Sealed

Sealed
VI

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Author: Ms. Trick

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Note: Reviews make my life. No seriously.

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Chapter 6

Naruto yawned widely and watched Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. Sakura and Temari were casually hanging over the bridge’s railing, soaking in the morning sun. The pink-haired kunoichi wondered if she should apologize to her dark-eyed crush for making a scene.

Screw that! part of her mind screamed. She had meant every word and she wasn’t going to take them back now.

Besides, Sasuke would probably just get even more pissed off if she tried to say sorry. Sakura sighed and Temari looked curiously at her with one eye before lazily closing it.

Sakura blinked in the sunshine and then noticed something that made her not just a little jealous. She squinted to make sure it wasn’t a trick of the light. Naruto had his arms folded behind his head as he attempted to fall back asleep while standing. On his left arm, the spiral insignia was in its usual place and now on the arm opposite was the Uchiha fan.

Sakura looked away, not really wanting to stare at more proof that Sasuke was slipping further and further out of the realm of possibility. But turning her gaze to Sasuke only made her feel worse as the left sleeve of his dark shirt now bore a red Uzumaki spiral. He didn’t have the dangling addition that Naruto’s had but it was there, sharp and simple.

While casually analyzing Naruto’s grumpy demeanour, Sakura daydreamed about starting an affair with Sasuke. Just as she was imagining sneaking away from Temari at a fancy ball to illicitly meet Sasuke on a balcony, her mind clicked like a calculator finished with an equation; Naruto was grouchier than usual because he was probably wondering exactly how to treat the person he considered his life-long rival and best friend.

Sakura’s daydream floated away like smoke as she dissected her male team mates’ actions. Despite having been frickin’ wed yesterday, they were both pretending that nothing had changed between them. But, Sakura thought, the very fact that they were pretending everything was normal was proof that something wasn’t. Their relation to one another had changed and they were involuntarily changing with it.

Unsure how to act, Sasuke merely avoided this by treating the marriage as a type of business partnership and Naruto just retreated to being immatu--

“OW!” Sakura hollered a hand flying up to cover her forehead, which Temari had just flicked.

“Stop thinking about it so much, forehead girl,” Temari said, refolding her arms.

Kakashi approached the bridge at a snail’s pace. The four watched him amble up the street languidly, his nose hidden in his book. He occasionally stopped to glance into a shop window and every time he did, Temari’s scowl got a little deeper, Sakura squeezed the railing a little harder, Sasuke’s fingers drummed a little faster, and Naruto got a little closer to falling completely asleep.

The masked jounin absently wondered how much murderous intent he could build up in his students before the bridge caught fire. By the time he got there, Sasuke seemed to have figured out that their sensei was doing it just to get a rise out of them and so appeared determined not to appear as agitated as he really was.

Kakashi bonked Naruto on the head with Icha Icha Paradise and (ignoring Naruto’s grumbles) explained that, “Parts of the village are still in need of repair and the Godaime stated that couples are supposed to work together to bond. So, Sakura, Temari, you will be lending a hand to the reconstruction of the entrance gate and Sasuke, Naruto, on the far side of town Tsubaki-san needs help rebuilding part of her house.”

“Fine! Easy!” Naruto crowed.

Sasuke scoffed. “Considering your history with D-rank missions? Not likely.”

“What was that?” Naruto snapped.

Kakashi, once again using his reading material as a prop, waved it between the two boys, as though trying to physically dissipate the impending brawl.

“Sasuke, I need to talk to you.” Kakashi tilted his head and lead Sasuke away from the other three.

Temari waited with her hands on her hips for Sakura to adjust something in her shoe. Then they both bid goodbye to Naruto, who was too busy scrutinizing Kakashi and Sasuke do much besides half-heartedly wave.

A paranoid part of Naruto wondered if they were discussing the fox. His fingers curled around his navel as he considered the implications of Sasuke’s new knowledge about him. So far, Sasuke hadn't seemed surprised or disgusted. He had treated him as he always had. But...would he still see Naruto as a worthy opponent?

- - - - -

“LEE! FORGIVENESS AND STRENGTH OF THE HEART ARE THE ESSENCE OF YOUTH!”

“YES, GAI-SENSEI!”

And so Lee headed off to meet Gaara at their worksite with his head held high and a broad smile on his face.

“Gaara!” He exclaimed happily, hand waving jovially as he approached the stoic redhead. “I vow from now on to fully accept you as my life partner and possible lover!”

The spandex-clad boy struck the nice-guy pose and jammed his thumb out. His teeth caught the morning rays and sparkled.

Gaara stared at the thumb that was approximately an inch and a half from his nose.

“...okay,” he said, coming to the conclusion that outbursts like this were probably going to happen a lot. He should really start getting used to them now.

A hammer appeared in Lee’s hand and he held it out. No sooner had Gaara taken it then a pile of wooden planks appeared in the taller boy’s arms.

Lee ambled over to where one or two others were patching up the remains of a shop’s demolished front wall. Gaara scooped down, picked up a bucket of shiny nails and followed, gripping the hammer.

“I’ll hold the beam and you nail it in place, okay?” Lee said, enthusiasm bubbling out.

He placed the pile of wooden boards at the foot of the wall before picking one up and putting it in its designated place with a flourish. Gaara looked at his cheerful fiancé and then ran his eyes up and down the board, wondering if the right place to nail would start glowing to make itself known. When it became painfully obvious that that wasn’t happening, Gaara gave Lee a questioning look.

Though loud and outspoken, being on the same team as Hyuuga Neji meant Lee did have some experience in deciphering quiet people.

“You’ve never nailed anything before in your life, have you?” Lee asked, a little cheekily.

Gaara suppressed any embarrassment. It wasn’t his fault he’d never had to do this kind of work before.

“I was the youngest child of the Kazekage,” Gaara supplied. “Monster or not, if I didn’t want to hold my toothbrush while I brushed, someone would do it for me.”

“Did that ever happen?”

“No. But it was a distinct possibility.”

“Ah.” Lee paused and contemplated their situation. He looked at the board and then looked at Gaara. “Got it! You can hold the nails in place while I hammer, ‘cause if I accidentally miss, your sand will protect you from injury.”

This plan being not only acceptable but logical, Gaara nodded. “Agreed.”

As the two switched places, Lee was starting to note that Gaara really wasn’t quite the soulless opponent that had battled him before. Lee shook his head in amazement. Naruto-kun, you really are something, he thought.

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“Move,” Temari said brusquely, nudging Sakura with her shoulder.

Sakura glared as she swung back and forth. Both were hanging high on the entrance gate from ropes tied around their waists. Each girl had a bucket of sea green paint in hand and was sweeping a large brush across the newly reconstructed entrance doors.

“I’m not finished,” Sakura snapped, jerkily indicating the part of the door she was still working on. Some green paint stickily drizzled from their prone brushes.

“So, hurry up.”

“UGH!”

Sakura swallowed down her violent inner voice and continued painting. She ignored how the ropes were chafing her hands and tried to figure out what she’d done to annoy her fiancée in the last few days. The Sand kunoichi had been a little, well, bitchier than usual.

An irritated sigh came from her left.

This is ridiculous, Sakura thought. She’s not the type to tell me what’s wrong right off the bat...so start small. Like conversation. What do we have in common?

Well, they were both girls...there were some topics that were simply universal.

“So...Sasuke looked really good in his wedding outfit.”

“I thought you didn’t go,” Temari said.

“I saw pictures...and you went,” Sakura offered.

Temari realised Sakura was actually making an effort. The younger girl steadily went about her painting as she waited for a reply. Temari shook her head.

“Yeah, he looked pretty damn hot. You should’ve gone just for that.”

Sakura laughed. “I think I’ll get some of those pictures of him framed.”

“We can put it above our bed,” Temari sniggered.

“Naruto didn’t look too bad either...except for the stupid face paint. Oh, that reminds me... why isn’t your other brother here?” Sakura asked curiously. She wasn’t about to admit that she was rather glad he wasn’t. She could get used to Temari and she could hopefully fly under Gaara’s radar, but she could never see Kankurou as anything but a bully, brother-in-law or not.

“Kankurou already has a Sand bride-to-be,” Temari supplied as they released their ropes some, moving to an unpainted part of the door. “He’s expected to take Father’s place as Kazekage, so right now they’re training hi--”

The sound of a house partly collapsing nearby cut her off.

Sakura squinted and saw Hinata standing in front of the wreckage with her hands in front of her, probably in the Byakugen seal.

Hinata watched as Kiba and Akamaru approached her from amidst the rubble and then turned her gaze to the section of the house still standing.

“One second, Kiba-kun,” she said as her white eyes scanned the walls and beams, calculating the points where Kiba could do the most damage without getting hurt.

“Th-there, I think,” she said, indicating the upper part of the main wall. “You should be able to go straight through it to get out. And it should take down the r-rest of the house.”

“Alright! Stay here for this one, Akamaru!” Kiba called as he went towards the wall at a run.

At first, they had been surprised; neither Hinata nor Kiba thought she’d ever be assigned a task in destruction. Kiba’s large attacks were perfect for it but the Godaime seemed to know what she was talking about; Hinata’s sight was turning out to be an unexpected asset.

He glanced back at her before focusing his full attention on his task. She had activated the Byakugen again and was tracking him intently. Akamaru was at her side.

He whimpered slightly and pawed at her leg. She looked down at him and then nervously scrutinized the house once more. Her eyes zeroed in on the roof.

“Oh no...” She whispered, frightened, and then raced the short distance to the house, little white dog on her heels.

“Gatsuuga!”

“NO!” She screamed, but he didn’t hear her.

Kiba’s whirling jutsu blasted through the wall and the structure shuddered before crumbling haphazardly. Kiba’s movements stuttered to a stop as he slowed his spin. He regained his grounding just in time to notice that a wooden beam had slid off the collapsing roof and was plummeting towards him.

His eyes widened and he took a juddering step back before a small and surprisingly strong body ploughed into him. They landed hard in a tangled heap in the grass and a second later, the beam slammed into the ground with an ominous crunch barely more than a foot away.

“Whoo...that was close!” Kiba called loudly. “Hinata? You okay?”

“Y-yes,” the Hyuuga girl said, shaking slightly.

Akamaru yipped happily. Suddenly realising she was on top of Kiba, Hinata blushed horribly and sat up off him. Kiba stroked Akamaru’s head.

“You saved my life,” he said to her with a grin. But she shook her head.

“I m-made a mistake. I nearly killed you,” she said, hanging her head a little. “Akamaru saved you.”

“Nah!” Kiba said loudly. “You got those eyes of yours. Oh, hey! What’s your rotten cousin doing?”

“He’s not so bad anymore,” Hinata said in a small voice, though a smile was creeping onto her face. “He and TenTen are, um, building something. Her aim is really helpful.”

“I bet,” Kiba said, climbing to his feet. He tucked Akamaru into his coat and then extended his hand to the girl sitting demurely on the ground, looking like she thought she belonged there.

As she took it and he pulled her to her feet, a voice hollered, “Oi! Kiba!”

They both looked over to find Chouji waving from across the street. Next to him was his fiancée from the Hidden Village of Mist.

“What’s her name, again?” Kiba mumbled as he waved.

“Kari?” Hinata muttered back.

“Want to get barbeque with me and Koori?” Chouji yelled.

“Oops,” Hinata said.

“Can’t!” Kiba called out. “Hinata and I have to spend the afternoon getting ready.”

Chouji nodded. “Right. I’ll see you tonight then!”

Chouji had taken pains to assure his future bride that she would never have to cook if she didn’t want to. She had giggled and asked what they would do for food. Chouji then decided that she promptly needed to experience the joys of barbeque. So that’s where they were headed.

“Tell me about your team mates, Chouji! Are they marrying who they want?” She said enthusiastically, tucking on a lock of hair back into her forehead protector, which she wore at an angle like a headband. Judging by Koori’s outfit, which flattered her curvaceous body, Chouji guessed (and was slowly learning he was right) that she was more into fashion and gossip than ninja techniques.

“Mmm...well, Shikamaru didn’t want to marry anyone really. And Ino wanted Sasuke like every other girl. They work alright together though, Shikamaru and Ino. I think they were fixing cracks on Third’s face today. Ah, I see them,” he said as they approached the barbeque place.

“Well, I don’t think that Sasuke guy’s all that good looking,” Koori said, toying with her hair again. “He’s so...small,” she continued, hands coming down to rest on her hips defiantly.

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On a tiny vegetable farm a little outside the bustling centre of the village, Sasuke sneezed.

Tsubaki, being fairly independent, was nearly finished reconstructing her three-room cottage. All that had been left for Sasuke and Naruto to do was complete and reinforce the roof.

Before embarking on a shopping trip, Tsubaki had told the boys that she had used a combination of wooden slats and common tiles in making the roof, so would they please continue in that manner?

Bored, Sasuke carried a stack of tiles across the rooftop and, feeling the need to outdo his team mate/husband/rival, Naruto decided to carry two. Of course, in his haste, he had nearly dropped them, and Sasuke had had to move quickly to save the breakable tiles from sliding off the roof.

Their project was taking longer than Sasuke had expected it to. The tension lacing their cooperation only served to slow time down to a tedious crawl.

“Dobe, use kagebunshin,” he finally called, his voice more like a command than a suggestion. Not that that was anything new.

Blue eyes narrowed. “Don’t act like you’re in charge. Wait, why?”

Sasuke’s cool gaze was pissing Naruto off.

“It’s a good idea,” the dark-haired boy said, exasperated. “Look at where the sun is; we won’t be finished by sunset, which means we’ll have to return tomorrow. So use kagebunshin.”

Naruto knew Sasuke was right. And he didn’t want to have to come all the way out here tomorrow, but that didn’t mean he was going to listen.

“Why don’t you use it?” Naruto said, his attitude defiant. In the back of his mind, he chuckled, wondering if he could get Sasuke to say that he was stronger.

Sasuke saw through the question and glared. “Cause some of us don’t have back-up chakra to thoughtlessly fuel clones, idiot.”

Naruto blinked in surprise. Though he had guessed it would happen someday, he hadn’t expected Sasuke to bring up the existence of the fox quite yet.

“What?!” Naruto exploded, throwing a punch, which Sasuke deflected.

“That it?” The dark-haired boy sneered.

Naruto could almost feel Sasuke’s pale fingers pushing his buttons but he didn’t care.

“What should I be using as ‘back-up’ then, you bastard? Hatred?” Naruto snarled, throwing several more punches, all of which Sasuke dodged. But at this remark, Sasuke’s glare darkened and he threw a punch of his own.

“Hah,” Naruto continued, blocking it. “Like hatred even works.”

“Oh, and I suppose protecting people does?”

Naruto scowled, his temper flaring. “Yeah, it does, asshole.”

He threw a volley of rapid fire punches, which Sasuke guarded against expertly until one got through and hit him square in the chest. The dark-haired boy flew backwards and landed hard on the roof.

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Naruto smirked, pushing thought and wedding ceremonies and anything else out of his mind. He refused to think that Sasuke would hate him because of Kyuubi like the rest of the village. He wasn’t sure how to prove that he, and not the fox, was stronger than Sasuke, but right now wasn’t the time to think about that. So his fists would have to suffice.

When Sasuke looked up, his eyes were red. Naruto barely had time to brace himself before Sasuke shot across the roof and tackled the blonde full on. Naruto felt his shoulder bruise as he hit the roof tiles with Sasuke on top of him.

“Right. It’s working so well right now,” Sasuke mocked, his hand around Naruto’s neck. He drew back the other in a fist.

Naruto’s hands flew and gripped Sasuke’s wrist so as to pry the pressure away from his throat enough to gasp out,

“Well, hatred didn’t work so well against your brother last ti--”

He was cut off by Sasuke’s fist crashing into his face, which Naruto knew would be harder than necessary as soon as he’d said the word ‘brother’.

But...Sasuke wouldn’t accept that he wasn’t strong without the fox on a physical level, so then maybe if Naruto could hurt him back on the emotional level, like Sasuke’s denial was doing to him...maybe he’d find a playing ground that, though ugly and harsh, was at least equal.

Naruto wasn’t sure he liked that idea but he wasn’t sure what else he had either. Sasuke probably wasn’t too happy with it himself, Naruto thought wryly.

Sasuke sent another punch plummeting towards Naruto’s face but the blond had sense enough to block this time. He then latched onto Sasuke’s wrists and held them fast with a grip infused with chakra. Sasuke grunted and tried to pull away while his red eyes watched for Naruto’s next attack. But it didn’t come, Naruto just used brute strength to hold him in place.

And it was making Sasuke furious. He thrashed, doing his best to knee Naruto somewhere it would hurt tomorrow. But the awkward position limited his movement considerably.

Sasuke grit his teeth in vicious frustration, debating whether headbutting the blonde to get him to let go would be worth the dizzying headache bound to come as a backlash from such an attack.

“Naruto, let go!” He eventually snarled, sounding more desperate than he’d intended.

“Being powerless, even a little bit, is the worst thing ever for you, huh?” Naruto said, sounding curious, sincere, horribly accurate, and slightly strained; it was taking nearly all his energy to keep his grip on the other boy.

Sasuke stared Naruto straight in the eye and pressed his lips into a tight line. Naruto met his harsh gaze with a look of honesty and pure curiosity, and Sasuke realised that all the antagonism from earlier was almost completely gone from the blue-eyed boy.

Yes, being powerless scared Sasuke. No, more than that, it disgusted him. He needed power. Gaining it and using it was his only goal in life, and falling short of that, in any way, made Sasuke blatantly unable to stand himself. He’d choose death over remaining weak, and he was horribly sure that that was written all over his face right now.

Sasuke’s mouth opened as he breathed heavily from exertion, and then he leant down and fitted it against Naruto’s. Shocked, Naruto’s eyes widened and his grip faltered. Sasuke wrenched his hands free and then a moment later, hurriedly pulled his mouth away with a soft, wet sound that would replay in Naruto’s mind for the rest of the evening.

Sasuke pushed himself off the blonde and tore away, running across the roof and leaping over the edge, leaving Naruto staring at the sky, surrounded by unlaid tiles, and resting the back of his hand against his lips.

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