*Does the disclaimer dance* Naruto doesn't belong to me *rolls eyes* Uchiha Sasuke owns him. Uhm… I mean Masashi Kishimoto…. :/

shonen ai, angst… Uhm… yes, it's a SASUNARU.

Summary : Sasuke lives on Naruto's pranks all these while. When it stopped, he wondered to himself why?

Right, I'm taking some effort to actually edit this. Thanks to annabellemanix, and domi's advice. I'm revising the japanese phrases to a minimum to not spoil the momentum of the story. Also using the online editor coz my formatting gets lost/

Uh... also, non-beta-ed. You will find lots of syntax errors and what's best, I don't even know it. *bows in apologies*

Okay… wut was the title again? Uh... yeah..

"You don't, so I do"

His ears perked up to the slight disturbance of the peaceful sunny afternoon, not too hot because of the recent change in season.

Slowly, he opened up his eyes; his slitted pupils constricted to adjust to the sudden intake of light. Body tensed, all senses alert, he looked around. Glancing down at Akamaru who seemed to be on guarded stance as well. The now 3 feet tall mutt stood up on all its four legs, walked nearer to the stream - all the while looking upwards.

"Woof!" he barked once towards the sky.

Kiba blinked and melted his confused frown to one of his playful smirks. "What an idiot," he laughed and whistled back to Akamaru. The dog ran back to sit behind Kiba as he leaned back to rest on Akamaru's warm body. His arms folded behind his head as he shook his head.

"If I was him, I swear I'd go hang myself in public," he uttered, his gaze landed on the banner flying across the sky, dragged by a thousand chirping birds.

'Sasuke! LOVE!' - brought to you by Chidori – Uzumaki Naruto Version

Kiba hurled over laughing his ass off. He realized that lately, Naruto's pranks were only concentrated on one person.

Naruto and Sasuke were both ANBU squad leaders and often lead different mission groups for a period of time. They always missed each other by a day or two.

One would be clowning around in the village when the other is not around and when it was all peaceful again, the Uchiha heir would be found moping around the streets or the training grounds.

Basically, they were seldom together in the village.

So, Naruto had lately fabricated various pranks while he was away in order to harass the other boy even when he was not in the village, all in the name of LOVE - So he claimed. Much to everyone's amusement, it was apparent that it seemed one-sided if not anything else.

When asked 'why?', the blond boy just beamed and said "So Sasuke would never feel lonely even when I'm not around!" and it often end up with a smack on the head by the other boy if he was around.

few days earlier

The captain of the Kitsune ANBU Squad stood rigid on top of the highest tree in the vicinity, his body was still. His blue eyes intensely gazed upon the setting sun. Colorful swirls of different hues illuminated the skies as the sun fought to brighten its skies before it was forced to set.

Another ANBU member appeared next to its captain, to report clear passage up ahead. He frowned when his presence was ignored by the blond haired boy in front of him. On closer inspection, a soft snore could be heard emitting softly from within the mask.

Just as he relaxed himself, the still figure in front of him flickered and there was something sharp and cold threatening to enter his left nostril. He started to panic behind his mask when he realized that all of his limbs were locked.

"Never... let your guard down," a nasal sounding voice uttered behind the mask. "Erk! Much apologies, captain!" He apologized.

His captain could be down right confusing. Sometimes he acted like a child, sometimes he acted like the superior he was, sometimes a fussy mother-hen and sometimes, he acted like a heartless miscreant killing mercilessly, reminding all that were present of the true nature of what he was.

The kyuubi vessel.

Just as he started to read his own prayers, afraid that he had caught their captain in a blood lust craze, he heard a chuckle.

Yes, no doubt that Naruto was bipolar, credulously powerful and impetuous. It made him the perfect killing machine. But he was all in total control – never once shown a sight that could let anyone waver their trust in the young blond.

But then again, ANYTHING could happen. Anything... so he was not about to feel at ease yet.

Naruto let go of his subordinate and stopped laughing. "Just because it seemed like I was asleep, it doesn't mean that I'm not dangerous. Keep that in mind when facing others, ne?" the other ANBU nodded and backtracked one step returning his captain his personal bubble.

"Ka, Ru, Tsu and Ne had reported back that the track within 6 kilometer radius is clear. Should we move while it's dark?" he inquired.

Naruto frowned and scratched an imaginary itch on the skin appearing from between his low rising pants and his white vest.

He let his gaze wander, in deep thought.

He had spotted a group of migrating birds earlier, heading their way. As dusk settled into the night he was sure they were perched somewhere nearby for the night. Calculating their angle he was sure they would pass the Village of Konoha Gakure in a few day's time.

He contemplated his mission and pouted beneath his mask.

Their enemies would, of course assume that they would move in the dark. Although the apparent surrounding seemed safe, there was always one or two shinobis left behind for watch. And he, Naruto is not about to give them the satisfactory of being right; he is after all, Konoha Gakure's no number 1 dotabata ninja (full of surprises ninja).

He chuckled to himself.

"No, we move before dawn. Call Ru over," not bothering to hide his smile, which was blatantly evident even behind the mask that obscured his face.

The other ANBU nodded curtly and disappeared from Naruto's sight.

Naruto adjusted the scarf around his neck. The weather had already shifted to mid autumn, taking away the humid summer heat. But as they traveled up north, it seemed that winter was almost imminent in these parts of the land. He sighed and stood up, his left hand swiftly took a kunai from his pouch and nonchalantly threw it to a seemingly random direction - before a hand raised and caught it, almost effortlessly. "Good evening to you too, Taicho." the voice was a gurgly deep one.

Naruto blinked as he looked at the subject matter of his viewfinder coming closer to him.

"Ru, did you start breaking your voice already?" Naruto inquired.

The boy shifted uncomfortably on his toes. If they weren't on a mission, Naruto would certainly have buckled himself into a laughing fit.

"I started to sound like a frog when I was 13, too. So don't worry about it." Naruto patted the smaller ANBU and nodded, reminiscing his puberty.

He knew all his team members well, the 6 team man including himself as their captain had already did 86 missions together with a hundred percent success rate.

Naruto joined the ANBU for 3 years and became squad captain recently after New Years. He was assigned 4 members initially, but after the 47th mission, Ru was added into their little party. He had also decided that for security and discreet reasons, he wouldn't want to know their real names. Hence their 1 syllable code names. Naruto had simply noted that in dangerous situations, it's easier to call out 1 syllable names.

But who he was, was apparent to the rest.

Ru had the ability to talk to animals. He could ask favors from them and sorts. So Naruto was going to borrow Ru's ability for his latest prank.

Naruto glanced over at the petite boy. "I need a favor from you," he whispered, his smile creeping back on his face. The masked face of the other boy turned to face him. His concentration on his captain's orders were absolute.

"Where are the birds from earlier?" Naruto asked. Ru frowned behind his mask and turned to the left. When he had confirmed their location he turned back to Naruto. "48 degrees south west from where we are, sir."

"Where are they heading?" Naruto inquired, just to confirm his hypothesis from earlier. Ru smiled behind his mask. "Konoha Gakure, approximately at late afternoon judging from their speed and angle just now, sir."

Naruto nodded, a satisfied grunt was heard.

He took out a scroll from his pouch, placed it on the tree branch that he was perched on and did a quick seal signs with his hand. The scroll expanded in size. Well, big was an understatement. It was gargantuan, almost as tall as he was. Ru looked at his captain in confusion, but his eyes bore curiosity as to what his young captain was scheming.

Naruto let loose the scroll as it rolled down from the tree to reveal a big orange canvas. He unfolded the sides and extended a steel pipe through the top part, then tied a rope to either side to make it look like a giant hanging scroll.

"Uhm, captain... what's that for?" Ru asked pointing at the giant hanging scroll that was now being hung from the tree branch. On closer inspection in the rapidly diminishing light, he could read...

'Sasuke! LOVE!'

... in BIG BLACK letters.

Ru swallowed a huge lump in his throat.

"I need you to help me..." he paused as he dug for his tube of black ink. "... to tell them birds to fly this over Konoha and drop it on Uchiha Property. Preferably at the front door," Naruto jumped off from his perch and gracefully scribbled ...

'brought to you by Chidori – Uzumaki Naruto Version'

Ru blinked as his captain finished writing on the big scroll and jumped back to where Ru was. "Could you?" he asked. Ru nodded and smirked behind the mask. He almost forgot that beyond the ruthless killer and the scary demeanor that Naruto was, he was still a young man in love.

...With another squad captain, who seemed to ignore all his advances.

Ru felt had an unsettling feeling in his guts. He recalled the last time he ran into them. Without his ANBU mask on, he was just donning his normal jounin uniform and having a treat of wata-ame (cotton candy), satisfying his dangerous crave for sweet things before he goes to another mission in 2 hours time.

Ru was just sitting by the roadside watching people pass by when he heard a commotion. His head snapped to the left as he saw his captain, in his normal orange and black outfit walking with his companion who seemed to not even bother to listen to what the blond was chattering about. Naruto on the other hand was seen talking quite angrily to the other guy.

Hiding a smile, Ru shook his head at his captain's antiques when finally he heard the young man shouted as he stopped tailing his slightly taller friend. "Fine Sasuke! Be an ass! Don't give me a goodbye kiss! You would be so sorry if I don't come back from this mission!" Naruto childishly threw a tantrum.

Sasuke stopped on his tracks, a smirk evident in his face. "I'm sure you'd still come back even if I beg you otherwise. I'd even celebrate my freedom off of you if you don't return, you see." he uttered, his voice were ice-cold.

Ru blinked. That was harsh and unexpected. Well, to have someone tail you 24-7 was no party, but to say something like that to a friend that risk getting killed every time in missions was a little steep to be counted as a friendly remark.

"Oi," Naruto called. Ru snapped out of his reverie and faced his captain.

"Hai."

"Make sure you tell them birds to make really loud noises. I mean really, really loud. So that he won't miss them when they pass by, okay?" Naruto's voice was thick with glee.

"I'm sure the whole village won't miss it too," Ru answered with a small nod. Naruto shrugged. "You see, it's his fault for not giving me a goodbye kiss before this mission," Naruto pouted behind his mask.

Ru could never understand most of his captain's logic. But he agreed to do as told anyway. Playing pranks on people even when he was away, Naruto sure was something to admire.

"Two squads?"

Neji nodded.

Sasuke frowned at the scroll in front of him. A group of assassins from Haze was aiming for their merchants' newly acquired gold bars. "We leave 7 days from now. 2 days after that, the merchants should be taking out the gold bars from the bank's vault. Their chuunin escorts will be accompanying them. We shall be in stealth mode lest something goes wrong. Hopefully there won't be. There's a large portion of Konoha's wealth in there," he concluded.

Neji's squad and Sasuke's squad, a 12 men team to make sure nobody touches Konoha's gold. Sasuke nodded. "Godaime will ensemble and let know of the rest by tomorrow. The rumor about Haze was that-" Neji's words were cut as there was a loud approaching sound. All ninjas in the restaurant got ready and stood up in alert. "Is it an attack?" a random voice asked. Sasuke moved to the entrance. Neji raised a hand to everyone in the restaurant, signaling them. "Stay put," he scanned the interior and found 4 standing jounins. "Jounins come with us and check it out," he uttered as he followed Sasuke's tracks.

Sasuke's eyes squinted from the flood of light as he peered up to the sky. He saw the approaching birds and let out a sigh. "Usuratonkachi," he muttered and turned to Neji.

"It's just one of Naruto's stupid pranks," he said stepping out to the streets outside for a better view.

"Naruto?" Neji echoed as he joined Sasuke.

Everyone rushed out to see what the whole commotion was all about.

Laughter could be heard. Squeals and cheers. Sasuke's ears went red when he heard random comments from the villagers.

"Naruto-san is so cool!"

"Sasuke-san should just marry him, hahaha!"

"I'd dig myself a hole to hide in. Shit, that's embarrassing!"

Sasuke blinked.

Yes, that suggestion should be taken into consideration. He might actually just do that now.

"Whoever thought that he would pull a prank on someone even when he's away on a mission, eh?" Neji uttered in sheer amusement.

"Hahha... Chidori huh?" Sasuke turned around to see Kakashi looking up at the passing birds and frowned as he read the slightly smaller fonts of 'Chidori – Uzumaki Naruto Version'

His ears burned with humiliation and anger.

"I'm so going to kill him when he gets back," Sasuke grits his teeth and walked away.

Kiba sat on the porch drinking away his hot steaming tea, his eyes trailing the swift movements of Neji. He had came to pick-up Hinata for their next mission, but she still had a few minutes of training session with Neji.

He sat by the porch helping himself to the rice crackers and tea. And he wasn't complaining - since he got to see Neji with half of his torso naked.

Kiba laughed at himself. He was a straight guy, or so he thought. But seriously here, can anyone in their right mind NOT think of Neji as a beautiful piece of ass?

He blinked and smirked at his own thoughts.

He observed again; pale honey milk colored skin with just the right specularity due to sweat, long satin strands of black hair falling gracefully framing his pretty face when he stops moving, lean flexing muscles, a brooding frown traced by neat thin brows, the pale grey eyes...

... the pale grey eyes...

Kiba stirred out of his trance. Neji was currently facing him, half-mast eyes stared back at his own. What a lovely air of prominence; great enough to establish nobility, but not harsh enough to impend hostility.

"Heya," Kiba raised a hand to greet the other guy. Neji narrowed his eyes and walked towards him. Hinata trotted over and sat next to Kiba. "I'm sorry for making you wait Kiba-kun. I'll go get change and we'll go meet Shino okay?" she said politely and took off again.

Kiba nodded and grinned. "No problem," he shrugged.

Neji walked towards the refreshments and took a seat on the opposite side of Kiba. Akamaru looked at the silent shinobi and gave Neji a short sniff. Neji blinked as Akamaru barked twice softly at Kiba.

"Ahh.. Is that so?" Kiba seemed to be amused towards whatever Akamaru told him. Neji's brow twitched. "What is it?" he let his paranoia and curiosity get the best of him. "Huh?" Kiba turned up to look at Neji. "Owh, he said you smell good," Kiba translated what Akamaru said to the other boy.

Neji blinked in bewilderment.

He was debating over feeling insulted or good about himself, but when a dog tells you that you smelled good you just got to wonder.

Neji wiped off his sweat with a towel and slipped on a shirt. Neji ran a hand through his hair and reached out for a cup of tea. As he leaned forward his straight black hair curtained his face and Kiba was caught once again in a mesmerizing trance.

"Why are you so pretty?" he let out before he realized.

"Excuse me?" Neji stopped in the middle of his conquest to grab that piece of ebi senbe and looked up at Kiba. His pale grey eyes blinked in confusion.

"I said you're pretty," Kiba shrugged. It took Neji 3 seconds to register that and he returned Kiba's smirk with one of his own. As before, the smirk was of pure amusement, nothing like the ones the Uchiha throw around like a napalm beat.

"Dog boy wants to play?" he asked, the Hyuuga genius' voice was sultry. It wasn't quite flirtatious but the dangerous tone in his voice made the soft hair on Kiba's neck stood on end. Kiba's nose flared for a while as he reached out to grab the back of Neji's neck, mashing their lips together in a hungry kiss. Neji returned it quite as ravenously and it soon ended when Neji pushed Kiba away. "After your little dinner party… my room, 2 doors away from Hinata," he stood and grabbed his towel before padding softly into the main hall.

Before Kiba could say anything, he could hear another set of footsteps. This belonged to Hinata who came in a little jog, in effort to hasten up. "Let's go," she beamed. "Oh, okay." Kiba nodded as Akamaru barked once and led the way. Following his two best companions in the world, he stole one last glance towards the hall in hope to see if Neji was still around, but no one was there.

Sasuke walked into his preparation room to get the weaponry supply list. After checking the list and made notes, he sat on his desk and started writing a report to Godaime for requisitions.

Halfway through his writing, he saw a piece of yellow paper stenciled with orange spirals craving his attention from underneath another report book. Frowning, he reached for it and unfolded the piece of stationery - scanning its content.

'Oi, Sasuke-teme! Omae ga cho-suki dattebayo! Ore-sama to tsukiatte morau no? Sore de ippai ippai koi suru tsumori dattebayo! –Naruto yori-' (Hey Sasuke-teme! I LOVE you a hell lot! Let's go out then mate like bunnies! -Naruto-)

His temples throbbed in displeasure as he angrily stood up and crumpled the paper throwing it into a dustbin by the corner of the room.

Uzumaki Naruto was seriously an itch that wouldn't go away no matter how much you scratch. His popping veins stopped vibrating as he calmed himself down with a sigh.

Sasuke sat down and mused about the time Naruto was 'borrowed' for a mission with his squad.

He practically planted booby traps around Sasuke's tent, gave Sasuke a massage even if he didn't need it and fussed over Sasuke like a mother-hen. On top of that, the stupid blond even spent hours spilling his undying love to Sasuke along the journey.

This offered Sasuke's normally rigid team to loosen up and enjoy their mission for once. When he wasn't declaring his love, he'd make small talk with his teammates. This made them forget about how dangerous they were living their lives for once and get to see their captain-in-denial, blush beet red.

But as unreliable as he looked, he took care of 32 ninjas, the prostitute traffickers that hired them and their boss in less than 10 minutes himself without a drop of his own blood shed.

Sasuke's team looked at the blood covered boy, his hair no more recognized as blond, but was a horrible shade of dark red matted by caked blood. His lithe body was shaking, from either excitement or regret - no one could tell.

It was a quiet journey back. The fire in Naruto was gone, no more flirting, no more fussing. Only the concentration of heading home.

Sasuke sighed and leaned forward, massaging the spot in between his brows.

He finished up his report and brought it together with him, passing them to Koteshi who will hand the document to Tsunade when she's available.

The young Uchiha let out a big sigh and looked up at the stars.

He walked back towards his house, passing the ramen shop, the flower shop and finally… home… He pushed open the double wooden gates to enter the Uchiha compound and almost immediately, his temples started throbbing madly again.

He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucination.

Sprawled on his lawn are yards and yards of orange colored cloth. His eyes turned into a dangerous glare, Sharingan spinning wildly. Black ink with the words, 'Sasuke! LOVE!' peeked from within the haphazardly strewn cloth on the ground. Sasuke bit his lips and stomped over to gather the mess in his lawn. He brought the heavy item with not too much effort and placed them rather harshly in his backyard where there was a bigger space. Giving it a final kick he performed a series of hand seals.

"Katon : Gokakyu no Jutsu!" a large ball of flame conjured by a high density elementally fused chakra launched towards the limp pile on the ground. Sasuke watched as the useless material burnt into flames.

"I'll remind myself to kick his ass when I see him," Sasuke spat and walked into his house.

Dinner was great, company was good now the only thing for the boy to do was head home and...

Akamaru gave him a small yelp.

Kiba looked at his dog. 'Oh... yeah...' he smirked. As tempting as it sounded to him, he didn't want to sleep with the other boy. Well he did, but not just like that. He had promised himself that he would only make love... not succumb to carnal desire. But Neji would be waiting. Kiba looked down at Akamaru and shrugged. "Let's just see, ne?" He raced towards the elite part of Konoha.

Kiba sneaked into the Hyuuga residence. Akamaru stayed outside and rested comfortably under a large tree. Kiba sniffed with his nose and confirmed a window that lead to Neji's room. He slid open the window, slipped in and shut it back behind him all in one breath. Neji looked up from studying his scrolls and frowned.

Kiba noticed the look and swallowed a lump in his throat. "Uhm... I... I'm sorry," Kiba lost all confidence. He felt stupid for treating the earlier invitation as something real, Neji obviously looked busy. He turned around and before he could reach up for the window, a hand caught his arm. "Leaving so soon?" Neji smirked. Kiba turned around and attacked Neji's pale lips. The room was quite save some nasty slobbering sounds. When Kiba was breathing in between kisses, he realized that Neji did smell nice indeed. It was so nice that it was intoxicating.

He wanted more… but he couldn't.

They pulled away from each other. Neji looked at the red tattoo marks on Kiba's cheeks and gave it a soft graze with his thumb. "You were always watching me," Neji started. Kiba blinked. How in the hell did he notice? He was being awfully discreet about it even!

"Everyone does," Kiba said softly, turning to the side. He slid down the wall and leaned heavily against it. Butterflies were having a rampage in his stomach. "Hinata said you like my body," Neji said nonchalantly, as if it was something trivial anyone would say in a daily basis.

Kiba sighed. "Look Neji. As much as I wanna screw you and leave… I think I'm falling dangerously in love with you," Kiba looked at the floor, the patterns of the weaves on the tatami mat seemed fairly interesting. Neji stood up and turned around. "Ninja's do not need love. Lust can be taken care of easily, but with love comes great burden and responsibility," he uttered softly. Kiba sighed.

"Don't be such an ass, Hyuuga," Kiba groaned. Neji walked to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow," he uttered before exiting his own room, expecting Kiba to leave when he returns from the bathroom.

Kiba sighed. He flew out of Neji's room and stopped in front of Akamaru. The dog looked up and let out a small whimper. Kiba gave the dog a weak smile. "Let's go home," he gestured. The dog nodded obediently and followed his master.

Sasuke walked stiffly to the mission room, his steps rigid and constant. His head hung low but his eyes looked out towards his surroundings from behind his black bangs. People were staring at him, some with soft knowing gleeful eyes, some with a confused look and some with faces that showed him the Oh-no!-not-again- look.

Why was everyone staring at him intently? Why the interest? Was it because he was Uchiha Sasuke, or was it because he was a brilliant ANBU captain, or was it because he was a young man who had won the genetics lottery thus obtaining good looks and physique.

No, it was because...

The young Uchiha turned around and instinctively pushed both of his hands out in defense as a bundle of solid energy lunged at him. "Sa-su-ke!" Naruto reached around Sasuke's outstretched arms trying to engulf him in a hug, to no avail.

Yes, the cause of those stares was in front of the taller ANBU. Throwing his arms wildly around to try and catch him in a hug. Naruto's long blond bangs were obscuring part of his huge sky blue eyes accompanied by his ear-to-ear grin.

"Will you fucking stop following me around? Don't you have any mission to go to or something?" He shouted at the top of his lungs. More people were staring. But he didn't care. Naruto pouted and stopped thrusting himself towards Sasuke. His eyes closed to mere slits and arms folded proudly in front of him. "I just got back from one. Aren't you happy to see me?" His eyes cracked open again, to check on Sasuke's reaction.

"That pout of yours is atrocious! It looks like a fucking octopus!" Sasuke noted. "Stop it!"

Naruto didn't understand what it meant but he'd guess it wasn't something nice coming from Sasuke with that face on.

Naruto pouted more moving closer to Sasuke. "Not until you give me a kiss!" Naruto's mouth was almost a few inches away from Sasuke when the boy stumbled backward, threading laughter from their audience. "That octopus mouth is disgusting! Get off!" Sasuke tried to push Naruto who had both hands on his shoulder, all the while sticking out his lips to zero-in for a kiss.

Sounds of fallen books were heard.

Konohamaru sighed. "You two. I swear! Just kiss each other already! Everyone knows you two are together," he shook his head, picking up the scattered books and scroll.

"I... he...you..." Sasuke was so dumbfounded that he couldn't even construct a coherent sentence.

He and Naruto?

Together?

His eyes widened, the idea was almost enough for him to throw out his dinner. Calming himself down, he took a deep breath and bit his lips. "Won't you just give it up? Don't you see there is something wrong with this picture? You're a fucking dude, and so am I! I don't like you anyw..." Sasuke's words refused to roll out as they crawl back into his throat.

"Oiroke no jutsu! Henge!" (Erotic jutsu! Change!)

A very naked girl cupping her breast took a step closer to Sasuke, rubbing her smooth body against his. "I can change into this form if you want," she pouted her lips for a kiss again before she earned a slap on her whiskered cheek, effectively burst the shape-shifter into a cloud of smoke revealing a Naruto in a jounin uniform – mouth still pouting but not moving.

'Wow, that hurts' Naruto reached up to gingerly touch his cheek.

"You're despicable! I hope you fucking die in you next mission! That would make me the happiest guy in the world!" Sasuke spat and turned around to leave. What was he here for again? Ah, to get his team ready for a mission due in 28 minutes. Dammit! He hated distractions, it was a waste of time and energy.

Everyone was quiet. Konohamaru sighed again and pulled the hem of Naruto's jounin vest. The boy was still stuck in his daze and didn't move. "Naruto no niichan!" Konohamaru exclaimed as he tugged harder. Naruto blinked and smiled. "What is it?" he raised his arms behind his back and grinned at the younger boy. "Nothing, kore!" the younger boy gave Naruto a slight push opposite to where Sasuke was headed.

"Un," Naruto walked away, smiling but not happy.

Sasuke stepped into the Konoha gates and turned around. He nodded once to his team and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Another mission was a success. His second in command had been sent to report to Godaime. Threading towards town, he realized that there was a festival. Banners hung around the bustling streets told Sasuke it was to welcome the coming of spring.

He sat silently on one of the roofs. He had last saw Naruto somewhere in mid autumn, sometime before the kyuubi bearer's birthday. He hadn't a chance to wish him yet since they keep missing each other as missions continued. Almost 6 months he hasn't seen the ball of energy, the blond didn't even play pranks on him anymore.

It was as if he ceased to exist.

Sasuke blinked.

If he really did die, he was sure that someone would tell him.

Right?

Sasuke frowned at himself for being stupid. With that much of incredible skill, it was unlikely that the blond would get himself killed.

Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance towards himself for being soft and he jumped down to check out the night stalls. His taste buds craved for tokoroten (jelly and vinegar dessert), one of the few desserts he actually enjoyed.

As he was walking towards the line of stalls, he sensed an approaching chakra behind him. His eyes glanced slightly to the right where he saw a young girl running towards him, the ANBU clad boy side-stepped and watched in amusement as the 2 beings collided 3 inches away from him.

"Gomen nasai!"

Sasuke blinked as the other boy, who was also in an ANBU uniform apologized and helped the girl who was on her backside up to her feet again. She stared anxiously at them. Poor girl must have never seen an ANBU member up close before, let alone 2 of them in right in front of her now.

"Sorry, me too…" she apologized as well. Sasuke smirked behind his mask. What a clutzy ANBU, Sasuke mused as he wondered from what division was he. His eyes eyed something on the floor next to them. It was a partially opened parcel which was dropped during the collision; on closer inspection, it revealed some sort of orange cloth.

Unconsciously he reached out for the item whilst the other boy was still apologizing and explaining that he was in a hurry. Sasuke's hand pulled out the content, taking it out of the bag and recognized it as Naruto's orange jumpsuit. Before he could do anything else, the article of clothing was being snatched away from him. Looking up, Sasuke saw the ANBU bowing at him in apology before stuffing it back into the parcel.

Before the other ANBU can flee, Sasuke's hand reached out to grab his arm. "Where is he? Is he okay? Why do you have his clothes?" he demanded. The ANBU was silent. "Tell me!" Sasuke gushed, putting more pressure on the boy's arm. "He's okay. Just exhausted off too much chakra," the boy explained. "I'm just bringing him a fresh change of clothes."

"I'm coming with you," Sasuke uttered, releasing his death grip on the boy. The other boy didn't even flinch even though Sasuke's grip was enough to cause a bruise. The ANBU shrugged and ran off towards the hospital with Sasuke closely behind.

As they entered the medical premise, the boy lead Sasuke to the 2nd floor and the 3rd door where Naruto was supposedly to be in. He stopped behind the door, concealing away all of his chakra leaning against the wall, letting the earlier boy in first. In case they wanted to discuss anything confidential.

Ru walked into the room and placed the package on the bedside table. Naruto turned solemnly and offered the boy a smile. "Thank you, Ru. I'm sorry my house was a mess. I'm sure you had a hard time looking for my clothes," Naruto laughed weakly. Ru shook his head. "It's nothing taicho. It is the very least that I could do since you almost used up all your chakra to protect us. I'm sorry we were not up to par and always cause you trouble. You should have just left me to die by their hands. I'm not worthy of your leadership," Ru uttered softly.

Naruto laughed and reached out to hold the other's hand gently.

"You hand is warm, taicho," Ru noted as he looked at their hands. Naruto nodded and brought his other hand over to encapsulate Ru's slightly smaller hand. "And these warm hands will protect you no matter what. Do not worry about it, Ru. You are a very talented shinobi and to have that kind of thinking is not really productive," he grinned. Ru nodded, his mask now humid with his tears flowing beneath it. "Arigatou, taicho. I am always causing trouble for you," Ru apologized.

"Besides, all of you are the only precious things I have left in my meaningless life. I'd have to make more effort to make sure you all survive, no?" Naruto uttered, a hint of sadness in his voice even though he was smiling.

Sasuke bit his lips. He didn't like how Naruto sounded in that last sentence.

Naruto was alright, only depleted too much of his chakra.

He started to walk away and considering on getting his almost forgotten tokoroten. He'd have to wish the boy a very belated birthday later when he's a little better.

"Taicho, daijobu?" Tsu tapped Naruto's shoulder before they entered the village grounds. Naruto nodded. "It's nothing important," Naruto waved it off.

"I shall send the report to Godaime-sama, Taicho." Tsu announced. Naruto nodded. "Right, Thanks for the hard work. I'm off now," he thanked them and blurred back towards his house.

He needed to wash his wounds first. Meeting Tsunade he could do after having 10 solid hours of sleep.

It hurts, it hurts.

He bit his lips. Ever since his refusal to utilize Kyuubi's chakra, he had been healing like a normal human being. And wounds like these which normally take 2 days at most to heal will drag on for weeks. Not forgetting the annoying sting of pain that accompanied it. He could only count on Tsunade's ointment to numb the feeling so it wouldn't interfere with his missions.

As soon as he entered his apartment, he locked it behind him by habit. He started throwing his clothing article one by one as he reached his bathroom. Turning on his heater, he let the shower run to its right temperature. He looked down and peeled off the not-so-neat bandages he did himself yesterday. He stared into the mirror and frowned, tossing the blood caked material into the dustbin.

"Nasty…" he grumbled as he trailed the gash that traveled from his chest to the top of his seal on his well developed abs.

He stepped under the water.

Naruto bit his lips and hissed as the almost scorching hot water hit raw muscles. "Shit, this hurts like fuck!" he cussed. Reaching out for his scrubbing mat, he lathered up the soap. Scrubbing hard, he tried to erase all the blood that didn't belong to him off his body, be it real or imaginary. A killing spree wasn't something he enjoyed doing. But hell, he was good at it and it was for the sake of Konoha's safety.

It had to be done.

Even it he was to suffer alone, it was okay.

This was better than having crying women accusing him of killing their families.

After he was convinced that he was clean, he sighed heavily and turned off the water. Looking up into the foggy mirror and staring back at his reddened skin, result of over-scrubbing and abnormally heated water. He turned away and applied proper disinfectant on the wound, dressing it back with some bandages.

Trotting to his room and claiming his orange jacket and pants, he looked at the mirror as his reflection stared back at him. "Oh, look how bright you are, my love," he giggled as he donned up the attire. Walking towards his dresser to reach for his hitai-ate, he secured it over his forehead.

He looked at his reflection again, ruffling his damp hair and attempted a grin. Well, it was a fake smile, but it was needed. Naruto smiled so often it was almost natural for him to smile when he was sad, which was almost every second of his life.

A low grumble in his stomach told him to get food and what other means than a few good healthy servings of ramen?

The boy closed the door behind him and made his way to the all too familiar sidewalk stall. "Os-san tad-dai-ma! Miso chashuu extra~~!" Naruto chimed before sitting down.

Teuchi laughed light-heartedly and started on Naruto's order. "Hai,hai okaeri!" he greeted as he dumped in the boiled noodles into the Miso broth and pushed the bowl towards Naruto. "Miso ramen, thanks for the wait! Chashuu is on the house!" Teuchi grinned at the boy, offering extra barbecued meat slices as a thank you gesture for the boy's effort in live threatening missions in order to keep the village safe.

"Itadakima-su!" Naruto dived into his food.

After his 4th bowl Naruto licked the last drop of the broth and placed the gigantic empty bowl down with a dull thud. He let out a satisfied breath and grinned to himself. "That was go~od!" Naruto almost yawned in fatigue and hunger satisfaction.

The blond left the amount of money equivalent to what he has eaten on the table and stood up. "Gochisousama, os-san!" He hollered. "Maido, maido," Teuchi thanked Naruto back as he reached forward for the left cash on the countertop.

Food was good, thought the blond boy as he rubbed his stomach out of habit. Days of eating scavenged food was necessary for survival, but nothing he would pay good money for. And a few good bowls of ramen definitely made the week's wait worthwhile. He idly let his fingers linger around his bandaged wound padded by his jacket. The imminent sting brought by his grazing fingers made him smiled awkwardly. He didn't like the pain, but it felt rather interesting.

His ninja sense kicked in when he sensed someone close. Bringing his two arms behind his head, he walked nonchalantly ahead, trying to act as if nothing was bothering him. Humming softly to some random tune he walked into a more lighted area as the other person passed by. Naruto ignored it and continued to walk straight ahead hoping that the person walking past him was too engrossed in what ever thought he was in, to notice his presence.

Sasuke frowned.

Naruto was less than 5 feet away from him and seemed to ignore him. It was impossible that he wouldn't know who he was, their chakra too in-tuned to each other that they would have sensed each other even before their eyes could.

Normally, this would be the cue where Naruto would jump him, pour his disgusting undying love for him and tackle him off balance. It has been a while since he saw him anyway.

A part of him was hoping Naruto would keep walking and grant him his peace of mind. But another part of him was wondering, why the cold shoulder...

Naruto kept walking, increasing the space between him and Sasuke. He would normally seize this chance to glomp the stoic shinobi. But he didn't want to risk tearing open his wound, knowing how aggressive Sasuke could be when throwing him off. It was best that he kept his distance from the Uchiha now. Years of stalking, hovering over the Uchiha heir, declaring his undying love for him, and trying to molest the boy had taught him that even how close he was to dying, or how many bloody wounds he has, the other boy wouldn't take it easy on him. To Sasuke, Naruto was still a rival who deserves no compassion, only a good kick in the ass if he was being a dunce.

He didn't want to seem weak to the Uchiha anyway and he was too depressed over something to add insult to his already injured ego.

Sasuke stopped on his tracks and turned to look over his shoulder. The other figure had just disappeared into a darker part of the streets, completely oblivious to his presence. He didn't want to admit it, but he was – so to say – greatly surprised.

He even wanted to greet the boy. 'Hey, back from the mission already?' or 'Happy Belated Birthday' or maybe something along those lines. But Sasuke was being Sasuke, and he wouldn't talk to the boy unless talked to first. That was how it was for them. This new change brought upon an unsettling feeling in his guts.

And he didn't like it.

As disturbing as it was to him, he wasn't going to let that disrupt his attitude. If the boy was going to stop taunting him with idiotic love confessions, he was fine by it.

Naruto let out a big sigh. When he sensed Sasuke had turned around and walked back to the original direction he was heading to, the blond sprinted back to his apartment. In case Sasuke suddenly 'felt' like saying hi. It was a 1 in a million chance, but Naruto wouldn't take the risk.

He crawled in through his window and plopped himself on the bed; reaching for his pajama that was carelessly discarded sometime before his mission, he changed into it. Naruto gave a slight cringe as he stretched his torso to accommodate the new attire. He let out a big sigh as he lay gravely on his bed. He needed a new hobby. Obsessing over a certain Uchiha is not healthy.

Naruto blinked at the ceiling. The dimly lit lamp that illuminated his room gave it an eerie glow, haunting shadows danced on his walls. He shifted uneasily as the familiar pain started on his chest and made itself felt. He pouted to himself and let out a fairly loud groan to vent himself off the throbbing pain. He had used the last of Tsunade's ration of that pain killing ointment and the pain was starting to really irritate him.

He sat up and took off his shirt, flinging it somewhere across his room. He prudently reached up to the sloppy bandages and tear them off throwing it to the waste-bin. He decided to air his wound in attempt to numb it in the cool air. Fairly pissed off from something he couldn't place his finger on, he tried to close his eyes to claim his well deserved slumber.

Sasuke stepped into his room and gingerly closed the door behind him. As much as he hated to admit it, he was in a shitty mood because Naruto was ignoring him.

Naruto was supposed to fuss over him, and tell him how happy he was to be back in Konoha with Sasuke still around and not off into some other mission. Naruto will create a big commotion and he will shut him off with either a few punches or some sarcastic taunts. That was how the system works right?

Unconditional Love vs. Bitter Sarcasm. It has to work that way.

... right?

Sasuke let his eyes wonder in his room before stepping in further. There on the desk was his katana and scarf. He smirked and walked to it. It was the scarf Naruto wanted to wear for one of his mission sometime ago last year, but like hell he'd give it to Naruto. Then he blinked. Was that why Naruto was acting like he had a dildo in his ass with him? Oh, come on! He had always denied Naruto anything he asked for before a mission. What's so different with it this time anyway? And it was so long ago anyway.

He picked up the clothing material and brought it close to his vision. The scarf was part of his ANBU uniform, given to him by the Godaime in the ANBU initiation ceremony. Mask, White Vest, Katana, Cloak, Scarf and some other fancy accessories.

Naruto's was an orange scarf, with heavily decorated red outlined yellow chrysanthemum flowers and piped with golden seams. His was a Deep Blue with patterns of flowing river, cranes and Sakura flowers. Their cloaks were also upgraded to a cream colored one from the black ones when they attained the Squad Captain rank.

He sighed and turned to walk out of his room. If the idiot wanted to trade their scarf to resume friendship, then so be it.

'Knock knock'

Naruto's eyes widened at the foreign sound. He was almost drifting to la-la land when the noise pulled him back to reality.

'Knock Knock'

The blond frowned at the persistent knocking and griped at the possibility of Godaime assigning him on another mission. He pushed himself off the bed, the pain ringing on his chest blurring his sense of decency as he didn't bother to put on something decent before opening the door to meet his caller.

"What do you..." Naruto blinked as his eyes met with obsidian orbs that dilated notably when faced with a sleep derived blond with a fairly big gash across his chest. "Naruto... what the hell..." the boy was cut when Naruto slammed the door, or tried to since the Uchiha had already jammed his sandaled feet in between to prevent it from shutting.

"Fuck off Sasuke, I'm in no mood for your trashing!" Naruto grunted, pushing the door. "Damare, Usuratonkachi! Where did you get that big wound from?" Sasuke asked, his persistent nudging of the door gaining leverage. "..." Naruto didn't answer. He was concentrating on shutting his door without aggravating more of his wound.

Sasuke's eyes travelled down Naruto's chest and saw part of the barely healing skin tear further to reveal more raw muscle and blood.

"Gah!" Naruto pushed himself away from the door and landed on his ass. He looked around and crawled to the left reaching up for a roll of toilet paper that was left on the floor, pulling long strips of it in an effort to dab his wounds. Sasuke entered the apartment and closed the door behind him, watching Naruto closely.

"..." Naruto kept dabbing on his wound and tried to tweeze away some bits of the thin paper that were stuck to his exposed meat. He cursed inwardly as it stung badly.

Sasuke crouched in front of Naruto and held the blond's shaking hand. "Where did you get that?" he asked again. Naruto looked away and frowned deeper. Then he decided to smile. He would smile so bright that the Uchiha would drop the subject, and leave him alone.

Turning to Sasuke with a large smile he just shrugged. "It's just a blunder that happened during my last mission. Don't worry about it, Sasuke."

Sasuke sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about it when you saw me earlier? Why did you ignore me?"

Why was he still here? Go away already!

"It's really nothing Sasuke! Really! Hehe. I get this all the time," Naruto pushed the boy away and rolled his eyes as he stood facing his back towards the other boy.

Sasuke grunted and curled his fist so hard his nails were dangerously threatening to draw blood from his palms. "Don't fucking give me that stupid smile! Stop smiling when you're in pain, you dunce! Fucking stop it before I kick you so hard that you'd regret ever being born!" Sasuke burst. He didn't mean it, but he was so angry. So angry at being hidden from the truth and from the fact that Naruto didn't trust him enough to show him his real emotions, and he was also devastated by the cold shoulder he received even if he hadn't seen the blond in what? 7 months?

"This is the exact reason why I ignored you," Naruto muttered softly. Sasuke blinked. "I know if I greeted you as usual, you'd give me a good beating. I ran out of painkillers so I didn't bother trying," he stated as-a-matter-of-factly shifting his weight to the other leg. "I'm currently emotionally unstable, so I don't need your verbal abuse. So if you'll excuse me," Naruto uttered, his voice dull and lifeless.

Sasuke sighed and walked towards the blond. "Hey, lemme see," he reached out.

"Don't touch me! Don't act like you care cuz it fucking hurts. Now be a nice friend and go home. I'd deal with this myself," Naruto huffed.

Sasuke blinked and pulled back his hands.

"Very well…" he said before leaving the blond to himself.

Naruto heard the door close behind him and started to cry. "Sasuke…" he uttered in between sobs. "Come back…" he whined, barely audible to even himself. It hurts so much. He had missed the Uchiha greatly. He wanted nothing more than to come back from missions and curl up into the warm arms of the cold Uchiha. Even how bad his wounds were, if only those warm arms would wrap around him he would be so grateful.

Missions will hold a better meaning for him. Keeping the village safe would make a more significant meaning with a loved one to return to.

Well, it serves him right for being stubborn.

"Taicho!" Sasuke halted as his katana stopped short a few nanometers away from cutting the arteries of the person held captive under his hold. "We need at least one to bring back to Konoha for interrogation," uttered Sasuke's subordinate.

Sasuke growled and tossed the shaking body towards his subordinate and wiped off the blood from his katana before sliding it back into its sheath.

Lately he had been really edgy. He was angry at Naruto. Naruto hadn't crossed his path even when he knew he had no missions. It took him a while to admit it but he WANTED Naruto to shower him with confessions of love. He wanted to be fussed with. He wanted desperately to feel those warm arms circling his neck, as if hanging onto dear life. He needed them. Those constant reminder of him and the blond being in existence.

And 8 months lack of love confessions is turning him into a grumpy old fart.

Literally…

His team was scared of him. His usually stoic demeanor was now accompanied by malice and a sense of macabre. When killing he doesn't only kill, he made sure the bodies was disemboweled, decapitated and thoroughly defaced.

During their journey home, one of his subordinates approached him when they stopped to camp before approaching Konoha grounds. "Taicho?" he asked. Sasuke looked up from his untouched dinner. "Are you okay?" he asked. Sasuke frowned. "I am not, and what can you do about it?" he challenged.

The older man swallowed nervously. "I'm sorry, sir," he bowed apologetically and stayed in that position. "If I am to be of any help please do tell. You know I am willing to throw my life away for you, sir."

Sasuke sighed and placed a hand on his subordinate's shoulder. The man stiffened immediately and Sasuke let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry. I shall deal with this problem of mine as soon as I get back. I'm sorry to cause you all despair and stress."

The older ANBU nodded and left Sasuke alone.

Sasuke stepped into the Godaime's office and bowed.

Tsunade looked at the young ANBU captain and sighed, putting down her pen. "My guards won't be useful if people stop using the door, you know?" she smirked. "Pardon me," Sasuke handed her his mission report. Tsunade opened the scroll and scanned their details. It was written in neat scriptures and straight to the point, unlike some other captain who was forbid to write any reports due to some really hideous handwriting and apparently unrelated side-stories.

"So he's already detained for interrogation?" she inquired, looking at him. Sasuke nodded once. "Morino-sama was to be in charge for that matter," Tsunade nodded and frowned. "What about the hunter-nin from…"

Her sentence was cut short when Izumo barged in. "Sumimasen, Godaime-sama!The Fox Squad's captain is in a bad shape! He's loosing too much blood!" he shouted. Tsunade blinked. "Call Shizune and assemble at least 8 people for a medical seal! Hurry!" she ran around her table. Turning around to Sasuke she congratulated him on a job well done. "Sasuke, good job on this mission. You're dismissed," and disappeared towards the medical facility on the 2nd floor.

Sasuke frowned. The Fox Squad. Which ANBU team was that? Then his eyes shot up. "Naruto!" he dashed out of the room and ran into Koteshi who was left to stand guard of the room. "Koteshi-san! Was it Naruto? Is he alright?" he held both of Koteshi's shoulder in a firm grip. The Chuunin shook his head. "I don't know. But they are in the medic room 2nd floor."

Sasuke let him go and sped off towards the stairs, pushing a few rushing medic nins out of the way. He saw Shizune entering a room with 11 other medic nins. One of them was Sakura. "Sakura! Sakura!" he called. The pink haired girl turned around and smiled weakly. "Sasuke-kun. Naruto is inside there. I'm going to try and help him now. You can come and watch from behind the one way glass room," she offered.

"..." Sasuke held her hand. Sakura nodded and pulled him into the room.

The door closed behind them and all was dark. Sasuke was ushered into a room and his eyes slowly adjusted to the minimal light around him. There was a glass and a few other machines. 2 medic nins were operating some sort of machinery. "Stay here Sasuke-kun," Sakura uttered softly and went to join the others. Sasuke walked to the glass wall to see Naruto lying on a slightly raised platform on the other side.

"Naruto…" he uttered softly.

The boy was stark naked. His body was full of burnt marks and gashes. 8 medic nins sat in a circle, forming the 8 trigrams as the floor illuminated a blue hue seal scripture. One was standing inside the trigram trying to cease the bleeding from various open wounds. Needles were inserted into at least 40 spots on his body to stimulate healing, numb pains and excrete poison. Bags of fresh B type blood were forcedly pumped into him.

"Mou yamerut..tebayo.. baachan…" (Stop... granny...) Naruto uttered as he hacked out blood in the process.

"Naruto!" Tsunade's voice echoed in the room. "What the fuck are you trying to do?"

She turned to her 8 subordinates. "Increase healing rate!" they all nodded and concentrated more chakra. The seal on the floor glowed brighter as Naruto cringed more. "I still need you to become the Rokudaime Hokage you stupid brat! Don't fucking die on me now!" Tsunade looked at her other 8 medic nins as they nod their heads in approval. Now that they have stabilized Naruto's body she performed a special seal and immediately closed the wounds, effectively stopping more blood loss.

"Blood pressure normal. Internal organs healed. Burns have been decreased to 1st degree. Restoration success!" The medic nin next to Sasuke reported as he read the machine's diagnosis.

Sasuke sighed. What an idiot. Getting himself almost killed in a stupid mission. He pushed himself off the glass and walked out of the room. He'd see the stupid blond later.

Sasuke walked out from the dango shop and carried with him a box containing 5 sticks of dango and 2 cups of oshiruko, Naruto's favorite dessert. He made his way to the Konoha Hospital and up the stairs to the room Naruto was in. As he approached nearer, he sensed that there were a lot of people in it so he stopped behind the door. He didn't mean to eavesdrop but they were loud enough for him to hear.

"Taicho— please! Don't be a human shield!" a voice cried. "Yeah! Why did you purposely throw yourself into their attack. If I didn't know you better I might have thought that you really wanted to die!"

A soft course chuckle could be heard. "What if I really did?" Naruto's voice was low. It didn't carry the energy that he used to burn with. "Please don't taicho! We will train more and more so we wouldn't be a burden for you. We don't want any other captain," another voice pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Ka. I promise I won't do that again. At that time I just felt so depressed I was acting before I could think, though that's something I normally do. Hahaha…" Naruto lightened up the atmosphere. "Don't do that again taicho!"

"Hai, hai." Naruto waved them to calm down.

"Maybe being lonely finally got to me…" he uttered softly. All his boys stopped fussing and paid attention to his soft words.

"You guys complete missions and go back to your loved ones. I complete my missions and get back to my ramen cups," Naruto stuck out his tongue. A light laughter could be heard from inside the room. "Seriously taicho, we've been together for so long. I could just take off my mask now and let you know who I am then you can come and get us to hang out with you if you're lonely," Tsu suggested. The rest agreed but Naruto waved his hand in disapproval. "I wouldn't let my subordinates be in danger for my selfish sake. Nope, nope. I appreciate the gesture but it's okay, I'm not lonely in that sense. Fufufu…" he giggled, eyes in slits.

Sasuke frowned behind the wall. He took a deep breath and knocked on the slightly ajar door.

Ru reached out his hand to push away strands of Naruto's blond hair out of his eyes and stopped a few centimeters away when he heard the knocking.

The 5 ANBU members and Naruto turned to look at the presence at the door. Sasuke cleared his throat. "Uhm… should I come later?" he asked. "Ah, Sasuke-sama. We were just leaving," An ANBU member uttered. The rest flustered and nodded bowing to Naruto. "Please rest well, taicho! Don't over exert yourself!"

"Hai, hai! Urusettebayo! I don't need more than one Tsunade-baachan, you guys!" he pouted. Sasuke nodded at them as they walked out the door, bowing to him. Ru stopped in front of Sasuke and looked at the Sharingan wielder. "Please look after Naruto-taicho," he uttered before he bowed to Sasuke. The silent shinobi bowed in return. Ru walked out the door and Sasuke locked it behind him, walking over to Naruto. Naruto offered his best smile.

"Hey there."

Sasuke stopped and frowned at Naruto. "Don't smile. I told you not to smile when you're in pain," his voice was of a stern command. But Naruto continued his warm smile. "I smile because Sasuke is here to see me - teme," Naruto offered as an explanation, his temples twitch.

"Usuratonkachi," Sasuke sighed and walked towards Naruto again.

The blond seemed to find Sasuke's sandals interesting and stared at it. Sasuke placed the food that he brought on the side table and sat on the chair that was there.

There was a peaceful silence for a while.

"I'm sorry."

Sasuke looked up at Naruto. But the boy was staring out to the window. He had dropped his sunny smile. Sasuke wanted to say something. He wanted to ask why? But words just decided to get stuck in his throat.

"They brought me back. So I couldn't die like you wanted me to," Naruto finished.

Sasuke bit his lips and his fist trembled.

"I really wanted to make you happy. If my death permits you to…"

Before Naruto could finish his sentence, he felt a numbing pain on his left cheek. Tears fell uncontrollably even though his eyes were shut tight.

Sasuke stared at him, his Sharingan appeared in reflex to his flaring anger. His hand that connected with Naruto's cheek just a while ago trembled.

There were no other words.

Naruto bit his lips to prevent his tears from flowing down his face buy couldn't. He was sad. He was beyond sad, he was miserable.

Suddenly Naruto was enveloped in a fierce hug. "USURATONKACHI! If you dare pull such a stunt again, I will kill you myself!" Sasuke was crying. "Sasuke?" Naruto opened his eyes. Sasuke was sobbing against his shoulders.

Naruto brought his bandaged hands up and held Sasuke's face in it, pushing it off himself to get a better look at his love subject. His blue eyes looked into watery black ones, in all confusion. "Ne, ne... why are you crying?" Naruto tried to laugh it off.

Sasuke reached both his hands to clasp Naruto's right hand gently. He brought it to his chest. "I'm sorry Naruto. All this while... I was being an idiot."

Naruto blinked. "You mean… if I say 'I love you', you won't hit me for that?" the blond asked, a weak cheeky smile appeared on his whiskered face. Sasuke shook his head. "Oh ok," Naruto let go of Sasuke's face and gathered the boy in his arms gingerly. Sasuke looked at him in confusion. Naruto giggled. "Gomen. I still hurt all over," he stuck out his tongue and made himself comfortable, embracing the other boy. When he was convinced that he was in a good position, he placed his head on Sasuke's shoulder and let out a big lungful of air he was unconsciously holding.

"I like Sasuke a lot. A hell lot! Go out with me?"

Sasuke blinked and returned the hug. He just realized how tiny Naruto felt in his arms. So fragile. "Uhn... me too. Always have been," he smirked. "Geh!" Naruto exclaimed, but still not moving from his comfortable position. Sasuke's warmth was too precious to be left unattended. "You say that but all this time you keep pushing me away," Naruto pouted.

"I'm sorry," Sasuke apologized. Naruto laughed. "It's okay. It's okay. I know Sasuke is shy," Naruto supplied a train of laughter for good measure. Sasuke ignored his blushing face and nuzzled in deeper to the crook of Naruto's neck. "Ne, I'd like to hump you like a rabbit in heat too. But it hurts too much all around. I'd doubt I can get anything hard," Naruto smiled.

Sasuke pushed himself and stared at Naruto. How could he say something like that so shamelessly? Even so, with that innocent smile on his face, an oxymoron to whatever he said not just 30 seconds ago. Sasuke suddenly felt like a pedophile. "Ano sa, ano sa, you don't wanna do naughty things with me?" Naruto pouted, a slight disappointment in his voice and face.

"Uh! No! I do! I mean... NARUTO!" Sasuke's face was beet red. For the first time in his life Naruto saw Sasuke fluster and blush like a high school girl.

"Maa maa… Don't be so shy about these things Sasuke. We're not 13 year olds anymore! And it's high time we stop being virgins! I won't forgive myself if I die before I have sex!" Naruto beamed, his bandaged hands waving around.

"I know! But don't put on and innocent face while you suggest those… you know!" Sasuke flabbergasted. Naruto laughed and leaned in for a peck on Sasuke's lips.

"Sasuke cho-kawaii!" he grinned wide. This time it was a sincerely happy smile. Not those forced masked ones. Sasuke was immediately infected with that contagious smile and let out a small grin on his part.

Maybe, he can finally let himself open up. To the one person that mattered in his life.

And he was sure that Naruto felt the same way too.

Life was too short... to live with any regrets.

It's best to be honest with yourself

A/N : I'm sure nobody bothers to read this... or the fic for that matter.

As usual, I didn't have a title for this fic until I was to submit it. So I sat there staring for 15 minutes, looking around my room for ideas. Hence, the weird title.

And as for the Japanese, it's roughly translated to English. And my English is no better since I don't pay attention well in class. So if the grammar sucked, I apologize.

This thing has been nestling in the back of my old hdd for quite a while… never had the guts to post it. Heh. So… there… have fun.