A big thank you to everyone who came over from Hatsukoi; I hope you enjoy your time with this fic just as much, even if it's not quite to fluffy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with it. All rights to Naruto belong to Masashi Kishimoto and the other proper entities.

Summary: Sakura had been by his side since he lost his family, following him around since they were seven years old, trying to ease his loneliness in whatever way she could. He didn't even know why he allowed it. He just silently allowed her to claim the seat next to him at the beginning of every term.

Rating: M

Genre: Friendship/Romance

Pairings: SasuSaku / eventual light NaruHina

Rays of Spring Sunshine

Chapter Four

It was a joke.

Their so called 'survival exercise' had been nothing but a mind game on Kakashi's part, and Sasuke wanted to barbecue the mask right off of his face.

"In the world of shinobi," Kakashi had said, "those who break the rules are trash. But, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

That was just Kakashi's personal opinion. The first thing they'd learned in the Academy, of course, was that the mission took priority. Shinobi didn't have the luxury of putting their friends before their mission; that was just the way it was. Yes, it was beneficial to work in groups, but human beings were, at their core, selfish creatures, and they wouldn't go out of their way to help a teammate if it didn't directly benefit them.

Case in point—Sakura had completely forgotten to untie Naruto when they left the training ground.

Sasuke just hadn't done it because he hadn't cared.

Flush with their success, Sakura chattered away at him as she followed him through the market. He hadn't invited her along, but they were both still hungry after completely unnecessarily skipping their breakfast and then having their lunch interrupted by Kakashi, and all the decent restaurants were in the same part of town.

They were passing by the ramen stand, Sakura considering their choices aloud, when she finally remembered their idiot teammate.

"Oh, no!" She cried, slapping a hand over her mouth. "We completely forgot to untie Naruto!"

"You forgot." He pointed out.

"We have to go back—!"

"If he's got anything close to half a brain," Sasuke cut her off, "he'll figure it out." They had, after all, been taught how to escape ropes in the academy.

Sakura looked worried. "Still, it wasn't exactly very nice, just leaving him there…"

"Why do you suddenly care?" He raised his eyebrows. "You were all about ditching him yesterday."

"There's a big difference between not wanting to hang out with someone and leaving them tied to a post!" She argued.

He shrugged, hands in his pockets. "Whatever." He turned on his heel and strode forward into one of the smaller cafes nearby. He wasn't surprised when she didn't follow him; her conscience often got the better of her.

Naruto was irritating.

Sakura let a long breath out of her nose as the blonde boy dragged her into Ichiraku's ramen bar, excitedly chattering away at her. She cursed herself for not making her excuses as soon as she'd cut the ropes holding him to the pole, but he'd looked at her with such a sunny smile that she would have felt like kicking a puppy if she'd said no to his request to hang out.

Besides, after her fight with Sasuke yesterday, she'd done a lot of thinking. Maybe she could stand to be a little nicer to Naruto. They were teammates now, and in it for the long haul. Life was going to get very difficult, very quick, if she didn't learn to at least get along with him.

And, after Sasuke had sneered the word annoying at her, she'd realised she'd done to Naruto what Sasuke did to her all the time. She pretended it didn't hurt when he called her annoying, and most of the time it didn't, but when he was particularly venomous about it, it was like her stomach vanished and her heart squeezed painfully in her chest. It wasn't a pleasant sensation. She didn't like the idea of causing that feeling in anyone else. Even Naruto.

Of course, if he didn't shut up, she was probably going to punch him.

And he ate like a pig, too, she noticed when they settled on stools and placed their orders. Sakura had eaten at Ichiraku's once or twice with her family, and knew the food was good. But the way he inhaled it like it was his last meal made her stomach turn a little. Halfway through her bowl—as much as she would let herself eat on her new diet—she gave him the rest and he looked at her like she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

"I have to go." She told him, slightly uncomfortable. "My parents are going to want to hear how the mission went." She lied. Neither of her parents would be home; her mother had an afternoon shift at the hospital and her father had left on a three-day mission to one of the neighbouring villages that morning.

"Oh, okay." He grinned, not perturbed in the least. "See you tomorrow for training, Sakura-chan!"

"Yeah, bye." She all but fled the restaurant, shaking her head at him.

She had no idea how she was going to survive this. Their sensei didn't take them seriously at all, and Sasuke was far more skilled than she was. The only real thing she had going for her was that she was smarter than Naruto, but that wasn't likely to help her in a fight. Even the idiot had an ace-in-the-hole that could help him out of difficult situations.

At some point, she needed to have a long chat with Kakashi-sensei and see if he could help her improve. She liked to think that training with Sasuke all those years had helped at least a little, and she was far from the worst kunoichi in her class. There had to be something that she could do to prevent her from falling too far behind the boys.

She meandered home at her own pace, looking forward to a long bath and changing into her pyjamas. It was only mid-afternoon, but she was tired after having been up at dawn. Her mother would wake her for dinner, she was sure.

Naruto trudged to his empty apartment, feeling optimistic. He was finally a shinobi! He had a real team! And, he preened to himself, Sakura-chan had actually spent some time with him!

All in all, it had been a good day. Sure, Kakashi-sensei didn't take him seriously. Sure, he'd gotten caught cheating. And sure, the others had walked away and left him tied to the post. But, it was still a better day that he was used to having. And now that he was a real shinobi, his team would recognise him and he'd earn their respect! It was already working on Sakura-chan, if her behaviour was anything to go by.

Still, he glowered at the thought of Sasuke. He and Sakura-chan were already close friends. He wondered if he could ever fit in there. He didn't understand what was so great about him anyway—he was a surly-looking boy who never so much as cracked a smile. Sakura-chan, Naruto nodded to himself, deserved better friends than that. She was pretty, and bright, and kind. Sasuke, the bastard that he was, was often mean to her for no reason. Naruto didn't get why she forgave him all the time.

She wasn't like the other girls at the Academy. Sure, she didn't like Naruto, just like everyone else, but she also didn't just hang all over Sasuke like a parasite. She was nice to most people, except maybe Naruto and Ino. And she was so smart, she usually got first or second place on their written exams—same as Sasuke.

Naruto might have had the lowest scores in the class, but he wasn't dumb. He knew both his teammates were smarter than him. And with them already having that bond of being long-time friends, Naruto's job of fitting in was going to be hard.

And Kakashi-sensei wasn't so bad. He might have been lazy and dismissive, but at least he didn't look at Naruto with eyes filled with hate. Not like Mizuki-sensei had the other night in the forest. Not the way all the other grownups other than Iruka-sensei and old man Hokage did. He didn't take any of them seriously, though.

But!

Naruto was determined to make the best of things. This was just his first step to becoming Hokage someday.

Their first mission was a babysitting job.

Kakashi practically ignored the two brats they were supposed to be watching in favour of his little orange book, and Sasuke seethed.

Sakura had taken charge of the baby, at least, sitting on the rug in the living room of the family home, tickling the little girl's feet and smiling as the baby giggled at her. Naruto was chasing the three year old around, shouting that he was going to wallop the boy if he didn't sit down and shut up.

"Moron." Sasuke grumbled as Naruto tripped on the edge of the rug and fell down next to the baby. His flailing hands barely missed slapping her in the face. Sakura screeched and snatched the infant up, cradling her to her chest protectively as she glared daggers at Naruto.

"Watch what you're doing, you idiot!" She hissed, bouncing the shrieking infant in an attempt to calm her down. "Sensei," she said plaintively to Kakashi, "Naruto almost hurt Mei-chan!"

"Be more careful, Naruto." Kakashi said absently, turning a page.

"Yeah, well, that little shit won't listen to me!" Naruto cried, jabbing his finger at the kid who was laughing uproariously.

Sasuke sighed in annoyance, scooping the kid up and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, ignoring the squawk of protest and tiny feet kicking him in the chest. "Who would?" He bit caustically. "You've never got anything important to say."

Naruto spluttered after him as Sasuke dragged the kid out into the back garden and set him down, letting him loose in the yard. The kid—what was his name? Sasuke hadn't really cared to listen—took off toward a swing set, and Sasuke sat on the steps.

This was stupid. This was not what he'd signed up for when he graduated from the Academy. This was a waste of fucking time.

"All genin start with the most basic missions." Kakashi had lectured them that morning, when Naruto had made a fuss about the type of mission they were assigned. "It builds discipline. You've got to learn to work as a team and follow orders."

Sasuke understood that. Taking orders was a part of the shinobi lifestyle. He didn't particularly like it, but it was a necessary evil in the career they'd chosen for themselves.

But, really? How the fuck did watching someone else's brats build discipline? The only thing it was building in Sasuke was a mounting impatience.

Some of the other missions the Hokage had listed off had at least sounded like they would provide physical activity. Pruning a tree would have required them to climb it. Fixing a bridge would have required them to heft supplies and hammer things into place. Hell, even running errands around the village would have let them run about and practice their agility. But Naruto had bitched and complained about every single option, until the only one left was the babysitting job.

He was fairly certain Kakashi had accepted it to punish them. Why he and Sakura were being punished for Naruto's idiocy, he had no idea.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura poked her head out the back door. "It's time for Kenta-kun's nap. Can you bring him inside please?"

Sasuke sighed, glaring down at the child, who had heard the word 'nap' and started throwing a tantrum. This 'mission' couldn't end fast enough.

Kakashi sighed.

The three brats that he called his students hadn't stopped bickering all the way to the Hokage tower. Though he affected an air of nonchalance as he reported the mission complete to the Hokage, he felt his covered eye twitching with impatience at their antics. Twice, the boys had picked fights with each other today. And the girl was no better; she picked on Naruto for his immaturity in a high, nasally voice that put his teeth on edge.

Not for the first time that day, he wished he'd just failed them on the bell test.

"Naruto, don't mouth off to the Hokage!" Sakura brought her fist down on the blonde's head, scowling. Sasuke stood with his hands shoved in his pockets, deliberately ignoring his teammates as they acted up. Kakashi could feel the irritation coming off him in waves, though.

"Such a spirited bunch." The Sandaime chuckled at their antics, causing Sakura's face to burn as she shrunk in on herself in embarrassment. "They bring to mind another old genin squad, don't they, Kakashi?"

Kakashi let out a breath through his nose. "I'm not sure what you mean, Hokage-sama." He lied smoothly. He knew. Of course he knew. But he wasn't Minato-sensei and didn't have the patience to deal with this.

The Hokage let him have his lie. "Very well. You're dismissed for today. There will be another mission for you in two days' time."

Kakashi marched his students out of the building, fighting the urge to slap his hand over Naruto's loud mouth.

On to the Land of Waves arc next chapter.