Growing together, growing apart

A/N: This chapter has been through four rewrites and traveled through three different computers to make its way to you. The next chapter will be the last, and my goal is to have it up within a month. I lost chapters of all three stories I was working on and have finally learned to back up my work on a jumpdrive. So, again, sorry for the delay and if the chapter seems rushed in places, sorry about that.

I have also learned that I will be very careful creating OCs in the future, I kept reading my OC’s dialogue and realizing that she was coming across as omniscient a lot, and it was annoying. I hope I fixed that.

I would like to thank all those who have reviewed, both on FF and AFF, it is always wonderful to get feedback and I appreciate each and every one of you.

Disclaimer: Me no own Naruto

Warning: spoilers for Manga chapters 404 and 405, some dialog right from the manga, yaoi (man x man), mention of character death, OC

------On with the Story!----

Time seemed to go quickly during the days leading up to the chuunin exams. Sasuke and Naruto worked together building their teamwork skills with Kaiya. Time was spent sparring, discussing various strategies, and improving the girl’s taijutsu. She had a firm grasp of ninjutsu and could quickly learn a new technique. The problem was that she did not physically have the amount of chakra or control necessary to use many of the higher level techniques without exhausting herself.

Though they spent time all together training, both young men were surprised when Kaiya made no move to make it personal. They knew nothing about her beyond her shinobi abilities and she never asked about them. After Sakura, who would go with Naruto to Ichiraku’s or try to become involved with Sasuke, it was a complete change. Neither could have honestly stated if they preferred the change or not.

Sasuke and Naruto were becoming more outwardly comfortable with the alteration in their relationship; the pain of the separation was decreasing, as all pain does in time. They saw each other everyday; however, they were never alone together. Kaiya was always there, unknowingly acting as a mediator between them.

It was an unspoken agreement between the two young men to keep their distance. Subconsciously, they were drifting apart, but each consoled themselves that this was only temporary. Soon, they would be the best of friends and could put the past pain, and passion, behind them.

When the time for the chuunin exams arrived, they were comfortable in their skills and teamwork. They had no difficulties during the application process, easily detecting the genjutsu put up by the examiners. However, they had decided beforehand not to stand out or draw any attention to themselves anymore than Naruto naturally would with his flamboyant coloring. Fortunately, though Sasuke was known in the higher ranks of Konoha, his history was not widely known among the current genin. He wanted it to stay that way.

Naruto was surprised to see Konohamaru, along with Moegi and Udon, at the exams. Konohamaru was extremely excited taking part of his first chuunin exams, which he was boisterously proclaiming to all.

As in the previous written exams, all the participating genin were randomly given numbers and seated accordingly. In this fashion, teammates were not able to sit near each other.

Morino Ibiki explained the rules of the written exam, again, this was the same. Cheat to gain information, get caught cheating five times and you and your team is disqualified. Nine questions to start and then a tenth question to be given fifteen minutes before the end of the exam.

Sasuke had no trouble completing all nine initial questions as he was able to use his Sharingan to copy from one of the test takers who was having no trouble answering the questions. This person was undoubtedly a chuunin planted within the exam to encourage the genin to copy from him.

Kaiya appeared to be working out the answers on her own. Naruto just sat at his desk, eyes glazed and looking bored.

After several minutes, teams started to be disqualified as members within the teams were caught cheating too often. As one team was told to leave, one of the members, an older teen with spiky brown and green hair, with clothes to match and a hitai-ate proclaiming him to be from the Village Hidden in the

Clouds, leaped over two rows to yell at a chuunin demanding proof of his cheating. Kaiya had to angle her head to the side to avoid being kicked by the loud young man as he flew past where she was sitting. Before the examiner could retaliate, the other members of the Cloud-nin's team were already dragging him out of the room.

Nobody seemed to notice that shortly thereafter both Kaiya and Naruto were busily writing answers onto their test papers.

When time was called for the end of the first part of the written exam, Naruto looked around and counted the number of participants remaining. He was surprised to see only 31 teams left. He knew Ibiki was about to decrease that amount significantly and was starting to realize just how talented a group he had been a part of the first time he took this exam.

Morino Ibiki had no trouble gaining the attention of the entire room. It had been over a year since the last time he was a proctor and he was going to enjoy this.

“You may choose to take the 10th question of this examination as a team or individually.” Ignoring the confused grumbles from some of the genin, he continued.

“If you take it as a team and answer incorrectly, then the whole team fails, regardless of the score you have obtained on the rest of the test. If you choose to take the question individually and answer correctly, but another team member answered incorrectly, then instead of failing with the rest of the team, you may choose to answer an 11th question. We are able to offer you this chance since a candidate may be accepted by the end of the exams as a Chuunin while the rest of the team were not. If you successfully answer the 11th question, then you will bypass the second section of these exams and go straight to the third and final stage."

"What if the whole team passes the 10th question? Do we all get to go straight to the end?"

Ibiki chuckled; the sound so malicious it sent shivers down many of the participants', and some of the examiners', spines. "No. You still have to take the second exam with the rest of your team." Grumbles answered his response, but before he could be interrupted further, he indicated a young shinobi with a Sand hitai-ate in the first row, "You!” causing the genin to jump in his seat. “Which will you choose?"

The young man sat up straight, though this did not hide that he found the interrogation specialist intimidating. "I want to take the question on my own."

"What?" exclaimed his teammate from several rows back. "We should do this as a team!"

"No way." The final teammate stood up. "I'm not going to risk my promotion on you."

"All right. All three of you, go out that door", Ibiki pointed to a door to their right, "Once all the rest of the examinees have been separated, the 10th question will be given to you individually." Quickly, the three Sand-nin made their way out of the main exam room.

The participants continued to be called, starting with the front row and working back. The groups taking the 10th question as a team went to the left.

Those that were to take the question individually went to the right. There were several disputes within the teams, however, if all the members did not agree to take the question together, they were sent to the right.

Naruto was the first of his team to be called and asked to make his choice. "I want us to continue the exam together." He did not look at the others, merely continued to face forward.

As he did with the others, Ibiki asked, "Who are on a team with him?" At that, Sasuke and Kaiya raised their hands. Pointing to Sasuke, the scarred jounin asked for his choice.

"We will take it as a team."

Not even bothering to hide his skepticism, Ibiki sneered, "That isn't like you. Are you sure you want to stick with that decision?"

"Hn." That was all the response Sasuke gave to the man who interrogated him upon his return to Konoha.

When Kaiya was asked, she said only, "I stand by my teammates."

"Well, I hope you don't regret it." They were waved to the left door while Ibiki ignored the glare shot at him from the kunoichi.

Once they entered the room, they sat down on the chairs provided and Naruto grinned while Sasuke smirked and Kaiya smiled. There were only three other teams waiting with them and they were nearly halfway through with the separation when they had gotten to Naruto's team.

Not long after they entered, they were joined by Konohamaru, with Moegi and Udon. The young kunoichi was chastising the mini loudmouth, as Konohamaru had made a production about the importance of teamwork and how all the genin who had chosen to continue on their own were idiots. It had taken a threat from Ibiki to remove Konohamaru so that he could continue.

After hearing this, Naruto chuckled and clapped the boy on the back. He looked so proud of his protégé. "I'm glad you're staying together. It's easier to face a problem or an enemy if you're not alone." He avoided looking at Sasuke.

Fortunately, the Konohamaru Corps was not able to pick up on the tension between their male sempai. "Yeah! I don't get why those morons were willing to split up. Don't they know how important working as a team is? I mean, it's so obvious!"

It was Kaiya who chose to answer him, cutting off what looked to be the beginnings of a long, and loud, rant. "It's easy for you to see it because you understand it. However, for most, believing in one's own power and abilities is easier than trusting others not to let you down. Did you notice that it was mostly the younger genin who unanimously chose to separate themselves? Most of the older team members have learned to count on each other and work together. You three are the youngest to choose to remain together."

By this time, several more teams had joined them, possibly inspired by Konohamaru's speech. It was not long before the ten teams sat in front of Ibiki who announced that they had passed the first exam. Few were surprised by this, though they had heard the exclamations of those that had failed from the room to their right.

What did surprise, and scare, them was the second examiner who was introduced to them. Maito Gai, in all his green glory, stood posed before the aghast genin.

"Yosh!”

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

After recovering both hearing and vision from the double assault of roaring proclamations on the importance of guts and youth and the eye-watering sparkle of Gai’s grins, the remaining participants found themselves outside the fenced off training area also known as the Forest of Death. Unlike their first experience with Anko purposefully drilling in fear of the place, Gai encouraged everyone to use the opportunity to experience the Springtime of - what was that again? Ah yes - Youth.

Naruto did not know which of them was more insane, but he was leaning towards the green clad taijutsu expert.

Watching Konohamaru and several of the other younger genin, Naruto grumbled about how loud they were being. Sasuke’s expression was incredulous, for him. So his eyebrows rose slightly and his eyes might have widened. Kaiya barely held back her laughter.

“What?”

“Nothing, dobe.”

“Bastard.”

Most of the veterans of the exam were familiar with the set up. They would have to retrieve the partner scroll of the one they were given at the start. If they did not finish the exam with their team intact and both scrolls in their possession, they would not advance to the final exam.

The scrolls were distributed to the teams, one per team, within a tent so that other participants will not be able to see which team member will be carrying the scroll. Watching the teams pass through, Sasuke could hear grunts from within, but could not make out what was being said behind the barrier.

Once it was their turn to enter and obtain their scroll, Sasuke looked around but did not see anything to warrant the exclamations he had heard earlier. He watched as Naruto made to grab the Heaven scroll, making a note that they would need to retrieve an Earth scroll later to complete their set. As the tan fingers clasped the scroll, Naruto stumbled forward into the table and the scroll landed on the surface with a noticeable thud.

“What the hell? Why is it so heavy?!” Naruto faced Maito Gai with an incredulous, and somewhat embarrassed, expression on his face.

“I decided to make this event more interesting for you all and added weight to the center of the scroll.” His teeth gave an extra sparkle as he struck a ‘good guy’ pose.

Naruto and Kaiya were visibly aghast while Sasuke internally rolled his eyes. He wondered just how much weight was added. He was saved the trouble of asking when Kaiya inquired instead. If possible, the grin got wider.

“Oh, just a few kilograms, not much. Now, off you go, there is still some more teams behind you.” Looking at the crack made in the table from the dropped weight, they all thought that if this was ‘not much’, then they did not want to see ‘a lot’.

Naruto hesitated a moment before picking up the scroll and depositing it in his weapons pouch which noticeably sagged under the strain. Sasuke couldn’t keep the amusement from his face. Naruto looked incredibly uncomfortable, but neither of his teammates offered to relieve him of his burden as they made their way out of the tent and were led to one of the gates surrounding the forest.

As they were waiting for the signal to enter the training area for the survival exam, the blond kept fidgeting with his pouch, trying to make it more comfortable. Kaiya tilted her head as she observed his movements for a minute.

“With the added weight, it will make it easier to figure out who is carrying a scroll and who isn’t. Maybe we should sporadically switch out who is holding onto it.”

Sasuke readily agreed while Naruto looked around with an impish smile on his face. Kaiya had been around long enough to know when the prankster was about to show himself. “Yeah, we should, but let’s have someone pretend to be weighted down so that everyone will think that he has the scroll instead of letting them focus on the real holder.”

The Sharigan user smirked at his friend. “Distraction again?”

Naruto just shrugged his shoulders grinning and Kaiya chuckled. “Well, it worked out well during the written exam with his kage bushin. Though, your clone nearly took my head off when he jumped over my desk.”

The blond scratched the back of his head, looking down apologetically. “Sorry about that, but it had to get close to drop off those answers to you. It was only two answers, but hey, better than none, right?”

“You only were able to get two answers?” Kaiya internally wondered if it was possible for Sasuke not to tease Naruto.

“Shut up, bastard! Not everyone has nifty bloodlines, you know?”

Before Sasuke could respond, they were given the signal to start the second part of the Chuunin exam.

Entering the Forest of Death, they quickly jumped through the trees attempting to get as close to the center tower. After scoping out the competition prior to entering the Forest, neither Sasuke nor Naruto were particularly concerned. As such, their goal was to travel as far as they can inward before meeting up with another team. The plan was that they would quickly dispatch a team to get the necessary scroll and then wait out the rest of the exams inside the tower.

After some time of running without coming across any opponents, when they were almost halfway to the tower, Sasuke suddenly came to a halt. Naruto and Kaiya quickly backtracked to determine what was wrong.

The young Uchiha was looking towards the east.

"A fight is going on nearby."

"Let's check it out." Naruto was already heading in the direction that his friend had indicated.

Kaiya had no objections and was rather curious herself. Sasuke merely shrugged and turned to the east where he had sensed the flares of chakra. As they approached, Naruto and then Kaiya were able to detect the chakra flairs of combat jutsu being used and then they heard explosive tags going off.

"Someone is going all out."

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Konohamaru's team being attacked by Mist-nin. Moegi was trapped and suffocating within a bubble of water. Konohamaru was battling another shinobi largely with just taijutsu, it was from him that the explosive tags had come from. Udon had managed to slow down his opponent with an Earth technique.

Naruto's team stayed back and watched until it was clear that the Mist-nin had gained the upper hand. At that point, they silently decided to interfere. Naruto went to assist Konohamaru while Sasuke freed Moegi from her water prison. As she was fighting to regain breath, Sasuke worked quickly to dispatch his opponent. Unfortunately, this Mist-nin was unnaturally swift, especially on land for a water user.

As Kaiya leaped to Udon's side, she withdrew a scroll from her side and soon, a metal capped bo/staff was in her hands. It looked like the Mist-nin that Udon was facing was about to be buried alive in the earth, where his breathing apparatus would do little good without water. However, Kaiya had a feeling the man was not going to be so easily beaten; she was never comfortable if she could not see a fighter's hands.

Sure enough, the ground beneath them had turned to mud so swiftly that they were unable to leap free before they were stuck to their knees and sinking quickly. Using her staff, she spanned the shallow the width of the mud pit and braced it on the solid ground. Kaiya pulled herself out and reached in to pull Udon up far enough so that he could get a good hold on the staff. Kaiya exited the viscous pool and kept her weapon braced on the ground as Udon got out on the other side. He had mud on his glasses which he was trying to clean them off as fast as possible. Kaiya had fortunately had the advantage of several inches height over the boy so was not in as bad a shape.

They were attacked again by the man, this time with a long kunai. Kaiya grabbed Udon and pulled him into her as she turned with her staff lengthwise along her back. This deflected the primary attack that would have severed her spine, but was not able to completely block the weapon. Gritting her teeth, she pushed Udon away from her and turned again with her staff hitting the man hard enough to crack ribs, but instead of this occurring, his body turned to water. Kaiya stepped to the side and brought herself back to back with Udon facing what were now 3 water clones.

Just as she and Udon were about to counterattack, Konohamaru and Naruto arrived from separate sides and dispatched the clones. Barely a breath had gone by when the last Mist-nin was taken out of the nearby bushes by Sasuke.

Soon, with all three Mist-nin defeated, Konohamaru stood chucking while holding their Earth scroll in his hand.

"Hey boss! Since you guys helped us out, do you want this?"

"Nah. You guys keep it. We already have an Earth scroll and you kids need to get to the tower and rest up." Naruto lied smoothly.

"Hey! Who you calling kids?"

"You, shrimp!"

After checking over the younger genin, the teams split up again and Naruto's team continued towards the tower, at a different angle from the others. However, when Kaiya heard the nearby sound of running water, she asked to stop at the stream.

Once they arrived, she took out her medical kit and tossed it at Sasuke, she then turned and pulled up her shirt for him to see the laceration on her back which had started to soak through her clothes. These would require stitches as none of them were skilled in medical ninjutsu.

When she lifted her shirt to show her back, Naruto turned his head away in a fit of shyness. She had a sports/active bra underneath so she was still decent; she was showing less skin than he saw on most kunoichi, and a lot less than he’d seen when traveling with Jiraiya. Why was he nervous? He was glad that it was Sasuke who was going to tend her wounds.

‘Sasuke.’

That thought made him quickly turn back to the pair by the stream. However, it wasn’t to view her naked skin, it was to observe Sasuke’s expression. Now he knew why he had been feeling uncomfortable.

‘Does he find her attractive?’

He was curious if Sasuke would find her attractive now that he was available. After all, she was intelligent, usually soft-spoken, pretty, and most importantly, female. She did not act as the typical fangirl that Naruto remembered from their younger years. Sasuke could certainly do worse.

In watching the business-like manner in which Sasuke approached his duty in helping the girl, Naruto was relieved not to see any attraction on either party. Sasuke worked in a completely professional manner and did not appear to show any interest at all in the kunoichi, he just paid attention to her wounds.

Kaiya spent the entire time with her head turned away, a kunai clutched in her slightly shaking hand. ‘That must really hurt.’ Naruto thought, watching what he assumed was the young woman distracting herself from the pain of the stitches with no anesthetic.

The medical treatment proceeded quickly and silently. When finished, Kaiya thanked Sasuke and cleaned up as swiftly as she could before they continued on.

They arrived at the tower with three days to spare. They had had no trouble obtaining a scroll for themselves and the encounter itself was fairly anti-climactic. Naruto and Kaiya had lain in wait for a team that Sasuke had scouted out and they clash had been utterly one-sided. The other team hadn’t stood a chance.

They used this time to rest and refresh themselves while they waited for any following teams to report in before the time was up.

Naruto was initially surprised by how few teams made it through the second exam. Sasuke reminded him of the sheer volume of potential there had been during their first chunnin exam and Kaiya told him how there had only been five combatants for the third stage of her last time there.

Only their team, Konohamaru’s, a team from Hidden Grass, and a team from Hidden Sand had made it through; this was 12 competitors. However, only one of the members from the Grass team was in any condition to keep fighting. Moegi, who had been injured again during another confrontation in the Forest of Death was encouraged to drop out as well, but she chose instead to continue on.

As there were only 10 shinobi left, they were informed that the third stage would start immediately. They were escorted into an open stadium filled with spectators. It was not as crowded as was expected by Naruto, as this time there wasn’t the buildup that had occurred.

The formalities were observed by the spectators, and largely ignored by the participants. Each individual was excited to get through the upcoming combat, whether they were filled with trepidation or blood-lust, every one of the competitors wanted the fights to start.

The first match was an unfortunate pair up: Uzumaki Naruto vs Daidoji Kaiya.

With a grimace towards the kunoichi, Naruto made his way to the center of the stadium. He couldn’t help but feel bad for her situation; he knew that she would not be able to match him and decided that he would go easy on her during the fight instead of quickly putting her out of the competition.

As Naruto fought Kaiya, he kept his actions to taijutsu and very low level ninjutsu, though he really did not know many techniques that were not heavy hitters. Kaiya kept pace with the glorified spar until she had had enough. Stepping back, she made sure Naruto could see the look of rage on her face. Taken aback, he realized how offensive his action was and immediately attacked her whole-heartedly.

Creating several kage bushin, he had her surrounded, until she took out multiple clones with her staff, which she had never used during a spar with him before. Grinning at her, Naruto gave her the compliment of powering up a low level Rasengan. He quickly won, but she had been able to show her talent during the fight and had not obtained any serious injuries.

In another unfortunate match up, Sasuke was paired with Konohamaru. He gave him time to show off his abilities then won the match. Unfortunately, during the fight, Konohamaru lost his temper and did not accept his defeat well.

From that point on, all fights involving Sasuke or Naruto were quickly concluded. It was very clear to any all who were watching that these were two exceptional fighters who had long left the level of genin behind, it was just time to have the official rank reflect ability.

The pairings worked out in such a way that Naruto and Sasuke were the final fighters after over two hours of various combats. Facing off from each other, they only felt excitement. There was no fear, no anger; this was not a contest where a life hung in the balance. There would be no Rasengan or Chidori; they would never use those techniques against each other again.

There was frustration, inner torment, a need to touch the other that could only be done with punches and kicks, but a need for connection, any connection made them anxiously await the signal to start.

For those watching, it was a battle not often seen. It was more a choreographed dance than a fight; the movements were so smooth, strikes blocked barely before they had been thrown. Though there were no destructive techniques, it was a captivating scene for the individuals who could see the true talent and grace before their eyes. It was stamina against technique, hard work against talent, both had earned their skill, and neither could honestly say who was truly superior.

The match ended in a draw.

The participants that had not been taken away for medical treatment were advised that after deliberations, those who had been promoted would be informed within a week.

Several days later in Tsunade’s office, they were told that two shinobi from Suna as well as Naruto, Sasuke, and Kaiya were all promoted to Chuunin.

Kaiya was informed that she would be starting work at the Academy shortly.

Naruto was told to relax until his next assignment.

Sasuke was informed that he would have his next mission shortly and no further details were given at that time. Naruto was perturbed to note that Sasuke didn’t seem at all surprised that he’d be given a mission so soon.

Two days later, Naruto had not seen his friend at all. He had not gone to see Sasuke and, though he had deliberately been in areas that his friend frequented, he never saw him. Naruto did not like that they could not seem to interact alone together anymore, it still hurt.

Naruto was given a message to report to the Hokage’s office. He looked around and noticed Kakashi, Sakura, and Sai were awaiting him along with Tsunade. Curious about the grouping, he asked, “Where’s Sasuke?”

All the occupants in the room kept their expressions carefully blank, though uneasiness and even a little sympathy could be detected in the air.

“Sasuke has a mission coming up and there is no reason to distract him with this news at the current time. Now, Naruto, I want you to meet Fukasaku-sama.” Tsunade indicated an old, short toad that was sitting upon the back of another toad near her desk.

Naruto was confused, as evidenced by his squinting eyes and furrowed brows. Before he could question why there was a toad in the room whom Tsunade was showing such respect to, the toad himself decided to speak. “So, you’re Jiraiya-chan’s pupil, huh?”

He didn’t know why; maybe it was that his personal life had completely turned up on itself, maybe it was being unsure of where he stood in his world at that moment, he didn’t know. But hearing his teacher spoken of as though he was a child, no matter how he referred to the man himself, Naruto just felt angry with the little toad. “’-chan?’ ‘chan?!’ What, do you think the perverted hermit is your summoned animal? Just what is this wrinkly old toad’s problem?”

“Watch your mouth, brat! He's Jiraiya-sama's teacher, a great and wise figure who taught him hermit style ninjutsu.” The Hokage looked as though she was contemplating breaking her desk over the boy’s head.

The toad, Fukasaku, merely chuckled good-naturedly. “’Perverted hermit?’ You've got the same attitude as yer master, kiddo.”

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, but also impatient to get this over with, Naruto relented. “All right, old toad. What do you want to tell me?”

An air of expectancy fell over the room. Though the other members of Team Kakashi had not said anything, it was clear that they also were curious as to what message this master toad could bring.

“Where do I start?” Fukasaku asked himself somberly. “Guess I better just tell you. Jiraiya-chan was killed in battle.”

Gasps of shock were heard from Sakura and even Kakashi. Not from Naruto, though. He could not even breathe after hearing that news. It took him some time for his mind to even comprehend the words that had been spoken. The only thought in his head was ‘no’.

“Tsunade,” he ignored her flinch at his use of her name in such a cold voice. “You said he was checking up on information, not that he’d be fighting. How could you let him go if he was going to be up against the Akatsuski by himself!”

“That’s enough, Naruto.” Kakashi understood grief, but he couldn’t condone the young man taking out his anger on their leader.

The blond continued to glare at Tsunade, her gaze not wavering from his own as she tried to share his grief. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore and shook his head. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he muttered, “Fuck this.” He ignored Sakura calling his name and the Hokage telling her to stop. He just left.

Naruto did not want to talk with anyone at that point. He just wanted the pain of another precious person leaving him to be gone. This was too much.

Walking through the streets of Konoha shortly after the sun had set, he saw a shopkeeper about to close his stall that sold ice cream and other frozen novelties. Remembering years ago, when Jiraiya had bought a double popsicle for them to split and share, he bought one and sat on a nearby bench.

While the popsicle melted down his fingers, his thoughts were engaged with his memories of his time spent with the perverted sannin. It was like this that Iruka found him. Naruto didn’t look up as his former instructor sat down next to him.

“I heard about Jiraiya-sama.”

“I wanted him to keep watching me. I wanted him to be here when I became Hokage, to make him see me do more than just screw up.” His voice was so fragile, so lonely. Iruka didn’t think he’d ever seen Naruto outwardly express sadness as much as he currently was.

“Jiraiya-sama had nothing but praise for you. He'd brag about you, how you were practically his grandson. How you were a man who'd inherited his spirit. He never doubted for a minute that you'd grow up to be a powerful Hokage. Jiraiya-sama will always be watching over you, I'm sure he's looking down on you right now, wherever he is.”

Azure eyes, darkened by grief and shrouded in tears looked hopeful at his words.

“But if you just sit around sulking, he won't be able to brag about you. So...” the Academy teach reached over and grabbed half of the double popsicle. “Don't stop being the person who earned all that praise. Be yourself and cheer up. Jiraiya-sama would not want you to doubt yourself because he is gone. He would not want you to live your life in regret.”

Iruka had moved to kneel in front of his former pupil, giving him a smile and waiting for one in return.

“Thanks, Iruka-sensei.”

‘He would not want you to live your life in regret.’

XxXxXxXxXxX

In Sasuke’s apartment, he was thinking about how he had requested a mission away from the village to give himself time away from Naruto. Despite outward appearances, his wanting of the other man had not decreased. Though the pain had lessened, the need to be with the other had not. He didn’t understand why he was not able to look at Naruto and see the knuckleheaded blond that most others saw.

The reason was simple, because he knew that Naruto was so much more. However, he was sure that he would be able to change his mindset to reflect what he wished, given time. That was the purpose of an away mission as soon as he was promoted to Chuunin. He needed time away to get his head together.

He was preparing to leave the next morning. He had just finished packing when he heard a knock on his door. Opening it, he found Naruto in tears.

Before Sasuke could say anything, he was pressed against a wall and being kissed fiercely. Instinctively returning the embrace, Sasuke kissed him back until they had to pull away for breath. Naruto immediately started nuzzling and nipping along his chin down to his neck. “Naruto, what’s going on?”

With his head buried in his best friend’s neck, Naruto begged, “Let me be enough.” His voice was choked with emotion and the words were barely recognizable.

Not understanding what was going on, Sasuke pulled away enough to see the blond’s expression and was blown away by the grief he saw there. “Naruto –“ he had to avoid another kiss aimed to silence him. “Wait. We can’t.”

“Don’t, Sasuke. Don’t turn me away tonight. Please?”

Sasuke didn’t feel the tear coursing down his cheek as he forced himself to grab hold of Naruto’s wrists and push him away. “I’m sorry, but I have to.” ‘I have to.’ Those words made him ill, as did the look of heartbreak in front of him.

After several emotional moments, Naruto pulled his wrists free of Sasuke’s loosened grip and turned to leave the apartment.

As he was opening the door he heard his name called softly behind him. He stopped, but did not face the other man, he couldn’t.

“Naruto. What happened?”

For awhile, neither moved, unsure of how much time had passed before Naruto turned his head and looked over his shoulder. “No regrets” he softly whispered to himself. Firming his resolve, he lifted his gaze to meet Sasuke’s. Sapphire clashed with onyx.

“I’m in love with you.”

Sasuke’s jaw dropped and before he could come to grips with the confession just made to him, Naruto was already gone.

Alone once again, Sasuke sat on a nearby chair thinking about all they had been through, his fears, and how he had pushed his lover away. Looking over at his mission pack and remembering that he was leaving early the next morning, he thought about how much his leaving would affect them. It would give him time to move on, but Naruto had already made the step to confirm them as more than friends. Now he can’t just leave it alone, he has to choose between love and safety. Once again, he'd have to make a difficult choice on what relationship he could have with the blond.

With an explosion of movement, the former avenger punched his fist through the opposite wall, his Sharingan spinning wildly. All the tumultuous thoughts and feelings finally coalesced to form one statement ripped from his lips.

“Fuck!”

TBC