So, writer's block is absolutely killing me. In an attempt to get past it and/or give myself a creative boost, I'm just writing other stories!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

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The Secrets We Hold

Chapter 1

Naruto walked down the street to his apartment still full of energy and excitement from their last mission. Though it had eventually become A-Rank, the journey with Tazuna the bridge builder had thoroughly boosted his confidence in himself as a newly appointed Genin.

He made a point to stop by Ichirakus' to get his free bowl of ramen with the coupon he'd retrieved. As pumped as he was, there were two problems that were bothering him and he hoped his favorite food would help, though it only filled his empty stomach.

The first thing that was on his mind as he walked back to his lonely apartment was the immense power he had felt from the Nine-Tails. He knew it had ultimately saved him and Sasuke by giving him the strength to defeat Haku, but it came with a price. The rage and hatred that accompanied such chakra worried him, and he could see that Kakashi had kept a close eye on him ever since.

The Kyuubi's will had started to overtake his own, urging him to fight mercilessly, and destroy the person who he thought had killed his friend. He'd been able to stop his rampage at the last moment, preventing himself from delivering the final blow to the sad boy. But would he be able to curb that almost insatiable bloodlust again? Naruto honestly didn't know.

Then there was Sasuke himself, the blondes second and almost more concerning issue. Seeing his rival take what he believed to have been his final breath was what had unleashed such unchecked anger in the first place.

Naruto knew he had feelings for the Raven, and had since the first time he laid eyes on him when they were children. His crush had steadily grown throughout their time in the academy and had only gotten worse when they became teammates.

The blonde looked up at the night sky, the pale moon glowing like Sasuke's soft skin, the dark, starless night reflecting the boy's black empty eyes. If he wasn't careful, anything could remind him of his rival, constantly bringing his thoughts back to the stoic teen.

Naruto sighed as he opened his apartment and kicked the empty ramen cups out of his way. No matter which way his mind tried to twist it, he knew he'd almost lost control because Sasuke came so close to death.

The blonde picked up their team portrait and stared at the Raven's irritated face, knowing that he could have been staring at a fallen comrade's photo had anything gone differently.

After they had started to head home, he had almost told Sasuke how worried he'd been about him, but Sakura was latched onto his arm the whole way, and the Raven simply tossed his head and ignored him whenever he spoke, just like always.

Naruto growled softly and set the picture back on his nightstand and crawled under his messy covers. "I can't ever lose it like that again. Sasuke would never want to be with me; he can't even acknowledge me as his friend or rival. It's obvious he thinks I'm weak, that I'm some nuisance that he happened to get stuck with during team formations."

***Time-Skip: 1 Week***

Naruto stood on the bridge looking at the flowing water and waiting on his teammates to arrive. They were probably just going to spar today, and once again, he'd be paired with Sakura so Kakashi could train Sasuke. He was so focused on the glistening surface that he didn't notice the Raven's arrival.

"Are you sick dobe?" the elder asked, his voice bored.

The blonde blinked a few times in confusion but soon realized his hand was firmly pressed on his stomach. Naruto quickly yanked the appendage way from his torso and cursed himself; he'd been thinking about Kyuubi again.

"Even if I am sick, I'm still strong enough to take you on teme" he retorted, turning back to lean over the railing.

Sasuke snorted some, but came and stood next to him, their elbows almost touching. Naruto could feel the cold heat coming from the teen, and his stomach tightened. It took all his self-control not to look over at his crush; he was sure his eyes would give away how nervous he felt.

"So, you defeated Haku?" the Raven questioned.

"Yeah, what of it?" Naruto shot back. They hadn't been alone together since the incident, and even though it pained him, he had to admit that Sasuke was very smart. If he wasn't careful, his rival would find out what lurked inside his stomach and would hate him even more.

But the Raven didn't push further, he simply said 'hn' and stayed where he was until the other two arrived.

"Mah! Sorry I'm late, there was an elderly woman who needed help with her bags!" Kakashi chimed happily when he finally appeared. "Naruto, you work with Sakura on chakra control and Sasuke and I will continue to spar with his newly awakened Sharingan."

The blonde rolled his eyes but did as he was instructed. No matter how hard he tried it was like he couldn't get his own chakra to behave like it should, and Sakura would be the best to help. However, they were in clear view of the two sparing and it distracted him greatly.

Naruto had asked his pink-haired teammate about the visual prowess and was under the impression that it enhanced the wielders ability to predict an opponent's movements. But Sasuke was using his left leg for almost every defense and attack, even when it wasn't the best option.

Though he'd been using all his determination to forget the Raven, he couldn't stop his worry. Sasuke should have been all healed from their mission, and even if he wasn't, the teen never would have let something small impede his training.

With the sun starting to set, the four shinobi began to disperse. Sasuke walked slowly towards his apartment, still favoring his non-dominant leg ever so slightly. If Naruto didn't watch him so frequently, he'd never know that it was occurring.

The blonde had initially thought that Sasuke was trying to strengthen his left side, but now that they were not doing any training, there would be no reason for his shifted weight. After considering his options, Naruto went for the bold move like always.

"Hey, Sasuke! Wait up!" he shouted, running after the cold teen.

"What do you want dobe?" the Raven asked, giving him the usual glare.

Naruto glared back, but didn't lose his nerve, "is there something wrong with your leg?"

Surprise and fear crossed through Sasuke's dark eyes before he sent a punch straight into Naruto's cheek. "Just mind your own damn business loser" he growled lowly, stalking off directly after.

The blonde rubbed his bruised face and bit back his insults. It hurt him that whether he was being abrasive or considerate, Sasuke treated him equally as bad. Nothing he could do would change the outcome of their conversations, but he'd be damned if he let this go.

Whatever was wrong with the Raven was important enough for him to hide vehemently, and Naruto swore he'd get to the bottom of it.

This time, he followed Sasuke at a distance, using new stealth techniques he'd learned to hide his chakra, though the Uchiha was so upset he doubted he'd notice him anyway.

Naruto hopped up into a nearby tree when the Raven disappeared into his apartment complex and waited for him to walk by the window. But what he saw moments later disturbed him more than anything had previously, not even the villager's hurtful stares and words had made him feel so sick to his stomach.

***Time-Skip: 1 Month***

Naruto finished cleaning his apartment, doing his laundry and showering right as the sun began to rise in the pure blue sky. He could never sleep well during the month of October, and training at night was dangerous since he was the Kyuubi vessel. So instead, he'd done everything else under the moon to keep himself busy.

As he left his house, his mind once again went to Sasuke, and the scene he had witnessed just a month earlier. It went against his nature to not say something, but he knew all about dark secrets, and couldn't help but feel it wasn't his place to intervene.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shrieked, slamming her fist into his head. "You really are annoying you know that? I've been trying to get your attention since you stepped onto the bridge!"

The blonde rubbed his head tenderly and apologized until he noticed Sasuke was staring at him as well. He pulled his hair down farther to cover his eyes, pretending to still be nursing the large bump.

Sakura cleared her throat, "anyway, Kakashi left us a message that he won't be meeting us here today, but it has instructions for what we need to do."

Naruto took the paper from her hand and decided the world was created solely to spite him. He was supposed to spend the whole day with Sasuke, running various errands for villagers while Sakura completed her own alone in the woods.

"Ne, Sakura, do you want to switch with me? I can do your list if you want to go with Sasuke" Naruto offered.

Both of his teammates were surprised; they figured he'd insist on having Sasuke work on the solo list so he could be with Sakura, or at least start yammering about outdoing the Raven on their tasks.

He averted his deep blue eyes and rubbed the back of his head nervously, trying to find some reason for his behavior other than the truth.

"No Naruto, Kakashi left specific instructions for us to follow, and made sure to underline who we had to work with. This is probably just another one of his teamwork exercises so get used to it" Sasuke scolded.

The Uchiha kept a fast pace for the first hour of their walking, nearly knocking people over if they were unable to move out of his way quickly enough. Normally, Naruto would have called him a bastard, or questioned his behavior, but found that he couldn't.

Not only was he still deeply concerned for his rival, but tomorrow was his birthday, and the villagers were giving him nasty looks. He wouldn't dare call out the Uchiha in front of them right now, not when everyone's hatred was so inflamed from the anniversary of Kyuubi's attack.

The list Kakashi had given them mainly consisted of work to help get Konoha set up for the festival. The first task was to assist various shop owners with moving heavy items onto the street so they could be bought by people just walking by.

But every store they stopped at ended with Naruto being kicked out, leaving Sasuke to do most of the actual work. The Raven's irritation only seemed to increase with each new citizen they encountered until he finally couldn't stand it.

"Why did you try to switch with Sakura?" Sasuke asked, breaking the tense silence between the two.

"Because she likes you and I'm pretty sure I've vandalized all these places before so I would have been more help doing her list," Naruto replied.

"You've declared your feelings for Sakura endlessly and then pass up the opportunity to work with her? I don't believe it." The Raven pushed.

The blonde sighed deeply. "What's it to you?"

He dreamed of getting to hang out with Sasuke without having anyone else around to bother them, but now he was wishing that anyone, even Sakura, was there to hold his attention.

Sasuke stopped walking and gave Naruto the glare of a lifetime. He opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by a particularly intoxicated villager.

"Y-you *hiccup* demon! Ge-get out of *hiccup* Konoha!" the man screamed, throwing his empty bottle at the blonde.

Naruto tensed, but stood still as the glass connected with the back of his head and shattered, cutting the skin and dying the usually golden locks red. He almost flinched when Sasuke grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to an alleyway.

The Raven examined the gashes, his hand still tightly clasped to Naruto's arm. "What the hell was that about?" he hissed, carefully moving the hair around to get a better look.

The blonde shrugged and yanked himself out of the Uchiha's death grip. "Like I said, I messed up a bunch of these people's shops so they don't like me. Let's just get this over with okay?"

A vein in Sasuke's neck looked like it was just about to burst, "so you're a coward and a liar."

Naruto scoffed and pushed past him, only to have another, heavier, bottle come flying towards him. Again, he didn't attempt to dodge the attack, but the Raven pulled him backward, causing the glass to wiz past his head and explode on the wall.

"Come on dobe, we're going to my house to get your head cleaned up" Sasuke commanded, practically dragging him up the wall so that they could avoid the streets.

"I don't need your help Sasuke" Naruto explained when the Raven sat him down at his kitchen table.

The Uchiha ignored him and started looking through his hair for the cuts that he had noted needed stitches. To his shock, most of them were already healed, any embedded glass having been pushed out as well.

When Naruto felt his friend pause he gave a soft, humorless chuckle, "I told you, I'm fine. I've always recovered really quickly remember?"

"Stop lying to me Naruto!" Sasuke shouted, finally losing his temper. "You knew this was going to happen and that's why you tried to get Sakura to switch with you. Why were you attacked? Why do all the villagers always treat you like-"

"How about we don't get into things neither of us wants to talk about alright?" the blonde interrupted, sounding more down that usual. He stood and walked to the door, deciding he'd just return home and let his teammates finish their mission.

"It's because you have Kyuubi inside you, isn't it? That's what you've been hiding; that's why everyone thinks you're a demon." Sasuke asked quietly, his voice shaking some.

Naruto let go of the doorknob and slowly turned around to face his teammate. When he met Sasuke's accusing eyes, his own anger boiled to the surface. "Keep your damn mouth shut Uchiha, or I'll just spill your little secret too" he warned, pointing towards the elder's leg.

The Raven's face became unnaturally pale, understanding what the blonde was threatening to do. "You followed me home?" he questioned.

As soon as Naruto saw the fear in Sasuke's face, his defensiveness began to fade and guilt replaced it. He turned back to the door and walked out in the hallway. "Your secret is safe with me, even if you tell everyone about mine. Sorry I snapped at you Sasuke…" he called back as he left.

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Thanks for reading the first chapter! I know there wasn't a whole lot of action, but I'm thinking next chapter might have a bit of something going on… not sure yet though!

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