Evanescent Trail

III
Love is a blast!

Summer was the time Sasuke Uchiha favored the most, it was where his rarely shown laziness would kick in and his like for the summer heat would be obviously shown by the way he would stretch and yawn lazily on the tree branch he was currently lying on, with his back and head resting on the bark and one leg resting on the branch while the other was dangling like a branch that was already about to fall from the tree.

Well…

He wasn’t the only one.

“Neji dammit! Take your cat naps at home and break a leg!”

Sasuke almost had himself falling ungracefully from the shady tree he was currently resting at, at the sound of Naruto’s voice and two loud thuds that followed it. He rubbed his eyes, adjusting from the brightness of the summer sun as he jumped off of the tree to search for the one who dared disturb his sleep, he didn’t find any difficulty though because just a few trees away from him in the orange field was Naruto acting very much like an irritated cat by how his two tails were standing, a woven basket filled with oranges to the brim on the grassy ground beside Neji, who was sitting on his butt, scratching the back of his head with a groan.

He couldn’t say he wasn’t thankful that Ino beside him had cared to explain, Naruto had been doing all the work since the start, so when he finally found where Neji was hiding, he kicked the damn tree strong enough to shake it off and let Neji fall, including some loose ripe oranges and leaves Naruto had accurately caught with his apron.

“Even Chouji could do more than you!”

“I can’t help it. It’s too hot.” Neji groaned, using his tail to fan himself as he stood up and glared at the rest of his class mates who laughed at him and the fox’s sudden outburst.

“If ‘it’s too hot’ is a legit reason then we wouldn’t have food on our table everyday because every worker is ‘too hot’ to be working! Be grateful we’re getting this for free. Now get your ass moving!”

Hinata and the other students around Sasuke giggled and snickered, as they watched with amusement Neji move his fingers to grow claws and climbed another neighboring tree while Naruto held both his empty hands to catch it and carefully put the oranges in the basket.

“Kiba-kun, I don’t know about you but…” Hinata started, trying to suppress another giggle at watching her cousin actually do this kind of commoner work, she had to admit it was really too hot for her thick furs, but she didn’t want to hold her partner down because of it, maybe Neji’s still hurt about Naruto ignoring him in the first day of class. “Naruto-kun would do very well as a housewife don’t you think?” She smiled down at Kiba on the ground, she was sitting on her assigned tree and she was already finished in picking up the ripe ones.

“Careful there sweetheart, he might hear you.” Kiba grinned, taking another glance at the amusing pair, Naruto’s finger was darting upwards to the tree here and there, obviously teaching Neji how to pick the ripe ones only.

Sasuke couldn’t help but agree, shaking his head and smirking down at his two baskets of oranges that his partner Sakura had volunteered to pick for the both of them so that he could continue his nap. They were currently in Konoha’s fruit field, other students were assigned to pick strawberries, grapes, apples, and their class was assigned to the orange field. All of them were given each four trees for two people to work on, since students are mostly obliged to work for the upcoming summer festival, granted, they have the privilege to get as much as free food as possible and that’s probably why Naruto was so vigorous about it more than Lee who got involved along the race halfway.

Summer Festival was too much work for Sasuke, after this, just an hour of rest and they’d have to go to the temple where the booths were going to be and build the said booths for the vendors, rehearse for the night fire dance, dress up and afterwards… the most hated chores of all, dance with every simpering girl around a ridiculous bonfire until the percussions stop, not to mention he had to still train for the coming semi-final eliminations for the competition.

He got through the eliminations out of the fifty candidates with Kiba, Neji and Kankurou. Lee was one of the first to lose, Sasuke just pushed him a little bit and he ended up looking like a green see-saw. It’s been down to at least ten with the freaky Suigetsu and his cronies.

Aren’t festivals made for fun in the first place? Then why the hell do they have to do all the non-fun things for heaven’s sake!?

Well, the fireworks at midnight were enough consolation though, as much as he hated to admit it, he always went on his way just to watch them go boom. After all, according to the weird fireworks master in charge of the said event… ‘Art is a blast!’

After auditing the amount of each basket and delivering them to their respective vendors they went to head off to the bottom of the mountain where at the top was the temple, the booths were to be placed at the foot of the ‘thousand steps’ temple stairs. When night fell the usually dark foot of the mountain was filled with colors of red lanterns bearing every booth’s names and lights from electric colored mini bulbs, there was also the wishing well which was not always true, the fortune teller, some masks and lots of souvenirs for the exchange students.

From what Temari had been acting, it would be an understatement to say she was frantic. She had been actually dragging her brother and… Shikamaru with Chouji tagging along to every booth, buying and eating a piece of everything along the way, and the poor boys had to carry it all.

“Hm!? What’s that? There’s a really famous booth over there!” Temari dragged Kankurou, thereby dragging Shikamaru, thus making Chouji follow with a piece of grilled octopus still stuck between his teeth.

“Ugh. More girls.” Kankurou said under his breath in disgust, glad that his sister had skidded far away from him to join the squealing girls hogging the poor vendor so that he wouldn’t be able to receive the expected smack on the forehead, but then, he’d still have to follow.

They were all wearing yukatas, pin striped brown for Kankurou, green for Shikamaru and red for Chouji, from one corner of the area was another place being surrounded by girls, but it was no booth, Shikamaru could tell that accurately, it was probably Sasuke when he arrived in his dark blue yukata with fireworks at the hem and stars on the sleeves. Of course the girls wore different kinds of gaudy colored kimonos, with their handbags filled with nothing more but money to be spent for useless things.

Only Hinata seemed to be wearing the most decent one, pale blue designed with paper wind mills at the hem, and Kiba was all too happy to be her escort that day. Kakashi and Iruka went missing right in the middle of it all, while some had already proceeded to climb the thousand stairs, since there was a legend that told something that if you would get to reach the top of the stairs in time to watch the fireworks then a single of your wish would come true. But you should only start at sunset and you shouldn’t turn into your full demon form to get there faster, it was with a pair of legs that you should do it, no water, no food along the way, and the moment you walk even one step back, then it’s already useless, since you could only attempt it once.

This was where Naruto was about to head off to when Sasuke called out to him with his foot already at the fifth step of the stairs, he turned his head but Naruto did not dare move, instead he waited for Sasuke to walk towards him which the raven was doing when he called out earlier.

“Hey Sasuke.” When Sasuke finally caught up, leaving the majority of girls behind and only Ino and Sakura tagging along, Sasuke saw that he was holding a paper windmill in his hands, he was wearing an orange yukata with white swirls at the hem appearing to be smoke, with a dark blue obi and a fox mask at the back of his head.

“Where are you going?”

Oh, right, dumb question. He was probably going to climb to the temple.

“Are you going at the top of the mountain?” Ino asked after, looking Naruto up and down and glad that she finally got Naruto to wear one of her works.

Naruto only nodded at this, but when he was about to speak he was taken aback when Sasuke too climbed up at the stairs officially, catching up to him at the fifth step. “You’re going too?”

“Ah.”

“Eh? Sasuke-kun’s going!? I never thought Sasuke-kun to be the type to believe such things.” Sakura latched herself on Sasuke’s right arm, and Ino to his left, not wanting for her rival to get the better of her.

“No, it’s the best place to watch the fireworks.”

“He always goes there every year.” Kakashi appeared in the shadows, and Naruto couldn’t help but question him suspiciously, squinting his eyes.

“Where’s Iruka-sensei?”

“His legs can’t support him, for the time being.” Of course, both the boys knew of the reason why, and it was showing on how Kakashi was looking. “You’re going this time Naruto?”

“Yes. I didn’t get to go last time because of… well.” Naruto shrugged at this smiling and excusing himself to proceed, he didn’t really have the time in the world to be chatting when he should be climbing the steps right now.

“Good luck, yo.” Kakashi waved to them but pouted when Naruto gave him the ‘dirty finger’ without turning back.

“Is that an offer!?” Kakashi watched Naruto go stiff, and his smirk widened as Sasuke’s head whipped to his direction to glare at him that had he been an ice, he’d not only have melted but evaporated to gas as well.

“Fuck off!” The two students said in chorus, and thus, Kakashi had disappeared to thin air, to --- ‘fuck off’.

“Kiba-kun, you aren’t going to climb the stairs?” Hinata asked, watching Kiba scoop some goldfish out of a paper screen and failing.

“Drats! Uh… huh? Did you say something Hina?” Kiba looked over his shoulder, he was currently kneeling on the ground, already at the point where just an accidental push of a finger and he’d be meeting those goldfishes face to face under the water of the aquarium.

“Well, some time ago, you said you wanted to climb the stairs so that your dream would come true. If you don’t go now…” Kiba finally scooped the poor little goldfish, hastily putting it on the clear plastic bag the vendor gave and handed it out to Hinata.

“Nah, my wish already came true.” Hinata reached out to get it, and she blushed when she realized Kiba had no intention of letting go.

“K-Kiba-kun, y-your hand.”

“Thanks… you know, for trusting me.”

“I-it’s because you deserved it. You’re a good person.” Hinata said, blushing deeper and was relieved that Kiba finally let go.

Meanwhile on the thousand steps temple stairs as they climbed the seemingly endless steps, the many people who had been brimming with energy earlier got fewer and fewer, they had passed many who passed out lying on the steps, pairs making out which Naruto averted his gaze from strictly, one literally crawling just to reach another step, he must have a really good reason for persevering that much.

But Ino and Sakura’s not intending to give up, and Sasuke’s not intending to tolerate the weight on both his arms any longer that when he finally got a chance to be freed when the girls fell on their knees panting, he gabbed Naruto’s hand and skidded off a few steps further away from the pair of girls calling out to them.

“Noooo! Sasuke-kun!”

“Naruto don’t take my Sasuke-kun awaaaaay!” Sakura reached out with her hand at the departing backs with tears of defeat in her eyes as she bit her handkerchief. Of all the hands that Sasuke-kun can grab, why Naruto’s? So what if Naruto’s boobs in his female form were just a little bigger than hers?

“Oi! Hey! Sasuke! It’s rude to leave them you know! Oi!” Naruto said in between huge intakes of breath, his legs were beginning to get tired and he was hoping that walking patiently would help not wear his limbs out quickly, and here Sasuke was making him run! He’d tire out easily.

“Relax, we’d get there. I’ve done it. Countless times already.”

“You didn’t have to leave them like that-”

And then Naruto’s feet got tangled on its own, tripping in the middle and Sasuke let go quickly, leaning down to help Naruto stand up.

“Sorry, you okay?”

“Yeah-ow…”

“You’re bleeding, your knee.” Sasuke kneeled in front of Naruto, examining the wound as he pushed away the orange material. “We should go back to get it treated.”

“No! I’m fine, I can still walk. What time is it?” Sasuke looked at his wrist watch, eight twenty-five in the evening, they still have a spare hour to get to the top.

“Then, it’s fine, we can still get to the top.” Naruto brushed the dirt off his yukata, having lost the paper wind mill earlier in the fast run to ward off any boredom in the long walk.

“Naruto why go so far for that stupid legend? I’d reached that temple couple of times, and nothing’s happened.”

“I just… want to do this Sasuke. It’s very important to me, even if it won’t come true, I still want to try, it’s better than not trying at all. I don’t want to have any regrets.”

Sasuke stared at Naruto while standing, he just realized that the reason why nothing’s ever happened after he’d reached the temple, was that because inside of him, he never really believed in such a thing, because he never really had a sincere wish of his own, just nonsense things he thought randomly, and sometimes nothing at all, he just liked going there, since nobody ever really succeeded in reaching the top in time, they didn’t possess the stamina to do it.

“I’ve tried climbing the top in my childhood plenty of times, every year, every year.” Naruto said, slightly limping as he continued to climb the steps while Sasuke walked beside him.

“I only had one wish in my mind back then, but I never really succeeded in making it to the top. Maybe it was because despite believing in that legend, I doubted believeing if there was really a god.” Naruto chuckled in his narration, fading into a soft smile as he stared at the concrete steps he was climbing one by one.

The air around them had gotten colder and thinner, showing how they were very near to the peak point of the stairs, but a thousand steps is a thousand steps after all.

“But even so, as I grew older my wish slowly came true, but Kami-sama gave me even more.”

The leaves rustled against each other with the cold breeze biting against their skin, it had gone strangely quiet, the sky was clear dark blue but only a few stars were showing being blocked by some of the smokes coming from the grills and the large bonfire being lit by the vendors at the foot of the mountain.

“I had Iruka-sensei, and then came Kakashi-sensei… then Kiba came along, and then you.” Naruto turned to grin at Sasuke at that moment, before focusing his view in front, he could already see the eaves of the temple and the beams. How long have they been walking, hell how long had he been talking, had he said so much? But he wanted to talk more.

Naruto talked about how Kiba would rescue him when some pre-schoolers would bully him, how he first met Kakashi-sensei, how Iruka-sensei took custody over him, how Sasuke was such an obnoxious little snobbish bastard in elementary, but the aura hadn’t faded yet.

“You know, I’ve lost all hope of my looks being fully accepted outside.”

Sasuke felt bitter about something, and he could feel his gut tightening for some reason. He could still remember how he would stare at a group of four of five kids, throwing leaves, sticks, stones and kicks on a cowering little boy.

The little boy had the head of a fox, his head down to his chest, to his arms and claw like hands were covered in orange fur, he was like a demon fox stuck in between morphing into his subdued form, which was a human looking demon with ears or tails, but their faces showing human characteristics.

Sasuke never joined those idiotic kids, but he never really did anything to stop them, why would he, it wasn’t like he’d be meeting that boy again, wasted effort. It annoyed him that those kids feel superior to others just because they didn’t have the fox boy’s problem, but it annoyed him more that the fox boy wouldn’t even defend himself, he knew he could, he’s just too much of a coward to do it.

Until last year Sasuke had felt relatively right about himself and his decisions, come to think of it, he never accepted anything that didn’t agree with his own opinion, now that he was here with Naruto, listening to him talk about his life, Sasuke couldn’t help but feel the majority of his actions, and even beliefs have been all false and wrong.

“You’re such an idiot you know.” Sasuke said gruffly, making Naruto turn to him, confused.

“Sasuke?”

“You know why I didn’t help you that time? It’s because you pissed me off. You could have defended yourself.”

“If I did that, would it have resulted into anything good?” Sasuke halted from his steps, but resumed, catching up with Naruto.

“I was a demon, and a human’s son. To them I was a bane to their existence, a stain of the past they wanted to forget. Technically speaking, my own existence in itself is a direct insult to and against the laws of nature, much lower than a demon, a monster. The only reason I got off light was because my ancestor was a co-founder of this country, being in the same boat and because The Sparrow and The Wolf was on my side during the conference that I wasn’t executed.” Naruto’s knees buckled for a bit and threatened to hit the edge of the step he was just about to climb, but Sasuke’s hands around his shoulders prevented him of that.

“The only reason I was saved was because they were afraid of being the scapegoat of the Fox clan’s extinction, but no doubt they’d been wishing everyday that I die due to a freak accident. No one really cared enough to stop me whatever I do, whether it’s pranks or breaking a neighbor’s window. So even if Kakashi-sensei’s a super pervert, and Iruka-sensei’s like a cackling mother hen, I’m glad for all the attention. I’m not afraid to do any kind of foolishness, because I’m sure that they’d be there to stop me.” Naruto continued to walk, and he continued to talk, as if he was letting lose all the raw feelings buried deep inside of him.

“My mother was imprisoned, my father was executed by his own kin. They could have continued to live and love each other secretly if I wasn’t born, since the council used me as their proof against them. History books aren’t always accurate you know? They fabricated it, so that they could put all the blame of half of the demons’ extinction to my mother’s ‘mistake’. When you love it’s just love. So what if you’re human, or a demon. When it all comes down to it, they possess the same feelings. Is it so much to ask if they just wanted to live together happily?” And then Naruto stopped.

“Ahh… I’ve been talking and talking, and now I’m all tired. Looks like I won’t get to the top in time. Knee hurts too.” The blonde chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, although his low mood could be seen with how his tails had been dangling from his tail bone like lifeless ropes.

Sasuke, who had kept quiet all that time, moved a step ahead of Naruto, took Naruto’s hands from behind as he crouched low and tugged the startled blonde close to lean on his back.

“Sasuke! What are you doing!? Oooi! You’re grossing me out!” The blonde fox squirmed as his thighs were trapped around Sasuke’s waist with the dark cat’s arms.

“Shut up. Do you want to get there or not?”

“I can’t do it like this!”

“Did the legend say something about not being allowed to reach the top in a piggy back ride?” Naruto paused at this, giving it some thought, and figuring he couldn’t really figure what Sasuke was talking about.

“Relax. Unlike those old folks, we actually look good like this together.” Sasuke smirked with a teasing voice, he could still remember how he shuddered one time when he caught Kakashi-sensei being carried by one of their teachers that looked ridiculously a lot like Lee Rock, piggy back style when he was knocked out of a stray foot ball.

“What!?”

“Quit moving, or do you want to fall down twenty feet from here?” At the threat in that voice, Naruto suddenly stiffened, his hands tightening on Sasuke’s shoulders and thighs unconsciously locking around the cat’s waist.

“If you drop me, and I die. I’ll haunt you in your dreams and even in your bathroom.” Naruto said sulking.

“You’re kind of light. For someone who eats five bowls of ramen every meal.” Sasuke said, starting the conversation once again in a lighter mode as he started to climb up.

“Hmph!”

“Makes one wonder where you’re taking out all that energy.”

“That’s none of your business!” Still Sasuke wished that Naruto knew the difference between three meters and an inch when talking to a person with such high pitched voice that would sometimes fluctuate. “Fucking teme…” He’d pretend he didn’t hear that, too.

Naruto and Sasuke spent the night in silence, they didn’t know how many hours had actually passed, but seeing the skies still dark with the moon blocked out, they were assured that they still had time before the fireworks were lit.

And then the reminiscent percussions were sounded, as if thunders roaring in the skies, preparing for the rain that was to come. The first set of sound was to initiate the lighting of the large bonfire in the middle of the whole place, huge dried barks from trees were put in an organized way inside a grid made of wood also, surrounded by thick ropes and talismans dangling upon it. This was the cue where the youngsters are called and where adults surround the viewing area to watch their children, younger siblings or students to dance around the bonfire.

They would make a series of hand gestures and swaying of the body, with an even number of pairs of girls and boys they would form two circles around the bonfire, the inner circle would be the girls and the outer would be the boys, the moment the pounding of the drum sticks starts, the boys walk around in a clockwise motion while the girls would do the opposite, stopping in a rhythmic partner and dancing with whoever the person who stops beside you. In this way, all the people will get to dance with everyone, and everybody thought it beautiful to watch with the children who wished to do the same when they got older. Disregarding the fact that in the process of dancing they couldn’t help rubbing each others legs with their tails or entwining their tails to each other between them while dancing as a way to flirt.

“You sure you don’t want to go back and dance with your fan girls, Sasuke-kuuun?” Naruto snickered in a mock sweet voice that Sakura and Ino always used for Sasuke.

“You sure you don’t want to go back and dance with your fan boys, Naru-chaaan?” The blonde scowled at this, barely suppressing the urge to choke Sasuke to death, true enough, there were more males than females when it came to people who wanted to hit on him, but Sasuke stating that had rubbed salt on the wound.

“Ha. Funny.” Naruto deadpanned, noting that it should probably be eleven in the evening more or less, since they always light the fireworks after the dance.

“This’d take forever.” The blonde whined, sighing in the process and earning a snort from Sasuke.

“You’re not the one carrying the weight of two sacks of rice so shut up.”

“Did I hear you call me FAT just now!?” Again. Sasuke winced as he strained his ears to lean sideways where Naruto’s mouth wasn’t directed, and then a funny feeling strangely closed around his head, no, to be more exact, on his ears.

“What are you doing?” Sasuke asked annoyed, his ears twitching this way and that to avoid Naruto’s hands.

“What, I let you touch my ears. You should do the same. Hey, these are really softer than they look.” The blonde grinned amusingly.

“Hey!”

“Better than someone who touches others’ tails for no reason.” Sasuke was just about to snap a retort but he bit it back when he heard Naruto’s voice turn cold. Haa… he’s still angry about the damn tails thing. The dark haired cat whose ears were currently being played with by a playful fox thought with a shudder, he could still remember how many days Naruto had ignored him for that, and how many days Naruto had clenched his tails near his chest cautiously every time he was around. Well, he couldn’t remember why he did that to be truthful. Since honestly, if anyone ever dared touch his tail, then they’d end up being his personal scratching post for the whole year, compared to him, Naruto was kinder. But he couldn’t help it, it was the first time he saw something like that.

As the walks grew closer to the top until they could finally see the entrance where Naruto nearly jumped against Sasuke’s back, the dark haired cat had been consciously aware of how their tails would sometimes accidentally brush against each other, and how Naruto would stiffen and keep quiet for a time after it. He was of course, aware of the fact that he was sexually attracted to the blonde, hell, everybody was aware since some of them were too, except the dobe, of course. He couldn’t believe this kind of naivety still exists in this day and age.

He wasn’t planning on keeping this a secret from Naruto, and in the back of his mind somehow, he has many options regarding Naruto’s reluctance to acknowledge that he was beautiful, Sasuke’s attracted to him and that some people do kind things to others for an ulterior motive. Sasuke absentmindedly shook his head with the thought, he certainly wasn’t one of those people, right? What if Naruto rejects him when he finally asks the blonde to be his partner in the coming mating season, because he thinks it’s only because of his looks that he’s asking him? Naruto looked like the kind of person who’d only agree to have sex with someone if it’s someone he likes.

But the blonde would have no choice, during the mating season it’s impossible to control the urges, you’d go berserk if you didn’t get laid at least once everyday during the whole session of the changing of the moon. No, scratch that, he’d have many options, many demons have already been making impressions around Naruto to get his attention, Neji’s no threat, he most probably would be snatched and grabbed by Shikamaru the moment the full moon rises at the peak. And Kiba’s openly dating the pale eyed bastard’s cousin. Kakashi’s with Iruka, and even though he’s a pervert he at least has got a little bit of moral not to sleep with his students.

And besides Kiba, he’s the only one who’s close to Naruto so…

“Sasuke, look!!!” Sasuke felt the wind against his back being created by the excited swaying of Naruto’s tails, he turned to Naruto and then followed the direction of where his tanned hand was pointing, and there in the skies, after taking just two steps inside the temple the fireworks began to stain and color the skies with different shapes and booming, swishing, whoozing sounds.

Sasuke gently sat Naruto on the bench bordering the concrete pathway inside the temple where he took his place on the ground instead and rested his back on the edge of the bench, looking up the sky. And absentmindedly his hand went to clench on his chest.

The temple was at the top most part of the mountain surrounded with a fence to provide any accidents, you could see from the top the lake on the southwest part of the temple reflecting every light coming from the fireworks, even at that long distance they heard the fireworks master shout a loud ‘art is a blast’ before pulling the cord to the ignition of the invented fireworks canon and floods of colors and lights covered the whole of Konoha village, so bright it was that it almost seemed like it was day. Some fireworks displayed the faces of the five founders of the fire country, while others were random images of demons.

“Art is a blast… huh.” Sasuke heard Naruto say and he looked up to see Naruto, the blonde gazing freely at the colored skies.

“Have you already wished?” Sasuke asked, taking the blonde’s attention.

“Yeah… although I think it’s impossible.”

“What did you wish for?”

“It’s-a-se-cret.” Naruto said in a sing-sang voice swaying his forefinger at Sasuke sideways, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Should have known. It’s not like there’s a rule that said you shouldn’t tell others about it.”

“How about you, what did you wish for?” Naruto prodded, turning to look at Sasuke away from the fireworks in the sky.

“Nothing. I told you. I only come here for the quiet and the view. With your guard dog always around I seem to be having quite a difficulty finding one.”

“I see.” It was Naruto’s turn then to sigh after chuckling a bit, and the night continued with silence. They seem to be spending time like that recently.

When the fireworks display had ended, the air that was fresh and crisp earlier smelled like gunpowder and smoke as they moved to descend into the steps, it’s already nearing dawn and they haven’t eaten yet. Naruto was saved when Sasuke told him that his maids hold out a feast for the visitors every night during the festival and there’d probably lots of food waiting for them in the Uchiha compound.

In the process of going back to the foot of the mountain, Naruto was lagging behind, whenever Sasuke would call out to him to hurry up, he would snap back as if he was always in a daze, it unnerved Sasuke not only because he was also eager to eat and sleep, but because ever since that time in the temple, Naruto had been acting awfully quiet.

“Sasuke?”

“What? Do you need to sit again?” Getting down the damn thousand steps stairs were much easier than going up, why was it that Naruto kept holding them down?

Sasuke looked over his shoulder, surprised that Naruto hadn’t moved from his position earlier when they stopped to take a rest, they were at least five meters away from each other.

Considering the distance, and the volume to which Naruto had said it, Sasuke couldn’t have heard his words, but that time, when Naruto opened his mouth and said those words quietly, he heard each and every word as he read each movement of that thick lipped mouth. From behind Naruto, the rays of the sun had started to break through the clouds, shadowing his face save for his nose and lips.

“Have you ever wondered what it would feel like to become human?”

END OF CHAPTER THREE

You are my friend, aa you still remember/ the dream we ha~d tha~~t day don’t you?// You are my dream aa, we are just starting, you are my long lost friend, woah it’s time to get mo~ving!

The distance, one of Shipuuden’s ending songs, is probably the only Japanese song in my opinion, with a translated lyric that I can sing with its English subtitle without insulting the tone and voice of it. It just fits perfectly! And let me share a personal experience with you on the said song, while I was singing this, when the words, ‘Everyday, lit up by the shine ahead’, Sakura’s face came appearing on the screen, and I mistook some of the words on the subtitle. I burst out laughing. It just sounded so perfect for her. Lit up by the shiny (fore) head! Nyahaha! No, don’t misunderstand me, I don’t hate her.