I'm back::crickets:: yeah I know. Probably all of one person (if I'm lucky) cares.

I'll admit this is weird, it's choppy and the stories aren't really supposed to go together, but they connected slightly and I wanted it like this.

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Fox Mischief

There was a mischievous fox that had tormented their small village. He took on the form of a human and ran through the town causing havoc, only to return to his fox form to retreat to the surrounding woods. For many years the people of the village ignored the fox and cleaned up the messes left behind, however a new village leader called for the fox's capture. Many more years went by without a capture, in fact none of the village men could even get close and some never returned because the fox was thought to be the least of the animals living in the forest.

One day they hired a man, a hunter, from another village to finally rid them of their fox problem. He was known for his ruthlessness in hunting and had never failed before, something that the villagers were counting on holding true. The girls sighed and swooned at his handsome face and the men were proud and confident that such a serious lad would be successful were so many had failed. The dark haired man spent many days hunting out the fox, watching his movements when he entered the village. Finally, the man went into the forest.

After a fortnight he returned without any signs of a fight however the villagers were disappointed not to see the fox's body. He promised the fox would not bother the village again, and then disappeared back into the forest instead of leaving the village the way he had first entered.

Neither was seen again.

--

There was a mischievous fox that weighed heavily on the minds of the villagers. He took the form of a human but they all knew he was really a demon like the fox that was inside of him. For many years the only contribution he made to the village was to cause havoc and make messes for others to clean up. They waited until the day the fox would die. But many years passed and the fox grew and the fox prospered and the fox was happy. The villagers thought perhaps someone could chase the fox away.

One day the boy's best friend left and the villagers, excited, thought perhaps the fox would disappear with his friend but they realized the two were not best friends after all, and perhaps they were enemies. So when the friend returned the villagers were hopeful that finally he would kill the fox and rid the village of him. Instead the friend aided the fox and one day the fox was the most honored being in the village.

Never again was the village troubled, only protected.

--

There was a mischievous fox that pulled pranks around school. No one knew just who 'fox' was, only that it was the only name left at the scene of the crime.

Sasuke knew better because he could see in the self-satisfied look on Naruto's face that the blond boy was 'fox' and he was happy to be getting some kind of recognition since his pranks were the talk of the school. The teachers were dying to figure out who 'fox' was so they could expel or at least suspend the perpetrator as an example. As class president Sasuke was approached to help in the efforts to find out who was behind it.

He spent a week convincing Naruto to stop, until the blond finally agreed. Sasuke could always get Naruto to do what he wanted.

--

There was a mischievous fox sitting on his bed. There was a wrapped present as well and Sasuke eyed both warily because Naruto liked to go overboard on birthday presents. Sasuke never understood why the other liked celebrating so much since it was just marking how much older they were getting (twenty-eight now) and the only people they had was each other. Another year gone by and both were still bachelors living in their two bedroom apartment.

Naruto probably could have brought a different girl home each week with his charming personality, however he never did. Sasuke probably could have brought a different girl home each night despite his lackluster personality, however he never did. Sasuke knew he'd rather spend a quiet night with Naruto, getting work done and watching whatever cheesy show Naruto was currently addicted to. Plus, bringing home a girl would mean relinquishing time spent with Naruto, who had been a constant in his life since the age of twelve, and many girls had not taken kindly to having to share with the best friend (except for that one girl who had wanted to have a threesome).

Sasuke accepted the box and after tearing the paper off and throwing it to the floor opened the box slightly excited to know what was inside. It was the watch Sasuke had been eyeing two months ago after he lost his boring old one, the expensive foreign-made one with tiny diamonds around the face. It was the one that cost about a month's pay.

Looking at Naruto's pleased face as he uncovered a tiny cake that the two could eat in one sitting, Sasuke just knew.

Three months later Sasuke sat nervously on Naruto's bed calming himself by repeating that Naruto hadn't dated a single girl in the past three months. In the kitchen there was ramen that Sasuke would prepare later for dinner. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke did not have a box holding a present; Sasuke had the present tucked away in one hand. Sakura had persuaded him that this was the right move, that it had to be the right move, otherwise they were both doomed to unhappiness and that did not seem likely considering they had spent more than half their lives as friends.

It did not take Naruto long to figure out Sasuke was home and not in the kitchen, the TV room, or Sasuke's bedroom. Naruto poked his head into his bedroom and came in completely when he saw Sasuke sitting stiffly on the bed.

Chasing away the last of the butterflies Sasuke held out his hand and uncurled his fingers. Naruto stared in awe at the present there on the palm and for a moment Sasuke wanted to throw it away and tell Naruto that he didn't buy the idiot a present. Naruto did not take the present, only held out his hand and Sasuke took that as his cue to slide the plain gold band onto Naruto's ring finger. Then Naruto smiled and kissed Sasuke and someone cried, or maybe both (but it was probably just Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't cry), and phone calls were made and cake and ramen was eaten.

Sasuke did not think he could love anyone anymore than he loved Naruto.

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A/N I'm going to try to work on another story for my Tenten fics now that I've satisfied my SasuNaruSasu need. Sorry it's SUCH a fluffy ending. I need to write something tortured I think.