Of Birds Who Fly Free

Chapter Three_His Decision

Naruto sighed and stretched out on the branch of the tree he hid in, watching in amusement as his genin attempted to snatch fake bells from a clone. The real bells they were supposed to get sat restfully on their strings, tied to his safety vest. The two boys and one girl had a looong~ way to go if they were still chasing around his clone and not him.

A figure suddenly dashed to a hault beside him, to fast for genin to notice but not for Naruto. He was used to that speed by now.

“Field trip over?” Naruto asked with only a small hint of taunting in his tone, not wanting to start a fight with Sasuke and give away his position to his genin.

“Hn…” Sasuke grunted and plopped down on the branch. “Damn kids are a pain.”

Naruto gave Sasuke a once over, taking note of a few small paper wads stuck in Sasuke’s dark hair. Grinning in amusement, he reached out and plucked them out, his fingers shifting through the black strands. He gasped slightly, surprised by how soft Sasuke’s hair was.

Sasuke failed to notice Naruto’s revelation, shivering and shaking his head so the hair fell back into its natural spiked up position. The duck butt formation, as Naruto liked to teasingly refer to it as.

“The chuunin were the worst,” Sasuke spoke up after a moment.

“Oh? Why’s that?” Naruto asked, curious and glad he finally had something to do other then watch his genin stumble about.

“Not sure. They just weren’t doing their job. Iruka was yelling at two of them. Something about going to church,” Sasuke answered with a shrug.

Naruto stared at him for a moment and blinked, before snickering and then bursting into laughter. “Oh my god!!!”

“What?” Sasuke frowned at him, looking confused and a little startled.

Naruto could only laugh even harder at Sasuke’s confused expression, having to use the other’s shoulder to support him so he wouldn’t fall off the branch.

Sasuke scowled angrily, not liking the fact that Naruto knew something that he didn’t. The other chuunin had also laughed pretty hard, leaving Iruka and the two chuunin in trouble blushing at their mirth. He’d been probably the only one with no idea what the joke was.

Naruto steadied his breathing and wiped at his eyes, trying to control his laughter. “Going to church? Did he honestly say those three words exactly like that?”

“What the fuck does it mean, dobe?" Sasuke growled in annoyance.

“You don’t know?” Naruto looked surprised, then broke into snickers before sinking back into laughter. “Oh god, you really don’t know!?”

Sasuke growled as his temper rose, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks from embarrassment. “Dobe, you’ve got three seconds to explain before I murder you with Amaterasu.”

Naruto took his time recovering, knowing Sasuke’s threat was an empty one. He wasn’t allowed to use Mangekyo Sharingan and they both knew it.

“Sorry, I just…god, you’re a real virgin, teme!” Naruto slowly calmed his laughter back into soft snickering and chuckles, ignoring the glare he got from that statement. “Going to church…it means…”

Naruto blushed but didn’t stop grinning, whispering something into Sasuke’s ear while covering his mouth with his hand. Sasuke listened for a moment, before his eyes widened and he jerked away with a disgusted expression.

“You’re fucking joking me?”

“No way. That’s really what that means. Man, I can’t believe they were doing that!” Naruto broke back down into laughter and leaned on Sasuke.

Sasuke looked thoroughly disturbed now, as if he had a mental image now dancing around in his head and refusing to vanish.

Naruto suddenly stopped laughing and exchanged a more serious expression with Sasuke. In a split second, they both were up and rebounding off the branch just as Naruto’s three genin covered it in kunai and shuriken.

Grinning, Naruto landed on another branch and held up his hand. “Nina, Gent, Yuda, time’s up! It’s already sun down. You’ll just have to try again…next week after some more intensive field training!”

“Awweeee, nooo!” The spiky haired brunette boy, Gent, whined, slumping into a pout.

“….tch…” The other boy with a more feather like winged red hair, Yuda, scowled unhappily.

The girl Nina just sighed and stared at her feet with a disappointed frown.

“No whining. You’ll never pass unless you start figuring out how to tell a clone from a real person,” Naruto lectured and shooed his students on their way home.

“Hmph…this feels familiar,” Sasuke noted with a dry air of humor, watching the three kids run off, Yuda and Gent glaring at each other while Nina tried to get Yuda's attention.

Naruto smirked at his friend, knowing what he meant.

“Naruto…I want to go there today,” Sasuke suddenly changed the subject, a frown replacing his amused smirk.

“Yeah…I do to,” Naruto nodded after a silent moment.

The two of them cleaned up after the genins, then made their way to the memorial stone in the western area of the training grounds. As they arrived, the stone monument stood proud and alone upon its pedestal. A couple bundles of flowers lay up against it and some burnt out incense sticks lay in a neat pile on the edge of the base.

Not saying much, they left the cover of the trees and silently approached the stone.

Naruto slipped his hands into the pockets of his father’s coat, looking over the names as familiar ones popped out at him. Jiraiya…Tsunade…Asuma…the third, Sarutobi. And last, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. Names he’d never looked for as a child and had never known of. Now they settled on him, but in a comforting way that made him feel watched over and proud.

Uchiha Itachi’s name caught his eye and Naruto glanced at his quiet companion. Sasuke stood there with his hands in his own pockets, his face hiding any emotion he might be feeling at that moment. Naruto swallowed away a lump and turned his gaze back to the stone, wondering if Sasuke felt that same feeling of love and pride when he looked at his brother’s name. It was hard to tell…and something that worried Naruto.

His heart hurt for Sasuke and for the past. Back then…the actions of a single man had torn both their families apart. Naruto sometimes felt that his bond with Sasuke had only grown that much stronger as they’d both realized just how similar they really were. Now Madara was dead, their families avenged, and they were inseparable. Neither of them had to go home to an empty house.

Itachi had loved Sasuke till the very end. A true big brother…something Naruto could only be jealous of.

“He was too young when they were alive. I doubt anyone ever explained to him how it works. You said you think of him as a brother…so then, do this one last thing for me and for him. Very soon, you’ll be all he has.”

Itachi’s last wish echoed in the back of Naruto’s head and made him swallow another lump, his heart constricting slightly.

Till death and afterwards, Itachi had remained looking out for Sasuke. And at the end, it had been Naruto he’d entrusted his much beloved younger brother to. Naruto…the fox boy everyone had grown up hating.

And maybe Sasuke’s awkward ability to socialize was partially due to his lack of knowledge. Certainly at their age, sex was part of any healthy relationship. And for Uchiha Sasuke, the expectations of any potential date would be unnervingly high. Maybe teaching Sasuke the ropes and giving him a nudge out of the nest would get his friend rolling in the healthy sexual lifestyle.

It would certainly lift a weight off Naruto’s shoulders. It was hard for him to think about long term relationships with anybody when he had to worry about such consequences as leaving Sasuke alone again.

“All right…You win. I’ll do it for you and for him,” Naruto vocally announced, eyes fixed on Uchiha Itachi’s name as if he’d just made the deal face-to-face with the older Uchiha.

“You’ll do what?” Sasuke frowned and looked at him, unaware of any thought processes going on in that blonde head of Naruto’s.

“Eh? Oh…I’ll tell ya later,” Naruto smiled innocently at his friend.

First of all…Sasuke was proud and easily annoyed. He refused to admit to his weakness on the subject and only gave in and demanded explanations when he became annoyed enough. Second, Sasuke hated being treated like a child and giving him a sex talk was pretty much doing just that. And third, Sasuke would murder him simply out of embarrassment.

Damn you, Itachi.

No…This would not go smoothly or easily. Naruto would have a fight on his hands. He needed to prepare tonight. Tomorrow was a clear day and neither of them had any missions. He’d strap Sasuke down and give him a talking to, oh yes he would. But first…he needed supplies!


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Side notes:

Of Birds Who Fly Free - I chose this title because of the whole metaphor behind 'the birds and the bees'. It's believed that the birds are the men who fly around freely and get others pregnant. This makes a good title for this story, cause Naruto's very lenient when it comes to sex and likes to have fun. ( no, he uses proper protection so no one's pregnant. XP )

'Going to Church' - *giggles furiously* Ok, so I found this site put up by a gay guy for the purposes of explaining and helping slash writers understand gay relationships and sex. It's my guide to making the lemon scene at the end a good one. And apparantly, 'going to church' is a term used for a sexual position, where one guy stands while the other guy kneels and gives standing guy a blowjob.

Naruto's Genin - Yay! Naruto's a jounin teacher! Maybe I'll draw those three someday. Maybe... XP

Duckbutt Formation - I would like to trademark that. *chuckles*