Please take note: More OOCness ahead!

Finding the Avatar

Chapter 2: The Realization

Everyone was there. They all left in complete form.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto asked while leaping in the trees.

"I'm fine," was the curt reply.

"Oh really? Then why are you smiling like that?" the blonde asked again, raising an eyebrow.

"It's none of your business," Sasuke replied, trying to hide his smile from Naruto.

"Hey, Sasuke! What do you think Hinata's doing?" Naruto asked suddenly. (A/N: Remember, this is supposed to have NaruHina on the sideline…)

"I don't know," Sasuke simply said while looking at Tsubani.

Naruto saw this and smiled. He then feigned a cough and said, "It seems somebody here's in love." He then punched Sasuke playfully on the shoulder.

"I am not," Sasuke retorted stiffly. That started another one of their fights.

Tsubani chuckled at the sight of her teammates fighting but became serious when she remembered their mission.

'Legend has it that the avatar is the most powerful being on the planet,' she thought. "Oh, I better take a bath. I smell like—" she said to herself then sniffed her shirt a little.

"Blah!" And so, she made her way to their instructor.

"Sir Kakashi, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a bath in the lake. I'll be back in half an hour."

"Alright, but be careful," Kakashi said. And after that, she took her things and left.

Meanwhile…

After their fight, Sasuke and Naruto decided to go and take a bath. Kakashi also decided to go as well. So they packed up and made their way to the lake. Sasuke though, went on before them. After Sasuke had gone, Naruto told Kakashi about Sasuke being in love with Tsubani.

"It's sooooo obvious!" Naruto went on to say.

"Really?" asked the jounin. At that point they had caught up with the said Uchiha. The two of them stared at him, trying to visualize him and Tsubani as a couple and smirked at the thought of it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the raven haired nin asked them, slightly annoyed.

"Oh nothing. We were just wondering how someone like you love someone like Tsubani," Kakashi answered. Sasuke's face turned a nice shade of red and the other two burst out laughing.

A little while later…

Tsubani was already done taking a bath and was combing her hair when they came. They never really saw her with no clip on her hair and brushing it like a lady would.

"Um, what are you doing here?" she asked, still combing her hair. Sasuke's face turned crimson again at the sight of Tsubani in a towel.

'She's very beautiful,' Sasuke thought. "Oh, we were just…ehm, I mean…We were just planning to take a bath," Sasuke stuttered, trying to hide his red face. Tsubani looked at him with a questioning look. Before Sasuke had the chance to answer, they heard a familiar voice yelling, "CANNON BALL!" followed by two splashes of water. It was Naruto yelling, followed by him and Kakashi diving into the water.

"Um, I think I better go back and check our camp," Tsubani said, smiling a bit at her teammates antics.

"Uh, okay then. I'll see you later." Sasuke took a last glance at Tsubani and whispered, "Be careful," before she came out of sight.

Naruto and Kakashi were behind him looking as if Christmas had came early. "What are you looking at?" Sasuke snapped at them.

"See? I told you he's in love," Naruto said teasingly.

"Yes, it does seem like it. Why don't you admit it?" Kakashi asked.

"No, I am not, just concerned for a teammate," the Uchiha retorted, again trying to hide the blush creeping on his face.

"Right…" the blonde and the jounin chorused in a suspecting tone.

"So what? I don't care what you think," Sasuke said in a tone that declared his statement was final. The other two just looked at each other, then shrugged. Then they went on to take a bath.

After they took a bath, Naruto smelled something good and found out later on that it was Tsubani cooking as they reached their campsite.

"Hey, Tsubani, what's for dinner?" the carrier of the Kyuubi asked.

"Oh, you guys are back!" Tsubani looked up to them and smiled (which made Sasuke blush a bit). "It's one of my mom's recipes," she continued, turning back to her cooking.

"Smells good!" said Naruto, sniffing the sweet aroma filling the night air.

'She's beautiful, she can cook, she can fight well, what else can this girl can do?' Sasuke asked himself in deep thought. His thoughts were disturbed though when his loud mouthed teammate exclaimed loudly in his ears.

"Hey! Are you going to eat or what?"

"Oh, sorry," he mumbled, shaking his head a little. Tsubani then handed him a bowl with a smile. Sasuke tasted it and found out it was quite delicious.

Later on, Naruto was already eating his fifth helping, Kakashi, his third and Sasuke, surprisingly, on his fourth. Tsubani was pleased that they liked her cooking and smiled at her hungry teammates. She was astonished that Sasuke had eaten a lot because he rarely ate anything when they were together as a team. After eating, they thanked her for the nice meal and they all went to their tents and slept soundly.

This chapter has been beta-ed by Milky Etoile and posted on August 22, 2005! Hope you enjoyed that! Thanks for reading and please do review! Ciao!