Demon Hunters

During the first few periods of class, Naruto noticed a certain raven-haired boy staring at him. It was slightly unnerving having those dark eyes watching his every move. A few times Naruto looked back to glared at Sasuke, hoping this would make him stop. But he kept staring, seemingly un-phased by the blonde’s glares.



Naruto could think of no logical reason for the bastard to be staring at him. After another failed glaring attempt, Naruto turned back to face the front of the class. This morning Sasuke’s personality seemed to make a complete turnabout. He had greeted the blond pleasantly enough, and had even walked to class with him; though, the walk had been in silence. The blond was wary of the raven’s newfound kindness; he was still a bastard as far as he was concerned. Naruto felt like Sasuke was setting him up for something, and his suspicion was setting him on edge.



Still feeling those eyes boring holes into the back of his head, Naruto turned around, shooting Sasuke another glare. The raven didn’t so much as blink, and Naruto turned around again with an irritated huff. He really wanted the Uchiha to stop staring.



“He’s staring at you quite intently,” Kyuubi quipped, “must be love.”



Naruto rolled his eyes at the fox demon’s comment.



“Stupid fox,” Naruto muttered inaudibly.



Kyuubi chuckled, hearing Naruto’s word’s before they even left his mouth.



“He’s a cold bastard, and he’s up to something. I can feel it. He’s trying too hard to be nice to me, when he knows I hate him,” Naruto again mouthed silently.



“Hate?” Kyuubi scoffed, “Please, Kit. I can see many of your thoughts, and I know enough to see that you don’t actually hate him. I think you like him.”



“How could you possibly think that I like that bastard? Psycho fox. First you decide to take up residence in my body, without my permission; then you go making stupid assumptions about that bastard and me,” Naruto muttered under his breath and turned once more to glare at the Uchiha.



Sasuke was amused at the blonde’s antics. He continued to turn around and glare at him, and when he found the raven to be immovable, he turned back around in irritation. Sasuke had lost count of how many times he had been glared at. They had another half hour in class; something told Sasuke that Naruto would be sending him at least a few more glares before the period was over.



Naruto, now thoroughly annoyed with Sasuke’s staring, did the most appropriate thing he could think of. He closed his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the raven-haired teen, then turned back to face the front of the class.



Sasuke smirked at the blonde’s childishness. At the very least, his assignment wouldn’t be boring.



To Naruto’s utter relief the lunch hour was quickly approaching. He couldn’t wait to get away from Sasuke’s relentless staring. It was really starting to creep him out. Finally the bell rang, announcing the start of the lunch hour. Naruto jumped up in a hurry, jamming all his papers into his bag, and ran out of the classroom.



Seeing this, Sasuke just smirked. It wasn’t like he didn’t know where the blond would be eating lunch.



Naruto relaxed a fraction now that the raven’s eyes weren’t on him. After spotting Haku waiting for him at the entrance to the cafeteria, he greeted him and they stood in line to buy their lunches. Naruto had purchased four cups of instant ramen, while Haku bought two pork buns.



“Naruto, I was thinking that we should probably do some more investigating after school today. Are you up for it?” Haku asked.



“Yeah, that’s fine by me,” Naruto stated, noting that Haku was taking them to sit with Kiba and his group.



Haku quickly took note of the blonde’s missing enthusiasm. Something was definitely wrong; Haku wondered if it had anything to do with Naruto’s odd behavior this morning.



Naruto was absorbed in thoughts of Sasuke. Mainly, if the bastard would be joining them for lunch today. The blond didn’t know if he could withstand another confrontation with the raven; they were mentally taxing. Naruto let out an audible groan. Haku opened his mouth as if to say something to the blond, but was cut off.



“Something wrong, Naruto?” asked Sasuke, looking at the blond with interest.



Startling out of his somewhat dazed state, Naruto gaped at the dark haired boy – there was definitely something wrong with what the bastard had just said.



“What’s wrong?” Sasuke repeated, sounding a little defensive.



“You just called me by my first name,” Naruto stated, suspiciously.



Haku, taking in his friend’s strange state decided that there was definitely something going on with the Uchiha that Naruto wasn’t sharing with him. He had never seen the blond act like this towards anyone; it was almost surreal.



“So?” Sasuke stated dryly, “What’s wrong with me calling you by your first name? That is why you have a name isn’t it?”



Naruto flushed with embarrassment at his own stupidity.



“Bastard,” Naruto hissed, preparing himself for a verbal battle.



“Whatever, just sit down already,” Sasuke sighed and motioned for Naruto to sit next to him.



The blond instantly deflated at the raven’s lack of aggression. Naruto looked at the raven-haired teen with suspicion, but sat down anyway – if for no other reason than to prevent himself from looking stupid again. Haku watched the interaction with much interest.



“Haku,” called a familiar voice.



Haku turned to gaze at the young man that seemed so familiar.



“Zabuza-san,” the name rolled easily off Haku’s tongue.



Zabuza smiled at Haku warmly and motioned for him to sit next to him. The brunette figured that Naruto would be (mostly) okay with the Uchiha, and walked over to Zabuza.



Zabuza had seated himself under a rather large oak tree, in a somewhat secluded spot away from the rest of the group. Haku sat down, silently next to him, and started to un-wrap his pork buns. Zabuza’s eyes never left Haku, seemingly mesmerized by every move he made. Haku noticed that Zabuza was staring, and felt embarrassment tint his cheeks a light shade of pink.



“Is something the matter, Zabuza-san?” asked Haku, not daring to make eye contact with the older boy.



“There’s no need for formalities, Haku,” Zabuza stated, still staring at Haku intently.



“You didn’t answer my question,” Haku said, keeping his gaze focused on the pork bun he was now nibbling on.



Hesitantly, Zabuza reached out for Haku’s waist, and wrapped his arm securely around the young boy, pulling him close. Haku gasped at the sudden action as heat rushed to his cheeks. Zabuza’s strong arms pulled Haku into a position where he was straddling Zabuza’s lap.



“Zabuza?”



Zabuza looked longingly into Haku’s eyes, and placed his right hand on the small of Haku’s back, while his left hand drifted to the boy’s long, silky hair. He didn’t know what had come over him; he had been overwhelmed with the need to touch the beautiful brunette.



“Don’t worry. They can’t see us,” Zabuza whispered into Haku’s ear, making the boy in his lap shiver slightly.



With deliberate slowness, Zabuza began to close the gap between them. As not to scare him, Zabuza placed his warm lips to Haku’s soft pale ones in a chaste kiss. It was sweet, and full of hope and uncertainty.



They both sat like that for a moment; lips connected. Zabuza began to panic when Haku didn’t respond to the kiss. Then, as if reading Zabuza’s thoughts, Haku tentatively moved his lips against the older boys. Slowly, Haku applied pressure to the kiss, and Zabuza returned the force happily. The kiss remained innocent; pleasing both parties. With a sigh from Haku’s lips the kiss ended, and both boys were left to gaze at each other trying to convey feelings that neither knew quite how to say.



“Haku, I--” Zabuza started, but was cut-off mid-sentence.



“Bastard!”



“Dobe!”



“Please, stop fighting you two,” a meek voice interjected.



“Stay out of this, Hinata,” growled a miffed Uchiha.



“Don’t talk to Hinata-chan that way, bastard,” yelled the blond boy, pulling Sasuke up by the collar of his uniform blazer.



Sasuke was unsure of what had transpired in the last few minutes. First, when he and Naruto had started talking, they seemed to be hitting it off pretty well. Then the blond had gone and said that he was glad that someone had removed the stick from Sasuke’s ass. Now, if Sasuke had been of his right mind, this comment wouldn’t have bothered him. But the fact that he hadn’t gotten much rest, coupled with the fact that the reason he hadn’t slept was because of the blond (in one way or another); Sasuke was a ticking time-bomb and Naruto’s last comment had set off the detonator. The next thing Sasuke knew, he was tearing the blond down; calling him a dead-last loser, and a few other unfriendly phrases that the raven wasn’t proud of.



Naruto had him by the collar of his blazer, and was reeling back an arm. Sasuke glared at the blond and quickly grabbed his shirt collar with his right hand, and with the other pried the offending hand off his blazer.



“Enough! Naruto,” a soothing but stern voice called out amidst the confusion.



Both Naruto and Sasuke turned to look at the boy that had emerged from behind the large tree, followed shortly after by Zabuza. Seeing no other option, Sasuke let go of Naruto’s collar but firmly grasped the blonde’s arm, and then proceeded to drag him off in the general direction of the gym.



“Wait,” Haku started, but was quickly stopped by a firm hand placed on his delicate shoulder.



“Let them go, Haku. Sasuke won’t do anything to harm him,” Zabuza said reassuringly, smiling down at Haku.



“It’s not Naruto I’m worried about,” Haku mumbled to himself.



Though Haku was still a little skeptical about either of the boys returning unharmed, he let them go all the same.



…



“Hey! Bastard, where are we going?” Naruto asked as he was pulled alongside the raven-haired boy.



Sasuke pretended not to hear the blond. He was too busy berating himself to answer, anyway. He knew that the he hadn’t exactly been the most friendly person to the blond, which complicated things. He had a mission to fulfill, and he shouldn’t have let the blonde’s comment affect him so much. He knew this, and yet the blond he dragged alongside him got under his skin and made him feel – something that Sasuke hadn’t done since he’d began his work for that man (he still would not call him his master).



Soon, with much protest on Naruto’s part, both boys were safely behind the gym. Sasuke slowly loosened his grip on the indignant blond. Taking a deep breath, the raven – who had his head turned away from Naruto since they headed towards the gym – turned to look at the blond.



“I’m sorry,” Sasuke breathed.



Not trusting his hearing, the blond boy quieted for a moment.



“What did you say?”



The raven-haired boy muttered something about dumb blondes, then looked Naruto straight in the eyes and said; “I’m sorry.”



The look Sasuke was giving the blond was enough to make his chest constrict; it made Naruto all kinds of confused. With Sasuke’s intense gaze still piercing him, Naruto swallowed hard and asked: “Why?” a little more breathlessly than he would have liked.



Sasuke abruptly looked down. He was at a loss; he couldn’t tell the blond the truth – that would be beyond stupid. Seeing that Sasuke was having trouble answering his question, Naruto just put his hand over Sasuke’s; which was still firmly grasping his arm. If the Uchiha was going to try to be nice to him, then Naruto would try to make nice too.



“It’s all right,” Naruto said with a small, but genuine smile.



On the inside Sasuke was in a slight state of panic; Naruto was touching his hand – a gesture the Uchiha had not been expecting. But on the outside Sasuke remained as impassive as ever. A little voice in his head kept insisting that something was wrong; he should not be thinking that a small touch was a big deal. And somehow, to him, it was. He liked how Naruto’s warmth seemed to warm him all the way to his bones; and this (of course) confused the Uchiha further. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched like this; with reassurance. It seemed like another lifetime ago. Sasuke was treading in unknown territory now.



The raven could only come to one conclusion: something was definitely wrong with him.









-----TBC-----

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