Blocking Out A Bother

It was just another day, started too early for any normal person's liking. The sun was just beginning to lore itself up over the hills, the moon non-too-eagerly drifting away with its fan club of stars.

Naruto mentally moaned, hating to see the pale ball leaving so soon. Judging by his teammates' expressions, they either didn't care or hadn't noticed just how early it was. Sasuke, like Naruto, looked just as ready to go back to the comforts of his own home and hide under his bed until the late afternoon, whereas Sakura was the only member of the three that was highly enthusiastic. It most likely had something to do with the fact that she was around her favorite's person in the entire village and, sadly, it wasn't Naruto.

"So Sasuke, I was thinking that we should go out to eat after we're finished training today," and, as a five minute delayed afterthought, she turned to her other teammate, inviting him too. "Of course if you have something better to do, Naruto, we wouldn't hold it against you."

Naruto put on a show of actually considering her invitation. Truthfully, he had nothing to do and would most likely head back home after today's session with Kakashi. But for the sake of not having Sakura beat him up when Sasuke wasn't looking, he said that he had to meet a friend of a friend's over at another friend's house so they could hang out at a friend's distant cousin's house in this one nameless town where another friend stayed.

"Oh, that's too bad," was her very pleased respond. From that point on to the remainder of the fifteen minute walk to the meeting area, Naruto was disclosed from Sakura's one-sided conversation with the raven.

Upon arriving at their spot, the three teens separated into two units: Sasuke and Sakura on one side of the bridge, Naruto scurrying on to the opposite side. The blonde leaned over the railing, staring down at the fish swimming just beneath them. The way that the raising rays reflected off their scales was so gorgeous.

Something like this had to be shared!

So he called Sakura over. "Look at this, look at this!"

She looked, she was amazed, and then she went away. "Sasuke— there's some over here too, you have to see this!"

Naruto did not know if the Uchiha looked or not, he had his back to them. If Sasuke did look, than Naruto felt the tiniest bit of happiness because he was the one that introduced Sakura to the sight that she now showed Sasuke. Therefore, if it wasn't for the blonde, than Uchiha would have missed out on such a lovely image. In a way, it was like Naruto himself was showing Sasuke the astonishing sight of the fishes. But that's only if Sasuke bothered to look.

The bridge wasn't very high over the water. In fact, if he so desired, Uzumaki could dangle his feet over the edge and have them skim across the surface of the water. Though, if he did that, the little fishys would be frightened away. He didn't want that. They were the only things keeping him company at the present.

Every once in a while, Naruto would solemnly glance over his shoulder at his teammates; Sakura, as he already predicted would happen, was having a very intense (though extremely pointless) conversation that bounced from topic to topic. Sasuke, again as predicted, was staring off into space, looking to have no knowledge of being spoken to. Sometimes, ever so discreetly, Sasuke's gaze would drift over to the bubblegum haired girl, his eyes would widen slightly, no doubt surprised to see her mouth still moving. From there, he and Naruto would make eye contact for the briefest of seconds before he would go back to staring into outer space, a hand scratching at his ear.

Naruto sighed, focusing his attention fully on the professional swimmers below him. They were so elegant...

In a matter of seconds, the blonde was lost in their techniques, memorized. Some swam in groups, others preferring to go solo. There was one fish that swam back and forth between two others, but then scurried off to the side, seemingly growing bored with them.

Another sigh left the teen as he leaned his weight fully against the railing. Behind him, he could still hear the motor-mouth that he called a teammate. She was bitching about something her mother said this morning.

"You're lucky to have a mom to nag you," the blonde murmured, his eyes dropping. Even though he'd said it in a tone just below a whisper, Sakura still heard him. She was silent for a full minute; something neither boy thought was possible. Naruto had to check to make sure she was still standing there. She was; looking as awkward and out of place among parentless comrades. Her mouth moved, words not fully pronounced slipping out here and there. She had no idea what to say, and just when she had Sasuke's full attention too!

Taking pity on the girl, Naruto brought forth his best winning smile. At seeing it, the flabbergasted expression slide from Sakura's face, replaced with a small, grateful smile of her own. She felt guilty at how easily she'd forgotten that neither Naruto nor Sasuke had parents and here she was whining about her's caring about her well-being.

In a whisper, she started up again, steering clear of the conversation with her mom and focusing on a fight she and Ino had had yester night over "some guy." Feeling that she owed it to him, Naruto was even allowed to comment on this topic. They all knew who the guy was, but for the sake of making Sakura feel that she was keeping some big secret to herself, his name was not spoken aloud.

When the subject moved on from Ino to fashion, Naruto found himself growing apart from the conversation once more. Sakura talked more to fill in for her silent teammates.

"...it's really cute and just my size but the price is a little steep for a dress, though it is made completely out of real diamonds. If I do three missions a day every day then there's a sixty-eight percent chance that I'll be able to buy it by this time in four years! And what's more... is there a bug bothering you, Sasuke?"

Naruto glanced back to see the raven playing with his ear again. He looked irritated. Uzumaki watched; interested to hear what Sasuke would say. Sakura and Naruto subsequently held their breath. Sasuke, however, did not grace them with his voice. His hand dropped back to his side, he sighed, looking content once more, resumed him leaning position against the railing, and floated back to wherever it was that his mind went.

Letting the air out of their lungs in one long "whoosh", the blonde and pinkette sent sideway glances at one another. Sasuke had not spoken one word to either of them since they'd met up outside the Academy. Even though Sasuke was always silent, this was considered abnormal even for him.

A gentle wind blew by, rustling the leaves of a nearby tree. Naruto was sidetracked with watching a leaf float through the air, landing in the water before him. Fishes that had been gathered there, scattered before the leaf touched the water, scared away by its shadow. He waited to see if any would come back. None did.

Uzumaki heaved another sign, his ears being drawn back to whatever Sakura was talking about: flowers. Last week, Ino had shown her what flowers were best for healing or inflecting poison. "I thought that you would find this useful, Sasuke, seeing as you've been taking on tons of solo missions lately."

Mentally, a snort left the blonde. He, too, had been taking on tons of missions by himself. Surely, he would have found the information just as useful as the Uchiha. But nooo! Sasuke was the one that would most likely find himself in a situation where he would actually take the time to find and mix flowers for a poison. Cause, y'know, Sasuke would much rather do that extra work rather then use a jutus that would have the same effect three times faster.

Growing bored just that fast, Naruto tilted his head back, looking at the clouds lazily drifting by overhead. Shikamaru instantly came to mind. If Shikamaru was here, then Naruto would have someone to talk to. Hell, at this point, Naruto would talk to a dog if one happened to cross his path. He thought of all the phenomenal things he and the animal would talk about— bones, digging, peeing wherever and whenever one pleased. Yes, having a conversation with a dog would prove to be very interesting. But why just limit it to just dogs? What about cats and birds? He could already talk to frogs and quiet honestly found them to be smart little bastards, though all animal wouldn't possess the same attitude, right? He would have to talk to one to find out.

An ear bleeding screech from behind forced Naruto out of his musing. He spun around, kunai drawn, eyes darting every which way for possible danger. What he found was the girl on his team acting like... a girl.

Thunderstruck, Naruto let his arms fall to his side. He looked from the still shouting Sakura to the raven slowly easing away from her, irritation once more seen on his face as he dug a finger in his ear.

"...what is it, Sakura-chan?"

She covered her mouth in horror, cutting off her screaming which both males were thankful for. Her eyes were focused on the ground, widen with fear. Confused, Naruto looked at the spot also.

"..."

Small, black, with eight long hairy legs. A spider. She was screaming over a spider. In the Hokage's name... what the fuck?

Naruto stepped over to where the bug was crawling up the railing. He secretly played with the idea that it was trying to get to Sakura to make her shut up. He scooped it up with the tip of his kunai. Sakura screamed bloody murder for him to kill it. Personally, Naruto found it heartless to do such a thing to a living creature. So, instead, he walked over to the edge of the bridge, dumping it there.

After making sure it didn't go back in the direction of their meeting place, he went to rejoin his teammates. Sakura was still in her standing position on top the rails, Sasuke had moved over to where Naruto had been standing previously, looking down at the stream.

Reassuring her three times that the spider was gone, that no it would not come back, and no there weren't any more coming after her, the blonde was rewarded with a bone crushing hug and many 'thank you's.

"Of course," she added once she'd re-gathered her baring, arms crossed over her chest, "Sasuke would have..." here Naruto tuned her out, not caring one bit what Sasuke would have done, how he would have done it, and why he hadn't done it.

She just won't shut up, he thought, nodding his head to every third or fourth point Sakura felt that she needed to make, and yet, she wasn't saying much of anything.

Seeing as the Uchiha now occupied his spot, Naruto had no choice but to stand besides the pinkette and listen to her rambling. "Really Sakura", "That's great, Sakura", "You're soooo right, Sakura" (please note that the three extra 'o's in "so" are drown out to be heard individually), were all he was allowed to say. Heaven forbid that he miss the pause she graced him with to say such phrases!

Longingly, Uzumaki cast glances at his spot.

Longingly, Haruno produced words from her mouth.

"Really, Sakura?"

From what Naruto guesstimated to be nearly two hours, she talked and talked and talked.

"You're soooo right, Sakura."

And for all those minutes, for ever second that passed, Naruto stood there and he listened. She was actually talking to him! This was rare, very rare. Like kissing a frog and having it turn into a prince! That's how rare we're talking here.

"That's great, Sakura."

Yet... he discovered something he never imaged would happen. The feeling he anticipated he'd get if ever Sakura was to talk to him, actually talk to him, wasn't there. True, it had been there for the first half hour that she spoke to him, but as more and more syllables were pronounced, the feeling ever so slowly diminished until there was nothing left. At this point he would happily trade her in for someone else to talk to, someone that permitted him to do more than speak up to four words at a time, hum thoughtfully, and nod his head in agreement.

With this thought, the previous imagined conversation with a dog came back. They could talk about— "Really, Sakura?"— running. Dogs liked to run. At least, he assumed that dogs liked to run. Whenever he saw one, they were running and looked to be enjoying themselves. But Naruto was always running around, but that didn't technically mean that he enjoyed it. He always sees Akamaru and Kiba running. Kiba said— "You're soooo right, Sakura."—that running keeps a dog healthy and in shape. Naruto runs all the time, though he didn't just run. He worked out and trained along with Sasuke. That's why he was so in shape. Though, now he was reconsidering it. Maybe it was just all the running around he did that allowed him to keep his stunning, sexy, god-like figure? He would do an experiment. "That's great, Sakura." Admittedly, this would be the first time that Naruto ever conducted an experiment that wasn't school related. He would keep it simple— no training or working out, just running around— so not to over exhaust himself. But he would need someone to compare the final results to. Hmm… Sasuke's body was built like Naruto's...

"I'm starting to get a little hungry."

Naruto was sure that if he asked nice enough, Sasuke would help him with his little experiment— even though he would call Naruto a dope for wasting his time over such a useless project.

"That's great, Sakura."

Once Sasuke got over himself, however, he would be very helpful. Possibly even give Naruto some awesome pointers.

"Naruto, are you even listening to me?"

And if that wasn't good enough, it would be fun to spend some time with Sasuke. They haven't been hanging out as much lately.

"You're soooo right, Sakura."

He decided to ask him after they finished training today.

"Naruto!"

Said boy yelped, jumping away from the booming voice. Crap, he must have missed his "golden opportunity" to speak. "Um... erm... uh... T-That's great, Sakura?" He hadn't used that one yet, had he? Judging by her annoyed posture, he assumed that that wasn't the reply she was listening for. He tested the other two— they only made her look more pissed. Finally, with a sigh, he had to admit that he hadn't been completely listening.

She made a noise of triumph which just confused the poor blonde more. "I knew you weren't listening to me!" She accused, digging her index finger into his chest. Her long— fake— orange nails scratching at his left peck caused Naruto to grimace. He wouldn't be surprise to see that her nail had torn through his shirt.

When she'd gotten interested in nails, Naruto hadn't a clue; however, he did suspect that it had something to do with Sasuke. Every little change that Sakura did to her appearance had something to do with the Uchiha. She grew her hair back out, started wearing blue contacts, and spots of orange began appearing in her wardrobe. Once, she dyed her hair blonde because there was a rumor that Sasuke liked blondes, but with her long hair, blue eyes, and figure, she found that she resembled Ino too much to take comfort in. She loved Sasuke but there were just some things that she couldn't force herself to stand; thus, she went back to being a pinkette. She believed that she could persuade Sasuke into liking cherry blossoms one way or another.

As if knowing whom Uzumaki's thoughts lingered on, Sakura brought him into the conversation. "Sasuke always listens to everything I say!"

Sasuke listens, Sasuke cares, Sasuke appreciates. Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke! Damn, you would think that Sasuke really was that great with the way she constantly talks of him! Could she possibly go an hour without saying his name? Naruto even suspected that she mumbled it in her sleep. Poor Sasuke.

Looking over at said raven, Naruto caught him in mid-stretch. A piece of pale flesh peeked out from where his shirt had risen. Sasuke caught him staring. Naruto quickly looked away...

"—and what's more—"

...only to come to the horrid realization that she was still talking. And to think, she had the nerve to say that he talked a lot.

"Sakura," he began successfully, if not rudely, cutting her off. All the well, she didn't look angry at the interruption, more like delighted. It was then that Naruto realized that she just wanted someone to talk to her. He felt bad that he was going to tell her to shut up. "Could you do me a favor?" She nodded energetically. Naruto was afraid that her neck would snap. Digging into his pocket, he withdrew some coins, mentally counting them as he continued, "Could you run down to Ichiraku's and get me three bowls of miso ramen? And you can grab some for you and Sasuke too." He handed her fifteen hundred yen.

Sakura's face lit up like a child finding everything they wanted under the Christmas tree. He already knew why: to get to Ichiraku Ramen Bar, she would have to go by Yamanakai's Flower Shop. Flower shop equals Ino. Ino equals someone to talk to and have talk back to her. Sakura talking to Ino— even though buying ramen will be forgotten— means peace and quiet for Uzumaki and Uchiha. Everyone wins!

Yes, Naruto could be a fast thinker at times. Why the hell he hadn't thought of this beforehand was still a mystery however.

While pocketing the money, Sakura couldn't help but nag him about his choice of breakfast. Naruto pointed out that it was still too early for breakfast to be served and too late for dinner, thus this meal would be considered by some as "fourth meal".

"You totally stole that."

There was no point of denying the fact. They'd seen it on a billboard once and Naruto had fallen in love with the phrase immediately. Now he had a name for the snack between night and day!

With a promise to be back soon, which Naruto knew was a complete lie if he ever heard one, Sakura ran off. In no time at all, she was gone. Naruto couldn't help the sigh of relief, of exhaustion, of delight that left his lips. As the saying goes, he hated to see her go but he loved to watch her leave.

It felt like forever since he last heard the sound of silence. He was afraid that it had become non-existent. But now... it was so pure, so sweet, so golden... God he wanted to molest it! That's how pleased he was to have quiet back.

But, with being out of touch with said silence for oh so long, Uzumaki had no idea what to do with the sudden awkwardness he was feeling. Sasuke was being so distant lately, and with the way he'd been acting around Sakura, Naruto wasn't sure whether he should try starting up a conversation with the raven or not. Surely, Haruno had spoken enough for the both of them to last the remainder of the week.

By the way... where the hell was Kakashi?

The blonde wondered about their mentor for all but ten minutes. Knowing Kakashi, he decided that since he was the teacher and because his students could not do anything without him to supervise them, he would take it upon himself to allow himself to sleep in. Or, better yet, he was thinking of an excuse as to why he was being so late, which was only causing him to be later. It was just so Kakashi to do something like that.

Unable to deal with the silence any longer, Naruto stepped over to Sasuke's half of the bridge. Sasuke didn't look at him, didn't acknowledge him. Naruto was hurt. He could partially understand the Uchiha's need to block out their female teammate, but what had Naruto done to annoy the raven? He thought back to his last few encounters with the other... With a sense of guilt, it dawned on Naruto that he hadn't spoken to Sasuke in nearly three weeks. That was almost a month! Did Sasuke think that he'd been avoiding him this entire time? God, he hoped not! He would never do such a thing; not to Sasuke.

"Sasuke, are you mad at me?" Sasuke did have this whole trust issue and the bastard could hold quiet the grudge.

Take last year for an example, Naruto— to Sakura's and Ino's frustration— had been nominated among the Rookie Nine to escort Sasuke around for the entire day. To this day both girls still hold a small resentment against him for it. Everything had been going great— they'd gone hiking, swimming, and picnicking— until they arrived back at the Uchiha's house. When Sasuke opened his front door, he was greeted with nearly a heart attack. "Surprise! Happy Birthday Sasuke!" With Uzumaki and Uchiha there, all nine rookies were accounted for. For all but a split second. Before they could finish the "ke" of his name, Uchiha was already half way down the next block, Naruto no more than a step behind him, calling out for the raven to come back.

It took him nearly five months to forgive Naruto. Naruto promised to never do that again. Uchihas and surprises don't mix, blend, or stir well. Not at all.

But, at least back then, he knew what the raven was mad at him for so he could fix it. Now he hadn't a clue.

Sasuke still hadn't answered him. He was starting to freak out just the tiniest bit.

"Look, Sasu, I sorry for whatever I did. I swear I didn't mean it." Here, he expected the other to snort in annoyance or impatience. He does seem very aggravated today for some odd reason. Maybe it wasn't Naruto's fault that he was in a shitty mood after all? But then, what could it be. "You know you can talk to me about what's bugging you. I always listen." A sideways glance at the other reviled nothing.

Sighing, he slumped over the railing; arms crossed with his chain on top them. Sasuke was looking at the water, so Naruto looked too. Two fishes had returned. One sat perfectly still, the other quickly circling around it. One could easily assume that the second fish was excited to see its friend. Naruto smiled seeing himself in the second fish and Sasuke in the first. Naruto always hovered around him, got overly hyper to see the raven, and was unable to stay still around the other. Overall he was just happy to be around him again. Like now, Naruto was glade that he and Sasuke were together, even if Uchiha was having one of his emo mood swings.

"I was thinking," he began, eyes still focused on the fishes. He paused, waiting for some smart ass remark from Sasuke. Oh you've been thinking? I'm assuming that wasn't a good idea on your part. It didn't come, so he continued. "Dogs stay in shape by running. I run around all the time and I'm in shape, but I'm not sure if it's because of the running or if our training has anything to do with it. So I came up with this hypothesis I want to test. But I need someone to help me with it... and I was wondering if you would help?" Tugging his bottom lip between his teeth, Naruto sent a shy glance to the other. Would he accept? Would he turn him down? Was he even paying Naruto any attention?

He bit his bottom lip a tiny bit harder than first planned. He flinched at the taste of blood. What was he suppose to do now? Keep talking? It sounded like a good plan but then he would be no different than Sakura. He staggered back; as if hit by the comparison. Sasuke was still gazing at the water.

With wondering eyes, the blonde searched for something that would gather his friend's attention. The thought of a surprise attack on the raven came to mind, but he just as quickly batted it away. If Uchiha was pissed enough, he could not be held— consciously— accountable for whatever he did to Naruto.

So, to entertain himself for the time being, Uzumaki paced his way back and forth along the bridge. He moved to walk on top of the railing on the opposite side of Sasuke, and then down onto the water. He chased after some fishes until they had all disappeared. Then he just wondered along the stream, running, jumping, splashing, and flipping as he went.

At some point he betted himself that he could do a back flip over the bridge. If he won, he treated himself to expensive, yummy ramen for the day. If he last, then he would eat healthy, flavorless food for the remainder of the week. Crossing his fingers, Naruto prayed that he'd make it.

With a deep breath and a burst of chakra, he took off running at the bridge. When he was less than a yard away, he jumped high into the air, twisting his body round and round in a double back flip. So elegant, so majestic, so refined.

...and then he landed. Or crashed through the water face first. Whichever works best for you.

"Gah!" Fluttering his arms about, a mass of blonde hair popped out from the water. He thrust about for a moment until he finally gathered his wits enough to climb back onto the bridge.

Dripping wet, Naruto plopped down besides his teammate. He looked up at said member only to discover that he finally had the Uchiha's attention. Naruto could have jumped for joy if he weren't so bothered by the fact that it took for him to get soaked and wet for Sasuke to look his way.

Sasuke rubbed at his ears then quickly shoved them into his pants pockets as he continued to watch the blonde. "What are you doing, idiot? And"— he glanced around— "where's Sakura?"

Naruto shook his hair similar to how a wet dog would. He heard the raven laugh lightly as some water sprayed onto him. When he felt that all the excess water was gone, Naruto stood back to his feet, grinning from ear to ear at the pale raven. God how he had missed that voice! "I paid her for her services!"

The Uchiha jumped back, a look of utter bewilderment and disgust on his face. "You had sex with her! What the hell, Naruto?"

The blonde's jaw dropped. "What?" The first time he gets Sasuke to talk and he goes and says that! What the hell! "What the hell, Sasuke!"

"You heard me!" shouted the other, pointing at Uzumaki with a shaking finger. If it weren't for their current topic, the horrid expression he wore would have been humorous. "You paid her for her 'services'— you said so yourself!"

"No no no! Its nothing like that!" The teen couldn't help but shiver at the thought. Oh kill the visual! Kill it with a fucking Rasengan! "I asked her to go buy us ramen! That's the services I paid her to do!" Naruto rubbed at his head furiously, shaking it from side to side. "Gah! I can't believe you would say something like that, Sasuke!"

At hearing that his two teammates had not been engaged in sexual activates, Sasuke calmed down and went back to his normal, calm, collected self. Naruto, however, suffered a few minutes more from the false acclamation the Uchiha had accused him of. He wouldn't be able to look Sakura in the eyes for a whole month now!

"So," began the raven when silence had became their awkward friend again, "what were you doing just a minute ago?"

Naruto leaned with his back against the railing, tilting his head to stare at the clouds. The sun's rays shinning on his face caused him to let out a gentle sigh. It felt nice and warm. He shrugged. "I got bored and you weren't listening to me. How else was I supposed to entertain myself with a moody Uchiha?" It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Sasuke sent him a sideway glance, his eyes roaming up and down the blonde's body. He followed a drip of water that fell from the golden crown, trailing down his cheek and neck only to disappear beneath the collar of his shirt. "You should really go change out of those cloths," he stated, eyes refocused on the lake, "You'll catch a cold if you stay in them."

Uzumaki couldn't help but snort. "Why, are you worried about my health?"

"Yes, but," he added, cutting Naruto off from teasing Sasuke for actually caring, "only because if you're sick then I'll be left alone with Sakura."

Both males let out a half laughed. That was a night, day, and mid afternoon terror that neither would wish on their worse enemy.

Even though it was a good idea to go change into dry clothing, Naruto restrained himself. Going home meant going past Yamanakai's Flower Shop. Yamanakai's Flower Shop means seeing Sakura and Ino. They seeing Naruto heading homes would allow them to sneak here to spend quality time with Sasuke. They spending quality time with Sasuke leaves no room for Naruto. And no time with his best friend makes Naruto a sad blonde. Thus, to avoid all this, Naruto decided that it would be in his best interest if he bared the uncomfortable wetness of his clothes just to remain with the Uchiha.

Now that he had the Uchiha's attention, Naruto wasted no time in catching up on what all had been happening in the other's life. Sasuke had been doing a few delivery missions that took him all across the country. He had seen many different peoples, buildings, and events that caused Naruto's interest to spark. He'd tasted a verity of food, some of which he admitted he wasn't too fond of but was sure that Naruto would adore them. For example, there was a restaurant that held an all-you-can-eat ramen contest every three months and the winner not only won a hundred thousand yen, but three free meals, two tickets to a movie of their choice, and a teddy bear.

"I'll have to take you there next month," he promised. Naruto smiled. He would love that. He also told Naruto that he'd brought him a souvenir back from a recent delivery far up north but hadn't brought it in fear that Sakura would spot it and assume that it was for her. "That would be very problematic." They made plans to stop by the Uchiha's house when training was over, if Kakashi ever bothered to show up, that is.

In exchange for Sasuke's stories, Naruto told him all the not-so-interesting things that had been happening with him. He'd gone on a field trip with Iruka to help their former teacher watch after his rowdy class. One of the kids— Konohamaru wouldn't you know— got himself lost and it was up to Naruto to find him since it was sort of his fault that the boy was missing in the first place; they'd been playing hide-n-seek in an area where Iruka specially told them not to go. You'd think that the older man would have learned by now. Telling Naruto no was like saying "I triple dog double dare you to do it." Three hours later, Konohamaru was brought back by a mob of angry women. Apparently the kid had thought it a good idea to hide in the women's' restroom.

"Iruka-sensei pretty much banned me from chaperoning any more field trips," admitted the blonde, sheepishly. Sasuke couldn't help but chuckle. At the sound, another face splitting smile appeared on Naruto's lips. He found himself blushing and quickly looked away.

Noticing the blonde's sudden interest in the ground, Sasuke reached over, ruffling Naruto's self-made damp halo. This caused the teen to blush harder while batting away Uchiha's bothersome hands.

"Sasuke!" whined the blonde, stepping back so he was out of the raven's reach. He could have sworn that the other was pouting but it was gone before he blinked.

"So, other then the field trip," begin Sasuke, at the same time casually crossing his arms, "what else has my little Naruto been up to?"

"I'm only half an inch shorter than you!" shouted the blonde automatically, a vein throbbing in his temple. Of course, the raven laughed to his annoyance. He hated how the Uchiha always teased him about being the shortest member on the team. Actually, he and Sakura were about the same height, but since she'd gotten into wearing high heels lately, she had an unfair advantage over the blonde. Naruto always told himself that when he hit puberty, then he would be taller then Sasuke, then the Uchiha would have to look up at him for a change, and then he could rub it in Sasuke's face for once. But puberty had come and gone and Uzumaki was still the shrimp of the team. When was life going to be fair!

Sasuke couldn't help himself. Seeing his teammate standing there, with the most innocently childish pout on his lips was too much. He reached his hands out towards the other, his thumb and index fingers pinching tanned cheeks as he cooed at the blonde and batted the tips of their noses together.

To say the least, any other person would have freaked out, accused the Uchiha of being an imposter, and ran away crying. But this was Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto, and he did not "freak out"; however, he would be scared for life. That wasn't to say that he didn't enjoy the attention, though, no matter how much he whined for his friend to stop.

"Ah, Naruto you're just so easy to get railed up!" announced the raven, finally withdrawing his hold from the other. Naruto rubbed at his cheeks, muttering revenge under his breath. Sasuke's response was only a short, amused noise of laughter.

While Uzumaki was distracted with cursing his friend, said friend leaned forward, cupping the tanned chin in his pale hands. All the previous mischievousness was gone from his oxy eyes, replaced with something that Naruto had never seen before. The background noises of the park faded away, the world becoming a lot smaller as they stared at one another. Naruto let his hand fall from his cheeks, blushing ever so slightly when it brushed against the raven's. Sasuke's focus, however, was not wavered by this.

"S-Sasuke...?" Naruto blinked up at the raven, his head turning to the side in confusion when the other teen didn't answer. What was wrong with the Uchiha? He wasn't going back into his bitchy mood again, was he?

They gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Right as Uzumaki was about to push Sasuke's hand away, Uchiha did the unexpected: he wrapped his arms around Naruto. Naruto was so put off by the embrace that he didn't even notice when the Uchiha pressed his lips to his forehead.

Naruto didn't have a clue as to what was going on, but nothing would make him admit it, not while Sasuke was gazing at him with his heart in his eyes, and a forever kind of love softening his voice.

He pushed a strand of gold from in front of Naruto's eyes. "Do you have any idea how precious you are to me?" Naruto knew, but at the same time he didn't. He knew that Sasuke valued him more then any person in Konoha, yet there was still Itachi, whom still remained outside Konoha's gates, alive and breathing. Naruto didn't believe he stood a chance when compared to Itachi for the younger Uchiha's attention.

Seeing the doubt in the blue eyes, Sasuke immediately jumped in to set things right. "I have something for you."

A single blonde eyebrow arched, as blue eyes blinked at the raven. "What is it?"

Sasuke withdrew his hand from his pocket, something held within it but out of view from the blonde. "I was going to give this to you later, but with things going the way they are right now, this seems like a better time." He took Naruto's wrist in his free hand, quickly wrapping something around it. When he was done, Naruto brought it closer for inspection. It was a threaded and beaded bracelet with 'I Luv U' sown into it. He smiled, knowing that Sasuke knew he would get a kick out of the inscription. Sasuke was a grammar nerd and, to Naruto, nothing says "I love you" like picturing the Uchiha grinding his teeth as he purposely purchased the bracelet. Someone like Sasuke only commits self harm to his pride for someone he truly, deeply, cares for.

"I love it!"

Sasuke felt bits of shock when Naruto's lips brushed the corner of his. He hadn't even made a direct hit, and already Sasuke was turning into mush. He heard a sound, soft and indecipherable, and realized that it had come from himself.

Goosebumps quivered over Naruto's skin as Sasuke lifted his hand to trail a finger over the curve of his blonde's neck.

Sasuke pulled Naruto to him, a gentle movement, but the contact sizzling. Naruto wanted all of his mouth, and he turned his head to find it, but Sasuke altered course. Instead of giving Naruto the kiss he so longed for, Uchiha kissed the opposite corner of his mouth. Naruto's blooded pounded, swished and swirled around his head until he felt dizzy with bliss. Sasuke's lips trailed from his jaw to his neck. He played at his throat until Naruto's breathing came fast and shallow.

Naruto hated how Sasuke continued to tease him, but couldn't bring himself to push away. And then, right when Naruto was at his wits ends, Sasuke put an end to the game and kissed him for real.

The world spun in several directions at once. Sasuke wrapped his arms around Naruto, cradling the blonde like he truly belonged there. Naruto didn't know whose lips parted first, but their tongues were touching. It was a kiss that wasn't rushed, but took its time to develop, and was wrong but not a single reason could be given as to why it was so.

Pale hands plowed through fields of gold, hips grinding against each other, almost painfully but bringing to much pleasure for either to care. Each felt what they'd done to the other and loved it.

Suddenly, Sasuke let out a yelp, startling both himself and Naruto. The blonde sprang back just in time to watch the Uchiha tumble over the bridge's railing and into the lake below.

Naruto peaked over the edge to see Sasuke angrily splashing around in the water, cursing up a storm from hell.

Reality crashed back into prospective.

He snickered.

"Here, let me help you, Sasu." He held his hand out to the raven to grab. Really, Naruto should have foreseen the next scene.

There was a splash and shouts from an enraged, now rewet, blonde. Meanwhile, Sasuke had pulled himself back up onto the bridge whereas Naruto flopped around in the water once more.

"You asshole!" whined the younger teen after he'd rejoined his teammate. He tackled the raven when Sasuke fell out laughing. They rolled around, going dangerously close to falling back into the water, but somehow always managing to pull away at the last second.

This went on for some minutes before they deemed that neither had won and settled for a grudgeful tie.

Getting back on his feet, while stretching his one arm out high above his head, Sasuke used the other to cover up a yawn. "I don't think Kakashi is coming." His companion laughed, shaking his head in agreement. Naruto had already suspected that their sensei was going to ditch them long ago. He got to his feet also, wringing out his shirt. "Then there's no use in us staying here all day. Want to meet up here later for a picnic? Say around sunset?" This time, Naruto nodded. They hadn't been on a picnic together since the Uchiha's birthday last year. They agreed that Sasuke would bring the food and Naruto would take care of everything else.

Both teens turned to leave when two heads— one of silver, the other pink— appeared down the road. Kakashi had finally decided to roll out of bed! Sakura walked sulkingly behind him, having been pulled from an argument against Ino that she was winning. At seeing her Sasuke, however, the pinkette instantaneously cheered up and began to run towards her teammates.

The Uchiha ever-so-slightly shifted closer to Naruto, his hands brushing against the blonde's. Their hands entwined for a good three seconds before Sasuke withdrew his, shoving them back into his pockets. Naruto closed his hands around something small, soft, and squishy, yet still managing to be firm and flexible at the same time. He had no time to look down at the item as Sakura more or less shoved herself in-between the pair.

"Sasuke!" Said teen flinched, reflexively turning and moving to the other side of the bridge. Sakura went right along with him, figuring that he was trying to drop a hint that he wanted to be alone with her and not around Uzumaki.

Naruto glanced over at their teacher, a pout unknowingly forming on his face. Kakashi only chuckled; life wasn't fair. When he was close enough, their teacher patted the blonde's head in empathy.

"We'll start by going over tactics," announced their teacher, once his students—mainly Sakura— had quieted down. "But before we do anything," begin Kakashi, a hand rubbing, sheepishly though his hair, "I need to go grab a cup of coffee."

Sakura and Naruto wore identical expressions of 'WTF'. "What! You arrive late and now you're trying to leave early to grab a cup of coffee! Why didn't you grab it on your way here?"

Their teacher waved the question off like it was a terrible suggestion. "Ah, there was no time for coffee then. On my way here, I had to stop and save a baby butterfly from being attacked by a bee."

"Lair!"

Kakashi scratched at his cheek, refusing to make eye contact with either of his students. And here he'd thought that they would fall for that one for sure... "As soon as I get back, we'll start. Promise. While I'm gone I want you three to review over what you've learned so far. No swimming this time." He sent a pointed, meaningful glance at his two male students.

Both boys blushed, looking elsewhere. They realized that there was an acute possibility that Kakashi-sensei may have made it to their training session on time and had seen everything… that bastard!

At being given permission to talk— not that she actually needed it in the first place— Sakura's anger towards their sensei for putting off their training even more, all but evaporated. More time to make plans for a date with Sasuke! Yay! "Ok, Kakashi-sensei, take your time!" called out the pinkette towards her vanishing mentor.

The moment he was out of sight, she all but pounced on the unprepared Uchiha. "Sasuke! You soooo have to come by my place later! My mom is making her world famous omusubi with okaka and tomatoes and I know how much you love tomatoes so you should totally come!"

From his spot on the opposite side of the bridge, Naruto caught the look of annoyance on his friend's face. Truthfully, Naruto was a bit annoyed himself. He had to put Sakura in her place! Self-confidently he called out to her, "Hey, Sakura."

Her head snapped in his direction so fast, Uzumaki was sure he heard her neck crack. Her eyes, however, showed no pain, just extreme bitchy-ness. "What Naruto?" she hissed out, looking ready to attack him for interrupting her Sasuke-time.

The blonde paused, his mouth wide open. He closed it, taking a huge swallow of saliva. Sakura was bloodcurdling scary... "Um... where's my ramen?"

Something sounding like a snort left from her lips. "They weren't open. Here's you money back." She handed him back ten hundred yen. Naruto didn't think it was worth pointing out that she was five hundred yen short.

From here on, Naruto wisely choose not to open his mouth. He turned so that his back was to his teammates, leaning once more on the railing on his side of the bridge. He blinked, feeling something in his hands. The seconds just before Sakura's homecoming played through his mind. Sasuke had secretly handed him something. He brought his hand up that held the mystery gift, slowly unballing his fist.

Behind him, Sakura's mouth was going a mile a minute. Every now and then, a grunt of some sorts would come from Sasuke.

Surprise to hear that Sasuke was actually responding to the pinkette, Naruto had to turn around and witness this groundbreaking moment.

Sakura looked to be floating on cloud nine at having her "one true love" acknowledge her. Uchiha, however, looked to be in tremendous pain. Haruno's voice was on the breaking point of screeching with excitement. Even Naruto had to flinch at the sound of it. Just imagining what Sasuke's poor ears were going through with having to be so close caused the blonde's heart to sink with sympathy.

From out of nowhere, Sasuke looked over at him with an expression that was suddenly hesitant, almost timid. Naruto could read his doubts loud and clear. Sasuke hoped Naruto didn't find his little donation stupid. Did Naruto even understand what it meant? Sasuke was making a huge sacrifice here, giving such a precious lifesaver to the blonde when he himself was in desperate need of it. Naruto gave the best discreet smile of appreciation he could with a nod of his head.

Uchiha's eyes came alive, as if Naruto had just given him the keys to the universe.

As confusing as this was, he did understand one thing. To Sasuke's way of thinking, these ear plugs Naruto held proved his love like nothing else could, and that was that. A traitorous warmth began to sneak through him.

He said a silent thanks and a prayer for the Uchiha's ears before shoving the two little plugs into his own ears. Instantly, the sound of Sakura's voice became nonexistent.

Naruto had finally discovered how Sasuke blocked out his bothersome fans.

Well I hoped that you all enjoyed this short story. I know I had fun writing it. Sorry there wasn't any extreme Sasu/Naru moments but I hope the moments of Sakura bashing made up for it. Truthfully, I don't hate Sakura and if it looks that way by this story, then at least the anti-Sakura fans are happy, right?

Anyways, please leave don't be afraid to leave a review saying what you thought of the story. Tips on improvement are greatly appreciated. If you want to tell me how freakin awesome you found this story, that'll be freakin awesome too! (lol)

Too wrap things up, this is Brie92 saying have a kick ass day and I hope to have you as a reader again soon! Ciao! ;D