all the way over here?” Sasuke found himself asking as he pulled himself to his feet. Naruto paled and glanced back out over the water.

“I dunno. I like the water and I couldn’t sleep so I started walking and somehow I ended up here” Naruto shrugged.

‘Funny, that’s exactly what happened to me’ Sasuke thought as he watched Naruto grab his sandals, slide them back on his feet and stretch his arms above his head.

Naruto turned and started to walk away.

Sasuke doesn’t know what possessed him to call out for Naruto, maybe it’s because Naruto’s speech had lit something in him he’d long thought extinguished, or maybe it was just the uneasiness of going back to his cold empty house, but Sasuke called Narutos name and Naruto turned, a surprised look on his face. Sasuke swallowed hard, why did this make him so nervous?

“My house actually isn’t that far from here, would you… do you wanna just stay the night and go home in the morning since we don’t have any missions or anything for tomorrow?” Sasuke hated how his voice sounded, he sounded so uncertain and uncertainty causes hesitation and hesitation gets you killed.

Sasuke didn’t have to worry about whether or not it was the right decision for too long, because Naruto shot him a smile that could make the sun jealous and was soon bounding towards Sasuke.

Sasuke let out a sigh of relief he hadn’t realized he was holding as Naruto almost collided with him, instead, he skidded to a stop and threw his arm around Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Lead the way!” He said excitedly and Sasuke had to turn away to hide the small smile and blush that had formed on his face.

Chapter Text

The walk back to Sasuke’s house was not quiet, to say the least. Sasuke knew that Naruto found everything to be painfully exciting, but he didn’t think that the moment they stepped over the bridge into the Uchiha territory that Naruto’s eyes would triple in size.

Sasuke had to admit, even though the Uchiha territory looked like a ghost town. It was still breathtakingly beautiful. All of the houses that lined the edges of the territory by the bridge lay empty,  having been abandoned for at least half of Sasuke’s life, but they still held a portion of their elegance, despite the overgrown grass and the dusty windows.

Uchiha Territory was just a ghost of its former self, but nonetheless, Naruto looked at it like it was the most marvelous thing he’d ever laid eyes on.

At one point, Naruto grabbed Sasuke’s hand and drug him over to the edge of the sidewalk, where dandelions were growing through some cracks in the sidewalk.

It was in front of his aunt and uncle's house.

Sasuke swallowed the lump in his throat and told Naruto he could pick them later. It was late.

Finally, they reached Sasuke’s house, a large traditional style home set in the dead center of the territory.

As soon as Sasuke stepped down off the sidewalk onto the cobblestone walkway that led to his front door, Sasuke felt immensely self-conscious.

He started to panic as he took in all the flaws he normally overlooked, neglected.

The grass was overgrown, there was a broken window on the top floor, that was Itachi’s room so Sasuke had never been able to bring himself to open the door to fix the window.

When Sasuke reaches the door and inserted his key he turned back to look at Naruto, who stood, frozen halfway down the pathway. His mouth hung open and his eyes were almost bugging out of his head.

“What’s wrong,” Sasuke asked, trying desperately to keep the panic out of his voice. Does Naruto know this is where Itachi?? Does he think I’m a slob because the grass isn’t cut??

Naruto jolted out of his stupor and his head whipped around to look at Sasuke.

“I’ve never seen a house this big! It’s HUGE” he cried wildly gesturing towards it.

Sasuke stared, he really didn’t think the House was all that big? There were bigger ones in the territory weren’t there? Where did Naruto live? Did he say apartment? How big is his apartment?

“I guess I’ve never really thought about it” Sasuke mumbled as he turned his key. The lock turned over and he pushed the door open looking back at Naruto he held the door open and waited.

Naruto jolted forward again and scrambled up the rest of the path and through the doorway.

Naruto stopped again and looked around, admiring the entryway.

Sasuke shut the door and shifted his weight on his feet awkwardly.

What does he do now?

Sasuke looked around the front room of his house and examined it, trying to see what Naruto found so interesting.

The hardwood floors were dull and lifeless, but Sasuke was relieved that at least he'd managed to sweep it beforehand. The fireplace was dusty and there were several picture frames that laid face down on it, covered with at least half an inch of dust.

Sasuke prayed that Naruto didn’t feel the need to pick any of them up.

He didn’t. Thank the gods.

Sasuke twisted his fingers together as he watched Naruto.

This is the first time there’s been a stranger in the house since that time .

For a brief moment, Sasuke was lost in his memories, transported back to a time long ago, where a younger, weaker  Sasuke sat on the floor, surrounded by red. 

There was so much red .

Something touched Sasuke’s shoulder and he flinched hard and stumbled backward but something caught his hand and steadied him. Sasuke opened his eyes and his black eyes met Naruto's and he blinked a few times, trying to clear the blurriness from his eyes.

“Woah there. Are you okay?” Naruto asked. Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto, taking in the shape of his face and how his eyes were the color of the sky, and how the scars on his face resembled whiskers.

Naruto was just standing there, hand still clasped in Sasuke’s, staring into Sasuke’s eyes and it was then Sasuke realized with a start, that, Naruto had asked him a question.

“Yeah sorry. Maybe I’m more tired than I thought” Sasuke said, then realizing he was still holding Naruto’s hand he dropped it and felt his face go hot.

He turned his back to Naruto and quickly started walking towards his room.

“Anyways it’s probably late we should go to bed” Sasuke rambled to himself as he turned down the hall.

“So, where am I sleeping?”

As soon as those words registered in his head, Sasuke froze in place.

He barely felt Naruto crashing into him.

Naruto said something but Sasuke couldn’t hear him over the sound of his own beating heart.

Where was Naruto going to sleep?

He hadn’t opened the doors to any of the other bedrooms since… since then.

Sasuke chewed on his bottom lip. He doesn’t think he could bring himself to go into any of the other bedrooms in his house. Just thinking about it made his stomach churn and his hands shake.

Sasuke wracked his brain for a solution.

Naruto could sleep on the couch, wait he didn’t have the couches anymore.

They could share a bed? Sasuke’s bed wasn’t that big , but it was bigger than your average single bed.

What if he has another nightmare though? What would Naruto think?

What if Naruto gets creeped out when Sasuke suggests they share a bed? What if he-

“Sasuke? Sasuke hey!” There was a hand in front of his face. Oh. Right. Naruto's here.

Sasuke snapped out of his internal meltdown and looked at Naruto, who was looking increasingly more concerned.

He thinks your fucking crazy.

“Are you sure your okay? You’re spacing out a lot. It’s not like you” Naruto said quietly and Sasuke sighed quietly.

Just tell him the truth. He didn’t run when you told him about Itachi.

But maybe that'll be the final nail in the coffin and he’ll leave me too. No. This is Naruto. He wouldn’t leave me even if I attacked him.

Sasuke took a deep breath in and felt his face flush before he even started speaking.

“Well, uh, I was just thinking, I haven’t actually had anyone else in my house since well... since the medical-nin were here” Sasuke whispered the last part and Naruto’s face softened.

“If my being here makes you uncomfortable I can go,” Naruto said quietly.

“NO!” Sasuke blurted and Naruto’s eyes widened. Sasuke felt his face get even redder.

Get it together.

“I mean, like, no it’s okay, you can stay, I’m just not used to anyone else being here, but it’s…” Sasuke fumbled for the right words

“Nice. It’s nice” Sasuke finished lamely scratching at the back of his head. He couldn’t look at Naruto’s face so instead, he focused on the floor.

“Okay! Then I’ll be here! If it makes you feel any better, I’ve never actually stayed the night at anyone’s house before” Naruto mumbled, a light pink dusting his face. Sasuke nodded.

“Yeah actually, it kinda does,” Sasuke said. He didn’t know what to do with his hands so he crossed his arms in front of himself

Thank the gods it seems like neither one of us know what to do.

Naruto nodded.

Man, this is awkward.

“Sooooo, what do we do now?” Naruto asked awkwardly and Sasuke jolted forward at the realization that they were still in the hall

“Oh, uh. Follow me” he said as he scurried down the hall to the door on the right.

Sasuke’s hand was shaking as he twisted the doorknob to his bedroom.

He was so nervous.

“ Uh so. This is my room.” Sasuke mumbled as he pushed the door open and bolted inside.

His bedroom was bare, except for the double bed that was pushed into the corner, it was full of pillows, and a desk stacked with papers. Sasuke stood there awkwardly and watched Naruto’s face for a reaction, there was none.

Naruto blinked a few times and stepped in, looking around.

Naruto’s gaze combed over every inch of his room but stopped when they landed on his bed. His mouth fell open.

Sasuke followed Naruto’s line of sight and as soon as he saw what Naruto was staring at, his face got even redder.

Sitting on the top of his black comforter, was a giant stuffed green frog.

The same stuffed frog that Naruto had tried to give Sasuke for his 9th birthday.

A wave of guilt washed through Sasuke as he watched Naruto approach the stuffed frog with caution before carefully picking it up and examining it.

——————-

“Oi! Sasuke!!! I got you a present for your birthday!!” A 9-year-old Naruto announced excitedly as he entered their classroom. He was carrying a very large box that was wrapped in frog wrapping paper. At least a dozen eyes turned towards Sasuke and he felt his face heat up.

Naruto bounded over to Sasuke and held the box out.

Sasuke stared at it for a long time.

“I don’t want it” he deadpanned before he went back to reading his book, so he wouldn’t have to see the look on Naruto’s face.

“Oh. Okay ” Naruto’s voice sounded a little off when he responded, but he didn’t say anything else and he slid into the seat next to Sasuke quietly.

A couple of the kids in their class laughed at Naruto's rejection and started to question him on what was in the box.

“What’s in the box? A cup of instant ramen?” Kiba had said while laughing. Naruto violently shook his head.

“No! That’s not what it is!” He yelled.

Then the teacher had come in and class started.

Gift and Sasuke’s birthday were all but forgotten.

Shit went south when they went to lunch. Kiba started it, he grabbed at the box in Naruto’s hands and tossed it to Sakura who laughed animatedly and threw it at Ino, all the while Naruto screamed and jumped for the box.

Eventually, they ripped the wrapping and Kiba ripped the box open, to reveal a large stuffed frog.

Kiba burst out laughing and threw it at Sasuke, who caught it after it bounced off his chest.

“Dude! He got you a stuffed animal like we aren’t babies Naruto.” Kiba sneered and Naruto sniffled, wiping tears away from his eyes.

Sasuke stared down at it, stared into its heady little blue eyes, the same color as Naruto’s.

Sasuke glared at the frog for a few minutes before shoving it back into Naruto’s chest. Sasuke’s blood boiled.

Why did Naruto have to give him such a stupid gift? A stuffed animal?? Did he think Sasuke was a baby? Did he think Sasuke was that weak?

“I said I don’t want it. I’m not a baby” Sasuke growled before stalking off, leaving Naruto holding the stuffed frog and surrounded by their laughing classmates.

Naruto disappeared for the rest of the day and while most of Sasuke was relieved , there was a small part of him that worried.

So, he took notes for Naruto, because Naruto needed all the help he could get.

As soon as class let out Sasuke was up and out the door.

He wandered the halls searching for Naruto with the intent of giving Naruto the missed notes, and if Naruto just so happened to still have the stuffed frog he just might accept it this time around.

But Sasuke came up empty handed, he couldn’t find Naruto anywhere.

Then he really started to worry because what if Naruto decided not to come back to school? He’d have to sit next to Sakura, or worse, Ino.

Finally, after about an hour of searching, Sasuke gave up and decided to just start his walk home.

On his way home, however, Sasuke caught a glimpse of that ugly orange jumpsuit .

Sasuke spotted Naruto sitting on the swing at the park near the Konoha Library, he was clutching the stuffed frog in his arms. As Sasuke got closer he realized Naruto was crying .

Sasuke tried to summon the courage to go over and talk to Naruto, but he remained frozen, unable to do anything but watch.

After a few minutes of standing there, staring at Naruto from the edge of the playground, Naruto looked over and Sasuke’s brain instantly switched into panic mode so he did what any sane person would do, he dove into the bush.  

Sasuke didn’t dare breathe, yeah Naruto was a terrible ninja, but there’s nothing more embarrassing than being caught watching someone from a bush .

He was too scared to say anything.

Eventually, Naruto seemed to get mad at the stuffed frog and he chucked it across the playground and screamed.

Then Naruto stalked off, away from the playground, and Sasuke .

Slowly, Sasuke climbed out of the bush, picking leaves out of his hair.

He approached the stuffed frog that lay abandoned on the ground and, after looking around to make sure no one was watching, Sasuke picked it up and stuffed it into his bag.

He named it Menma.

—————————

Sasuke continued to watch Naruto, who was still clutching the stuffed frog, Menma, in his hands.

Naruto turned, holding Menma up to Sasuke.

“Is this….?” He asked. There were tears filling up his eyes.

Sasuke didn’t trust his voice so he just nodded, biting his lip.

Was Naruto going to be mad that he kept it after he said he didn’t want it?

Suddenly Naruto thundered over and crashed into Sasuke, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“You kept him, you actually kept him all this time. I can’t believe it. I thought you hated it.” Naruto sobbed into Sasuke’s shoulder and Sasuke awkwardly patted Naruto’s back.

Sasuke grappled for the right words. He knew he needed to apologize for his actions that day, but how?

“Uh. I’m uh. Sorry. You know. For how I reacted back then. It wasn’t. It wasn’t a stupid gift  I was just….. my birthdays always been a sore spot and I took my frustration out on you.” He stumbled through the words.

Such a way with words Sasuke.

“It’s okay Sasuke, id already forgiven you. I’m just so happy you kept it” Naruto mumbled.

They stood there for a moment longer, Naruto holding onto Sasuke tightly, and Sasuke awkwardly hugging him back.

Eventually, Naruto released his grip on Sasuke and stepped back, hugging Menma to his chest he looked around the room again, before yawning.

“Okay. So I’m just sleeping on the floor huh?” Naruto asked as he peered around the room. Sasuke felt his face go hot. He’s really gonna make me say it out loud huh?

“I figured we could just share the bed.” Sasuke fought to keep his face neutral and was surprised when it worked. Naruto’s face flushed dark red.

“O o oh! Okay. Yeah. Haha. Of course” he stumbles through his words as he crawled into Sasuke’s bed and pulled the blankets up to his chest.

Sasuke tried to ignore how his heart fluttered at the sight.

Now is not the time to be gay. Wait. Am I gay?

Gay for fucking Naruto? No no no. I just feel bad for him. Yeah, that’s it. Naruto is an idiot. I don’t like him. He just happens to be convenient. So what if looking at him makes my heart race. Whatever.

Maybe I’m just dying. Yeah that’s it I’m dying.

Sasuke crawled into bed next to Naruto and held his breath. His heart was pounding in his ears and he felt jittery. Calm down it’s just fucking Naruto. He tried to tell himself that this was a one-time thing, that They’d wake up in the morning and Sasuke could go back to shutting Naruto out and everything would be okay.

Nothing would change.

But deep down, Sasuke knew, letting Naruto sleep over here, telling him about Itachi, letting him in, changes everything .

Sasuke could only hope it was for the better.

Chapter Text

Sasuke woke up just as the sunlight had begun to spill through his window. At first, he tried to snuggle down into the blankets, to get just a few more precious minutes of sleep, but then he noticed the weight on his chest. He cracked open one eye to peer down and was surprised to see blond hair

.

Naruto.

He was sleeping with his head on Sasuke’s chest and his arms wrapped around him.

Sasuke felt his face heat up and he prayed that the heavy thump of his heart didn’t wake Naruto up.

Eventually, Naruto started to stir, which really sent Sasuke’s heart into overdrive. Quickly, Sasuke snapped his eyes shut and laid perfectly still.

He could feel Naruto moving around.

Naruto’s hand slid up Sasuke’s chest at a snail's pace and Sasuke wondered if Naruto could hear the way his breath stuttered in his chest.

Naruto’s hand finally settled, right above Sasuke’s heart.

Naruto left his hand there for a minute or two before he moved it away and sat up.

Sasuke could hear Naruto yawn loudly and Sasuke took that as his chance to ‘wake up’

Sasuke opened his eyes and was greeted with the breathtaking sight of a bleary eyed Naruto, who’s hair stuck out more than usual.

He was rubbing his eyes as Sasuke slowly sat up and when Naruto dropped his hands he squeaked and jumped backwards. Knocking his head into the wall

“G good morning Sasuke” Naruto stuttered, face turning red.

“Morning, loser” Sasuke replied

He fought the urge to laugh and reluctantly pulled himself out of bed, stretching his arms over his head.

“‘M gonna go shower” Sasuke mumbled as he walked out of his room, desperate to get away from Naruto for a few minutes so he could calm his beating heart.

Naruto was just so cute. What was he supposed to do?

Sasuke shook his head before climbing into the shower.

He set it to scorching hot and closed his eyes.

It was only when Sasuke went to get out of the shower that he realized, he’d fucked up.

His clothes were in his room.   Oh no.

Sasuke’s face had to be as bright as Sakura’s red dress as he pushed open the door to his bedroom in nothing but a towel. Naruto looked up and promptly froze from whatever he was doing.

“Forgot my clothes” Sasuke mumbled. He quickly made his way across the room and tried not to look at Naruto.

As he dug through his dresser Sasuke could hear shifting behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Naruto awkwardly shifting from foot to foot. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and Naruto looked down at his feet.

“I guess I need to get going, you know, go home and catch a shower and change and stuff. Haha you're probably sick of me.” Naruto scratched his face and forced a laugh. Sasuke blinked slowly at Naruto.

“Do you want to train today?” Sasuke asked, a little too forcefully, he winced, “Together?” He tacked on quietly, studying Naruto’s face.

Sasuke definitely didn’t miss how Naruto’s eyes lit up and he nodded.

“Sure! You mean it?” He asked excitedly. Sasuke gulped and nodded.

“Yeah, I can walk with you to your apartment and you can shower then we can go to the training grounds.” Sasuke said slowly. Naruto grinned.

“Okay! Er, I guess I’ll get out so you can change then!” this time, Naruto’s laugh sounded genuine. Like it should. He left the room and Sasuke changed into his clothes quickly. He glanced over at his bed where Menma sat, undisturbed.

His beady little blue eyes seemed to stare directly through Sasuke, as if they were screaming I know your secret. Sasuke shook his head and joined Naruto in the hall, shutting the door to his room behind him.

Not today you stupid frog.

When he was little, Sasuke was never much of a talker. He was painfully shy and he would run to hide behind whoever was with him when someone acknowledged him, but Sasuke also didn’t understand what qualifies as mean or rude, he was just really blunt. He had no control over his mouth, as his father had said.

Even now, Sasuke just said whatever he thought of first and didn’t care how rude it came out. He wasn’t trying to impress anyone.

So why was he standing here racking his brain for something to say to Naruto? It’s fucking Naruto.

Since when did he get so nervous around Naruto?

Sasuke snuck a glance at Naruto as they were walking out of the Uchiha Territory.

The blonde didn’t even seem to care that he was still in his garish orange frog pajamas and was walking with his fingers hooked behind his head.

They walked on in silence, Naruto seemed to be lost in thought, which was odd for the blond, but Sasuke was too scared to say anything for fear of saying the wrong thing.

They got near to the center of Konoha, where the shops and businesses were and the looks the villagers sent Naruto did not go unnoticed by Sasuke.

He glared at them as they passed. Sasuke’s blood boiled as he watched people literally rush inside when Naruto got near. Sasuke wanted to scream, to scream and tear down their houses and make them admit their guilt, but he didn’t, instead Sasuke found himself watching Naruto, gauging his reactions.

Naruto no longer looked carefree, instead, he’d stuffed his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes downcast as if he was afraid to look anyone in the eye.

He’s trying to make himself look as small and harmless as possible.

Sasuke’s hands balled into fists as he followed Naruto down the path.

Naruto’s apartment was nothing like Sasuke expected.

It looked like they’d just let a kid run wild unsupervised.

Sasuke’s heart dropped as he realized that’s exactly what the village had done.

Once inside, Naruto gestures for him to sit, telling him to just sit anywhere and he wouldn’t be but a minute.

Sasuke felt too antsy to really sit down and wait so he settled for wandering around the kitchen and living room.

But, the more he wandered around, the more uneasy Sasuke felt.

It was when he was halfway through the 3rd lap that Sasuke realized what he was uneasy with or well the lack of what he saw.

Naruto had little to no possessions.

Sasuke felt nauseous. If he’d just so happened to wander in here when Naruto wasn’t home he would assume it was a vacant apartment.

“Okay I’m ready!” Sasuke was startled out of his thoughts by a grinning Naruto.

“Okay. Let's go.” Sasuke responded, and with that they were off.

They made it to the training grounds in record time, which wasn’t really saying much because the blond had all but dragged Sasuke. Although, Sasuke didn’t really mind. Because he was going to get to beat the shit out of Naruto while sparing, not because he enjoyed his presence or anything.

Naruto hopped around to face Sasuke and stretched his arms above his head.

“Okay! This time I’ll win!! Believe it!” He called shooting Sasuke a thumbs up and winking.

Sasuke desperately tried to ignore how that made his heart flip flop in his chest. He rolled his eyes and smirked.

“Sure. Try if you can Dobe” Sasuke responded and Naruto’s jaw dropped open.

“ Dobe?! Ugh… you…. Teme!” Naruto exclaimed, face incredulous, and with that, the fight had begun.

Sasuke won the first round and the next and the next.

By the 4th round, both boys were drenched in sweat, but only Sasuke was panting.

Curse Naruto and his endless energy.

“Tch. why don’t you just accept defeat Dobe?” Sasuke asked, a smirk prominent on his face. Naruto glared.

“Teme! I’ll beat you one of these days! I swear it! One of these days I’m gonna be-“ Naruto declared, but Sasuke cut him off, “Hokage, yeah I know. Come on future Hokage. I’m getting hungry. Let’s go get some food” Sasuke abruptly turned and started walking back towards the village.

“Ack! Teme!” Sasuke held back a grin as he listened to Naruto stumble, probably in shock from Sasuke calling him future Hokage, struggling to catch back up to him.

They fell into step together, this time, however, the silence was peaceful, until Naruto opened his mouth.

“How do you think they’re gonna come up with the teams?” Naruto asked curiously. Sasuke shrugged.

“I really don’t care.” He replied. Beside him, Naruto stopped walking. Sasuke turned and black eyes met blue.

“What? You’re saying you don’t care who you get teamed up with?? Teams are for life Sasuke!” Naruto’s eyes were wide. Sasuke heaved a sigh.

“It really doesn’t matter who I’m teamed up with. It’s just a team .” Naruto looked scandalized at the thought.

“Aren’t you worried about it even just a little bit? What if you get Sakura and Ino on your team?” Naruto asked with a knowing grin. Sasuke shivered at the thought and sent an icy glare Naruto’s way, but the blond only laughed in response.

“Okay, maybe that was too far, but for what it’s worth, I really hope you’re on my team!” Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke’s stomach twisted and his chest grew warm.

“Whatever Dobe” Sasuke muttered as he turned away from Naruto, not to hide his reddening face or anything.

“So, where are we going to eat?” Naruto perked up at the question.

“Let’s go to Ichiraku’s! I can introduce you to everyone!” Naruto said excitedly and Sasuke winced. Ugh. Introductions.

Naruto continued to march happily towards the center of Konoha and Sasuke found himself chewing on his lip as he followed quietly along.

Somewhere along the way, Naruto had started up chattering away again and Sasuke was content to just listen, letting Naruto’s voice roll over him.

If you asked Sasuke what he liked about Naruto Uzumaki, he’d probably tell you he liked when Naruto kept his mouth shut, but it was actually quite the opposite.

Sasuke’s favorite thing about Naruto was the fact that he didn’t have to contribute to the conversation.

Naruto would just chatter on and on, filling the silence and all Sasuke had to do was pepper in the occasional grunt or nod.

They reached Ichiraku and Naruto actually dragged Sasuke inside.

Sasuke felt his face redden slightly because naruto was holding his hand.

He allowed himself to be pulled to a stool up by the counter and they both sat down.

An older man made his way over.

“Ah Naruto! It’s been a while since we’ve last seen you here!” He said cheerfully. Naruto grinned before casting a side glance at Sasuke.

“Oh! Gramps! This is Sasuke! He’s best friend! And Sasuke this is Gramps. He owns the olace” Naruto exclaimed excitedly and Sasuke felt his face heat up and his chest grow warm.

Best friend? Could Sasuke really call Naruto his best friend?

They ordered their food and waited. Sasuke listened to the sound of Naruto rambling, something about Iruka and ramen.

Sasuke watched, partially in horror, as Naruto basically vacuumed up his food in record time.

“That was so good! Ah Gramps! Can I get another bowl?” Naruto smiled that blinding smile at Sasuke, who could only snap his attention back to his own bowl.

They headed back to Naruto’s apartment after their meal.

Sasuke had sneakily paid for both their food and Naruto had sputtered and told him it was fine really and he didn’t have to do that.

So, Sasuke being the little smug shit he was, responded with “well, you can pay next time”

Naruto was taking another shower after training and Sasuke was uncomfortably sitting on the couch.

Despite how awkward Sasuke felt, he did notice that he felt more at ease here then he ever did at home, if he could even call it that anymore.

But that place wasn’t meant to be warm and fuzzy, it served as a reminder.

A testament to his weakness.

“Okay I’m done! You can go shower and borrow some of my clothes if you want?” Naruto peeked his head around the corner, towel around his neck and smiled.

Sasuke nodded, stood, and followed Naruto to his bedroom.

Sasuke didn’t really know what to expect of Naruto’s bedroom, but this wasn’t it.

There was a single bed and a bedside table where a picture of a younger Naruto and Iruka sat.

There was a dresser at the other end of the room. Some of the drawers were open and clothes spilled over. There was a small tv sitting on top of the dresser.

Naruto hopped onto his bed and grabbed the remote, vaguely gesturing towards the dresser

“You can wear anything you find in there, although I should warn you. It’s all orange” Naruto snickered at the dull expression Sasuke flashed back at him before turning around and awkwardly sifting through the clothes.

Finally, Sasuke settled on a pair of soft orange sweatpants and the only black t shirt he managed to find.

He sighed quietly to himself as he stepped into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Sasuke stared at his reflection in the mirror and reached up to run his fingers right under his right eye.

He really hoped he could unlock his sharingan soon.

Once he’d showered and changed into Naruto’s clothes, they smelled like Naruto

Sasuke made his way back to Naruto’s bedroom to find Naruto surrounded by a mess of DVD’s.

“I was gonna ask if you wanted to watch a movie but I can't decide which one!!” Naruto whines and Sasuke blinked a few times before rolling his eyes and grabbing a case at random.

“That one. There it’s settled.” Sasuke muttered as he towel dried his hair.

Naruto grew quiet, which prompted Sasuke to look up.

He sat quietly staring down at the dvd case he held in his hand.

Sasuke leaned over to see just which dvd he’d picked up and gulped.

‘The Demon Fox of the land of Wind’

Fucking, of course, leave it up to Sasuke to pick the single worst movie in the whole stack.

Cursing himself, Sasuke quickly scanned the rest of the movies lying on the bed.

Finally, he spotted one with a innocent seeming cover and snatched it up, getting up and stalking over to put it in the player.

Naruto still hadn’t moved so Sasuke pulled the dvd case out of his hand and put the rest of them up. Naruto’s head jerked up.

“Huh? What’d you put in there?” He asked and Sasuke shrugged.

The title screen popped up

‘Forbidden Love Between Shinobi’

‘Damn it all to hell’ was all Sasuke could think as Naruto started to cackle next to him.

“Oh my god! I didn’t know you were such a sap!” Naruto squealed pushing Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Shut up Dobe” Sasuke muttered under his breath, but the words held no bite, as all the heat rose up to Sasuke’s cheeks. He hid behind his bangs and hoped Naruto didn’t notice.

The movie started and Sasuke noted that Naruto relaxed, snuggling down into his pillows.

“Hey, don’t fall asleep. You’re the one who wanted to watch the movie!” Sasuke scolded, but he knew it was a lost cause, especially when the snoring started.

As he moved to get up to turn the tv off and leave, Naruto gripped his arm.

“Mm. Don’t leave. Stay” Naruto mumbled half coherently. Sasuke’s heart rate picked up.

Naruto wanted him to stay?? With him??

“Hn. You gotta let go of me so I can turn off the tv then” Sasuke replied and reluctantly, Naruto obliged, but not without letting out a high pitched whine first.

Sasuke stifled a laugh, turned the tv off and was back in bed faster than he’d ever moved in his life.

As soon as he laid down, Naruto scooted over and wrapped his arms around Sasuke, snuggling into his shoulder. Sasuke’s heart was doing backflips in his chest, because it had to be illegal how cute Naruto was.

Damn it all to hell. Naruto was going to kill him one day.

Sasuke’s last thought before he drifted off to sleep was that he probably wouldn’t mind dying as much as he should, as long as it was Naruto doing the honors.

Chapter Text

“ Sasuke! Wake up!! We’ve got to go! We’re gonna be late!!” Sasuke jerked awake to Naruto’s panicked face.

He sent a panicked glance to the alarm clock. 7:30 am.

Fuck. The team announcement ceremony was at 8. Fuck.

Sasuke flew out of bed and scrambled to get clothes, not even paying attention to what he was putting on.

He flew out his bedroom, hopping down the hall with only one leg in his pants.

He burst into the bathroom, startling Naruto, who was brushing his teeth by the sink.

Sasuke shoved him over and grabbed his own toothbrush.

Sasuke was about halfway done when Naruto slid out of the bathroom, muttering something about breakfast.

Sasuke threw his toothbrush up, not actually looking to see if it made it back into the cup, before he was rushing down the hall

His socks allowed him to slide into the living room, as he immediately dropped to the floor to pull his sandals on.

Naruto reappeared next to him as he finished putting on his shoes.

He pulled Sasuke up and handed him a piece of peanut butter toast.

Sasuke couldn’t help but snort at the sheer ridiculousness of the entire situation as they both bolted out of Sasuke’s house and began the run toward the academy.

They reached the Academy building in record time and stumbled into the building in a panic.

Throwing open the door to their old classroom, they were shocked to see it completely empty, save for Iruka, who almost fell out of his desk in alarm.

Had they missed the whole thing?

“Did we miss it?” Naruto panted next to Sasuke and Iruka raised his eyebrows.

“Miss what?” Iruka asked.

“The ceremony!” Naruto whined and Iruka stared at both boys for a few more tense seconds before he burst out laughing.

“Oh my god no. It hasn’t even started yet. It’s only 7:15” Iruka said in between wheezes.

Both Naruto and Sasuke blanched.

“What?!” They screamed at the same time, before sharing a look of disbelief.

“But but, the alarm clock said” Naruto stuttered out, face suddenly turning very red.

“You guys did remember to turn your clocks back an hour last week right?” Iruka asked.

Neither boy answered.

“Guys. You turned your clocks back right?” Iruka prodded again and Sasuke looked away in embarrassment.

No they didn’t.

“Oh god.” Iruka groaned, hiding his face in his hands.

“You guys can wait here till it starts, just take a seat” he muttered, voice coming out muffled from his hands.

Naruto sent Sasuke a sheepish look before scurrying across the classroom and sitting down in the same seat he’d sat in when they’d been in class.

Sasuke heaved a huge sigh before walking towards Naruto.

“Uh. Also, you boys do know what you’re wearing right?” Iruka asked cautiously and Sasuke whipped around and stared at Iruka before glancing down at his outfit.

He heard a chair fall back and he didn’t even have to turn around to know that Naruto was just as panicked.

Sasuke felt his face heat up as he realized.

He’d put on his shirt, but he was wearing Naruto’s bright orange pants.

Cautiously, Sasuke turned to look at Naruto.

Naruto didn’t look like he fared much better considering, he’d managed to put on a pair of his own orange pants, but he was wearing Sasuke’s turtleneck.

It looks good on him.

Naruto stared at Sasuke in true despair as Iruka started laughing.

Naruto sat back down and hid his face in his hands, groaning loudly.

Face burning, Sasuke quickly made his way to his shared desk with Naruto and slid into his seat.

Sasuke could only pray that he didn’t have to get up for the ceremony.

About 15 minutes later, their old classmates started to file in.

Shikamaru and Choji were surprisingly the first two to enter. Choji greeted the two with a wave and Shikamaru simply grunted in greeting, too lazy to even pull his hands out of his pockets.

The next to enter was Shino, who entered quietly and took his seat in the back without a word.

Next, was Kiba, who was followed by a yapping Akamaru. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Next was Hinata, who Naruto excitedly waved at. Her face turned bright red and she hurried to her seat. Sasuke felt his blood boil.

Why was Naruto waving so enthusiastically at her?

Sasuke froze as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

Was he jealous? Of Naruto waving at Hinata?

Sasuke groaned and ignoring the concerned look Naruto threw his way , laid his head down on his arms.

Next to enter, was Sakura.

How did Sasuke know this without looking?

Because she beelined her way over to him and loudly called his name.

Sasuke ignored her and after a second he heard Naruto speak up.

“He’s sleeping leave him alone” Sasuke felt his chest grow warm at the thought of Naruto defending him.

With a huff, Sakura’s footsteps fade away.

Sasuke heard Ino enter, which meant everyone was here.

Naruto suddenly poked him in the side and he jerked up

Naruto sent him a sheepish grin in response to Sasuke’s death glare.

“Okay so, these teams were carefully chosen with everyone’s individual abilities in mind. It’s all about balance. Remember, this will be your team for life. These people will become your family. Anyways.” Iruka cleared his throat.

Sasuke glanced up and noticed there were two people standing next to him. A man and a woman.

“Team 10, which will be lead by Asuma Sarutobi, will consist of, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi” Sasuke let out a sigh of relief, Choji cheered and Shikamaru just nodded along and sent a lazy grin at Choji.

“Team 8, which will be lead by Kurenai Yuhi, will consist of Kiba Inazuka, Hinata Hyuuga, And—”

Sasuke held his breath.

Please don’t say me or Naruto. Please don’t say me or Naruto.

“ —Shino Aburame ” Sasuke quietly let out the breath he’d been holding. Naruto nudged him with his shoulder and shot him a grin that could rival the sun.

“And finally, Team 7, which will be lead by Kakashi Hatake, will consist of Sasuke Uchiha—”

Sasuke day up a little straighter when they called his name.

“—Naruto Uzumaki”

Naruto jumped at his name and nudged Sasuke.

“And Sakura Haruno” Sasuke’s face fell and his stomach twisted.

“Yes!” Sakura cheered as Ino huffed.

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who responded with a bright smile.

Thank god.

“Okay, So team 10 will meet outside at ground Beta and team 8 will meet at Ground Gamma and finally team 7 you’ll meet with your leader here, as it seems he’s running late” Iruka finished and sent Sasuke and Naruto a tentative smile.

As if sensing his discomfort, Naruto quietly scooted his chair over and pressed his arm up against Sasuke, causing him to instantly relax.

Sometimes, Sasuke hated Naruto’s ability to instantly feel like home. When did Naruto start to feel like home?

The other teams filed out of the classroom, Sasuke stayed seated, leaning against Naruto as Sakura made her way over.

“Sasuke! Oh it's so great we’re on the same team together! We’ll get to spend more time together!! Even if it is with Naruto” Sakura sneered at Naruto and moved to grab onto Sasuke’s arm, but the glare he sent her way had her reeling back. She laughed nervously and glanced around the classroom.

“So, what do you think Kakashi-sensei will be like?” She asked, hopping up to sit on the desk in front of them. Sasuke shrugged.

“Does it really matter?” He asked, bored. Next to him, Naruto scoffed before shoving his shoulder lightly.

“Of course it does Teme! He’s gonna be our team leader for ever !” Naruto exclaimed and Sasuke rolled his eyes again.

“Naruto! That's so rude! You shouldn’t talk to Sasuke-kun like that! Especially when he’s so much better than you!” Sakura scolded and Sasuke clenched his jaw. He set his glare on Sakura and she shrunk back.

“Well then, you shouldn’t talk to me at all” Sasuke borderline growled. Sakura paled considerably and looked away.

She hopped off the table and sat down with her back to them. Sasuke yawned and blinked sleepily.

Naruto leaned in close to Sasuke and whispered quietly to him, “I’ll wake you up when Kakashi-sensei gets here” he smiled and Sasuke, too tired to really protest, nodded and plopped his head down on his crossed arms on the table and promptly fell asleep

He’d had a nightmare last night and as a result, He couldn’t go back to sleep and Naruto had stayed up with him to keep him company which caused them both to ‘oversleep’

Naruto had been living with Sasuke for about 3 weeks now, having moved in, per Sasuke’s request (more like angry demand), about a week after the night on the dock.

Sasuke was actually enjoying it a lot more than he initially thought he would. His large house seemed much less lonely with Naruto’s boisterous self around.

Sasuke barely had any time to think these past 3 weeks with all the constant noise.

They’d eaten their meals together, Sasuke had made the decision that Naruto couldn’t be trusted alone in the kitchen after the ramen incident, they trained together almost every day and Sasuke found that even if they didn’t spar with each other, it was still nice to have someone there while they practiced, be it throwing shurikens or taijutsu practice.

Sasuke was woken up with a shake to the shoulder.

He jerked awake and sent a glare Naruto’s way, who only snickered and pointed to the front of the classroom.

Kakashi looked exactly like Sasuke imagined while simultaneously looking nothing like what Sasuke had imagined.

He stood, half hunched with his only visible eye looking tired. His forehead protector was pulled down over his left eye and he had a mask pulled up to his nose.  

Sasuke wondered what he was hiding.

“Maa. Sorry I’m late. I got lost on the road of life” he deadpanned and Sasuke felt anger spike through him.

What kind of excuse is that?

Kakashi continued speaking, ignoring the glare Sasuke was sending him.

“Well. You guys already know my name, so there’s no need for introductions. Meet me at Ground Delta tomorrow morning at 8am. I wouldn’t eat breakfast if I were you, unless you want to see it again. Alright well. See you then” he blinked his singular eye lazily and held up a hand as a lazy wave and then he was gone. Leaving the 3 Genin to simply stare at the place he’d stood.

“He has us waiting all this time and that’s it?!” Sakura exclaimed angrily throwing her hands in the air and turning to the two of them. Both boys shrugged.

“I wonder what our test will be?” Naruto wondered aloud and Sasuke shrugged again before rolling his neck, which had become sore.

“How long did I sleep?” Sasuke asked and Naruto shrugged

“Couple hours or so, you ready to head home?” Naruto asked and Sasuke nodded before standing.

They walked out of the classroom without so much as acknowledging Sakura, who only stood there in shock because was Sasuke wearing Naruto’s pants?!

The walk home was uneventful, Naruto chattered away about all the different things he thought the test tomorrow would be and Sasuke grunted when appropriate.

“What do you want for dinner?” Sasuke asked as they neared Konoha Grocery.

Sasuke expected Naruto to exclaim ramen or something of the like, but as always, Naruto caught him off guard.

“Oh yeah! I’ve been meaning to tell you! I asked Hinata for her family's recipe for tomato nabe! Let’s try making that tonight.” Naruto grinned widely, he dug around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a crumbled folded piece of paper and held it up, “It probably won’t be the same as your moms but I know you said it was your favorite so” Naruto scratched at his scars, looking away. Sasuke felt his chest grow warm again and he had to turn away to hide the blush creeping up on his face.

“If you're cooking it I doubt it’ll be anything like my mother’s” Sasuke found himself remarking, which elicited a loud ‘Hey! It was one time!’

Sasuke snorted and walked into the grocery store, Naruto mumbling behind him.

Sasuke’s pretty sure Naruto said something along the lines of “I light the kitchen on fire one time and he never lets me live it down. Asshole.”

Sasuke grabbed a cart and watched as Naruto enthusiastically hopped from place to place to look at the new cereals and everything else in between.

It’s doing things so mundane, so achingly domestic , that makes the warm feeling in Sasuke’s chest grow tenfold.

“What does the recipe call for?” Sasuke asked and Naruto abruptly stopped, face darkening before handing over the folded paper. Sasuke carefully unfolded it and looked it over.

Thank god it was in Hinata’s handwriting and not Naruto’s illegible scrawl.

Sasuke looked it over before heading in the direction of the produce.

The thing about shopping with Naruto was that he was everywhere looking at everything at all times and he was always putting things they didn’t need in the cart.

Sasuke could only secretly put so many things back before he gave up on every trip, but at least some of the time the things that Naruto would sneak into the cart were things that he knew Sasuke liked like extra tomatoes or those sour candies.

Sasuke had just finished tying the bag on the tomatoes when Naruto reappeared out of thin air, a box of overly sugary cereal in hand. He dropped it in the cart, winked, and flickered away again. Sasuke sighed and headed towards the cabbage.

45 minutes, 4 arguments about ramen, 2 trips back to the produce, and 6 stops to put back things they didn’t need, they were finally at the checkout.

Sasuke paid, once again ignoring Naruto’s protests, and so, in return, Naruto summoned a couple shadow clones to carry the bags. Sasuke only rolled his eyes and handed them over, threatening that if they broke the eggs again Naruto was sleeping outside.

The clones saluted and then they were gone, flickering off bags in hand allowing Sasuke and the real Naruto to take their time walking home.

“So, Sakura is on our team huh? Like really on our team. Ughhhh” Naruto started, fingers laced behind his head. Sasuke glared at him and he grinned.

Finally Naruto barked a laugh and lightly shoved Sasuke’s shoulder.

“Come onnnnn Teme. You’ll have to face her at some point.” Naruto said and Sasuke pulled a face.

“She’s annoying.” Sasuke grumbled which caused Naruto to snort loudly.

“Yeah, thats true” Naruto responded, then that was that and Naruto continued on, rambling on and on, something about Shikamaru and Choji.

******

As it turns out, making tomato nabe is harder than it sounds and Sasuke feels like he should’ve thought about it before starting, but hindsight is 20/20. It didn't go horribly persay, just more or less Naruto was going to kill Sasuke one day with his recklessness.

Naruto really didn’t look where he was going and he should because then Sasuke wouldn’t of spilled boiling water on him.

So, finally after burning Naruto about four separate times, Naruto realized that maybe he should just chop the vegetables.

As he stirred, Sasuke found himself thinking about what the test the next day entailed. What was Kakashi-sensei gonna have them do? What kind of test?

He figured that they were gonna have to do some sort of stupid team building exersize and while he wasn’t worried about him an Naruto because they’d been sparing together so long that now it wass more or less like breathing. Sasuke felt like sometimes Naruto knew his next move before he did. No, he definitely wasn’t worried about his and Naruto’s teamwork, they were fine , but it was Sakura who was the worrying outlier. Sasuke was worried his contempt for her would lead them to failure.

“Okay! Tables set, all ready when you are Teme!” Naruto exclaimed with an enthusiastic thumbs up, to which Sasuke rolled his eyes.

**

The food was not nearly as good as when Sasuke’s mother made it, but it was still good.

Not because Naruto went through all the trouble of asking Hinata for the recipe because it was Sasuke’s favorite, nope, not at all.

Naruto talked the whole time they were eating, something about Iruka and Ichiraku?

Sometimes, Sasuke worried that Naruto was going to choke or something, but he never did.

**

They washed the dishes together, well more like Naruto washed them and Sasuke dried and put them up because Naruto had a habit of dropping them and Sasuke did not feel like buying more… again.

“Are you worried about the test tomorrow?” Naruto questioned Sasuke and he could only shrug in response.

**

It was after they finished with the dishes, taken their showers and gotten in bed that Sasuke decided on his answer to Naruto’s question.

“Teamwork” Sasuke said quietly, half praying that Naruto was already asleep, but alas, the gods were never on Sasuke’s side because Naruto immediately rolled over, a quizzical look on his face.

“What?” Naruto responded and Sasuke sighed loudly.

“The test tomorrow will most likely be about teamwork, so yes, i’m worried because I don’t think we’re gonna be able to work too well with Sakura.” Sasuke confessed, cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Naruto blinked for a few seconds and scooted closer before fighting his way under one of Sasuke’s arms and laying his head on his chest.

“You’re the best ninja there is, we’re gonna do fine. ” Naruto’s words were muffled against the fabric of sasuke’s shirt but they made Sasuke’s heart speed up nonetheless.

And with that Naruto fell asleep, leaving Sasuke to lay awake for another hour, contemplating if Naruto willingly cuddling with him was platonic or not.

I don’t think this is what normal friends do… but how would he know?

Chapter Text

The next morning a fresh out of the shower Sasuke woke up a very grumpy Naruto bright and early so they could meet Kakashi-sensei on time. 

Naruto grumbled out his usual good morning before sleepily shuffling off to the bathroom to shower. 

Sasuke was drying his hair when Naruto reentered the bedroom, gaudy orange gear in place. 

Naruto shot Sasuke a grin as he strapped his bag to his waist. 

“You think he was being serious about the whole no breakfast thing? Because I’m starving and I’d rather risk vomiting than starve because this damn fox eats up my energy.” Naruto flinched hard at the end of his sentence before shaking his head quickly. 

“Alright Alright Sorry Kurama, my bad. I won’t call you that no more” Naruto sighed out loud and Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

Since moving in together,  Naruto had revealed that he could speak to Kurama directly, a fact that Sasuke had suspected, but never confirmed. Honestly, sometimes it creeped Sasuke out a little. 

“As far as breakfast, I say we can go ahead and eat something if we want to have any strength for whatever this is going to be” Sasuke muttered as he exited what had become their bedroom. 

Sasuke could hear the soft pat pats of Naruto’s socked feet trailing close behind him. 

Sasuke pulled the leftovers of the tomato nabe out of the fridge and popped it in the microwave

After they’d eaten, they put on their sandals and headed in the direction of Ground Delta. 

Naruto continued to worry, aloud, about what kind of test it would be, drawing Sasuke’s train of thought back to the nauseating fact that he would have to work with Sakura of all people. 

Sasuke’s stomach twisted the more he thought about it. 

It would never work. Team 7 would never work. 

They neared the bridge and Sasuke instantly spotted the telltale pink hair of their new teammate. He groaned internally. 

Naruto trailed off the closer they got to Sakura and he was deathly silent as Sasuke dropped down to sit on the edge of the bridge, back up against the railing. 

Naruto mimicked Sasuke’s movements and after a few moments of tense silence, with Sakura looking dead at Sasuke, Naruto resumed talking, animatedly using his hands to explain some story. Sasuke turned his attention away from Sakura to pay attention to Naruto, and that’s how the next hour went. 

“Mannn Kakashi-sensei is late” Naruto whined, leaning back, fingers laced behind his head. Sasuke shrugged while Sakura remained uncharacteristically quiet. 

Sasuke spared her a glance and instantly regretted it, because she was sitting across from them with her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. 

Her expression was equal to a kicked puppy. 

Sasuke’s eyebrow twitched and he grit his teeth.

He knew he should at least try to cheer her up because they were about to be tested, most likely on their ability to work as a team and if she was upset, it was likely to go badly. 

He rubbed the bridge of his nose before slowly exhaling through his mouth. 

Naruto stared at him, head tilted to the side in confusion. 

“Sakura. Why did you wanna become a Shinobi?” Sasuke asked because it was all he could think of. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, however, Sasuke regretted them, mainly because he knew that now that question could be redirected back at him and he wasn’t ready to tell Sakura of all people , about Itachi. 

Sakura was clearly startled at Sasuke using her name directly because she squeaked and toppled over onto her side. 

She quickly regained her posture and blinked at Sasuke owlishly. 

“What?” She asked. Sasuke sighed. There was nothing he disliked more than having to repeat himself. 

“What made you decide to become a Shinobi?” He asked again. 

There were no famous Haruno Shinobi as far as Sasuke knew, which meant she was most likely from a civilian family and while it wasn’t all that uncommon that a civilian family would produce one, Sasuke found himself curious as to her reasoning why she wanted to follow this path. 

Briefly, Sasuke wondered what he’d of been like if his family hadn’t been a Shinobi family if his path hadn’t been etched in stone before he was born. 

“I uh…” Sakura stared at Sasuke. 

“What kinda question is that?” Naruto asked, barking a laugh. Sasuke eyed Naruto from his peripherals. 

“We need to introduce ourselves if we want this team to work so, I figured giving our reasons for being here would be the best way to start and I nominated Sakura to go first.” Sasuke punctuated the end of his sentence with a shrug. Naruto nodded sagely, even though he still seemed lost. 

They turned their attention to Sakura, whose face was bright red. 

“I, uh. Well, it’s kinda stupid, but Ino’s father is a really strong Shinobi and we both kind of promised each other that we would be great ninja together and we aren’t friends anymore, but I still want to be a Shinobi. I feel like I’m always one step behind her though… so if I want to surpass her, I have to train really hard!! Oh sorry, I’m rambling” Sakura blushed a deep red. 

“It’s not stupid Sakura-chan! You’ve always had such good grades in chakra control so I’m sure with some practice you’ll surpass her in no time!” Naruto exclaimed with a bright smile causing Sakura’s lips to twitch into a small smile. Sasuke almost snorted aloud because leave it up to Naruto to encourage even those he didn’t like. 

“What about you two? What made you become Shinobi?” Sakura asked, shifting so she was sitting cross-legged. 

“I’ll go next! My goal is to surpass the Hokage and become the next one so the village has to acknowledge my existence!” Naruto cheered, fist pumping the air as if what he said hadn’t been sad at all. Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto’s enthusiasm before taking a deep breath and leaning forward to rest his chin on his joined hands. 

“My goal is…” Sasuke debates what to say and just how much info to give out, “to restore my clan and get strong enough to kill the man who destroyed it” he finished. Might as well throw it into the open. They were a team now. 

If Sakura was surprised by his revelation, she didn’t show it and a small part of Sasuke was grateful for that. 

“Uh. Anyway, Someone else can ask a question and we can all take turns getting to know each other, at least until Kakashi-sensei gets here” Sasuke continued. 

“Oh!! I got one! Sakura, what’s your favorite food?” Naruto asked leaning forward. 

This time Sasuke really did snort. 

“I didn’t mean those type of questions, Dobe” Sasuke said and Naruto turned to him with a glare. 

“It’s an important question Teme! How can we be teammates with someone if we don’t know what they like to eat.” Naruto exclaimed and Sasuke rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly. 

“I like sweets” Sakura responded quietly, face a light shade of pink. Naruto laughed and pointed at Sasuke. 

“Sasuke hates anything sweet.” He said laughing and Sasuke glared. Sakura giggled lightly 

“Of course he would” she replied. Sasuke turned his glare onto her and she shrank back slightly, so he looked away. 

They delved back into a half awkward silence before Sakura spoke up again. 

“What ninjutsu’s do both of you use? Maybe we can come up with a plan on how to optimize our skills” she said smiling and Sasuke nodded because that was smart. 

“I’m sorry. Opto what?” Naruto asked and Sasuke snorted again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He’s honestly surprised his nose has any skin left. 

“Dobe. She said optimize, as in, how to beat use our individual skills to support each other as a team” Sasuke explained and Naruto's mouth formed an ‘O’ 

“I’m really good at creating Shadow clones!” Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“And I use my clan's fireball jutsu.” Sasuke sighed. Sakura nodded and rubbed her chin thoughtfully. 

“What about you Sakura-Chan?” Naruto asked and Sakura paled. Just as she opened her mouth, Kakashi appeared. 

“You’re late!” Naruto and Sakura exclaimed at the same time. Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow. 

“I got lost.” He deadpanned and Sasuke felt his blood heat up. Who decided this man should be a teacher?

“Let’s begin the test then shall we?” Kakashi continued and pulled out two bells and held them up. 

“Here I have two bells. Your goal is to get them from me. You have until noon to do so. In other words, at least one of you will fail and go back to the academy. Come at me with all you got. If you aren’t prepared to kill me you’ll never get the bells. Okay. Start” Kakashi’s voice was deadpan. He hooked he bells to his belt loop, pulled a book out of his back pocket, and crouched down low. Immediately, Sakura flickered away and Sasuke intended to follow, but Naruto started to charge Kakashi. 

“Dobe” Sasuke muttered before grabbing the back of Naruto’s jacket and flickering them both in the same direction Sakura went. 

Sasuke thought about it, they’d need a plan. But there were only two bells… did Kakashi really intend for one of them to fail? 

Logically, it would be Sakura because Naruto and Sasuke are friends and work together well, while Sakura is the outsider. 

Sasuke glanced at Sakura and guessed she was thinking the same thing with how pale she looked. 

“He’s not going to send anyone back to the academy” Naruto whispered, quiet but confident.  Sasuke’s Head jerked around. 

“How do you know that?” He hissed and Naruto cocked his head to the side. 

“Because he can’t? I asked Iruka once and he said it was impossible to go back to the academy once you’ve graduated?” Naruto replied, clearly confused by the question and Sasuke couldn’t help but laugh because of course Naruto’s already asked Iruka. 

“Okay, but even if that's true, what’s the point of telling us that? I mean there are only two bells.” Sakura whispered and Naruto blinked. The answer hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks. 

“Being a ninja is all about teamwork right? So he probably wants to see how we will act if we think one of us has to fail.” he breathed and both Sakura and Naruto’s eyes lit up. 

“That.. makes sense” Sakura responded. 

“Yeah, but how do we get the bells??” Naruto asked and Sasuke sighed. They really needed a plan. 

“ I might… I might have an idea.” Sakura mumbled quietly and two pairs of eyes turned to her. 

****

All in all, it took about 3 tries to explain the plan to Naruto, but once he got it, Sasuke was confident they’d be fine. 

Everyone got into their positions and waited. Kakashi was sitting crouched down in the middle of the clearing book in hand when Naruto charged at him from behind, kunai in hand, screaming the whole time.

****

Kakashi easily sidestepped Naruto, letting him fall flat on his face disappearing in a puff of smoke, then, another Naruto came out of the trees and tried to rush Kakashi again, and another and another and another, until there were about 20 Naruto’s in total. Kakashi’s attention was drawn to all of the Naruto clones rushing him from all sides as he dodged skillfully and adeptly all the while still reading his book. Then Sasuke rushed him from behind, causing Kakashi to whip around to block his attack and drop his book but upon blocking Sasuke’s attack, the Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke and Kakashi turned around just in time to see the real Sasuke running through the hand signs for his fireball Jutsu, Kakashi dodged to the right, into the trees, narrowly avoiding the flames only to discover that all the trees were covered in paper bombs, just as he used a substitution jutsu and jumped up into the tree, Kunai flew at him from his right, causing him to have to duck and dodge again. 

Kakashi found himself smirking as he ducked and dodged all 3 of his students at the same time. Sasuke jumped at Kakashi, swinging his fist which Kakashi blocked, then Sasuke threw his leg and Kakashi caught it, then Sasuke swung his free arm and Kakashi barely managed to block it with his upper arm and then he something brush against his side. Kakashi lashed out behind him, slamming Sasuke into the culprit, Sakura, only to have both of them disappear in a puff of smoke, more shadow clones . 

Sasuke used another fireball from Kakashi’s right side while Sakura bombarded Kakashi with more kunai from the left and Naruto sent about 30 more clones from all sides. 

Then, the 12 o’clock bell rang across the village,  calling the end of the test. All 3 genin abruptly froze in place, shoulders slumping in disappointment. 

The next few moments were intense as all three genin fidgeted while they waited for Kakashi’s verdict. 

“All three of you… pass” Kakashi deadpanned and Sasuke tried to keep the surprise off his face. Naruto cheered and Sakura jumped up and down excitedly. 

“Before you go off celebrating, all three of you did fail to retrieve the bells, however, that wasn't the goal of the test. The goal was to see how well the three of you worked as a team and it seems like the three of you actually understood that.” Kakashi said evenly, he continued, “as of tomorrow Team 7 will be accepting missions.” Now, everyone cheered again, including Sasuke, who was sporting a small smile 

“Also, something I want all of you to remember always, a ninja who breaks the rule is scum, but a ninja who abandons his friends is worse than scum.” Kakashi finished and with that, he picked up his book and flickered away. 

Of course, it was Naruto who broke the silence,

“All three of us should celebrate with ramen!!” Naruto yelled and Sasuke could only roll his eyes again.

“You always want to celebrate with ramen” Sasuke replied and Naruto huffed, crossing his arms. 

“Yeah well, ramen is the best!” Naruto declared. 

“Uh, I’m okay with ramen,” Sakura said quietly and Naruto’s eyes sparkled. 

Sasuke knew he was doomed before Naruto even turned towards him. 

“Sure, let's go to Ichiraku's” Sasuke muttered. He quickly turned away so that Naruto and Sakura couldn’t see the blush that was creeping up on his face. Behind him, Naruto whooped and instantly launched into telling Sakura a story. 

The walk to Ichiraku’s had Sasuke feeling strangely content. He found it was pretty relaxing to just watch and listen to Naruto excitedly tell Sakura all about how Sasuke hadn’t known how to use the coffee maker when Naruto moved in. Sasuke felt his face heat up as he remembered the embarrassing story. 

They reached Ichiraku’s and Naruto opened the door.

“Uh, Sasuke can I talk to you for a second… alone?” Sakura asked quietly. Naruto at the door froze before blinking owlishly at Sasuke as if it ask do you want me to leave you two alone or do I need to throw a fit?

“Hn. Sure, Naruto you can go ahead and get us seats.” Sasuke replied and Naruto nodded with a smile before he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him. 

Sasuke turned his attention to Sakura who was suddenly blushing and looking away. Oh no. Sasuke prayed she wasn’t about to confess or anything. They’d just gotten their team together.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Sasuke asked and Sakura jumped. 

“Oh. oh, well, I just wanted to say that I have a crush on you, but  that’s not what I mean to say because I know you already know that, anyways uh I guess I’m just trying to say that I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting towards you and Naruto lately, er well…. How I’ve always acted towards both of you. What you said yesterday really made me realize that I was going about this all the wrong way. So I guess this is really just me saying that I’m gonna try to change that.” Sasuke could only stare at Sakura slack-jawed. What was going on? Was he being pranked? 

After a few moments of awkward silence, Sakura cleared her throat and Sasuke snapped to attention. 

“Anyways, uh I guess we should go ahead and head inside before Naruto comes looking for us,” She said nervously grabbing the door handle and pulling it halfway open.

“Uh, Sakura.” Sasuke blurted out and she turned, an odd expression on her face and Sasuke swallowed hard. 

“Thanks. For you know… apologizing.” Sasuke said lamely looking away.

“Oh. Oh, you’re welcome I think?” Sakura replied although it sounded more like a question.

“Guysssss hurry!!!” Naruto screamed from within the restaurant, shattering the awkward feeling surrounding Sasuke and Sakura and knocking them both out of their thoughts. With a chuckle and a giggle, they both made their way into the building, heading straight for the booth Naruto was sitting in, waving. 

***

As Sasuke watched Sakura lecture Naruto on a ‘healthy diet’ while he loudly and proudly defended his mostly ramen diet, that familiar content feeling came back to Sasuke and he resigned to just sink down in the booth and watch his two new teammates bicker back and forth, as if they’d been doing this forever. 

Maybe team 7 has a chance.

Chapter Text

8 days. 

Team 7 has been a team for 8 days. 

They’ve been accepting missions for 7. Days. 

And Naruto… 

“I’m so tired of doing D-Ranks!!! Come on Jiji, Give us something harderrrrr!” Naruto whined to the third Hokage who only starred in response, jaw dropped. 

Even Sakura and Kakashi seemed to be in shock, whether it was from Naruto calling the third Hokage, Jiji or the fact that he was whining about wanting a harder mission and it had only been a week. 

Sasuke was already aware of the complicated relationship between the third and Naruto when, shortly after Naruto moved in, the third showed up at Sasuke’s House. 

Apparently, the third had been watching over Naruto since he was a baby or something. 

The third and Naruto argued back and forth for some time. 

Granted, Sasuke too found himself bored and annoyed with the d-ranks they were doing now and he knew they could most likely handle a c-rank or maybe even a B-rank if they were prepared, but also he knew that testing that theory was risky. Failure was always an option.

The third held Naruto’s gaze for a few moments before flipping  through the files on his desk. Sasuke felt his stomach flip with them 

This was either going to be a good thing or a very bad thing. 

He pulled a file out and held it out to Kakashi. 

“Fine then, I’ll give you a C-rank. It’s an escort mission. You’ll be escorting a bridge builder back to his village, the village hidden in the mist.” The third spoke evenly and leveled his gaze at Naruto as if to tell him do not mess this up. 

“Yahoo!” Naruto cheered and Both Sasuke and Sakura couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

Sasuke even thinks he caught Kakashi's eye crinkling up 

The third waved at an Anbu who excited the room and returned, a clearly drunk man close behind him. 

“What? A bunch of snot nosed kids?” the drunk man laughed, “you expect me to believe that the short one with the dumb face is a ninja?” he barked another laugh and took another sip out of his Sake bottle. Sasuke felt his blood heat up and his fists clenched at his sides. 

“How dare you insult a ninja you--” Naruto started 

“Anyways, I’m a very important bridge builder and I'm building a bridge that’ll change the village for good, so I expect the lot of you to get me there safely and protect me with your lives” The man talked straight over Naruto and took another drink out of his bottle. 

Sasuke had to fight to keep his anger under control. How dare this man talk to us, Naruto especially, like that. 

As they followed the man outside of the Hokage tower and to the village gate, Sasuke found himself debating that if he’d actually lay down his life for this man, if they were actually attacked. 

Probably not, mission or not, my team comes first. Sasuke decided. 

The drunkard they were tasked to guard was still talking, rambling and raving about trivial things that Sasuke honestly couldn’t care enough to pay attention to. Instead, he focused on walking as close to Naruto as he could get. Just to make sure he wasn’t going to lash out and kill the subject of their mission of course, it's not like Sasuke wants to be this close to the blond haired idiot. Oh, what the fuck, who was Sasuke kidding? Of course he wanted to be this close to Naruto. It was calming. 

“Wait, Kakashi, Doesn't the land of water have ninja’s too?” Sakura asked, drawing both Naruto and Sasuke’s attention. 

“Maa, Not exactly…” Kakashi trailed off for a second before resuming, “but, in other countries there are hidden villages, each with their different customs and cultures where ninja reside. In this continent, to the people here, shinobi villages mean strength, specifically, military strength, well, in other words, it's how we maintain the balance of power. The villages are independent and aren’t ruled by any single government so they’re of equal status. Now, a small island like the land of waves is already protected naturally, so there’s no need for a ninja village. The five ancient lands that possess shinobi villages are, fire, water, lightning, wind and earth, they each occupy vast territories and together they are known as the ‘Five Great Shinobi Nations’. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves, the Land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist, the Land of Lightning, the Village hidden in the Clouds, the Land of Wind, The Village Hidden in the Sand, and the Land of Earth, The Village Hidden in the Rocks. Only the leaders of these hidden villages are permitted the name ‘Kage’ which means shadow, Hokage, Mizukage, Kazekage, Raikage, Tsuchikage. These are the leaders, the five ‘shadows’ that reign supreme over the tens of thousands of ninja of the hidden villages.” 

“Ahhh, then Lord Hokage must be very important!” Sakura exclaimed. 

‘Is he really that important??’ Sasuke thought to himself. 

“Hey! You all just doubted the Lord Hokage didn’t you?” Kakashi asked abruptly and Sasuke felt his face heat up while Naruto and Sakura jumped to defend themselves. 

Kakashi chuckled. 

“Maa, Don’t worry.” He patted Sakura’s head, “There are no ninja battles on C-rank missions, so we don’t have anything to worry about.” Kakashi finished. Sasuke could have sworn he saw the drunk bridge builder stiffen slightly. 

They continued the walk, mostly in silence, which Sasuke couldn’t help but feel slightly uncomfortable with because Naruto usually just filled the silence with his chatter, but apparently not today. Maybe what the bridge builder said, got to him.  

Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to ask Naruto hat was wrong, he was interrupted by the sound of metal chains grinding together. He turned, right at the moment two unidentified ninja appeared from a puddle on the ground and wrapped chains around Kakashi 

“What the fu?” Kakashi started, but he never got to finish his sentence because then the two ninja pulled  on the chains and they sliced through Kakashi like he was nothing more than a stick of butter. Sasuke felt sick watching as Kakashi fell apart. 

“You're next” Now, the ninja were behind Naruto and Sasuke didn’t even think he just instantly launched himself into the air, hands already reaching for his shuriken and kunai at his side. The two ninja were startled by his sudden moves as he threw the shuriken, just right, just like how Itachi taught him, and pinned a section of the chain to a nearby tree before throwing the kunai and hitting directly in the center of the shuriken, effectively pinning the chain to the tree for at least a solid few minutes. 

Sasuke couldn’t help the satisfied smirk that crossed his lips as the two exclaimed about how they couldn't move the chain as he landed between them, kicking his legs out to land a solid hit on both of their faces. Before they fully hit the ground however, they dropped the chains and one of them turned and lunged directly at the bridge builder, who Sakura stupidly got in front of. 

If Sasuke had the time he definitely would've probably started pulling his hair out, but he didn't have a second to waste, so instead he settled for flickering over and jumping dead in front of Sakura, fully prepared to take the brunt of the attack. 

Stupid fucking teammates. Stupid fucking Sakura. Stupid fucking mission. Stupid Stupid Stupid. 

Sasuke was knocked out of his thoughts though as an arm shot out, close lining the ninja that was advancing on the three and knocking him out. Sasuke followed the arm up to the owner and found it was Kakashi with a bored look on his face. 

“That's enough” Kakashi deadpanned and Sasuke had to resist the urge to snort aloud with how bored Kakashi sounded. 

“Show off” Sasuke muttered quietly, although it did not seem to go unnoticed by Kakashi who shot him a quick wink, or was he just blinking? Sasuke wasn’t sure, afterall, Kakashi only had one visible eye. But wait… didn’t Kakashi?? Sasuke glanced at the place Kakashi had been standing when he was initially attacked only to find several sliced up tree branches. Sasuke repressed the urge to roll his eyes. A substitution jutsu. Of fucking course he did 

Kakashi glanced over his shoulder. 

“Sorry Naruto, I didn’t mean to not help you immediately, I let you get hurt, but really I wasn’t expecting you to freeze up like that.” Kakashi turned back towards Sasuke and Sakura. 

“Oh, and Sasuke good job with that, very smooth, and you too Sakura.” Sasuke felt like Kakashi’s praise should've made him proud, or something of the sort , but really all he could think about was that Naruto might be hurt and also why were they even attacked in the first place? ‘There are no ninja battles in a c-rank mission my fucking ass’ Sasuke thought bitterly as he pushed his way over to check on Naruto. 

Naruto had somehow managed to get his hand sliced up by one of their claws and he was standing there dumbly staring down at it. Sasuke felt his worry increase. 

“Hey, You’re not hurt are you? Scaredy cat?” Sasuke asked with a slight laugh in his tone. Naruto’s head jerked up and he set his jaw. 

“Sasuuukeee” Naruto growled, voice low and laced with anger. 

“Naruto, their claws are coated with poison, so you shouldn’t move around too much until we get the poison out” Kakashi demanded sternly and both Naruto and Sasuke paled.

Stupid fucking c-rank mission and stupid fucking bridge builder. 

“Oh, and by the way Mr. Tazuna.” Kakashi said over his shoulder, still holding both incapacitated ninja under his arms. 

“Yeah?” Mr. Tazuna responded, voice sounding unsure. 

“We need to talk” Kakashi punctuated his sentence by throwing both of the ninjas down at his feet. Without looking up he quickly started to tie them to the trunk of the tree in front of him.

“Sakura, will you take a look at Naruto’s hand for me? We need to see if we can figure out what we’re dealing with and how to counteract it.” He said without even glancing up from his task

“Yes sir!” Sakura exclaimed loudly before she scurried across the pathway to look at Naruto’s hand. Naruto’s face had gone back to that same one of moderate shock and Sasuke almost growled in frustration. What was with him today??? 

******

“They’re chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, they’re known for continuing to fight no matter the sacrifice.” Kakashi said, voice devoid of emotion. 

“How did you know about our ambush?” One of the chunins asked. 

“A puddle? On a clear day when it hasn’t rained in weeks?” Kakashi asked skeptically and one of the chunins looked away while the other glared. Sasuke furrowed his brow, he honestly never even questioned the puddle and knowing he missed something like that made him feel useless. 

“In that case why did you let the genin do the fighting?” Mr. Tazuna asked angrily

“Then I would have learned nothing. I needed to see who their target was and what they were after. Maa, what I mean is I had to know if it was you, or one of us Shinobi. When you put in your request you asked for standard protection from robbers and highwaymen. You didn’t mention that there were ninja out looking for you, hunting you down. If you had this would be at least a B-rank mission or higher our task was simply getting you to your destination and watching over you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we were being attacked by other shinobi we would’ve staffed different and charged the price of a b rank mission. Apparently, you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission.” Kakashi finished. He was right. This was well above them now. No matter how much Sasuke wanted to be strong enough to deal with it, he just wasn’t strong enough yet. 

“We are genin. This is too advanced for our level of expertise. We should probably go back. We probably really need to get Naruto to a doctor to treat his wound and get the poison out as soon as possible.” Sakura said nervously, twisting her fingers together. 

“Naruto’s hand could be a problem, maybe we should go back to the village?” Kakashi wondered aloud. Everyone turned to Naruto, who instantly set his brow, pulled out a kunai and before anyone could react, drove the sharp tip of it into his hand. Naruto grunted and turned away. Sasuke felt panic race through his chest. 

What the fuck Naruto??

“Naruto? What are you doing??” Sakura exclaimed, rushing forward, Sasuke close behind. 

“Why am I so different?? Why is it always me?? I worked so hard! I should be getting stronger. I will never back down again and have to have someone rescue me. I will never run away and I will not lose. With this wound I pledge this. Bridge builder i will complete this mission and protect you with this kunai” Naruto turned back around to face everyone with a grin on his face. 

Blood ran down his arm and dripped onto the ground and Sasuke felt himself grow sick. The fucking idiot.

“ Naruto, that was really cool and all, but like if you lose any more blood… You're gonna die kid” Kakashi said, crossing his arms across his chest. Naruto instantly paled. 

Sasuke snatched the bandages out of Sakura’s hand and lurched forward snagging Naruto’s hand. 

“Fucking Dobe. I swear to god. You're such a fucking Idiot Naruto. You’re going to fucking kill me one day. Stupid fucking...” Sasuke muttered to himself angrily as he started to bandage Naruto’s hand. 

Naruto’s face turned bright red and he laughed nervously. 

“Sorry Teme, You know how I get…” Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously and looked away. Sasuke continued to glare down at Naruto’s bloody hand as he wrapped it in the bandages. 

“Alright, we need to go ahead and get a move on you three,” Kakashi called and with that… they were back on track. 

“To the Land of Waves!” Naruto declared with a smile, choosing to ignore the heated glare Sasuke sent his way.

Chapter Text

The moment they stepped into the canoe, was the moment that Sasuke realized travel by water was not for him because the second that he put his full weight on the foot in the canoe, it rocked dangerously and he had to fight to keep his breakfast down. 

Naruto extended a hand to help him steady himself and Sasuke thanked the gods that Naruto was already seated in the boat or else Sasuke was sure he’d die if he was subjected to Naruto’s off-balanced ass climbing in. 

The bottom of the canoe was flat, allowing Sasuke to sit cross-legged next to a very comfy Naruto . Sasuke couldn’t help but feel the slightest ping of jealousy because Naruto just looked so at peace with being in the boat, like the shakiness and uncertainty of the water didn’t bother him. Sasuke swallowed hard and felt his stomach flip uncomfortably as Sakura climbed in next, Kakashi helping her down. The bridge builder, whose name Sasuke has already forgotten , climbed in next and Sasuke was sure his face turned green because the drunk bridge builder rocked the boat so badly that Sasuke found himself clutching onto Naruto’s arm in a vain attempt to steady himself. 

Once Sasuke realized what he’d been doing, he blushed furiously and pulled away, almost falling out the canoe in the process. Sakura giggled from across the boat and actually had the audacity to stick her tongue out at him when he glared. 

As Sasuke rested his head on the side of the canoe, he felt Naruto start rubbing his back gently. He was acutely aware of Kakashi and Sakura’s judging eyes on him, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell Naruto to knock it off because it was actually helping his nausea somewhat. 

Sometimes, Sacrifices have to be made.

“Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you. I need to know why. If you don’t tell us I’m afraid we’ll have to end this mission when we drop you off ashore.” Kakashi’s steely voice cut through the silence that permeated the canoe. Sasuke found himself glancing up from his new found position of leaning over the edge and instead rested his cheek against the edge of the side of the canoe and watched the bridge builder’s reaction. 

The bridge builder stared down at the bottom of the canoe as if he was weighing his options. 

“I guess I have no choice but to tell you” he finally replied and Sasuke vaguely wondered if what he was about to say would be the truth or not. 

There was a long pause

Then,

“No, I want you to know the truth. Like you said. This is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow.” the bridge builder continued. 

‘Strangely ominous Sasuke couldn't help but think. 

“A long and deadly shadow? Hm. Who is it?” Kakashi asked. 

“You know him, At least I'm sure you’ve heard his name before he’s one of the wealthiest men in the world.” The bridge builder, who’s named still escaped Sasuke. 

‘Come on… enough with the suspense, get it out already’ Sasuke thought angrily. Another wave of Nausea crashed over him and he was forced to borderline dry heave over the side of the boat. Naruto increased his back rubbing. Sasuke spared a glance at Naruto to find he was leaning forward, eyes shining in anticipation. 

“The shipping magnet Gato” the bridge builder finished and Sasuke drew a blank. who?

“Huh? Gato? Of Gato transport? He's a business leader. Everyone knows him.” Suddenly, Kakashi sat up straighter, singular eye wide in disbelief. 

“Who? who? What?” Naruto muttered, glancing back and forth between the bridge builder and Kakashi. Naruto’s back rubbing stopped right between Sasuke’s shoulder blades as Naruto leaned forward, even more, entranced in the conversation happening in front of him, leaving Sasuke to be confused and nauseous. 

“Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company. That’s true.” The bridge builder said as if that explained anything at all. Sasuke blinked. ‘Just fucking tell us why he wants to mount your head on a pike and get it over with!’ Sasuke screamed in his mind as his stomach turned yet again. 

“But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninja.” Sasuke blinked. He sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninjas?

“Drug dealer ninjas,” Naruto whispered. Sasuke had to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing out loud as the image of a ninja with a bag of drugs strapped to his back came to mind. On the other side of Naruto, Sakura snickered and covered her mouth with her hand as Kakashi sent them a glare out the corner of his eye. 

The bridge builder paid them no mind. 

“It was one year ago when Gato first set his sights on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply disappeared.” 

He took a deep breath before continuing, 

“In an island nation, a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears. The bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will free us from his control. I am the bridge builder” he finished, a determined glint in his eyes. 

“So that's it. Since you're in charge of the bridge, if he takes you down, the bridge won’t get built!” Sakura declared. 

“Then… Those ninja’s before were Gato’s men?” Sasuke mumbled, mostly to himself. Next, to him, Naruto hummed quietly, like he did when he was looking at a particularly wordy test question. 

“I don’t understand if you knew he was this dangerous, if you knew he would use ninja to eliminate you, Why did you hide that fact from us when you made your request?” Kakashi asked. Sasuke clenched his fists at his sides. Because of this man. Because of this man and his thoughtlessness, Naruto was poisoned and could’ve died. For fuck’s sake, they could all die protecting this stupid bridge builder. Stupid fucking Naruto and his insistence they get something harder than a D-rank. Stupid stupid stupid fucking Naruto. Sasuke tried to breathe out evenly through his nose as more nausea rolled over him and his anger built up inside of him. Naruto was really trying to do him in, trying to kill him. 

‘I wonder… if I died… who would get the Uchiha territory? Itachi is considered an enemy of the village and there aren’t any Uchiha left… Should I write a will or something…? What could even be done with it..?’ Sasuke was knocked out of his thoughts when the bridge builder continued speaking. 

Oh, right. Dangerous B-rank mission at hand. Got it. 

“Because the Land of Waves is a small impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are paying for this bridge, they cannot afford to pay for an A-rank or even a B-rank mission. If you end this mission when we reach the shore, I will surely be killed and the bridge will not be completed. But don’t feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset he’ll be all like ‘Oh grandad! Why’d you have to go grandad??’ and my daughter, of course, will condemn the Hidden Leaf ninjas for the rest of her life and grieve in solitude.” he continued and Sasuke felt white hot anger flash through him. How dare this man use his family as a way to guilt trip them into taking this very dangerous mission with not only little pay, but also as a team of 3 inexperienced genins and a fucking lazy jounin who would rather read porn than actually do literally anything else. 

“Ah well, it’s not your fault. Forget it.” The bridge builder finished, dramatically throwing his head back and looking away. Next, to Sasuke, both Sakura and Naruto made small noises and it was in that moment that Sasuke knew…. They were gonna protect this man with their lives, which meant if Sasuke was too, by default. Well, not really. He’d be protecting Sakura and Naruto, he couldn’t give a shit if the bridge builder died or not. He was saving his comrades first, the old drunk dude who knows how to build bridges would come second. No. Matter. What. 

“Well, I guess we have no other choice. We’ll have to keep guarding you.” Kakashi finally said and Sasuke clenched his jaw shut so hard it hurt, just so he wouldn’t say anything he’d regret. Or worse, make Naruto mad at him.

“Oh, I’m very grateful.” the bridge builder said, although he didn’t sound very grateful in Sasuke’s honest opinion. 

“Tazuna, it appears we haven’t been noticed up until this point,” the man that was steering the canoe said quietly. 

Ah, so his names Tazuna. 

“Thanks” Tazuna replied. They drifted into a tunnel and Naruto immediately turned around so that he could watch where they were going. 

Beautiful trees that grew out of the water, twisted and full of life came into view. Then, small colorful houses that sat atop docks and piers. Naruto’s eyes tripled in size. “Woooow” he whispered under his breath. 

If you asked Sasuke, he probably couldn't tell you what a single one of those houses looked like, but he could definitely tell you that Naruto’s eyes sparkled in a way similar to when he’d walked home with Sasuke that night. Sasuke couldn’t help but smile as he watched the way Naruto lit up and seemed to buzz with energy. 

Naruto, of course, was the first out of the canoe and at first, Sasuke was honestly worried that he wasn’t gonna be able to wait till they hit the dock he was so excited. The moment the boat docked, Naruto was up on his feet and practically leaping up onto the dock. He spun around and stuck out his hand for Sasuke. 

Once he’d pulled Sasuke up onto the doc, Naruto was practically vibrating with energy, it honestly made Sasuke tired just watching him. 

“Okay! Get me to my home safely!” the bridge builder, who’s named Sasuke had once again… forgot, said. Sasuke rolled his eyes as Kakashi responded with a hum and they were off. 

As they were walking, Sasuke kept close to Naruto, who was glancing around nervously while scratching at the gauze around his hand. 

Sasuke reached over and smacked at Naruto’s hand. 

“Stop scratching it Dobe, you’ll make it worse.” He muttered and Naruto groaned. 

“But Sasukeeeee. It Itches. I think I just need to take the bandages off” Sasuke tried to ignore the way his heart skipped a beat when Naruto said his name aloud and was opening his mouth to tell Naruto not to remove the bandages, which he was currently doing. When Naruto twitched and in an instant, had a kunai out and launched it into a bush. 

“There’s someone here!” Naruto yelled and Sasuke furrowed his brow. He hadn’t sensed anything? 

“Naruto! There’s nothing there! What are you doing?!” Sakura scolded and Naruto flinched before spinning around and launching another kunai at another bush. 

“No, there really is someone following us!” He yelled again waving his arms. Kakashi made a humming noise and neared the first bush, parting it to reveal a small white bunny, absolutely scared shitless as it cowered under Naruto’s kunai. 

“Naruto!!! Look what you did!” Sakura scolded and Sasuke sent her a glare as Naruto rushed forward and cradled the bunny in his arms.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Bunny!! I didn’t mean to!! I thought that you were someone following us! I swear!!” He yelled as tears dripped down his face. Sasuke sighed and had just taken a step forward when Kakashi suddenly yelled. 

“Everybody gets down!” he screamed, right as a sword came spinning out of a tree… headed directly for the bridge builder, who at least had enough sense to heed Kakashi’s warning and drop to the ground. The spinning sword just barely missed his head and embedded itself in a tree behind them. 

Sasuke spun around only to be staring at another ninja, standing on the handle of the sword.

He was shirtless, with bandages wrapped around his lower face, and a pair of blue striped pants that hung loosely off his waist. 

He glared at the group of ninja’s over his shoulder, giving Sasuke a good view of his ‘Village Hidden in the Mist’ headband. 

‘Well, it’s not slashed’ Sasuke thought dryly. 

“Well, well. If it isn’t Zabuza Momochi, the Rogue Ninja of the Hidden Mist” Kakashi borderline sneered. The man, Zabuza, only glared in response. Naruto instantly jolted forward like he was going to attack, which sent Sasuke’s heart into a frenzy. 

Fucking idiot. 

Kakashi threw an arm out to stop Naruto from his impending suicide mission. 

“You're in the way. Get back. All of you” Kakashi growled. 

“What why?” Naruto asked incredulously. 

“He’s on a totally different level from the guys the other day. If he’s our opponent, I’ll need this.” Kakashi said quietly as he reached up to move his headband that covered his eye up.

“I assume that you are Kakashi of the Sharingan. Did I get that right?” Zabuza hissed quietly, crouching down on the handle of the sword. Sasuke felt all the blood in his body freeze the instant the words ‘Sharingan’ left the rogue ninja’s mouth. 

Kakashi…. Of the Sharingan??? A million thoughts flashed through Sasuke’s head, each one gone in a second, but all of them had one thing in common, Kakashi wasn’t an uchiha…. So how in the hell did he get a Sharingan? 

He’d had to off…. Taken it from an Uchiha… but grave robbing? 

“That's a shame… I’m sorry, but you’ll be handing the old man over to me now.” Zabuza hissed. 

“Quick you guys, Manji formation. Protect Tazuna!” Kakashi commanded, hand still holding onto his headband, ready to uncover his eye at a moment’s notice. 

“And stay out of this fight. I taught you teamwork. Now use it. ” Kakashi added. He pulled his headband up, revealing a long scar that ran down through his left eye and when he opened it, a very familiar looking red iris appeared. Sasuke’s hands shook as he jumped back to get into form, half grabbing the back of Naruto’s jacket and yanking him back as well. They really were out of their league here. 

“ Well… I’m going to get to see the Sharingan in action a lot sooner than I anticipated… This… is an honor” Zabuza said. Naruto huffed angrily. 

“What the fuck is a Sharingan!” He hissed angrily, eyes instantly turning to Sasuke. 

“A Sharingan… is a rare power that the light of the eye generates and the pupil emanates the user of this visual jutsu or dojutsu is said to possess the vision to see through and instantly comprehend all genjutsu, taijutsu, and ninjutsu and is able to reflect them back onto the attacker. The Sharingan is a special, rare type of eye that is unique specifically to the Uchiha clan.”

“You got it right boy, but you only scratched the surface. The Sharingan can allow a user to analyze their opponent’s techniques and copy them. As for you jounin, in the assassination unit of the hidden mist, there was a Bingo Book that contained search information about you. We had a standing order to destroy you on site. The Bingo Book states that you’re the ninja who’s copied over a thousand jutsus… the great copy ninja Kakashi.”

“Wow, that’s so cool!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Enough talking, I need to exterminate the old man… NOW” Zabuza called out and Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all jolted into action, circling Tazuna, weapons drawn. Sasuke’s mind was whirling with questions. 

“Well, I guess I’ll have to go through Kakashi first to get him” Zabuza hissed and then he disappeared. Sasuke swallowed hard and gripped his kunai tighter. 

He prayed that Kakashi made it out of this alive so he could ask his questions. Naruto’s head jerked to the left. 

“He’s over there!” Naruto called and Sasuke turned his head to look in the same direction, just barely able to make out Zabuza’s form on the water, one arm raised above his head. 

“On the water!” Sakura called and Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She may have been getting better in the teammate department, but she was still a damn slow ninja. 

Sasuke focused his attention on Zabuza, watching how he was building up chakra, and a fuck ton of it at that. Then… Zabuza disappeared in a cloud of mist. 

“He just vanished!” Naruto called out and Kakashi took a few steps forward. 

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura called out in alarm. Kakashi didn’t flinch 

“He’s coming after me first.” He replied. 

“Who is he…?” Sakura asked quietly. 

“He is Zabuza Momochi, an Anbu Black Ops member in the Hidden Mist and is known as ‘the silent killing’ technique expert.” okay, now Sasuke really didn’t like the sound of that. ‘Silent killing’ lovely. Lovely. Just GREAT. There’s no ninja combat during a c-rank he said. All you’ll have to do is escort the drunk bridge builder they’d said. It’ll be easy they said. Yeah well, fuck ‘em. They were all going to die here. 

“It's a killing skill that’s implemented in an instant in silence without any type of warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass into the afterlife without even knowing it. I haven’t fully mastered my Sharingan so I can’t completely neutralize it. So. don’t lower your guard.” Kakashi said quietly, sternly. Sasuke felt a shiver run up his spine at the tone of voice. 

“At least… If we fail, we’ll only lose our lives” Kakashi responded, deadpan. 

“How can you be so carefree!?” Sakura shrieked, voice bordering on hysteria. Kakashi didn’t reply. 

“The mist is getting thicker and thicker,” Naruto said quietly. 

“Well, we are surrounded by water” the bridge builder mumbled angrily. 

“Sensei!” Sakura suddenly called out and Sasuke whipped his head around to look for Kakashi. 

“8 points…” Zabuza hissed from somewhere above them. 

“Huh?!” Sakura cried out and Sasuke almost physically cringed at how loud she was. 

The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver, the jugular, subclavian veins, the kidneys, and the heart… Now, which vulnerable spot would be good?” Sasuke felt his heart leap in his chest. 

Kakashi ran through some hand signs that Sasuke didn’t recognize and whips of chakra sprouted from the ground and blew the fog away. Sasuke felt his blood go cold and his hands go numb.

The bloodlust here… I’ve never felt it be this strong… If this continues on like this… I’ll go mad… it feels like my life is stuck in limbo… No.. I can’t bear it… I’d rather die than feel this any longer…. 

His grip on his kunai tightened and as he raised it in his hands….

“Sasuke! Calm down, I’ll protect you with my life… All of you” Kakashi said firmly, back still turned, “I am not letting any of my comrades die here. ” Kakashi finished and punctuated his statement by turning and smiling at them, complete with his eyes crinkling up. Sasuke let out a breath of relief. 

“I wouldn't be too sure about that”  a gravelly voice spoke from behind Sasuke and his heart leaped up into his throat. 

Well. that's not good. 

In an instant, Kakashi was across the clearing and driving a kunai into the chest of Zabuza, but it wasn’t blood that seeped out of the wound, but water. The clone dissolved in a splash of water and another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. 

Sasuke opened his mouth to call out, but “Sensei! Behind you!!” Naruto beat him to it. 

Kakashi couldn’t react in time and all 3 genins watched in abject horror as the sword slid straight through Kakashi, splattering…. Water on the ground? Kakashi dissolved in an explosion of water and Sasuke’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even seen Kakashi perform any hand signs. 

Another Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and held a kunai to his throat. 

“Its’ over Zabuza” He hissed quietly and Zabuza started to laugh. His laugh was akin to nails on a chalkboard and Sasuke felt like he’d been zapped with electricity, all his muscles pulled taunt and his skin prickled. 

“Do you really think that this is over? Do you think that by copying me like a monkey will really be enough to beat me? But I have to admit, you’re good. You had already copied my water clone jutsu when you made that speech. You had your clone make that speech to distract me while you hid in the mist. But you’ll have to do better than that!” Zabuza finished and spun around to be behind Kakashi and got ready to swing his sword again. 

He swung again and Kakashi ducked, but Zabuza was faster. He kicked Kakashi and sent him flying, straight into the water. Zabuza went after him, abruptly stopped, muttered something that Sasuke couldn’t quite hear then jumped straight into the water. 

His taijutsu is also great…. 

Kakashi rose out of the water slowly and Zabuza rose out of the water behind Kakashi and performed some hand sign and then suddenly Kakashi was stuck in a sphere of water. 

A few moments later and there were Zabuza water clones rising out of the water. Sasuke gulped. 

“You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja, but when you’ve hovered between life and death so many times that it doesn’t faze you anymore, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile is entered in my Bingo Book then you may be called a ninja, but to call upstarts like you a real ninja is a joke” Zabuza disappeared again, only to reappear to kick Naruto straight in the chest. Sasuke’s heart dissolved in his chest only to be replaced by pure rage. 

“Listen to me! Just grab the bridge builder and run! He’s using all his power to keep me trapped in this prison so he can only attack you guys with his water clones, they can only go so far away from his body so if you run, eventually they can’t chase you.!” Kakashi screamed from his prison. Sasuke grit his teeth. Run? You want us to run? We lost that as an option the moment you got captured. Even if we ran, no matter how far we go… without you… we’d be defeated by Zabuza. If we try a manji transformation, he could get around it in an instant and it would be impossible to block his attacks. In the end, if we’re on our own, we’re finished. Our only chance of survival would be to rescue you…. 

“We’ve got to do it!” Sasuke rushed forward and threw shuriken at him. He jumped up in the air and headed straight for Zabuza, only to be captured by the throat and thrown backward. 

He barely registered Sakura screaming out his name. 

What he did register, however, was Naruto’s voice screaming and that had him back up on his feet, just in time to see Naruto running directly at the Zabuza clone. Sasuke’s heart was long dead at this point as he watched Naruto get absolutely fucking launched back at them. 

“Naruto! What were you thinking charging off on your own like that?!” Sakura cried out. Naruto slowly rose from the ground and it was then that Sasuke realized what he held in his hand… His headband. 

“Hey, freak with no eyebrows. Put this in your stupid Bingo Book. The ninja who will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves,” Naruto was fully standing now and he tied his headband back around his head, “He never backs down from a fight. His name is Naruto Uzumaki” Naruto all but growled out the last part before using the back of his hand to wipe away the blood that was dripping down his chin. He grinned menacingly. Sasuke could only stare in shock. 

“Hey Sasuke, I have a plan” Naruto spoke over his shoulder and Sasuke blinked a few times. 

“Oh, really? Let's hear it then” Sasuke responded, forcing his voice to stay even. Act like you aren’t scared. Naruto is counting on you. There’s no place for fear or hesitation on the battlefield. 

Chapter Text

“Okay, Sasuke! Listen up We’re gonna take this guy down!” Naruto’s said confidently. Sasuke nodded along and just prayed that Naruto actually had a plan. 

“Do you really think whatever plan you brats have come up with will be enough to stop me?” Zabuza growled. 

“What are you guys doing?! I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are! It’s to save the bridge builder! Have you forgotten that?!”  Kakashi screamed from his prison. Sasuke froze and Naruto huffed quietly before turning to the bridge builder. 

“Old Man??” He asked and the bridge builder grunted in response. 

“Well I.. I guess... This all happened because of me, because of my desire to live. But I won’t let that stand in the way anymore, forget about me. Do what you need to do to save your sensei!” He declared and Sasuke couldn't help but grin slightly. They had the green light to fight. Mission be damned. 

“Alright, You heard that?” Sasuke asked Naruto, who grinned menacingly in return. They returned their attention to the Zabuza clone and crouched. 

“Yeah! Believe it! You ready?” Naruto asked. Zabuza started laughing wildly.

“There you brats go again, playing ninja. When I was your age, this hand, this hand was already stained red with blood.” Zabuza hissed. All the blood drained out of Sasuke’s face. Stained with blood… like the floors of the dojo…. All the blood. 

“Zabuza, the demon” Kakashi growled out, breaking Sasuke out of his trance and Zabuza barked another laugh.

“Oh! So I was in your bingo book too!” He said in between laughs. 

Kakashi turned back to Sasuke and the others, “A long time ago, in the Mist Village, often called the town of Blood Mist, ninja candidates face their biggest hurdle.” Ah, yes, the lovely town of Blood Mist, because that sounds child-friendly and oh so safe. Sasuke really didn’t like where it sounded like this was going….  

“Ah, So you also know about that graduation exam” Zabuza replied. 

“What graduation exam?” Sakura asked. 

“What's the big deal anyway? We had graduation tests too!” Naruto called out angrily.

“Did you have to kill the other students to pass? Imagine young ninja like you, eating together, training together and then comes the final exam…. They have to kill each other.  You can’t stop while your opponent still breathes, he was your friend, he shared your dreams, and now it's him… or you…” Zabuza replied and Sasuke almost choked on his own spit. 

Sasuke tried to imagine what it would be like to kill Naruto, but the thought instantly made him feel sick to his stomach. 

“10 years ago, the Mist Village’s graduation exam was forced to undergo a drastic change. One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror.” Kakashi continued, pointedly ignoring Zabuza’s rant. 

“What's he saying? What evil? What kind of change? What caused the terror?” Sakura whispered to herself, panicked. Normally, Sasuke would be annoyed with her for sounding so damn scared , but his hands were shaking, so he understood the sentiment. 

“Without any pause or hesitation, one boy who was not even a ninja approached the class and took down the other students.” Kakashi finished and Zabuza continued laughing. 

They were really out of their fucking league now. Really really out of their fucking league. This man was a fucking monster…. And they were genin for fuck’s sake. 

“That sure was… fun.” The moment Zabuza finished his sentence he disappeared from view, only to reappear to elbow Sasuke directly in the stomach. 

The moment Sasuke hit the ground, Zabuza brought his elbow down, straight into Sasuke’s stomach and he choked, the taste of warm blood filling his mouth. 

“Sasuke!!” Sasuke could barely hear Sakura’s voice over the ringing in his ears. Why me first? Zabuza brought down his foot on Sasuke’s chest and pressed down. Sasuke cried out in pain as he felt his rips start to crack under the pressure. 

“You’re nothing… you should just… DIE” Zabuza screamed and raised his sword above his head. Well, this is it… It’s over for me… Stupid fucking C-rank mission. Stupid fucking stupid ass teammates. 

“Leave. Sasuke. Alone!” Someone screamed, oh, wait, that sounded like Naruto… 

“Ahh, Shadow Clones… and there's quite a few of them” Zabuza mumbled to himself. 

Sasuke struggled to stand, blood dripped down his chin, just in time to watch what had to be 100 Naruto’s diving on top of Zabuza. 

“You can’t defeat him! He’s too advanced!” Tazuna, what a lovely time to remember his name, called out. 

“Maybe not, but I'm not giving up! I still have this!” Naruto cried out, reaching into his bag and pulling something out. 

“Sasuke!” He screamed before chucking whatever it was he held in his hands to Sasuke. 

The moment Sasuke got a hold of it, the plan clicked into place. 

‘Ah, So that’s how you want to do this. Not bad Naruto. Not bad.’ Sasuke commended Naruto in his head and decided that if this worked and they actually survived this fight, he’d properly commend Naruto for his quick thinking. 

As the four blades clicked into place, Sasuke found himself actually grinning. He spun around quickly. 

This could work. Demon Wind Shuriken! Windmill of Shadows. 

“A shuriken? You’ll never touch me with that” Zabuza snorted. Sasuke grinned even wider as he launched himself into the air. He threw the shuriken directly at Zabuza, the real Zabuza. 

The real Zabuza grabbed a hold of the shuriken, stopping it in place. 

Then, came the next one. Shadow Shuriken Jutsu… 

Sasuke watched nervously as it headed straight for Zabuza, who jumped in the air so it would fly under him and behind him. 

Next, to him, Sasuke heard Sakura gasp and he couldn’t help but grin. She thinks it missed too. 

“ So Naive!” Zabuza called, right as the second shuriken transformed into Naruto. 

“Eat this!” Naruto screamed as he threw a kunai at Zabuza, forcing him to remove his hand from Kakashi’s water prison to dodge, only he couldn’t dodge completely, and instead, blood dripped out of a cut on his face. 

Zabuza turned towards Naruto, face contorted with rage, hand still spinning the shuriken he’d caught from Sasuke.

He swung it at Naruto but was stopped when it came into contact with Kakashi’s hand. 

“That was a really nice play Naruto” Kakashi complimented Naruto who grinned widely. 

“Thanks! I knew I couldn’t defeat him with my shadow clones, so they were just a distraction. I transformed myself into a shuriken and threw it to Sasuke. He could instantly tell that it was me and not the real deal, so he spun around really quickly to swap it out with his own. I hid in the shadow of the first one and headed straight for the real Zabuza!” He said excitedly, holding up a thumbs up. 

Sasuke couldn’t help but snort. 

“Don’t get too cocky! It was just luck!” He called over to Naruto, who stuck his tongue out in return. 

“It was just a fluke!” The bridge builder yelled and Sasuke snorted. Probably. Hell, if it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have figured out what Naruto wanted them to do that quickly. 

“Hmph. I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison” Zabuza said. 

“Don’t be cocky, you let go because you were forced to, ” Kakashi replied. 

“Your technique worked on me once, but it won’t work again,” Zabuza said

“So what’s it gonna be?” Kakashi replied. 

“Sakura, you know what to do” Sasuke muttered quietly as he moved to get in front of the bridge builder, arm out for Sakura to get behind him. She nodded and quickly moved into place. 

Zabuza and Kakashi suddenly jumped away from each other and Zabuza quickly began making hand signs, mumbling something the entire time. Kakashi’s eyes widened for a split second before he was copying Zabuza’s exact hand signs, almost in time with him. 

Sasuke could only stare, in complete awe of the power of the Sharingan. 

If only he could unlock his soon enough…

They finished at the same time and two dragons rose up out of the water. 

Water dragon…. 

The two dragons wrapped around each other, biting and attacking each other. 

Huge waves rippled out from where they stood and Sasuke felt his heart jump when he watched a huge wave roll over Naruto’s head, dragging him under the surface, but he didn’t have time to worry about Naruto because now there was a huge wave coming at them!

He braced himself and Sakura for impact and felt the water crash into him, momentarily knocking both of them off their feet. Sasuke scrambled back up on his feet and could only watch, mesmerized, as the two dragons crashed into each other and exploded, raining down around them. 

When the mist finally cleared, there stood Kakashi, holding up a kunai against Zabuza’s ginormous sword. 

The two jumped away from each other once again. Before circling each other. 

“He’s not just following. He’s moving the exact same way, at the same time” Tazuna said.

“That’s amazing! How’s he doing that Sasuke?!” Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke sighed, “It’s the Sharingan, it allows him to analyze and copy any jutsu almost instantly.” he said quietly. 

“Hmph, all you’re doing is copying me! Like a monkey!” Zabuza exclaimed

“You can’t beat me with cheap tricks! I’ll crush you!” they both finished at the same time and Zabuza’s eyes widened even further. 

Zabuza’s hands started to fly through hand signs faster than Sasuke had ever seen, “I’ll shut that copycat monkey mouth permanently!” Zabuza declared Just then, a giant water vortex appeared behind Kakashi and headed straight for Zabuza. 

The force of the vortex sent wave after wave of freezing water over Sasuke and Sakura. Sasuke struggled to see where Naruto went, but he couldn’t see him.

‘Why wear all that stupid fucking orange if I can’t fucking see you. 

It's okay, it's okay. Naruto knows how to swim… wait does he? Of course, he does... Itachi taught me how to swim and oh my god, Naruto probably doesn’t know how to swim.’ Sasuke’s thoughts were a jumbled mess as he searched for Naruto. 

While Sasuke couldn't see Naruto, what he did see was Zabuza being nailed with 4 kunai knives while Kakashi perched in the tree above him. 

Sasuke wasn’t close enough to hear what was being said but he saw Kakashi raise another kunai and aim it directly at Zabuza.

Then, everything happened so fast Sasuke really wasn’t sure what happened. 

Something flashed in the sunlight and then blood sprayed out of Zabuza’s neck and he crumbled over. 

“You’re right. That was his last battle” A slightly feminine voice called out very loudly. Sasuke followed the sound to see a person, who honestly couldn’t be older then they were, with a white mask obscuring their face. 

Sasuke noted that it had the symbol for the wave village on the forehead. Sasuke groaned inwardly. Another fucking ninja. Lovely. This is a blast. 

Kakashi jumped off of the branch he was on and placed two fingers against Zabuza’s neck. 

“He’s definitely dead” Kakashi mumbled. He looked up at the masked figure. 

“Thank you. I have been tracking Zabuza for quite a while now. Your fight gave me the opportunity I needed.” They said while bowing. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. 

“By your mask, I can see that you’re a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist.”

“Impressive... You’re well informed” the masked person replied. 

“Aha tracker,” Naruto shouted. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. Oh fucking thank god Naruto’s still alive. 

“Naruto! You don’t even know what that is! You missed that lesson in school” Sakura scolded and Naruto glared. Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. Every time he decided Sakura was okay, she pulled some dumb ass shit like this and--

“Yes, I do actually! Sasuke explained it to me! They’re the ninja who tracks down those who’ve turned against their village. They’re supposed to eliminate the rogues so they can’t give away village secrets!” He declared excitedly and Sasuke found himself blushing at the mention of his name. Now is really not the time to be gay Sasuke. 

“That is correct. I am an elite member of a tracking group from the Village Hidden in the Mist. I was tasked to find Zabuza and eliminate him.” they said. Naruto ran across the field to the masked person and stopped dead in his tracks, glaring up at them. 

“What is this? Who do you think you are?!” he screamed, after a moment of silence he continued, “Did you hear me!?” He screamed 

“Naruto that’s enough. He is not our enemy.” Kakashi stated plainly. Sasuke blinked and furrowed his brow. 

“But! Did you see what he did? He just took down Zabuza! Just like that! Zabuza was a monster and this kid… this kid who’s no bigger than me took him down in one move! Look at us! We’re just fumbling around! We don’t know anything! How can I accept that?!” Naruto’s hands were clenched at his sides. 

“Well, whether or not you choose to accept it Naruto… it still happened” Kakashi responded and Naruto’s face fell. 

“In this world, there are kids who are younger than you and yet… stronger than me.” Kakashi said quietly while ruffling Naruto’s hair. Sasuke watched as the wind swirled around the boy in the mask and he was gone, only to reappear next to Zabuza’s body, hoisting it up over his shoulder and the wind swirled again. 

“Your battle is over for now. Now I must deal with the remains. This body contains too many secrets. Please excuse me. Farewell” He said quietly before disappearing into thin air. 

Naruto gasped, “He disappeared!” He cried, taking off to look around. 

“Leave it be Naruto,” Kakashi called. Naruto screamed in frustration and fell to his knees, pounding his fists away at the dirt. 

“I can't! What are we doing here? We’re nothing! I can’t believe it! What even are we?!” Naruto screamed. Sasuke moved to step forward but Kakashi beat him to it and grabbed Naruto’s arm. 

“When you become a ninja, things like this will happen often. Save that anger Naruto, and apply it in the next battle.” He said calmly and Naruto let his hand fall back down to the earth. Naruto stood, quiet and trudged back over to stand next to Sasuke. 

“Alright, well, Technically our mission still isn’t finished. We have to get the bridge builder to his bridge” Kakashi said and Tazuna laughed in return. 

“I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused everyone! But uh, You all can rest at my house” Tazuna offered and everyone nodded. 

“Alright! Let's get a move on!” Kakashi said cheerfully as he turned away before freezing and collapsing in the dirt. 

“Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura was the first to scream and she darted forward to check on him.

Chapter Text

Waiting for Kakashi to wake up had to be on Sasuke’s list of things he hoped he never had to do again. 

Naruto was so damn impatient so he kept moving around which was fraying Sasuke’s barely left nerves by the second, Sakura’s insistent worried mumbling was driving him up the wall, and the bridge builder had been no help whatsoever. 

He growled and rubbed his temples in frustration. 

Kakashi groaned and Sasuke’s eyes snapped open and he stared at him. 

“Ugh… I think I overdid it with the Sharingan…” Kakashi moaned, cracking his one eye open. 

Questions were building on the tip of Sasuke’s tongue, but the bridge builder’s wife beat him to it. 

“Ah, How are you feeling?” She asked Kakashi who groaned as he sat up. 

“Maa, I’ve been better. It’ll probably be a week before I’m able to move normally again.” he finished the sentence by groaning and rubbing the back of his head. 

“Yeah, well then you should lay back down and rest ” she responded sternly and with a heavy sigh, Kakashi laid back down. 

“Ah! Sensei! Look, your Sharingan is amazing and all but if it puts that much strain on your body, maybe you shouldn’t use it!” Sakura scolded and behind her, Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“Maaa, Sorry” Kakashi responded, not sounded the least bit sorry . 

“Ah, but you know.. He did take down one of the most powerful ninjas like that! So we should be safe for a while” the bridge builder exclaimed. 

“Yeah, but… that kid with the mask… what was he?” Sakura asked out loud 

“He was an ANBU black ops member from the Hidden Mist Village. The mask that he wore is only worn by those in ANBU.” Kakashi mumbled quietly, “It is their duty to erase all traces that a ninja ever lived. They’re tasked with erasing a ninja’s very existence. To extinguish their legacy and their body. They’re tasked with completely destroying a rogue ninja’s body because a ninja’s body contains all of their villages secrets… their healing techniques and that specific ninja’s chakra signatures. For example, if I were to be killed by an enemy, they could investigate my Sharingan and possibly learn all of the secrets to how it works. They may even be able to use the Sharingan if they took it from me.” Kakashi trailed off, sitting up and rubbing his one eye. 

“Sensei are you alright?” Naruto asked quietly, which seemed to jolt Kakashi out of his trance. 

“Oh, as I was saying… ANBU usually destroy the body on site, so there’s no room for error…”  he mumbled rubbing at his chin.

“Oh, is that important?” Sakura asked. 

“Well, think about it. Do you know what that boy did with Zabuza’s body?” Kakashi asked and Sasuke felt his stomach drop. Oh for fuck’s sake. Don’t tell me…

“We don’t know what he did! He took it away” Sakura responded and Sasuke groaned inwardly. 

“Think about the weapons the kid used to take him down... Do you remember what they were?” Kakashi asked and the answer hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks. 

“Throwing needles! No way” Sasuke breathed. Fucking hell. Nope. No way. We are going HOME. I’ve had enough of this fucking mission. 

“Exactly. None of it adds up!” Kakashi exclaimed. 

“What are you all yammering about? You destroyed that ninja!” The bridge builder exclaimed as he finally made his way into the room, daughter close behind. She held out a steaming cup of tea to Kakashi. 

“I don’t think that that's the case… I think… Zabuza’s alive! He’s got to be.” Kakashi responded and the daughter gasped and almost dropped the cup of tea she was holding. Kakashi gingerly took it out of her hands, nodded his thanks.

“I don’t understand! You checked his vitals. You said so yourself that he was dead!” Sakura cried out.

“Anbu are trained from the start on how to take down their enemy in one go, be it the heart or any vital organ, they’re trained to notice and identify all of their enemies weak points in one go. The needles the boy used are called Senbon, and they’re specifically designed to be non-lethal unless they hit a primary organ, of which the neck has none, but with the Anbu training, it probably wouldn’t be very hard to put the body into a death-like state with those needles. Then he carried Zabuza off somewhere else, despite the fact that had to weigh far more than he did. 

Honestly, I don’t think we’re safe at all. Zabuza will be back eventually.” Kakashi murmured, staring down at his cup of tea. 

“Come on… you’re overthinking this aren't you?” The bridge builder asked and Kakashi shrugged. 

“If something seems suspicious, make preparations before its too late. Hesitation leads to disaster. That's an ironclad rule of the shinobi.” Kakashi said firmly

“Sensei, You said prepare quickly before it’s too late? But how can we do that when you can barely move?” Sakura asked. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at his teacher. How indeed?

“I can still train you,” Kakashi said with a laugh. Beside Sasuke, Naruto snorted.

“Hold on a second! What good would that do? You barely managed to defeat him with your Sharingan! We have to be reasonable about this!” She cried out shaking her fists. 

“Sakura, why was I able to stop Zabuza? It was because you all helped me. All three of you have grown, especially Naruto.” Kakashi replied. Sasuke felt his cheeks grow warm under the praise and Naruto was practically vibrating in his seat. 

“So you’ve noticed Kakashi-sensei! Things are gonna get better, Believe it!” Naruto threw a fist in the air with a grin.

“No, I don’t believe it! Nothings gonna get better!” a small voice called from behind them. Sasuke turned around and came face to face with a small child, not much older than 6.

“Ah! Inari! Where have you been?!” The bridge builder exclaimed. 

“Grampa! Welcome back!!” the child, Inari , darted forward and threw his arms around the grey-haired man. 

“Inari! That was very rude! These ninjas came all this way and have already risked their lives to make sure your grandfather got home safely! Show them some respect!” the bridge builders daughter scolded Inari, who looked away and huffed. He looked over the group of ninja that sat in the room before stomping his foot down. 

“Mom! Don’t you see!? These people are gonna die! Gato’s gonna come with his men and wipe them out!” he cried out. 

Naruto was on his feet faster than Sasuke could register and he barely managed to grasp the back of Naruto’s jacket to hold him in place. 

“What did you say you brat?!” Naruto screamed and struggled to break out of Sasuke’s grip. 

“You listen here! I’m going to become a super awesome ninja who will one day be the Hokage of the leaf village! This Gato, or chocolato, or whoever is no match for a real ninja! He’s going down! Believe it!” Naruto declared, fist once again raised in the air. Inari scoffed at Naruto’s display before shrugging off his grandfather and running away. 

“Inagi!” His mother called after him, but she received no response. He was already gone. Naruto growled out loud to himself and ran his hands through his hair. He shook off Sasuke’s grip and muttered a quick, ‘I'll be right back’ and then Naruto too was gone. 

Sasuke sighed quietly to himself and glanced around the room. 

The bridge builder, Sasuke really needed to learn his name at some point or another, it was getting kind of rude at this point, was shuffling his way out of the room and Sakura had already jumped up, offering to help the bridge builder’s daughter to make dinner. Maybe he should try to learn her name too. After all, he was in their house. 

Once it was just Sasuke and Kakashi left in the room, Sasuke awkwardly cleared his throat. ‘ Oh god, oh god, okay here we go. I can’t exactly just straight up ask if he’s a grave robber’ Sasuke desperately tried to calm his racing heart. 

He turned his attention back to Kakashi who was setting down an empty cup, he looked up and raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. Sasuke blanched. 

“How did you get the Sharingan?” Sasuke blurted out and winced at his own tone. Way to go. 

It was a few tense seconds as Kakashi seemed to contemplate his answer before he sighed deeply. His hand came up to rest over his forehead protector, right over his left eye. 

“My… friend.. gave it to me… as an er… a parting gift you could say…” Kakashi mumbled quietly. 

He looked away, “I lost my left eye during a fight during the Third Shinobi World War and then shortly after… there was a cave in and my teammate, Obito, pushed me out of the way. He was crushed by the falling rocks and as a final goodbye… he gave me his eye… to replace the one I’d lost” Kakashi continued to hold his hand up over his left eye as if he was remembering the pain all over again. Sasuke swallowed, hard. 

He honestly didn’t know what he’d been expecting when he’d asked, but it certainly wasn’t this. 

Sasuke opened his mouth to apologize, to say anything , but then the door flew open and a grumpy looking Naruto trudged in. 

He plopped down onto the floor and crossed his arms across his chest and pouted. 

Sasuke almost, almost , laughed in relief. 

“Hn. What’s wrong dobe?” Sasuke asked, nudging Naruto in the ribs with his elbow. Naruto hummed and pulled his knees up to his chest, tucking his chin into them. 

“Nothin,” Naruto mumbled and Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“So, About that training,” Kakashi spoke up, drawing Sasuke’s attention away from Naruto. 

Just as Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, Sakura was calling them for dinner. 

****

After they ate, Team 7 soon found themselves outside in the woods. 

“So, Now the training begins!” Kakashi exclaimed, eye crinkling as he clapped his hands together. 

“First, let's go over a basic review of Chakra power for a ninja. Would anyone like to explain?” Kakashi said. He leaned heavily on his crutches. 

“Oh oh-oh! Me I know!” Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi nodded him on. 

“There’s two types of chakra! Uhhhhh. Body and soul?” Naruto exclaimed although he ended it with a question. He glanced over at Sasuke who shook his head... 

“It's Physical and Spiritual. Usuratonkachi.” Sasuke muttered and Naruto’s face turned a bright red. 

“Hey! It’s close enough! But I mean, who cares if we know all the technical stuff. I know how to work it.!” Naruto crossed his arms and pouted. Sasuke fought back a grin. 

Kakashi sighed and slumped over slightly. 

“Sakura? Would you explain?” He asked her and she lit up. 

“Sure! Okay listen up now, I’ll put it as simple as possible so even Naruto can understand” Sakura said brightly and Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch. He wanted to scream at Sakura and anyone else who doubted Naruto. ‘It’s not that Naruto’s stupid! He has trouble fucking reading because none of you sorry fucks taught him how too, so he’s behind!’ 

Sasuke’s mind drifted back to the days he’d spent teaching Naruto how to read. 

It was awful because Naruto couldn’t focus for shit and Sasuke had spent so. Much. money. 

He’d had to bribe Naruto with ramen just to get him to pay attention long enough to get a few words down. 

Naruto could read basic things now, but he still brought in more complicated things like when they completed their first mission, about 10 fucking days ago, Naruto had flopped onto their shared bed and screamed into a pillow for about 10 minutes straight because he couldn't read the outline. 

‘Why is this even a thing?! Who is going to need this in the future?! When I become Hokage I’m not going to make ninja fill out these stupid things every time they rescue a cat from a tree!! Ahhhhh!’ ‘Because, if we get used to writing them now, we’ll be able to write the harder ones later. Dobe’ 

Sasuke tuned back in just in time to watch Kakashi start walking up the tree. 

Fuck. I missed the entire explanation. 

Whatever. I’m sure it wasn’t that important. 

“That's so cool! He’s just walking up the side of the tree like he’s on the ground!!” Naruto exclaimed and Sakura nodded along with him, just as excited. 

“But, Sensei, I don’t understand. How will this help us fight Zabuza?” Sakura asked. Sasuke looked up at Kakashi. 

“Chakra control is something that is very difficult to master and even expert ninja have trouble with it. Controlling your chakra and focusing it on one specific part is very difficult, especially in the soles of your feet. Basically, If you can master chakra control, it should technically be possible for you to master any jutsu. In theory of course. The second aim is to maintain that combined chakra. Ninja combine chakra all the time in battle and the control and maintenance of chakra becomes very difficult. Anyways. Nothing really gonna happen with me saying this and that. You'll need to learn it with your bodies.” Kakashi finished and threw kunai onto the ground, “There. Use those kunai and mark the tree at the highest point you can climb without using your hands, and then try to go higher than that. At first, you'll need to gather as much momentum as possible so you’ll have to run at the tree and run as high as you can go to get used to it. You got it?! Ready? Set? GO!” 

Sasuke picked up his kunai and closed his eyes. He focused on gathering chakra in the soles of his feet. Got it. 

He took off running at the tree and managed to get a good bit up the side of the tree before he gathered too much chakra in the soles of his feet and the tree beneath him splintered and pushed him back. He flipped backward and landed on his feet. Casting a glance to his side he watched as Naruto writhed around on the ground clutching the back of his head. He must’ve fallen. 

“Hey! This is pretty easy! It’s actually kinda fun!” Sakura called from above everyone. She was sitting on a tree branch near the top of her tree. Sasuke set his jaw. 

Naruto whistled. 

“Way to go Sakura!! I told you that you had the best chakra control!! Believe it!” Naruto called up at her and she grinned and waved before sticking her tongue out at Sasuke. 

“It seems that Sakura has the superior chakra control. She might be the closest one to becoming a Hokage… unlike someone else. And I guess the Uchiha Clan isn’t that great after all.” Kakashi said. Sasuke grit his teeth. How fucking dare he. He glanced at Naruto and saw he also had his jaw clenched and brow furrowed. Oh god, Oh fuck. Naruto’s pissed. 

“Loser does the laundry for a month AND has to buy the winner a meal of choice?” Naruto asked with a grin and Sasuke couldn’t help but return it. 

“Oh, it's fucking on Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke growled. The moment he finished speaking, both boys were off, racing towards their trees. 

Chapter Text

They each tried about a total of 6 more times before they both collapsed on the ground next to each other. 

“Sakura-Chan!” Naruto called from his place on the ground. 

Sakura swung down from the tree branch she was on, landing gracefully of course , on her feet in front of them. 

“What?” She asked. 

Sasuke was pretty irritated and dare he even say, jealous, that Sakura of all people had the better chakra control. 

But he was satisfied when he noticed she was panting just like they were. 

Naruto groaned and pulled himself up to a sitting position. Then, he clasped his hands together. 

“Can you give us any tips?” Naruto pleaded and cast a cautious glance at Sasuke who scowled. Sasuke opened his mouth to tell them both that he didn’t need any ‘tips’ but he knew that would be wrong. 

He did need help, he clearly wasn’t getting it anytime soon and Sakura clearly had it down. 

So maybe Sasuke was just the slightest bit grateful that Naruto had gone ahead and asked for both of them because God knows that Sasuke would’ve never asked. 

The Uchiha never ask for help, it makes them seem weak. 

“Ah. Ah I mean yeah sure I can” Sakura said shyly, face turning a bright shade of red. 

“Yahoooo!” Naruto cheered and Sasuke felt his lips pull up into a smile. 

“Okay so basically what you have to do is….” 

******

It was well past dark now and both boys weren’t any closer than they had been before. 

Kakashi and Sakura had long since left, called in for dinner, and while Sakura’s tips had gotten Sasuke slightly higher than his first few marks, he still couldn’t get his chakra under control. 

Finally, Sakura came outside screaming that if they didn’t get their butts inside they could starve. 

“Race you to the house? Loser has to use the sleeping bag that smells weird?” Sasuke asked with a grin as he pulled Naruto up to stand. 

“Oh, its on Teme,” Naruto replied and Sasuke grinned mischievously. And then he was gone. Already running. 

Naruto lurched into action and took off after Sasuke, laughing. 

“Cheater!” Naruto screamed after him and Sasuke turned halfway to call back “All’s fair in love and war!” 

Sasuke felt his face start to heat up after that statement and he turned back around and continued to run when he was suddenly tackled to the ground. He twisted and saw Naruto grinning down at him. After a second or two Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke and the real Naruto ran past Sasuke laughing. 

Sasuke scrambled up to his feet and took off again. 

“No fair!” Sasuke yelled and Naruto only laughed in response as he hit the porch first. 

He turned around and waited until Sasuke was up at the door, doubled over and wheezing. 

“All’s fair in love and war,” Naruto replied with a wink before making his way into the house. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and grinned to himself as he followed Naruto inside. Sasuke wasn’t blushing. Of course, he wasn’t. 

****

Sasuke and Naruto finished eating in record time and Naruto offered to wash the dishes, an offer which Tazuna’s granddaughter accepted with little resistance. Sasuke huffed at Naruto’s kindness. He heaved himself out of his chair and helped Naruto to clear the table. 

“What’re you doing Teme?” Naruto asked as Sasuke snatched a plate out from under his hand. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“Obviously I’m helping you. Dobe. You’d break all her plates if I let you do it alone” he replied with a smirk and Naruto glared. 

“Not true!!” He exclaimed, but the blush on his face said otherwise. Sasuke grinned and grabbed a towel. 

“Come on. I’ll dry them if you wash ‘em” he replied, twisting the towel in his hands. 

Naruto, still glaring , marches over and started the sink. 

They washed the dishes mostly in silence, save for Naruto’s incessant humming. 

Sasuke told Naruto to go ahead and go shower and he would put up the dishes. 

Once he’d put up all the dishes Sasuke turned around and looked around the kitchen. 

It had been so long since he had dinner with anyone other than Naruto. 

It was… nice. 

Sasuke made his way upstairs to the room Team 7 was sharing. 

He bumped into a freshly showered Naruto on the way. 

Naruto grinned at him and Sasuke balked because Naruto was shirtless. 

“Hey! Showers all yours ... is something wrong?” Naruto asked, snapping Sasuke back to reality. 

Sasuke shook his head quickly and darted into the room behind Naruto. 

Sasuke grabbed his clothes and ran into the bathroom.

Hastily, he shut and locked the door behind him. 

***

After his shower, Sasuke headed back to their shared room. 

He tiptoed his way over Sakura and past Kakashi, who was already asleep. 

Sasuke looked around for his sleeping bag. The smelly one, per the bet. 

But he couldn’t find it, so he resigned to just sleeping on the floor.

Naruto’s eyes shot open the moment Sasuke sat down and Sasuke mentally cursed himself. 

Naruto grinned over at him before unzipping his sleeping bag and motioning for him to come over there. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and put on a show of heaving a large sigh before he crawled over and slid into the sleeping bag next to Naruto, zipping it up behind him. 

It took a few minutes of adjusting before it was finally… comfortable enough. 

Sasuke was on his back and Naruto had wrapped his arms and legs around Sasuke like a snake. 

Naruto’s favorite way to sleep apparently. 

It was Sasuke’s too . 

Naruto craned his neck and Sasuke held back a shiver as Naruto’s breath fanned across his neck. 

“You didn’t think I’d really let you sleep in that smelly old sleeping bag did you?” Naruto asked before snuggling his head up on Sasuke’s chest. 

Sasuke prayed to whatever deity was listening that Naruto couldn’t hear how fast his heart was beating. 

*****

The next morning Sasuke woke up alone in the sleeping bag. 

As he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, he wondered just how Naruto had managed to get out without waking Sasuke up. 

The smell of bacon and eggs assaulted Sasuke’s nose and he found his mouth watering. 

He let his nose lead him downstairs and into the kitchen. 

Sasuke almost stumbled when he caught sight of Naruto in a frilly pink apron… frying bacon. 

Naruto was standing next to the bridge builders daughter, who was frying eggs and the two were laughing as they talked back and forth. 

Naruto caught sight of Sasuke and turned and waved his tongs in the air. 

“Good morning Teme!” Naruto said with a grin. 

“Nice apron Usuratonkachi,” Sasuke commented. He intended to embarrass Naruto, but Naruto only laughed and stepped away from the stove to spin. 

“You like it? Tsunami-san let me borrow it!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly. 

Ah, Tsunami must be The bridge builders daughters name. 

 Just then the bacon grease popped and Naruto spun around in a panic and started to flip the bacon. 

Sasuke yawned and sat down at the table. 

He glanced around. 

“Where, are Sakura and Kakashi?” Sasuke asked. 

“They went with Tazuna-San into town really early. They should be back just in time for breakfast!” Naruto responded without looking up. 

Sasuke rested his chin on his hand and watched as Naruto busied himself with the bacon. 

Just as Sasuke was about to fall asleep at the table, he was woken up by a clank. 

He blinked lazily and Naruto who was grinning widely. 

Sasuke glanced down and saw that Naruto had placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of him. 

Sasuke hummed gratefully and took a sip. 

Just the way he liked it. 

“I’ll go get Inari!” Naruto announced as he untied his apron and handed it back to Tsunami-san. 

The front door opened and closed and in walked a solemn-looking Sakura followed by Kakashi, who was still using the crutches, then finally Tazuna himself. 

“Oh! You guys are back just in time! Have a seat!” Tsunami-san clapped her hands together and smiled. 

Sakura took a seat next to Sasuke and Kakashi sat on the other side of him, Tazuna took his place at the right end of the table and Tsunami-san started to serve everyone. 

A few moments later, there was a huge crashing noise and a yell that sounded suspiciously like Naruto. 

Then a grinning Inari came marching into the kitchen and slid into his seat in front of Sakura. 

Naruto flew around the corner just a few seconds later, eyes narrowed, and a very large red mark on his forehead. 

Inari tried to stifle his laughter with his hand. 

Naruto stalked over and dropped himself into the seat across from Sasuke. 

They mostly ate in silence and as they were clearing the table Tazuna announced that tomorrow morning, the bridge construction would continue. 

“Hey, Sasuke! Wanna go train?” Naruto asked while readjusting his headband. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but followed Naruto, nonetheless. 

****

They practiced chakra control all. Day. and nothing. Naruto barely made it higher than his initial attempts and Sasuke had busted up the trunks of all of his trees. 

Defeated, they both trudged back to the house for dinner, all races and bets forgotten. 

****

Dinner went on as normal, they ate mostly in silence and Sasuke and Naruto offered to do the dishes afterward. 

“Ah, I’m really liking having you guys here. It’s so nice to let someone else do the dishes for a change” Tsunami-san said with a sigh as she relaxed into a kitchen chair. 

Then, Sakura spoke up, “Hey, this picture looks like it was torn. Inari, you kept glancing at it all through dinner. It looks like there was another person but they were torn out?” Sakura asked, glancing over her shoulder. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw both Naruto and Inari stiffen. 

Did… Did Sakura just ask about who was torn out of a picture? Didn’t she know to like… not do that?

“That’s my husband,” Tsunami-san said quietly. 

“He was once called a hero” Tazuna added. Suddenly, Inari shoved his chair away from the table and stood. 

“Inari? Where are you going?!” She called, but he didn’t answer, just kept walking. 

He opened the front door and closed it behind himself. Tsunami-san huffed and hurried after him. 

As she opened the door she glanced over her shoulder. 

“Father you know you can’t talk about him like that in front of Inari!” and with that, she too left. 

“Inari is so… I mean… what happened to him?” Sakura asked and Sasuke felt Naruto stiffen next to him. 

“Is there a story behind it?” Kakashi asked evenly. Tazuna grunted. 

“Well, He wasn’t Inari’s birth father, no, he came into our life later than that. In those days… Inari was a child who laughed all the time. They were very close, but then, all that ended. Inari never laughs or smiles anymore. Ever since the day that everything changed. The word courage was stolen from this island and we were left powerless and Inari suffered the most. Ever since it happened.”  Tazuna had tears in his eyes and Sasuke’s stomach twisted. 

Here we go with the tragedies. Can’t get enough of them. 

“What happened to Inari?” Naruto asked, voice a half growl. Tazuna half sighed and continued, “First, I need to tell you about Inari’s father. The man who taught us the word courage. The man who was a hero in this land.” 

“A hero?” Naruto asked quietly. Tazuna nodded in response 

“Well, you can decide that for yourself. He came here 3 years ago… Inari was being bullied by other kids in the village and they had taken his dog away. They threw the dog in the water and then they pushed Inari in too. Inari couldn’t swim and he would’ve drowned had it not been for him. His name was Kaiza and he pulled Inari out of the water and watched over him until he woke up. Kaiza was a simple fisherman who had come to this land in search of his dreams. After he saved Inari, they were inseparable. Inari had never known his real father, so for him, Kaiza was his father. He looked up to him and followed in his footsteps. Kaiza spent more and more time with us until he naturally became a part of our family.” 

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who caught him looking almost immediately and smiled at him. Sasuke felt his face grow hot and he immediately looked away. 

“Then, when the village needed him, he became something more. See, there was a heavy storm and the current ended up being so strong that it blew open the flood gates and if left unattended, would completely destroy District D, the lower district of the village. Someone would have to go out there and attach the rope to the other side of the gate and pull it shut, but the current was so strong that no one wanted to do it… so, Kaiza volunteered. He tied a rope to his waist and swam out, tying the rope to the gate, they were able to close it. After that, the village referred to Kaiza as a hero. He really became a father that Inari was proud of. But then… Gato set his sights on the village and he terrorized the village. Kaiza was the only one who stood up to him and it took all of Gato’s forces to stop him. Gato aimed to make an example out of Kaiza…. So he executed him in front of the whole village…. Including Inari. Since then, Inari hasn’t been the same… as well as Tsunami and the townspeople.”

Suddenly, Naruto stood from his chair, hands balled into fists at his side. Naruto turned and immediately tripped, falling flat on his face. 

“Naruto! What are you doing?” Sakura asked. Naruto pushed himself up on shaky arms. 

“Naruto, You should give up on training. You’ve used up too much chakra if you overdo it… you could die” Kakashi said. Naruto sat up and glared. 

“I’m gonna prove it!” he declared. 

“Prove what?” Sakura asked 

“I’ll prove that. It's true. That in this world. Hero’s exist.” Naruto smiled and struggled to stand. Sasuke rubbed at the bridge of his nose. 

“You can do that in the morning dobe. You need to rest.” Sasuke muttered angrily as he helped Naruto to stand. Naruto huffed annoyed but allowed himself to be half carried upstairs to their shared room. 

Naruto was asleep before he hit the floor. Sasuke went to step away, to find his sleeping bag , but Naruto had a death grip on the back of Sasuke’s shirt. 

Not wanting to wake Naruto, or rip his good shirt, its the only one Naruto hasn’t ruined in the wash in one way or another, Sasuke resigned to his fate of sleeping in the sleeping bag with Naruto again. Not that he was really complaining. 

The next morning when Sasuke woke up, Naruto was nowhere to be found. 

Sasuke wandered downstairs and found Sakura and Kakashi sitting at the table. No blond in sight. 

“Where's Naruto?” Sasuke asked with a yawn and Kakashi looked up from his book and shrugged. 

“Thought he was still asleep,” he muttered as he turned the page. 

“That Naruto I swear! He’s gonna kill himself if he doesn’t stop overdoing it! Seriously!” Sakura exclaimed. 

Sasuke felt his eye twitch. That fucking idiot went out to train… alone!?

“I’m going to find the idiot” Sasuke grumbled. He pushed through the front door and left the house. 

Sasuke wandered through the woods, keeping an eye out for the bright orange jumpsuit. 

Eventually, Sasuke spotted Naruto sitting in the grass, leaning against a tree. 

Naruto didn’t glance up as Sasuke approached and soon enough Sasuke realized that Naruto was, in fact, asleep again. 

Lovely. Dumbass. 

Sasuke reached down and gently shook Naruto’s shoulder. He awoke with a start. 

“Huh? Sasuke? Where did that really pretty boy go?” Naruto asked with a yawn and Sasuke raised an eyebrow. Above them, birds chirped. 

“What pretty boy?” Sasuke asked skeptically and Naruto blinked sleepily up at him. 

“You know. The one with the long black hair. He was cuter than Hinata-chan. He was just here. I swear. We were talking... You know.. About our precious people and…” Naruto slumped over again and snored lightly. Sasuke rolled his eyes as he went to hoist Naruto up to carry him bridal style, except, Naruto didn’t seem to want to be carried because he instead pulled on the front of Sasuke’s shirt and yanked him down onto the ground with him. 

Sasuke landed with an oof and groaned in pain. 

Half sleepy Naruto wrapped himself around Sasuke and cracked open his right eye, rubbing it with his fist. 

“Hey, wanna hear a secret?” Naruto mumbled, half asleep. 

“Hn. what?” Sasuke asked and Naruto sent him a sleepy smile before pulling Sasuke’s head toward himself. 

“Sasuke’s my precious person, but shhhhh don’t tell Sasuke, he might get embarrassed. Hmph. Goodnight” Naruto mumbled and patting Sasuke's cheek he snuggled his face into his neck, leaving Sasuke laying there in the soft glow of the morning, trying to figure out just what the fuck that means.

and wait.... cuter than Hinata-chan?!?

Chapter Text

One last thing! It's not very clear during the flashback because I didn't put in anything other than the words spoken so This is Naruto, and this is Haku. You'll see what I mean! 

Also, my Tumblr is PharmercyTechnician! If you wanna come yell at me on there ;) 

***********************

At some point during his time being held hostage, Sasuke must’ve fallen asleep because he woke up to the sound of Naruto cursing. 

He rubbed his eyes and sat up. 

“Oh! Sasuke! Good morning!” Naruto’s voice sounded from above him. 

Sasuke looked up. 

Naruto was sitting on the branch above Sasuke, leaning over the side. Naruto slid down the side so he flipped around and was hanging upside down. He stood up so that he was standing flat-footed on the bottom of the tree trunk. 

“Naruto. Are you upside down?” Sasuke asked, voice still thick with sleep. He rubbed his eyes again to make sure that what he was seeing was, in fact real. 

“Yup! Figured it out a few minutes ago actually,” naruto crosses his arms and grinned, “I still can’t reach the top of the tree yet but this is pretty cool right?! It’s like Gato WHO!?” Naruto basically shouted the last part and threw his hands up in a fighting position. Sasuke snorted and rolled his eyes at his antics. 

Then, there was a faint popping noise and Naruto crashed, head first, into Sasuke’s lap. 

Sasuke groaned in pain as Naruto nervously rambled off apologies at lightning speed. 

He scrambled off of Sasuke and stood in front of him rubbing the back of his neck.  

“Like I said… I don’t really have the hang of it yet. But I’m getting there. Hah.” Naruto declared with a smile. He stuck his hand out and pulled Sasuke to his feet. 

“Wanna try?!” Naruto asked. Sasuke yawned in response, “you’re on.” 

*****

Sasuke wasn’t sure how many more times they tried before Naruto huffed dramatically and threw himself on the ground. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his antics. 

Naruto shifted around so he was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. 

“What are you doing usura—” Sasuke started to ask, but he was rudely interrupted by Naruto shushing him. 

 “shhhhhh. I’m meditating”  Naruto hissed. Sasuke rolled his eyes before joining Naruto in meditation. 

———-

“Okay, so you need to imagine that your chakra is flowing through your body. You've gotta feel it.” 

Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to imagine it like Sakura had said. He imagined that his chakra was flowing through him like a river, he imagined it building up in the bottoms of his feet. 

Once he was sure he had it right he opened his eyes, fighting to keep his chakra just the way it was. He glanced to his right, where Naruto had just stood up as well. Naruto flashed his signature grin. Sasuke returned it and they were off. 

Climbing to the places where he’d placed the slash marks was easy, the harder part came after, when he tried to go higher , but this time, his chakra held and he kept climbing. 

Sasuke ran up the tree, higher and higher than he had before and before he knew it, he was at the top. 

Ecstatic, Sasuke turned to Naruto’s tree to find Naruto standing at the top of his tree already, panting. 

They both grinned at each other. 

“We did it! And I won!!” Naruto cheered, throwing his hands in the air. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“Hn. Dobe. Let's get home before Sakura decides to lock us out” he replied. Naruto snorted before gripping the branch below him and swinging himself down. 

“I want ramen as my meal!!” Naruto called from below and Sasuke really did laugh at that because he really didn’t expect anything less from Ichiraku’s number 1 customer.

With a final chuckle and a roll of his eyes, Sasuke started to swing his way down as well. 

Sasuke made it to the ground first and Naruto followed shortly after, only he met the ground with his face. Sasuke couldn't help the snort that escaped. Naruto quickly sat up and glared at Sasuke.

“Don’t laugh at me!! I’m out of energy! That was exhausting.” Naruto whined. Sasuke shook his head, laughing, before helping Naruto to stand. 

He swung Naruto’s arm over his shoulder and half carried him back to the house. 

“We made it to the top of the tree” Sasuke declared as he drug himself and an already half asleep Naruto through the door. Kakashi raised his one eyebrow. 

“Congratulations,” Kakashi said disinterestedly. 

“I knew you could do it Sasuke-Kun!” Sakura said grinning.  

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, who was definitely asleep now . “Yeah, we did it, I’m gonna take Naruto up to bed. He overdid it.” Sasuke finished before dragging Naruto upstairs. 

-------------------------------

Sasuke let out a quiet sigh as he slid out of the sleeping bag he’d been sharing with Naruto. 

Naruto didn’t stir.

He’ll probably be out of it all day today. Hn. Dobe really did overdo it yesterday. But, still, they did make it to the top of the tree. 

The thought made Sasuke’s chest feel warm. Even though he’d lost, they’d both still managed to do it. 

And Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little excited for their ramen trip.  

Honestly, Sasuke would’ve picked Ichiraku’s even if he had won. The look on Naruto’s face would’ve been worth it. 

“Is Naruto still sleeping?” Kakashi asked as Sasuke walked into the kitchen. Sasuke nodded as he yawned and Kakashi nodded. Kakashi turned to Tsunami-san. 

“I guess we leave Naruto in your care. He overdid it yesterday, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he slept all day” Kakashi said and Sakura snorted. 

“Leave it to Naruto to sleep a whole mission away.” She snickered, only to shut up immediately when she caught sight of the look on Sasuke’s face. 

“Hn. let's just get this over with” Sasuke muttered darkly. A hand clamped down on the top of his head. He looked up to see Kakashi’s smiling face. At least, Sasuke thinks he’s smiling when he looks like that. 

“Maa, it looks like one of my students isn’t a morning person” Kakashi drawled and Sasuke ducked out of Kakashi’s reach.  All this time together and he’s just now noticing?

“Whatever. Let's just go” Sasuke growled. The quicker they got this mission over with, the better. 

Then, Sasuke and Naruto could go home and go back to their routine of training and having dinner together. 

“Maa. whatever you say Sasuke- kun ~” Kakashi replied. He made it a point to ignore Sasuke’s intense glare as he walked past him and swung the front door open. 

-----------

The walk to the bridge build site was short and quiet, almost too quiet . Sasuke kept his eyes open for any sign that Zabuza could be coming back, but he wasn’t seeing anything. 

And from the looks of it, neither was Kakashi. 

Well. that could be either good or very bad. 

The moment Sasuke stepped foot on the bridge, he realized that it was, in fact, the latter. 

Sasuke grit his teeth as he laid eyes on the bridge workers that lay in crumpled piles on the unfinished bridge. 

“What the hell…?” Tazuna growled. 

The fog started to close in on them. Sasuke swallowed hard and gripped his kunai in his hand so hard his knuckles went white. 

This time. This time was going to be different. 

This time. He was going to destroy Zabuza. 

“I knew he was still alive… he just couldn't wait for round 2” Kakashi hissed. 

“Sorry, I kept you waiting Kakashi. I see you still have those brats with you.” Zabuza’s steely voice seemed to surround them completely, making it near impossible to determine where he was. Looking around frantically will only make you look like a scared child. Stay calm. 

Sasuke’s hands were shaking slightly from the force he was holding his Kunai with. 

“Look, that one even still trembling… Pathetic.” Zabuza hissed out. Sasuke didn’t have to think hard to know that the rogue ninja was talking about him. 

About a dozen Zabuza clones rose out of the still water on the bridge. Sasuke gripped his kunai even tighter and allowed a smirk to form on his face. 

“Oh. It’s not fear. It’s excitement” Sasuke half growled and for a split second, Zabuza’s eyes widened. 

“Go ahead, Sasuke” as soon as the words were out of Kakashi’s mouth, Sasuke was surging forward, destroying every clone in the area. 

Suddenly, the kid with the mask appeared next to Zabuza. Sasuke grit his teeth. 

“I knew it! You were a fake!” Sakura cried out. 

“So all that about honor and your village was bull huh?” Tazuna sneered. Kakashi simply shook his head. 

“Hiding behind a mask is cowardly,” Kakashi called out. Sasuke couldn't resist the urge to roll his eyes. Really Kakashi? Are you really qualified to be saying that right now? 

“He’s mine,” the boy in the mask said quietly as he stepped forward. Sasuke adjusted the grip on his kunai and surged forward. 

Suddenly, the boy in the mask was behind him. He shoved and sent Sasuke skidding across the bridge. Sasuke was quick to spin around and throw his kunai directly at his masked opponent. 

The boy sidestepped it easily and in a flash, was across the bridge with a senbon to Sasuke’s neck. 

“Do you really think that you have the advantage?” The boy with the mask stepped close to Sasuke and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “Look around you. we’re surrounded by water. You really don’t stand a chance.”

‘ I gotta get away from him’ Sasuke thought. Wait. The chakra training! Whenever he’d been attempting to run up the tree, he’d always overestimated the amount of chakra to gather in his feet and it ended up splintering the wood and sending him flying. Maybe if he just added a burst of chakra to the soles of his feet he could …. Sasuke focused his chakra in the soles of his feet and jumped and soon enough he was flying through the air. He aimed his attack at the boy underneath him. The boy just barely managed to dodge his attack. 

“Impressive” the kid behind the mask commented as he glided backward gracefully, Sasuke noted sourly. “Look, I don’t want to kill you. Please, just back down and I’ll spare you. All we want is the bridge builder, no one else has to die.” The kid pleaded with Sasuke. 

“I can’t do that,” Sasuke replied and the kid sighed deeply. “Well then, you leave me no choice” he responded before putting his hands together to form some kind of hand signs.  Water began to rise from the ground to form giant sheets of ice…. They formed a sort of dome around them both and Sasuke had a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

Maybe he should’ve woken up Naruto… They could probably use the backup at this point. Sasuke watched as the kid seemed to phase directly into one of the ice mirrors…. oh, this can't be good. 

Suddenly, he was attacked by an onslaught of senbon, flying at him from every direction. At this point, Sasuke couldn’t even tell where they were coming from and he resorted to curling himself up into a ball. The smaller the target the harder it is to hit right?

Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears as he needles whizzed by his ears and sliced into his body. He grit his teeth against the pain. Over and over the masked boy threw out senbon after senbon and Sasuke was starting to feel nauseous from the pain and his fingers had long since gone numb from the drop in temperature. 

“Sasuke!” Sakura’s voice rang out across the bridge. Sasuke opened his eyes just in time to see her throwing a kunai his direction… which the masked boy immediately caught

Oh, fuck. That’s definitely not good.

But, right as the boy raised the kunai to throw it, presumably to end Sasuke’s life, Something clanged into his mask, forcing him to retreat and causing him to fall out of the mirror and onto the ground. There was a large crash some ways down the bridge and Sasuke looked up in shock to see a cloud of dust and smoke rising from the bridge. Sasuke sensed the ever so familiar chakra and breathed a sigh of relief. Naruto’s here. Thank the gods. 

Faintly, Sasuke cold hear Kakashi scolding Naruto for making such an entrance. Maybe if he had remained quiet, he could’ve gotten the drop on them, but whatever, the past is the past and at least Naruto’s here now. Sasuke’s saved. Wait…. When did he start thinking of Naruto as his savior? 

The smoke cleared and Sasuke briefly caught a glimpse of Naruto’s bright orange jacket before he caught sight of Zabuza throwing several shurikens at him. 

“Naruto move!” Sakura screamed, but Sasuke knew that it was too late. Naruto froze in shock. Those shurikens were headed straight for him. Sasuke’s heart clenched at the sight. Please oh, gods no. 

The masked boy moved faster than anything Sasuke had ever seen and suddenly, the shuriken were falling dead in their tracks, stopped by a few senbons. 

Zabuza’s head snapped around to glare at his masked companion. “Haku, what are you doing?” Zabuza growled. 

“He’s mine Zabuza. Stay out of this fight” the masked boy, Haku said. Sasuke blinked a few times and started to frantically look around for anything he could use.

There was no way that Naruto could take that kid. He was too strong. 

Sasuke spotted another kunai and snatched it up, launching it directly at Haku’s face. Haku leaned his head back slightly and the kunai whizzed past his face. Sasuke stared in disbelief as the boy turned and the slits in the mask seemed to stare directly into his soul. 

“I haven’t forgotten about you. I guess I’ll finish with you first” Haku mumbled quietly as he began to phase back into the mirror. Sasuke gulped and tried to ready himself for another onslaught of senbon. As the needles began to fly and slice through his skin, a thought struck Sasuke. With Naruto out there, and himself in here… they could both attack from the inside and out and probably determine where Haku was and how to defeat the ice mirrors. Just as Sasuke finished that thought, however, there was a tap on his shoulder. Sasuke jumped and reeled back and could only stare in shock as Naruto’s smiling face came into view. 

“Sasuke I came to save you!” Naruto hush whispered and Sasuke glared. 

“Tch. Dobe! If you had just stayed out there we would have stood a chance. Coming in here was suicide!” He growled out. Naruto laughed nervously. Sasuke could only roll his eyes. This idiot has no brains!! 

They’re both doomed. 

“Right, well. I’m not dying here” Naruto growled out before forming the familiar hand sign for his shadow clones. Fucking idiot.  

“No, Naruto!” Sasuke tried to warn him, but it was of no use. Naruto formed the hand sign and formed about ten clones that jumped into the air in a vain attempt to smash the mirrors. Sasuke growled to himself as he watched as all the clones were demolished and the real Naruto was slammed back into the ground, blood dripping from his face.  Naruto growled and was back on his feet in seconds. 

It’s useless… you can’t smash them. 

Sasuke growled and stood up.

If the mirrors can be smashed, might as well try to melt them. 

Sasuke flew through the hand signs for his fireball jutsu, ignoring the confused look on Naruto’s face he blew a stream of fire directly at the mirrors. 

When the smoke cleared they all still stood, not even looking slightly damaged. Sasuke could only stare at them in shock. Haku chuckled quietly. “There is no melting this ice. They can’t be smashed or destroyed, not until I say so. Both of you are at my mercy.” Haku said quietly. 

“No!” Naruto said while standing. “I will not die here. I still have things I need to do. I will grow stronger and become the Hokage. My village WILL have to recognize me. I will not die here! Neither of us will!” 

Naruto stood fully and clenched his fists. 

“I see. That’s a big dream, but I have one as well. I didn’t always want to become a shinobi, actually, I never wanted this. But my precious person has a dream, and my dream is to make sure they get that dream. If becoming a shinobi is what it takes for that person's dream to become a reality. I will shed my humanity and become a shinobi, and If you two will not back away and give us the bridge builder, I will have no choice but to cut both of you down.”  Haku’s voice was icy, but Sasuke could detect pain behind his words. Haku really didn’t seem to want to kill them. Maybe they could use that… . 

Naruto sent out another barrage of clones. Sasuke didn’t have enough time to react to stop Naruto, so instead, he focused on watching the clones get decimated. Maybe there was a way to see where Haku was going. 

There ! Sasuke just barely caught a glimpse of a body flying through the air. Naruto crashed back to the ground next to Sasuke. He jumped to his feet, but this time he was slower than normal. He's slowing down. That's not good. 

“Can you do it again Naruto?” Sasuke asked quietly. Naruto gave a short nod and reformed the hand sign. 

As the clones jumped, Sasuke rushed forward and kicked some water into the air. There!

Sasuke ran through the hand signs for his fireball jutsu and waited, watching the way that the water was repelled. He counted to three then let a fireball go. It missed Haku almost entirely, but it did catch the edge of his skirt on fire. When Haku finally stopped moving Sasuke could easily see the charred corner of his skirt. 

“Once more Naruto,” Sasuke said quietly. 

“You got it!” Naruto shouted and formed the hand sign again. One glance in his direction and Sasuke could tell that Naruto was exhausted. 

All that training was catching up to him. 

But he formed the clones nonetheless and launched another attack. Sasuke quickly flew through the hand signs for his fireball jutsu and got ready. 

One. two. Three. THERE ! He launched a fireball and Haku slowed down enough for Sasuke to actually see him dodge. 

Good . Naruto crashed back down to the ground. Sasuke tried to ignore how the sight of needles sticking out of Naruto’s back made him nauseous or how it felt to see that amount of blood dripping down Naruto’s face. 

“Okay, this time. You run Naruto” Sasuke whispered. 

“Huh?” Naruto asked. Sasuke rolled his eyes and gestures to the edge of the dome. 

Recognition flashed in Naruto’s blue eyes and he gave a short nod and grinned. He threw up the sign for the shadow clones again and then when they all launched into the air to attack, Naruto took off running to the right, heading directly for a gap in between the mirrors. Sasuke flew through the hand signs for his fireball once more and got ready. Haku wasted no time or effort in destroying all of the clones and he phased out of a mirror close to Naruto and materialized right in front of Naruto. 

“I cannot let you escape. I’m sorry.” Haku said quietly before slamming his hand into Naruto’s chest and sending him flying back towards Sasuke. Sasuke sucked in a large breath and launched a fireball directly at Haku. This time, Haku barely managed to dodge by jumping back into a mirror. Sasuke found himself grinning. 

He glanced down at Naruto, who lay at his side. 

“Hn, Dobe. can you still move?” He asked. Naruto sat up and wiped the blood off his mouth with the back of his hand. He nodded. 

“Okay good, so let's do that one more time,” Sasuke muttered, running through his hand signs again. 

“Got it!” Naruto replied and Sasuke couldn’t help but grin. Haku’s movements were getting easier to track. 

This time, when Naruto made it almost to the edge Sasuke launched the fireball directly at him and Haku 

Haku struck Naruto again and sent him flying backward before phasing into a mirror and launching a series of senbon in their direction. Sasuke hissed in pain as one embedded itself in his back. Haku was aiming for vital points now. Sasuke spared a glance at Naruto’s crumpled form.  

“Naruto, I need you to get up.” Sasuke half pleaded, nudging Naruto with his foot. 

There was really no way that he could carry Naruto out of here. Not if he wanted to defeat Haku, or live . Naruto grumbled but made no moves to get up. Haku launched another series of Senbon,  only this time, Sasuke could read his movements almost as clear as day. 

At least he’s moving slower now too.

Sasuke picked a senbon up off the ground and got ready. 

This time, when Haku launched his series of senbon, Sasuke was ready and he managed to block them easily, knocking them all out of the way. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the back of his jacket and tucked him under one arm and dodged. He slid across the dome and dropped Naruto once more. Naruto groaned, but still made no move to get up. That really wasn't good. 

“Your friend has overdone it. Pretty soon you’ll be at your limit as well.” Haku said quietly. Sasuke noted that Haku’s entire demeanor had changed. Gone was the kid who spoke of mercy and was replaced with this kid who clearly had no care for human life. 

A machine. 

Sasuke looked around frantically, trying to come up with a solution to get them out of this mess, but Haku beat him to it, sending more senbon his way. Sasuke cursed under his breath and dodged once more. 

Haku might’ve been slowing down, but it was useless if Sasuke was also slowing down. Fuck. 

Suddenly, a high pitched screech could be heard, echoing between the ice mirrors. 

Sasuke froze in his tracks because he knew he recognized that scream. Sakura . 

Fuck. what was Kakashi doing out there?? Sasuke shook his head quickly. He couldn't worry about them. Not right now. Not when Naruto was so clearly down for the count. 

He’s gotta protect Naruto right now. 

Sasuke glanced up at Haku. His eyes burned in a way that was both familiar and foreign. Suddenly, everything became clearer, sharper and Sasuke realized with a start that he’d awakened his Sharingan. Trying to protect Naruto.

Haku was lining up another shot and Sasuke smirked confidently. Now with the power of the Sharingan, this kid didn’t stand a chance, because incomplete as it may be, the Sharingan as still one of the most powerful Jutsu out there. Sasuke readied himself to block another series of attacks only to watch in horror and confusion as Haku’s trajectory changed. 

 Sasuke followed his line of sight and realized that Haku was aiming for the incapacitated Naruto. Who was laying on the ground halfway across the dome. 

FUCK 

As Haku left the ice mirror and readied his attack, Sasuke found his legs moving of their own accord. He darted across the dome and just barely managed to slide in front of Naruto at the last second. He grit his teeth to keep from crying out as at least a dozen senbon embedded themselves in his chest, arms and legs. Sasuke felt his vision blur. 

That can’t be good . 

“Tch. “ Sasuke muttered. 

“Sasuke! What…” Naruto started quietly, voice strained. Sasuke resisted the urge to laugh because How dare Naruto sound so surprised as if Sasuke hasn’t always been protecting him. 

“Sasuke… why would you???” Naruto started. Sasuke sighed and forced himself to unclench his jaw so he could speak. 

“I hated you in the beginning you know…. When you first… when you sat next to me that first day I fucking hated you. But now... You’ve become someone I want to protect. I really don’t know why… but my body moved on its own.” 

Sasuke felt himself slipping and he finally gave in to the need to collapse, trusting that Naruto would catch him, which indeed he did . Sasuke felt a laugh burst out of his chest. 

“You know… I always told myself that I wouldn’t allow myself to die until I’d killed that man.. Itachi… but now... It doesn’t matter much anymore. Naruto. Don’t let your dream die.” Sasuke finished quietly and his eyelids were suddenly too heavy to hold open anymore, so he was forced to let then close.  ‘Sasuke!’ was the last thing he heard before his world went completely black. 

Good riddance . 

—————-

Naruto grit his teeth as he clutched Sasuke’s senbon riddled body in his arms. Tears threatened to spill over, but they didn’t. Instead, Naruto was filled with white-hot rage.

‘Kit… watch your anger… the seal can’t hold…’ Kurama, the nine tails hissed in the back of Naruto’s head. 

‘Let it break then. Destroy everything .’ Naruto replied in his head and with that, he felt a burning. It wasn’t like he’d stuck his hand in a fire or anything, no,  it was more like a burning deep within his soul. Naruto felt a growl rip itself out of his throat as his eyes burned and the world became sharper, brighter and his nails and teeth elongated. This was… new . Angry red chakra spilled out of his body and swirled around both him and Sasuke. 

‘Kurama, can you heal him ?’ Naruto asked Kurama in his head. 

‘I’m not sure… But I can try kit…’   Kurama replied. 

Naruto turned towards Haku who was just now phasing into a mirror once more. 

Naruto let another growl rip its way out of his throat as he crouched on all fours. Faintly, Naruto felt his chakra engulfing him and Sasuke and there were several clunking noises as the senbon embedded in his skin were pushed out and the wounds closed. The cuts across his face stitched themselves shut and Naruto flexed his newly healed fingers. 

“I’m going to kill you for that,” Naruto growled out lowly at Haku. Haku readied up another attack but Naruto moved faster than anything anyone had ever seen and in a flash, Naruto was up and smashing his way through a mirror. He grabbed Haku up from the front of his shirt as Haku was forcibly ejected from the mirror. Naruto growled in Haku’s face 

In the chaos, the mask that Haku wore fell away, revealing the face of the pretty boy that Naruto had talked to that day in the woods. Naruto gulped. 

“What are you doing out here in the woods?”

“ I’m training!”

“Oh, is that so? Is what you're training for dangerous?”

“ You betcha! I’m a ninja and I’m going to become Hokage one day!”

“Hokage? What's that?”

“ A Hokage is the most powerful ninja in the village. I’m going to get so powerful that they make me Hokage and then the village will have to acknowledge my existence!” 

“That sounds like an honorable, but a difficult dream.”

“Oh, you betcha! But I’m gonna do it! Believe it! What about you? Do you have a dream?”

“Who me? I don’t really have my own dream. I guess I just want to help make sure that my precious person’s dream comes true.”

“Precious person? What do you mean?” 

“Hm. Well, a precious person is someone who you want to protect at all costs. Protecting them makes you stronger. They’re people you don't want to lose. And when you have a precious person, their dream becomes yours and you'll do anything to make their dreams come true.”

“Oh, you have someone like that? What’re they like?”

“He’s... very confident and goal-driven, even if he can be kind of a hothead sometimes. What about you? Do you have any precious people who you want to protect?”

“Uhhhh. I want to protect the entire village but I guess they don’t really count huh? I guess there is someone though. Who I want to protect. His names—”

—————-

Naruto dropped Haku and jumped backward, skidding across the slick surface of the bridge. He growled loudly, a warning. 

Something grabbed at the back of Naruto’s shirt and he jumped, turning to peer down at the offender. 

It was Sasuke, weakly grabbing onto the back of Naruto’s shirt. Sasuke’s eyes were open and his Sharingan was spinning lazily.

“Naruto That's Enough” Sasuke forced out. Naruto gave a short nod and his eyes slowly transitioned back to their normal blue and his teeth and fingernails receded. Haku collapsed in front of them both. 

“You.. defeated me. I can’t believe it.” Haku mumbled in shock

Naruto stepped forward and stuck a hand out for Haku. Haku stared at it as if it were a snake. 

Haku turned away. “Why do you offer your hand to me? I do not need your pity.” Naruto furrowed his brow. 

“It's not pity. Sasuke’s alive, there's no reason for us to fight anymore. If you aren’t coming at me why should I fight you? We don’t have to fight you know. 

Honestly, I think you guys shouldn’t be working for Gato. It won’t end well you know. He’s kind of a shady asshole” Naruto laughed and Haku blinked a few times. Tears formed in his eyes as he reached up and carefully took Naruto’s hand. 

Naruto pulled him to his feet. Then Naruto turned to Sasuke. 

As Naruto was helping Sasuke to his feet, the ice mirrors began to shatter and fall away and Naruto’s hair stood on edge. 

‘Somethings wrong. Something bad is about to happen .’ Kurama grumbled in the back of Naruto’s head. Haku’s head suddenly snapped to the side. 

“Zabuza!” Haku cried and both Naruto and Sasuke turned to see Kakashi, with his famous Chidori active and he was reaching right for Zabuza. 

A few things seemed to happen all at once. 

One , Haku threw out a senbon. There was no doubt that it would be devastatingly accurate. It was heading directly for Kakashi, who was about to drive his Chidori into Zabuza’s chest. 

Two , Naruto immediately surged forward, skidding across the bridge at lightning speed and slamming himself into Kakashi’s body. The senbon embedded itself in Naruto’s neck and he cried out as they both fell. 

Three , Zabuza, who was injured heavily, slumped forward, whether, in exhaustion or relief, Sasuke would never know. 

Four , Haku dashed forward to catch the falling Zabuza, cradling him in his arms. 

Five , Sasuke stumbled forward, feeling like his legs were turning into jello all over again. 

Please, oh god. Let that senbon have hit something nonvital. Sasuke prayed as he stared at Naruto’s non-moving body. 

Sasuke stumbled across the slippery surface of the bridge like a newborn calf, all legs, and no balance, but he finally made it to where Kakashi and Naruto lay. 

Kakashi was the first to sit up, hands covered in blood and eyes impossibly wide. 

His Sharingan was spinning dangerously fast and he looked like he might be sick. Naruto didn’t rise and instead remained lying perfectly still in a shallow puddle of water, one that was quickly turning red. Sasuke held his breath as he shakily turned Naruto over. 

There was a senbon embedded in the skin on the right side of his neck and his right arm was burnt beyond recognition, black charred skin, bleeding and still smoking. 

Sasuke resisted the urge to vomit as he placed two fingers against Naruto’s neck. 

Please please, oh god. 

Haku was next to Sasuke in an instant and he had to resist the urge to scream and shove him away. 

Sasuke grit his teeth as Haku crouched down and ran his fingers along Naruto’s neck above the senbon before gently grasping it in between two fingers and pulling it out of Naruto’s neck.

Naruto’s eyes suddenly flew open and he sat up abruptly, coughing and wheezing. 

His eyes were red. 

Sasuke watched, mesmerized as the skin on Naruto’s shoulder slowly healed itself, replacing the blackened skin with new, pinkish skin. 

Naruto continued to cough and rub his neck. 

“I don’t understand… hitting that spot.. you should be paralyzed for at least a week. Who are you?” Haku asked quietly. Naruto looked up at him and grinned impossibly wide. 

“I’m Naruto Uzumaki! Believe it!” He said brightly, holding out his signature thumbs up. 

His eyes were blue again. 

Relieved that his best friend wasn’t dead, Sasuke let himself collapse, falling to the bridge next to Naruto. 

Vaguely, he could hear Sakura asking if Kakashi was alright and he barely registered Haku standing and moving across the bridge. 

Presumably, back to Zabuza. 

Sasuke let himself slump up against Naruto, the exhaustion, making his brain all fuzzy.  

“Is the fight over…?” Sasuke mumbled quietly. He felt rather than saw Naruto shrug. 

“We’ll find out when Zabuza wakes up I guess” Naruto replied quietly. Sasuke nodded, mostly to himself. 

When Zabuza wakes up, it’ll either be a bloodbath for them or Gatō. 

Sasuke couldn’t only pray it was the latter.

Chapter Text

Sasuke woke up to Sakura’s voice. 

He cracked his eyes open and shielded them from the sun. The mist had cleared completely and now the sun was far too bright . Through the glare, Sasuke could just barely make out the form of Sakura scolding Naruto for something. 

“Hn.” He groaned quietly and Naruto’s attention snapped over to him. “Sasuke! You're awake!” both Naruto and Sakura cried simultaneously. Naruto moved first and threw his arms around Sasuke, hugging him close. Sasuke let himself relax as he buried his face in the soft material that was Naruto’s ugly orange jacket. He breathed in Naruto’s familiar scent. 

Thank fuck, Naruto’s okay. 

“You’re healed?” He asked the details of the fight before were still a bit fuzzy. Naruto nodded.” yeah! Kurama healed us both!” Naruto explained gesturing vaguely to the burnt sleeve of his jacket. The skin underneath was pink and new, unburnt. Sasuke nodded, only half paying attention at this point. His attention instead, was focused on Haku and Zabuza, who were on the other side of the bridge.

Haku was sitting up, facing and talking to a very conscious Zabuza. 

They were too far away for Sasuke to tell what they were talking about, but if the dirty looks that Zabuza was sending them were anything to go by, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation . 

Then again, maybe Zabuza just wasn’t a very pleasant person. 

After a few more minutes of Haku and Zabuza talking in hushed whispers and Sasuke chewing his nails down to the nub, it was a bad habit he was still having trouble breaking , Haku finally stood and started to make his way over to where the very Sasuke and Naruto sat. Sasuke glanced to his right. 

Kakashi was still unconscious. 

Tazuna and Sakura had apparently been going around and helping out all of the employee’s that had been hurt in Zabuza’s initial attack, so they were on the other side of the bridge. So, It was just Naruto and Sasuke sitting together, half-dead, leaning against the railing of the bridge. 

Haku brushed his skirt off before he took a seat in front of them both. Haku cleared his throat and Sasuke rubbed at his eyes a few times in a vain attempt to clear the blurriness from his eyes. A side effect of the Sharingan. 

“Uhm, I talked to Zabuza.” Haku started quietly. Naruto suddenly sat up straighter and leaned in close. Sasuke held his breath. 

“And?” He asked. Haku spared another glance back at the very displeased Zabuza before sighing. 

“It took some convincing, but he's decided not to kill the bridge builder and to instead turn on Gato,” Haku said quietly and Sasuke’s eyes widened in disbelief. 

“Oh thank the gods.”  Naruto breathed before leaning heavily against Sasuke. Sasuke spared Naruto a glance before turning his attention back to Haku. 

For a moment, he only studied Haku’s face, taking in the shape of his eyebrows, the slope of his chin, the angry purple bruise that was forming underneath his left eye. He might be a little older than us, but he’s still just a kid. 

“Won’t that be dangerous for you two?” Sasuke asked, unable to contain his curiosity and Haku blinked a few times before chuckling softly and turning to look back at Zabuza again, only this time his gaze was softer, more full of… admiration. 

“Yeah, but we really haven’t ever known anything other than that… So I guess after this it’ll just all go back to normal, well, as normal as it can get for two missing-nin.” Haku said quietly before turning back to look down at the charred edge of his skirt, picking at it. “We’ll just keep running. It's what we’re used to afterall” Haku mumbled. 

Naruto suddenly surged forward he grabbed both of Haku’s hands in his and leaned closer. 

“Haku! When I become Hokage! You guys can come to stay in the village with me and I’ll make sure no one comes after you guys” Naruto exclaimed, causing Haku’s face to turn a deep scarlet. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto’s declaration. Could Naruto really even do that ? He wondered, but it didn’t really matter because it seemed to have the intended effect on Haku, by making him laugh loudly. Haku laughed until he was slouched over, holding his stomach. 

“Okay, Naruto. I’ll keep that in mind” Haku responded and Naruto responded with his famous ’Believe it!’ Sasuke could only shake his head. 

After a few more minutes of them all just sitting there, Haku excused himself to make his way back over to Zabuza. Haku and Zabuza sat on the ground talking for a few minutes more before they both rose from the ground and turned to walk away. Haku waved over at Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke tiredly waved back.

“Oh! wait Haku!” Naruto screamed and stood, stumbling and sliding, he made his way over to them. 

Sasuke watched, bemused, as Naruto said something to Haku that required that he waved his arms around animatedly. At some point in their conversation, Naruto pointed at Zabuza and said something that had Haku laughing and Zabuza turning away, and was that a blush!?  

Then, Sasuke saw Naruto press something into Haku’s hand before wrapping Haku up in a bear hug. Sasuke couldn’t help but laugh at the look of utter shock on Haku’s face before he cautiously hugged Naruto back. Naruto’s a hugger. 

After Haku and Naruto drew apart, they bid farewell one last time and Haku turned, long black hair swaying in the wind… 

Wait...could that of been the cute boy Naruto was talking about? 

The question was on the tip of Sasuke’s tongue as Naruto neared him again, only he never got to ask it, because Kakashi’s loud groan interrupted everything. 

Damn Kakashi. 

Sakura was across the bridge in an instant, kneeling to help pull Kakashi up into a sitting position. Wow, he looks like shit.

“Kakashi-sensei! You’re awake!” Naruto cheered and Kakashi turned his gaze up at Naruto and his eyes narrowed. 

“Naruto, what the hell was that earlier? That was so fucking reckless! I could’ve killed you!” Kakashi-sensei scolded rather harshly. Sasuke blinked a few times, taken aback. Kakashi had never sounded this angry before, but then again, Naruto could’ve died. 

“Haha, Sorry Sensei, I didn’t really think at the time” Naruto mumbled nervously. 

“That’s your problem! You don’t think! What if I had killed you?” Kakashi continued, already on his feet and he’d grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt, well, that shirt was actually Sasuke’s. Of course, Naruto had stolen it. Naruto continued to rub the back of his neck and laugh nervously. 

“But, you didn’t and Kurama healed me,” Naruto said quietly, “But I'm sorry, I won’t act so recklessly next time” Naruto continued, looking away. Kakashi seemed to finally realize how he was holding Naruto because he dropped him and turned away. 

“You shouldn’t rely on the power of the nine tails. He can’t heal fatal wounds. You’d do well to remember that.” Kakashi muttered angrily. He snatched up his vest, that someone must’ve removed when he passed out, and slid it back on. He spun around to face Sakura and Tazuna. 

“Is everyone okay?” He asked before he started to look around furiously. “Uh, Guys?” Kakashi asked and all of team 7 turned to look at him. 

“Where are Zabuza and Haku?” Kakashi asked them. Naruto scratched at his whiskers now. 

“They left.” He replied and Kakashi spun around again, eyes blazing. 

“What do you mean they left? Where’d they go Naruto ?” He demanded. Naruto cast a glance at Sasuke, who only shrugged in response. Naruto was already on Kakashi-sensei’s shit list, might as well let him explain this one too. 

“Uh, well. After I woke up, Haku and I talked and I asked him to talk to Zabuza and see if he couldn’t convince him to abandon the mission to kill Tazuna and well, Haku talked to Zabuza when he woke up and finally he was able to convince him to turn on Gato instead.” Naruto rambled through his explanation, still scratching at his scars. Man, Sasuke hadn’t seen him this nervous since the week of finals at the academy. 

Sasuke was pretty sure he could actually hear Kakashi grinding his teeth together. 

“So… you just let them leave ?” Kakashi asked, looking at Naruto expectantly. Naruto nodded slowly and Kakashi threw up his hands in frustration, muttering something along the lines of ‘ He’s definitely fucking Minato’s kid alright.’ Sasuke blinked and looked around. No one else seemed to have heard him. Sasuke thought back on the name. He knew he’d heard that name before, somewhere, but where? And how did Kakashi know who Naruto’s parents were when  Apparently no one else in the village did? Sasuke made a mental note to either ask Kakashi later or to look up this ‘Minato’ character when they got back to the village. 

Judging by the vein pulsing in Kakashi’s neck, Sasuke opted to just look him up when they got back to the village. If they managed to make it back alive. 

Although, with Zabuza and Haku deciding to turn against Gato, it was looking like they might stand a real chance of going home in one piece, rather than in pieces. 

“Sasukeeeeeee. Hey Teme!” Naruto’s voice brought Sasuke out of his mental ramblings about their inevitable death. Sasuke looked up and realized that Naruto was holding out his hand to pull him up to his feet. 

“We’re gonna head back to Tazuna’s for today and then we’ll come back out here tomorrow to work on the bridge construction,” Naruto explained as he pulled Sasuke up. He put his arms out to steady Sasuke as he wobbled slightly. “Are you good to walk Teme? You aren’t looking so good,” Naruto said quietly. Sasuke nodded, only to stumble when he tried to take a step forward. Naruto snickered and subsequently stuck his tongue out when Sasuke shot him a death glare. 

“You want a piggyback ride?” He asked while laughing. 

Sasuke shook his head, “No, I’m fine, plus,  you’re probably just as exhausted” Sasuke replied. As he finished his sentence, however, black spots swarmed his vision, causing him to stumble. Sasuke groaned internally and allowed himself to be hoisted up onto Naruto’s back. He wrapped his arms around Naruto’s neck and tucked his chin into his shoulder. 

He wasn’t pouting. Uchiha’s did not pout. He was just tired. Yeah, tired. 

He could feel the vibrations from Naruto chuckling. 

“I slept all last night and some more a little earlier. I’m good to go for now, but let me tell you that I’m sleeping for a week when we get back.” Naruto declared. 

“I agree with that statement” Kakashi muttered dryly. Sakura and Tazuna both agreed. 

Sasuke yawned. “Me too.” He mumbled sleepily as he let his eyes drift shut once more. 

Dying was a really taxing experience okay??

********

Sasuke didn’t regain consciousness until the next morning when he was woken up by none other than Naruto. He glared and pulled the blanket up over his head. He could hear Naruto laughing from outside the sleeping bag. 

“Sakura and them wanted to let you sleep, but I figured you’d be pissed if we left you here,” Naruto said laughing. 

“Go away. 5 more minutes” Sasuke growled from under his blankets. There was another laugh before the blankets were being yanked away from his body and he was being thrown over Naruto’s shoulder. 

“Sorry. No can do Teme” Naruto said, not sounding apologetic in the slightest

“Wooooow, Naruto, I died yesterday. Don't you even care?” Sasuke asked.

“Nope, because you didn’t actually die and you're still alive,” Naruto said with a laugh

“The disrespect,” Sasuke muttered darkly as he was deposited in the bathroom. He threw himself down on the floor in protest, earning him another laugh and a towel to the face. 

“If I come back in fifteen minutes and you aren’t getting out of the shower, I’ll drown you,” Naruto warned. Sasuke’s head snapped up, ‘Is that a threat or a promise?” He asked, voice full of hope. 

Naruto only shook his head as he left the bathroom. 

“15 Minutes!” Naruto reminded him. Sasuke crossed his arms. 

“ I’ll 15 minutes my foot up your ass you stupid, dobe. UGH” Sasuke muttered, which earned him a bang on the door and a “Don’t be so dramatic Teme!” From Naruto. Was Naruto really saying that? Did Sasuke really just hear Naruto ‘drama queen of the century’ Uzumaki tell him not to be dramatic? 

Sasuke wanted to throw open the door and ask Naruto who was it that threw the fit large enough to get them both kicked out of the supermarket because they were out of his favorite type of cup ramen , but he refrained, because he knew Naruto would just bring up the tomato incident of 2 weeks ago and Sasuke did not want to go there. Definitely not in front of Sakura and Kakashi. Kakashi didn’t need any more ammunition to tease, (read. Bully) him with. 

Plus, it was the supermarket's fault for that one, who only carries bruised tomatoes?? Psychopaths do. Ugh, Disgraceful. 

Sasuke groaned again and lightly hit his head against the wall before dragging himself into the shower. 

The warm water helped to loosen up Sasuke’s tensed muscles a bit but did nothing to help his state of exhaustion. If anything it made him more sleepy, so, In anger and frustration for being so damn tired when he’d slept like a full 13 hours, which was bullshit by the way. He shouldn’t be this tired, Sasuke started to turn the temperature of the water down. 

He’d only meant to turn it down a little, wake himself up slowly, but there was a sudden knock on the door which caused Sasuke to jump and turn the water all the way to cold , and to make matters worse, he yelped when the icy water hit him and that caused him to slip of all things. 

‘Maybe I should’ve just died yesterday if this is how the rest of my life’s going to go.’ Sasuke thought darkly as he heard Naruto open the door to the bathroom. Sasuke grit his teeth and thanked the gods that he hadn’t yanked down the shower curtain with him. 

“You okay teme?” Naruto asked, worry lacing his voice. 

“Just peachy.” Sasuke grit out between clenched teeth because the cold water was still running, but the pain from his fall hadn’t subsided yet and he was so damn tired.  

Sasuke was sure that he could actually see his pride going down the drain with the water. 

“Do you, uh, Do you need any help?” Naruto asked quietly. Sasuke snorted and finally managed to pull himself up into a sitting position. 

“No, I'm good. I’ll be out in a second” he muttered. Sasuke weakly reached up to shut off the shower and heaved a big sigh as he forced himself to stand up. 

Naruto’s response was the sound of the door shutting and Sasuke thought he was in the clear until he heard Naruto cackling from outside the door. 

“Hn. fucking dobe. See if I make you dinner when we get home.” Sasuke grumbled to himself as he climbed out of the shower.

Once Sasuke had dried off and changed, he met with Naruto and the others downstairs for breakfast. 

Everyone had just sat down at the table when there was a knock at the door. 

“I’ll get it” Naruto exclaimed as he practically launched himself over the table and scrambled to open the door. 

Sasuke turned his attention back to his plate of eggs, but the sound of someone clearing their throat drew his attention back to the door. 

He looked up to see Haku standing at the door, dressed in new clothes, a pink dress , and he had his hair down. Standing behind him was a very awkward looking Zabuza, who did not look pleased to be wearing a shirt. His face was still bandaged though and Sasuke briefly wondered what it looked like that he hid it. He also still had his sword.  

“Uh, I just came by to let you guys know” Haku cast a glance back at Zabuza before continuing, “Gato has been um,” he glanced at Inari this time, “Taken care of. He shouldn’t bother you guys anymore and I wanted to formally apolo-” Haku, twisting his hands together. Inari was up on his feet in an instant. 

“Wait, You guys killed Gato?” Inari asked incredulously, interrupting Haku, who blinked a few times before nodding slowly. 

“Uh. we did, but-” again Haku tried to continue his apology, but Inari was darting across the kitchen to hug Haku. 

Sasuke didn’t miss how Zabuza flinched slightly like he was about to raise his sword, but then he changed his mind. 

Haku, on the other hand, looked even more shocked that Inari was hugging him than he did yesterday when Naruto had done it. Sasuke found himself grinning.

As Inari pulled away, Haku cleared his throat again. 

“But, uh that’s not all we came here for. I wanted to formally apologize for everything” Haku said quietly. Tazuna abruptly pushed his chair back and stood. 

Sasuke saw Zabuza’s hand that rested on his sword go white-knuckled as Tazuna strolled over to Haku. He clapped his hand on Haku’s back and also drew him in for a hug. 

Now, Haku just looked like he might cry.

“I understand. You were just doing your job, the same as I was and the same as this team of ninja were. I wanted to thank you though, for sparing me. You didn’t have to, but you guys did. So, thank you” Tazuna finished. 

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to if it weren’t for Naruto’s kindness. Talking to him made me realize that while I do want to help Zabuza’s dream come true” Zabuza looked away when Haku said that. “But, I also don’t want to kill anyone who isn’t deserving. Zabuza and I talked and we’ve decided that it’s probably time we switch from mercenary work to something less…” Haku struggled with the words. 

“Murdery?” Naruto supplied and at that Haku laughed. 

“Yeah, yeah, less murdery” He responded quietly. Sasuke watched as Tsunami-san stood quietly and gestured to the table. 

“Since you, boys are here, why don’t you come in and eat breakfast with us? There's still some left.” She offered. Naruto nodded along excitedly and Haku’s eyes lit up just the tiniest bit. 

He looked back at Zabuza who after staring into the house for a minute, nodded. 

Haku stepped forward into the house, and at first, Zabuza didn’t follow but after some urging from Haku, he finally stepped inside the house. 

“No swords at the table,” Tsunami-san said sternly, pointing her finger at Zabuza like he wasn’t a fucking crazed murderer less than 24 hours ago, and Sasuke could see how Zabuza clenched his jaw but finally relinquished his sword when Haku held out his hands for it. 

Haku carefully leaned the sword up against the wall next to the front door and they both made their way over to the table. Naruto jumped up from the side of the table he’d been sitting at and shoved himself over next to Sasuke on his side of the table. 

Inari helped his mom get plates for their two new guests and Sasuke took pleasure in watching how uncomfortable and awkward Zabuza looked as he tried to sit cross-legged on the floor in front of the much too short table. Haku sat down much more gracefully and crossed his legs with ease, giggling slightly at how hunched over Zabuza looked. Zabuza shot him a glare. 

Once the plates were sat in front of the two, Inari wiggled his way in between his mother and his grandfather. 

Everyone bowed their heads to give thanks and out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Haku and Zabuza share a look of pure confusion before they both awkwardly bowed their heads. 

“Thanks for the meal! Let's eat!” Naruto shouted, breaking the tension and causing Sasuke to roll his eyes and Haku to giggle quietly. 

For the remainder of breakfast, Sasuke forgot all about Zabuza and Haku’s status as murderous missing-nin and instead, they became just Zabuza and Haku, friends. 

**********************

With Gato out of the way, construction on the bridge resumed and it was completed in about 5 days, the process was significantly sped up with all of the shadow clones Naruto created to help out. 

Within 6 days, the bridge was open to the public, and it was named ‘The Great Naruto Bridge’

Naruto teared up a little at that and Sasuke couldn’t help but think of how fitting that was. 

Within 8 days, they were back home in their village. 

In the end, they were only paid for a C-rank mission, but Sasuke couldn’t find it in himself to be mad.

Mad about the pay that is, he was never accepting another C-Rank mission again.

Bonus:

Years later, a small white bunny shows up at the door of the Uchiha-Uzumaki house. It’s carrying a messily written letter from Haku telling Naruto and Sasuke all about their travels to the different lands and all the jobs they’ve ended up doing and how Haku learned how to summon bunnies and the story of how Zabuza and Haku ended up opening up a ramen shop in a small village in the Land of Stone. 

Within the envelope, there are coupons for free ramen at the “Momochi Ramen Shop”

The letter ends with ‘ But the Hokage and guests eat for free.’

Chapter Text

Naruto groaned loudly as he stumbled into his and Sasuke’s shared bedroom and promptly collapsed, right onto Sasuke

“Oof. Dobe. Get off me” Sasuke shoved Naruto, who only seemed to get heavier. 

“No. Your comfy and I’m so tired” Naruto mumbled, burying his face in Sasuke’s stomach. Sasuke felt his face heat up and he tried to shove Naruto again, to no avail. 

“At least shower first! You smell!” Sasuke exclaimed, pinching his nose, mostly just to make a point. 

“Mhmph. Why?” Naruto whined loudly. The vibrations of Naruto’s voice tickled Sasuke and he squirmed, allowing Naruto to shove his arms under him to wrap his arms around him, locking him in place. 

“Cuz I can’t make you dinner if you trap me here?” Sasuke tried and Naruto’s head shot up immediately. 

“Really?! Can you make ramen?” Naruto asked excitedly, previous exhaustion already forgotten. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes shoved Naruto’s shoulder. 

“Yes. Whatever you want if you’ll just get off of me!” Sasuke huffed. Naruto rolled off of Sasuke, who drug himself out of bed, and his book had just gotten good. 

Sasuke put his bookmark in his book and sat it on the bedside table before standing and stretching. 

Naruto stayed in bed, watching Sasuke. 

Sasuke tried to pretend like it didn’t make him nervous. 

Sasuke shuffled his way to the bedroom door and down the hall to the kitchen. 

Just as he was pulling the big pot out of the cabinet, he heard the telltale sound of the shower turning on, followed by off-key singing a short while later. 

Sasuke rolled his eyes and got started on the miso, humming along with Naruto’s singing. 

*******

“And then Jiraiya was all like ‘Ohmygod you’re actually doing it!’ And I was like ‘Ahhhhhh really?!’ And then I lost concentration and fell through the water, but I think I’m getting the hang of it!!!” Naruto was waving his hands around animatedly while he finished his story. 

There was a knock on the door. 

Naruto hopped up to go answer it and Sasuke strained his ears to see if he could tell who it was. 

Who in the hell would be coming here of all places?

Naruto returned with a white envelope in his hand. 

He turned it over in his hands. 

“It’s addressed to both of us” Naruto mumbled. Sasuke furrowed his brow. 

“Then open it Dobe,” Sasuke responded. Naruto, not needing to be told twice, tore into the envelope, throwing the remains on the floor. Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

Naruto pulled out a single sheet of paper and held it up to read it. He furrowed his brow. 

“I don’t understand” Naruto mumbled. Sasuke held his hand out and Naruto handed over the paper. 

‘Beware that which is sometimes called a serpent

And its skin has a lot of scales

It can have a venomous bite

And some have rattles in their tails’ 

“ A riddle?” Sasuke found himself asking aloud. Naruto shrugged. 

“What do you think it means?” Naruto asked. Sasuke shrugged and tossed the letter in the garbage.

He started to clear the table and after a moment, Naruto joined him, creepy riddle already forgotten.

******

Training to use the Chidori was always so draining. 

Even after weeks of training, Sasuke found that his limit was still only 2. 

Sasuke found himself wondering how Sakura and Naruto’s training was going. 

Sakura had been training with someone Kakashi had found. Sasuke had yet to meet them, and Naruto had been training with Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin.

Half of Sasuke was jealous of Naruto, but the jealousy quickly flew out the window when Kakashi told him that he’d invented the Chidori and the only other person who knew how to use it was him. 

Kakashi even helped him use his Sharingan, even if Kakashi wasn’t an Uchiha. 

Sasuke groaned as he pushed open the door to his house. 

“I’m home!” He called as he knelt to remove his shoes, wincing as they grazed against the blisters that had already formed on his feet. 

Training for the Chunin exams was brutal.

Sasuke glanced up when he received no response, he glanced back down and saw Naruto’s sandals thrown haphazardly by the door. 

“Naruto?” Sasuke pushed himself to his feet and wandered towards the bedroom he turned the knob on his bedroom door. 

“Here! Wait wait! Don’t come in” just as he pushed the door open a crack, it was slammed shut. 

“Naruto. What the fuck?” Sasuke asked 

“Just give me a second! Don’t open the door!” Naruto called from the other side and Sasuke stared at the door. What was Naruto hiding? 

Sasuke felt his heart sinking. 

Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the door opened and a nervous-looking Naruto stepped out. 

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Naruto had both hands tucked behind his back. 

“Uh. Hi.” Naruto mumbled and awkwardly shifted his weight from foot to foot. Sasuke felt his heart sinking. 

“Hello? Everything alright?” Sasuke asked taking a step forward. Naruto followed and stepped backward. 

Naruto’s blue eyes darted around the room. 

“Uh no, I mean yes. everything’s fine. Yup. Fine. Anyway. I thought you weren’t coming back till later?” Naruto nervously rambled, eyes darting around nervously. 

He pressed his back against the wall opposite Sasuke and slid past Sasuke before turning back to face him. 

“No. Kakashi let me go early” Sasuke responded, stepping forward again. 

Naruto didn’t break eye contact as he backed away down the hall in the direction of the kitchen, hands still behind his back. 

“Whatcha got there?” Sasuke asked, taking a step forward. 

Naruto’s eyes widened. 

“What? Nothing. Nothing at all. Okay. Gotta go. K bye!” Naruto spun around quickly and shifted whatever was in his hands so it would be in front of him. 

Sasuke couldn’t even catch a glimpse. 

Naruto ran down the hall and disappeared, leaving Sasuke standing there confused. 

The front door opened and closed and Sasuke leaned up against the wall, mind whirling. 

Did he do something to upset Naruto? 

What was Naruto hiding? Was he coming back? Oh god, what if he wasn’t coming back?? 

Confused, Sasuke pulled himself up off the floor and headed to take a shower. 

He functioned on autopilot the rest of the evening and after a few minutes contemplation, he decided against making anything for dinner and instead munched on a few crackers and headed back to their, well, his room. 

***

Naruto still wasn’t back by 11 pm and Sasuke was starting to go mad with worry. 

Where was Naruto?! 

He’d paced across his room several hundred times. He’d tried reading but he was too distracted. 

He couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard he tried. 

He didn’t even know what he did wrong. 

Sasuke sat down on the floor with his back against his bed and put his head in his hands. 

********

Sasuke was woken up by the sound of the front door opening and closing. He jerked up and without even thinking, stumbled up and rushed towards the front door. 

Sasuke was full of rage. He was going to find out just what the fuck that had been earlier. 

Sasuke’s eyes burned slightly , he was so angry, he’d activated his Sharingan.

But, the moment Sasuke slid around the corner and he laid eyes on that ugly orange jumpsuit, all the rage dissipated and was replaced with relief. 

Sasuke sagged against the wall behind him as he watched Naruto undo his sandals and toss them in the corner. 

Naruto must not have heard Sasuke slide around the corner because he jumped when he looked up and saw him. 

“Crap Sasuke. You scared the shit out of me. I didn’t think you’d still be awake” Naruto laughed and Sasuke felt that familiar rage resurface. 

“Where were you?” Sasuke’s voice came out harsh and cold and Naruto looked taken aback. 

“Why does that matter?” Naruto asked and Sasuke blinked. 

“Because you just ran off! I didn’t even know if you were coming back!” Sasuke’s voice cracked halfway through and he hated it. Why was he getting so worked up about something this trivial?

“Of course I was coming back Sasuke. I live here.” Naruto responded and Sasuke didn’t lookup. 

Naruto took a tentative step forward and put both of his hands on Sasuke’s shoulders. 

Sasuke didn’t move. 

“Sasuke… you really thought I wasn't coming back?” Naruto whispered quietly and Sasuke’s head snapped up and he glared. 

“What else was I supposed to think?!” 

Sasuke shoved Naruto in the chest, making him stumble backward, “ You were acting all weird and then you just ran out and didn’t come back for hours. I was so worried!” Sasuke was well aware of how his voice was rising in both volume and octaves. But he didn’t care. 

Naruto had scared the shit out of him. 

“I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t really think about it. I was at Sakura’s.” Naruto laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke’s blood boiled. 

“What were you doing at Sakura’s this late at night?” The words tumbled out of Sasuke’s mouth. He clamped his jaw shut. 

Yeah, that didn’t sound jealous at all. 

Naruto blinked a few minutes before heaving a heavy sigh. 

“It was supposed to be a surprise” he mumbled as he dug in his pocket before pulling out a small black box. 

Sasuke’s breath hitched as Naruto held it out. 

Carefully, he took it from Naruto’s hand and opened it. 

Inside the box was a small bracelet, braided out of string. It was woven with black, red, orange and pink. 

A horrible combination of colors really. 

Sasuke picked it up and rubbed it in between his fingers. 

“What is this?” He asked Naruto as he held it up. Naruto’s face turned red and he looked away. 

“It’s a bracelet I made for you. Sakura’s been helping me learn how to braid string and weave my own chakra into it. I made this one for you using both my and Kurama’s chakra. It’s supposed to help strengthen your Chidori. It’ll help draw the chakra to your hand.” Naruto laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. 

Sasuke turned the bracelet over in his hands. 

“So when you ran out of here…” Sasuke mumbled, mostly to himself. 

“I wasn’t quite done with it and I didn’t want you to see it. So I ran to Sakura’s so she could check it over for me.” Naruto explained and Sasuke felt a lump form in his throat. 

Naruto had made him this… as a Goodluck charm for the exams… 

“Is it okay? Sasuke. Say something. Please. I know it’s probably stupid but at least,” Naruto started to ramble. 

“No. No, it’s… I’ve just never had anyone give me anything like this… I don’t know what to say. Thank You, Naruto. I love it.” Sasuke responded quietly. The look on Naruto’s face lit up the room. 

“You really like it? Yahoo! Uh. Want me to help you put it on?” Naruto asked quietly holding out his hand. Sasuke passed the bracelet over and watched how Naruto carefully untied part of it and Sasuke held out his left hand. Gently, Naruto wrapped the bracelet around Sasuke’s left wrist, wrapping it twice before gently tying it together. Sasuke swallowed hard as Naruto’s hands brushed his and made his skin tingle. 

Once Naruto was done, Sasuke brought his wrist up to his face to examine it. 

The bracelet itself felt warm as if it was pulsing with Naruto’s chakra. 

A lump formed in Sasuke’s throat and he looked down at his feet. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled quietly. It wasn’t long before Naruto was wrapping Sasuke up in a hug. Sasuke buried his face in Naruto’s shirt and took deep breaths. 

He wasn’t about to cry. Uchiha don’t cry. They don’t okay? His eyes just happen to burn from practicing with his Sharingan all day. 

“Did you eat dinner yet?” Sasuke asked, mainly because that was all he could think to say and oh god, Naruto made him a bracelet and he hadn’t gotten anything for Naruto. 

“No, but it is 11 pm?” Naruto replied, right before his stomach growled loud enough to probably wake up the other side of the village. They stared at each other for a few moments before they burst out laughing. 

Sasuke tugged Naruto into the kitchen and had him sit down at the counter as he pulled two cups of instant ramen out of the cabinet. 

Suddenly, Naruto was next to him, plucking the cups out of his hands. 

“You look exhausted, go sit down. I can do this” Naruto urged, to which Sasuke rolled his eyes. 

“Remember when…” he started but Naruto shushed him. 

“Hinata-chan has been giving me some cooking lessons okay? Sit down, I got this .” Naruto said confidently, pushing on Sasuke’s chest. 

“When in the hell did you manage to get cooking lessons from the Hyuuga?” Sasuke asked, suddenly serious. Man, he really needed to get this jealousy thing under control, but it was like… these people hadn’t even given Naruto a second glance for the longest time and somehow now they’re all friends like they hadn’t alienated Naruto for years? 

Yeah, that was what Sasuke was really mad about. 

“Her name is Hinata and it was during some of the days when Jiraiya let me go home early and you weren’t home yet” Naruto replied offhandedly as he pulled the kettle down and filled it up with water. 

“So you just had her over without my knowledge?” Sasuke found himself hissing. Naruto whipped around, eyes blazing. Why was he getting so worked up about this?

“As a matter of fact, yes , I did. I’m sorry but I was unaware that I needed your permission to have a friend over. May I remind you, I live here too.” Naruto hissed. His eyes were hard now. 

“But it's my house!” Sasuke growled and the moment the words left his lips, he knew he’d fucked up. 

Several emotions passed over Naruto’s face in an instant. 

“Naruto, wait that's not what I-” Sasuke started to apologize, but the sound of the Kettle clanking onto the counter stopped him.

“Yeah, it is. Sorry, I forgot my place. ” Naruto’s voice was quiet but angry and he shook his head at Sasuke sadly. 

Before Sasuke even had time to react, Naruto had already turned and left the kitchen, scooping up his sandals, but not actually putting them on , and opened the front door. 

“Naruto, where are you going?” Sasuke pleaded and suddenly Naruto spun around, eyes flashing red for a brief second. 

“I’m sorry, forgot I had to ask the warden for permission first. Can I leave? Is that okay? ” Naruto’s voice was bordering on hysteria now and Sasuke shrunk back. 

What can he even say to that? 

Naruto didn’t wait for a reply before he stomped out of the house. 

Naruto was so angry that Sasuke was surprised when the door didn’t slam shut and instead clicked shut quietly. 

Sasuke had been expecting him to slam it, that's what Father did every time he was angry.  

Somehow, the door clicking shut quietly hurt more. 

Sasuke sat down on the floor and put his head in his hands. 

Why did he keep fucking this up? Why couldn’t he keep his stupid jealous mouth closed?

Naruto was literally like his only friend and he didn’t just push Naruto away, it's more like he shoved him straight off a cliff. 

Sasuke didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep on the floor until a knock at the door woke him up.

He wanted to just keep sleeping and let whoever it was just go away, but then the knocking got more urgent and so he finally drug himself up off the floor and trudged over to the door. 

Sasuke swung the door open without even thinking and was met with a very angry Sakura. 

“Hello, Sasuke, beloved teammate. Naruto’s roommate and best friend, would you like to explain to me why Naruto showed back up at my house last night at midnight, crying and asking if he could stay the night?” Sakura crossed her arms in front of her chest and for some weird reason that made him swallow hard because Sakura usually wasn’t like this. Not with him anyway. She was always swooning and batting her eyelashes. Did something change during their training for the exams?

“Well?” Sakura asked again, snapping Sasuke out of it. He blinked rapidly, eyes still blurry. Sakura was tapping her foot and it was driving Sasuke crazy.  

“What?” He replied, rubbing his eye. His head was still fuzzy from sleeping on the living room floor for like all of 20 minutes last night. 

“I asked if you were going to explain what happened between you and Naruto last night?”

She asked again and Sasuke swallowed and started to fiddle with the new bracelet around his wrist, the warmth it emanated helped to calm his nerves a little. 

“Oh, uh. We fought.” Sasuke replied lamely.

“Clearly. What about?” Sakura asked. Sasuke sighed and opened the door further, ushering Sakura inside. 

She followed him into the kitchen. 

“Would you like some tea?” He asked her quietly as he began fiddling around with the kettle. Sakura shook her head before glancing at her watch, “I’ve gotta meet with Sakkaku-sensei in like an hour so I'll have to pass. I just stopped by here on my way to the training grounds.” Sakura explained, taking a hesitant seat at the table. Sasuke sighed and put down the kettle before taking a seat at the table as well. He rubbed at his face for a few minutes before taking a deep breath and regaling the tale of how he let his jealousy get the best of him. He wasn’t sure why he was telling Sakura, of all people, but, if anything, she’d be the best to understand. 

He left out the part about Naruto being his only friend however, he didn’t want Sakura to get mad and break his table or anything.

“That sounds like quite the fuck up. And It looks like you got some groveling to do lover boy. You better fix this because he is NOT sleeping on my couch again. Nearly gave my father a heart attack this morning.” She said pushing her chair back and standing. She glanced at her watch again. 

“You really think he’ll forgive me?” Sasuke asked quietly. Sakura barked a laugh.

“Shit Sasuke, its fucking Naruto. He’s never held a grudge with anyone for like anything ever. Just buy his favorite ramen from Ichirakus’ and apologize. But you have to mean it. Understand? No stone-faced Uchiha bullshit. You fucked up, so own up to it. Explain why you reacted the way you did and I know he’ll forgive you in a heartbeat.” Sakura replied as if it were that easy. 

Something on Sasuke’s face must’ve betrayed his doubt in her words because Sakura stepped forward and seized Sasuke’s left wrist, holding it up for him to see.

“Naruto spent like 4 weeks working on that stupid bracelet. He was working on it for hours a day Sasuke. You could try to murder Naruto and he’d probably forgive you before the fight was even over. Shit, if he was ever even mad in the first place.” Sakura replied easily and Sasuke nodded. 

“Look, he’s over at my house. I suggest just heading over there.” Sakura said, checking her watch again. She glanced up and sighed when she saw the confused look on Sasuke’s face. She rubbed the bridge of her nose. 

“I live on the road in between Hokage tower and Ichirakus. Big Yellow house with ugly green shutters, you can’t miss it. The mailbox says ‘Haruno’.” Sakura explained before she opened the front door. 

She stopped right outside the front door and sighed again, “Y ou're his best friend Sasuke. Naruto would literally fight a god for you if you asked him. You have nothing to worry about. He’ll forgive you the moment you say sorry.” She assured him again before she too was shutting the door, leaving Sasuke in complete silence again. 

He rubbed his eyes and headed to go shower and plan his apology speech. 

*****

Sasuke double-checked that the mailbox read ‘Haruno’ for about the millionth time. 

Yellow house, green shutters. This is it. 

He’d been standing outside the Haruno household for about half an hour now, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t bring himself to knock. 

Sakura’s words of advice helped, but he was still so damn nervous. 

He just couldn’t help it. He was terrified of losing his best friend. 

Sasuke raised his hand to knock for like the 3rd time when the door suddenly swung open and a man with a very odd mustache stood in the doorway. 

“Sorry, but I watched you try to knock like 3 times and I got impatient. I assume your the Uchiha boy my daughter mentioned might swing by?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. 

Sasuke nodded nervously. Sakura’s father glanced over his shoulder before turning back to Sasuke and sticking his hand out for a handshake. 

“Nice to meet you Sasuke. I'm Kizashi, Sakura’s father. Your friend Naruto is in the kitchen with my wife. She couldn’t stand his moping around so they’re baking cookies.” Just as he finished speaking, there was another crash from the kitchen, along with a string of curses coming from both a male and female voice. Kizashi laughed lightheartedly and pushed the door open further to allow Sasuke in. 

“Here I’ll show you to the kitchen, or well what’s left of it,” he said and Sasuke followed closely behind him, heart pounding in his chest. Sasuke started to practice his speech in his head, but the moment that Sasuke laid eyes on Naruto, every single word he’d ever learned flew directly out the window. 

Naruto was standing next to an older lady with short blond hair and they were both wearing short pink aprons adorned with pink cherry blossoms around the hem. 

Naruto had flour smeared across his face, along with a big smile. 

They were laughing at something. 

Naruto turned around and immediately stopped laughing. For a second, Sasuke was sure Naruto’s brain short-circuited or something, which would make two of them.

Sasuke gaped at Naruto like a fish for a few minutes. There was a blank expression on Naruto’s face and Sasuke hated the fact that it was his fault. 

“Sasuke? What’re you doing here?” Naruto asked, clearly confused, “Don’t you have training with Kakashi today?” Sasuke shook his head. 

“I canceled because I wanted, er well, needed to talk to you” Sasuke responded, barely resisting the urge to rip off his fingernails with his teeth, instead, he opted for twirling the bracelet around his wrist. That action did not go unnoticed by Naruto and it had Sasuke nervously shoving his hands in his pockets. 

“What did you need to talk to me about?” Naruto asked. Sasuke blinked a few times, trying to settle his nerves. He glanced around the kitchen and found that both of Sakura’s parents had disappeared. God. why. 

“Uh, the fight last night. I came to…” the words were right fucking there. Why couldn’t he say them? 

“If you want me to move out I will, I just have to fill out a lease for a new apartment,” Naruto said quietly and that had Sasuke surging forward to grab Naruto’s flour-covered hands. 

Sasuke tried to speak again, but no words would come out. 

“No. that's not. I don’t want that.” Sasuke finally managed to force out. 

“Oh, then why’d you come here?” Naruto asked. Sasuke chewed the inside of his lip until he tasted metal. 

“I came to apologize.” he forced through clenched teeth and Naruto actually had the audacity to laugh. What. the. Fuck. 

“I never thought I’d see the day that Sasuke Uchiha would apologize for anything, like ever.” Naruto said in between laughs, after a few more minutes of wheezing he tacked on, “You actually sound like your in physical pain. Oh my god, that’s so funny. You like physically can’t apologize ” he finished, still wheezing. Sasuke glared, but at the same time, his stomach dropped because Naruto wasn’t going to forgive him if he didn’t actually say sorry. 

Sasuke opened his mouth to try again, but he was cut off by Naruto colliding with him and wrapping him up in a bear hug. Now it was Sasuke’s turn to wheeze as he fought for air. 

“You’re forgiven,” Naruto replied easily and Sasuke gaped like a fish once more. It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

“Wait really? You’re sure? You’re not still… mad at me?” Sasuke asked, hating the way his voice sounded hopeful. 

“Well, yeah!  Sakura knocked some sense into me last night when I told her about the fight. I should’ve at least let you know that Hinata-chan was coming over. It had never even occurred to me honestly. So I’m sorry. And Sasuke You’re my best friend, it's impossible not to forgive you. I was mad last night sure, but I’ve calmed down since then and I thought about it and I really like living with you, I’d rather not go back to my apartment” Naruto replied with a laugh and Sasuke felt his face heat up, so he did the only thing he could think of and hid his face behind his bangs. 

“I mean if that's okay with you” 

“Yes! Yes, that’s fine.” Sasuke responded, probably too quickly, but Naruto’s face lit up all the same so it was okay. 

“Okay, well let me go tell Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san goodbye.” Naruto darted off and was back in a flash, untying his apron. 

“Okay, let's go home” Naruto replied with a grin. 

“Actually, I was thinking we could go to Ichiraku’s first. My treat, I’m starving.” Sasuke responded nervously 

Naruto’s entire face lit up like a kid on Christmas and he nodded furiously. 

“Okay! Ramen then home! Let's go!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly, already pulling Sasuke out of the house by the wrist. 

“I’m getting 3 bowls since you're paying!” Naruto announced and Sasuke snorted in response. 

He’d gladly pay for a thousand bowls of ramen if it made Naruto happy. 

*****

At some point during their walk to Ichiraku’s, their hands ended up together, fingers intertwined and Sasuke couldn't even find it inside himself to be nervous. 

He was just glad he got his best friend back. 

Chapter Text

“Come on Naruto. Focus” Sasuke scolded for the 4th time that day. Naruto laughed nervously and scratched at his face. 

“I’m trying Teme! It's just so hard!” He whined before he looked away. Sasuke groaned in frustration before stalking back over to the target and pulling the 2 kunai that Naruto had managed to get on the target. 

On his way back, Sasuke snatched up the other two kunai that hadn't made it and thrust all 4 of them at Naruto. 

“Try it again. And aim for the center of the target dobe.” Sasuke stressed and Naruto growled. 

“I said I am! This is really hard you know!” Naruto replied as he threw another kunai, only to miss the target by a mile. It clanged off of a nearby tree and clattered to the ground. Sasuke rubbed his temples. 

It had been 5 days since the fight where Sasuke got jealous and of course, Kakashi had to help out with the preparations for the chunin exam, so he hadn’t been able to train Sasuke anymore and Jiraiya had left on some kind of other ‘research mission’ and just Ugh. why were they hosting it this year?? 

So, with nothing else to do, Sasuke had drug Naruto out to do the only thing he really knew training. 

Today's training was target practice, which, Naruto, quite frankly, sucked at. 

Sasuke jerked his head up at the familiar sound of a kunai landing on wood and he stared in shock as one of the kunai sat dead center. 

“Yahoo! I did it!” Naruto cheered and Sasuke couldn’t help but crack a smile. 

“Yeah, but that was just one. Usuratonkachi, you’ve gotta land all 4 kunai on all 4 targets within seconds of each other. That's the objective here.”Sasuke explained and Naruto pouted. 

“I just don’t see how it's possible,” Naruto whined and Sasuke rolled his eyes before retrieving all four of the kunai. He lightly shoved Naruto out of the way and took his place. 

Sasuke threw out all four kunai at the same time and grinned as they all landed dead center on their targets, almost simultaneously. Naruto’s jaw dropped open. 

“How did you? Ugh! Why are you so perfect?!” Naruto exclaimed, frustrated. 

He stomped over to grab all of the kunai out of the targets before dramatically stomping his way back to where Sasuke stood. 

Naruto didn’t seem to notice the deep blush spreading across Sasuke’s face, or at least if he did, he didn’t mention anything. 

******

The sun was getting low in the sky when Naruto finally managed to hit every single target spot on. 

The moment he did, he turned to Sasuke, jumping up and down and screaming “I did it! I did it! Did you see that Sasuke?”

Sasuke couldn’t help but nod and grin. Naruto’s enthusiasm was contagious. 

“that was decent” Sasuke commented and Naruto’s face lit up. 

“Yay! Does that mean we can go to eat now? I’m starvinggggg” he whined and as if to punctuate his sentence, his stomach growled. Sasuke rolled his eyes and shrugged. 

He couldn’t ever say no to Naruto’s famous puppy face. 

“Sure, let's go ahead and head home,” he replied, already walking away. 

****

They were halfway home when the sudden rustling of a bush put Sasuke on high alert. 

His hand immediately felt for a weapon and he jumped when a kid came flying out of the bush with a rawr. 

The kid crashed directly into Naruto and they both would have tumbled to the ground if it hadn’t been for Sasuke sliding behind Naruto to steady them both. 

Haha! Did I scare you boss?! The kid asked Naruto expectantly. Naruto chuckled slightly before yanking the kid towards him and ruffling his hair. 

“Scared me shitless” Naruto replied and Sasuke rolled his eyes and chuckled. Naruto turned back to look at Sasuke.

“Hey, Sasuke, I don’t know if I ever introduced you to Konohamaru! Konohamaru, this is Sasuke. My best friend!” Naruto grinned as he introduced them. Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment and Konohamaru’s eyes lit up in excitement. 

“Woah, You’re Sasuke?!” He asked. Sasuke blinked owlishly before nodding slowly. 

“Naruto-nii talks about you all the time! He says you can breathe really cool fireballs! Is that true? Can you do it for me?!” He asked, excitedly crashing into Sasuke and grabbing the front of his shirt. Sasuke almost choked at the ‘ Naruto talks about you all the time’ part and found himself wheezing. He blinked down at the kid in front of him. 

“Uh yeah. I can uhh make fireballs. You want uh, me to do it now?” Sasuke asked, clearly confused. It was literally just fire. It wasn’t anything spectacular. Naruto could create hundreds of shadow clones at once and this kid was asking Sasuke to breathe fire? Granted, it had taken him forever to learn it, but still. His entire family could… well... Had been able to do it. 

“Konohamaru, leave Sasuke alone. He’s probably tired, we just got back from training. He can show you another time. You can come to the training field with us!” Naruto jumped to Sasuke’s rescue, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. Thank god. He was bad with kids.

“Awh, okay boss! Anyway, I gotta go! It's almost dinner time and I can’t be late again!” Konohamaru was already running away, head turned back over his shoulder as he waved at them. 

Sasuke sensed it the moment that Konohamaru rounded the corner up ahead. The strong unfamiliar chakra of other shinobi. 

Probably other participants in the exams. 

Sasuke looked up just in time to see Konohamaru stumble backward and land on his butt. Almost immediately, a hand shot out and grabbed the front of Konohamaru’s shirt and lifted him off the ground. 

One glance at Naruto and they both spurred into action, Sasuke already pulling out a kunai. 

They both slid around the corner simultaneously. Standing in front of them was a girl and a guy, the girl had blond hair up in 4 spiky pigtails. She looked exasperated and standing next to her was a guy in an all-black jumpsuit with what looked like a mummy strapped to his back , his face was covered in purple face paint and he had Konohamaru up by the throat, well front of his shirt but same thing.  

“Let him go!” Naruto screamed, hands almost but not quite forming the hand signs for his shadow clones. There was an anger in Naruto’s eyes that Sasuke hadn’t seen since the Wave mission. 

The guy with the purple face paint laughed as Sasuke raised his kunai. 

“You’ll put him down if you know what’s good for you.” Sasuke threatened and the guy with the purple face paint raised an eyebrow. 

“Will I now?” He asked laughing. The blonde behind him rolled her eyes. 

“Kankurō, just leave the kid alone. We don’t want to get in trouble here before the exams” the blonde said offhandedly and Sasuke grit his teeth. 

“As if Temari. I’m not gonna kill him, just… have a little fun is all” Purple face paint, what had she called him? Canker? Kangaroo? Whatever. Anyway, whatever his name was turned his attention back to Konohamaru, whom he still had up by the front of his shirt. 

Sasuke threw his kunai and couldn’t help but smirk as purple face paint barely managed to dodge. 

Blood bubbled out of a small cut on his face. He dropped Konohamaru, who ran directly to hide behind Naruto , and turned his glare onto Sasuke. 

There was a faint clicking noise as face paint slid the mummy-like figure off of his back and swung it around planting it on the ground in between himself and Sasuke. 

Sasuke got ready to activate his Sharingan. 

“Kankurō. That’s enough” a steely voice said from behind Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke turned and his jaw dropped open. 

Sasuke had only sensed the two other shinobi, the boy and the girl. He hadn’t sensed this new guy at all. 

The new addition to the trio looked wild, he had short scruffy red hair and pale skin. There were dark dark bags under his eyes like he’d never even heard of the word sleep , but what interested Sasuke the most was the scar above his left eyebrow. There was kanji carved into his forehead. Idly, Sasuke wondered what it said. He’d have to try to look it up later. 

The redhead stepped forward.

“Hey, Gaara! What's… what's up? We were just talking you know. Trying to get to know the--” face paint stuttered out. Was he afraid of the redhead? The kid was barely Naruto’s size, face paint had him severely outmatched. Hm. 

“Shut up.” the redhead interrupted face paint. The redhead, Gaara? Turned towards Sasuke. “What’s your name?” he demanded. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. 

“Sasuke Uchiha” if the redhead recognized the name, he said nothing. In fact, the redhead didn’t reply at all, only pushed past both Naruto and Sasuke. 

“Wait, what’s yours?” Sasuke demanded. 

He’d be damned if this kid was going to ask his name and not provide his own in response. 

“My name is Gaara. I look forward to destroying you, Sasuke Uchiha” Gaara replied, menacingly. Sasuke narrowed his eyes further. 

“Dontcha want to know my name? Huh?” Naruto asked excitedly. The redhead turned and looked Naruto up and down before narrowing his eyes, “I couldn’t care less” he replied before turning and starting to walk away. Naruto’s jaw dropped open. 

“Hey! You bastard!” Naruto started forward, but Sasuke grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt easily. “Don’t” Sasuke replied firmly. Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes but relented all the same. 

Once they’d double-checked that Konohamaru was alright, they walked him home and then made their way to Ichirakus. 

******

“God that guy just makes me so mad!” Naruto exclaimed, throwing his hands up and almost spilling his miso. Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he did have to agree. 

“Yeah, I agree with you there,” Sasuke responded, but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t looking forward to fighting him during the exams, Gaara. 

*****

The next day was uneventful. They met up with Sakura to spar a little in prep for the exam. Sometimes, you just had to practice with other people. 

Sakura had definitely improved. Sasuke would be lying if he said he wasn’t at least a little bit proud of her progress. She wasn’t great, but she could hold her own in a fight now. 

At the end of the day, all three of them were exhausted. 

Sasuke’s side ached, Sakura landed a good hit to his ribs. 

He was sitting up, slightly hunched over helping Sakura bandage a gash on her upper arm. Naruto had got her with a kunai.

A small bit aways, Naruto was sitting up against a tree, holding his balled up shirt up to his nose. Sasuke had managed to get in a good hit on him. 

Using scissors, Sasuke cut the end of the gauze that he’d wrapped around Sakura’s upper arm and taped it down. 

“Done” He grumbled, a hand automatically moving to touch his side, as if that would make the pain subside. 

“Uh, thanks” Sakura responded quietly, a small blush prominent on her face. Sasuke nodded mutely before very slowly pulling himself to his feet. 

He helped Sakura up, then, went over to pull Naruto up to his feet. 

“Do you two want to uh, come over for dinner?” Sakura called from where she was still standing. She hadn’t moved since Sasuke had helped her up. Sasuke looked at Naruto, questioning. 

“My moms uh making Miso Soup?” Sakura called once more and the moment Sasuke saw Naruto’s eyes lit up, he knew it was over. 

“Sure, we just need to shower and change,” Sasuke responded. Sakura smiled a million-watt smile. “okay! I’ll go ahead and head home and shower too and let mom know you two are coming!” She said excitedly. Sasuke nodded once and then headed over to Sakura to help her pick up her medical bag. 

She was really into medical jutsu these days. Sasuke supposes that's a good thing, what with Naruto on their team, someone was bound to get hurt.

They waved at each other as she started the walk back to her house from the training grounds. 

“Sakura’s changed,” Naruto notes, voice stuffy from his bloody nose and fingers laced behind his head in his familiar walk. Sasuke blinks a few times. 

“Yeah, she has,” Sasuke responds quietly. 

They walk the short ways back to the Uchiha house in silence.

*****

Sasuke expected the dinner with Sakura’s parents to be awkward, after the incident where he came to apologize to Naruto , but it's not. Her parents are kind and understanding and Sasuke briefly wonders if his parents would’ve come with him to dinner at the Haruno’s. 

Probably not, his father was always so strict and uptight, but his mother might have. She was kind too, she probably would’ve gotten along with Mebuki-san. 

After dinner, Naruto’s nose started bleeding again, so Sakura took him to the bathroom to clean up and help him stop the bleeding while Sasuke offered to help Sakura’s parents clean up the kitchen. Mainly, he just wanted to ask them some questions. 

“Uh, Kizashi-san Can I ask you a question?” Sasuke asked while he was clearing the table. 

“Sure Sasuke, go ahead.” He replied, getting to go containers out of the cabinet. 

“Did you know an um… Minato?” Sasuke asks carefully, trying to sound nonchalant. There's a loud clatter as Mebuki-san drops the plate she's holding. She puts her hands on both her cheeks in surprise before dropping to the floor to pick up the plate. Kizashi-san looks much calmer about the question. 

“The fourth Hokage’s name was Minato if that’s the one you’re referring to” Kizashi-san replied waving his hand around. There was an edge to his voice, an uncertainty. Sasuke knitted his brows together. 

He was sure that Kakashi had said Minato…

“Did uh, did the fourth have a kid?” Sasuke asked. At that question, Kizashi and Mebuki shared a look before Mebuki-san cleared her throat. 

“Well, his wife, Kushina was pregnant, but they both passed away during the nine tails attack 13 years ago,” Mebuki-san replied softly. She and her husband shared another look and Sasuke couldn’t help but let his curiosity grow. 

“Do you know what happened to the baby?” Sasuke asked, now curious more than ever. 

Could it be possible that the fourth Hokage was Naruto’s father?? 

But, if so… why would the village treat him so terribly? 

“Unfortunately, no one knows. I’m sure he passed away with the fourth and his wife.” Mebuki-san responded, strained. Sasuke blinked and opened his mouth to ask another question when he was cut off by Sakura and Naruto reentering the room. 

“Sorry it took so long guys, Naruto kept squirming around, I almost punched him in the nose again to make him be still,” Sakura said with a laugh. Behind her was a very annoyed looking Naruto, with tissues shoved up his nose. 

His orange jacket was stained red in the front and Sasuke could see where a bruise was forming on the skin around Naruto’s nose. 

Damn, he’d really hit him hard. Ouch. 

“Hey! I was squirming because you were hurting me!” Naruto cried out. Sasuke snorted at how whiny and high pitched the tissues in Naruto’s nose made him sound. Sakura responded with a roll of her eyes and a  punch to his shoulder. 

“Hey! That hurt! Mebuki-san, Kizashi-san your daughter is being mean to me!” Naruto cried out once more. Sakura’s eyes flashed and within seconds, Naruto was darting across the kitchen to hide behind Kizashi, while Sakura surged forward to punch him again. 

Kizashi crossed his arms in front of his chest as Sakura neared him. 

“Now Sakura-chan, that's no way to treat your teammates” He scolded, but there was no hiding the devious smile he had plastered across his face. Sakura’s face turned sour within seconds. 

“But dad!” Sakura started, “No ifs ands, or buts, you will be nice to your teammate’s in this house young lady.” He said sternly. Sakura stomped her foot in annoyance and Kizashi’s facade broke and he burst out into laughter before pulling her close and ruffling her hair, to which she began loudly protesting. 

Sasuke watched in mild amusement as she wiggled around in her fathers grasp in a vain attempt to get out of it. 

Sasuke didn’t get another chance to ask any more of his questions, but that was okay. 

He would just look it up later, now that he knew what he was looking for. 

*****

“Sasuke!!!! Wake up!! You gotta get ready!” Sasuke jolted awake as Naruto threw his whole weight on his stomach. Sasuke wheezed out a groan and was met with Naruto’s laughter. 

“Todays the day!!” Naruto said excitedly, rolling around on Sasuke’s stomach. Sasuke groaned again and pushed Naruto. 

Satisfied with the loud thump Naruto made as he fell off the bed, Sasuke finally drug himself out of bed and stretched. 

He was halfway through a yawn when something, Naruto, grabbed his ankle and dragged him down to the floor. 

He yelped. Naruto laughed maniacally as he scrambled up from the floor and ran out of the room. 

Sasuke scrambled up off the floor and took off after Naruto. 

Sasuke ended up chasing Naruto into the kitchen and around the table. After chasing him around the table about three times, Sasuke growled and leaped upon the table, tackling Naruto to the floor. 

He dug his fingers into Naruto's sides and started to tickle him.

Naruto screeched and laughed loudly. His arms were thrashing around. Just as Sasuke started to slow down, Naruto flipped their positions and started to tickle Sasuke. 

Sasuke tried not to laugh, he really did, but soon enough he was snorting loudly and screeching. He managed to flip their positions again and pinned Naruto’s hands to his side. 

They were both breathing heavy and Sasuke found himself staring at Naruto. 

The dark purple bruise around his nose was fading and now it was an ugly yellow color, almost the same color as his hair. Which was wet, he must've showered already. 

“Uh, Sasuke?” Naruto asked quietly, bringing Sasuke out of his trance and making him realize that he was inches away from Naruto’s face and oh god was he about to kiss him?

Sasuke scrambled up off of Naruto faster than lightning. He was sure his face was about as red as a tomato right now. 

“I’m going to shower.” He blurted before turning on his heel and stomping away, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto still laying on the floor. 

Sasuke threw the shower on and jumped in before the water had even started to warm. 

He gritted his teeth and in a fit of frustration, slammed his fist into the wall. 

What the fuck was he doing?! 

Today was the day, the day of the exams and he had to go and do what exactly? Try to kiss Naruto? 

Sasuke groaned aloud and lightly banged his forehead on the wall. 

‘This is going to be so fucking awkward.’ Sasuke thought as he climbed out of the shower. 

******

Naruto was still in the kitchen when Sasuke returned. 

“I made breakfast, we don’t have a shit ton of time, but if you eat fast we should be able to meet Kakashi-sensei and Sakura-chan on time” Naruto chirped as he turned and held out a plate of onigiri to Sasuke. ‘ Kakashi will probably be late’ Sasuke thought in his head, but he didn’t voice it aloud.

He blinked and accepted the plate from Naruto slowly. Honestly, Naruto didn’t even seem all that fazed from the almost kiss earlier and for that, Sasuke was relieved. 

He didn’t think he could survive being super awkward with Naruto right before the exams. He was nervous enough as is. 

Sasuke plopped down at the table and started to eat, within a few minutes, Naruto seated himself across from Sasuke and dug into his breakfast. 

******

They met Sakura outside of the testing building, she was twisting her fingers together and looking nervous as hell. 

“Good morning Sakura-chan!” Naruto called waving. She shot back a nervous smile, “Morning Naruto… Sasuke-Kun” she replied. 

Naruto and Sasuke both came to a stop next to her and all three of them stared up at the building in front of them. 

“Phew, it looks scarier somehow” Naruto mumbled, staring up at the building. Sakura nodded along with Naruto. “Hn” Sasuke grunted. 

Sakura turned back to them. 

“What do you think Kakashi wanted us to meet him before the exam for?” Sakura asked. Sasuke shrugged, “Probably nothing since he’s always late. I wouldn’t be surprised if he left us waiting out here all day.” Sasuke responded dryly. He still couldn't meet Naruto’s eyes, he was too embarrassed. 

“Maa, my students have no faith in me whatsoever” Came a voice from above. Sasuke glanced up and immediately fell backward because there was Kakashi, hanging upside down from a tree. Ugh. showoff. 

“Sensei!!” Sakura and Naruto exclaimed at the same time. Kakashi chuckled and hopped down, up?? From the tree and landed on the ground in front of the three. 

“Maa, I just wanted to wish you guys luck and all.” Kakashi drawled, shrugging. He reached out and ruffled Naruto’s hair, earning him a loud ‘Hey!’ 

Kakashi started to walk away, but then he turned around. 

“Oh, and try not to die,” He said, visible eye crinkling up like he was smiling. 

Sasuke’s blood ran cold. 

“I’m sorry what?” He asked but it was too late, Kakashi had already flickered away. 

“He was… joking right?!” Sakura asked, panicked. Naruto just shrugged. 

“We aren’t going to die. We’re the best ninja team in the village! We got Sasuke and his Sharingan, You and your book smarts, and me with my awesomeness! We can’t fail!” Naruto exclaimed, throwing a fist in the air. 

Sasuke just barely resisted the urge to tell Naruto that ‘awesomeness’ couldn’t protect him in a battle. 

Sakura met Sasuke’s eyes over Naruto’s shoulder and Sasuke couldn’t help but grin as she comedically rolled her eyes.

“Hn, come on Dobe. We gotta go register first.” Sasuke muttered, still grinning slightly. 

“Okay! Then let's go guys!!” Naruto exclaimed excitedly and in a flash, he’d grabbed both Sasuke and Sakura’s hands and started to drag them towards the building. 

Sakura, naturally, wrenched her hand out of Naruto’s grip, preferring to walk on her own, but Sasuke found that he couldn’t do the same. So, he just let Naruto pull him into the building. 

Here goes nothing. 

Chapter Text

As Team 7 stepped into the exam building together, the first thing Sasuke noticed was how many people were there. 

He swallowed hard and glanced around, trying not to let his face betray how nervous he really was. 

Naruto tugged on Sasuke’s hand, oh. That’s right, they were still holding hands , and Sasuke allowed himself to be drug across the floor, towards the desk where they had to go to get their classroom assignments. 

Sakura, not wanting to be left behind, grabbed a hold of Sasuke’s sleeve. 

Together, they weaved through the throngs of people, and maybe it wasn’t the best that Naruto led because he was far too… erratic for this, but finally, they reached the desk. They got in line. Naruto still hadn’t let go of Sasuke’s hand. In fact, he was swinging their hands together as he prattled on about what he thought the test would be like. 

“Ahhhh. I really hope we’re all in the same room! I’d feel better if both of you were there with me” Naruto whined. Sakura snorted and rolled her eyes. 

“You just want me there so you can cheat off me” she replied and Naruto snorted. 

“Duh! You’re the smartest one on our team!” Naruto exclaimed with a grin. 

Sakura’s face turned bright red and she looked away mumbling something that sounded vaguely like ‘dumb Naruto’ 

“Ahem” someone cleared their throat and all three of their heads shot up. Oh. It was there turn. 

The elderly lady looked up at them over her glasses disapprovingly as Naruto hurried forward. 

“Name And date of birth?” She asked. 

“Naruto Uzumaki And October 10th!” Naruto said excitedly. The lady behind the desk did not look amused. 

Sasuke felt anger bubbling up in his chest at the slight disgusted look in the woman’s eyes. 

Her eyes combed over Naruto and she raised an eyebrow when she saw they were holding hands still. 

Naruto quickly dropped Sasuke’s hand with a nervous laugh and a blush. 

Sasuke felt a pang of disappointment as Naruto let go, but he ignored it.  

She turned her attention back to the files on her desk, thumbing through them before she finally pulled a sheet of paper out and read it aloud. 

“Naruto Uzumaki.” She examined Naruto over her glasses for a second before finally holding the paper out for him to take. 

“You’re in class 3-67c, on the third floor. Give this form to your proctor before you enter the classroom. You can head up there now.” She replied in a monotone voice. Naruto nodded and accepted the paper before hurrying off to stand at the side to wait for Sasuke and Sakura. 

“Name and date of birth?” She asked Sasuke. 

“Sasuke Uchiha. Uh. July 23rd” Sasuke replied, mouth suddenly dry. 

Something along the lines of recognition passed across the lady’s face before morphing back into her dead stare. 

She thumbed through the files once more before pulling out his paper. 

“Sasuke Uchiha” She parroted before holding the paper out to him. 

“You’re in class 3-45c. I assume you heard me tell your” She cast a disapproving glance back at Naruto before resuming, “ boyfriend, what to do with this?” 

Sasuke’s ears were on fire and he was sure his face was bright red. He nodded wordlessly instead of correcting the woman and accepted the paper before scurrying off towards Naruto. Behind him, he was sure he heard Sakura snicker. 

“Hey Sasuke! Why’s your face all red?” Naruto asked. 

“It’s nothing. Forget it.” Sasuke replied, a little too harshly, but Naruto, thank the gods, never seemed to be affected by Sasuke’s fowl mood swings. This time, he just laughed and threw his hands up. 

“Okay, sheesh. I won’t ask. Anyways, what class are you in?!” He asked, rocking back and forth on his heels. 

Sasuke double checked the paper, mostly because he’d forgotten, what with the sound of all of his blood rushing to his ears. 

“Uh. 3-45c.” Sasuke mumbled, not looking up at Naruto. 

“Awhhhh man! I was hoping we were in the same room!” Naruto whined with a stomp, he looked over Sasuke’s shoulder and his face lit up. 

“Sakura-chan! What room are you in?” He asked eagerly. 

Sakura checked her paper again, “room 3-78c” she responded. 

“Mannnn! This is so unfair!” Naruto cried out, causing most of the surrounding examinees to turn to stare at them. 

Sasuke felt his face flushing again so, panicked, Sasuke grabbed both Sakura’s and Naruto’s wrists and started to pull them in the direction of the stairs. 

“Let’s just go” he mumbled. 

****

‘Whoever designed this building needs to be put down’ was all Sasuke could think as he stepped off the first flight of stairs. 

Who separates the stairwells?? Why isn’t there just one?? Why? 

They’d gone up the stairs to the second floor, but the stairwell to the 3rd floor was at the other end of the hall? 

‘ Why me? What did I do to deserve this?’ Sasuke asked himself as he started to lead Sakura and Naruto, he’d let go of their hands already, down the hall, but 3 steps in he was hit with what felt like an invisible wall of jello. 

Why does the air feel different here? What’s happening? 

Sasuke cast a glance back at Sakura, who seemed to sense it as well. 

Genjutsu? He mouthed, questioning.  Sakura nodded and brought her hands up to release it, but Sasuke quickly grabbed her hand and shook his head. 

She nodded and let her hands fall back down to her sides. 

Naruto, completely oblivious to his teams silent conversation, continued to trudge along. 

“Hey! Let us through!” A voice echoed down the hall. Sasuke looked up, just in time to see a kid in a horrific green jumpsuit, with a horrible bowl cut and literally the biggest eyebrows he’d ever seen, stumble backward and fall on his ass. 

A course of yells came up from the crowd surrounding him. 

Sasuke looked up from jumpsuit to see who’d pushed him and sure enough there were two guys standing in front of a door reading 3-74c. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. There’s no way they were on the third floor already. Definitely Genjutsu. But why? Just to fuck with them?

Who does that?

“Move out of our way.” Another voice coldly addressed the two Shinobi blocking everyone’s path. Sasuke followed the voice to see a leaf ninja, whom he’d never seen before , with long brown hair tied back at the bottom, and milky white eyes, not really unlike Hinata’s. 

“Oh? What’re you going to do about it?” The Shinobi with the longer hair challenged. 

“Hey. Why don’t you just drop the act” Sasuke called out. The longer haired Shinobi scoffed and glared at them. Sasuke glared right back. 

“What are you talking about kid?” The shorter haired one borderline snarled. 

“Sakura.” Sasuke started before looking back at Sakura, who startled 

“Uh right!” She said before putting her hands together

“Release!” She said and the wall behind the two Shinobi began to ripple. 

The numbers above the door changed to be ‘2-37b’ “You used Genjutsu to make it look like this is the 3rd floor to trick everyone so they’d be late for their test.” Sasuke said, smirking. 

The long haired one narrowed his eyes. 

“Why you” he swung and Sasuke was ready to counter, but there was a flash of green and someone stopped his hand. 

It was green jumpsuit kid. 

“That’s enough.” He said. Sasuke blinked. 

How had he stopped that? 

“Lee. Let’s just go. We wasted enough time here arguing” the boy with the moon eyes said. Jumpsuit blinked up at his friend? Teammate? Before saluting. “Yosh!” He said before clambering up and following moon eyes. 

Everyone else was walking down the hallway, towards the stairs. When Sasuke turned back, the two Shinobi that had been blocking the door were gone. 

“i don’t understand? What just happened?” Naruto asked. Sasuke sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose and Sakura snorted. Naruto was so oblivious.