Summary: Naruto always knew that his best friend had it in him.

Between the Trees

Patrol was as boring as ever, Naruto decided, but at least it beat having to sit around waiting for another mission to finally be thrown his way. Especially when it seemed as if Tsunade-baa-chan was never going to give him a mission unless Kakashi-sensei was available. Not even a little one. There were plenty of mutts that needed to be walked, or weeds that needed to be pulled, but did she even consider him? No!

He understood, though. Even if she did not say it, Tsunade was hesitant to assign Team Seven to any mission with the return of Uchiha Sasuke. Having had to reassign Sai once Sasuke had proven himself trustworthy, the Hokage did not want the rebellious Uchiha to leave the village just in case he decided to turn rogue again. There was really no way to tell, after all, since there had been absolutely no word about the whereabouts of Uchiha Itachi over the past year.

It was actually believed by some that Sasuke had managed to kill him, at long last.

Naruto himself was not so sure. Sasuke would have told him, right? Sure, the Uchiha had always been aloof, but avenging his clan had been his dream! If he had managed to overcome the prodigy that was Uchiha Itachi, Naruto was positive that Sasuke would have had something to say about it.

Then again, there was always the possibility that the only person Sasuke had told was Tsunade herself. It seemed odd that the Hokage would keep that type of information on the down low, but he supposed that it was the future of the Uchiha clan resting in the palm of her hand. If Sasuke's older brother were dead, that would put even more pressure onto the only surviving member to rebuild his clan from scratch.

Lord knew that Sasuke had enough girls drooling over him in secret.

The thought caused the Uzumaki boy to give a small snort. Nobody wanted to admit it, what with Sasuke having been a traitor and everything for a while, but that was exactly what they were all waiting for. It was only a matter of time, after all, before the prodigal Uchiha picked a woman and started popping out babies. The only question was who that woman would turn out to be, despite all the hush, hush between fangirls to keep the traitor talk amongst them.

Shaking his head lightly, Naruto wished that Sasuke would just hurry up and pick someone already. He had noticed the way Sakura had seemed so disheartened to see the Uchiha prodigy just yesterday when he had insisted they both meet him at Ichiraku Ramen, and he knew that Sasuke's indecision and distance was hurting her the most. Having loved the pink haired kunoichi for most of his youth, Naruto only wanted to see her happy, and some small part of him hoped that Sasuke would pick her if only to see her smile as brightly as she used to back when they were all Academy students.

Sakura had loved him through it all, after all, and she deserved to at least have a chance.

Though, if Naruto had not known any better, he would have said that Sasuke had been eyeing a cute little chuunin sitting in the corner of the ramen stand by herself. It seemed unlikely, given the fact that he could not even imagine Sasuke ogling some pretty girl, but Sakura had become more tense when the other kunoichi walked inside the shop. There had been a visible tension there between the three of them, despite the fact the other kunoichi barely seemed to notice as she dug into the ramen she ordered.

Naruto had not personally met the other kunoichi, but he had heard about her through passing now and again. She seemed really nice, though she was apparently pretty deadly when it came to Ninjutsu due to the massive chakra reserve she supposedly had. Tsunade-baa-chan had her listed down as someone slated to become a jounin. If he was not mistaken her name was Higure? Higuri? Higura? Kag… something.

He supposed if there had been anyone Sasuke might be possibly eyeing, making Sakura nervous in the process, it could have been her. She fit the bill of an Uchiha pretty well with her dark colored hair, and her quick progression through the ranks had apparently gained her quite the following among the eligible shinobi. He had heard she seemed completely oblivious to the whole thing, easily dodging her way out of dates she did not seem to realize people were asking her on, and he was starting to think a few of them had become as obsessed as any fangirl he could think of.

It was actually… kinda disturbing, now that he thought about it. Especially if they were anywhere near as bad as the hush, hush fangirls that still followed Sasuke's every step, despite his obvious disinterest and disdain toward them.

Smiling to himself as he leap to another tree branch leading into one of the more isolated areas, Naruto decided that he would need to rectify the situation and finally meet the chuunin sometime soon. He knew it would break Sakura's heart when Sasuke finally picked someone to be his wife if it was not her, but if there even the slightest possibility that Sasuke had been trying to get an eyeful of that cute kunoichi, Naruto figured that he was the best possible option to help the emotionally constipated bastard snatch up the girl before somebody finally got through to her. He was his best friend, after all, and he could only imagine how bad any attempts Sasuke made toward the kunoichi would be. The poor bastard would probably walk up to her and demand she accompany him for the night, and if the girl had half a brain she would tell him to shove his good looks up his ass and get lost.

Actually, Naruto grinned, that sounded pretty hilarious. Maybe he should let him do it.

The kunoichi did not seem to be one of his fangirls, especially if Sasuke had taken any form of interest in her, and he doubted she would appreciate any demands anyone made toward her. He might have heard that she was super nice to pretty much anyone, but everybody had a limit, and he could only snicker to himself at the thought that it might very well be in the form of one Uchiha Sasuke. The chuunin was really pretty, he would admit, and he was sure that Hinata would understand if he wanted to see if the other kunoichi could be just that much prettier while she told Sasuke to take a hike.

The bastard would need all the help he could get after that.

Grinning at his self appointed task, Naruto felt like his day was looking up finally. Tsunade-baa-chan might not have any missions for him to occupy his time while Kakashi-sensei was on bed rest, but now he had a set goal to pass the time with. If he managed to make a new friend, and possibly make one of his oldest friends happy in the process, it would just be that much better. Sakura might actually hate him if she ever found out, that much was certain, but Sasuke deserved to be happy, too. She would understand someday when she looked back on it, and then they could all get a good laugh out of the whole ordeal.

Besides, he was still pretty sure that Sasuke had not been ogling the kunoichi in the first place, so there was a pretty high possibility that he would just be gaining a new friend and Sakura would not have to—!

Pausing for a moment, Naruto quickly hid himself against the trunk of the tree he was occupying. He was not quite sure what exactly he had heard, as he slipped a kunai from the holster on his thigh, but it had sounded like some odd popping sound. There was a high chance it was nothing, probably some genin goofing off among the trees, but it was always good to be prepared just in case. The village had suffered one too many times in the last few years, and it was best to check it out even if it turned out to be nothing more than a tree branch ready to fall.

Listening carefully, Naruto peeked around the tree to scan the area where he was pretty certain the sound had come from. There did not seem to be anything out of the ordinary, but he knew there was a chance he just was not close enough to see whatever had caused the noise. He shifted his footing, keeping himself low and hidden in the process, as he quickly moved to another branch to scout the rest of the area he could not see well from his current vantage point.

"Weird," Naruto muttered to himself. Nothing seemed out of place, but he waited another long moment, searching with his eyes, before he finally shrugged and decided it was safe to move on. He would have a shadow clone double back to recheck the area once he had left, just in case whatever had made the sound was intelligent enough to have spotted him and—

A low, masculine groan caused his eyebrows to lift suddenly in curiosity.

Naruto moved to another branch quickly, having pinpointed that long, drawn out sound with ease. It did not sound like somebody was hurt, that much he was certain of, and he felt his lip twitch upward as he thought about how unlucky Kakashi-sensei was by being stuck in bed all day. Especially if he right about what exactly had caused the noise, since he was positive that Kakashi-sensei was beginning to suffer from the lack of new books put out by the Ero-Sannin recently.

Hell, even Ero-Sannin would be sputtering in jealousy when he told him that he had seen—!

"Sasuke-teme?! " Naruto nearly fell out of the tree he was in when he caught sight of the Uchiha's signature duck butt hairstyle leaned against the trunk of an oak nearby. No way! No way! He had to do a double… a triple take! before he was certain that he was actually seeing Uchiha Sasuke with his head dipped back in… in… "Holy shit."

Quickly hiding himself again, Naruto pinched his arm before he looked again, and even then he was completely dumbstruck by the sight of Sasuke panting lightly with his face scrunched up in pleasure. He blinked several times, and nearly lost his grip on the kunai he was holding when Sasuke's eyes opened into hazy, pleasure filled slits to look down at… at…

The Kyuubi vessel twitched in his curiosity then, realizing that he could not see anything other than Sasuke from the neck up from where he was positioned. The foliage was quite thick on this side of the clearing Sasuke had chosen for this little outing he was having, but that was easily fixed if he could go around without the Uchiha noticing his presence. Which, honestly, if he was doing what Naruto was pretty damn positive he was doing right now, he would be too focused on the person Naruto was bound and determined to see to even notice him.

Or, at least, he hoped he would be, because he really did not feel like running for his life with a potentially naked Uchiha pissed off and pursuing him for attempting to sneak a peek. Sasuke always had a way of surprising him, and while Naruto knew he would laugh his ass off afterward if the proud Uchiha had his image tarnished in the aftermath of such a pursuit, the thought of being stuck in a bed alongside Kakashi-sensei made him shudder.

"Oh," Sasuke breathed then, clearly gritting his teeth.

Hopping to a tree branch a bit further out of sight, Naruto felt himself starting to grin. He had waited years for something like this. Sasuke might like to act all high and mighty with his cool and aloof exterior, but Naruto had known there had to be something to hold over the Uchiha's head to tease him with. This, though! This was better than anything he could have ever hoped for.

He just needed to find out who Sasuke had decided to bring along with him for the ride!

Quietly making his way around the outskirt of the clearing, Naruto nearly faltered when he realized that maybe it was not a girl that Sasuke was out there with. He shook his head after a moment, deciding that that was a stupid thought with how adamant Sasuke was about reviving the Uchiha clan. Obviously he could not do that with a guy, though… no, Naruto shook his head, refusing to think about it anymore.

Sasuke was not gay… right?

Right?!

Hiding in the leaves of another tree, Naruto chanted silently to himself, "Please don't be a guy! " before he finally looked out into the clearing again. He felt his eyes widened immediately in that moment, as he got his first real look at the position that Sasuke was in.

Sasuke dipped his head back again, his eyes rolling up into his skull.

"Holy shit," Naruto breathed again, as his brain began to process the ropes tied tight around Sasuke's upper torso and keeping him strapped to the tree behind him. The Uchiha prodigy was obviously enjoying it, and Naruto felt his gaze slide to the little chuunin kneeling on all fours between Sasuke's legs. He felt his breath nearly stop in shock at the sight of her, because that was definitely the same pretty little kunoichi he had been pretty damn sure Sasuke had not been eyeing at Ichiraku Ramen. His grin turned stupid when it occurred to him that somehow Uchiha fucking Sasuke had nabbed the girl without anybody's help. Not only had he clearly managed to sweep her off her feet at some point in time, but he had also convinced her into… into this!

This lemon has been removed from this site due to site restrictions, please visit another site I post upon to read it. Thank you.

The Uchiha's face softened as he watched her in the throws of passion, and Naruto felt his eyes widen when he saw the look. It almost looked like… no, not Sasuke, right? That bastard did not even understand what the word meant, but the longer he stared at his best friend, the more convinced Naruto became that maybe Sasuke had fallen for the pretty chuunin named Kagome. His entire stance had softened as the girl came undone beneath him, his pace slowing to allow her to come off the high, and when he kissed her again, Naruto was almost certain.

Sasuke was in love, even if he did not realize it himself.

Glancing away from the couple then with the realization, Naruto decided that it was probably best to leave before they finished. Sasuke had already picked up the pace again, never taking his dark eyes off the girl underneath him, but it was clear from the slight tremble in his arms that he would not make it much longer before he found his own end. If he left now, he might just be lucky enough to escape detection before the Uchiha became aware of anything other than the kunoichi locked underneath him.

Taking one last peek at the look in Sasuke's eyes, Naruto knew that he would not be able to tease the Uchiha about this later, as much as he wanted to. He would not be the reason Sasuke lost his chance at happiness, especially if Sasuke decided to cut ties with the kunoichi simply because of his own big mouth. Though, when he thought about it, that was probably for the best, considering Hinata might skin him alive if she ever heard he had stopped to watch his best friend fuck his girl friend into the ground.

As he leapt away from the area, deciding it would be best to quickly return to his patrol route, Naruto almost slipped from a branch when another thought occurred to him.

He… he was...

God damn it, he was as bad as Ero-Sannin!

"Ah, man," Naruto sighed. He definitely could not tell anyone, if only so he did not have to ever hear that he was just as bad as the Sannin who had trained him from anybody else. And especially so Ero-Sannin did not hound him for details to use in his latest novel. He was not even sure he could survive the humiliation and embarrassment if he did.

Note: Yeah, so, today I decided to write a second part to this because I really wanted to write a lemon. I have removed the lemon from this site, but you can find it on Ao3 via my profile or by searching my username.

-KibaSin