Everyone's Got Secrets

♦

Chapter
11:

♦

From the empty
training grounds, Sasuke didn’t stop running even when he reached
the steps that curved up to the Hokage’s office.

Unlike the rest
of Konoha celebrating in hedonistic noise and color, this part of the
village seemed unusually still. He noted that the Hokage’s guards
weren’t standing at her door as he ran past; Kotetsu and Izumo must
be in the conference room. Sasuke’s expression darkened as he made
his way to where registration was underway, if not over—he was
going to be more than ten minutes late.

The hallway was
empty and still as he approached the double doors of the conference
room. He skidded to a halt behind them, senses on high alert as he
could hear a massive group of people all yelling at the same time,
even through the thick wood. ‘What the hell is going on in
there?’ The intense energy thrumming on the other side didn’t
make him feel any better about what he had to do, and he took a few
moments to compose himself alone in the hall.

Sasuke closed
his eyes, leaning forward with hands on his thighs, letting his
breathing and heart rate settle down. He needed to appear calm and
collected even though he was sick with anxiety about how
Naruto would react to his sudden appearance.

This part was
the only flaw in the plan that he could find—he’d really wanted
to have a chance to explain whyhe had to be part of the
Hunt before he went in to register.

Sasuke clenched
his teeth, hating to admit that it might actually work out betterthis way. Naruto would honestly act like he didn’t expect him
to be there, and then the rest of his plan could be executed
flawlessly. In fact, Sasuke needed everyone there to believe that
their rivalry and general animosity towards each other was still as
strong as ever. It was essential.

He coughed and
then grimaced, clearing his lungs as his breathing calmed down to
normal. While Naruto wasn’t the best of actors, Sasuke had been
willing to put the plan at risk by telling him about it first, if
only to spare him any unnecessary anger or anxiety or
confusion—whatever it was that Naruto might feel the second he
walked through that door after saying repeatedly that he wouldn’t.
They’d been teammates far too long for Sasuke to hope that Naruto
could wait patiently for the whole story before reacting.

Naruto was the
resident expert at overreacting .

But Sasuke knew
he couldn’t worry about that now; he no longer had a choice about
whether or not to tell Naruto anything. What was most important was
making sure he did everything he could so Naruto could win the Hunt
in the end—he’d just have to trust that Naruto would believe in
him. And he had to believe enough in Naruto to go through
the door, to trust that even if his teammate got mad, he’d give him
a chance to explain it all later.

Sasuke stood up,
and smoothed his hands down his mesh shirt. He tried not to be
annoyed that he hadn’t been able to change; his original intention
for wearing the shirt seemed very remote now that he was facing the
doors of a room teeming with strong shinobi, about to go in there and
piss them all off.

His appearance
was only one more thing that would work in his favor if he could
disregard his real feelings about it. He adjusted the hem of the mesh
so the seams were aligned, and tried to minimize the evidence that
he’d been running all over the village for the last half hour.

Time to go in.

He inhaled
slowly; closing his eyes, he drew his fierce pride in the Uchiha clan
to the surface. He let it flow over him, along with the memories of
Itachi’s power to steel his nerves, and the depth of feeling he had
for his rival to harden him with purpose. He had to go in there with
nothing short of confidence; believing utterly that whoever dared to
challenge him was a fool.

He had to go in
there with the attitude that he was unstoppable.

And for Naruto,
he was .

Sasuke’s eyes
bled to the red of the Sharingan as he set his jaw; he was going to
show them all what the Uchiha clan was made of. With this thought
pounding in his chest, Sasuke took two steps forward, and pushed open
the doors.

♦

“Oi! It’s
3:00, so let’s get this thing going!”

Kakashi kept his
hands in his pockets, though he was itching to remind Naruto that
they were in a formal, public setting; the blond still didn’t
understand that his actions also reflected on his superiors. It was a
good thing Iruka was nearby. Of everyone assembled, Naruto was the
one being the most vocal in reaction to the stress.

Now if only
Iruka would look over this way… It was strange not to
receive even a small acknowledgement from his lover now that there
was plenty of opportunity for it to seem natural. His eyes settled on
Iruka’s head. Then Kakashi moved his attention to the front of the
room, where the Daimyo and his staff were appearing to be quite
flustered by Naruto’s outburst.

“Pipe down,”
Tsunade ordered his student, rising to lean forward.

“It’s time
to start, Tsunade-no—er, Tsunade-sama,” Naruto was shaking his
fist. “You said so yourself! Be here at 3:00 sharp !”

“Oh ho,”
Genma leaned over and whispered in Kakashi’s left ear, “There he
goes again, that kid.”

“Hmm,”
Kakashi muttered a response, managing to sound bored while he focused
his attention on the details at the front of the room.

Tsunade didn’t
acknowledge Naruto’s statement, and Kakashi watched closely as the
Daimyo moved closer to the Hokage and began to speak. There were nine
other Lords present and listening in, one in particular wringing his
hands. Tsunade inclined her head the slightest bit towards the
Daimyo, and Kakashi managed to read the man’s lips from where he
was standing:

“Tsunade-sama,
I must insist on a delay. We have all gathered here to evaluate the
competitors, but there is one competitor missing—how can
we form an opinion without everyone present? I insist we wait at
least ten more minutes; surely that can be arranged …”

Kakashi’s
stomach tightened from this information, mostly in sympathy of their
impending disappointment that no one else was coming no matter how
long they waited. It was obvious from their interest that he’d have
to watch the Uchiha district a little closer than he’d originally
intended. The Daimyo was clever—making his demand seem like a
request, which Tsunade could hardly deny.

Sure enough,
Tsunade nodded, then straightened and brought the room to a
respectful silence. Naruto’s expression was fierce, but he’d shut
his mouth for the moment, eyes glued to the Hokage like everyone
else.

“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 .”

Kakashi saw
Naruto’s jaw drop, but Tsunade must have given him a look since he
closed his mouth right away. Kakashi could hear multiple people
muttering about the delay—Asuma for one, and Shizune for
another—though he could bet they were grumbling for different
reasons. Naruto turned around in a huff to stare at the clock at the
back of the room, and Genma began a lazy stretch though the senbon
was dancing a jig between his teeth.

Kakashi glanced
at the other Jounin. None of them appeared any more restless than
earlier, but then again, they were more accustomed to these kinds of
gatherings than most other shinobi. Their rank afforded them
opportunities to witness the politics and maneuvering that made up
the running of the village, whether it was the Feudal Lords or the
Elders that were jockeying to influence the Hokage. For Tsunade’s
sake, Kakashi was relieved that the Elders had decided not to oversee
today’s event.

Kakashi let his
blue eye circle the room, and found that while everyone was tense,
anticipating what the Hokage would reveal about the Hunt and watching
their opponents warily, there was a distinct difference between the
tension in some compared to others. One group was restless with the
nervous excitement of getting to fight many strong opponents,
reacting to the strength of the shinobi around them. Naruto was part
of this group.

The other group
though… these were the ninja who were tense with something darker;
something like dread or apprehension. Fear wasn’t exactly the right
word, but it came close. Kakashi closed his teeth together with a
muted click. These were clearly the ones who’d fought in
the last Hunt.

These were the
ones who’d been defeated by him : Uchiha Itachi.

Naruto and his
classmates weren’t nervous like that ; they were too young
to understand what had happened last time, even if they’d heard
stories from older siblings or parents. The lack of firsthand Hunt
experience was a blessing they weren’t aware of, although they
weren’t immune to the overall tension in the room.

Yet these lines
dividing the assembled ninja into two groups didn’t correspond to
rank, as Kakashi could see people all over the room who were feeling
the press of their comrade’s chakra signatures, tension turning to
something palpable as they were all forced to wait. Kakashi could
feel it too, a pulse indicating the general stress of the assembled
combatants. He turned back to the front of the room and wondered
which group he fit into.

There was
movement around the Daimyo, and Kakashi caught a flash of brown hair
from the mysterious hidden person before the Daimyo leaned forward to
converse and blocked his view. Two Lords behind Tsunade’s left side
were deep in conversation, eyes flicking from the Daimyo to the open
double doors at the back of the room and then back to each other,
their expressions more angry than tense. Kakashi recalled their names
and made a note to watch them extra closely.

While looking
out the far window, in a pose oozing boredom from all the waiting,
Kakashi took a moment to look over the ANBU guards. He knew them of
course; he knew them all. And of course they all knew him.

Yamato (or
Tenzou, or whatever name he chose to go by now) was an interesting
choice on Tsunade’s part; he wasn’t usually picked out for token
guard-duty. Yamato and his female compatriot Yuugao both turned and
gave Kakashi the slightest of nods. He smirked under his mask,
nodding back.

The ten minutes
were almost up, and Kakashi was glad to have had the uninterrupted
time to observe. It made his mission easier if he already had mental
lists of the most suspicious characters, as well as the most nervous
competitors. Kakashi sighed. Of course Naruto was always the
one who got the most worked up.

“Oi! It’s
ten after three, so let’s get this thing going!”

Yare-yare.
Naruto shouted again, pointing his finger; the Daimyo began
whispering urgently to Tsunade. Tsunade nodded and whispered back,
but Kakashi could see from the Daimyo’s face that he wasn’t happy
with her response. He clearly wanted to wait longer for Sasuke to
arrive, but Tsunade held up her hand. Then she turned and looked
right at Kakashi.

Her left eye
flickered in an almost-wink, and then her brow rose in a silent
question. Left eye; Sharingan . The silent question: “Does
he need more time?”

Kakashi could
feel the seriousness of her gaze, and was glad that he could give her
an answer, even if it wasn’t the one she wanted. Very subtly, he
shook his head. “Sasuke’s not coming.”

Tsunade paled
and swallowed. But despite Naruto’s annoying shouts of “OI,
OI, OI, OI!” the Hokage rallied and stood up, silencing
everyone as she gazed over the room.

“Ibiki,” she
said, the man in question obeying instantly and charging across the
room to shut the doors. Once he’d returned to her side, Tsunade
began to outline the registration process.

“First we’ll
take down the names and ranks of all of you competing in the
Scavenger Hunt—”

“Then I’ll
be the first one to give you my name!”

Kakashi glanced
heavenward, requesting the patience to keep from murdering his
student. He watched Naruto make his claim, pointing right to the
leader of all of Fire Country.

“I’m the
great Uzumaki Naruto! Current rank: Chuunin! Future rank: Hokage!”

Then,
predictably, Naruto turned his energetic boasts to the rest of the
gathered competitors. “You may as well leave now, because I won’t
lose to any of you!”

Kakashi shook
his head, hearing the mass grumbling at such an obvious taunt. Good
grief. If Naruto was this overexcited, and he hadn’t had sexwith Sasuke yet… Yare-yare. He might have to have another talk
with the blond once this was over. Hatake Kakashi might not be a
teenager anymore, but there actually were ways to control
your hormones.

“Is he crazy?”
Genma asked, one of the few shinobi that wasn’t taking the bait and
shouting his own challenges to everyone else.

“Iie. He’sNaruto,” Kakashi replied, moving closer to Genma so that
Aoba could shout his name a little farther away from his ear.

Gai was yelling
of course, striking a ridiculous pose, and Asuma had gotten out a
knuckle-knife to stroke—for comfort?—while glaring at the rest of
the room. Shizune was red in the face from what was probably
scandalized rage at all the improper behavior, and Kurenai was
laughing at her, not bothering to hide her mirth.

Kakashi kept his
eye active, surveying the increasing chaos all over the room—the
Feudal Lords were arguing amongst themselves as well, and Tsunade was
caught in the middle. Ibiki’s voice began to thunder over the din
as it grew near impossible to discern one name from another, and
Kakashi could see Iruka grabbing Naruto’s arm, Naruto’s
expression angry as he shouted into Iruka’s face. Kakashi’s lips
tightened to see it.

Then the doors
at the back of the room opened.

The ensuing hush
was altogether different than the silence that Tsunade could command;
it was eerie. The battle-cries might have dwindled, but the
undercurrent of leaking chakra intensified and every head in the room
was turned towards the late arrival. Kakashi’s blue eye narrowed.

Sasuke was
standing in the doorway, but this wasn’t the moody and nervous
Sasuke of last night. This was a Sasuke that said he was
powerful, and he knew it. Kakashi felt a tiny flare of panic at the
uncanny family resemblance, but it was quickly suppressed since he’d
been shocked by it once already.

This was
definitely Sasuke, though Kakashi was sure that anyone who
remembered Itachi would be startled by the similarity, to say the
least.

What was Sasuke
up to?

Kakashi watched
him strut down the center of the room, the aisle still clear from
when Ibiki had closed the doors. His student had seemed serious when
he’d insisted he had no desire to enter in the Hunt, but his sudden
appearance in this room, at this time, clearly meant otherwise.
Kakashi met Tsunade’s eye, but made no response to her second
silent question. It annoyed him to find his information proved false,
and he looked upon his student coldly.

Sasuke was
deliberately drawing attention to himself, not only with his cocky
smirk, but with his flashy Sharingan and the mesh shirt that made him
look both tough and tasty at the same time. It was clever—whoever
didn’t respond to his fighting presence would no doubt succumb to
his sex appeal, and the latter group probably wouldn’t be strictly
female.

Kakashi could
feel how the incredible power coming off Sasuke beat against the
swirling undercurrent that had already been growing in the room; no
Genin would be able to stand the way the air was thickening. Kakashi
wasn’t personally affected, or at least not physically. He watched
Sasuke stir everyone up just as thoroughly as Naruto had done, but in
a dramatically opposite method. Kakashi folded his arms across his
chest. Yep, that was about the difference between those two.

But something
was definitely wrong with this picture.

Sasuke wasn’t
looking in his direction, nor was he meeting the eyes of anyone
except Tsunade. She was the only ninja who seemed relived that he was
there–the Feudal Lords scurried in a tizzy of activity, whispering
and pointing and shuffling through their documents for information on
the long-awaited Uchiha. Their excitement didn’t match the
reception from the rest of the room.

Kakashi couldn’t
help but look at the last member of Team Seven, making fists and
shaking with barely-suppressed fury. It pained him to see Naruto like
that, almost as much as it had pained him to see Naruto so giddy
earlier that day. Sasuke had to be aware of his teammate’s
reaction, though he appeared pleased by the unhidden animosity being
directed at him from all sides, flourishing in the spotlight.

Sasuke was
competitive. But he’d never betrayed someone close to him the way
he was doing it now. It was more like Itachi than Kakashi had ever
wanted to see Sasuke become.

“Now I know
why I never took on a Genin team,” Genma leaned in to whisper, his
senbon pointing at Sasuke. “I don’t envy you either of them.”

Grimly, Kakashi
watched on as Naruto took a step forward, ready to unleash an angry
outburst, but Sasuke cut him off, directing his statement to Tsunade.

“Sorry I’m
late.” Sasuke didn’t seem sorry at all, shifting into his regular
pose of superiority and eyeing the Feudal Lords as well as the
Hokage. “But there’s one more name you need to mark down.”

Kakashi couldn’t
have missed Naruto’s reaction—stricken, like Sasuke had just
slapped his face.

Ibiki, always so
cool in situations of palpable tension—a sign of why he was an
expert in his chosen specialty—poised his pencil and regarded
Sasuke, asking his name. Everyone there knew who he was; the question
was a formality.

Kakashi looked
away from Naruto as Sasuke answered, the weight of the Uchiha name
thrumming through the room. He looked away, not wanting to see any
more pain, and his blue eye met the brown of Iruka’s.

His stomach
lurched—Iruka was finally looking at him! But his heart
sank at the fierceness behind those eyes, as if this unexpected turn
of events was somehow all his fault. He could tell from Iruka’s
posture, rigid with indignation, anger, and the need to protect
someone precious to him, namely his favorite student: Naruto.

For the second
time in one afternoon, Kakashi was thoroughly jealous of his blond
student—jealous that Naruto was also loved by the Academy teacher,
but loved in a way that could be shown out in the open. It made him
so very angry .

Angry at the
three of them, angry at himself, angry about the past, angry about
the future. Angry about the mission, angry about the Hunt… ‘Goddamn
it!’

Then– Oh
hell. The anger had surfaced into his eye, readable by only one
ninja, the one ninja who happened to be looking at him now. Iruka
stiffened, interpreting the anger for himself alone before scowling
with more hostility than Kakashi had ever seen. Then Iruka turned to
the front of the room, shutting him out.

Kakashi kept
watch over the proceedings and used his anger and frustration to
focus on the mission he’d been assigned, irritated that
assassination hadn’t been part of it. This was the last
holiday he’d ever try to enjoy if it made him forget who he really
was so easily—there was no room for such softness when he did what
he did as effortlessly as blinking.

He wouldn’t
forget so easily again.

♦

“Uchiha……Sasuke.”

His name
reverberated just the way he’d intended, but the glorious sound of
it gave him no pleasure this time—he was all too aware of his
teammate shaking with rage off to the left.

Ibiki calmly
wrote it down, and Tsunade eyed him with calculation. For about five
seconds the silence stretched taut, but then there were several
muttered curses and movement behind him, and Sasuke could sense that
at least eight ninja had left the room, exiting without explanation.
Well. So far so good; the plan was working.

‘Just
don’t look at him,’ he reminded himself. ‘Don’t
look.’

If he looked,
he’d see Naruto’s reaction to his unexpected arrival and it might
make him falter—it had been nearly too much in the brief second
their eyes had met at the door.

It was already
bad enough to feel how much everyone left wanted to kill him—or
kill his brother—and it wasn’t at all comforting to know
the majority was both.

‘Aniki…
what did you do?’

There was
movement to the left, and then Sasuke heard Naruto’s voice shout
his name in utter fury: “SASSSSSSSUKEEEEEE!”

Sasuke held his
breath, cringing on the inside at being forced to respond. He turned
his imperious expression towards Naruto, his heart twisting at the
stricken look on Naruto’s face and the white knuckles on his
rival’s raised fist. Sasuke knew he should probably retort
something, but his voice wouldn’t function properly after seeing
Naruto in such obvious distress—not while knowing he was the cause.
All he could manage was to raise his eyebrow and smirk with
condescension.

Naruto’s
expression shifted briefly into anguish, and then Iruka appeared,
stepping up beside the blond and flexing his chakra signature, his
scarred face hard-set with disapproval. It was such a protective
gesture he may as well have stuck out his arm to hold Naruto back,
even though Naruto just stood there, shaking.

Sasuke wasn’t
completely surprised that the teacher was there to participate. He
wouldn’t underestimate him again—Iruka was six feet away, but
Sasuke could feel the nonverbal threat spilling from him in slow
waves.

“Tch,” he
muttered, shifting his smirk into a bored scowl.

Iruka looked
furious, but Sasuke was glad—Iruka was someone he could
provoke without nearly as much guilt, though he didn’t enjoy doing
it. But Naruto… Sasuke stopped the thought before he could be
distracted from his true purpose.

Naruto would
understand it all later, if there wasn’t some other disaster. Right
now, Sasuke couldn’t worry about him. He had to trust that it could
all be made right between them afterwards—this was for Naruto,
after all.

“Now that
everyone is here, we will—” Tsunade’s commanding voice was cut
off by someone abruptly pushing through the assembly of Feudal Lords
behind her and taking center stage.

Instantly alert,
Sasuke had just enough time to take in the details of a young woman’s
face before she was coming right for him. He saw an impertinent,
sassy smirk and pretty features, rich brown hair pulled up into a
high ponytail. Then the rest of her was a blur of black and gold as
she spun towards him, armed by a four foot staff in each hand.

He wasn’t the
only one surprised; there were gasps from the Lords in front of him
as well as from the ninja all around him, and nobody seemed to want
to get in her way. But there was no mistake—she was coming for him
and him alone. Sasuke struck a defensive taijutsu pose, recognizing
some of the girl’s movements from the acrobatic performance in the
stadium.

But who the hell
was she? A performer? And why was she attacking him?

He could hear
her laughter as she approached, her long legs kicking out while she
pressed him backwards with what he now recognized to be double-ended,
though thankfully unlit torches. If he kept backing up, he’d
eventually be pushed into the doors. But he wasn’t too keen on
taking the offensive either—didn’t she realize that he could kill
her in less than three seconds?

Something told
him that wasn’t really an option—if she’d come from the front
of the room, then she had some connection to the Feudal Lords, and
while he wanted their attention, he didn’t want the kind of
attention dispatching one of their minions would bring. However, he
was never one to be pushed backwards . He’d just have to
immobilize her, and he had an idea about how to do it. He set his
feet, and instead of dodging he blocked her next kick with his
forearm.

She paused for a
split second, her leg high in the air against his raised arm. She met
his red eyes and grinned, and then she was leaping again, striking at
him with both torches and her other leg. Sasuke dodged the first
torch, then the second, then the leg—though he grabbed her ankle
and locked it under his arm, and used his longer reach to snatch one
of the torches from her hand.

She laughed,
tucking her body inward and somersaulting away from him, twisting her
ankle free from his grip with the momentum. She rolled up to her feet
and paused in a different kind of acrobatic stance. His eyes took in
the black spandex bodysuit, her calves covered in golden yellow
legwarmers, and her torso wrapped in a soft yellow sweater. She
twirled her torch from one hand to the other, and then came at him
again in fluid one-handed cartwheels.

Sasuke was aware
of the other ninja in the room giving them space—they all knew not
to interfere in someone else’s fight. It was too unpredictable,
especially since this woman wasn’t a ninja herself; he found itvery frustrating. If she were a kunoichi he’d have no
problem taking her down. But this wasn’t shinobi combat, and so
most of his repertoire would be taboo.

He blocked her
torch with his torch, throwing in a few experimental attacks to test
her. She was remarkably flexible, able to back-flip or somersault or
otherwise maneuver herself in both offensive and defensive moves. She
kept him on his toes, never once landing a blow, but forcing him to
showcase his own speed and skill, especially in the face of non-ninja
choreography that was difficult for him to predict.

Even still, she
had openings he could have taken advantage of if she’d only been a
real opponent. Being drawn into such a ridiculous game made Sasuke
sincerely want to hit her, especially since it was clear that she was
having great fun, like she was the one testing him .

Sasuke scowled,
finding the musical quality of her laughter beyond irritating.

He watched her
twirl and come at him again, switching from a back-flip to a
cartwheel to some kind of almost-roundhouse kick. Sasuke let her foot
brush by his cheek—then he twisted behind her with a blinding speed
she couldn’t hope to imitate. When she’d finished rotating enough
to see him, he was holding both torches in his hands.

He smirked,
twirling the two of them in an exact replica of her beginning moves,
and she flashed him her white teeth in a happy grin as she redoubled
her efforts to attack him. Sasuke saw his miscalculation almost
immediately–he grimaced as she whirled, flipped, and sprinted at
him with twice the variety of moves.

She was
obviously more skilled with her hands free, which allowed her to
balance or slide across the floor with a wider range of gymnastic
“attacks,” while Sasuke was now stuck with the torches
encumbering him. Part of him appreciated the subtlety of what she’d
done, attacking with the torches first so that he’d focus on
disarming her as he would in a formal sparring match.

Now, even though
he was the one armed, he could hardly use either “weapon” against
her. Unless she pushed him too far… and then he’d try his best
not to break her ribs. It was time to end this.

He gauged her
movements and anticipated the timing of her flips; in the previous
minutes he’d calculated the limits of her body’s reach and speed.
He held her off, diverting her intended path with the spinning of the
torches, dodging her limbs as she struck at him with misleading
gracefulness.

Finally he saw
his chance, stepping into her guard and lunging towards her as she
pirouetted. He heard her giggle, jumping out of his way, and he
smiled on the inside—it was exactly what he’d wanted her
to do. Before she could put too much distance between them, he
sprinted one step forward and leaped to intercept her, this time
planting the end of a torch on the floor and kicking his feet high
into the air, using it to boost the height of his somersaulting flip.

Sasuke arched
through the air to land directly behind her, and he crossed the
torches in front of her body to cage her within.

“That’senough ,” he said, tilting his neck so that her ponytail
wasn’t directly in his face, putting a bit more space between them.

“Oh?” she
replied, laughing even though she was completely trapped.

The next thing
he knew, she’d hopped and twisted herself around, wrapping not only
her arms around his neck, but her legs around his waist. He looked
into her grinning face, stunned for half a second that someone haddared to touch him so intimately before she abruptly leaned
in to kiss him full on the mouth.

Sasuke dropped
the torches unceremoniously, placing his palms on her cheeks in the
nick of time. To his horror the room erupted in female squeaks and
male gasps, and he knew that it must look like they were really
kissing. She squirmed against him, her round breasts pressing harder
into his chest in frustration as he held her lips a half-centimeter
away from his own.

He’d played
the game, but he’d be damned if he’d let her kiss him.

Her nose was
awkwardly mashed against his, and their balance shifted as her hands
slid up into his hair, but he was too strong for her to succeed in
forcing their mouths together. She was stubbornly trying with all her
will, and he curved his thumbs more firmly into her cheekbones, so
angry that his voice hissed only loud enough for her to hear it—

“I belong to
someone else. Now get off me, before you regret it.”

From the bizarre
angle he could still see her eyes flash hot and angry at his words,
but he didn’t care. He’d had enough of her games, whoever the
hell she was, even if the unexpected mock-battle and suggestiveness
of their current position would probably help him further intimidate
his opponents.

Regardless—there
was someone here that he would never betray by something
like this.

She moved her
legs first, letting him hold her weight with his shoulders as she
slid down his body to touch her toes to the floor. He released her
head as she stepped back from him, her hands lingering on the mesh
shirt as she fixed him with a particularly evil smile. He reached to
smack her away, but she avoided him, making it look like flirtation.

“Mmmm,” she
touched her mouth, and then ran her hands through her long hair. Her
voice was quite loud and boastful, “I knew you’d taste as
good as you look.” More murmurings fluttered across the crowd of
ninja; the girl looked extremely proud of herself.

Sasuke’s
instant fury was terrible, oozing from his skin as he glared at her
gloating face. ‘That bitch!’

He kept himself
still, though he could have ripped all her hair out and then crammed
it down her throat for that remark. Her eyes gleamed; she was clearly
enjoying whatever she could read from his stony face.

She turned on
her heel and sashayed slowly back to the Feudal Lords, smirking all
the while and disregarding the apoplectic face of the man Sasuke
could only assume was her patron. In dismay, he recognized the man as
the Daimyo–he cursed the bitch even more floridly under
his breath. That man had to be her father. Sasuke’s brain flashed
with the image of a regal girl riding horseback behind the most
gaudily decked Lord in the parade last night at the Ceremony.

Kuso. Now he
knew her specialty .

“To…mo…ko!”The Daimyo said her name the way a parent would scold a five
year old after being thoroughly embarrassed in front of his friends.
Tomoko took her time crossing the room, her ponytail swishing behind
her, the tail of a cat full of mischief.

“Saa,” she
purred, eyeing the rest of the Lords and ignoring the rest of the
shinobi. She stopped in front of her father, and placed her hands on
her hips. “I’ve made my choice.” Her father glowered at her,
but she didn’t cow under the weight of it, instead fixing a similar
glare on the nine other Lords.

Sasuke could
tell she was pulling some kind of rank, and it made him boil. He was
not some kind of pawn in whatever politics were going on
behind the scenes of the festival. He raised his chin and walked
forward, passing the fallen torches with disdain and resuming his
original spot. His only consolation was the fact that she’d lose
every bit of her money wagering on him.

One of the
Shijimi assistants guided Tomoko deferentially by the elbow to her
original seat, though the chairs around her had been removed to open
her view. With a saucy wink at Sasuke, she sat down.

He felt his left
palm itch with the yearning to blast her with Chidori for the
spectacle, embarrassing him and implying a lie to everyone in the
room, including the person he cared about most. He glared at her with
the full force of his red Sharingan, and added revenge to
his goals for the next few days.

Tsunade cleared
her throat, looking easily as displeased with Tomoko as the girl’s
father, probably ruing that the princess was outside her
jurisdiction. The Daimyo was doing his best to ignore his daughter
and present himself regally enough to make up for her display, and
his staff followed suit—which only served to make Tomoko stand out
even more, her demeanor conveying the attitude that the assembly of
ninja was there for her amusement alone.

“We will nowresume the registration process.” Tsunade’s voice was firm,
and the penetrating gaze she swept across the room ensured that there
would be no further outbursts. The Hokage nodded to Ibiki, who
stepped forward with his clipboard, walking towards the Jounin side
of the room.

“Unless I’ve
already marked it down,” Ibiki glanced at Sasuke, “When I come to
you, state your name and rank.” Ibiki indicated a Jounin with long
brown bangs hanging down on either side of his face, and Sasuke
shifted into his favorite pose of bored superiority, folding his arms
across his body.

He let his brain
quickly memorize the names of all the competitors, glancing at each
with his Sharingan so that he’d have a retrievable image of them to
draw on later. He noted especially those who met his eyes with
something other than passing curiosity—the majority were either
threatened or eager, for reasons he couldn’t know, or didn’t
especially want to know.

Sasuke looked at
everyone except Naruto of course; he avoided looking at him just yet.
He could feel the intensity of those blue eyes trying to pierce
through him, a sure sign that Naruto had believed what Tomoko had
wanted everyone to believe, and Sasuke cursed the complication. He
could guess how bad it had looked, and it was more than unfortunate
for Naruto to be one of the ones fooled by what she’d said.

He clenched his
teeth. Just one more thing he couldn’t change. Naruto of all people
should realize that he wasn’t interested in women. And in truth,
there’d only ever been one person who stirred his blood that way.
It hurt to think that Naruto could have so little faith in him after
the night they’d shared—had he not been clear enough?

Sasuke could
feel his blood stirring now; not with that kind of desire,
but with the pure, honest desire for combat. It had been a while
since he’d had a succession of good fights, and from the
undercurrent of spirit in the room, he couldn’t help but anticipate
the upcoming battles.

There was
nothing better to ease frustration than being able to ram a fist into
an opponent’s jaw.

Ibiki completed
his circuit of the room, and signaled to Tsunade that he was
finished. Sasuke noted that Naruto had been skipped, which he found
more than odd. Did Naruto know Ibiki so well that he hadn’t had to
give his name?

The Hokage stood
up straight and everyone in the room went still, eager to hear the
long awaited details. Sasuke was relieved that he’d finally have
something for his brain to work on besides the situation with his
rival. Tsunade pointed to Ibiki as he crossed the room back to her.

“First, let me
make one thing clear. Your name on that clipboard means you agree to
all the rules of the Hunt. And the first rule is this,” she raised
her manicured finger, “From this moment until the Hunt starts
tomorrow at midnight, there will be absolutely no fighting between
combatants. Anyone caught fighting beforehand will be disqualified.”

Tsunade folded
her arms underneath her breasts. When there were no objections to the
first rule, she continued. “I will be sectioning off an area of
Konoha forest. Once you’re inside, you will be hunting for these–”

She nodded again
at Ibiki, who reached into his coat and withdrew a translucent,
blue-green sphere, holding it up for everyone to see. ‘So, ka.’Sasuke regarded it intently; water balloons again. He puzzled
over the color, but was happy to see that the weight of the sphere
didn’t seem irregular, since Ibiki held it comfortably.

“Now these are
not quite like the spheres used by Sandaime,” Tsunade had a note of
pride in her voice as she smirked. “You may have heard about the
last Hunt, but I do not recommend destroying them.”

She might not
have meant to, but Tsunade glanced at him. Sasuke ignored it but
raised a brow, curious about what was inside the teal spheres; she
wouldn’t have mentioned it if it wasn’t important. The Sharingan
wasn’t reacting strangely, so genjutsu or ninjutsu could be ruled
out for causing the odd color.

“You’ll have
from the time you enter the forest until dawn to find as many spheres
as you can, and then the single Chuunin and Jounin with the most
intact spheres will proceed to the second round. If there is a tie in
either rank, we’ll have a preliminary match to determine the final
contestants.”

“Excuse me,
Tsunade-sama,” Sasuke heard the voice of Shikamaru, and glanced to
the left. “What do you mean, from the time we enter the forest?
Didn’t you already say it started at midnight?”

Tsunade smiled,
her eyes sparkling as she answered, “Ah, yes. Well, the exact
location where the Hunt will take place will not be revealed here.”

Sasuke’s eyes
narrowed and he heard several voices object to this statement with
little enthusiasm.

Tsunade held up
a hand, “Chotto. Let me explain. The location will not be revealedhere ,” she paused for emphasis. “In order to find out
where the Hunt is taking place, you will first have to findhim—Morino Ibiki.”

“What?”
Kotetsu asked, other voices backing him up, “You mean we can’t
get into the Hunt unless we find him first?”

Izumo continued,
“And he’s really going to tell us where to go?” The Jounin’s
voice sounded incredulous.

Sasuke agreed.
Getting information out of the Head of the Torture and
Interrogation Department would not be easy. And he had no real
idea of Ibiki’s other skills—finding the man in the first place
could offer a serious challenge.

“Aa,”
Tsunade nodded. Ibiki’s lip curled upward as he stood beside her,
still holding the sphere on display.

“At midnight,
you are permitted to begin your search for Ibiki. Once you find him,
he will give you what you need to get into the Hunting Grounds, and
then it’s open season as you all try to find the spheres. Naturally
this means not everyone will enter the forest at the same time.”

Sasuke thought
about this, the murmuring around him buzzing just outside his
awareness until there was still another question.

“How many
spheres will there be, Tsunade-sama?”

This came from
Matsuri, the younger kunoichi with dreads standing near Hanabi.
Sasuke heard the confidence in her steady voice, ringing clear above
the mumbling in the room. She’d asked a decent question too, for a
brand new Chuunin.

“Maaa,”
Tsunade was grinning openly at them now, “What fun would it be if I
told you everything?” She spread her hands to show she wasn’t
going to help them out in that regard.

“Then might I
ask, esteemed Hokage-sama, how will we know when the time is
officially up? Could you be more specific as to when exactly ‘dawn’ is?” Ebisu asked, adjusting his sunglasses.

Sasuke had
always found Ebisu’s voice grating, although Naruto started
laughing uncontrollably each and every time the two of them crossed
paths. He’d often wondered what could be so funny about the prissy
Jounin, but he’d never asked. He wondered if Naruto would share the
joke he had with Ebisu if he did ask; he wondered if Naruto
would even speak to him at all after this.

“The Hunt will
end exactly when the sun rises, which is around 6:00 am. You’ll all
be formally notified by my summon Katsuyu.” Tsunade put her hands
on her hips, “She will explain where to go to turn in your spheres
and find out who will be advancing to the next round. And,” Tsunade
grinned, “She will also make sure all battles stop. So don’t plan
to push on after everyone else has stopped.”

There was more
mumbling, people turning to their neighbors to discuss these
parameters. Sasuke listened closely and watched the shinobi around
him, his mind mulling over the details he’d heard so far. However,
something she’d said in the beginning was nagging him.

“So what are
your other rules, Hokage-sama?” Sasuke kept his voice strong, even
as the rest of the room grew quiet. He couldn’t tell if it was the
question, or because it was him asking the question. “You’ve
only told us one.”

She regarded him
for a long moment, and then answered for everyone, “The second rule
forbids killing any other combatant. A festival is no place for a
funeral.”

The room stayed
quiet at this announcement. Death was a part of being a shinobi, they
all knew. But it made sense to be reminded that this was supposed to
be a game, a fun contest, a chance to use their skills and not grow
restless from the lax environment of the village-wide celebration.

It also reminded
him that for some, killing came all too easily. Sasuke didn’t allow
himself to touch the bead at his throat, though he had to wonder if
blood had been spilt in the last Hunt. He didn’t like to think of
Itachi as a killer, though he knew he’d been one of the best. He
also resisted the urge to glance at Kakashi; the Copy-Ninja had
almost the same reputation.

“The third
rule,” Tsunade’s face was serious, “Is there are no other
rules.”

Sasuke was glad
to hear that. It gave him plenty of freedom to come up with the
perfect strategy to combine skills with Naruto, assuming the Dobe
would agree to do it. He already had several ideas of how they could
accomplish the first two parts of the Hunt and make sure Naruto went
on to the final round. However …

The hardest part
would be next—getting his rival to sit still long enough to hear
what he had come up with. Sasuke could still feel murderous intent
from the spot where he knew Naruto was standing. He dreaded the
moment he wouldn’t be able to ignore his teammate anymore.

“Now, if there
are no more questions, you are dismissed. Remember Rule #1, and Ibiki
here,” Tsunade rested a hand on the man’s big shoulder, “Will
be more than ready for you at midnight tomorrow night. I’ll see you
all again in roughly a day and a half! And be sure to enjoy the
festival while you still can.”

On her cue the
room began to empty. For all the drama, Sasuke thought Tsunade seemed
pleased with the turnout and the overall skill level of those
competing. She turned around, now able to direct her attention fully
on the gathered Feudal Lords, many of whom were talking over each
other trying to ask her questions. Sasuke looked away when he sensed
the eyes of her ANBU guards watching him. It was eerie.

Thankfully,
Tomoko was busy ordering someone to do something and therefore wasn’t
paying him attention any longer. He’d deal with her later.

He closed his
eyes for a moment, his ears picking up the muffled syllables of his
name as people began to meander to the doors. Sasuke sighed, relieved
this part was over even if the dreaded whispering had started again.
But there was still a lot more to be done, and he felt his gut
tighten in anticipation of the unavoidable confrontation with his
rival. It’d probably be best to get out of there quickly, so he
could wait for Naruto to come out. He needed to talk to him alone.

Sasuke turned to
leave, and found a finger poking him right in the sternum. He didn’t
back up, even though Naruto’s savage blue eyes were trying to stare
him down. He could feel the unmistakable gusts of energy from his
teammate flaring around them and pressing in on his chakra
shields–Sasuke’s first reaction was a thrill. Naruto always
seemed to affect him that way.

His second
reaction was to get angry—he didn’t want to see such an intense
look of rage directed at him, especially from Naruto, and especially
when it was founded on misinformation.

“Oi!”
Naruto’s voice was surprisingly steady; intense. Sasuke could only
glare at him, gracefully ignoring the finger digging into his flesh.
Those blue eyes burned hotter: “I won’t lose to you Sasuke!”

Sasuke told
himself it was Naruto’s own fault for confronting him publicly,
sneering down as he taunted him back.

“You have nochoice!”

Naruto shoved
him, and then stormed out.

Sasuke watched
him go, adding in his head, ‘Because I want you to win.’

♦

Iruka couldn’t
stand it anymore; he watched in anguish as Naruto stormed out of the
room after being blatantly insulted by Sasuke in front of so many of
their peers. Furious, he started to go reprimand his black-haired
student, only to be held back by a strong hand on his bicep.

“Iruka, c’mon.
Let’s just go,” Mozuku tugged on his arm. “It’s not worth
it.”

“I’ll see
you later, Mozuku.” Iruka glared, yanking his arm out of the other
Chuunin’s grip. He didn’t give his colleague a chance to argue
back, walking away and approaching Sasuke with a livid expression on
his face.

“Some teammateyou are,” Iruka spat at him, angrily squaring his
shoulders to face him dead on.

Sasuke scowled,
shifting into one of his infinite poses of cocky overconfidence.
“It’s not my problem he can’t handle it.”

Iruka clenched a
fist, “I didn’t know the Uchiha clan could be so treacherous.”

“Tch,”
Sasuke inclined his head with disdain, “That’s because you only
know how to fight weak brats in the Academy, Iruka- sensei .
Anyone who challenges an Uchiha is a fool.”

Iruka’s face
colored violently in response. “If that name is measured by you,
Sasuke, then it really has become worthless—only a fool
betrays his comrades!”

With that, Iruka
turned and marched out, jogging the last few feet to the door to try
and find Naruto.

If Sasuke’s
behavior could make him this angry, Iruka couldn’t imagine
what it was doing to Naruto right now. He wanted to scream on his
behalf—to think that Sasuke would act that way after… well …
after the previous night? That was not the same Sasuke who’d
sat across from him at the tea-shop!

What on earth
had happened between the two of them for Sasuke to have shown up so
dramatically, and then kissed the princess? It was shocking!

Iruka bit his
lip, dashing down the momentarily empty hallway to the curving steps,
taking them two at a time until he’d caught up with his blond
student. Naruto was walking like a zombie, his hands crammed into his
pockets. He seemed very alone and small for someone fully grown who
was usually surrounded by friends.

“Naruto!”
Iruka called, getting no reaction even when he’d caught up him and
matched his pace to Naruto’s. “Naruto, I can’t believe he did
that—any of it! But—”

“–Don’t
bother, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto interrupted him, face scowling, blue
eyes not meeting his. Iruka was concerned at the force of his words.

“I just don’t
want to see you so upset, Naruto, I mean, I know it’s got to be a
shock—”

“—Look, just
leave it alone! I don’t want to hear it, okay?” Naruto picked up
the pace, trying to end the conversation.

“Naruto,
listen to me!”

Iruka grabbed
his elbow, and Naruto finally turned to scowl at him directly as they
both stopped short. For a moment he just glared, shaking off Iruka’s
hand, though he didn’t go anywhere.

“You can’t
protect me anymore, Iruka-sensei.” Naruto’s face was so serious,
Iruka almost couldn’t take the weight of it. Naruto turned away and
looked out over the village, his eyes sweeping over the view beyond
the metal railing.

“Not from
him.”

“Naruto…”
Iruka’s heart clenched. He never wanted to see people in pain, and
this person had always been special to him. “Naruto, I—”

Naruto pushed
past him then, moving grimly down the steps, “You shouldn’t worry
about me so much. Not everyone’s like Kakashi-sensei.” Naruto
paused, not looking back, “He’s probably up there waiting for
you.”

In a burst of
speed Naruto darted off, and Iruka was left alone near the bottom of
the steps. He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush, realizing
that he’d actually forgotten all about Kakashi—he’d been so
focused on Naruto that he’d run out of the conference room without
even a glance at his lover.

He could kick
himself for it now, even though they avoided interacting in public.
He should have at least acknowledged him, even if he was pretty angry
for that mean look he’d given him; what had he done to
deserve that? It also rankled that the Jounin hadn’t clued him in
on Sasuke’s change of plans. Still… he hadn’t meant to rush off
without any contact at all.

More people were
coming down the steps now, Kiba and Shino among others, and Iruka
searched for the familiar mop of silver hair. He didn’t see Mozuku
yet either, and he felt a little guilty about the tone of his last
words to his friend. Konohamaru and Hanabi waved brightly, holding
hands, and Iruka leaned against the railing at the bottommost step
and kept watch.

Iwashi had left
long ago, of course. As Iruka watched the shinobi dispersing from the
meeting, he had to wonder what had happened last time; he knew that
Itachi had been highly skilled, but the level of fear—and also the
resentment he’d caught from some—was more than mysterious. Iruka
wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure it would be right to bring it up
again. Maybe after this was all over he’d see if Iwashi was more
open.

Iruka brightened
when he saw Mozuku emerge, pleased he could make something right
at least, but his stomach twitched when Genma came around the corner
with the other teacher. Genma wasn’t someone he wanted to see right
now, even though the senbon-sporting Jounin could hardly know who he
was; Iruka had to force his teeth to unclench from the remembrance of
how he had hung all over Kakashi. Speaking of things that rankled.

He was
disappointed that Kakashi hadn’t come out yet, but he knew waiting
around any longer wasn’t a good idea. He nodded briefly at Mozuku,
and then turned; putting his hands in his pockets and making his way
back to his apartment.

Naruto was
right; he shouldn’t be worrying. He had to start thinking of his
favorite student as well as all the other Chuunin as opponents,
regardless of their friendships or bonds. In a little more than a day
they’d be fighting tooth and nail over Tsunade’s hidden spheres,
competing for a chance to fight against Kakashi, who he was
absolutely certain would win for the Jounin side.

Iruka bit his
lip. He hoped Kakashi would come over as soon as he could. There were
a lot of things he suddenly wanted to say, almost none of them the
same ones that had been on his mind when he’d been climbing up the
steps less than an hour ago. There were also many things he wanted toask.

With any luck,
Kakashi would come directly to his apartment. It was just a matter of
waiting for things to calm down.

It was too bad
he was no good at waiting, period.

♦

“Asuma, I said
let’s go.” Kurenai pulled on the Jounin’s arm, though
he seemed to be more interested in sticking around to glower at
Sasuke. With Gai’s help, she pulled him away and out of the room
before he caused an incident.

Kakashi returned
the nod from Genma, who glanced at Sasuke and then crossed the room
to speak with the Chuunin who’d spent the whole meeting standing
beside Iruka. Mozuku. He knew the name now. Kakashi watched
them leave together; remembering how Mozuku had grabbed Iruka’s arm
right before he’d gone to shout at Sasuke. He tried not to
acknowledge his disappointment at watching Iruka run out the door
after Naruto without looking back.

Kakashi made
himself seem harmless by the windows, settling under almost
everyone’s radar as smaller groups of ninja made their way out the
double doors. It allowed him to watch not only the Feudal Lords, but
also his prodigy. He didn’t exactly enjoy seeing Sasuke challenged
by numerous people, but Sasuke had, in fact, brought it on himself.
And—Kakashi frowned under his mask—he was determined to find outwhy .

There was a
logical answer, of course, but he wanted to be sure; Sasuke was
risking a great deal by his approach if he was as serious about
Naruto as he’d acted all week. Kakashi couldn’t quite believe
that that had been the act, and this today was the
truth. But remembering Itachi…

Kakashi watched
the younger Uchiha intently. He’d try to make an opportunity to
talk with Sasuke while not neglecting his mission.

“Got something
smart to say, Hyuuga?”

Sasuke jerked
his chin at Neji, who had come over to stand before Sasuke without
speaking while his teammates exited. Kakashi watched Neji meet
Sasuke’s Sharingan head on before he replied in his smooth, refined
voice.

“On the
contrary. I wanted to say I’m glad you came after all; it’s
always a pleasure to fight against you, Uchiha Sasuke. It’s
very interesting to me the things you will do, and the things youwon’t.”

The two eyed
each other for a long moment, and then, very calmly, Neji turned and
walked unhurried out of the room. Sasuke watched him all the way,
scowling, like he was working a mental puzzle that might include the
image of Neji’s back.

Kakashi glanced
back at the Feudal Lords, gauging how long he should stick around.
Tsunade’s assistants were attempting to rearrange the tables so
that everyone could face each other during the discussion, but
weren’t having much luck getting anyone to cooperate with the
efforts. Tomoko-hime, for one, seemed to enjoy being in the
way. Kakashi didn’t particularly look forward to finding out her
part in all this.

Tsunade had her
hands full in regaining some sense of order. Kakashi was academically
curious about how she’d handle the gambling. It was clear that the
next half hour at minimum would be a meeting between her and the
Lords as she outlined the details pertaining to their fiscal
participation in the Hunt. It was a topic that he could easily catch
up on later; right now he should find out what he could about this
other mystery before Sasuke disappeared.

And in any case,
although perhaps only technically, gathering information on
Sasuke had been included in the mission Tsunade had assigned him in
the first place.

Sensing that
they would soon be the last two ninja in the room, Kakashi put his
hands in his pockets and shifted his gaze over to Sasuke. Sasuke was
looking right back at him, with a stance and expression that said he
was both expectant and worried that Kakashi would be the next and
final shinobi to issue a challenge.

Kakashi waited a
moment before walking past him, letting the last three ninja leave
the room ahead of him, pausing just long enough to make a comment he
was sure would get the intended reaction.

“You’ll get
a headache if you keep using your Sharingan like that.”

He kept his pace
deliberately slow as he exited the room, turning left into the empty
hallway that stretched deeper into the Hokage compound. He stopped
six feet from the door, and leaned back into the wall, propping the
heel of his foot along the baseboard.

Sasuke soon came
out of the room and stopped not too far away. They listened to the
doors close with a soft thud. Sasuke didn’t say anything, but
Kakashi didn’t expect him to offer an explanation without some
prompting. Instead, he stood there with a hand on his hip, always so
defiant even though he’d accepted the invitation to have a private
conversation. Kakashi knew he’d have to tread carefully.

“Too bad…
Itachi’s eyes are prettier, I think.” It was a gamble,
but it might be worth it to take it from this direction. Sasuke
responded by looking him full in the face. Good.

“Did you know
he used to talk about you all the time, Kakashi-sensei? Yet youdon’t ever talk about him .” Sasuke raised an
eyebrow, a challenge to give something away before getting any
answers. Kakashi had forgotten how intense opposing two red eyes
could be.

“Hmmm,”
Kakashi unclenched his fingers in his pockets. “Well I could remind
you that his cloak is still in my apartment, though I don’t imagine
it to be that helpful.” Sasuke’s lips tightened, but he didn’t
comment further.

It was a long
moment before Kakashi continued, “You’ve really done a good job,
and I compliment you on your fashion statement, although… I’m
sure Naruto , for example, can’t quite appreciate the full
effect since he never knew your brother.”

A widening of
the eyes, a slight increase of heart rate, a barely visible flaring
of nostrils—all these tiny signs told Kakashi that Sasuke knew
exactly what Naruto’s reactions to him had been, and he wasn’t as
happy about it as he’d tried to look.

Sasuke was also
probably relieved that Naruto and Itachi had never gotten to know
each other. Kakashi hated to remember it, but Itachi had been truly
spectacular—and at everything he did. He counted it lucky
that Iruka hadn’t ever met him, even though the idea and the
sentiment were both absurd.

Sasuke pulled
himself together, adjusting his stance and raising his chin, “No
one, not even you I hope, would underestimate an Uchiha.”

Kakashi’s
brain whirred; Sasuke was good at this. It was almost thrilling to
have this verbal duel, there were few in Konoha up to it. But which
way to respond? Sasuke was warning him about the fighting abilities
of his clan, but he was also warning about the same clan’s passion
and tenacity. It was meant to make him consider which he thought was
more important.

“I admit I’m
rather surprised to find an Uchiha bothering with a festival
competition. Rumor had it there would be none competing this time,
Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke kept his
face strong. “Naturally a shinobi uses everything at his disposal
to succeed.” Yes, shinobi were rarely, if ever, completely
truthful. Still…

“A true
shinobi doesn’t turn his back on his comrades, no matter how
important the success of the mission is,” Kakashi countered.

“Then you
won’t mind if I borrow Pakkun, Kakashi-sensei.”

Kakashi paused,
and Sasuke smirked. He was obviously proud of himself for throwing a
curve ball–asking to borrow a summon was incredibly rude .
Kakashi half wanted to laugh in appreciation, but there was nothing
about the current situation that could be considered funny.

“Maaa,”
Kakashi scratched the back of his neck; what a clever student he had
indeed. Let’s spring the trap. “Pakkun is quite bullheaded. He
will only take direction from those whose intentions have honor;
something about how they smell…” He smirked under his mask.
Sasuke’s next move would cinch it; he’d show where his loyalties
truly were, no matter what.

“Hn,” Sasuke
turned smoothly on his heel to walk away, keeping eye-contact over
his shoulder. “That’s not what Itachi told me. Dogs obey no
matter the nature of their master.”

Sasuke walked
smartly past the closed double-doors and around the curving hallway
towards the exit. After a moment, Kakashi could no longer sense his
chakra signature; he’d vanished out into the village.

Kakashi sighed,
quickly reviewing their dialogue. Sasuke had played the game well,
better than he’d ever played before. He’d asked for a favor,
pointing out that he was still a comrade while also implying that
Kakashi would be turning his back on him by refusing. He’d in turn
countered by calling the bluff, forcing Sasuke either to admit his
intentions or renege on the request, which would also show his
intentions.

And then Sasuke
had played a wild card. He’d left without Pakkun, but he’d
reminded Kakashi that things were almost never what they seemed, as
if to throw his favorite teaching back in his face—to look
underneath the underneath.

An honorable
assassin. It wasn’t exactly how he saw himself.

He considered
all the possible things Sasuke could accomplish by borrowing his best
tracking dog. Then he nicked his thumb on the razor edge filed on the
plate of his right glove, pressed his palm to the cold floor, and
recited the incantation, “Kuchiyose-no-jutsu!”

When the small
puff of smoke cleared, he was looking into the squished face of his
smallest canine summon. Kakashi stood, and Pakkun looked up at him
with his usual lack of enthusiasm.

“Yo. I thought
we were on vacation, Kakashi.”

“Pakkun, I
want you to go after Uchiha Sasuke,” Kakashi didn’t waste any
time with greetings.

“Hmm,”
Pakkun rubbed his eye with his paw, “You say that like you’re not
coming with me; he must not be running too far. So why am I going
after him?”

Kakashi paused,
considering his instructions carefully. Pakkun’s eyes narrowed. He
didn’t miss much.

“I don’t
like the way you’re hesitating, Kakashi. Tell me what’s going
on.”

“Sasuke…
Hmmm, well he asked to borrow you, but then he took off rather than
explain why. I’m sending you anyways to find out why he asked, and
if possible, to reveal what he’s up to.”

“That damnkid.”

Pakkun didn’t
hide his irritation, both at the mention of Sasuke’s name and the
news that Sasuke had had the audacity to try and borrow him.
It always seemed to be Sasuke at the heart of the most dangerous
situations where he was summoned, and the pug had often complained to
Kakashi about it.

“What’s he
done now?”

“He’s
playing a deep game here, and I’m sure it has something to do with
Naruto, or Itachi… or both. Saying he won’t compete in
the Hunt, and then showing up to register is only part of it,
Pakkun.” Kakashi crossed his arms as his brain sped through
scenarios.

“So I’m
supposed to catch up to him, and then do whatever he tells me to?
That doesn’t seem like a good plan at all, Kakashi.” Pakkun stood
up from his spot on the floor, pacing back and forth on his short
little legs, deep in thought. Kakashi shrugged.

“He asked for
you, knowing you answer to me. I don’t think he’ll deliberately
put you in a situation where you’ll find out anything he doesn’t
want you to find out. Or want me to find out. But—you
don’t have to do everything he says.”

Pakkun stopped
his pacing to look up at him intently, “How long do you want me to
follow him after I’ve helped him with his task?”

Kakashi smirked.
What a good doggie he had.

“Find out
everything you can, beyond what he lets you see or hear, and then
report. I have to warn you though, there might be more than a few
people after him despite Tsunade’s no-combat rule; he didn’t make
any friends today.”

“Hmmm,”
Pakkun considered this. Then he gave an eerie, rasping dog-chuckle,
“I’ll find out what the brat’s up to, Kakashi. It’ll be a
pleasure.”

With that,
Pakkun sniffed the floor to catch the familiar scent, and then sped
down the hallway towards the exit, his tiny claws chiming against the
concrete. Kakashi watched him go, sensing that the hallway was now
clear, and then turned to face the wall he’d been leaning against.
He made a long succession of hand seals, and then stepped forward,
using an earth element jutsu to sink through it and into the next
room, silent and invisible.

Yare-yare.
If they only knew what Konoha shinobi were truly capable of, the
Feudal Lords would certainly not be so eager to cross the borders of
the village.

♦

Naruto had only
thought to get away from the Hokage tower fast , so he was
surprised to find himself in the front yard of the Ninja Academy when
he’d finally slowed his pace enough to check where he was.

There were no
kids here today; school was closed for the festival. But for him the
area was swarming with memories, of children playing and laughing
together and trying to be so grown up, all while he’d sat alone on
the pathetic single swing.

He was half
tempted to straddle it like he used to; it had been about that long
since he’d felt this miserable. He grabbed hold of the rope support
instead and squeezed, wanting to feel pain somewhere other than where
he was hurting the most. The sting of the fraying fibers wasn’t
pleasant, but it was far from satisfying—this place was much too
full of remembered pain to allow him relief. As a child he’d cried.
But he refused to give in like that now.

Teeth clenched,
Naruto took off again, this time heading to where he knew he could
try and release what was currently splitting him apart. He didn’t
bother with speed that was visible. Pushing his body to the limit was
always how he coped with the things that weren’t physical.

Seeing the
looming faces of the previous Hokage grow larger and larger as he
covered the distance, he couldn’t help but be fully aware of the
irony of his destination. It was his life’s bitter motif—chasing
after the Hokage name while being upstaged by his rival at nearly
every step. The difference, before, was that Sasuke hadn’t ever
done it on purpose, to hurt him.

…Or at least
he’d never thought of it that way before.

Naruto tore over
the landscape and up the winding path to the top of the monument,
solid rock that became dense with trees away from the high cliff’s
edge. Panting from the effort of such an extended sprint, he let out
a barbaric roar and smashed his fist into the first boulder he came
to, packing the momentum behind his body into the force of the blow.

The rock cracked
loudly from the impact, but Naruto didn’t feel much better from
only breaking it in two, so he followed the blow with another from
his left hand. The boulder exploded from the force of his chakra, and
Naruto coughed on the dust, scowling fiercely and wiping particles
from his eyes with scraped, bloody knuckles.

On the backs of
his eyelids he could see separate moments of the day; Sasuke’s
presence when he’d entered the room, Sasuke’s smirk as he’d
said his name, Sasuke’s eyes as he’d looked down on him with that
sneer he used to start their sparring matches.

And Sasuke’s
hands—caressing the face of someone who wasn’t him.

Naruto’s
throat tightened around a lump. He wished he’d never known what it
felt like to be kissed with those hands curved along his jaw. He
wasn’t ever supposed to see it, only know it—the
same way he knew when he was hungry or needed air.

He’d forgotten
about Sasuke’s clan. He’d forgotten that Sasuke was the only one
left to revive it, and if things could go the way Naruto truly wanted
then the Uchiha clan would eventually die out. Who better but a
princess of Fire Country to help Sasuke create his legacy?

Naruto couldn’t
bear to think about it. He couldn’t change who he was.

Before any other
images could surface, torturing him with the sweetness of what had
happened in his moonlit bedroom since it would never happen again,
Naruto’s blue eyes snapped open. But all he could see was red—his
vision glazed over with the righteous fury at being fooled by his
rival twice over.

It was
humiliating, and the need to destroy something—anything—surged
inside him. He looked down on the broken remains of the boulder in
irritation.

Releasing a howl
that tore at his throat, Naruto conjured a clone, and single-mindedly
razed the nearby trees to the ground with his huge, burning blue
Rasengan, blowing the trunks to bits and replacing the clones that
died in the crossfire of debris with no remorse.

Again and again,
his arm protesting the vibrations from the spinning impact of his
jutsu, he charged against everything in his path, cutting a swath of
destruction until he was dizzy, his head pounding from his fury and
the Kyuubi tickling at the back of his senses. The Demon was awake
and wanted to be let out; Naruto hadn’t let him play in a verylong time.

Shutting the
fox’s wordless urgings away, Naruto collapsed breathless onto his
knees, sinking his fingers into what counted for grass on the high
ridge of mountain. He shut his eyes and heaved; twice more and
everything he’d eaten that day came back up, splattering the ground
in front of him. He coughed, spitting the last of the acidic residue
from his mouth and closed his eyes, waiting to make sure there was
nothing left for his body to reject.

After a moment,
he gave a raspy chuckle and shifted himself more upright, wiping his
mouth with the back of his dirty hand, the red haze gone from his
vision. He settled a palm on his navel, finally feeling some relief
from the tempest that had been going on inside him from the moment
he’d understood exactly how much Sasuke had lied.

The Kyuubi was
now coiled tightly inside his cage, seething in fury that he hadn’t
been let out, although it was a kind of pain and discomfort that
Naruto could manage. Somehow either the fox trying to get out, or the
sight of his own vomit had cleared his head, and he felt rather drunk
from the sudden sharpness of his thoughts.

Naruto looked
around at the chaos he’d caused, not able to feel much other than
the relief that there hadn’t been any people close enough to be
endangered. He got slowly to his feet and straightened his hitai-ate,
taking inventory of his body to make sure he hadn’t inflicted any
critical wounds, rubbing his right hand and arm where his muscles
were throbbing and sore.

He took a deep
breath, not yet calm enough to be startled by the extreme focus and
clarity of his mind. It was so obvious to him what he should do–he
chuckled for being so blind in the first place.

He and Sasuke
were rivals, had always been rivals. While the opportunity to become
something more had surfaced that week, real and solid, Sasuke had
thrown it away the moment he’d kissed that girl. There wasn’t
anything Naruto could do to change that; he wouldn’t settle for
less than total loyalty from the person who belonged to him that way.
It was just how he was.

But Sasuke had
also challenged him by registering in the Hunt. That was
something he could address, and he could address it immediately. If
Sasuke really thought he was better, then Naruto would give him the
chance to try and prove it. And he’d even do it on Sasuke’s turf.
His face split in an eager smile, showing a few too many teeth to be
considered friendly—he always did appreciate a handicap during a
fight.

Brows creased
fiercely, Naruto left the top of the Hokage monument, making a line
over Konoha to the Uchiha district where he’d settle things with
his rival once and for all.

♦

Kakashi followed
at a leisurely pace, blending effortlessly with the surroundings as
the Feudal Lords made their procession away from the Hokage tower to
where they’d tethered their mounts.

The meeting with
Tsunade had been interesting, mostly because someone had arrived
halfway through that Kakashi hadn’t expected to see. A far cry from
Sasuke’s dramatic entry, Jiraiya had simply opened the door and
walked into the discussion on his clicking geta, moving to the
opposite side of the seated men and women and leaning against the
wide window as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Tsunade hadn’t
seemed at all surprised to see him, and actually nobody else did
either—they were probably used to Jiraiya doing things on his own
schedule. Kakashi thought they were a lot alike that way. But Tsunade
hadn’t seemed pleased, either… though that was usually
how it was with them.

Jiraiya
restrained himself by only winking at her, folding his arms and
settling back so she could continue with the betting rules. He did
nothing throughout the meeting to disturb anyone, although at one
point he did look Kakashi right in the eye, smirking his
knowing smirk.

Kakashi knew he
was invisible, though he was only trying to be invisible to the
gamblers. It would take much too much energy, not to mention it being
rather pointless to be invisible to Tsunade, her ANBU guards, and now
Jiraiya as well. Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, tilting his head in
a nod at the older man. Jiraiya chuckled, probably all too aware of
what he was doing there.

Kakashi wasn’t
worried about the Sannin, even if he did find it ironic that he and
Naruto had been discussing Jiraiya’s Oeuvre just that
afternoon. The question he did have on his mind was why Jiraiya had
waited until now to arrive—everyone else who was betting on the
Hunt had been there for all of registration, looking all the
competitors over like a buyer at a horse auction. It was an
unfortunate parallel, but it fit.

Since Jiraiya
was now part of the gambling, Kakashi’d just have to see what he
was up to, if anything at all.

The Feudal Lords
were now returning en masse to the largest Inn in the village, meager
compared to their usual housing. Kakashi wouldn’t be surprised if
only the more important staff members stayed in the Inn with the
Lords, with the rest of their entourage sharing the large, sectioned
tents erected around the temporary corrals outside the center of
town.

They weren’t
riding pell-mell down the streets, instead keeping a steady and
proper pace, the Daimyo surveying the village’s festival
decorations with a pleased expression although Kakashi knew he was
tense. It hadn’t been said out loud, but he was sure the Daimyo had
ordered a special meeting of his own, out of earshot of the Hokage
and away from any ninja that they could see. For this, attendance
would be mandatory; Kakashi knew it was true as not one horse
deviated from the course.

It made things
so much easier for him. With all the chaos of registration, Kakashi
had decided to make one small detour and was glad once again that his
apartment was near the center of town, so convenient for any number
of needs or whims either before or after missions.

Thinking of
Iruka with a heavier heart than was comfortable, Kakashi flipped over
his roof into his kitchen, not concerned in the least about being
separated from the Feudal Lords for a short while. He eyed the
stained Yukata on his kitchen table, having completely forgotten that
it was there, and hastily scooped it up.

He dashed into
his bedroom and tucked it into the empty bottom drawer of his dresser
for two reasons; not only would it would be fairly safe there, but he
also felt it probably wouldn’t be good for his lover to find it,
considering how things seemed between the boys at this point. No need
to add fuel to that particular fire.

Kakashi came
back out into the living room for his intended task, carefully
placing something on the coffee table, just in case. Then he went out
the way he came, and caught up to the sauntering caravan of horses as
they wound their way through the celebrating village.

As he tailed his
quarry, Kakashi wondered what Iruka might be doing right then. He
wondered if Pakkun had caught up with Sasuke yet, and what he might
find out. And then he tried to focus on his mission. It was nice to
have something to do other than ponder things like past rivalries and
the thin threads that bound people together, even if the distraction
was a mission ranked awfully low for someone of his skills.

From his bird’s
eye view, Kakashi could see Shijimi Tomoko riding elegantly, her
ponytail catching in the wind. Every so often she turned her head to
speak to the man riding beside her, though he kept himself rigid and
never looked away from the road in front of him.

He was most
likely her bodyguard, though if he was also her babysitter he’d
done a terrible job of it. It would be interesting to find out what
was behind her interest in Sasuke; it had been clear to him that
Sasuke had held her off, and Neji had also said as much… but maybe
he’d actually find something interesting when he tailed the girl.

He hoped he
would, so that the mission wouldn’t be quite so boring. But he
hoped more that he wouldn’t , since he didn’t want
anything else to disrupt his students, or his team.

Oddly, Kakashi
found himself missing Sakura. She had a way of balancing all of them
that he’d never be able to copy.

He sighed,
beginning to descend to street level as the horses drew nearer to the
Inn. As he ducked into a tight alleyway, he hoped Sakura was having
more fun in Suna than the rest of them were having at present.

♦

Sasuke’s
eyebrows felt like they’d become permanently creased by the
intensity of his scowl as he crossed the village heading to Naruto’s
apartment for the second time that afternoon. Although this time, his
urgency was multiplied to a point that he could hardly stand it.

Shit, shit,shit.

All of
it had been harder than he’d imagined: pretending to be as strong
as Itachi, pretending to challenge Naruto, pretending it didn’t
twist his heart that Naruto thought he’d accepted the Princess’
kiss.

In truth, he’d
never ever wanted to kiss anyone but Naruto, but in that
situation—besides snapping the girl’s neck—what else could he
have done to stop her?

Kakashi was
right about the Sharingan; his head was aching in a way that preceded
a raging migraine, but until he found Naruto it would stay in
place—disengaging it would be a painful distraction he didn’t
need. He couldn’t imagine how Itachi had kept it constantly active,
and Sasuke felt bitter that he’d missed his chance to ask. The
Sharingan was extremely useful, and made for their bloodline, but
he’d forgotten how quickly it drained his energy, and how heavy his
body felt after such a long period even as it made him quicker.

‘You
better be at your apartment, Dobe,’ he thought, the sentiment
intense; he was anxious to explain everything and set things right.
There was no point to any of this if he lost Naruto, and the pain of
his anxiety was nearly blinding. Sasuke touched his right
temple, for no other reason than to pretend it might bring relief.

He was almost at
his destination when he had the feeling that he was being followed.
He slowed his pace, and changed his course so that the pursuer
wouldn’t guess where he was really trying to go. Once in an
appropriate spot, he strategically ducked behind a chimney, drawing a
kunai and scanning with his chakra to get an idea of who was after
him.

“Tch,” he
muttered when he recognized Pakkun.

Well, well,
well. Kakashi had decided to gamble after all. Sasuke tucked away the
kunai and folded his arms, moving from behind the chimney and leaning
against it to wait. Soon enough, Pakkun came across the ridgepole of
the roof on his tiny feet and stopped not too far away, sitting and
scratching behind his ear with a hind foot.

Sasuke glared
down at him and said nothing. Pakkun finished scratching, then
watched him and said nothing back. After a few moments, Pakkun’s
pink tongue began to waggle as he panted in the warm sun, and
Sasuke’s frayed nerves just couldn’t engage in another pointless
battle of wills. He didn’t even like Pugs.

“What are you
doing here, Pakkun?”

“That’s my
question, kid. What am I doing here?” Pakkun stopped panting, but
his tiny eyes regarded him with an intelligence that Sasuke had
always found disconcerting from a four-legged animal.

“Kakashi sent
you after me, and now you’ve found me. So now what?” Sasuke
retorted. There had to be a trap in this. Kakashi wasn’t a fool.

“Oh alright,”
Pakkun sighed, like he was talking to a five year old. “Let me
explain it again. You asked for me, and then Kakashi-dono sent me to
you. As much as I enjoy our conversations,” the dog paused
with extreme sarcasm, “I’m going to assume there’s a reason I’m
on this roof, a reason which only you, Sasuke-kun, can enlighten me.
That is, unless you’re out here to get a tan, in which case I’m
going to take a nap.”

Sasuke clenched
a fist under his elbow, glaring at the dog as he stood up and made
circles on the slanting tiles as if he were going to flop down and go
to sleep whether Sasuke answered him or not. Standing here was
wasting time, however, and as much as he loathed having to borrow a
summon—more because it was Pakkun than because it was
impolite, or because he didn’t have his own—he sincerely wanted
to find Naruto as soon as possible.

Sasuke scowled,
equally sarcastic. “Let’s just say I’m surprised at
Kakashi-sensei’s generosity .”

“Hmmmm,”
Pakkun stopped his circling and eyed him with ill-concealed dislike.
“I wouldn’t get so cocky if I were you kid; this is the only time
you’ll have me at your bidding. So where are we going, Sasuke-kun?”

Sasuke gave a
wry chuckle, “You mean you’re not going to smell me first? To
check my intentions ?”

Pakkun rolled
his eyes, “The way you were running I’d guess that instead of
wasting time here, there was someplace or someone that you were
serious about finding. And if it’s all the same to you, I’d
rather not smell the things that I can see.”

Sasuke was proud
that he didn’t bristle at the insult, cutting to the chase before
he did excruciating harm to the charming canine. “Take me to
Uzumaki Naruto, pronto.”

Pakkun’s eyes
narrowed, but he didn’t comment other than to ask, “Where was he
last, that you know?”

“At the Hokage
tower. He left before I did, and his apartment isn’t far from
here.”

Pakkun didn’t
hesitate; he turned around to run back the way he’d come. “Oi,
this way!”

“Tch,”
Sasuke muttered, catching up to the small dog on the next roof. “Why
are we going backwards? Naruto’s apartment is over there!” Sasuke
pointed, and Pakkun shook his head.

“That’s the
wrong way kid; I didn’t smell his scent anywhere near yours when I
was tracking you.”

Sasuke thought
about this a moment, then asked, “Why would you check for his scent
if you were tracking me?”

“Mataku,”
Pakkun creased his brows, which didn’t help him look any more
attractive, “I don’t have to check for his scent on purpose. If
it’s there, I notice it; didn’t you know it was highly
distinctive ?”

Sasuke glared at
him, and Pakkun smirked. “Naruto’s freshest trail was back near
the Hokage tower. We’ll track him from there, kid.”

Sasuke tightened
his lips as they retraced his steps. He was reluctant to admit it,
but this was exactly why he’d requested the dog in the first place.
Without the invaluable sense of smell, he knew he could be running
all over the village with only gut instincts to help him find Naruto.
Now, even though Pakkun was hardly the kind of tour guide anyone
would choose on purpose without an emergency, Sasuke knew Pakkun’s
nose was the best, and he’d get to Naruto faster than any other
method.

Pakkun glanced
at him then, and Sasuke had to wonder how far his sense of smell
really went—was it insightful like the Sharingan or Byakugan? Could
the pug smell intangible things from him like worry?

Sasuke didn’t
think he could mask how worried he really was, beyond controlling his
expressions and tone of voice. He was worried both about not being
able to find Naruto, and also finding him—if he knew his rival at
all, things would probably get worse before they got better.

Pakkun slowed
down and shuffled along with his nose near the ground when they
reached the wide, bricked area at the base of the Hokage tower.
Sasuke watched the dog intently, trying not to be suspicious of the
amount of time it took him to pick up the correct trail. Pakkun went
up the steps part way, sniffing by the railing, and then bounded back
down and around the corner towards the next block.

“This way!”
he called, and Sasuke sprinted after him, trying to imagine what
Naruto had been thinking as he’d left the registration room.

He and Pakkun
ran away from the tower, turning down a side street and eventually
crossing from pavement to grass. Pakkun slowed and kept his nose in
the ground, moving here and there, but Sasuke halted in the center of
the open yard of the Academy.

He swallowed,
surprised to be at the place where it had all begun, where they’d
first met and become classmates, perpetually annoyed at each other
and always getting into fights. He looked around the empty yard,
remembering all the other kids playing and laughing and inventing
games together, though he’d never watched them himself; he’d only
heard the squeals and noises of recess in the background.

Instead of
playing with the others, Sasuke had always gone around the side,
training alone while everyone else was busy. He spent his time
throwing shuriken, practicing taijutsu, and hiding the fact that he
could do Goukakyuu-no-Jutsu while yearning for someone to
show it to other than his brother or father who could do it so much
better.

“Oi.”
Pakkun was standing over by the swing, and Sasuke didn’t notice
that his voice wasn’t quite so sarcastic this time. “He went this
way,” Pakkun gestured with his head, and then took off at a pace
that wouldn’t outstrip Sasuke while he was daydreaming.

Sasuke shook his
head and darted in the direction Pakkun went. They covered quite a
bit of ground this time; with Pakkun having to stop several times to
be sure they were on the right trail.

“What’s the
matter?” Sasuke asked, trying to hide his impatience when they’d
adjusted their course for the third time.

“Hmmm,”
Pakkun was sniffing, “He was going fast. Real fast.”
Sasuke tightened his lips. If faster speeds were harder to trace,
Naruto must have been in a big hurry. But why? And to where?

“Got it,”
Pakkun muttered and was gone. Sasuke kept his attention on following
the dog, leaping overtop the village in pursuit of his blond
teammate. At one point he looked up, and his steps nearly faltered
under the stern, piercing gazes of the previous and current Hokage.

“Pakkun!”
Sasuke was glad it hadn’t come out in a shriek—his heart thudded
loudly in his chest. “I know where he went!”

He pointed at
the monument, situated in a direct line from the path they’d been
following, and knew without a doubt that that’s where he’d find
Naruto. It made so much sense; that’s where Naruto always went when
he was happy. …Or when he was upset.

Sasuke didn’t
wait for a response, his feet were suddenly flying across skyline and
air towards the stone symbol of Naruto’s biggest dream and goal. He
could kick himself for not thinking of it earlier—was that where
Naruto had been earlier today while he was looking all over for him?

Vaguely he knew
Pakkun was running along with him, and he glanced to the side to see
him checking for Naruto’s trail every so often. When their eyes
met, the dog gave a nod, and they both lengthened their strides.

The incline was
unfriendly and Sasuke’s thighs and calves protested the pace, but
he wasn’t about to slow down now. Not when he was almost at the top
and could finally see his—

Sasuke skidded
to a stop, his eyes wide at the sight that greeted them as they
crested the last stretch up the hill. One sweeping glance told him
that Naruto wasn’t there anymore, but he most certainly hadbeen. Sasuke’s chest heaved from trying to catch his breath
but he barely noticed it, such was the shock of the altered landscape
stretching before him.

Pakkun sniffed
around the debris, but Sasuke didn’t need to look at the dog to
know they’d come to the right place. Who but Naruto possessed
this much power?

Naruto had not
only knocked over the trees, he’d smashed them to bits. Rocks,
too–what must have once been giant boulders were now only
gravelly-pieces scattered amongst the branches and bark and the
flesh-colored, splintered remains of the forest.

There were pits
in the earth where some of Naruto’s Rasengan had had more to give
after destroying their intended targets. Frankly, Sasuke was amazed
that there wasn’t some kind of inquiry already going on—how had
nobody heard this? The air was still humming with the echoes of wood
splitting, granite bursting, and what he imagined to be the sound of
his teammate’s furious bellows as he unleashed his power.

Sasuke stood
still, thrilled by the intensity of what his teammate could do even
as it drove something sharp through his core to hold the
responsibility for it. Naruto had been mad at him before, but it had
never been like this; Sasuke wasn’t coward enough to try and say
that Naruto could be angry for some other reason, or hurt by some
other person.

It was always
the one you loved most who could hurt you the best.

In the face of
such destruction, Sasuke wasn’t comforted from the evidence. It
meant Naruto must care for him a great deal to have had such a
violent reaction to a misunderstanding, even one of such gigantic
proportions and ill-timing, but the knowledge wasn’t sweet with
this kind of background.

“Oi.”

Sasuke turned
towards the noise and for a weird second didn’t recognize the small
brown dog before snapping out of his daze. He took a few steps
closer, trying to fight against the mounting urgency he could feel
thrumming in every cell of his body to find Naruto and reverse this
mess.

“Where did—”
The question died as Sasuke’s breath caught in his throat.

Pakkun was
looking at him, for once not spouting any snide comments, and Sasuke
would have been grateful if he’d been able to process anything past
what the Pug was standing beside. His red eyes took in the mess in
one glance, but he couldn’t stop looking at it right away in the
twisted fascination that occurs when seeing something horrible.

Naruto hadpuked. Sasuke waited for something to happen, either in his
heart, or his gut, but there was nothing. He only felt cold, the
coldness that went with the fear that perhaps this was something too
extreme to be fixed.

Sasuke liked to
think that he could control his expressions expertly, but he knew
that his face was slipping from its mask of calm into a scowl of
anger. He accepted it; anger was something he knew well, and it
helped diminish some of the coldness. What he wouldn’t accept, in
any form, was defeat—and the fact that a lie posing as truth could
push Naruto so far made Sasuke extremely, and thoroughly angry.

And it made him
that much more determined to get back to they way things had been
between him and Naruto only that morning. The memory of waking up in
Naruto’s arms, and being greeted with such carefree enthusiasm
probably hurt the worst, slicing through him bitterly.

He wouldn’tgive that up; it was how they were supposed to be!

“Which way did
he go, Pakkun?” Sasuke’s voice was the steadiest he’d heard it
since they’d been to the Academy and Pakkun responded immediately.

“Follow me,”
The dog said, and sprinted through the trees.

Sasuke felt his
scowl loosen as they ran through the trees and descended back down
the high cliff following Naruto’s scent. He’d reached the point
where there was nothing left to feel but the urge to find his rival
and make him understand.

They didn’t
talk on the way, Sasuke shadowing the Pug and expecting him to know
what he was doing, not needing to ask any questions. Pakkun and
Naruto were probably close; unlike himself, the blond seemed to
collect friends wherever he went, doing whatever he did. He still
exchanged letters with some of the people they’d helped on missions
as Genin.

Vaguely Sasuke
knew the idea should have hurt, how Naruto seemed to make and keep
friends constantly while he, Sasuke, didn’t really understand why
he had the friends he had. But today he didn’t feel the need to
question it. It seemed obvious that it was one reason why they
connected so strongly in the first place—there was something
inherent in his teammate that Sasuke simply couldn’t do without. It
was why he had done a lot of things since the day they were both put
on Team Seven.

Pakkun was
efficient if also suspiciously tight-lipped. Sasuke ignored
everything going on around them in the village; the crowds and the
food smells and the brightly colored decorations blurred in his
peripheral vision as they followed on the heels of Naruto’s trail.
All that mattered was getting to him and fixing things, no matter
what it took.

And so he was
surprised when something in the back of his mind broke into his
thoughts, telling him to pay closer attention.

Sasuke blinked,
noticing that they were now on the opposite side of the village’s
center and moving further away, the decorations and lanterns of the
festival diminishing incrementally. He glanced at Pakkun with a
questioning look, and the dog nodded.

“He came this
way, kid. I’m sure of it.”

Sasuke kept
following, and when he could no longer deny the scenery around them
he started to chuckle. This noise put Pakkun on alert, and Sasuke’s
gaze narrowed as he honed in on their destination.

“I know where
he is, Pakkun.”

He felt an odd
twinge of excitement along with the anticipation of seeing Naruto
again. The trail was obviously heading towards the Uchiha Clan’s
district, which meant Naruto had decided on his own to confront him.
While he knew how strong the blond was, and how irrational his power
sometimes became, Sasuke was glad that this time they would both be
ready to face their issues head on.

He let Pakkun
keep the pretense of leading them, though he knew—even with every
wrong turn and random loop in Naruto’s trail—that they would end
up at his own house. The proof of this was not only in the scent, but
in the chakra signature that Sasuke could have recognized in his
sleep. He reached for a kunai, but resisted—he didn’t want to be
the first one to draw a weapon. Not when he wanted resolution from
this unavoidable confrontation.

Sasuke’s skin
tingled when they entered the large courtyard of his house, and
Naruto was indeed waiting when they arrived. He stood tall and fierce
out in the open, dirty and sweaty, absurdly and ruggedly attractive.
With precise calculation, Naruto threw a shuriken in the nin-dog’s
path to cut him off.

Sasuke halted
and Pakkun leaped out of the way, but barely. The intensity of
Naruto’s sky-blue eyes made him shiver as their gazes locked, but
it was the words Naruto said, and the determination behind them that
raised all the hairs on his body in response:

“We’ve got
something to settle. Uchiha … … Sasuke.”

♦

Sasuke’s red
eyes weren’t wavering, locked with his own as they faced off in
front of the house.

Naruto was glad
he had Sasuke’s full attention, although his rival did reach his
hand out towards the dog, shooing him. “Go back Pakkun; I’ve got
it from here.”

“Hn,” Pakkun
eyed them both suspiciously, but disappeared back the way they’d
entered. Naruto was glad. While he didn’t want the Pug to alert
Kakashi before their fight was over, he’d have to risk it; he
didn’t want the dog to get hurt when things got started since he
wasn’t a combat type.

For a moment he
and Sasuke just stared at each other. Then Sasuke took a step
forward, and Naruto had a kunai in his hand so fast that only someone
with the Sharingan could have seen the draw. Naruto’s voice was
controlled and he liked the sound of it; he’d had time while
waiting for his rival to focus.

“Not so fast,
Uchiha. First you tell me what the hell you were doing at
registration.” A hot breeze ruffled through their clothing and
hair.

Sasuke moved his
back foot up, so that he could face him evenly, though they were both
on edge. He kept his hands loose at his sides, but it seemed to be
costing him some effort.

“I’ve got a
plan so you can win.”

He’d meant for
it to be a hook, and Naruto’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Why
should I believe you? You said you weren’t competing and now youare .”

“Tch,”
Sasuke’s scowl grew deeper along with his protest, “That’s so
no one will expect it when we fight together.”

“Heh,”
Naruto chuckled dryly and glared back at him. “Teamwork? Coming
from you ?” That bastard must really think he was stupid.
Stupid and weak . It was presumptuous to think he would even
consider it after what Sasuke had done today.

“I said the
same thing to you once, Naruto,” Sasuke took another step forward,
his voice angrier, “But I was at least willing to listen. Don’t
you remember what we were able to do?”

“I didn’task for your help, Sasuke,” Naruto clenched his teeth
around the words, gripping the kunai tight in his fist. “I can win
this on my own–I don’t need you!”

“That’s not
the point!” Sasuke’s voice was fierce, just like the
chakra leaking from him in agitation. Naruto smiled to feel it; it
meant Sasuke would fight seriously. Good.

“The point is,
Sasuke, you don’t really believe I can beat you,” Naruto lowered
his kunai to square his shoulders. “I’m going to show you that Ican.”

Sasuke’s whole
body changed, and there was a ferocity in his twin Sharingan that
Naruto always enjoyed seeing. It was an essential element to their
fights, and it pleased him to inspire it in his rival’s face.

“What about
the rule? Did you forget what Tsunade said?” Sasuke placed a hand
on his hip, though his pose was significantly more superior than
bored.

“Her rule said
not to get caught.” Naruto didn’t falter from those
eyes, which were beginning to simmer dangerously from the deliberate
taunts. “You worried ? Sa … su … ke?”

Sasuke’s lips
thinned. “You’re not going to listen unless we fight, are you.”
There was understanding in his teammate’s voice.

Naruto pointed
with his free hand, “You started this! You set yourself against me
when you walked in that room, and when you decided to choose someone
who could revive your clan!”

Sasuke’s
expression twisted in shock before returning to a mask of fury, and
Naruto’s belly flipped seeing his small loss of control.

“Is thatwhat you think?” Sasuke’s voice was low and tense, rising in
volume with each word, “Then you don’t know anything ,
Naruto!”

“I know I
would never have betrayed you, Sasuke!” Naruto shouted
back at him, sweeping his hand angrily across the space in front of
him, palm down. He took up his preferred fighting stance and got
ready to spring.

“I didn’t
betray you, Naruto, ask Neji!” Sasuke took another angry step
forward, shaking as he shouted. “I would nev—”

But Naruto cut
him off, not wanting to hear any more lies, especially about that.

“Why should I
believe you, Sasuke? Huh?” Naruto’s hand shook from holding the
kunai so tight. “Give me a good reason.”

“Because I’m
telling you the truth!”

Naruto laughed,
though there was no humor in it. “The truth is, you set me up
because you always have to be the one who wins—but you will
acknowledge me today, Sasuke!”

“Fine,
Naruto,” Sasuke drew a kunai, slow and deliberate, taking his own
stance; everything about it was assured and—Naruto was glad to
see—deadly. “If this is the only way to convince you, if
this is the only way to prove that you’re wrong, so be it!”

Naruto charged
him then, and the clanging of their kunai reverberated over the
still, empty courtyard. They leapt and blocked and retreated, weapons
clashing against weapons, the sounds of their sandals and their
grunts of effort mixing in. Naruto threw a volley of shuriken as he
sprang back the fourth time, making Sasuke pause long enough in
deflecting them that he could conjure two clones.

The three of him
rushed his rival, interweaving their paths to confuse which of him
were the clones, and it meant Sasuke had to utilize some of his
chakra to be fast enough to ward off their simultaneous attacks. He
got one of the clones in a countermove, but Naruto had sacrificed it
in order to force Sasuke in a certain direction.

Naruto deflected
Sasuke’s next shuriken, spearing one on the end of his kunai and
firing it back. Sasuke nearly got himself tangled in the rope-trap
Naruto had set, but he back-flipped and skidded away from it, and
managed to pull off a stunt-shot with two more kunai to dispatch the
second clone. Naruto met the Uchiha’s cocky smirk with one of his
own, just as Sasuke’s outstretched heel tripped the wire of the
second trap.

The look on his
rival’s face when he realized how he’d been maneuvered was
priceless; it shivered down Naruto’s spine as he took cover right
before the paper notes exploded.

Sasuke had
tumbled out of the way without being injured of course, but the icy,
reassessing look in his eyes as he coughed from the dissipating smoke
was what Naruto had really been after. Now Sasuke would know how
serious he was—this was not like the games they usually played.

“Heh, had
enough yet?” Naruto taunted him, his knuckles ridged with shuriken,
knowing that they’d only just gotten started.

Sasuke glared at
him in response, and this time he was the one to spring, avoiding the
shuriken with his quick footwork. Naruto felt the impact of their
bracing kunai in a jolt down his sore right arm; for a moment he was
close enough to his teammate to see the white of his bared teeth
before they separated and circled and came at one another all over
again.

Fighting felt
good, and he didn’t flinch when the edge of Sasuke’s kunai nicked
his arm in a sharp sting, slicing through his orange jacket in a
surface wound. Naruto drew a second kunai, and used it to continue to
press his rival to fight him harder. Sasuke may have drawn first
blood, but it seemed like part of him was still holding back. Naruto
scowled, and changed his tactics to move them around to the side of
the house where there was less open space to move around.

He wanted this
to get personal.

If Sasuke
realized that they were slowly changing location, he didn’t do
anything at first to oppose it. Naruto edged them closer to the
house, pushing until Sasuke tried to redirect their progress back the
way they’d come. Apparently he’d guessed right about Sasuke’s
reluctance to cause damage to the house he lived in.

Naruto used more
weapons than he would have liked, but he cut off Sasuke’s retreat
and forced him into the closer confines of the side yard, nestled
between the house and the dividing wall. His shuriken made a dashed
line along the richly stained planks of the wall with staccato pings,
and Sasuke dodged by jumping along the skinny top edge of the wall
with Naruto in hot pursuit. Sasuke loosed his own barrage of weapons
from his vantage point and Naruto tumbled out of harm’s way, then
leapt to his feet and continued the chase.

When they’d
reached the sloping rear courtyard, Sasuke somersaulted off the wall
and tried to catch Naruto’s feet with well-aimed ninja wire. For a
second it sliced into the knees of his training pants, but then there
was a poof of smoke, and Sasuke was left having lassoed a crusty log.

“Tch,” the
Uchiha muttered, releasing the wire instantly, and Naruto’s face
was intense as he prepared his strike from behind, having used a
Kawarimi to switch locations.

Sasuke turned at
the last second and blocked Naruto’s knee before it rammed into his
back, using Naruto’s own momentum against him and forcing him to
catch himself on his hands. He barely twisted out of range of
Sasuke’s incoming fist, and skidded to a stop in a crouch, his
sandals kicking up some dust.

Naruto’s teeth
clenched tight in his mouth, and he eyed his rival with renewed
anger—was he fighting him for real?

Sasuke was
standing a mid-distance away, the breeze shifting his hair across his
eyes as he held his kunai ready, breathing hard through his mouth,
the same as him. Naruto growled, and then he charged again, this time
upping his previous speed by half.

Sasuke gasped
and moved out of the way just in time, but Naruto wasn’t going to
go easy on him and followed up his punch with a second and then a
third, which Sasuke finally caught. His red eyes were still bright
with fury, but Naruto wanted to see more of that fury from Sasuke’sattacks. He twisted his wrist and grabbed Sasuke’s arm
instead, yanking hard to throw him to the ground. But Sasuke turned
his body free and swiped at him with the kunai, which Naruto easily
evaded.

Naruto was
almost out of weapons, but it didn’t matter—he’d intended from
the start to finish this with fists. Once more he conjured some
clones, spreading four of him out to harass his rival. While not
exactly his most original move, Naruto knew it was a great way to
deplete enemy ammunition. He circled the clones around the Uchiha and
attacked in pairs, impressed as always with his rival’s dark grace
in combat.

The clones
disappeared, and Sasuke lost more of his weapons. Naruto pressed
closer, letting a shuriken graze the top of his shoulder so he didn’t
lose the momentum of his lunging attack. He aimed his fist for
Sasuke’s stomach, getting him to hop backwards while he pushed them
up the slope and towards the back porch.

Sasuke glared as
he fought back, and when he saw his chance, Naruto kicked his leg to
meet the kunai in Sasuke’s hand. His rival turned the weapon so he
wouldn’t stab him in the foot, and with only slightly less
consideration, Naruto allowed the sole of his shoe to smash Sasuke’s
hand into the closest wooden pillar, breaking his grip on the kunai
but not breaking any bones in the process.

The Uchiha
scowled like a gargoyle but didn’t cry out, simply thrust his left
elbow into Naruto’s chin and made contact in a rush of pain that
split his lip. Naruto hopped backwards a couple of steps, grinning
despite the sting. Now that’s what he was talking about!

“Oi,” Naruto
chuckled, disregarding how his lip was already swelling. He settled
himself in a comfortable attack stance, “Let’s see if you can do
that again.”

When Sasuke came
at him in a rush, Naruto managed to duck underneath his leaping kick
but caught the impact of the following jab with his already sore
forearm. Grunting with the effort of blocking and punching, he felt
like they should be getting somewhere by now, but the outcome of this
fight was still unclear.

Either they were
both out of weapons, or Sasuke was trying to keep the match even by
not going for any of his; the longer they fought the more Naruto
started to feel like he was being toyed with. Was his rival even
trying to win? He’d taken hits from Sasuke before, much worse than
a split lip; though he couldn’t say Sasuke wasn’t trying at all,
Naruto was convinced he was holding back.

His tanned,
dirty fist went sailing by Sasuke’s ear, and Naruto deliberately
gave him a chance to hit him, just to test what he would do. Sasuke
went for it, his clenched fingers on course to collide directly with
his stomach, and Naruto didn’t move out of the way.

The impact never
came however, at least not how it should have—Sasuke opened his
fist and shoved with the heel of his hand, knocking him on his back
into the grassy dirt.

Naruto rolled up
to a crouch, his eyes livid. He let out an angry roar and bounded
towards his rival as fast as he could. He unleashed a tumult of
attacks that kept Sasuke dancing as he dodged and blocked, his brain
pounding with the rage that even now his rival assumed he’d given
him the opening by mistake, and had taken pity on him by not landing
a more powerful blow.

Why did
Sasuke insist on ignoring him? Why did Sasuke believe that
of the two of them, he was the only one who could be any good at what
they did? Why did Sasuke think he could say and do anything
he wanted, without thinking of how others might react?

Shaking with
rage, Naruto slammed his fist towards Sasuke’s jaw, and Sasuke
caught it. Perhaps it was because he could finally sense the rage, or
frustration, Naruto didn’t know for sure. But something made Sasuke
smirk at him just then, his eyes flashing with what Naruto would have
called lust less than twenty-four hours ago, but now he
could only name it as some kind of selfish amusement.

It hurt to know
the two could look so similar, whether Sasuke’s eyes were red or
black, and Naruto gave a rumbling howl as he lashed out at his rival,
seeking to wound him as badly as he’d been wounded by two
consecutive, public humiliations at the hands of the one he
cared about most.

Since everything
else he’d done to get Sasuke’s full participation had failed,
Naruto’s fingers closed around the necklace at his rival’s throat
and he yanked with a savage thrill, snapping the chain and flinging
it far into the yard where he couldn’t see where it landed.

He felt
surprisingly satisfied from the action—at least now Sasuke wouldn’t
be quite so beautiful when he looked down on him.

Sasuke shoved
him away, his mouth twisting in a snarl of shock mixed with horror.
His pale fingers touched his neck, and then Naruto’s stomach
dropped at the look that rose into those Sharingan eyes. He felt
every hair on his body stand on end at that look, and he fought not
to show the shiver that climbed up his spine from the evidence that
he’d finally—finally!—gotten the complete attention of Uchiha
Sasuke.

YES.
This was what he’d been looking for, this is what he knew it would
be like if he ever was fighting on the opposite side of those
eyes. This was someone worth fighting, worth proving himself to,
worth being acknowledged by even if that was where the struggle
ended.

Sasuke’s
bellow was ferocious, and Naruto could taste the aroma of something
very close to desire on the surface of his tongue as he watched his
rival sprint directly for him. Sasuke was attractive no matter what
he did, it was a fact. But there was something about Sasuke when he
was enraged that had always drawn Naruto, even as it
incensed him.

Mouth curled
into a excited grin, blue eyes sharp and fierce, Naruto ran to
intercept his rival, his fingers clenched tight in a gift of welcome.
Sasuke was still snarling, and he cried out as he launched himself
through the air, finally willing to fight with everything he had.
Naruto swung his fist to meet him, and instead of simply striking
back, Sasuke grabbed his forearm and threw him viciously across the
grass with the spinning momentum of his own descent.

Naruto landed on
his side, but bumped and skidded across the hard ground before he
could get back to his feet and charge again, the air whistling
painfully in his lungs from the impact. Sasuke moved to dodge, but
caught Naruto’s elbow in his back, just before Naruto got another
cuff to the chin.

This went on for
what seemed like ages, utter madness as they both were intent on
getting the most hits to their opponent before they collapsed with
fatigue. Most shinobi battles didn’t last this long, although
Naruto knew he and Sasuke weren’t normal in either their reserves
of stamina or in their desire to fight each other as hard and as
often as possible.

Naruto planted
his fist in Sasuke’s jaw, making him stagger before his teammate
countered with a kick to his knee. Naruto blocked with his own leg,
but was knocked off balance by the awkward pose, which opened a
chance for his rival to force him down to the grass. He twisted
around, barely able to stay on his feet, but Sasuke intended to push
his slight advantage.

His rival let
out another barbaric shout, drawing out the battle cry as he came at
him with fists flying. Naruto did his best to defend, but inevitably
some of the attacks made it through his guard, and he didn’t look
forward to seeing the results that would be painted on his skin. He
was furious and thrilled to be caught up in a fight, but he didn’t
sense the Kyuubi bothering him this time–the fox was thankfully
dormant after what had happened earlier.

Slamming his
forearm against Sasuke’s, Naruto was reminded why he preferred to
fight this way; traps and stealth and some kinds of ninjutsu just
weren’t as natural, though he’d trained incessantly to master
those kinds of skills over time. He was far from the worst, despite
his longstanding nickname, but he’d always found hand-to-hand
combat much more exhilarating—especially when his opponent was a
dangerous predator like Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto was glad
that he trained every single day; it was necessary in order to fight
with someone who could copy another ninja’s moves. Fighting Sasuke
here and now showed him pieces of Neji and Lee, and even Kiba. But it
was the pieces that were Sasuke, just Sasuke, that were the
most appealing to oppose.

His wasn’t
an intensity Naruto could forget, even if Sasuke was usually like
this only on their team’s most dangerous missions. It was better,
more thrilling than he’d imagined to be faced with such fury, and
Naruto felt even more determined to conquer it.

Most of the time
they fought each other with predetermined rules, expectations. But
this today was a chance to see which of them would really come out on
top once the smoke cleared. This was different .

Naruto knew the
difference came from how the two of them were changing, and his heart
tightened to think that they would change again, or were changing
now—their rivalry was a necessary part of their existence, tinged
now with molten, consuming desire.

Sasuke charged
at him with so much passion, a passion that was also violent from its
core of rage—how had Naruto never noticed it before? How
had he never noticed how it called to his own anger? Sasuke might
believe he could choose someone else, but Naruto could now understand
that there was no other person who could hope to equal what they were
to each other.

Something in him
had always known about this connection—something deep down that
recognized his rival, the same something that claimed the Uchiha
tensai with an overwhelming sense of possession. Naruto had a primal
urge to mark him, to graffiti the word mine on Sasuke’s
aura for everyone to see.

Did the bastard
really think he could have this with anyone other than him?

This time when
they charged each other, Naruto took another hit but grabbed on and
held tight, effectively stopping any attacks while only increasing
his rival’s aggravation. Sasuke immediately fought against his
hold, and the fact that he couldn’t break free was what helped
Naruto decide once and for all that he was truly unwilling to give up
something that was his, no matter what Sasuke thought about
it.

Their furious
grappling took them to the ground, Naruto landing on something rocky
that jabbed into his back before gravity had them rolling pell-mell
towards the lake. He grunted as they were alternately slammed into
each other and the unyielding earth, but with a calculated move
Naruto was able to stop them with an outstretched knee, scraping off
most of the skin where his pants had been split, but gaining the
advantage of being firmly on top of his rival.

Using one hand
to brace most of his weight, his knee throbbing in agony, Naruto
grabbed Sasuke around the throat with his other hand to make sure he
couldn’t get away, pressing hard enough to leave a mark. He shoved
his rival’s head back, his other shin angled to pin his teammate’s
thighs.

Sasuke glared at
him with eyes nearly glowing from his furor, and his fingers dug
painfully into Naruto’s wrist as he tried unsuccessfully to pry it
off. Naruto didn’t budge; he saw the exact moment when Sasuke knew
he was completely at his mercy.

Naruto looked
down on him, meeting those red eyes, not afraid of anything he would
see, and Sasuke didn’t bother to conceal any of his resentment or
fury. His rival’s whole body was rigid as his pale fingers barely
loosened their futile hold on him, and Naruto could feel the frantic
pulse of Sasuke’s blood beating against his grip. He didn’t care
if it was uncomfortable; right now he meant it to be.

Both of them
were breathing hard from the effort of fighting each other full out,
and as the seconds ticked by, Naruto wasn’t surprised to recognize
that same something besides anger dancing within the depths
of Sasuke’s eyes like it had before. Those eyes narrowed, daring
Naruto to keep going, challenging him to move forward, and urging him
to complete the thorough domination that he’d been so intent on
from the moment the first charge had been made.

Sasuke
wanted him.

What surprised
Naruto was that it didn’t make him any less angry.

Naruto shifted
his balance slowly onto his hurt knee, moving his free hand from the
ground to Sasuke’s stomach, and then lower, somehow knowing what
he’d find. He roughly cupped the full erection straining in
Sasuke’s pants. His rival didn’t struggle, just looked at him
with eyes full of hate, fear, and in-between those, a need so fierce
that Naruto could taste it along with the tang of blood dripping
along his lip.

This was
something, at least, that couldn’t lie.

Brows creased on
his forehead, Naruto stroked him once through his pants, his fist
anything but gentle in his declaration of ownership, and Sasuke
showed all his teeth as he scowled, his breath hissing out in
rebellion to the pleasure that had him instinctively jerk up for
more.

It would be soeasy—Naruto could see it in the way Sasuke’s fingers dug
into his forearm, how he kept himself from struggling through the
tension, how his eyes were pleading for it somewhere underneath the
mutiny.

Naruto knew he
could take him here, just like this, the anger and adrenaline and
lust that they’d always had for each other merging in a moment of
raging passion. He looked into those red eyes and felt disgusted with
himself for actually wanting to do it—Sasuke wasn’t the only one
who was hard. He wasn’t the only one who’d enjoy it, even as it
destroyed them.

He felt Sasuke
swallow underneath the grip of his tanned hand, those eyes now
screaming at him to ‘Get on with it—what are you waiting
for?’

But after a
difficult moment, Naruto moved not closer, but away from the
temptation beneath him.

If they did it
like this, Naruto knew it could only be this way between them
afterwards. There would be no going back. And if there was even a
small chance that they might be able to have something more than the
repeated, frenzied slaking of lust born from an abusive anger, it
wasn’t worth damning them both now. Deep down he still believed
they could have something better. And if he was wrong… well, thiswould still be there, lying in wait.

Naruto had won
this fight. Sasuke knew it as well. For now, it was enough.

The last part of
Sasuke that Naruto released was his throat. He moved two feet away to
crouch on the knee that still had its skin, still watching his rival
while very gently stretching the bunched muscles in his back that
were crying for relief.

Sasuke sat up,
slow and stiff like he hurt all over, but Naruto saw that he didn’t
touch his neck. It was red from his hand, and looked rather naked
without the necklace, but Sasuke wouldn’t show any weakness–it
wasn’t part of his nature. He did, however, adjust his crotch.

After a minute
or two of sitting in silence, Naruto decided to ask the question that
had been burning on his tongue for hours.

“Just how much
of it was a lie, Sasuke?”

Sasuke aimed a
level gaze, managing to make a noise like a chuckle though Naruto
knew it hadn’t come out quite right. His rival didn’t falter with
the next words, even with a raspy voice.

“I’ve never
lied to you.” Then, after a moment, he added, “… Dobe.”

Naruto heard
vibrations in the air, vibrations that tickled the roof of his mouth
with the clarity and weight of Truth. He held Sasuke’s
gaze for a long moment, glad that it was something–something they
could work with, could build on, could cling to in order to keep out
of this pain-filled abyss.

Naruto rubbed
the blood from his lip with the back of his hand, trying not to
wince. “Tell me your plan. …Teme.”

♦