A/N: Hello, people! Thank you for the reviews, favs and follows!

I don't own Naruto.

I have no beta.

ENJOY!

Naruto was feeling guilty over the death of Haku, which was a big problem for Sasuke.

His dobe was walking around with a sullen expression and a dark cloud hanging over his head. It wasn't his fault that the boy decided to jump in front of a very dangerous attack and take the hit for his master. So why the hell was he so damn depressed over it?!

The Pink Menace wasn't making it any easier. She kept bringing the situation up and Kakashi had to keep shutting her up. It was annoying.

Not only was she breaking his dobe's heart, she also dared to latch onto Sasuke and ask for a, he shuddered, date.

Naruto's lack of cheer made everyone around him depressed. It was like the dobe was the sunshine that kept them all together and when he was down, so was everyone else.

Sasuke sighed in relief as they finally entered the village and Kakashi dismissed them to go and make the mission report.

He headed for the Uchiha district and was surprised to see that Itachi was home. Entering the house, he removed his shoes and sighed. He could relax now. Maybe.

Itachi leaned out from the kitchen doorway. "I am quite certain that C-Rank missions don't last three and a half weeks, Sasuke," he said with a raised brow.

Sasuke sighed and followed his brother into the kitchen, where the Anbu Captain was cooking.

"It ended up being an A-Rank because the client withheld important information."

"Oh?"

The younger Uchiha nodded. "With the intervention of the Demon Brothers, Zabuza Momochi, his apprentice and Gato, there was no way to continue labeling it a C-Rank."

Itachi had froze at the mention of Zabuza and immediately turned around to survey his little brother's health. Sasuke had to distance himself from the Head by walking around the table and staying there.

"And did anything interesting happen on this mission?" Itachi asked when he realized that Sasuke didn't want to be touched.

"We found out our elemental affinities."

"Hn."

Obviously, that meant 'elaborate'.

"I have fire and lightning, which are equal. The Pink Menace has earth. Naruto has Wind and Water at equal power as well."

Itachi looked at his little brother out of the corner of his eyes. He had said Naruto, not dobe. Hn.

"And did Kakashi start you on elemental training already?"

"Yes. Naruto and I finished the first steps quickly, though I have to take him out for Ramen because he beat me and we had a bet," Sasuke grumbled, shaking his head. He didn't want to think of all that Ramen yet.

Again, he had called the blonde by his name. Interesting.

"Anything else to note?"

Sasuke shrugged and thought back to the mission. "Oh, I got my Sharingan. Two tomoe as well."

Itachi nodded, having been expecting it to happen some time in the near future.

"How is your Medical Training coming along?" he asked, turning back to his whisking.

"Well. With the Sharingan, I can learn a lot faster now. I'm already able to heal certain levels of injuries and tomorrow, I plan on going to the hospital and getting a medical license. They'll give me a test and how well I do will determine what ranking I will receive as a Med Ninja."

Sasuke was sure serious about being a medic. He had already gotten to the point where he would have to go in for testing in order to be labeled a true Medical Ninja. And he was intending on doing it as soon as possible.

"You had a very interesting mission then. Better than my first C-Rank. A simple delivery with nothing interesting to happen. You receive an escort that bumps up in rank and you face many foes."

Sasuke smirked.

"Supper will be ready soon. Get cleaned up."

"Hn."

Sasuke smirked as he left the hospital. When they had seen him going in there to take the medical test, many had asked why. He had simply replied that he wanted to and with a fierce glare, was able to get past the annoying women who tried to glomp him and into a separate room to take a test packet that they provided.

It was twenty pages long and over five hundred questions. Sasuke surprised them by being the first Genin to take the test and by being the first person under the age of eighteen to take the test. Finally, he shocked the doctors and medical ninjas by getting ninety percent of the test correct. That was four hundred and fifty questions that he passed perfectly.

Because he did so well in the written exam, he was able to immediately go on to the next exam, which was a chakra test, to see how much he could heal.

So, they gave him a large dead fish and told him to heal all the cuts on its body.

He finished that quickly and they moved on to a few other animals, until he finally got annoyed enough to mention that he had healed his sensei on their last mission.

With this, the medics wanted to see such a thing for themselves and went so far as to elect someone to cut themselves with a kunai and have him demonstrate. He did so easily and was told to do so on a much larger scale.

When he finally finished that test, he was beginning to run low on chakra, since he had healed the same person fifteen different times and fixed several different sized injuries.

The final test was to see how well he could 'see' with his chakra.

He had to examine someone's body and 'see' what was wrong with them internally.

That test took a little longer than he thought it should have, but he was relieved when he stated that the person's lungs were deteriorating from smoking too much.

The doctors and medics went over his combined testing, looking at time, efficiency, intelligence and chakra reserves. Since he wasn't panting from overexertion yet, they determined that he had good control and higher than normal reserves. Something he already knew.

The head doctor came over a half an hour later with a card for him and he took a hold of it carefully. On it, was his ninja registration photo and his birth date, the time he had to renew the license and his rank.

He managed a B-rank. Which meant that he could go out on Chunin and Tokubetsu Jonin squads for missions as a Medic. There weren't a lot of Medical Ninjas and the village had to make do with what it had.

After bowing and thanking the man, Sasuke left, intent on finding the dobe.

It wasn't hard. The dobe was at his favorite Ramen stand, talking with the owners. Sasuke went in and sat at the bar, right next to the blonde.

"Teme!" he smiled slightly.

"I owe you Ramen, don't I?" Sasuke asked, trying to lighten the blonde's mood.

It worked. Naruto immediately faced the chef, "Three bowls of Miso to start, Teuchi-Jiji!"

Sasuke sighed, "Two Miso for me as well, please?"

"Five Miso coming right up!"

Naruto was gaping. "Are you feeling okay? You never eat that much!"

"I was just in the hospital getting my medical license. I used a lot of chakra and am very tired."

He flushed when the blonde leaned over and began rubbing his back. To hide the evidence of the red, Sasuke pretended to place his head on his folded arms in a movement of false fatigue.

There was a snicker and the Uchiha looked up to see the waitress, Ayame, smiling behind her hand at them.

She knew. He didn't know how, but she did.

That...was...not...good.

After a moment of silent staring, Sasuke turned his attention back to Naruto, who was still rubbing his back.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"I can ask the same question."

Naruto frowned, "Sort of. I'm just sad. You don't know this, but I met Haku out in the woods one early morning, though I didn't know he was with Zabuza. He told me his story, and it's really similar to how I grew up, though not the same situation."

The blonde looked down as he recalled their conversation. "Kirigakure's Mizukage was 'purging' the land of Kekkei Genkai and Haku's mother was part of the Yuki Clan, though his father didn't know. One day, Haku noticed that he could make ice and when he went to show his mom, she slapped him and told him to never do it again, or else they'd be in danger. But his father found out, assembled a group of villagers and killed his wife. Haku had been so devastated, he lashed out and killed his father and the gathered men. He then ran, since he had nothing else. He lived on the streets and everywhere he went, people walking right by him without giving him even a glance. No acknowledgement. He was alone and unwanted. An then Zabuza came along and took him in. Trained him and gave him a purpose. I connected with Haku on his past, so it just saddens me to see him die without his dreams fulfilled. Well, I guess he did fulfill it. He protected his precious person with his life."

Sasuke understood now. The reason why Naruto was so depressed over the death of someone he didn't personally know, was because they had a connection. Similar situations and a bond, though small, was formed.

Though he wasn't one for touchy feely things, he sighed and said, "Remember what Zabuza said? 'I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you there, Haku.'. He believed that Haku went to a better place, so don't fret about it. I for one, think they're both together in the same pace and happy for the first time in years."

Naruto gaped at him and then threw his arms around the Uchiha. "Thanks, teme!"

He awkwardly patted the blonde's back, ignoring the giggles from Ayame.

"Five Miso Ramen!"

Naruto pulled away in order to gorge himself on his food and Sasuke sighed in relief.

Another minor problem solved.

Another C-Rank to add to their ever-growing list of them. Another trip away from the village done and over with. And he could finally get away from the menace!

Kakashi disappeared like normal and Sasuke slipped away from Sakura to join Naruto in heading for his favorite Ramen stand.

"Hey boss!"

Sasuke and Naruto both turned to see a small boy and two children heading their way.

Naruto was all smiles instantly. "Hey, Konohamaru! Who are your friends and what's with the goggles?"

The young brunette grinned and wiped his nose. "We're copying you boss! And this is Udon and Moegi," he answered, motioning to the other boy and then the girl.

Udon bowed a little, "I like math."

Moegi winked, "I'm the sexiest kunoichi in preschool!"

Sasuke gave the girl a bland look and waited for Naruto to say something. He didn't disappoint.

"Uh…you're a bit young to be sexy. Give it like eight years before you introduce yourself like that."(A/N: the preschool kids in Naruto are like 7 or 8. No kid that age should be claiming to be sexy!) He scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Nice to meet you two. So, where is your pervy Sensei, Konohamaru?"

"Oh...Ebisu-Sensei is now our Sensei together, but we ran away from him," Konohamaru grinned.

"You ran away from your specially assigned Sensei, when you could be getting better lessons than the kids in the Academy? Do you know the opportunity you are missing? Sure, he's pretty hopeless against me, but he's still a Tokubetsu Jonin for a reason. He knows things that the Chunin in the Academy don't and can really help you all out."

The three looked guilty and Sasuke was impressed at the maturity his dobe was displaying. Another unexpected response.

Naruto sighed. "Okay, how about I teach you something so you can't get in trouble for not learning today?" he proposed.

The kids started jumping up and down. "What are we going to learn, Boss?!"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, "Want to help me teach them Tree Climbing?"

"Hn."

Naruto grinned and looked back at the kids, "Okay! Teme, agreed! Let's go!"

"Follow us, Boss!"

The kids run off, making Sasuke and Naruto chase after them. Rounding a corner, Naruto and Sasuke saw Konohamaru slam into a cat dressed guy.

"Ow! That hurt you little punk!"

Naruto was moving faster than Sasuke could see and the next thing he knew, Konohamaru was on the ground and the cat guy was holding his hand. The Uchiha could see blood dripping from it and deduced that Naruto had probably thrown a kunai.

"You little shit!" the guys glared.

Naruto shrugged, "Your fault for one, picking a fight in a village that you are visiting, for whatever reason you're here and two, for picking on the Hokage's grandson. I can go and tell Hokage-sama right now what you did and I wouldn't be surprised if he declared war on Suna just for that. And I happen to know that Suna isn't doing very good on the military department, so you really can't afford to have the greatest of the elemental nations kicking your door down and taking you out."

The guy and the girl who Naruto had just noticed was behind him, both blanched. The girl raised her hands in defense.

"Forgive my brother, he's an idiot," she said with a strained smile.

Naruto nodded and motioned to his right, "What about that one?"

The girl and guy both looked up and went whiter than a ghost. The red-head standing upside down in the tree was glaring at them, arms folded.

"G-Gaara!" the girl stuttered.

He Shunshined in a swirl of sand and appeared beside the two.

Naruto noticed how they moved away from him and flinched as he moved. They were literally terrified for their lives around him. But why?

"You two are an embarrassment to Sunagakure," he intoned.

He then turned to the Konoha Genin and gave a small nod. "They are fools. Please ignore them. I do."

Sasuke frowned, "What are Suna shinobi doing here?"

The blonde girl scoffed, though she was still keeping an eye on the Gaara boy. "Have you been living under a rock or something?" she sneered.

Naruto glared, "Actually,we just returned from a four-day mission. So we aren't up to date with village happenings."

"Hn," Sasuke agreed.

Gaara turned to them and muttered, "Chunin Exams. What are you names?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who shrugged.

"Okay, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage."

"Sasuke Uchiha, Med Ninja."

The redhead nodded, "I am Sabaku no Gaara and these are Temari and Kankuro. Will you be registered for the exams?"

Naruto winced slightly, "I don't know, our other teammate is sort of….."

"Pathetic," Sasuke supplied.

Naruto smacked his arm lightly, "I was trying to be nice."

The Uchiha shrugged, "And I wasn't. Besides, she is pathetic and wouldn't be caught dead doing anything dangerous willingly."

"Unless of course, she was doing it for you, Sasuke-kun!" Naruto cheered in a high girly voice.

"You are walking on thin ice, dobe."

"Like you could even touch my amazing magnificence, teme."

That just made Sasuke want to do it. A dark smirk spread across his face, "Feeling lucky, dobe?"

Naruto shivered, "You're smiling. Am I about to die?"

Sasuke stepped closer, "No. That would not do well for my plans."

"Plans?"

Sasuke turned away and motioned for the children to follow him, leaving Naruto and three confused Suna Genin.

"Hey, wait teme! What plans?!" Naruto yelled at the Uchiha's back.

He then turned to Gaara and waved, "Sorry, but I have to find out what he meant. Hopefully, we'll see you in the exams. If not, good luck!"

"Hey, teme. I noticed your Taijutsu style has changed. What happened?"

Sasuke stopped his attack on the wooden post and turned to the blonde.

"It's similar to the Hyuga Juken, except I'm not hitting Tenketsu. I'm aiming for pressure points, not chakra points. If the correct number are hit, your enemy won't be able to move. I see the helpfulness in making sure your opponent can't use chakra, but what if they're better at Taijutsu than even you are. Making sure they can't move for several hours, just seems better than closing off chakra, to me at least. Anyway, I learned the pressure points from my medical training and I've decided to add them to my fighting style."

Naruto was nodding along, seeing how it could help.

"Teme, if you teach me your new style, I'll teach you how to make a Kage Bunshin. I think you have enough chakra to make four, before you'd collapse."

"What?"

"Kage Bunshin takes a lot of chakra. By making a sold clone, you are dividing your chakra in half. I have a lot of chakra, which allows me to make as many Kage Bunshin as I want. But most Jonin can only make about ten before they are wiped out completely. However, you have higher reserves than most people do and could probably pull one or two off without a problem."

Sasuke thought about it and nodded. He had planned on teaching the dobe his new Taijutsu anyway, but now he was getting something valuable in return. This was good.

"Okay dobe, created as many clones as you can and they are going to pair off after I teach you the basics."

A/N: Another one is done. Sorry about the wait, I started a FB page and got a few thousand likes in the past few days, so I've been trying to pimp it out to get more followers and such. I haven't been on FFnet in a few days.

How was it? Let me know in a constructive manner, please?

Check out my other Naruto stories. 'Diminishing Orange Flame'(Naruko/Kakashi), 'The Cicatrices Beneath the Veil'(Sasuke/Naruko) and 'He's a Girl?!'(Naruko/Shikamaru and Gaara/Naruko).

Ja ne! :D