Everyone's Got Secrets

♦

Chapter 10:

♦

 

Iruka moved slowly up the aisle of the supermarket, biting his lip and feeling self-conscious.

He hadn’t seen anyone looking at him strangely, but he couldn’t
shake the paranoia that somehow everyone around him knew that these weren’t his clothes.
He’d rolled up his sleeves, so you couldn’t tell the navy shirt was a
little too big, and he’d left the flak jacket undone. Kakashi wasn’t
that much bigger than he was, but since he was taller the proportions
were off.

Iruka glared inwardly for not keeping more of his clothes at
Kakashi’s; he hadn’t considered what he’d wear home after the festival.
The Yukata was out of the question—too many people would recognize him
and realize he’d spent the night somewhere other than home. He didn’t
even want to think how the rumor-mill would run rampant with that
information; mothers just like Keiko-chan’s had been bugging him for
years to start adding his own students to the Academy, instead of only
teaching theirs.

Thank God he was gay.

He couldn’t imagine having to borrow clothes from a woman so he
could stop at the supermarket on his way home. And unless somehow
Sharingan Kakashi learned how to get pregnant—and Iruka felt it was
safe that he wouldn’t, tensai or not—there would be no little Umino flooding the Ninja Academy.

Iruka rounded the corner, adding a few things to his basket and
approaching the aisle near the pharmacy with more than a little
trepidation. Of course, being gay had its share of embarrassment. He’d never
have passed his personal supply of lube to Naruto if he’d thought
Kakashi might not have some, and he wasn’t at all satisfied with
Kakashi’s excuse for not having his within arm’s reach.

Iruka frowned; actually Kakashi hadn’t given him an excuse at all. Sneaky bastard.

He knew it was irrational, but he just couldn’t relax until he knew
his entire apartment was completely re-stocked; he never wanted another
scare like the night before. Sure, they could have sex
without lube, but who would want to? It was ridiculous. They were
definitely going to have to have another talk about what happened.

Iruka sighed, smiling and nodding politely to an acquaintance from
the Academy. It was kind-of a toss-up as to what was worse: Buying a
lot of it at once, or getting one bottle at a time and having to repeat
the process over and over. He scrunched up his toes, grateful to be
wearing his own, familiar sandals.

He headed casually over to his destination, watching the other
shoppers unobtrusively. He picked up a bottle of vitamins, pretending
to read the back of the label while mentally urging the one customer in
the aisle to just find what they needed and scram.

He hastily set the bottle down when more people entered the aisle
from both ends, two of the newcomers recognizing each other and
starting to chat aimlessly. Iruka cursed under his breath, slipping
away and heading for the freezer section.

Maybe he’d get chocolate ice-cream first.

 

♦

 

Naruto dried himself off, feeling more energetic than ever now that he was clean.

He grinned at his reflection, hardly believing that last night had
really happened. Of course, for him, last night had never ended—he’d
been too excited to go to sleep, too thrilled to be able to watch
Sasuke fall asleep instead.

Who would have thought Uchiha Sasuke would ever be
snuggling so tightly against him in his bed? He’d dreamed it often
enough—this time he’d wanted to experience every single second.

Naruto walked out of the bathroom, eyeing the piles of his gear and
clothing strewn everywhere and grinning even wider the evidence of
their activities. He dressed quickly in his orange training suit,
smiling at the familiar feel of his Hokage necklace against his skin,
and then straightened up the apartment. He’d have made sure at least
his floor was clear if he’d thought for a second that he’d be rolling
around on it.

Once that was taken care of, he got out a knapsack to carry the
stained Yukata to Kakashi’s house. It made him laugh to remember
Sasuke’s horrified expression after learning that the Yukata actually
belonged to the Fourth.

“Heh,” he grinned, putting the Yukata carefully into the bag, “Somebody sure had some fun, ne?”

He wasn’t exactly looking forward to visiting Kakashi, but Sasuke
was right about one thing—their Jounin sensei was certainly enough of a
pervert to know exactly what had occurred. With any luck, he’d be
spared a full explanation.

Naruto was positive his sensei would know exactly what happened as
soon as he saw the evidence anyway, and so he knew there was no point
in trying to cover up who had been with him—this was Hatake
Kakashi, after all. He would either figure it out, or he’d have heard
it from Iruka… though Naruto didn’t believe Iruka would share the
secret, even with his boyfriend.

He frowned, adding the white sash to the knapsack and thinking about
Iruka. It was obvious how much Iruka cared about Kakashi, and the
feelings seemed mutual. So how did Iruka figure out that Kakashi wanted
to do… that? Kakashi didn’t look like he had any complaints…

There had to be a way to get Sasuke to quit fighting him all the time—God he was so stubborn!

Naruto grinned, thinking about his pencil case, already packed in
another bag for his upcoming overnight stay at Sasuke’s house. He was
fairly confident that things would go like they had the night before.

But how did you get from what they’d done, to what he really wanted to do?

It was hard to concentrate on what he had to learn about the Hunt,
when he was so preoccupied by thoughts of Sasuke. It was amazing how
much more strongly his rival filled his mind and heart than ever
before—and he’d already thought it was a lot. Naruto didn’t know what
he was more excited about: finally hearing the details of how he’d be
fighting against the top shinobi in Konoha, or getting to see Sasuke
again, in his giant house, in his giant bed…

He shook himself. He’d never get anywhere if he kept thinking in
that direction. First things first. Sasuke would be at his house for
the rest of the afternoon; he’d better just go on to Kakashi-sensei’s
and pray he had some special jutsu for cleaning a “priceless festival
Yukata,” as Sasuke had aptly termed it.

He glanced into the corner by his front door at the misshapen,
fluffy heap that had once been a comforter only a few days ago. He
grimaced at his own attempt at washing and drying by hand. That was thelast time he would ever try to use his jutsus for non-combat purposes.

Rasengan was clearly not for laundry.

 

♦

 

Sasuke sped towards the Uchiha district overtop the bustling streets of Konoha.

The food vendors and various merchants were doing a great deal of
business, and many shinobi were still enjoying the festival atmosphere
even after the mass intoxication inspired by First Night.
Sasuke spared it all barely half a glance; his thoughts were centered
on one blond, hyperactive, incredibly sexy ninja that would be coming
to his house later on—and whose kisses were still burning on his lips.

Sasuke’s mouth quirked in a half-smile, remembering Naruto’s face as
he leapt through the air to land on him and say good-morning in an
entirely new way. Sasuke’s belly tightened in giddy excitement, and
then he flinched in embarrassment.

Since when did an Uchiha ever feel giddy excitement?!

He shook himself as he leapt through the air, trying to focus on the
things he needed to get done before Naruto came over. He had no idea
how long registration would take, and he wanted everything to be just
perfect.

Sasuke’s lips thinned. He was understandably worried about what
Naruto would think was important enough to include in his report. It
wasn’t that Naruto had a bad memory, just more like he tended to forget
that he actually could remember lots of things. He smirked, feeling a hundred percent sure that Naruto would remember everything they’d experienced last night.

This time he didn’t fight the feeling of giddy excitement, and let
his mind settle on the visions he had for later that afternoon, and
evening, and all through the night… God, he was becoming as perverted
as Kakashi.

Sasuke landed on the nearest rooftop, kneeling and catching his
breath. He thought about his pencil case and the gift inside it that he
fully intended to use with Naruto. Accident or not, Kakashi had shared
with him through their unique jutsu how incredible sex could be, but
there was one thing that was bothering him:

How in the world had Iruka gotten Kakashi to agree to… to want to… to beg for…?

Sasuke flushed hard enough that he covered his face in his hands for
a minute, grateful for his high collar and long bangs to conceal any
other tell-tale redness. He peered through his fingers, watching the
activity down on street level to distract himself.

Evidently most of Konoha had the next few days off, and thus the
streets would have a constant flow of party-goers until the Closing
Ceremony after the Hunt. There were performers making their colorful
way through the markets, blending with the stands of fresh produce and
entertaining the younger shinobi that were out with their families.

The kids probably enjoyed having a break from school, and the
parents probably appreciated having something exciting for them to do
other than make mischief around the house. Sasuke watched them for a
few minutes, laughing and clapping their small hands as the dancers
swirled past Ichiraku’s.

‘That’s right!’ Sasuke’s eyes settled on the familiar
restaurant as he quickly ran through his mental catalogue of the
contents of his pantry, and pursed his lips. He definitely didn’t have
enough food for two teenagers, much less two teenagers who’d be… er,
constantly working up an appetite.

He also didn’t want to be caught without any Ramen—he could just imagine Naruto’s face if he couldn’t have some whenever he wanted it.

Sasuke jumped down from the roof, sandals glancing off of railings,
balconies and drainpipes until he was in the midst of all the
festivities. He ran his fingers through his black hair and straightened
his shirt, brushing off some of the Konoha dust that speckled the front
of it. As he wasn’t too far from the supermarket, he made his way
through the thick crowds and grabbed a basket on his way in the door,
his brain making quick calculations about what to buy.

He went through the produce first, selecting some bananas, and looking over the cabbage; maybe he’d make Gyoza–

“Oh my God, it’s him!”

Sasuke froze, hearing the strangled gasps and hushed whispers of at
least two ladies in the aisle behind him. He closed his eyes and
clenched his teeth, his heart sinking with the flood of unpleasant
memories, the only unpleasant ones of the night before. He cursed under
his breath.

“Do you think he’s going to be in the Hunt?”

“—well my husband says—”

“—I know I sure wouldn’t want to compete against—”

Sasuke added a perfect cabbage to his basket, and slowly turned on
his heel, to meet the ladies’ eyes with an angry glare. They froze
where they stood under his dark gaze, until he raised one eyebrow for
emphasis. Then they both jumped, making tiny squeaks and rushing away
as fast as they could.

Sasuke sighed; maybe he really should have worn something orange. He grimaced and continued his shopping, trying not to look like anyone suspicious.

With his basket overflowing with cartons of Ramen, Sasuke made his
way to the tea aisle, feeling very prickly from being watched no matter
where he went in the store. He wondered if this sort of thing would let
up after the festival was over; it was really getting on his nerves.
He’d stopped looking at the other customers, not wanting to know
whether anyone hiding and whispering was someone he’d recognize.
Somehow he knew that would be even worse.

Grabbing a box of green-ginger tea, he quickly turned the corner,
wanting to get to the check-out as soon as possible. He swiveled and
missed crashing into the shinobi standing there, but their two baskets
collided sending cartons of Ramen skidding across the floor in all
directions. Sasuke turned around to excuse himself, and halted in
surprise.

“Sasuke- kun!” the other man said, looking equally surprised and
adjusting his open flak-jacket. He bent down to pick up a Ramen carton
by his foot.

Sasuke’s speech abilities were temporarily impaired by the rush of
relief at recognizing his sensei, followed by a wave of embarrassment.
He shook off the strange feeling of being caught doing something
naughty, glancing at the various customers who were watching them, no
doubt attracted by the sounds of the crash.

He knelt and helped return the Ramen cartons to his basket, “Konnichiwa, Iruka-sensei.”

“I didn’t expect to see you… so soon…er…” Iruka blushed, looking away and handing over a carton of Ramen.

“Er, yes… I was just…” Sasuke felt his own cheeks redden, seeing Iruka eyeing the contents of his basket.

Why did Ramen suddenly seem so embarrassing? He wondered if
Iruka could tell that he’d spent the night at Naruto’s, and touched his
neck subconsciously where he could still feel the slight imprints of
Naruto’s teeth.

Iruka was now glancing up, probably taking in the faces of the
people watching them. Sasuke watched Iruka’s brows crease, and the
teacher pulled his own basket closer, almost protectively. Sasuke
couldn’t help but look in it, though all he could see under some
ice-cream was a magazine, covering whatever else he had in there.

Iruka caught his eye, “I see people are still…” He gestured with his
chin towards the closest clump of people whispering. Sasuke recognized
the attempt to redirect his attention. It made him curious.

“Aa,” Sasuke nodded, brows creasing. He placed the last of the Ramen into his basket, and the two of them stood up.

He wished they were alone! There were so many things he was curious
about, even if the idea of asking anyone about anything made him
cringe. Supposing he was able to swallow his pride enough,
there was no way he could take advantage of the opportunity here,
especially with people acting the way they were.

“Iruka-sensei, are you er… busy right now?” Sasuke watched Iruka
move his basket in front of his body, draping an arm across to block
anyone’s view. If it didn’t seem so unlikely, he’d have thought Iruka
was nearly as uncomfortable under the scrutiny of the onlookers as he
was.

Iruka glanced at the people around them, his pulse thumping visibly in his neck, “I have a few minutes…”

“The tea shop, around the corner,” Sasuke suggested.

“In ten,” Iruka agreed, and they both turned and disappeared in opposite directions.

Sasuke made his way to the check out stand, bundled his groceries
into the knapsack as best he could, and went to get a table for two.
The shop was nearly empty; most of Konoha was outside enjoying the
sunny weather and festival activities. The waiter looked particularly
pleased to have someone to serve, and was quick to seat Sasuke and fuss
over bringing the tea.

Sasuke was sipping his tea when Iruka arrived and took the chair opposite him, placing his bags under the table.

“Tea?” Sasuke offered, pouring when Iruka nodded. Iruka smiled
gently, accepting the cup. He blew on the surface of the liquid and
then took a tiny sip.

“I suppose you’d like to know why people are so interested in you.”

Sasuke glanced away before responding, “Iie. I already know.”

“Oh,” Iruka’s voice was surprised, and he watched him carefully,
sipping. “Gomen, I thought that’s what you wanted to talk about.”
Sasuke sipped his own tea, and they both remained silent.

It felt awkward. No, more than awkward. This was the first
time Sasuke had ever really been out with Iruka, just the two of them,
and though he had many questions on the edge of his tongue he wasn’t at
all sure he could get any of them out. At least with Kakashi he didn’t
need to use words—they had Isshin-no-jutsu. He sighed. Making
conversation wasn’t something he enjoyed under any circumstances.

The two sat for several more minutes, sipping their tea quietly.
Eventually the silence got to be too much for Iruka, who cleared his
throat.

“So… what’s up?”

Sasuke flashed through several possible answers. He cleared his
throat, nervous, “I… wanted to thank you. For inviting me and
Kakashi-sensei to the festival with you.” He hoped it would be enough
of an opening.

Iruka smiled warmly, “Oh, it was no problem; I hope you had a lot of fun.”

Sasuke raised his brows, and Iruka suddenly straightened up,
realizing the double meaning of what he’d said and flushing in
embarrassment.

“I did,” Sasuke glanced away, and then met Iruka’s eyes. His cheeks colored. “But I hope to have more fun. Tonight.”

Iruka’s face was turning redder than Sasuke would have thought
possible. He didn’t want to picture what he might look like, shifting
his knees before continuing.

“I’m sure you know by now, about me and…”

Iruka looked away, and then nodded, wrapping his hands around his tea cup.

“And I know about you and…” Sasuke didn’t say the name; Iruka should know who he meant.

Iruka closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He sighed
in resignation, “I thought you might know. Although I’m surprised
Na—er… your teammate told you.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise, “He didn’t.”

“What?” Iruka looked up at that.

Sasuke felt himself flushing, shaking his head in dismay, “I didn’t even know he knew.”

Iruka was pensive. “Then how—”

“—I guessed,” Sasuke interrupted quickly, realizing he’d better
avoid having to explain just how much he really knew, and from whom.
But Naruto… how would he know? He felt very annoyed by the idea that Naruto might have known about their sensei for longer than he had.

Iruka frowned and sipped his tea, setting down the mug and wrapping his hands back around it protectively. Then he sighed.

“Well I guess it’s good to get this out in the open, at least between us.”

“Aa,” Sasuke agreed, and another silence settled over them.

Sasuke could feel his stomach churning; the instinct to avoid
uncomfortable conversations warred with the desire to find out what it
took to persuade your teammate to… er… quit being so stubborn. He gritted his teeth. Dammit, he wasn’t a Genin anymore, he could do this!

“My other sensei,” Sasuke began, feeling extremely uncomfortable. “You really love each other.”

“Mochiron,” Iruka’s voice trailed off with an edge of wary
anticipation. His knuckles were white where he clenched the tea mug.

Sasuke pushed on, “So when you first… er… How did you… manage to… er, convince…”

How could he say it, when he could barely even think the words? His brows creased in annoyance, and he looked into his tea so that he didn’t have to see Iruka’s face.

Iruka leaned his face into his hands, “Sasuke.”

Sasuke looked up, “Nani?”

Iruka took a deep breath, “If you’re asking… er, I really think that your other sensei might… well, he might be better at giving advice…”

Sasuke blushed, folding his arms across his chest, “I’m not sure he can help with this.”

Iruka brushed the hair back from his face nervously, “No seriously,
he’s really very good… er… with this sort of thing… I think…”

Sasuke shook his head, “I think you’re the one I need to talk to.”

“Oh.” Iruka leaned his elbows on the table, one hand clutching his tea mug for comfort. “Er… really? But—”

“—I think you and I have more in common,” Sasuke looked at him
directly, trying to insinuate the underlying meaning with his eyes.

Iruka paled, and then colored, “Ah…” Iruka laughed nervously,
touching his neck from shyness. “Demo, I’m not… I mean… actually I’m
the… er…”

“I know.” Sasuke said, his cheeks matching Iruka’s.

He glanced around, then dipped his finger into his tea and drew the
word with liquid strokes on the surface of the table, upside down so
Iruka could read it: Seme.

Iruka’s jaw dropped, and then his hand shot out and smeared the word
under his palm, looking around to make sure nobody else could have seen
it. Sasuke squirmed as Iruka turned absolutely crimson. He shifted in
his seat and crossed his arms tight against his body, relieved that
Iruka was choosing to look at the floor, since his own face was burning
hot and uncomfortable, far worse than any sunburn he’d ever had.

Suddenly Iruka’s embarrassment shifted into something angrier, his
voice hissing through his teeth, “I can’t believe he told you that!” Iruka scowled, though not at Sasuke directly.

Sasuke flinched anyways, even though he knew that Iruka meant it for Kakashi. “He didn’t.”

“That is something you could only have learned from him,” Iruka insisted, tapping his foot impatiently under the table.

“N-no—” Sasuke tried to defend Kakashi, “I just… knew.”

“Hn,” Iruka commented, shifting in his chair and looking for all the
world like he was inventing severe punishments for the Jounin.

Sasuke didn’t think it would help to explain to Iruka the details of Isshin-no-jutsu, or their first experiment, so he said nothing. This was going horribly, horribly wrong.

Eventually, Iruka closed his eyes, gritting his teeth before saying his name in a tone that usually meant detention. “Sasuke.”

Sasuke looked up. He knew better than to draw attention to himself
when Iruka was angry. He’d watched the teacher harshly scold Naruto too
many times to have ever given Iruka the chance to yell at him.

“…Yes?”

“I’m not going to force you to tell me how you knew,” Iruka turned
and looked him in the eye. Sasuke swallowed. He really had forgotten
how scary Iruka could be. The teacher continued, “But I do want to
clear something up, since we’re on the subject.”

Sasuke nodded, relaxing enough for his arms to rest more casually against his chest.

Iruka sighed, gaining some of his usual composure, “We’re definitely not going to get into details.”

Sasuke shook his head in agreement. He didn’t want to hear any of
Iruka’s, nor did he want to have to share his own, now that he actuallyhad details to share. Thank God Iruka wasn’t perverted, at least not in the same way as Kakashi.

“But it would be wrong for me to let you keep thinking that …” Iruka
faltered, and flushed, “That… er, that it has to be only one way.”

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, “You mean you… you let…?”

Iruka flushed, tucking that stray piece of hair more securely behind his ear, “Sure.”

“Seriously?!” Sasuke blurted out, shocked.

There was no way he would let Naruto do that. None. Not with such a huge… And even if it wasn’t so huge, he just couldn’t imagine Naruto doing that to him.
Not when the blond was so damn cute squirming and clinging to him while
they kissed… Especially while he licked Naruto’s ears, or his tummy, or
the inner curve of his back right along his spine…

Sasuke turned his attention back to his sensei, watching Iruka shift
in his chair, bringing his tea up to his lips and sipping. The
teacher’s next words were soft and heartfelt.

“It’s good no matter which way you do it, if you’re with someone you love.”

Sasuke flushed so red he wondered if his collar might start steaming, “So, ka…”

He believed it; he had Kakashi’s memory to prove it. And part of him was a little curious… and Naruto had certainly figured out how to please him… and a lot quicker than he’d expected…

“You and Na—” Iruka flushed, rubbing the back of his neck, “You’ll just have to figure out what works for you both the best.”

Sasuke nodded, regarding Iruka intently. He shifted his legs, trying
not to think too hard about how many more hours it would be before he
saw Naruto again. He’d thought the festival events had lasted forever,
when all he’d wanted was a simple kiss.

But it was so much harder to get through this afternoon,
knowing that Naruto would be coming to his house, and knowing that not
only would they kiss, they’d probably do a whole lot more.

A lot more than they had the night before.

He shivered with anticipation, his belly already tingling at the
idea of having Naruto naked again. He couldn’t wait to slowly and
systematically unlock all the secrets of his rival’s body, especially
since the idiot so thoroughly filled his heart. He’d figure out on his
own exactly how to make Naruto want him, and beg for it.

Feeling significantly more confident, he sipped his tea, enjoying
the now-companionable silence with Iruka, who was quietly enjoying his
tea with a wistful expression on his face.

 

♦

 

Kakashi hummed to himself, seated on his living room floor and polishing the boots he’d worn to First Night.

It wouldn’t do to just return them to their spot with the rest of
his combat gear without ensuring they were in top condition for
whenever he needed them again. Along with the matching Sai, he had
spread out a variety of other weapons on his table to be sharpened and
polished. It wasn’t a bad idea to go ahead and get them ready in
advance, even though he wouldn’t know until after registration exactly
which weapons he’d want to use in the Hunt.

Ah, the Hunt.

Kakashi was excited about participating for the first time. The
disappointment of not competing in the last one still tasted bitter,
even after ten long years. For one thing, he hadn’t been qualified—or
rather he’d been overqualified, being an ANBU captain at the
time. And in any case Sandaime had given him a special mission, which
had had some unexpected results…

At least this time he was free to compete with the other Jounin. He
smirked behind his mask, imagining himself finding Iruka in the dark
forest for some perverted fun, his eyes flicking to his bulging laundry
basket waiting by the door for his planned trip to the Laundromat.

After a night like the last one, there wasn’t anything that could
ruin his mood today, not even some new and bizarre challenge from Gai.

Kakashi set the first boot aside and began to work on the second
one, his blue eye flicking up to the roof when he sensed the
unmistakable presence of his blond student. It piqued his curiosity;
Naruto usually didn’t visit him at his apartment. His eye followed the
chakra signature across the ceiling and down the wall as Naruto came to
his front door.

“Oi, Kakashi-sensei,” Naruto called loudly as he pounded on the door, “Can I come in?”

Kakashi smirked, wondering what on earth Naruto could want, and
getting excited at the unexpected prospect of finding out some gossip
so soon. He was intensely curious about what had happened with Sasuke
after the two of them left last night. Sasuke might have been able to
hide most of the details from him, but Kakashi was sure he could get
Naruto to spill everything.

“It’s open, Naruto,” he called out, remaining where he was. He fixed
a friendly smile beneath his mask as Naruto bounded into his apartment.

“Konnichiwa, Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto’s smile was huge, beaming at
him like the sun through a microscope as he kicked off his sandals in
the doorway.

“Yo,” he replied, smirking. Oh yes, somebody else clearly had had some fun last night!

“I uh… oh cool! Where’d you get these?”

Naruto dropped the knapsack he’d been carrying, and reached to the
table, grabbing the Sai and twirling them around experimentally.
Kakashi watched him, checking his neck for hickeys or any other signs
of passion, feeling mildly disappointed when he found none. Maybe the
Kyuubi had healed them. He made a mental note to check Sasuke sometime
later; maybe he’d stop by after registration.

“I found them in the back of my closet,” Kakashi replied, watching
with an amused smirk as Naruto pantomimed fending off multiple enemies
with the gleaming weapons. Naruto was lost in his own game, twirling
and stabbing the air, face sparkling with his boyish grin as he taunted
his imaginary foes. ‘My-my, what energy we have today!’

Kakashi felt his smirk spread into a knowing smile. “What’s up, Naruto?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto slowed mid-motion and dropped his arms to his sides, his
cheeks flushing deeply at the question. Kakashi felt his belly
flip–this was going to be good!

“I uh,” Naruto returned the Sai to the table, resting a hand on his
neck nervously, “I actually need some help… fixing something.”

“Oh?” Kakashi raised his brows. Naruto plopped down on the floor
opposite him, grabbing his knapsack and opening the clasps with soft
clicks.

“Sas—er, heh-heh, I mean I figured you’d be the
right person to bring this to…” Naruto’s voice was nervous, and Kakashi
watched closely across the surface of the table to see what Naruto
would reveal.

The blond lifted his hands, holding a bunched-up wad of fabric the same blue color as his festival Yukata.

“Do you think there’s a way to get this… um, back to normal?” He
asked, showing the areas stuck together by something crusty-whitish—

Kakashi’s heart lurched painfully in his chest when his eye made
sense of what the fabric bundle was, and what substance was currently
sticking it together. A flare of anger licked out from his chest and
wiped the smile from his lips.

“I know it looks bad,” Naruto chuckled nervously, looking down at
the mess and trying to shake out some of the wrinkles, “But it can be
cleaned right?”

He looked at Kakashi hopefully, and the Jounin felt his heart lurch
again at the innocent plea behind those blue eyes. His teeth clenched
underneath his mask. He put down the boot and polishing brush, wiping
his hands on the buffing rag by his leg. It took some effort to keep
his voice normal.

“Don’t put that down here. The table’s not clean,” he said, rising
and going into his kitchen. He went to his sink and began to wash his
hands, scrubbing off the oil and polish that stained his naked skin.

Kakashi used the chance to furrow his brows and scowl while Naruto
couldn’t see it. He heard him follow into the kitchen, shuffling his
feet in the doorway, and Kakashi calculated that he had about ten
seconds to sort through his emotions enough to address the situation at
hand logically.

Kami-sama. Why did it have to be Yondaime’s Yukata? Didn’t
Naruto have any idea how special it was? Didn’t he understand how
incredibly lucky he’d been to even see it, much less wear it to a festival? Tsunade-sama must have been out of her mind, loaning it to him.
How in the world had Naruto convinced her to do such a thing? Kakashi
didn’t even want to think what Yondaime would say, if he could see it
right now.

Kakashi sighed. Minato-sensei. Yondaime. God, he really should be over him by now.

It had been painful enough last night to think for a second that he
was alive, only to discover that it was just Naruto’s uncanny
resemblance now that he was almost eighteen. This felt even
worse, seeing Naruto so giddy and energetic, so obviously beside
himself with happiness the morning after being with Sasuke—

Would Yondaime have looked like that if Kakashi had ever spent the night with him?

And still more bitterly—had he looked like that on mornings after being with her?

Kakashi turned off the hot water, shaking the excess from his hands
and drying them slowly on the nearby dishtowel, still not looking at
Naruto. He knew he shouldn’t be angry with his student. It wasn’t
Naruto’s fault that Kakashi had never had the guts to tell his sensei
how he really felt, or that the man had sacrificed himself for the
village before he’d found the courage to speak—secret love rival or no.

Kakashi sighed again, closing his eye for a moment. It also probably
wasn’t Naruto’s fault that the Yukata had gotten creamed on either.
He’d seen him interacting with Sasuke last night; the sexual tension
had been thick. It’s amazing all clothing hadn’t been
completely destroyed once the boys had gone at it, especially with
their combined level of fighting skill. He turned, glancing at Naruto
and reaching for the Yukata.

“Yare-yare,” he forced himself to speak noncommittally, spreading the fabric out as much as he could on the clean kitchen table.

“Heh, heh,” Naruto chuckled embarrassedly, standing with his hand on
his neck, “It was an accident, he—er, I didn’t expect… I mean, it was
dark, and—”

“–Daijobu,” Kakashi interrupted with a raised hand, suddenly not interested in hearing the details.

He firmly shut down his twisted imagination that tried to picture Yondaime with Itachi–his utterly opposite experiences with those two might actually crack his sanity if he let the memories collide.

Kakashi took a deep breath, running his hands over the clean areas
of the fabric, trying to distract his brain by analyzing whether or not
the color would bleed if it got wet.

“Can you fix it?” Naruto asked urgently, touching the edge of the collar from his side of the table with gentle fingertips.

“Hmmm.” For a moment Kakashi considered telling him that it was
completely ruined, just to wipe that eager, happy glow from his face.
But that was childish, and Kakashi was too good a Ninja to succumb to
such a base impulse. “Maaa, I think I can do something with this.”

“Yatta!” Naruto grinned at him, gesturing excitedly.
“Tsunade-no-baa-chan would kill me if she ever found out. I knew I
could count on you, Kakashi-sensei!”

Kakashi raised his blue eye, trying to keep it from showing his irritation at Naruto’s flippant attitude.

“You should never have let something like this happen, Naruto. I don’t care how caught up in the moment you were.”

Naruto flinched. “Demo… I didn’t plan it, Kakashi-sensei, he just grabbed it from—”

Kakashi waved off the excuses; he couldn’t help that his voice came out rather stern. This was not something to take lightly.

“You of all people should know how precious this Yukata is, because
of who it belonged to. I would have expected you to keep it from being
soiled, at the very least.”

Naruto folded his arms across his body defensively, and he looked at
the floor, “I know that already, Kakashi-sensei, it’s not like I meant
for it to happen that way…”

Kakashi regarded him coolly. He felt a little guilty that some of
the light really had gone from his student’s face. But not guilty
enough.

“Yondaime,” Kakashi straightened up, “Was a hero. The whole village loved him and respected him—”

Naruto looked up at him, his eyes big, “–I know that! He was the
strongest of all the Hokage!” The blond ran a hand roughly through his
hair, and then pointed at the mess.

“This was an accident! Sas—uh, he didn’t know whose it was!” Naruto’s voice became angrier as he went on, “So don’t lecture me—it was just a simple mistake!”

Kakashi straightened to his full height, folding his arms in
irritation, “He was my sensei, Naruto. I’m very disappointed to find
his belongings handled so carelessly, and by one of my students no less. You should have taken better care of this!” He gestured at the Yukata with his masked chin.

Naruto pointed his finger at Kakashi’s chest, “Oi! You never made any mistakes before, Kakashi-sensei?” Kakashi’s eye narrowed. He had a point.

Naruto took off his headband and held it in his clenched fingers,
showing him the leaf symbol, “I got this from Iruka-sensei when I first
graduated the Academy. He was the first person ever to acknowledge me,
and see? I’ve taken perfect care of it despite all my hard training.
I’m telling you, I would never have done this on purpose!”

Naruto reached out to snatch the Yukata roughly from the table, and
Kakashi grabbed hold of his wrists to prevent him from taking it and
storming out. As much as he hated it right now, Kakashi knew he was
really the only one who could take care of the stain properly, and—more
importantly—with discretion.

Naruto faced him with intense blue eyes, yanking his wrists out of
Kakashi’s grip, “Will you help me fix this, or not? Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi stared back at his student, letting him simmer down. And letting himself
simmer down. He looked at Iruka’s hitai-ate, clenched in Naruto’s hand,
and felt his heart sink with the knowledge that he was just jealous. He
was jealous that it was someone else’s moments of passion that had been
recorded on his Idol’s clothing, instead of theirs: his and Yondaime-sama’s.

It was silly, really, since he had a whole laundry basket full of
shared moments of passion with Iruka sitting by the door, waiting for
his attention, red cording and all. He closed his eye for a moment,
letting memories of his precious person chase away the sadness of the
past, and picturing Iruka’s smiling face from only an hour ago.

Iruka, who made his heart flutter like Yondaime never had. Iruka who
rushed to kiss him whenever possible, like Yondaime never had. Iruka,
who loved him, and loved him wholeheartedly, like Yondaime never had.

He fixed Naruto with a hard stare, softening his mouth under his mask. “Just answer one question, Naruto.”

Naruto’s face was fierce, “Ask me anything.”

Kakashi waited a moment, in the interests of drama. Then, “What happened to the coat?”

Naruto chuckled, his face breaking into his normal grin, “No
worries! The coat is completely fine, I made sure to throw it out of
the way when Sasu—er, when we… uh, when it was taken off…”

Kakashi crinkled his blue eye and smiled, finally finding the humor
of the situation. Naruto flushed and Kakashi sighed, watching the color
spread across his student’s cheeks. God, Naruto was somehow too
adorable at times to be angry with for long. He could only imagine what
it was like for Sasuke; the Uchiha tensai had far less patience and far
more frequent reasons to get angry with his teammate.

Kakashi wondered if he was ever maddening to Iruka in the same kind of way.

He smirked, “Saa, Naruto. I’ll have this fixed up in no time.” He
folded it loosely, setting it in a neat pile for later. “I wouldn’t
want to have to train a replacement member for Team Seven just yet.”

“Sankyuu, Kakashi sensei,” Naruto grinned with relief, and Kakashi
gestured for them to return to the living room. Kakashi sat down,
picking up his half-polished boot.

“In exchange,” he glanced meaningfully at his student, “You can help me finish sharpening these weapons.”

“Awwww,” Naruto grumbled, his hands finishing tying the knot of his
hitai-ate back in place, “I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.” He
walked toward the low table, lacing his fingers behind his head and
still smiling.

Kakashi smirked at him, “Well, if you’d rather not help with this, there is an alternative.”

Naruto sat down across from him, “Nani-nani?” He looked so
innocently hopeful; Kakashi smirked all the harder beneath his mask for
it.

“You can tell me exactly how Yondaime’s Yukata got stained.”

Naruto gaped, “Ehhhh?”

He turned a crimson that clashed severely with his orange training
suit, and Kakashi laughed loudly. Naruto grabbed quickly for the
whetting stone, setting things up to begin sharpening.

“Pervert…” He muttered, glancing up with a grin on his face.

“Hai-hai,” Kakashi nodded, continuing the task he’d been performing when Naruto arrived.

After a companionable silence, with only the sounds of sharpening
and polishing, Naruto cleared his throat, glancing up from the shuriken
in his hand. “Ne… Kakashi-sensei…”

“Hmm?” Kakashi was buffing the last of the polish from the leather of his boot.

“I was wondering…” Naruto hedged, his hands stilling from their work.

Kakashi looked over at him, waiting for him to continue. When he didn’t, he prodded gently, “Nanda?”

“Er,” Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks coloring, “Do you like being uke?”

Kakashi was supremely grateful that he habitually covered his face,
since he was uncharacteristically caught off guard by the bluntness of
the question.

Good lord, what had Sasuke been telling him? Maybe he’d misheard.

“Pardon?” He asked.

“Maaa,” Naruto chuckled, so very nervous. “I was just curious… if
you, y’know… with Iruka… um…” Then his face became an angry scowl,
pointing a finger into the air between them, “Oi! Don’t make me say it
twice, Kakashi-sensei!”

Kakashi put the boot away, chuckling, “I’m just surprised Sasuke
told you something like that.” This meant Sasuke also told Naruto about
him and Iruka, since there was that little slip. Yare-yare.

“Nani?” Naruto’s face fell in confusion, “Sasuke? He didn’t tell me–you mean HE KNOWS?”

Kakashi raised his eyebrows in surprise. If Naruto didn’t know that Sasuke knew about them…! “Then… Masaka! Iruka wouldn’t—”

“—No, no!” Naruto waved his hands defensively, “Iruka wouldn’t say anything like that at all!”

Kakashi’s eyes narrowed. Naruto wasn’t exhibiting any of the
tell-tale signs of lying. So how in the hell had he found out such an
intimate detail?

At least it appeared that with this student, he wouldn’t need to use subtlety. “How did you know I’m the uke, Naruto?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, “Well duh, it’s obvious.”

“PARDON?” Kakashi’s voice was quick from surprise.

What the hell did that mean? If you asked him, he certainly
would be pegged by most people as a seme. And if he thought about it,
with anyone else he probably would be.

Naruto shrugged, “Well, I mean, you’re dating Iruka-sensei, ne? It’s obvious Iruka is a seme.”

“It is?” Kakashi was genuinely intrigued. Naruto wasn’t usually this astute.

“Well yeah,” Naruto nodded. “I guess…” He paused, and then shrugged again, “You obviously haven’t been scolded and lectured by him. He’s definitely a seme.”

“Hn,” Kakashi commented darkly.

“And… maybe it’s easier to tell when someone’s like you. If you’re
the same type.” Naruto added, looking off into space, like he was
thinking hard.

“So, ka…” Kakashi looked at him, shrewd.

He believed that Sasuke hadn’t told Naruto about their relationship, or about what he’d learned through Isshin-no-jutsu.
Naruto had been genuinely shocked to hear that Sasuke also knew about
the secret relationship he had with Iruka. He also believed that Iruka
hadn’t told Naruto which of them was uke–Iruka would never have been able to say the word uke out loud.

However, that meant someone had told Naruto that he was in a relationship with the Academy teacher. Since it clearly hadn’t been himself…

Yare-yare; one very attractive Chuunin had some explaining to do.
Kakashi grinned. It was going to be very fun to—what was it he’d been
accused of? Ah yes. Torturing people. It had probably been an accident, but nevertheless, it was something he couldn’t just ignore.

Luckily for the both of them, Iruka would enjoy the kind of torture he had in mind.

“So… what was it like?” Naruto was continuing, keeping his hands
busy shifting the unsharpened weapons on the surface of the table, “Er…
the first time?”

Kakashi took a deep breath. This is definitely not a conversation
he’d ever imagined having with one of his students. At least with
Sasuke neither of them had to say any of it out loud. Iruka was really so much better with this sort of thing.

“Er, are you sure you don’t want to talk to Iruka? He is probably better at giving advice—”

“Hell no!” Naruto said firmly, “The last time we talked he kept
dropping his spoon and spraying chocolate ice-cream everywhere, and we
hadn’t even been talking about… well not anything so…” Naruto ran a
hand through his hair, “He’d never talk about something so personal.”

Kakashi remembered cleaning some chocolate off the refrigerator. So that’s what had happened. Then he furrowed his brow, “But it’s okay to ask me about something so personal?”

“Maaa,” Naruto had the grace to look embarrassed, “I mean, you’re different, Kakashi-sensei. I mean—it’s okay, right?”

Kakashi considered for a moment, then chose to brush the issue
aside. Who was he kidding? He was only trumped by Jiraiya for being the
most perverted ninja in Konoha. He sighed, “So, you’re concerned about
sleeping with Sasuke, hmmmm?”

“Awwww,” Naruto rolled his eyes dramatically, his cheeks flushing,
“Did you have to say his name?” He ran a nervous hand through his blond
hair, “I guess I knew that you’d figure out who I… er… Wait—how much do you know about us? Kakashi-sensei?”

Kakashi chuckled, pointing towards his kitchen, “For one thing,
there is enough evidence on that table for me to consider making some
very strict rules about Team Seven’s away-missions.”

Naruto’s face looked so shocked and then so utterly disappointed,
Kakashi wished he’d had his Sharingan revealed so he could capture it.
What did Naruto think he’d really be able to do with Sasuke in a tent?

He laughed heartily before Naruto could give voice to his fears, “Saa, I won’t make any new rules… unless it’s called for.” It didn’t hurt to give Naruto a small warning, however. Poor Sakura was in for some surprises when she got back.

“Gah,” Naruto buried his face in his hands, “Don’t joke like that, Kakashi-sensei!” His ears were adorably red.

“Anyways, I can see where you might have some challenges with Sasuke,” Kakashi tried to get them back on track.

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, “He seems to like… but I’m not sure if he… I mean I’m not exactly… er…”

“Hmmm,” Kakashi wasn’t sure just what Naruto meant, but he knew one
thing: There was no way Sasuke would ever just roll over and let Naruto
have his way with him. Even though Kakashi had enlightened him about
the joys of being uke, submission wasn’t part of his vocabulary at this
point.

“Well, if I were you, I’d let him go first,” he suggested.

“But,” Naruto’s brows creased, “But I’m the seme!”

“Your point?” Kakashi raised his own eyebrow in challenge, “It doesn’t always have to be just one way, Naruto. Who says I’m always the uke?”

“You mean Iruka…er,” Naruto flushed, then squinted his eyes closed.

“If it wasn’t good both ways, nobody would do it,” Kakashi said
pointedly. He paused, thinking wistfully about his lover, “And when you
really love someone, it doesn’t matter who does what.”

“Ah,” Naruto said, watching him intently even as his face became
scarlet, and then he looked away. Kakashi grinned; there was that
glowing half-smile again.

“Besides,” Kakashi added, “This is Sasuke we’re talking about.”

Naruto looked confused, “What the hell does that mean?”

Kakashi grinned, thinking about what he’d inadvertently taught
Sasuke through their jutsu. “That means you’ll definitely like it. And
don’t you think he’ll be jealous after he sees you enjoying it so much?
Hmmmm?”

Naruto flushed in a worthy imitation of Iruka as he dropped his gaze to his folded hands, his voice just as embarrassed, “Kakashi-sensei!”

Kakashi decided to change the subject. “When are you seeing Sasuke next, Naruto?”

“After registration,” he lifted his blond head, “I’m going to his house after that.”

“So, ka,” Kakashi commented, getting to his knees and then to his feet. “I think I have something that might help.”

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at him in question as he left the room and
went to his bedroom. He shuffled through some of the books stacked at
the bottom of his end table. He found the right one, and padded
casually back out to the living room, tossing it to Naruto. Naruto
caught it easily, looking at the front and back cover.

“Eh? One of Ero-sennin’s books? How is this supposed to help?”

“Hmmm.” Kakashi sat back down on his cushion, “Maybe you should look inside the cover. Didn’t I teach you better than that, Naruto?”

Naruto rolled his eyes, then opened the book, and read out the words on the title page:

—ICHA-ICHA-KAMA-SUTRA: 101 GAY VARIATIONS FOR THE NINJA GENIUS—

Naruto’s voice rose in disbelief the farther he read, “Ehhhh? Ero-sennin wrote something… something… No! Ero-sennin is GAY?” He rose up on his knees from the shock, holding the book like it was one of Orochimaru’s snakes.

“Iie,” Kakashi laughed, “I’ve had nearly all his books re-bound. That’s something I picked up a while back.”

“Kami-sama…” Naruto flipped through it, still in shock, “Does
Jiraiya know about this? Because…” He trailed off and shut the book
abruptly, like he’d seen something scandalous. He probably had.

“I mean, he thinks you’re his biggest fan, Kakashi-sensei.”

“Maaa,” Kakashi shrugged, enjoying the many expressions that had
crossed his student’s face as he’d thumbed through the guidebook. “Are
you going to tell him? Naruto?” He looked at him significantly with his blue eye.

Naruto shook his head vehemently, “Zenzen!”

Kakashi smirked, “It’s a good thing for you the cover’s orange;
nobody will be able to see that you’ve got it next to your training
suit.”

Naruto flushed, “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no I can’t take this! If
Sasuke ever found it—” He tried to pass it back, and Kakashi spread his
hands in refusal.

“Daijobu,” Kakashi wheedled, “If you leave right now, you can
probably skim through most of it before registration, so that when you
get to Sasuke’s…” He let his voice fade with a suggestive lilt.

Naruto shivered, his eyes flashing with lust, “Demo…”

“Saa,” Kakashi coaxed, “Just go find someplace where nobody will
find you, and I’m sure you’ll figure out exactly the best way to make
Sasuke a very… happy… ninja.”

“Er,” Naruto rubbed his neck again, “Are you sure—”

Kakashi’s eye crinkled in amusement as he interrupted, pointing to the clock on the wall, “It’s already 1:15—”

Kakashi’s voice stopped abruptly as he and Naruto both turned to his
open kitchen window to see one of Tsunade’s messenger birds land on the
sill. It squawked out an urgent summons, and Kakashi exchanged a glance
with Naruto.

“Well it seems we both have better things to be doing,” Kakashi
murmured, his eyebrows creasing as he began to speculate on what the
summons portended.

“Aa,” Naruto nodded, his face serious. He got to his feet at the
same time as Kakashi. “I guess I’ll see you at registration, then.”

Kakashi regarded him with a gaze equally assessing, “Aa.”

Naruto went to the door and let himself out, giving a little wave as
he sprinted off, tucking the book in his back pocket. Kakashi turned
back to the bird, grinding his teeth and reaching for his spare flak
jacket draped across the sofa. With any luck, it was just something
administrative. He really wanted to enjoy his vacation for
once, instead of being assigned some of the most dangerous solo
missions there were. He also hoped it wasn’t something that would keep
him out of the Hunt–he might not forgive Tsunade if it did.

He quickly got dressed in the rest of his usual ninja garb, and made
his way invisibly across Konoha to the Hokage tower, his breast heavy
with dread.

 

♦

 

Sasuke toweled his thick hair mostly dry, feeling clean and energetic.

After combing some mousse through his locks, he tied on his black
hitai-ate and wrapped a towel around his hips. He went out into his
bedroom, surveying the set-up for Naruto’s arrival sometime later on
with a critical eye.

He had exchanged the blue sheets for black, and the plush blue
blankets for black as well–but he’d left his pillows red. It seemed an
appropriate color-scheme, one that they’d both look sexy on. He licked
his bottom lip, feeling goose bumps rise on his damp skin from the
anticipation of seeing Naruto sprawled across his bedding—

Hadn’t his lust been slaked at all? If anything, it felt stronger.

Sasuke walked to the left end table, moving the candles into a more
random clump. He straightened his pencil-case, making sure it didn’t
look like anything suspicious. He did not want Naruto freaking out that he had lube, and was ready to use it.

He checked everything else in the room, all the jutsu-scrolls lined
up neatly, all the surfaces clean, the hip red sofa angled just so in
case they didn’t make it to the bed…

“Tch, baka,” Sasuke smirked, remembering the previous night fondly
as he crossed the room. He shook his head and opened the large doors of
his armoire, eyes flicking over his choices of attire. He reached for
some black boxer-briefs. First things first.

His brows creased as he surveyed the rest of his wardrobe, trying to
decide on the sexiest combination to wear for Naruto. Was everything he
owned black? This was exactly a situation when he needed his older brother to help him decide—

Sasuke closed his eyes, swallowing past the small lump in his throat.

“Nii-san,” he whispered, wishing fervently that Itachi was there, and picturing his brother the way he saw him last.

Kakashi was right about the mesh shirts. Mesh shirts and leather,
actually, were his two favorites, and he definitely had the body to
carry it off. Sasuke opened his eyes, and reached toward the few mesh
shirts he had, pulling a clean one out and holding it against his
chest, considering. He slipped it over his head, and moved to regard
himself critically in the gilded mirror.

He twisted one way, then the other, seeing how the mesh accented the
curves of his arm muscles, and the lean hardness of his torso. If you
looked closely, you could see his nipples peeking from beneath the
tightly crossed fibers. Sasuke inclined his head. It wasn’t bad. In
fact, it made him look hot. He turned and looked at himself coyly over his shoulder, and smirked.

Yes! This was it. He wouldn’t want to wear it outside, necessarily, but he was convinced Naruto would definitely like this new look.

His eyes slid down his reflection to his underwear. He thought for
half a second about trying on a pair of Itachi’s leather pants, but
decided against it and grabbed some of his favorite black ninja shorts
instead. If a Yukata had proved difficult to remove, then leather pants
were definitely out.

Maybe they could work up to it. They could even call it training.

Sasuke smirked at the eager flipping of his belly as he armed
himself out of habit. He ran his fingers through his black hair once
more, making sure he looked just right. He touched the necklace at his
throat that he just hadn’t been able to remove quite yet, and took a
long, deep breath.

Now that everything was ready, it was time to see if Itachi had hidden any clues about how to win the Hunt.

On his way through the house, Sasuke stopped in the kitchen to grab
a large flashlight. He hated going into the basement because he was
paranoid about snakes—he loathed them more than anything else, even fangirls, since they reminded him of that man. Logically, Sasuke knew that the kinds of snakes he might find down there were harmless, but the association was deep.

The last time he’d gone to Itachi’s secret room he’d taken an oil
lamp, appreciating the drama and feel of the antiquated tool. But the
flickering of the lighted wick along the stairwell had made his palms
sweat more than he wanted to admit, so he kept his flashlight steady as
he made his way down the steps.

Being a tensai had its downsides—he had a very overactive imagination to keep in check.

Sasuke wasn’t scared of what was down there. His brother’s presence was just so strong,
and it made him wish that so many things had happened differently. He
stepped off the last stair and onto the cool tatami mats, moving over
to the single lamp he’d brought down years ago. He couldn’t remember
ever changing the bulb. He turned the switch and looked around,
absurdly relieved that nothing slithered away from the soft light into
the corners.

It was actually rather odd that there weren’t mice or other small
creatures living down here, considering how much open land there was
around the house, though Sasuke really wasn’t complaining. The room was
always just the way Itachi had left it; Itachi’s things set out the way
he’d always had them in their old house, back before their parents …
died.

Sasuke knelt in the middle of the floor for a moment, closing his
eyes and smelling the light, mixed scents of his Aniki: Weapons,
Leather, and Bats.

The last scent was puzzling. Sasuke had never noticed bats on this
property, nor in the area where they grew up. But the scent was
undeniable, and never seemed to quite dissipate. Maybe because there
weren’t any windows? Itachi hadn’t commented on it the one time he’d
been here, so Sasuke just left it alone. It’s not like Itachi wouldn’t have noticed. And no Uchiha ever had a summon.

Sasuke rose from the floor, moving to the cabinets where he’d stored
Itachi’s weapons, or really, the weapons that he hadn’t taken with him.
An ANBU katana hung on the wall, and Sasuke flicked his eyes to it as
he ran his fingers down the cabinet’s glass doors that protected the
remaining assortment of gleaming weapons. Itachi had certainly loved to
collect beautiful things.

Sasuke remembered being so excited as a kid when Itachi returned
from an away-mission, and not just from having missed him so much. As a
gift, Itachi always brought back something unique, some new or slightly
different version of a weapon that he could practice with, though
Sasuke’d always felt strange about using them. Those he kept upstairs in his bedroom, precious gifts just like his necklace tucked away along with the Golden Kunai.

Sasuke moved along the wall, coming to the armoire and opening the
doors. There was a full row of hanging leather pants, most of them
black, as well as sleeveless leather vests that zipped up the front
mixed in with Itachi’s other combat gear. Gloves, arm-guards, boots of
all kinds lined the base and the shelves on the side—it was almost like
the Uchiha armory on the second floor, only with a more… sensual feel to it, a nuance that Sasuke hadn’t noticed about his brother’s attire until after he became a Genin.

Itachi had been admired for more than just his strength; Sasuke
wished fleetingly that he’d thought to ask him what he did to keep
fangirls from being a nuisance. They’d never plagued his
brother like they did him, though Itachi was considerably more
attractive. It made him wonder if Itachi had dealt with similar
harassment from the people of the village after he won the last Hunt.

Sasuke closed the doors with a sigh. At least if he ever discovered
Naruto had a thing for leather, he’d know where to go. It made him
excited to think that he might have finally grown up enough to fit in
his brother’s clothing. But finding out for sure could wait until
another day—today he had to try to focus on ways to help Naruto win the
Hunt.

He moved to the last area of the room. The shelves on both tall
bookcases were crammed full of scrolls, tomes, jars of ointments and
medicines, all kinds of things that Itachi had apparently been
studying. None of it had ever seemed related, at least as far as Sasuke
could decipher, though he didn’t really expect to uncover all his
Aniki’s secrets.

He picked up a scroll and began to read it, eyes flicking over the
neat characters as he remembered trying desperately to sneak up on
Itachi while he was at home. His brother somehow always knew he was
there, even after Sasuke had grown skilled enough to sneak up on their
mother. She would catch him two times in ten, more than even their
father did, but Itachi always knew.

Sasuke had never once been able to surprise him. If he couldn’t do
something at that level, then he probably wouldn’t ever understand what
all these things on the bookcases meant.

There wasn’t even anyone to ask. Itachi was the strongest Uchiha in
the clan, so it wasn’t a surprise to anyone that he kept to himself.
Sasuke knew what it was like to be set apart because of your abilities,
and it was lonely at the top. Except for Shisui, Sasuke was the only
friend Itachi had had, and even then their ages—not to mention
skills—were so far apart it couldn’t have been the same.

He’d thought that maybe Kakashi was a friend, for the short time
they were in ANBU together, but considering the Jounin’s reaction last
night Sasuke wasn’t so sure friend was the right word. A lot about Itachi was a mystery.

Sasuke rolled the scroll back up and set it on the shelf in its
place, his thoughts shifting momentarily to his blond rival. He trailed
his fingers along the many objects before him, kneeling down to view
the lower shelves. More scrolls, more books, more jars… what had Itachi been studying?

“All knowledge is worth having, little brother.” Sasuke remembered the words, even if the memory of Itachi’s voice had faded.

He was enough like his brother to enjoy being alone in his house,
free to pursue his skills and knowledge without distractions or
interruptions. He was content to go for hours without speaking, and
performed the advanced Yoga-esque ninja moves that Itachi had taught
him on a daily basis. He absorbed everything related to ninjutsu that
he could get his hands on, following in his brother’s footsteps.

They’d both devoted their lives to uphold their clan—Itachi to
avenge it, and Sasuke to preserve it. However, there was one thing that
made their lives completely different:

Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke brushed his hair off his face as he leaned forward to see the
contents on the very bottom shelf. He’d never seen Itachi sparring with
friends. He’d never seen Itachi sharing Ramen at Ichiraku’s, not even
with his various sensei. He’d never seen Itachi going out with comrades
of any kind. Itachi had even stopped spending as much time with his
little brother, especially once he’d been appointed into ANBU.

“Forgive me Sasuke… next time, okay?”

Sasuke felt the center of his forehead tingle, though he resisted
the urge to shift his hitai-ate. Then he creased his brows—had Itachi
ever fallen in love? He almost couldn’t imagine it; his Aniki was so
independent, always by himself.

Sasuke took a deep breath, more than grateful that he’d had Naruto
nearby, even if they hadn’t always gotten along, and even if he’d spent
several torturous years pining for him. His heart fluttered at the idea
that those times might be over.

He’d at least always had Naruto to share things with if he’d wanted, but who had been there for Itachi?

“Nii-san,” he whispered again, his heart tightening at the
thought that maybe Itachi hadn’t been given the same luxury he had—to
form a bond with someone so strong that you couldn’t imagine your life
without them.

Sasuke flushed, and looked away for a moment, as if something on the
shelves might see it and make fun of him for feeling so strongly for
his teammate. He reached out to grab another scroll when his hand
stopped above the shelf in hesitation. There, in the way back, behind a
jar of something thick and yellowish, looked like something… orange?

He leaned closer… a book? An orange book… worn… yellowed pages… Where had he seen something like that before?

Sasuke moved aside the large glass jar, twisting it along the edge
of the shelf so he could pull out the book, when his eyes caught
something written on the jar’s label. The label had been hidden, facing
the wall until he’d rotated it, and now he could make out the partly
visible hiragana: …RA ME.

Sasuke creased his brows, turning the jar further to read the rest
of Itachi’s precise handwriting. He sucked in his breath with shock: ABURAME.

He picked it up and held the jar in his hands, the glass cool, and
the contents heavy. What the hell was this? He tilted the jar to the
left, and nothing on the inside shifted. It was something thick, like
an ointment… but Aburame? What did it mean?

He turned it over and over in his hands, trying to come up with the
possible answers. It didn’t seem like the best idea to ask Shino,
especially since he’d be one of Naruto’s opponents—if it was something
that might help in the Hunt, he didn’t want to tip off their classmate.

It was also impossible to tell if Itachi had made this, or stolen it. They were ninjas, after all.

Sasuke unscrewed the lid, holding the jar up to his nose and
sniffing. No smell. He touched the oily surface of the ointment with
his finger, rubbing it onto his thumb, and watching it spread evenly on
his skin with no change in color. It didn’t feel like anything
medicinal or anything dangerous, in fact he almost didn’t notice it was
on his skin at all. Sasuke got up to his knees, looking over some of
the other jars that he’d hardly paid any attention to, turning them to
check the labels.

“Tch,” he muttered, irritated. It figured. None of the other jars
had labels at all. And it would take forever to go through all the
written materials to see if there was anything to identify them, or
anything recorded about how they were made, much less what they did. He looked down at the jar in his hands, the biggest one, and the only one with a label. What made this jar different?

It was times like this that Itachi almost scared him.

Sasuke sighed. No wonder most people had avoided him—there was certainly nothing normal about anything he had, or said, or did.

Itachi was completely impossible to compete with, on any level. He
was powerful and cunning, drop-dead gorgeous, not to mention deadly, but also impossible to sneak up on, impossible to surprise, impossible to decode, impossible to live up to.

If Itachi were competing in the Hunt this time, nobody would stand a ch—

Sasuke’s heart froze in his chest.

No.

It couldn’t be that simple.

It couldn’t.

He looked quickly around the room at Itachi’s weapons, Itachi’s clothes, Itachi’s knowledge.

He remembered the stares, the whispers, the yelps of fear.

Kakashi’s wild reaction when he arrived at his door last night.

Asuma’s sneering voice: “Uchiha.”

Whispers in the grocery store:

“Oh my God, it’s him—”

“—you think he’s going to be in the Hunt?”

“—well my husband says—”

“—I know I sure wouldn’t want to compete against—”

The words turned over and over in his mind as Sasuke slowly got to his feet, his hand trembling around the labeled jar.

He’d been trying to find a way to help Naruto win the Hunt,
searching for the best way to shift all odds in his teammate’s favor.
He closed his eyes, almost wishing he hadn’t figured it out, cringing
as all the pieces snapped into place.

It even fit with Itachi’s last command, before he left to avenge their clan.

It was a perfect chance to do what his brother had bid, and on a large—and public—scale.

“Nii-san,” Sasuke murmured to himself, dark eyes closed. It
was impossible, but he could almost believe that Itachi had known even
then that his actions would make Sasuke’s next moves possible.

But it wouldn’t be easy. No. Far from it.

His hand tightened around the jar. If he was going to do it, he had to leave now. And he had
to tell Naruto his plan before it was too late—it would be disastrous
if he didn’t reach him in time. He knew his teammate all too well.

Fighting the rapid thudding of his heart, Sasuke picked up his
flashlight, and forced himself to move calmly over to the lamp, in
deference to his brother’s refuge. He turned the switch, and then
sprinted back up the stairs, taking the jar of ointment with him and
setting it on the kitchen counter for further analysis. He glanced at
the clock, then bolted to put on his sandals, squashing the rising
feeling of panic.

How had it gotten so late already?

He only had half an hour to find Naruto before registration—it had
better be enough! Sasuke flew out the door and through the Uchiha
district, making his way as fast as he could to Naruto’s apartment, his
belly churning with dread at what he was about to do.

Kami-sama, please let the Dobe be at home!

 

♦

 

Kakashi suddenly appeared at the doors of the Hokage office, startling Kotetsu and Izumo momentarily.

“Yo,” he waved, crinkling his eye as he smiled beneath the mask.

“For God’s sake, Kakashi,” Izumo lowered the kunai that had flown
into his hand, glaring, “Don’t you ever get tired of doing that?”

“Gomen, gomen,” Kakashi chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck, but
not really feeling bad about it. It was their running prank, after all.

“One day we’re going to seriously injure you, you know,” Kotetsu
grinned, also returning his weapons to his holsters, but taking the
surprise infinitely better than his partner.

“If you say so,” Kakashi chuckled back. It was nice to have
something familiar to loosen him up before seeing the Hokage and
finding out what new mess awaited his expertise. He was starting to
feel like a janitor.

“Tsunade-sama’s expecting you,” Izumo opened the door, jerking his chin inside.

“Go on in,” Kotetsu added, a little more gently.

Kakashi nodded to them both, and went into the office.

Tsunade was at her desk, leafing through some papers with an
expression of concentration on her face. For once, Shizune was nowhere
to be found. If Tsunade had sent her away, then this conversation was
very important—and it didn’t bode well for his future.

Tsunade glanced up as Kakashi walked casually to her desk, showing
him a weary smile. “Ah, Kakashi,” she said, leaning back in her chair
and resting her hands on the edge of her desk.

“You summoned, Tsunade-sama?” Kakashi bowed his head, keeping his hands comfortably in his pockets.

“Aa,” She leaned forward again, lacing her fingers in front of her face. “I have a mission to assign to you.”

Kakashi didn’t let any of his true emotions show on his face,
smirking at her jovially and sweeping his arm to the side as he bowed
lower, “How may I be of service, young lady?”

“Hn,” Tsunade’s voice was sarcastic, though her eyes twinkled at the
compliment. “There’s not much time, Kakashi, so I’ll get right to it. I
expect you’re planning on entering the Hunt, is that right?”

“Yes, I’m entering,” Kakashi showed his confidence in the words. He
wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that she’d brought up
the Hunt so quickly.

“Good,” she smiled, “Then this will fit right in.”

Kakashi watched as she got up from her desk, moving to the large,
curving window behind her and looking out on the tree-sheltered
village. It was a glorious, sunny day, though she didn’t seem to be
seeing any of its beauty. She obviously had a lot on her mind.

“It’s a simple mission; I want you to do some spying,” She began, her back to him.

“Spying?” He moved towards her and sat on the closest edge of her desk, watching intently with his hands in his pockets.

“Aa. I want you to watch the Feudal Lords. I want you to see if any
of them try to approach the ninjas who’ll be competing.” She turned her
body to face him.

“Hmmm,” Kakashi considered what she was asking. “You think they’re in danger?” He didn’t include himself in the question.

“Iie,” she chuckled, though it was dark. “But I don’t trust the
Feudal Lords to play nice either. I want you to inform me if any of
them make contact, either to bribe a competing ninja to attack someone
during the Hunt, or to try and lessen the number of ninja competing.”

“You mean bribing ninja to withdraw,” Kakashi nodded.

“Exactly,” Tsunade agreed, turning to face him fully, her arms
crossed under her ample bosom. She tapped a manicured fingernail
against her arm. “I don’t think they’ll try to sabotage the Hunt by
attacking any of the competitors…”

“Not when they’re guests, and we’re ninjas,” Kakashi agreed.

She nodded, “But we can expect that they’ll try just about anything
to skew the odds in their favor.” She started to pace back and forth
in-between the window and her desk. “I don’t think I have to tell you
how much the Feudal Lords of Fire Country love to gamble.”

“Hmmmm,” Kakashi pretended to think, “Odds are in your favor that I’ve heard of them placing a bet or two.” He chuckled, and saw the side of her mouth quirk in a half-smile.

“There’s a lot riding on the outcome of this Hunt, Kakashi. I’ve
never seen people so…” She gestured in the air to signify the general
unrest he’d already witnessed from the villagers.

“Aa,” Kakashi nodded, “It’s going to be a significant event. Maybe even more than last time.”

She glanced over at him, and he knew they were both thinking about
Itachi. Itachi who surprised everyone by his dramatic win, and started
the ripples that were now flowing in waves of heady anticipation at
this Hunt’s outcome.

“With that in mind, I’d also like you to keep an eye on him,” her face was serious.

Kakashi nodded. He didn’t share with her that she needn’t worry. There would be no Uchiha in this
Hunt, but even so, Sasuke might still become someone’s target. He
agreed that someone should look out for him. And anyway, he’d already
promised long ago to do just that.

He changed the subject, “I’ll need to know some specifics.”

Tsunade stopped pacing. “The Hunt begins tomorrow at midnight. You
have until 11pm tomorrow night, but I want you to report to me any
suspicious activity on the part of any Feudal Lord, or any competing
shinobi as soon as you find anything. I summoned you before
registration so that you can use the chance to observe the Feudal
Lord’s reactions to the different shinobi that arrive for registration.
Naturally, I won’t tell you the nature of the Hunt in advance.”

“No,” Kakashi said. “Not if you want this to be a secret mission;
it’ll work better if I learn the details along with everyone else.” He
paused, “I notice Shizune isn’t here, is she feeling well?”

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, smirking, “Shizune has the day off, since
she’s entering the Hunt. But I’ll tell her you were kind enough to ask.”

Kakashi smiled, holding up a hand, “Now don’t get me in trouble with Gai!”

So Tsunade wasn’t sharing the details of this mission with her closest assistant. Interesting. Tsunade chuckled, rolling her eyes, then her face became serious again.

“It may turn out to be nothing. But if they do try to do something, I want to know immediately.”

“And what will you do with this information, Tsunade-sama,” Kakashi asked, raising his eyebrow.

The Hokage looked at him shrewdly, moving her hands to her hips. “I
intend to make sure the Hunt is a good one. And I intend to make sure Konoha wins.”

Kakashi smirked, folding his arms across his chest and watching her
closely. She didn’t need to say more than that. She was going to make
sure she had several aces up her sleeves before the Hunt began. It
amused him to be one of them.

“So this assignment entails information collection alone?” He asked.

Tsunade inclined her head a fraction as she considered her response, “For now. I don’t expect things to… escalate
enough for the nature of this mission to change.” Her expression
softened, “Saa, it’s in my best interests to make sure you compete in
the Hunt without distraction, ne? Copy-Ninja Kakashi?”

“Mochiron,” he chuckled his agreement. “Just one more question.”

“And then I better finish up a few things before seeing you at
registration,” Tsunade made her way back to her desk, and Kakashi got
up from his seat on its edge, moving out of her way. She pulled out the
chair and sat down, picking up her papers once more.

“I’m sure you know what Sandaime assigned to me at the last Hunt,”
he paused as she gave him her full attention. “Will you be assigning a
similar mission this time? Tsunade-sama?”

“Ho,” the Hokage looked at him shrewdly. “I chose you for this mission for exactly that
reason.” Then she smirked playfully, “And I would expect a shinobi of
your caliber to be able to discern the answer to that question for
yourself.”

“Ryoukai,” Kakashi grinned, gave a little salute, and disappeared.

 

♦

 

Naruto walked casually towards the Hokage tower, fingers laced
behind his head, trying to turn off the section of his brain that kept
replaying the not-so-distant memory of Sasuke’s pleasure noises as he
climaxed… again, and again, and again…. and again, and again, and again…

Kami-sama!

He really shouldn’t have read that whole book at one time—but once
he’d opened it, it was like he couldn’t stop! It was probably the most
he’d ever read at one time. So how was he ever going to concentrate on
anything other than getting to Sasuke’s as soon as possible and making
his rival repeat those noises quite loudly for the rest of the
afternoon?

He definitely shouldn’t have read it at the river, either. That
place was already tainted by their first experience, but now he’d never
be able to train effectively there again. How could he after spending
over an hour there in the grass, reading and getting harder and harder
at the idea of trying it all out?

It was a miracle he didn’t have a hard-on right now.

It was well before 3:00, but Naruto was heading to the conference
room anyway. For one, it would distract him from thoughts of Sasuke to
be around strong shinobi he had no attraction to. And two, he wanted to
be there in time to memorize all the details he could as the
competitors arrived for registration. Sasuke would be expecting a full
report, and he was determined to give one with as many details as
possible—he didn’t want his rival to have any reason not to be in the mood.

He’d almost made it to the bottom of the steps when he noticed a
familiar shinobi sitting on them, his face turned up to the sky, his
limbs completely relaxed as he propped his cheek on the flat of his
palm.

Naruto’s face broke in a wide grin, “Oi! Shikamaru!” He waved in excitement, jogging over to his comrade.

Shikamaru’s eyes shifted lazily towards the oncoming orange ninja,
not expending the energy it would have taken to actually turn his whole
head. “Oi, Naruto.”

“What are you doing out here? Aren’t you here for registration?” Naruto asked, standing in front of his friend.

“Hai-hai,” Shikamaru agreed, pausing to yawn, and then stretch his
arms like he just woke up from a nap. “I was just waiting for 3:00 to
come around… and the clouds are so nice…”

“Nani?” Naruto complained, “We’ve only got twenty minutes, so let’s go! We gotta see who else is competing, ne?”

He wasn’t really surprised that Shikamaru was there, but it did make
him get excited about seeing their other opponents—this was going to be
so much fun!

“Oi,” Shikamaru grimaced, “Mataku… you’re overly excited as usual, Naruto. Go on up there if you want, I’m going to sit here…”

“No way,” Naruto laughed, “You’re coming with me. Why aren’t you excited? This only happens every ten years!”

Shikamaru yawned again, “Tch. I’m only here because of Temari, baka.”

“Oh, ho, ho!” Naruto grinned, “Trying to show off for your girlfriend, ne?”

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “You’re lucky you don’t have one to bully
you. She’s not even in Konoha, but she made it clear that I better
enter the competition if I still wanted to… enjoy her company.”

“Oh man,” Naruto teased, “You are so whipped!”

“Hn,” Shikamaru cocked his head as he looked up at him, “At least I get some, baka.”

“Oh yeah?” Naruto started to argue, then stopped himself, feeling his cheeks redden.

His belly flipped at the fact that for the first time he could have
boasted right back to Shikamaru—except that it was a secret who he was
“getting some” with. He really, really wanted to spill everything, but
he knew it wasn’t a good idea—thank God he didn’t slip! He waved it
off, and grabbed Shikamaru’s arm to yank him to his feet.

“Nevermind, come on, Shikamaru. Let’s go see who we get to fight!”

“Oi!” Shikamaru protested.

“Come on!” Naruto started to drag him up the stairs, “If I don’t get you up there you’ll never get any again!”

“Let go,” Shikamaru said, chuckling, “At least let me go up there on my own!”

Naruto laughed as they jogged up the steps two at a time. At the top
they found the Hokage office doors unguarded. Naruto’s brows drew
together, finding it strange. Someone really should be there… He looked
from side to side to see if they’d just gone to the toilet or something…

“They’re probably already at the conference room,” Shikamaru pointed out, leaning forward and catching his breath.

“I know that,” Naruto lied, choosing to rush on ahead to the
conference room to see who else was there. Shikamaru followed him not
too far behind, at his more leisurely pace.

Naruto went through the open double doors, his blue eyes taking in
the layout of the room and sweeping over the few people already there.
The space was large and airy, with windows along the opposite and far
right sides. Naruto started in surprise to see Kakashi standing over to
the right with Kotetsu and Izumo.

Masaka… was he… was he early? Uso!

Kakashi gave him a cheery wave, and Naruto felt his cheeks grow red,
remembering what had been discussed in his sensei’s living room just a
little while ago. He moved to the left side of the room, deciding to
keep some distance; it was too weird to suddenly be in public, even if
the room was mostly empty. And just when he’d managed to temporarily
suppress his thoughts of Sasuke—kuso!

Naruto turned away from Kakashi and let his eyes rove over the large
tables straight ahead at the far end of the room. There was a large
mass of men either seated or mingling, all involved in various
conversations and shuffling through papers. Their clothing pronounced
more clearly than nametags that they were indeed Feudal Lords of Fire
Country.

In the middle of these tables sat Tsunade, fielding questions from
all sides, and flanked by two ANBU guards. Naruto recognized Morino
Ibiki immediately, even though he had his back to the room, standing in
front of Tsunade and looking down at the papers on his clipboard.

Naruto sighed with relief when he didn’t see Shizune anywhere. He
hated to be around her if he didn’t have to be. Although thinking of
her would surely get rid of any hard-on issues he might have in the
future; it might be worth remembering that detail.

“So those are all the Feudal Lords, huh?” Shikamaru came up beside him, his hands in his pockets.

“I had no idea there’d be so many! It didn’t look like this many
from the stadium,” Naruto answered, trying to count them though they
kept moving around. The handful of Tsunade’s staff members that were
circling the tables and offering refreshments further confused the
scene. In irritation Naruto crossed his arms.

“They’re probably here to bet on us, like in the Chuunin exam,”
Shikamaru commented. “But something has made this festival a much
bigger deal than last time, or at least that’s what Dad told me.”

“Aa,” Naruto agreed. People sure did seem worked up. He started to
grin—this was exactly why he loved these kinds of competitions! He
thrived when things were intense.

“By the way,” Shikamaru yawned again, rubbing the back of his neck. “Where’s your teammate?”

Naruto shrugged, “He’s not coming.” He tried again to count the Feudal Lords, starting with the ones in the back right corner.

“Are you serious?” Shikamaru gave Naruto his full attention, moving
around to see his face. “He’s not competing?” Shikamaru asked again
when Naruto didn’t look over at him.

“Tch,” Naruto creased his brows, having lost count. “What’s the big
deal? He said he didn’t want to compete. So he’s not coming.”

Shikamaru just looked at him in disbelief, and then his brows
creased as well. He was probably using all two hundred points of his
I.Q. to figure out why Sasuke wasn’t there. It made Naruto annoyed;
it’s not like there wouldn’t be plenty of people to fight without an
Uchiha in the mix.

“Oi! Naruto-nii-chan!”

Naruto turned around to see his pal pointing at him in challenge,
his face grinning, and his flak jacket so full of weapons it was
visibly lumpy. Naruto pointed back like he always did, grinning as he
shouted, “Konohamaru!”

“I knew you’d be one of my opponents!” Konohamaru shouted.

“Mochiron!” Naruto shouted back, poking his thumb into his chest, “But I’m the one who’s going to win!”

“Oi, oi,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, motioning to try and quiet them
down. Naruto glanced to see that they’d attracted a bit of attention
from the Feudal Lords. So what; he wanted them to know who he was
anyways.

“Not if I’m there to beat you!” Konohamaru ignored the shushing and laughed heartily.

Naruto pretend-attacked him and put him in a head-lock, “Oh yeah?”

It felt good to be interacting with his comrades again. He’d been on
vacation for five days or so, but he’d pretty much only seen Iruka,
Sasuke, and Kakashi. Not that he was complaining about Sasuke. Oh no.

Konohamaru twisted out of his hold, also grinning at their familiar antics, “Yeah!”

Shikamaru hid his face in his palm, shaking his head, “Mataku…”

Naruto laughed, “So you’re here to fight me, eh? Konohamaru?”

“Ossu!” Konohamaru nodded, “I’m going to beat you to Hokage, right? So I’ll just beat you here first!”

“Maaa,” Naruto ruffled his hair, then put his hands in his pockets, standing tall. “We’ll just see about that.”

Konohamaru’s face got serious, “But more than that, I’ll definitely
fight your teammate—I don’t care if his brother did win the Hunt last
time, I’m going to defeat him!”

Naruto ran his hands through his blond hair, feeling exasperated.
Naruto sighed loudly, “I hate to disappoint you, but he’s not
competing, Konohamaru.”

“NANI?” Konohamaru shouted, “You’re lying, nii-chan!”

Naruto shook his head, feeling very irritated, “I’m not! He told me
himself, he’s not coming. So you’ll just have to beat ME, because I’m
the one who’s going to win!” They glared at each other, Konohamaru
convinced that he was lying, and Naruto annoyed that his friend didn’t
believe him.

Next to him, Shikamaru shook his head, folding his arms across his flak jacket and sighing. “So troublesome…”

Naruto, for once, totally agreed.

 

♦

 

Sasuke leaped over the rooftops at full speed, heading across Konoha on the fastest route to Naruto’s apartment.

He flipped over the edge of the roof, landing on the balcony’s
railing and jumping to the spot in front of Naruto’s door, his feet not
making a sound. He banged his fist on the door.

“Naruto?” He paused, listening for sounds of his teammate moving
around inside. He frowned at the silence. Naruto could be asleep;
sometimes he slept soundly for long periods after a lot of …er,
physical activity.

Sasuke pressed his ear to the door. Nothing.

He banged again, raising his voice, “Naruto! Open the door!” He paused.

Nothing.

He tried the knob.

Locked.

He reached quickly into his holster and withdrew a needle. He shoved
it into the crack between the door and the jamb, bending it forward to
make the end into a small hook. Then he knelt down and slipped the hook
into the knob, wiggling it just so until he felt the lock release in a
sharp click.

He tossed the now useless senbon aside and opened the door, scanning the room with both eyes and chakra senses.

Shimatta!

Sasuke relocked the door, and slammed it behind him in his haste to leave.

He took off in the direction of Ichiraku’s, gritting his teeth in frustration.

 

♦

 

“Isn’t that one of yours over there, Kakashi? Making so much noise?”
Kotetsu asked, gesturing to the other side of the room where Naruto was
shouting at Konohamaru.

“Hmmm,” Kakashi shrugged, then rubbed the back of his neck. He
smirked, catching a glimpse of his orange novel still tucked in his
student’s back pocket, which meant Naruto hadn’t gone home to hide it.
Well, well, well! Maybe he really had gone somewhere to read it.

The three of them turned as a new comrade joined the small group of
Jounin by the windows, Kakashi immediately recognizing his friend by
the senbon sticking out of his mouth. Kotetsu and Izumo, now involved
in their own conversation, gave him some room as he approached.

“You always were a little soft-hearted with your kids, Kakashi,”
Genma grinned around the needle, coming over to stand next to him in
his usual casual demeanor.

Kakashi sighed on the inside, knowing he would eventually be
harassed for missing the big party last night. If they only knew what
Iruka was capable of, none of them would blame him for the choice he’d
made.

“So, ka,” Kakashi replied sarcastically. They both knew his reputation as a sensei was the exact opposite.

Genma gestured to Naruto with the senbon, grinning, “Still, that one might need some reprimanding, ne?”

“He’ll get plenty of ass-kicking in the Hunt,” Asuma grunted in his
deep voice, coming up to join the group with Kurenai not far behind
him. Kakashi sighed again; Asuma looked like shit. Obviously the Sake
hadn’t stopped flowing when they’d seen each other at the restaurant.

“Oh?” Genma turned to his cigarette-smoking friend, still grinning,
“You’re not going to go easy on the Chuunin? I see one of yours over
there too.”

Asuma grunted in response, his meaty hands in his pockets, worrying
the filter of the unlit cigarette with his lips. Kakashi looked over at
Kurenai, who had dark circles under her eyes that matched the clouded
expression on her normally pleasant face. It had obviously been a long
night for her too.

He couldn’t help but wonder if Asuma was the type of drunk who
wanted to have bad sex all night, or if he was the type that had
certain challenges when alcohol coursed through his system.
He glanced at Kurenai again. Or maybe he’d just puked a lot. All of the
above could have accounted for her expression.

“What about yours, Kurenai?” Genma asked. “Are they coming to the party?”

“Tch,” the corner of her mouth twitched in a proud smirk as she ran
a hand through her long hair. It looked like she’d taken enough time to
tend it, so the previous night couldn’t have been all bad.

“You’ll see soon enough. Kiba and Shino have both gotten stronger,
so you all better watch out.” Asuma grunted in contradiction, looking
around the room, and Kurenai frowned at his rudeness.

Kakashi sensed an unmistakable chakra signature enter the room, and
glanced to the doorway to see Iruka enter with another Chuunin, the
same one who’d helped him look for his lunch. He recognized the glasses
and bandana-style hitai-ate.

With all the things going on, he was rather glad that their policy
was to disregard each other in public as much as possible, even though
he wanted nothing more than to go stand beside him, slip an arm around
Iruka’s back and tuck a gloved hand into his hip pocket, leaning in to
smell the lingering traces of shampoo.

He sighed to himself, turning instead to Asuma and Kurenai, and
crinkled his eye in a jovial smile, “Maaa, the Chuunin will probably
take each other out without our help. Besides, us Jounin will have more
fun fighting each other.”

Kurenai made no reply, but Asuma directed his scowl to Kakashi, “Tch. Makes sense that you would say that, Kakashi, since you seem to like Chuunin so much.”

Kakashi raised his eyebrow. It was silly to let him pick a fight,
since Asuma was obviously suffering from a hangover. But Kakashi didn’t
want him to continue bashing his comrades, either.

He made his voice deadly serious, “I wouldn’t underestimate Umino
Iruka if I were you. Or my students. You’ll be surprised if you find
them in the dark, Asuma.”

“Umino Iruka?” Genma frowned, “You gave up my birthday party for an
Academy teacher and two of your students?” He made an expression of
feigned shock.

Kakashi glanced over at Iruka, who was looking over in their
direction. Kakashi looked away before he got turned on by the sight of
him. He chuckled, turning back to Genma, “Maaa, they invited me first.
You know how it is…”

Genma rolled his eyes, “Oh, I see how it is all right.” Kakashi
raised an eyebrow as Genma faced him with a Cheshire grin behind the
dangerous senbon in-between his teeth.

Genma slipped his arm around Kakashi’s shoulders, snickering in a
male way, “You must be pining for Anko, ne?” Genma chuckled, stroking
Kakashi’s masked cheek with his free hand in mock-suggestiveness, just
the way Anko would, “I know how much you love to party with her, but
there’s no reason to ditch the rest of us because she’s on a mission,
Kakashi!”

“Hmmmm,” Kakashi chuckled, going along with the teasing but not commenting.

Good Lord, when would Genma ever understand that he wasn’t going to be able to set him up with anyone, much less Anko? He couldn’t even imagine what that
would be like, though Genma’s impersonation was highly accurate. She
did love to party, and she flirted endlessly with all of them.

“I think you’re the one who was pining, Genma,” Kurenai fixed Genma with a sassy smirk, her arms folded underneath her breasts.

“Me?” Genma pointed to himself, his arm still around Kakashi’s shoulders.

Kurenai made her voice into a teasing falsetto, clasping her hands
together in mock-prayer, “Oh why did Raidou have to take that mission?
Why isn’t he here partying with me? Oh Raidou!”

Even Asuma chuckled. It was exactly what Genma was like when he was drunk and his best friend wasn’t around to drink with him.

“Hn,” Genma raised an eyebrow, shifting the senbon to the other side
of his mouth. But he did step back from Kakashi, putting his hands back
into his pockets.

“Where is Raidou, anyways?” Kakashi asked. He really hadn’t seen him in a little while.

Genma shrugged, not meeting his eyes, “Dunno.” Then he turned to Kurenai, “But he is the best drinking partner there is, unlike that lug.” The senbon pointed to Asuma, who turned his hung-over scowl in their direction.

“You wanna say that again? Genma?” Asuma shifted his cigarette, facing him.

Genma just looked at him, cool, mirroring the cigarette movement
with his needle and making Asuma glare harder. Kakashi narrowed his
eye. Asuma was entirely too confrontational lately, alcohol or no.
There must be something else bothering him.

Kakashi took a step forward to break up the tension, but he was
saved from having to interfere by a wild green blur swirling to them
from the doorway, stopping right between Genma and Asuma.

“Greetings, my comrades!” Gai shouted, baring his perfect, white
teeth in a gleaming smile, one arm around Genma and one around Asuma in
a friendly double-hug. Asuma grunted, shrugging off the offending arm
immediately. Genma just stepped to the side and out of harm’s way.

Kakashi turned away from all of them, folding his arms across his
chest and scanning the gathered shinobi. He nodded a greeting to Aoba
and Shimon, who’d entered behind Gai. He rested his eye for a moment on
Iruka, who was facing away from him as he talked with the other
Chuunin. Naruto also had more of his friends gathered around him; he
recognized some of Kurenai’s students as well as Asuma’s.

“Oi! KAKASHI!” Gai was shouting at him now.

Kakashi ignored him. It really was the best way to handle Gai,
especially when he was worked up about a competition. Kakashi moved his
eye over the large mass of Feudal Lords and attendants at the front of
the room, noting each of the main players, and matching them to their
scurrying staff.

Kakashi felt a strong hand clap down on his shoulder, “Hatake Kakashi! YOUR ETERNAL RIVAL HAS ARRIVED!”

Kakashi turned towards the green ninja, keeping his face passive
even in the glare from Gai’s smile, inches from his masked face. “Who’s
that?” he asked.

Gai’s jaw dropped, and he raised a fist in frustration, his eyes
burning with fury. Kakashi chuckled to himself—God he loved to see Gai
like that. It made his bizarre challenges so much more fun.

Gai straightened up, shaking off his fury, “Ha, ha, ha! As to be
expected of my rival, Kakashi! Such a hip remark it pisses me off!” His
mouth was smiling, but his eyes were heavy with fighting spirit,
half-closed under the weight of his eyebrows.

“Hmmmm,” Kakashi commented, turning back to the rest of the room, seeing Shizune pass through the double doors.

Gai turned towards her, his anger immediately dissipating with the
sight of the woman he’d been hopelessly pursuing for years. Shizune
scanned the room, seeing that the Jounin had gathered by the windows.
She scowled, but straightened her shoulders and made her way towards
the group. Kakashi glanced at her feet; she must have left Ton-Ton at
home. He smirked. Naruto would be happy about that.

“There she is! My angel,” Gai was bowing gallantly. Kakashi caught
Kotetsu and Izumo giggling behind their hands. Since they worked so
closely with Shizune, they probably saw this kind of display quite
frequently.

Shizune glared at him, but didn’t say anything. She folded her arms
and stood close enough to look like part of the group, but far enough
that she didn’t have to associate with any of them either. Kakashi
noticed Kurenai had stiffened and was glaring, though Shizune was
pretending to ignore her.

“Ah, the fair Shizune,” Gai was moving towards her, “I knew I would
see you here! You’re much too talented to always be in the Hokage
office.”

Since Gai wasn’t aware he should be embarrassed, Kakashi was
embarrassed for him. He may not have the best of social skills, but he
knew better than to say anything like that out loud. But Gai
sure loved a challenge, and Shizune was certainly that. Kakashi glanced
at Genma, who was just watching the whole show with a lewd grin,
rolling the senbon back and forth across his teeth.

“Tch,” Kurenai said loud enough for Shizune to hear, examining her
perfectly manicured nails. “It doesn’t take talent to alphabetize
mission reports.” She looked up from her nails to glare daggers at the
medic-nin.

Shizune inclined her head and glared in the direction of the insult,
raising one dainty eyebrow in defiance and meeting Kurenai’s
challenging expression head on. Then she turned to Gai, “On the
contrary, it takes a shinobi of extremely varied skills to assist Hokage-sama in managing the entire village.”

“Oh, oh, of course!” Gai spluttered, not understanding that she wasn’t really talking to him.

“Hn,” Kurenai stepped forward, glaring, “Well too bad for you, Shizune, having to play with the real ninjas.” She tsk-ed, gesturing to the room full of shinobi.

Shizune scowled, her mouth twisted in irritation. “You obviously think being a real ninja means nightly drunken partying.” She turned her back on Kurenai, “It would be a complete waste of my time to teach you what a real shinobi is.”

Genma nudged him with his elbow, whispering, “Ne, Kakashi… do you think they’ll fight?”

Kakashi smirked under his mask at his friend’s grin. He shrugged,
and watched them closely. He didn’t know what had happened between the
two kunoichi, but he’d never seen them fight with fists. Not the way
guys did.

“Ha!” Kurenai tossed her head, “You’re just jealous you’re never invited.”

Shizune stiffened, but said nothing else, glaring out at the rest of
the room with her thin arms crossed haughtily against her chest. Gai
however, was turning red with indignation.

“Shizune, my sweet,” Gai gestured gallantly, his voice booming, “It
is now my personal mission to make sure you are invited to every party
we have, from now on!” He turned to point his finger at the rest of
them, his teeth gleaming, “Shizune is now my personal guest, for all
time!”

Shizune scowled, waving him away, “Shut up, Gai! Just leave me
alone, or I’ll never make you medicine again!” Gai turned back to her
in confusion, and Kakashi felt his stomach drop.

Uh-oh.

Gai’s face fell, “What do you mean? I would never ask you for medicine! No, my sweet, your time is much to precious—”

Shizune rolled her eyes, cutting him off, “That’s because you sent Kakashi
for it, after he beat you up in some kind of ridiculous challenge.” She
nodded in his direction, and Kakashi felt all of the gathered Jounin
turn towards him as one, looking at him curiously.

He touched the back of his neck, smiling innocently, “Er… Nanda?”

Gai’s face was horrified for a moment, and then he started to laugh.
It was more than a little scary, “Ah, ha, ha, ha! Good one, my rival
Kakashi!” Kakashi just watched, as Gai moved to put his arm around
Shizune, though she scooted away from him.

Gai put his hands on his hips instead, boasting, “You see Shizune,
my eternal rival is so jealous that our record is 137 to 136, with me
in the lead, that he had to challenge me himself by pretending I needed
medicine!”

Everyone was now looking at Gai like he was crazy, and he threw back
his head and laughed heartily. “HA!” He stuck a thumb into his chest,
“Maito Gai does not need medicine! He wears his battle scars proudly!”

Kakashi shook his head, sighing. Yare-yare.

“Oi, Kakashi!” Gai went on, “I accept your challenge! I will gladly
fight you… even with no hands! And if you win I will NOT take any
medicine! HA!”

Everyone was rolling their eyes now, and Genma elbowed him again, whispering, “Is he serious?”

Kakashi shrugged, “Saa, who knows.”

“Oi, can I hit him?” Asuma asked nobody in particular, punching a fist into his open palm.

Kakashi was about to say yes, when they were joined by an
elite ninja dressed all in navy blue. He walked over to them with his
nose in the air and a proud saunter in his step, lifting a long finger
to adjust his sunglasses a bit higher on his face.

“I hope you’re not planning on making a scene, Gai,” Ebisu smirked
at the green Jounin. “I hardly believe that would be appropriate
behavior in front of our esteemed Feudal Lords.”

“Ha, ha!” Gai revealed his gleaming teeth, “I was just enjoying a friendly challenge with my eternal rival. Ne, Kakashi?”

Kakashi waved it off, “Hai-hai.”

Genma started chatting with Ebisu, and Kurenai was speaking in low
tones with Asuma. Kakashi turned back to the rest of the room, seeing
Naruto gesturing wildly at two of Gai’s students, and shouting about
something. He glanced up at the clock above the double-doors. Good. It
was 2:56. Things should be starting soon.

Kakashi’s eye easily picked Iruka out of the crowd, though his lover
was still facing the other way and still standing beside the same
Chuunin. He frowned. Should he know that guy? Iruka seemed to know him
pretty well…

He shook it off. Obviously Iruka had friends; he was too popular to
not have a whole crowd of them. Still, it bothered him not to know more
about his lover’s personal life.

Kakashi glanced over at Tsunade, who was doing her best to keep the
Feudal Lords happy while they waited for all the contestants to arrive.
They were milling about aimlessly, though the highest concentration of
bodies was around the Daimyo. Kakashi couldn’t tell, but it looked like
there was someone else sitting with him, hidden by several of the
Shijimi staff members. Hmmm. He’d have to find out who that mysterious
person was.

Naruto’s voice was starting to overpower the noise in the room. He
could see his student glancing back and forth from the clock to Tsunade
and back, clearly worked up about something or other. Kakashi chuckled;
Naruto probably wasn’t the only one who was anxious to get things
underway. The front of the room was definitely more restless than a few
minutes ago.

Yare-yare. This was going to be interesting, indeed.

 

♦

 

Sasuke dropped down to street level and rushed through the hanging
curtains of Ichiraku’s, breathing hard from all the zig-zagging.

He flicked his eyes over the customers, clenching his teeth at the
obvious absence of orange. The proprietor was turning to say his usual
“Welcome” when Sasuke cut him off.

“Excuse me, Teuchi-san,” Sasuke moved to the counter, “Have you seen Naruto? Has he been by here?”

Teuchi looked surprised to see him there, “Oh… Sasuke-kun! What are you—”

Sasuke waved his hand sharply, “Nevermind, I have to find Naruto! Has he been here?”

Teuchi was getting out a menu, “If you’re in a hurry, I can make something to go—”

“No!” Sasuke closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep himself from shaking the man, “I don’t want any Ramen! Have you seen Naruto?”

“Hmmm,” Teuchi tapped his cheek, “Well he’s been talking a lot about
the Hunt. I’m sure you’ll find him over at registration, Sasuke-kun.”

“I have to find him before that,” Sasuke clenched his teeth so he didn’t actually yell at the man.

“Oh, well,” Teuchi shrugged apologetically, “He hasn’t been here tod—”

Sasuke didn’t wait to hear anymore, since it was obvious that Naruto
hadn’t been to his favorite restaurant today. Kuso! He dashed out of
the Ramen shop and headed out towards the Forest, dodging the various
festival performers and participants until he was back at roof level.

If he’d only had a summon, he could track the Dobe directly
instead of flying over the village like a maniac checking his
teammate’s favorite spots hit-or-miss. But no—Uchihas didn’t
have summons. Uchihas didn’t need summons, they were strong enough
without them. If you were as strong as Itachi, the archaic rule made
sense.

But his ancestors were mistaken: Any Uchiha that fell for an Uzumaki definitely needed a summon.

He had fifteen minutes left. He prayed that Naruto was at the last
spot he could think of, training up to the last minute before heading
to the Hokage tower. If he wasn’t there…

Sasuke furrowed his brow in determination. He’d find him. He had to.

 

♦

 

Iruka walked in his normally brisk pace up the steps to the Hokage
tower, physically comfortable now that he was in his own clothing.

Emotionally though, it had been a rather trying day, with not much
to look forward to. He was still annoyed about Kakashi sharing some
highly intimate details of their relationship with Sasuke. It would
have helped a great deal if Kakashi had at least confessed that Sasuke
knew certain things, sometime before said prodigy coaxed him into a tea shop for advice.

He’d never have seen that coming in a million years.

Iruka sighed. He’d done what he could to help out, but it had mostly
been mortifying, and for Sasuke as well. Naruto had better not try to
ask him anything—he’d definitely explode if there was anything else
embarrassing that happened.

Iruka also had mixed feelings about fighting in the Hunt, and was trying to sort them out when he heard someone call his name.

“Iruka! Iruka, wait up!” Iruka stopped and looked back the way he’d
come, seeing his friend and fellow teacher Mozuku jogging up the steps.

Iruka smiled and waved back, “Hey Mozuku!”

Mozuku grinned, squaring his glasses from his uphill sprint and
running a hand over his navy bandana. “Hey, are you going up for
registration?” He filed in step beside Iruka.

Iruka nodded, “Yeah. I decided to enter after all.”

“Well good,” Mozuku laughed, thumping him on the back. “Then I know I’ll have at least one good opponent!”

Iruka chuckled as they passed the Hokage office doors, “Oh I think there’s going to be lots of strong opponents.”

He began to list them in his head: Kakashi, Naruto… and Asuma and
Kurenai… Iruka’s gut clenched with the desire to take out the Jounin
who’d underestimated him.

“Yeah,” Mozuku nodded, interrupting his musings, “But we have an advantage, ne?”

Iruka glanced over, raising an eyebrow.

Mozuku grinned, “Well, we did teach a lot of them, didn’t we?”

Iruka laughed, “Yeah, but these aren’t ten-year-olds anymore.”

“Still,” Mozuku insisted as they passed through the open
double-doors to the middle of the large room. “It’s better than knowing
nothing at all.”

Iruka swept his eyes across the room, making note of who was there
already. Naruto was hard to miss, grinning brightly as he conversed
with two of his comrades, dressed as usual in orange. Straight ahead
were tables crammed full of Feudal Lords, sprinkled with assistants to
Tsunade. Morino Ibiki recognized him and waved, and Iruka smiled and
raised a hand in greeting. Ibiki then turned back to the Hokage,
showing her something he had written on his clipboard.

Iruka turned to the right, seeing a clump of Jounin by the windows.
His breath caught when he saw Kakashi, and their eyes almost met before
his lover turned his attention back to the Jounin with the needle…
Genma? Something like that. Iruka caught some movement out of the
corner of his eye, to see Mozuku in mid-wave.

“Hey! Gen—” Mozuku started to call out to his friend, but stopped.

Iruka followed Mozuku’s gaze to see Genma sliding his arm around Kakashi’s shoulders. He felt a flare of anger—What the hell?
Iruka bit his lip, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He knew
sometimes Kakashi went to parties with his other friends, but Iruka
never imagined any of them treated him like that. He did not like it at all.

“Aw, that Genma. He’s a kidder, ne?” Mozuku chuckled, while they
watched Genma stroking Kakashi’s masked face and snuggling up against
him.

Iruka forced his eyebrows back apart, not finding it funny at all, “I guess.”

“Yeah, he’s always teasing someone about something,” Mozuku shook his head. “But still, I wouldn’t do that if I were him.”

Iruka raised an eyebrow, turning away from the scene to regard his friend. “You mean… with another guy?”

Mozuku shrugged, then nodded at the two Jounin, “Don’t you know who that is?”

Iruka looked at the two Jounin, confused, “Who? Kakashi?”

Mozuku raised his eyebrows, his voice deliberate in his pronunciation, “Sha-rin-gan Kakashi. That’s the infamous Copy-ninja.”

“So, ka,” Iruka watched Genma stop rubbing his lover’s cheek, and
say something to Kurenai, his arm still draped casually around
Kakashi’s shoulders. Iruka turned away from them, facing the rest of
the Chuunin instead. It might be safer that way.

Mozuku shook his head, moving more to Iruka’s side, “You’d have to
be nuts to get that close to him. He could kill you before you even
realized you were dead.”

Iruka’s heart squeezed tight to hear someone speak about Kakashi
that way. But he knew it was true, so he couldn’t argue. He tightened
his arms across his body and focused instead on his former students,
trying to decide if he was more sorry or excited that he’d be fighting
them no holds barred.

“Aaaaaaaaah! Iruka-sensei?” Naruto called out with gusto, pointing and wide-eyed from shock. He must have just noticed him.

Iruka smiled, “Hey, Naruto!” He moved closer to exchange greetings
with Konohamaru and Shikamaru, with Mozuku not far behind him.

“Tch,” Shikamaru commented, rolling his eyes, “You’re entering this lame contest too, Iruka-sensei?”

“Aa,” Iruka laughed, relaxing a bit.

“But,” Naruto shifted his feet in agitation, “But Iruka- sensei! You never said anything to me about it!”

“Oi,” Iruka crossed his arms, remembering for a weird moment that
there’d been a time when he could look very far down his nose at
Naruto. He looked across at him now instead.

“Sounds like you might be scared…” Iruka grinned.

“Zenzen!” Naruto broke out in a huge grin, chuckling, “I just didn’t think you were going to enter is all.”

“Mochiron,” Iruka laughed, ruffling his blond hair.

“Saa, Shikamaru,” Naruto tugged on his classmate’s elbow, “You
should have seen Iruka-sensei at the Fire Archery booth last night! It
was Suge-tebayo!” The blond gestured wildly, recounting to his two friends how Iruka had pulled off the trick shot.

Iruka smiled at Naruto’s antics, feeling Mozuku nudge him with his elbow. He turned, “Hmm?”

“Fire Archery?” Mozuku shifted his glasses, raising his brows in question.

“Aa,” Iruka flushed a little, looking at his feet. “There was a
booth outside the coliseum, and I got a bulls-eye. Naruto’s making it a
big deal.”

“Hmmm,” Mozuku grinned, “There’s more to you than meets the eye, ne?”

Iruka waved it off, and they both stepped aside as a giant white dog
lumbered past them. Everyone shifted to let the two human newcomers be
part of the group, Naruto of course being the first and loudest to
shout everyone’s names.

Iruka made sure to keep the Jounin at his back as they maneuvered to
accommodate the growing group of Chuunin, and he waved at two more
shinobi he knew from the mission office who filed in behind the younger
guys.

He really didn’t want to know if any other groping was going on by the windows; he hated that he couldn’t go up there like he wanted to and shove that needle right into that guy’s neck—

“Kiba! Shino!”

Iruka shook himself out of the brief fantasy, watching as Naruto
bounded over to his friends, grinning like usual. Kiba’s smile was
nearly as large, though it was always a bit hard to tell what Shino was
thinking.

“Ah, Iwashi!” Mozuku turned to greet another arrival on the Chuunin
side, and Iruka smiled warmly at their friend from the mission office.

Unlike them, Iwashi usually wore the plain gray uniform like Kotetsu
and Izumo. He wasn’t a teacher, so Iruka didn’t think much of it,
though it did amuse him that he and Mozuku both preferred to wear
bandanas.

“Hey guys,” Iwashi came over, his shoulders hunched and his eyes
darting back and forth across the room. He absently stroked his goatee,
looking nervous.

“Iruka, have you seen…” Iwashi swallowed, moving to bite one of his
nails. Iruka’s eyes narrowed in concern as he continued, “Where’s the
Uchiha? Is he here yet?”

“That’s right,” Mozuku turned to him as well, and Iruka moved his
eyes back and forth between them. “I forgot I was going to ask you
about him. He was in your class, right?”

Iruka nodded, trying to reassure them, “He’s not here yet, no. And
anyways, I heard that he’s not going to compete at all. Why?”

Iwashi shook his head, but Mozuku smiled, “I’ve been hearing a lot
about the last Hunt, especially at the mission office last night. I
mean, Itachi man, he kicked everyone’s ass! And then he disappeared.”

“So I hear,” Iruka agreed. Even Kakashi hadn’t wanted to talk about it. It was very curious.

“Yeah, so everyone is wondering what his little brother is going to
do, y’know?” Mozuku shook his head. “I’m kinda disappointed he won’t be
coming.”

“He better not,” Iwashi spat, and Iruka and Mozuku both turned to stare at him.

When nobody said anything else, Iwashi went on. “If the Uchiha shows up, I’m gone. I only came to see if he was here. If he doesn’t show, then I’ll stay. But I won’t fight an Uchiha. Not again. No way.”

Iruka bit his lip, “Well I’m pretty sure he’s not coming. I heard it
from… er, a reliable source. But anyways, Sasuke isn’t some monster. And it’s not like we’ll be trying to kill each other.”

Mozuku snapped his fingers, “Sasuke, that’s right. I was trying to remember his name.”

“Well you’d be smart to stay out of it if he shows up,” Iwashi was
completely serious, and Iruka and Mozuku exchanged a glance. Mozuku
shrugged and they turned their attention back to the front of the room.

Iruka sighed. Poor Sasuke! Everyone was treating him so badly, just
because of something his brother did a decade ago. It was really
unfair. Iruka personally supported him for choosing to stay out of the
Hunt. He obviously had a strong enough reputation without needing to
win a festival competition, and Iruka knew he was skilled enough to
back up that reputation if he ever needed to.

Naruto’s voice caught his attention; his student was yelling again
about something, surrounded by even more of his comrades. Iruka
recognized Hyuuga Neji, and Rock Lee… and their kunoichi teammate.
Hmmm, Gai-sensei’s whole team was there to compete.

Suddenly Naruto’s voice rose above all other noise.

“Gaaaah!” Naruto ran his hands through his hair in frustration, “Quit asking me about Sasuke! Sasuke-Sasuke-Sasuke, URUSAI!”

Iruka took a step over to the blond, his voice stern, “Naruto! What’s going on here? Lower your voice!”

“Maaa,” Naruto glared at him, then looked at the clock above the
door, turning to face Tsunade at the front of the room. “Let’s get this
over with!” He crossed his arms, his whole body shaking in irritation.

Iruka glanced up over his shoulder to see what time it was: 2:58.

He sighed. He completely agreed that getting this over with was a
really great idea. Everyone’s collective stress was escalating the
general unrest of the whole situation—even the Feudal Lords were
restless at the front of the room, and Tsunade looked like she was
bearing the brunt of it.

Well it wouldn’t be too much longer now, from the look on her face.
He glanced at Mozuku, standing perfectly calm on his left, and Iwashi,
standing perfectly rattled on his right. Iruka shifted his arms more
comfortably, finding it appropriate to be somewhere in the middle as
they waited for things to get going.

He knew one thing for sure; after all this buildup, the Hunt itself might seem really easy.

 

♦

 

Sasuke darted through the trees with lightning speed, heading to
their old training grounds where they’d first tried to take the bells
from Kakashi.

It was still Naruto’s default training spot, even after all these
years, and it was the last place Sasuke could think to look for him
without having to go to the Hokage tower. He really wanted to let
Naruto know what he was planning before it was too late—the Dobe was
clearly not fond of surprises.

You’d think he’d be easy to find, since he was usually shouting
about something or other somewhere, or laughing, or causing some kind
of scene. Not to mention his bright hair and bright training
suits—Naruto was the least subtle ninja that ever was. Sasuke
actually smirked despite his increasing sense of urgency. Thinking of
the blond often did that to him.

He slowed down when he reached the clearing, scanning the open training area for any sign of his teammate.

“Naruto!” he called out, bursting from the trees and turning in
circles as he skipped across the grass, scanning from all angles.

Sasuke stopped when he realized that Naruto really wasn’t there. It
was completely empty. He closed his eyes, leaning forward with his
hands on his thighs, trying to calm down his agitated breathing.

He probably should have just gone to the Hokage tower. It was
obvious that wherever Naruto had been all afternoon, he’d only be in
one place at this point. But Sasuke really hadn’t wanted to go there
until he knew he had no other choice. And it wasn’t so farfetched for
Naruto to be running late…

“Kuso!” Sasuke grumbled, making a fist and striking his leg with it in irritation.

He really had no other options.

He took a deep breath, and straightened up, shaking some of his hair
back from his face, and gauging by his internal clock that it was about
five minutes until 3:00.

He turned his sandals in the direction of the Hokage tower, and
sprinted off to set his plan in motion, his face determined, and one
thought on his mind:

Naruto had better appreciate all the trouble he’d be going through to help him win.

 

♦

 

“Aaaaaaaaah! Iruka-sensei?” Naruto was totally shocked to see his
teacher, pointing at him in disbelief. He couldn’t believe it! He was
going to have to fight Iruka? Uso!

Iruka smiled back like it was no big deal, “Hey, Naruto!”

His sensei walked towards him with another teacher whose name he
forgot, and everyone shifted to give them some room. But when had Iruka
decided to enter the Hunt? He could have mentioned it, as it’s not like
they hadn’t seen each other lately.

“Tch,” Shikamaru commented, rolling his eyes, “You’re entering this lame contest too, Iruka-sensei?”

“Aa,” Iruka laughed, smiling his friendly smile.

“But,” Naruto felt completely agitated, “But Iruka- sensei! You never said anything to me about it!”

“Oi,” Iruka’s face got all intense like he was getting mad. “Sounds
like you might be scared…” Then Iruka grinned, which made Naruto
realize he was just having fun.

“Zenzen!” Naruto grinned back, chuckling and putting his hands on
his hips, “I just didn’t think you were going to enter is all.”

“Mochiron,” Iruka laughed, ruffling his blond hair. Naruto pulled his head away automatically, laughing.

It could be worse. Even if they did have to fight each other, Naruto
felt like they’d still be friends afterwards, no matter how things
turned out. And maybe he’d learn some new things from fighting with
this sensei; Iruka had been very impressive at the festival last night.
He turned to Shikamaru, wanting to brag about their former teacher.

“Saa, Shikamaru,” Naruto tugged on his classmate’s elbow, “You
should have seen Iruka-sensei at the Fire Archery booth last night! It
was Suge-tebayo!”

“Fire Archery? Tch,” Shikamaru rolled his eyes, “When does a ninja need to shoot a bow and arrow?”

“It’s not for ninjas, it’s just for fun!” Naruto exclaimed.

“Where’d you do that, Naruto-nii-chan?” Konohamaru piped up, eyeing
Iruka curiously as the teacher became involved in conversation with two
other guys.

“Near the stadium, there was a booth with all these targets, and
this weird man, but the arrows were on fire and—” Naruto answered,
making big gestures, though he was cut off by the brassy voice of
another classmate ambling towards them with his enormous white dog.

“Oi!” Kiba taunted, “Are you still bragging about that shot you made, Naruto?”

Naruto grinned despite being interrupted, seeing Kiba and Shino
approach. He knew they’d both arrive at some point for registration,
and he was very excited about fighting them.

“Kiba! Shino!” Naruto grinned and moved towards them, seeing Kiba’s
answering grin and Shino’s… well whatever Shino did. It was impossible
to tell sometimes.

“I can’t let you have all the fun, eh Naruto?” Kiba
smirked, his hands in his pants pockets. He looked different without
the fluffy coat. More dangerous maybe.

“Just you wait!” Naruto boasted back, reaching out to mess up Kiba’s
hair, but Kiba stepped back out of the way, still smirking playfully.
Akamaru rubbed his huge head against Naruto’s hip, barking a request,
and Naruto grinned, petting the giant dog instead.

“Ah!” Konohamaru exclaimed, moving off towards two kunoichi that had
arrived. Naruto was craning his neck to see who else was there, when
Shino’s voice caught his attention.

“Sasuke,” he said, his presence as intimidating as usual. “Where is he?”

Naruto scowled, rolling his eyes, “He’s not coming, all
right? So don’t bother me about him.” Shino’s eyebrows drew together
ominously, but he remained silent, unlike his teammate.

“Ho,” Kiba chuckled, puffing out his chest, “Too chicken to fight with the rest of us, ne?”

Naruto glared. He didn’t like it when anyone else tried to insult his rival. “You just worry about me, dog breath! I’m more than enough to take you out!”

“Whatever,” Kiba laughed, completely unperturbed. He started to look around the room at the other opponents.

“My, my, my,” said a high, sultry voice. Naruto turned to the
doorway to see Ino and Chouji enter. Shikamaru sighed, and Naruto
thought he heard him whisper, “Mendokusei…”

Kiba and Shino moved over to let the two newcomers join the group,
though Akamaru seemed content to rest against Naruto’s leg for the
moment. Chouji was eating his favorite snack, nodding his greeting
between fistfuls, and Ino was stalking towards them in her usual
strip-tease manner, her outfit nearly as scandalous as the swaying of
her hips.

“Yare-yare,” She made a disappointed face at him. “You’re the only one I see from Team Seven. Where is Sasuke-kun hiding?”

Naruto put a hand on his hip, annoyed, “Only one ninja can win this competition, so who cares what team we’re on?”

“You changed your mind about competing, Ino?” Shikamaru asked, his hands casually in his pockets.

Ino’s face lit up, “Well! After I heard that the Hunt takes place at night, I decided I simply had
to compete.” She put a hand to her brow and closed her eyes like she
was going to swoon, “A chance to be alone in the forest … with
Sasuke-kun… all night… Maaa, it’s not something I could so easily pass up.”

Naruto scowled darkly at her. He’d forgotten how much she annoyed
him, pursuing Sasuke relentlessly and fighting with Sakura. It made him
irritated just hearing her say his teammate’s name, and his belly
twisted with jealousy. Nobody got to spend the night with Sasuke but him.

“Oi, Ino,” Naruto pointed at her, “You’re not going to get your
wish, because Sasuke isn’t going to be in the Hunt!” He was glad to see
it ruined her dramatic moment, as she stiffened and glared at him,
hands on her hips.

“Na-ru-to…” Her voice wasn’t so sweet now, “I don’t believe
you! Where is he?” She flipped her hair from side to side, checking to
see if she’d somehow overlooked him.

Naruto grinned back at her, folding his arms, smug. “I don’t care if you believe it—he’s definitely
not coming!” He could see Shikamaru shaking his head at her antics, and
Chouji rolling his eyes as she frantically searched. Naruto didn’t feel
at all sorry.

“Naruto-kun!” Someone was waving at him, calling out in a friendly voice.

Naruto turned away from the annoying Ino, and found himself grinning
at the sight of a ninja in the goofy green training suit. “Oi! Fuzzy
Brows!” He waved as Lee came up to him, Neji and Tenten not far behind
him.

Lee jogged the last of the way over, “Naruto! Is Sakura here yet? I
haven’t seen her in a while, where is she? She’s competing right?” He
turned his head back and forth comically, and Naruto laughed.

“She’s not in Konoha, Lee,” Naruto answered, watching Lee deflate at the news. “She’s doing an internship in Suna.”

Too bad for Lee; Sakura liked him well enough, but she’d never
agreed to go out with him no matter how many times or how many ways he
asked.

Naruto watched as Lee suddenly brightened, shouting, “AHA!” He
thrust his wrapped fist in the air, his eyes burning with fighting
spirit. “Then I have even more reason to beat everyone here, so that
she’ll hear the news of my victory all the way in Suna!”

“Sorry Lee,” Naruto grinned, pointing at his hitai-ate, “I’m the one who’s going to be the Champion of Konoha!”

“Oh, Lee,” Tenten sighed, smiling at her teammate’s energy, and coming up to the two of them with Neji beside her.

“Hey guys,” Naruto waved as they came up closer. Tenten waved her
dainty fingers, and Neji nodded, his face cool and confident like
always.

Naruto became aware of the increasing buzz in the room, and glanced
at the clock above the doors. It was 2:55, and the room was almost
packed. The Chuunin and Jounin had somehow self-segregated on opposite
sides, but there seemed to be an equal number of both ranks. Naruto
turned and faced the Feudal Lords, watching their bustling activity at
the front of the room curiously until he heard his name.

“Naruto,” the Hyuuga called to him in his even, calm voice.

Naruto turned around, lacing his fingers behind his head, “Yeah?”

Neji’s brows creased, like he was concerned about something, “Where’s Sasuke?”

“Aaaaah!” Naruto groaned loudly, “Not you too!” He dropped his arms to his sides in extreme annoyance, “For the last time, Sasuke is NOT coming!”

“But—are you sure?” Neji looked surprised, his voice a little less controlled than his expression.

“I’m sure!” Naruto clenched his hands into fists, “He told me himself!”

“But that doesn’t make sense,” Lee added, standing by his teammate, “Sasuke’s always in competitions, even the ones Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei arrange.”

“Well he’s not coming to this one,” Naruto ran an angry hand through his hair.

It was really starting to piss him off that all anyone could talk
about was Sasuke. What the hell was wrong with people? Who cared if
Sasuke competed or not?

“Why wouldn’t he compete? Did he give a reason?” Neji asked, as if he couldn’t believe Naruto knew what he was talking about.

“Who cares! Forget about him, there’s plenty of others to fight.”
Naruto gestured to the room full of high level shinobi, his teeth bared
in his frustration.

“But still, I really expected Sasuke-kun to—” Lee tried to get his words out but Naruto had had enough!

“Gaaaah!” Naruto ran his hands through his hair in frustration,
ready to hit the next person who said his rival’s name, “Quit asking me
about Sasuke! Sasuke-Sasuke-Sasuke, URUSAI!”

Neji and Lee both looked startled at the outburst, neither of them
happy about being shouted at so rudely. They weren’t the only ones
who’d noticed; Naruto saw Iruka’s face turn angrily in his direction,
along with most of the shinobi nearby.

Iruka took a couple of steps towards him, his voice stern, “Naruto! What’s going on here? Lower your voice!”

“Maaa,” Naruto glared at his sensei, glancing up at the clock above
the door. He clenched his teeth, turning to face Tsunade at the front
of the room. Two minutes to three; it was time to get started! He could
hear whispering all around him; the most repeated syllables were Sa, su, and ke. It made him sick.

“Let’s get this over with!” He said, crossing his arms angrily, his
whole body shaking in frustration that all anyone seemed to care about
was fighting Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke wasn’t even there, so how was it that his name was the only one being spoken?

It didn’t look like anyone at the front of the room was paying
attention to the time. He glanced back at the clock, but the hands had
barely moved. No one near Tsunade seemed to be getting to their seats
or preparing in any way to begin with the registration process. He
tapped his foot angrily, looking back and forth from Tsunade to the
clock until the hands rested squarely on three and twelve.

Naruto moved closer to the front of the gathered Chuunin, pointing
at the Hokage, “Oi! It’s 3:00, so let’s get this thing going!”

“Naruto!”

He heard Iruka’s voice from several feet back, scolding him for
yelling, but he didn’t care. He wanted things to get moving so that he
could finally hear what the Hunt was all about instead of the urgent
whispering about his rival. He met Tsunade’s eyes without cringing,
though she looked ready to skin him alive for his impertinence.

“Pipe down,” she ordered him, rising from her seat and bracing her palms on the surface of the table.

Naruto yelled at her anyways, “It’s time to start, Tsunade-no—er,
Tsunade-sama,” He corrected himself, feeling that maybe it was better
to be a little more formal. “You said so yourself! Be here at 3:00
sharp!”

She glared at him, and he humphed with satisfaction, knowing he’d
caught her with her own words. People around him were muttering at his
behavior, but he didn’t care—as long as it stopped the ringing of
Sasuke’s name in his ears from their gossiping whispers.

The Feudal Lord next to her leaned closer to whisper something, and
Tsunade’s eyes shifted down as she listened to what he had to say.
Naruto’s brow creased as he watched, unable to hear or see what was
being said, but anticipating that he wasn’t going to like the outcome.

When the Feudal Lord finished whispering, Tsunade gave a little nod,
and then met Naruto’s eyes, hers burning with intensity. The room had
hushed on its own, but nevertheless even the air itself stilled out of
respect for the Godaime Hokage as she straightened up to her full
height, and looked around the room.

“My apologies, but we will be delaying registration for ten minutes
while we finalize some last-minute details. We will begin shortly, so
please wait quietly.”

She sat down, her honey-colored eyes flicking to Naruto, daring him
to make another outburst; he gritted his teeth against the nearly
irresistible urge to do so. Naruto turned around so he could watch the
clock, which made him able to see everyone’s reactions to the
announcement.

“Mendokusei,” Shikamaru groaned, sighing.

Chouji opened another bag of potato chips and continued eating, not caring at all about the delay.

3:01

Ino combed her fingers through her long pale hair, primping like she
was waiting for Sasuke to arrive and sweep her away for the date of a
lifetime.

Kiba was looking around at the gathered opponents, his eyes
sparkling like a wolf in the center of a flock of sheep. Akamaru sat
dutifully beside him, panting.

Shino stood.

3:02

Neji was standing in a relaxed manner, cool and composed.

Lee was standing on one foot. Naruto frowned; was that some kind of training?

Tenten was using a kunai to give herself a manicure.

3:03

Iruka was talking to the teacher who’s name he couldn’t remember, his brows furrowed.

The teacher guy was looking straight at him. Naruto glared.

Some other guy was stroking his goatee, looking very nervous.

3:04

Konohamaru was whispering to Hanabi, his arm around her shoulders.

Hanabi was giggling at whatever he was whispering.

A kunoichi near them with brown dreadlocks was rolling her eyes.

3:05

Naruto couldn’t stand it! Why did they have to wait? There was no reason to delay, everyone who wanted to compete was right here.
You’d have to be less than a Genin not to feel the undercurrent of
fighting spirit that was churning around everyone from their collective
tension.

He turned from the clock, glancing at the group of Jounin and
finding them in similar states of unrest and boredom. Kakashi was
staring across the room, watching something out the window behind the
Feudal Lords and looking bored. Everyone tried to look like they were
handling the stress just fine, but Naruto could feel the increasing
current of chakra being leaked from all over the room.

He faced the front again, hoping that he’d see something that would
account for the delay. There were many people clustered around Tsunade,
though Naruto saw another large clump gathered close by as if there
were someone within them that didn’t want to be seen. It was very
curious, but he didn’t know what he could do to find out who it was
until the meeting was over.

“Tch,” he grumbled, wanting things to be over with as soon as
possible. He shifted his feet in agitation until Shikamaru put a hand
on his arm.

“Settle down, Naruto,” he said, stilling him with the pressure of his hand, “It won’t do any good to get worked up.”

“But why the delay?” he asked, “It doesn’t make sense!”

“Who knows?” Shikamaru let go of his arm, and shrugged. “Ten minutes isn’t a big deal, so just keep quiet, Naruto.”

Naruto nodded, though it was nearly impossible to keep himself still, or quiet. It was
a big deal. It was ten more minutes he had to stand there with everyone
thinking he wasn’t worth fighting, and ten more minutes he had to stand
there knowing everyone only wanted to fight Sasuke.

He himself didn’t even want to think about Sasuke, since it meant
also having to think about how he was going to tell Sasuke that
everyone there was asking about him. Sasuke had been so uncomfortable
last night, with everyone in the stadium staring and pointing at
him—Naruto didn’t expect him to be pleased that the competing ninja
weren’t any different.

Kami-sama, let it be time to begin!

Naruto looked back over his shoulder—3:09. He shuffled his feet
again, glancing back and forth until finally—finally!—the time had come.

He stepped forward again, pointing at Tsunade, “Oi! It’s ten after three, so let’s get this thing going!”

Tsunade glared at him, and then turned back to the Feudal Lord who
was gesturing urgently at her. She nodded and whispered, then held out
her hand to shush him, whispering something back with an expression
that said she wouldn’t be discussing the issue further. He saw her
glance towards the gathered Jounin, raising an eyebrow in silent
question to one of them.

Naruto turned to see who she was looking at, but couldn’t tell
exactly whose eye she’d caught since most of them were looking at her.
He looked back to Tsunade, whose expression was suddenly more worried
than a minute ago.

He gritted his teeth again, not understanding what the delay was all
about. “OI, OI, OI, OI!” he shouted, then lowered his pointing finger
when Tsunade stood up, silencing him with one look.

“Ibiki,” she said, nodding to the Jounin, who strolled out onto the
floor with his clipboard, his long black coat billowing ominously
behind him. Everyone parted before him, giving him a path to the doors
which he closed with a thud. He then returned to the front of the room
as Tsunade began to give instructions.

“First we’ll take down the names and ranks of all of you competing
in the Scavenger Hunt—” She was forced to stop because Naruto
interrupted her with his loud voice.

“Then I’ll be the first one to give you my name!” He took a quick
step forward, shouting past the shinobi in front of him. He pointed at
the Feudal Lord that had been whispering to Tsunade, “I’m the great
Uzumaki Naruto! Current rank: Chuunin! Future rank: Hokage!”

He turned to face the center of the room, sweeping his pointing
finger to indicate everyone there, “You may as well leave now, because
I won’t lose to any of you!”

The room exploded in angry grumbles, both from the other combatants
and from Tsunade. Iruka was the closest one to scold him, his
“teacher’s voice” carrying the farthest, though lots of the ninja in
the room were glaring at him with intense irritation and voicing their
contradicting opinions of his little speech.

Naruto grinned, pleased to have everyone’s full attention for the first time since he entered the room.

A Jounin with sunglasses raised his hand, shouting out his name, “Yamashiro Aoba, Jounin! And I too won’t lose!”

This was quickly followed by, “Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, Chuunin!
You guys are all dead meat!” Kiba thrust his fist in the air, grinning
excitedly as Akamaru barked his agreement. If he had his own tail,
Naruto thought Kiba would be wagging it just as happily as his nin-dog.

Naruto watched as more and more shinobi in the room began to shout
out their names, their voices drowning each other out as they called
from all directions. Tsunade was holding out her hands and yelling out
commands for silence, but Naruto could tell that everyone was getting
much too worked up to listen to her.

Ibiki stopped writing on his clipboard when the chaos got to be too
much for anyone to hear what anyone else was shouting, and he added his
own booming voice to the din and tried to get everyone to calm down.
The room was echoing with all the battle cries, and Naruto felt a
thrill through his core at the room’s collective eagerness to fight.

Iruka had worked his way through the shouting shinobi, and grabbed his elbow, scolding him, “Look what you’ve done, Naruto!”

Naruto laughed loudly, excited, “Isn’t it great? This is what fighting is all about, ne?”

Iruka’s eyes flashed with anger, “This is NOT how a shinobi shows his respect to the Hokage, or to the Feudal Lords!”

Naruto shook his elbow free. “It has nothing to do with that!” he
argued, and Iruka tried to grab him again, but he dodged. He tensed his
muscles and met his sensei’s furious eyes with his own, ready to fight
for real if Iruka—or anyone else—criticized him, when the double doors
at the back of the room opened with a loud creak.

Everyone around him turned, the cool draft of air alerting those who
hadn’t heard the noise that someone new had just arrived. Naruto
scowled at the interruption and the sudden silence, turning his head
angrily to see what was going on. What was it now? This was so annoying! He just wanted to hear the details of the Hu—

The thought died the instant his blue eyes met the red Sharingan of his rival.

It was only for a fraction of a second, but Naruto felt his heart
grow cold from the look in them—the look of a deadly assassin. He
wasn’t sure Sasuke had even recognized him. He could hardly recognize Sasuke.

His rival stood regally in the doorway; his arms holding the doors
open without effort as he paused and allowed his mere presence to
captivate each and every person in the room. Nobody said a word;
everyone was too busy being shocked that he was there, the infamous
Uchiha.

Naruto’s gut clenched—what the hell was he doing here? His heart
started to pound with dread—this didn’t seem right… This didn’t feel right…

When Sasuke had everyone’s attention, he stepped forward, letting
the doors close behind him. His mouth curved into his signature smirk,
made all the more intense by the red of his eyes. Naruto felt his knees
go weak as his rival started to cross the large room, walking down the
center aisle that had been made earlier by Ibiki.

Sasuke’s confident steps were fluid, somehow sensual and dangerous
at the same time, and Naruto found himself salivating at the sight of
him in the mesh shirt. He’d always had a hard time dealing with
Sasuke’s dark beauty, but now—now that he’d tasted most of the skin that was partially revealed by the weave of the mesh…

He wouldn’t have thought Sasuke would wear something like that, but
now that he’d seen it, he had to admit that he’d never seen his
teammate look sexier. Naruto swallowed, clenching a fist at the
conflicting waves of desire and surging confusion.

What in God’s name was Sasuke doing here?

The room had seemed intense before, but now—Naruto almost found it
hard to breathe from the collective power soaking the room, swirling
towards the center of the disturbance. No, he corrected himself; power
and fear. Sasuke, walking calmly and deliberately past all
the stares and scowls of the gathered shinobi, seemed completely
unaffected by any of it.

Naruto couldn’t take his eyes off of his rival as he made his way up
the center of the room to stand before the Hokage. Naruto clenched his
other fist, waiting for Sasuke to look at him so he could try and ask
what he was doing there. But Sasuke wasn’t looking at any of them,
standing in his familiar pose of bored superiority, letting his intense
chakra signature show everyone how strong he was.

Naruto gritted his teeth. He hated to be ignored, and he was more
than angry that Sasuke had managed once again to steal the spotlight.
He bared his teeth, seeing the Feudal Lords all whispering urgently to
each other and gesturing to Sasuke.

Naruto couldn’t stand it, his breath hissing through his clenched
teeth as he took an angry step forward to demand an explanation from
his rival.

But Sasuke beat him to it–facing Tsunade and pitching his voice so that no one would miss the arrogance of his words.

“Sorry I’m late,” he smirked, shifting his weight onto one leg and
placing a hand on his hip. “But there’s one more name you need to mark
down.”

Naruto’s jaw dropped at this announcement; he was shocked beyond belief that Sasuke was here to register. Masaka! Everyone around him was murmuring, but Naruto could barely hear it over the pounding of blood in his ears. Uso… uso… USO!

He couldn’t believe it—Sasuke was here to fight. And Naruto was
going to have to fight him. Dimly, Naruto was aware that his
fingernails were digging painfully into his palm, but what hurt more
was the piercing feeling of utter betrayal.

He’d said he was going to help him; he’d said he didn’t want to compete.

Naruto felt like a fool for believing him—when had Sasuke ever passed up a chance to prove that he was better?

He could feel his body shaking with rage, embarrassed that he’d
believed what Sasuke had said about teamwork, and mortified that Sasuke
had actually spent the night in his bed, all the while planning on
defeating him and winning the Hunt for himself.

How could he do all that, and now do this?

There wasn’t a word to describe the kind of pain he felt when Ibiki
asked for his teammate’s name, and Naruto shut his eyes tight when he
heard Sasuke’s low, velvety voice answer, vibrating with the strength
of his challenge to them all:

“Uchiha……Sasuke.”

 

♦