Author's Notes: I'm all for strategy more so than I am for strength and special moves. To me a ninja's caliber should be measured by his brain power, not his brute force. So don't be mad if I focus more on this than I do on describing powerful kicks and punches. Besides, I know nothing about martial arts and don't feel like making up moves I have no idea are even feasible to do. Just warning everyone now: don't expect 'Dragonball' type fight scenes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To Catch a Gorilla

Naruto watched from the coverage of a tree as Sasuke arrive right at the appointed time. He found himself tsking under his breath. The dark-haired boy was punctual to a fault. Would it hurt him to be late just once? Apparently, yes. Shaking his head one last time, Naruto jumped down from his perch, landing directly in front of the taller shinobi. The two boys stared silently at one another for what felt like an eternity, until Sasuke could no longer take the ominous tension.

"Ready to lose, Dobe?" he asked.

Naruto smirked.

"You're the one who's going to lose, loser," he replied.

He watched as Sasuke's face relaxed slightly. He knew his typical response would heighten the avenger's confidence, allowing him to assume that Naruto was being his usual dimwitted self. No point in making Sasuke cautious and wary. After all, his ultimate defeat lied in his arrogance. What Naruto didn't know was that Sasuke had relaxed for a completely different reason. Yes, he was trilled that the younger shinobi seemed his usual self, but only because it meant that the blonde was speaking to him again.

Naruto grinned and backed away, until he stood several paces from the dark- haired gennin. Sasuke raised his fists and spread his legs in a defensive stance, eying his blonde counterpart with a hint of amusement. In his usual style, Naruto charged forward, brandishing his kunai. Sasuke smirked. The blonde's attacks were always so predictable.

Seeing Sasuke's grin, Naruto inwardly cheered. If it was this easy to fool the boy, then maybe he could just pull this off. As he sprung forward, Naruto called forth his shadow clones, who immediately surrounded the dark- haired ninja on all fronts. Sasuke expertly destroyed one after the other with either a punch of his fist or a kick of his leg. But the shadow clones replicated upon themselves, their number remaining constant despite the rate of their destruction. From the corner of his eyes Sasuke spotted an incoming kunai. Unable to dodge the knife due to the surrounding clones, Sasuke tossed his kunai instead, effectively defecting Naruto's dagger.

Summoning his chakra, Sasuke released a chidori large enough to obliterated the rest of the shadow clones. Just as the dust around him settled, he saw Naruto spring into the air, sending a spray of metal darts down on his head. Sasuke leaped out of the way, only to have another spray of shurikens fly at him from behind. How had the blonde maneuver around him so quickly? God, but he was fast!

He's purposely avoiding close hand-to-hand combat, Sasuke realized after dodging another dart. If that's the case, I'll just have to corner him. Turning away, Sasuke pushed off from the trunk of a tree, flying straight towards a dagger Naruto had just thrown at him. He heard Naruto gasp at his unexpected move, arm fruitlessly outstretch as if to retract the weapon. Just when the knife would have pierced his heart, Sasuke angled his body to side. Despite this, its blade still made a slash across his chest, ripping his shirt and drawing blood.

Still propelled by his momentum, Sasuke crashed into Naruto, sending them both sliding across the grass. Before Naruto could recover from the impact, however, Sasuke had him trapped in an arm lock.

"You've been avoiding me...why?" whispered Sasuke close to the blonde's ear.

Naruto didn't bother to deny it.

"The world doesn't revolve around you, Sasuke," he said.

The two disengaged and continued throwing shurikens at one another. Sasuke erected a chakra shield to deflect the darts flung at him and began to throw his own. But Naruto once again summoned his shadow clones, scattering a dozen or more across the clearing. Sasuke's shurikens immediately diverted from the blonde, veering off instead towards his standing replicates. In a matter of seconds, Naruto's shadow clones were decimated. The real Naruto was left standing in the clearing.

"How did you know my shurikens were designed to follow your chakra?" Sasuke asked with more than a hint of admiration.

"You're too predictable, Sasuke," Naruto responded with a smirk. "Chakra missiles are so yesterday."

Sasuke's eyes sparked with amusement.

"It's not over yet," he murmured reaching into his side pocket for another dart. Only his hand came down on nothing.

"Rule number one to being a ninja, Sasuke: always know how many weapons you have and how many you've used!"

Damn! He'd underestimated the blonde. Overconfident in winning the spar, he'd foolishly thrown all his shurikens, having not expected Naruto to divert the darts. Now he was left weaponless. But what about Naruto? Sasuke quickly did a mental calculation of the darts the blonde had thrown. Five in the tree, seven on the ground and three lost in the bushes. That meant they were both weaponless.

"It seems you've used up all yours as well, blondie," Sasuke remarked with a grin.

"Think again, pretty boy," cried Naruto as he pulled free another shuriken concealed in his left sandal. "Funny how I brought an extra one to training today."

This said Naruto drew his hand back as if to fling the dart. Sasuke's activated sharingan immediately assessed the angle of Naruto's wrist, accurately predicting the shuriken's intended direction. He quickly dodged to his right, landing gracefully on the lower branch of a willow tree.

It would have been a perfectly executed move had the shuriken been thrown. Only it wasn't. Looking backwards, Sasuke saw Naruto standing patiently in the middle of the clearing, the shuriken now held loosely in his hand. What is he up to? Sasuke wondered. Why didn't he throw it?

"I would come down if I were you," Naruto replied mildly.

Sasuke frowned, but remained where he was.

"Sure you won't come down, Sasuke?" Naruto asked pleasantly.

This must be a trap. Knowing him, he probably has a net set up right underneath this tree. The moment I jump down I'll be caught in its snare. Trust Naruto to be uncreative and use Kakashi's old trick. Really, who does he think I am? Doesn't he realize who he's messing with?

"I'm quite happy up here, thanks."

"Alright, don't say I didn't warn you," Naruto said with a grin, before clapping his hands twice.

Immediately the branch Sasuke stood on collapsed beneath him. He tumbled down, landing right into a black mesh that had sprung up to catch him in mid fall. Quickly Sasuke reached for his kunai only to realize that he'd used it earlier to deflect one of Naruto's attacks. It now lied uselessly on the ground a good fifteen meters away from him.

Of course, he could always obliterate the thick ropes with his chakra, but Sasuke didn't trust his self control well enough to risk such a thing. If he exerted too much chakra he might just activate Orochimaru's cursed seal and that was one thing he couldn't risk. It seemed there was no way he could break free from the net...unless, of course, he resorted to gnawing on the ropes.

Below him he could hear Naruto's boisterous laughter echoing loudly in the small clearing.

"You never listen, do you?" the blonde asked amusedly. "This should teach you not to underestimate your opponent, especially when he's Usumaki Naruto, the Leaf's greatest ninja and future Hokage!"

"You've had your fun, now shut-up and let me down," Sasuke ordered.

"What's the magic word?" Naruto asked sweetly with a hand cupped to his ear.

Sasuke growled low in his throat.

"That isn't it," Naruto replied in a sing-song voice.

"Let me down right now, or I swear you'll regret ever pulling such a silly stunt,"

"This silly stunt managed to catch me an overgrown ape. I would say it's quite effective."

"You bastard! Let me down!"

"Nuh ah, not until you say the magic word."

"Screw the magic word!"

"Then screw you, Uchiha!" yelled Naruto, losing his patience. "You can just up stay there, until you learn some manners. I'm off to grab some ramen. Ta, ta!"

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She's not Me

Two hours later found a silent Naruto staring quietly out at a setting horizon. He'd never gone for that bowl of ramen, for once opting for the serene view stretched out before him. It brought him a deep sense of peace, a quiet reprieve from the mayhem he called his life, which was more than he could say for his latest spar with Sasuke. The satisfaction he'd felt in winning had been short-lived. True, he'd defeated the ever arrogant Uchiha, had even strung him up on a tree for the viewing delights of the forest creatures. But he hadn't succeeded in garnering an admittance of defeat from the stoic boy, and by the same token an acknowledgement of his skills as a ninja.

Sasuke will never see me as anything more than an annoying baka, one only capable of pulling these cheap stunts. It hadn't matter that he'd spent an entire evening strategizing and several hours of intensive labor after that, slicing the branches of every tree that lined the right side of the clearing (all seventeen of them). He'd slaved away at those slashes, making sure they were deep enough to break at the sound of his clapping, but yet still thin enough to escape the detection of Sasuke's all seeing sharingan. His efforts had paid off. Sasuke had fallen for his trap. But, how is it that I still feel so empty? So much more the loser even when it's obvious that I've won?

Deep in thought, Naruto failed to hear the footsteps of an approaching shinobi.

Sasuke stopped several steps away from the blonde. Apparently the Dobe was too preoccupied to notice him there. The dark-haired boy took in the sight of the blazing horizon and its amber rays bouncing off the kyuubi's hair and orange suit. The boy seemed bathed in a golden aurora. He looks like a goddess sitting there, Sasuke reluctantly admitted.

He found himself stepping closer, involuntarily drawn to the quiet figure before him. This time, however, Naruto heard him and turned around. Sasuke caught sight of his sad expression before the blonde turned away once more and faced the sunset. Yes, he is a goddess, Sasuke realized. A sad, lonely goddess, but a goddess nonetheless.

Sasuke walked over to where the kitsune sat and stared out at the fading sun, its dwindling beams reawakening a deep feeling of nostalgia in him. He'd always hated the sunset. If given the choice he would always choose the glory of morning, the warm blaze of a sunrise. Never a sunset.

"Why are you here?" Naruto's voice broke through his thoughts.

"You weren't at the ramen shop," Sasuke replied as a form of answer.

"Wasn't hungry," Naruto said.

Silence descended on them.

"How did you get down?" Naruto finally asked. He was never one to stay quiet for very long.

"That's a ninja's secret," Sasuke said quietly with a smirk, "far too complicated for you to understand."

Naruto scowled. He should have expected that. Sasuke would never let the opportunity of belittling him go. If that's the case, why do I always seek his approval? Am I truly a masochist? Why am I always striving for the attention of those who will never see me as more than a nuisance? Screw that. Screw Sasuke. I don't have to take this.

Naruto stood up to leave, but Sasuke's outstretched arm stopped him.

"Don't let me stop you from enjoying the view. Don't let me have the power to..." He was going to say 'hurt you', but refrained himself. "Don't let me take away your composure..."

"Rule #2 to being a ninja," he admitted ruefully. Naruto smiled at this. He knew this was Sasuke's way of apologizing. They hadn't been through thick and thin not to know each other's thoughts and feelings by now.

The two resumed their seats, the easy atmosphere between them easing both of their apprehension. Sasuke could almost feel their friendship slowly mending.

Suddenly, Naruto spoke up: "umm...Sasuke?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and smiled. The boy could never keep quiet, not even for a second.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Did you mean it?" Naruto whispered softly.

"Mean what?" Sasuke inquired looking over at the suddenly shy boy.

"What you said that night...at the Academy."

Ah, so Naruto was referring to his compliment last Sunday. Immediately an image of Naruto dancing sprung to his mind. He smiled.

"Yes I did," he replied honestly.

"Who did you see that night?" Naruto hesitantly asked.

"What do you mean?" Sasuke questioned.

"It's a very simple question. Who did you see that night?"

"I saw you," Sasuke replied.

"Liar!" Naruto cried and quickly stood up. He made to leave, but Sasuke had also risen and was now holding onto his arm.

"I'm not a liar," Sasuke said. "I saw you with my very own eyes. You were there, dancing..."

"You didn't see me," Naruto insisted. "You saw someone else and she isn't me."

"What..." Sasuke voice faded as comprehension finally dawned on him.

He means himself. He thinks I see him as Naru. Don't you? a part of him asked. Yes, I'm beginning to, Sasuke realized guilty. But he still sees himself as Naruto, not Naru. You've hurt him more than you realize.

"I won't lie," Sasuke whispered as he turned the blonde, so that he faced him. "I did see someone else dancing. I saw Naru." At these words, Naruto felt his heart breaking.

"But...I also saw someone else," Sasuke continued, "someone loud and obnoxious, but also strong and determined. Someone who irritates the hell out of me, but who has gained my respect and admiration far more than anyone else has ever done. I saw this person when I looked into Naru's eyes and...and I realized then that they were one and the same."

"But they're not."

"Yes they are," Sasuke persisted. "Nothing has changed inside. You haven't changed."

"But I have. I'm so much weaker now, I'm..."

"No, you haven't. You haven't changed where it counts the most," Sasuke explained. "I won't deny that you look different on the outside, but I thought you would be happy with this. After all, it's definitely a great improvement from your usual constipated gorilla look."

"Shut-up!" Naruto cried, punching Sasuke on the arm.

"Well, at least you've stopped scowling. Can't say it was too pleasing on the eye."

"Why, you!"

"Look, Naruto," Sasuke said as he wrapped a hesitant arm around the flustered blonde. "I'm sorry for spying, for being insensitive and thinking of you as Naru. But I just want you to know that Naru in my eyes is still the same crazy, loudmouth, ramen-obsessed fool I've always known. You're not any different simply because you're a girl."

Naruto smiled weakly at this.

"You're not weaker now than you were then," Sasuke stressed before smirking. "I mean, you were always pretty weak."

Naruto's smile disappeared, replaced instead by a deep scowl.

"You bastard! I'll show you weak!" growled Naruto as he swung at the taller shinobi.

"You'll have to do better than that!" Sasuke cried, effectively dodging the blonde's punches. He ran out of the clearing with the kitsune right at his heels.

From the edge of the once quiet woods wild laughter and heated threats could be heard, speaking volumes for the feelings rushing through both boys. It seemed some things were just best expressed with a little humor.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back at a small clearing where an intensive spar had recently occurred, the remnants of a net could be seen lying on the ground beneath a large tree, its ropes thoroughly gnawed on.

TBC

I think that's enough fluff to give everyone tooth decay. Geez, the things I write for you guys.