Two months of being a high school graduate and Sasuke was completely sick of it. Of course, as an Uchiha, he had passed with flying colors and numerous academic awards. However, also as an Uchiha, he was doomed to taking on the family business like his father and his father's father (and so on) before him. By a lucky coincidence his brother Itachi would have been destined for this fate but one day over family dinner he oh-so-graciously offered the inheritance of the lousy position to his darling little brother and Sasuke coincidentally was too busy choking on his dinner in surprise to object. He recalled his mother saying fondly, "Dear, I thought you were just overwhelmed with emotion."

And thus far his fate had been sealed. Anyone would've killed for the stability of a job for the rest of their life but Sasuke loathed the thought of it. There was not one thing in Konoha that made him compelled to continue living there. Before Itachi forced him into a life-long contract he had hoped to ride a scholarship as far away from home as possible and never look back.

Already his father Fugaku had begun teaching him everything there was to know about running the family business. It just so happened that the Uchiha family owned nearly every patch of farmland in northern Konoha and as such, they all too eagerly raised every smelly animal Sasuke couldn't stand. Of course perhaps he was biased as he had grown up with the lingering smell of manure just outside the walls of his home every day of his life and may have developed a bit of resentment towards the beasts. Honestly, he much preferred the agricultural end of the spectrum that his family name was also famous for, but since his mother had been extremely fond of animals, their father had made sure their home was close to a nice big ranch filled to the brim with smelly, grass-fed beasts.

It wasn't the worst predicament to be stuck in. Sure it would take some getting used to being someone's boss when he'd never really held a job of his own. He'd have to get used to being addressed as 'Mr. Uchiha' and being respected by working class men that were double his age. The company's good name would depend on how he ran it once his father retired and ultimately died. It was a hefty burden to bear but what made it all nearly unbearable was that by the end of the summer, Naruto Uzumaki would be gone.

The blonde in question just so happened to be a few feet away from Sasuke, fanning his face with a magazine to cool off in varying states of dramatics. "If your family is so rich why is your house so damn hot?" Naruto groaned, stretching in the uncertain computer chair at Sasuke's desk. Sweat slid down the blonde's smooth jaw line, leaving unpleasant droplets all over the legs of his pants. Sasuke tried not to pay attention to every quiet splat. "I know they say money can't buy happiness but it could at least buy an air conditioner! This is misery; true misery." For a moment or two, Naruto teetered on the chair, frowning grimly to himself in thought. "Does this mean you've been lying about your family this whole time? Are you really just dirt poor farmers digging at a field that can't even grow weeds?"

Sasuke shot him a bland look, sighing in his own state of dramatics. "If that were true, I'd be going with you in August." The thought sent a shiver of pessimism through him. He hated the idea of his family holding him back and somehow that's exactly what he'd been roped into. He could've been a neuroscientist or the first man to walk on a newly discovered planet (or more importantly he could've been Naruto dorm-mate or class-mate or something!) but instead he was destined for a lifetime of his surname being stamped in tiny letters on every egg in the grocery store. The company logo everyone looked at every morning on a carton of milk instead of the sad picture of a lost child on the opposite side. Right about now Sasuke wished he was one of those missing children, then at least he could follow Naruto to Suna University. He hated to pout, he truly did, but his current situation seemed horrible enough to warrant it.

"Okay I get it, it sucks that you're stuck here." Naruto piped up quietly, his eyebrows raised to himself as if surprised he'd managed to say such a thing. "But we've still got the whole summer to spend together, you know!" The blonde reminded him brightly. The mischievous glint in Naruto's sapphire eyes made Sasuke miss him already. In a few months time those clever eyes of his wouldn't be looking at Sasuke anymore.

They were the unlikeliest of friends. Sasuke came from an obnoxiously rich family and grew up knowing nothing but the countryside besides the hour long car ride into the city for school. Naruto's family on the other hand was next to nonexistent ― his parents had both died long before he and Sasuke had ever met. His only family to speak of was his god-father Jiraiya who was absent more often than he was present though by no fault of his own. And unlike Sasuke, Naruto had been born and raised in the metal jungle of the city, never straying too far from a ramen shop. It must've been by destiny that he and Naruto had been thrust together in their unforgiving high school.

It had only taken one desperate cry of, "I'll never remember these damn equations!" from Naruto that he had gotten Sasuke's attention. Really, he'd had his attention already. There was just something about him that Sasuke liked ― he had this precise cunning in his eyes as he read over the mini exams they were presented. And when he burst out with something so foolish and uncool, Sasuke couldn't help but laugh at him, having completely misjudged him. They'd developed a quick academic rivalry soon after.

There wasn't anything left to be competitive about anymore ― Naruto was clearly the winner. Sure Sasuke had been presented with dozens upon dozens of acceptance letters and invitations to universities but Naruto had been the only one to take the next step and write back to his ― something Sasuke couldn't do. It was an unfortunate truth but truth nonetheless.

"What do you think Jiraiya will do without you?" Sasuke asked coolly, uncrossing and recrossing his legs restlessly.

"I don't want to talk about that right now." Naruto answered quietly, flashing a hard smile. This had struck a cord as Sasuke knew it would. Something in him compelled him to push the blonde into staying but privately he knew it was useless. Naruto was leaving come hell or high water. Brushing the unanswered question aside, Naruto climbed to his feet, smiling from ear to ear. "Now, how about we go chase around the chickens? They seem like they need a little excitement in their lives, with a stick-in-the-mud master like you."

Sasuke was less than thrilled but he followed after the blonde loyally nonetheless, as if tied to him by an invisible thread. He'd heard incredulous whispers behind his back all through high school about how he, The Mighty Uchiha was a proverbial lapdog to Naruto but it didn't bother him half as much as it should've. As far as anyone else should be concerned, he was merely establishing an important business partnership. In all honesty, he knew he must've looked a little pathetic but he was too fond of the Uzumaki to care.

Outside, Sasuke could already hear the animals stirring excitedly as soon as Naruto crossed the threshold of the backdoor. Naruto had a knack for animals but that wasn't saying much because it seemed like he had a knack for a lot of things as long as there wasn't much math involved. In all honesty, he was a hard worker, extremely sociable, and good-looking to top it all off. He'd probably be able to fit in anywhere and succeed. Sasuke admired the blonde but he couldn't always be happy for him when that success was leading him farther away.

"I'm jealous," Naruto piped up, holding a quietly clucking hen in his arms. "I'd love to be able to eat fresh eggs, I bet they're tastier than the ones that sit on the shelf and get cold at the grocery store."

Sasuke shrugged, stepping closer to give the old hen in his arms a gentle pat. "You have to rub them down first, you can't just eat them as soon as they come out." Thinking of hens laying eggs usually made words like 'cloaca' and 'excrement' come to mind, thoroughly ruining Sasuke's appetite. As to not spoil the mood however, he kept the thought to himself.

"Mr. Uchiha! I finished cleaning the stables and feeding the horses!" Called a voice somewhere in the distance, evidently near the horse stables. A white dog sprinted across the field towards them with reckless abandon. "Is there anything else you ― oh, it's you Sasuke."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in amusement as Kiba Inuzuka's shit-eating smile evaporated off his face in an instant. Evidently he'd been expecting a different Uchiha that warranted more ass-kissing, perhaps Itachi or their father. The latter seemed more likely, as Itachi had become quite flighty without the threat of responsibility looming over his head. Sasuke both envied and loathed him as of late.

"Off to go see Shino, I suspect?" Sasuke said mildly, Kiba clenched the plastic bag in his fist a little tighter and didn't reply. Kiba and Shino Aburame, their no-nonsense bee-keeper, had been hired around the same time and had an odd sort of friendship, bordering quite literally on puppy-love from Kiba's end. Whether Shino had realized it yet or not, Sasuke didn't know. However he took immense pleasure in poking fun at Kiba for it, exploiting his "secret" affection for Shino, though it was blatantly obvious to everyone around them. "Hey Naruto, do you think Shino's a good match for Kiba?"

Naruto had long since knelt on the ground, cooing softly to Akamaru, Kiba's furry companion. He didn't indulge either of them with his attention, content to converse quietly with the little white dog.

Kiba's cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment. "We're just friends! Colleagues! Co-workers! Peers!" Kiba tried to explain, flustered.

"Oh spare us, Kiba." Naruto said, rolling his eyes at Kiba's wave of defensiveness. "You've been chasing after him for months. Why would you go see him every day after your shift if you didn't have a thing for him? Do you even like honey?"

Kiba turned his nose up at the blonde, apparently insulted that he had the audacity to ask. "As a matter a fact, I do."

"Yeah, about as much as Akamaru likes catfood." Sasuke put in quietly, watching as Naruto erupted with laughter. He loved making the blonde laugh. It always felt less tense when others were around because Sasuke's unfortunate strength was playing off the weaknesses of others. It was no fun being good at making jokes at the expense of others when there was so much more he wanted to say to the blonde that seemed infinitely harder to get out.

To Sasuke's surprise, Naruto piped up, "Can we come with you?"

Kiba paused for a moment, perhaps weighing his options of possibly being rude in front of the future head of the company or becoming the butt of a joke in front of his crush. Perhaps it was vain of Sasuke to believe that was what Kiba was thinking but such train of thought had become common with the employees as of late.

"I guess so." Kiba agreed finally, sighing. His agreement seemed connected moreso to Naruto's puppy dog eyes and pouting lip than anything else.

"Why do I have to wear this stupid thing?" Naruto grumbled, peering down at the ridiculously large, heavy suit he'd been forced into wearing for their visit. "Stop laughing, Kiba!"

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the sight of Naruto in an enormous bee-keeper's outfit, while Kiba snickered beside him. "Because I don't want you to be catatonic by the time we get out of here; you're allergic to bees. Besides, I think it looks great on you."

"I hate you." Naruto answered, trying his best to hide his smile.

Bee-keeping was a relatively new branch in the Uchiha company, one that Sasuke hadn't been particularly excited about. He'd always hated getting stung by bees as a child and he assumed having bees on his property would eventually lead to perpetually getting stung. So far there hadn't been any incidents but the thought of putting Naruto in harm's way made him feel ill.

The small building they were approaching had been built just for the bee-keeping workers, most of which were members of the Aburame family. The Aburame family were some of the most celebrated entomologists of the decade, most notably the prodigy Shino Aburame. The family had helped introduce, breed and rear several new species of honeybees in record time and had become an extremely valuable part of the company already.

It was Kiba that scampered to the door first, leaving a few hard knocks on the door before straightening his shirt and rolling his shoulders in an attempt to ease his tension.

A quiet but stern voice from the other side called, "Come in."

The three crossed the threshold, Naruto held tightly onto Sasuke's arm as to not trip over his own feet. This was not a room for falling over. The walls were lined with glass jars filled with honey, varying from shades of gold and brown to amber and red. In the center of the room in front of a counter top island stood Shino Aburame, holding a container that appeared to have two buzzing, bouncing honeybees within.

"You brought friends." Shino observed, not exactly acknowledging any of them. To be honest, Sasuke wouldn't have been able to tell if Shino was looking him dead in the eye from behind the young man's pitch black sunglasses.

"I hope that's okay with you!" Kiba barked out, grinning like a fool. Naruto smiled smugly and elbowed Sasuke to get his attention, pointing. Kiba's grip on the plastic bag he'd brought with him was even tighter, Sasuke was surprised the handle of the bag hadn't torn in two already. "I brought you something today."

Shino gave no indication that he'd heard or had any interest but Kiba persisted, his nervous smile never leaving his face. Kiba lifted up the bag in question and sat it on the counter top, pulling the bag down to reveal the contents within. A small (puny, really) green plant sat proudly in a clay pot. "It's mint. It's f-for you, well, for the bees, I just thought it would be nice, I heard bees like it but if they don't you could always put it in your food, but if it could help in any way that would make me really ― " Kiba rambled, until Shino reached across the counter to gently grab the puny mint plant from Kiba's hands, silencing Kiba in an instant. Naruto looked at Sasuke with wide, excited eyes.

"Thanks." Shino said simply, setting the plant down on his side of the counter and returning to the container of bouncing honeybees. While Kiba's smile had only grown wider, Naruto looked disappointed. Perhaps he'd been hoping for a love-stricken confession or an abrupt and clumsy kiss. Unfortunately, their relationship didn't seem to be at that level yet.

"What are you doing with those bees, anyway?" Naruto piped up, not allowing silence to overtake the room.

Shino lifted his head, as if he'd forgotten Naruto and Sasuke had come in with Kiba. He answered with little to no feeling at all, "I'm researching which breed of bee will kill the other first." Sasuke imagined it was to know which bees species can live near others but it was hard to tell, when Shino was a man of such few words.

Either way the puppy-love spell on Kiba seemed to have broken for a moment, for Kiba announced abruptly, "We should probably get going." Ushering the two out, he called politely over his shoulder, "Have a nice day, Shino."

"Thanks." Was Shino's muttered reply.

As the trio wandered back towards the ranch and Sasuke's home, Naruto removed his bee-keeper mesh hat to more obviously smirk at Kiba in case the Inuzuka hadn't noticed. He had, he'd just been trying his best to ignore it.

"'I heard you liked b-b-bees and shit, Shino. Let's like bees and shit together sometime...'" Naruto teased, following the brunette with a spring in his step. Sasuke followed after, silently. Though he had teased Kiba relentlessly lately for his little infatuation, he couldn't help but envy the guy. At least he had the courage to reach out to his crush and initiate something. While Sasuke was extremely fond of Naruto, he shuddered at the thought of dropping any hints. They were friends but something told him they were doomed to stay that way.

"I'll get you back for this, Uzumaki." Kiba growled, glaring off into the distance to avoid looking into Naruto's gleaming grin. "Just you wait. When Sasuke starts bringing you flowers and chocolates, I'm going to rub it right in your damn face."

Sasuke froze, awestruck at the words that had tumbled so carelessly out of the Inuzuka's mouth.

"Sasuke?" Naruto laughed, glancing back at raven-haired boy still frozen in awe. Sasuke couldn't quite read his expression though he wasn't sure he wanted to know what the blonde was thinking. "Why would he do that?"

"Tch. You really are thick." Kiba scoffed, smirking coyly to Sasuke's absolute fury, a mirror only to Naruto's expression. Catching a glance at their twin glares, the brunette sprinted into the distance, Akamaru yapping excitedly at his heels.

"Not as thick as your mom's chest hair!" Naruto called after Kiba. Sasuke thought perhaps the conversation was over, until Naruto grabbed hold of his wrist, dragging him into a run as he chased down the cackling brunette. Sasuke struggled to keep up, his feet stumbling after Naruto's impish grin. He'd follow that smile to the end of the earth if he could.

The drive from Sasuke's home to Naruto's was always excruciating. Sasuke liked to think he was good at keeping conversation but the threat of saying the wrong thing and having to endure an hour drive of silence was always very intimidating for him. This stigma didn't seem to affect Naruto, however, for he chattered away with no end in sight for most of the drive. It wasn't unpleasant but Sasuke often found himself unable to keep up, so he usually focused on the road and nodded or made a sound of affirmation when it seemed right.

"Jiraiya keeps saying that high school is a walk in the park compared to college, but if he could get through it it can't be that hard." Naruto said decidedly, though after a short pause he added a bit uncertainly, "Right?"

Broken from his trance on the road, Sasuke cleared his throat and answered, "Right." His hands tightened around the steering wheel, trying to find the right words though it seemed he'd automatically answered and lost his chance. With a small glance he realized Naruto was still staring at him patiently. "Well, you can drop classes if they're too hard or the teacher is an ass, so you won't be stuck with a shit teacher all semester like in high school." He offered. "And students are more serious so you won't have a hard time finding a study-buddy or anything."

Naruto nodded, smiling privately to himself, though Sasuke caught it out of the corner of his eye. "Hopefully some country bumpkin will transfer in and study with me, like in high school." Naruto said teasingly, though his smile faded a little as if the words had turned sour as they escaped his mouth. "Lightning usually doesn't strike twice though."

"Thinking of replacing me already?" Sasuke asked flatly. There was no malice in his tone but the words felt heavy on both of their shoulders.

Naruto chose to ignore his pouting, though whether it was an admission of truth or to spare Sasuke's feelings, Sasuke did not know. He found no pleasure in asking, so he didn't. "We should have a great summer." Naruto answered quietly, almost in the breath of a whisper as if it were a precious secret. "A summer we'll always remember. Don't you think?"

Sasuke nodded, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. They had passed into the city limits, the roads now framed by the somber light of the street lamps. Naruto's bright eyes bore into him, awaiting an answer with a bit of impatience. Of course Sasuke agreed, but his brain buzzed with a new-found ambition, an idea that made his heart race.

He would tell Naruto how he felt. The blonde couldn't leave their home town without knowing that Sasuke had the most frantic, stupid crush on him in the world. 'By the end of the summer,' Sasuke promised himself, stealing a fleeting glance at Naruto before his eyes returned to the road. The blonde's house was only just up ahead.

"Of course." Sasuke finally choked out, baring his teeth in some semblance of a smile. The thought of confessing to his best friend made him ridiculously nervous.

Naruto stared at him uncertainly, baffled by the Uchiha's smile. "Are you okay?" He asked cautiously. "You look like you're in pain."

Sasuke scowled, his smile erased into its usually downward position. "I'm excited for our last summer, that's all."

The car came to a smooth stop in front of Naruto's apartment complex. Their eyes met, Naruto's smile was strangely absent. He climbed onto the curb without much sound and shut the door, though he knocked on the window gently, expectantly. Sasuke rolled down the window in turn. "Free up your schedule." Naruto said simply, flashing him in impish smile that Sasuke had been so hoping to see. "Our fun starts tomorrow."

As the boy disappeared into his complex, out of Sasuke's sight, the brunette sat in the driver's seat of his car, doing his best just to breath. Their days together were numbered but goddammit he would make them count.

A/N: I've been working on this for ages and plotting for even longer. I won't make any promises for an update schedule because then all my author notes will be filled with apologies uwu;; I hope you enjoy the ride.