Year of the Fox

Disclaimer:
Blablabla...I don't own anything. I have no money. Kishimoto kills off all my faves x_x

Author's Notes:
OMG! I AM SO SORRY THIS CHAPTER IS ALMOST TWO (or is it three? O_O) MONTHS LATE!!!!
Summer came and it was my birthday and things got really hectic, and then my friends started leaving for university and stuff and....Somewhere in the middle of it I went into the most hellish slump yet.
It took me two months to finish a DRABBLE people! D:

The most disturbing thing though, is that the day after I posted chapter 6, I was on fire, and had only like 3 pages to go to have this chapter finished too! So I got overconfident..and then BANG! I lost all of my inspiration. ^^;; And Saske is just as cooperative as always. *huge frown*

I know that there's alot of lame stuff in this chapter (again), and that it seems like Sasuke is constantly changing his mind and opinions, and in a way...he is. The kid is twisted, let's give him a chance.
I need things to seem a bit confusing at the time for the plot to work atm. But I think that it'll all clear up from the next chapter forward, so please put up with my stupidity for a bit longer! *gives cookies as bribes*

Ah, also I have never played DDR, but I'm addicted to the song Love Love Shine.
And yes, I made Chiyo baa-sama the president of the orphanage, because she was the only old person who approves of Naruto and wasn't already planned to be among the teachers. so yeah. Random. But I think it works.

Just one more thing; I just finished this chapter so Nicole hasn't looked at it yet. But it'll probably be Beta'd in the nearest future.
And i'll try to update again SOON! Next Friday at the latest. *nod to self*

Thanks. ^3^

Gogatsu

"Are you guys going anywhere for Golden Week?" Naruto asked.
"I'm going to visit my grandma, but only for the weekend."
"My mother is dragging me and my dad to Kyoto..." Shikamaru rolled his eyes, placing his coffee cup on the table before them.
"What are you doing Naruto?"
"Nothing really... We're taking the kids out on Children's Day though."
"Where?"
"To the park. There's a lot of stuff going on there every year."
"Sounds fun."
"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "But tiresome. More than twenty kids to keep an eye on. It's no easy job!"
Sakura laughed. "I can imagine."

It was Friday.
After school Sakura, Shikamaru and Naruto had stopped by the bakery to do some homework and treat themselves to some cake.
Now Kiba came through the door, with Shino tagging behind.
He plopped down on the chair next to Naruto. Shino remained standing.
"Can't talk!" Kiba grabbed Naruto's plate, helping himself to some cake. "Akamaru is tied up outside. He hates to be alone. He'll start biting people's legs..."
"Get your own cake! Moocher!" Naruto snagged the plate back from him.
Kiba grinned.
"You have crumbs on your face." Shikamaru stated.
"We're not doing anything this weekend, are we?"
"No one has planned anything...Why?"
"We're taking the dogs to the next town, for this huge dogshow. Akamaru's entering."
"Cool!"
"Yeah. I just hope he's nice to the judges..."
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure he'll behave."
Kiba snatched Naruto's soda bottle, drank half of it and stood. "I'm off! I'll call you when we're at the show!"
"Good luck!"
"See ya!"
"Moocher..."

Kiba disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared, with Shino following behind him, carrying with him a paper bag. Naruto winced. When had he moved to the counter and ordered something?! He shook his head. That guy was still creeping him out a little.
He turned back to his friends.
"What are you reading?" he asked.
Sakura looked up from her book. "French." she replied with a grimace. "Je déteste le français!"
Naruto stared blankly at her.
"I don't speak French." she explained.
"That translates into 'I hate French.'" Shikamaru translated.
Naruto laughed. He sipped at his soda, glancing out the window.
A van passed by, some school girls walked down the street laughing.
On the other side of the road, he thought he spotted Sasuke.
He looked closer. It was definitely him.

Over the last week Sasuke had more or less allowed himself to tag along with the group.
Rather than insulting Naruto he pretty much kept quiet most of the time. But the blonde looked at it as an improvement.
It might not be friendship, but Sasuke was friendlier. Somehow.
Still, Naruto hadn't brought up the years passed since that night in Sasuke's car. With Sasuke being the way he was there had been no opportunities for him to bring it up. And they hadn't been alone either.

Now he ran out of the bakery, out on the sidewalk.
"Oi! Sasuke! Sasuke-teme!"
The Uchiha looked at him. He didn't greet him in any way, but turned on his heel, and started crossing the street, hands in his pockets.

"What do you want dobe?" he asked.
"I just thought you might want to join us?"
"Join you?" he gazed over Naruto's shoulder, in the window. He spotted Sakura, and his expression changed for a brief second.
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"I have to be somewhere."
"Where?"
"None of your business."
"Fine." Naruto shrugged. "When?"
"About thirty minutes." Sasuke glanced at his wrist watch.
It looked expensive.
"Then you have time to join us."
Sasuke sighed, but followed him inside the bakery.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed. "Shikamaru move!"
She pushed the brunette aside.
Sasuke grabbed a chair from a free table however, and sat at the end of the table.
"You have plans this week?" Sakura asked.
"Not sure." Sasuke replied. He seemed fairly uninterested.
"You have to do something with us again! It was so nice the last time!"
He didn't respond.
Clearly the girl thought of Sasuke as a part of the group. What he felt was unclear.
"Hey Shika," Naruto shoved the plate aside. "Did you start the math assignments yet?"
"No. I've been focusing on the science."
"Genius." the blonde muttered under his breath. "What about you Sakura?"
"No." she shook her head, taking a sip of her milkshake.
"Damn it. I totally suck at math." Naruto played with his spoon. "I looked it over, and I didn't understand one of the exercises!"
He turned to Sasuke, a sly grin spreading on his face. "Ne..."
"Forget it." Sasuke stood from the chair.
"But you've done it?"
"Started it."
"So can I...?"
"No."
"Sasuke, please!"
The Uchiha chose to ignore him.
"Come on, we're friends, aren't we?"
"Since when are we friends?"
"That's a little harsh!" Sakura giggled.
"You don't mean that!" Naruto grinned even wider. "Please?"
He was determined to make Sasuke think of him as a friend. If he didn't, Naruto wouldn't care. He'd still act that way, so he could get close enough to him to ask.

Sasuke tossed his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door.
Seconds later the bell rang as he exited.

Naruto sighed. "He's so impossible!"
"Who can blame him for not wanting you to copy his homework?"
"You just let me copy yours!"
"And neither of us should be proud of it." she pointed out.
"It's not like Kakashi-sensei cares much about if we do it or not anyway! Right Shika?"
Shikamaru's 'troublesome' was ignored.


The next day, Naruto met with Chouji at the mall.
It was Chouji who'd called, wondering if Naruto bothered to come with him to get some stuff he needed for school.
"You know you're supposed to have most of these things at the start of the semester, right?" Naruto said, looking over the list Chouji had given to him.
"Yeah, well...I haven't had any use for it until now."
"You haven't had any use for pencils?" Naruto was not convinced.
"There's a perfectly good explanation for that. Akamaru ate my old ones."
"You're blaming Kiba's dog?"
"He did! It's scary! He eats everything! Why do you think I never bring food over there?"
Naruto laughed. "I wonder how that dogshow is going!"
"You can say that again!" Chouji agreed. "I don't expect Akamaru to behave for more than ten seconds in front of an audience."
"Well, he's gotta start somewhere, right?"
Chouji nodded.
"What's next?"
"Erasers?"
"Akamaru ate those too?!"
"Nah, they just keep disappearing. I have no idea where they go." the boy frowned.
"I know what you mean," Naruto said. "The kids keep snagging mine...But I just steal new ones form Iruka-sensei."
"Isn't it...Troublesome to live with all those kids?"
Naruto lifted an eyebrow. "Who are you? Shikamaru?" he laughed, but the other boy seemed serious.. "No....It's crowded and noisy, sure. But I'm so used to it. And they're all like younger siblings really..."
"So you don't mind?"
"Sure, it'd be nice to have some space once in a while. But it's more positive than negative, to put it that way."
Chouji nodded.
"Besides, I share a room with Gaara, and they rarely come up there. They respect him."
"I can understand why."
Naruto gently nudged his friend. "He's not that bad! He's just...reserved." he smiled.
He kinda felt bad for spending so much time with everyone else, and leaving Gaara at home. But what was he supposed to do? Force Gaara to come along?
That would never work.
And the red hadn't said anything.
He usually expressed it if something bothered him.

Naruto nodded to himself. Gaara was fine. There was no need for him to worry.
Especially since he had enough on his mind already.

After making sure they had everything on the list, they treated themselves to ice cream and some fries.
They sat at the food court, watching the people who stressed about around them.
It was almost like watching an anthill. Everyone was busy with their own stuff, rushing about, trying to get as much done in as little time as possible.
Saturdays were terrible.

Naruto took a French-fry from the plate, gazing out at the crowd.
He spotted a pink head among the strangers.
"Oi!" he stood up, waving. "Sakura-chan!"
She turned her head, looking around. Finally she spotted them.
"Naruto! Chouji!" her face broke into a smile as she made her way over to them.
Naruto slid further against the wall, making space for her on the bench.
"Thanks." she said, reaching for Naruto's soda with a questioning look.
"Go ahead." he smiled.
"What are you guys going here?"
Chouji nodded towards the bag with the book-shop logo on it. "School stuff."
"Oh." she nodded.
"What about you Sakura-chan? Out shopping with Ino again?"
She shook her head. "No, I had to get my grandma a gift. It's her birthday in a couple of days."
"Found anything yet?"
"No. It's really hard to find something for her. She's got weird tastes..." the girl shook her head. "Ino was supposed to help me, but she had to watch the shop."
"We'll help you!"
"You?" she looked from one boy to the other. "What do you guys know about buying presents for old ladies?"
"Not much..." Naruto admitted. "But three brains are better than one. Right?"
She laughed. "Fine. I'll let you tag along. It's better than wandering around by myself anyways."

One and a half hour later, they were finally on their way back.
Sakura had ended up getting a crystal vase, after Naruto suggested she could get a bouquet of flowers at the Yamanaka's store.
She'd also found a porcelain figure that was just perfect on her grandmother's mantle.
They'd found it in a store that Chouji's mom shopped at alot.
She was thrilled. "I guess you're of some use after all!"
Naruto grinned. He looked down the road.
Outside the pharmacy he spotted a familiar black car.
"Hey, wait." he stopped the two others.
"What is it Naruto?"
"I thought you said you were in a hurry?"
"That's Sasuke's car."
"Sasuke's...?"
"Yeah. Come on! We'll make him drive us!"

Naruto dragged Sakura towards the parking lot, and Chouji jogged after them.
"Naruto! Wait!" Sakura struggled to get her hand loose.
But Naruto walked just as determined towards the car.

He was going to follow up what he'd been doing all week: If waiting for Sasuke to talk didn't work, and talking to him didn't work as long as they weren't on a more friendly level with each other, the only thing he could do was spend enough time with him to make that happen.
Operation 'bond with Sasuke' was initiated.

Naruto was fully aware of how lame that sounded. Even in his own head. But he didn't care. Something had to be done, before he went crazy.

When Sasuke came out of the pharmacy, he stirred, staring at his classmates.
"Naruto? What are you doing?"
The blonde leaned against his car. "Waiting for you."
"Why?" Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.
Naruto choked a snicker. "Hey look everyone, it has emotion!"
"We thought you could give us a ride home, Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Oh really? You did?"
"Unless it's too much trouble...?" Sakura asked softly.
But Naruto knew she was just dying to get in Sasuke's car.
"I'm not even heading in that direction, dobe."
"Then where are you going?"
"The library."
"To study?" Sakura suggested.
"Biology." Sasuke replied.
"Great! We're coming with you."
"No, you are not."
"Why not?" Naruto probed.
Sasuke looked more than annoyed.
"I need to focus. I can't do that with you and your loud mouth around."
"Sure you can! And you can help me out!"
Sakura's face lit up. "Yeah! You're good at biology, right?"
"I prefer to go by myself."
"You can't stop us from coming. It's a public library." Naruto insisted.

Sasuke wanted to say "But I can stop you from getting in my car." but he didn't.
Instead he sighed with resignation.
"Fine. You have your books?"
"All I need is a sheet of paper. I can look in yours. Right?"
He rolled his eyes.
"I have mine!" Sakura patted her bag. She had intended to go to Ino's place to study afterwards, but if she got to go with Sasuke....Ino could wait. She giggled.
The blonde would be so jealous!
As she turned though, her blood was boiling. She leaned down to the window.
"Naruto!" she hissed. "Why are you in the front seat?!"
"Force of habit." he grinned.
"Just because he drove you once..."
"Sakura, just get in the car." Chouji opened the door.
She sighed, plopping down next to him.


"Just so you know, you're not copying me." Sasuke said once they were seated in the library. His book was placed between him and Naruto.
"Okay, I get it."
Sasuke 'hn'ed, and stared down at his book.
"Sasuke?"
He glared at the blonde.
"It's alright to ask for help, right?"
"Yes." Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "That's fine."
Sasuke picked up his pen, and begun writing down the answer to one of the questions.
"Then..."
He broke the pen in half as he turned to scowl at Naruto again.
"What?"
"What the heck is H2O?"
"It's WATER Naruto!" Chouji and Sakura burst into a fit of laughter.
"Is this idiot serious?!" Sasuke frowned.

Of course Naruto knew what it was. Or, at least he thought he knew what it was... He always got it mixed up with CO2. But anyway, all he was really trying to do was to get some sort of human reaction from Sasuke. Like a laughter. Or even a smile.
Just something to prove that he was indeed human, or at least that he was accepting their friendship. The way things looked right now however, it was more likely that Sasuke had absolutely no humor at all.
He looked at him, sighing. "Look here... This is grade school material! Question a: 'What is the Photosynthesis? Explain.' You should be able to do that!"
"Isn't it something about a bunch of numbers?"
"Yes..." Sasuke sighed.
Naruto chewed on his pencil. "You mind if I look for it in the book?"
"Suit yourself." the raven grunted, pushing the book over to him.
He looked over at Sakura. "What? You want help to?"
Her face flushed, she looked away. "Oh no...I...I was just..."
"Staring shamelessly at him." Naruto mumbled without looking up.
"Shut up moron."

The blonde frowned. Sasuke was obviously not thrilled about having him there, and he was not trying to hide it.
"But you're not fooling me Sasuke, I know you're in there."

Sometimes he wondered where those thoughts came from.
He wondered what he was doing.
Sasuke wasn't about to turn 180 and become his best friend, that much was obvious.
And Naruto knew that he probably was going about it in all the wrong ways.
And...why was he analyzing it?
He sighed, letting the pencil fall.
All this thinking was giving him a headache. All he really wanted to do was to talk to Sasuke. But it was so hard to get the contact he wanted.
And now all the thoughts about the Sasuke issue were floating around in his head like a big, chaotic rain cloud.
He sighed a second time.

"You're stuck again?" Sakura leaned over the table.
"Huh?!" he stirred from his thoughts.
"Oh...just spacing out." she shook her head. "Honestly, how are you ever going to learn anything?!" playfully she flicked Naruto on the forehead.
Sasuke watched them in the corner of his eye.
"I don't see you doing anything either." Naruto pursed his lips.
"What?" Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Uh...that's because I'm...stuck! Sasuke-kun? Can you show me this part?"
He nodded and stood, coming over to the other side of the table, sitting next to her.
As he showed her how to deal with the math problem, she pressed as close to him as possible. All the time with a blush in her cheeks and a smile on her lips.

Sasuke was generous enough to drive them home an hour later.
Sakura and Chouji both lived closer to the library than Naruto, not to mention the fact that he lived in the opposite direction, so Sasuke drove them home first.


As Naruto had thought, Sasuke became a different person when they were alone.
It was subtle, but it was there.
Naruto noticed the other seeming to be more relaxed.
His thoughts hadn't been full of wild ideas after all. He'd been right about him. He was pretty sure of it. Sasuke was changing. He was friendlier.
"But only in exclusive company..."

"What are you smiling about?" Sasuke suddenly looked at him.
Straight at him.
His dark eyes digging into Naruto's blue ones.
"You're such a phony."
"Excuse me?" Sasuke furrowed his brow.
"You act so hostile all the time. But you're not that bad, you know that right?"
Sasuke cocked an eyebrow. "Moron."
Naruto smiled. "You see? You talk tough, but you won't do anything."
"Are you asking me to punch you?" Sasuke asked, but there was a slightly humorous tone in his voice.
It warmed.
It actually warmed Naruto.
"No. But I'm asking you to keep your eyes on the road. You almost killed us once you know!"
Sasuke snorted. "I was in control."
"Yeah right." Naruto snorted back.
"You wanna walk dobe?"
Naruto stuck his tongue out and grinned, suddenly feeling ten pounds lighter.
As if everything had changed completely within minutes.
In a way, it had.

Still, Sasuke never sought out Naruto's company.
If they met somewhere he'd allow himself to come along with Naruto and the others, or he'd offer to drive him somewhere.
Like now, on this Monday afternoon.

The whole group had gone to the park. The girls wanted to sit in the sun and enjoy the weather, while the guys were playing with a Frisbee. Or at least trying to... Akamaru kept snatching it and running away.

Naruto was sent to the store to get some ice cream and lunch.
He noticed Sasuke's car the minute he came onto the parking lot.
"What's up Sasuke-teme?" he asked as he passed Sasuke, heading for the cold drinks.
Sasuke looked at him, following him with his eyes.
"Are you stalking me Uzumaki?" he asked, walking up to him.
"Full of yourself today, are you?"
"Tch," Sasuke took a coke from the shelf.
"So what are you doing here?"
"What? I'm not allowed to shop?"
"To me it looked like you were just dawdling." Naruto pointed out. "If you're bored you can join us you know. We're at the park."
"Why would I want to do that?"
"Because we're your friends, and you like to hang out with us." the blonde brushed past him, walking down the aisle. "You just don't like to admit it. Isn't that right, Mr. emotionless?"
There was a sound coming from Sasuke's throat.
Naruto stirred. Was that laughter?
No.
It wasn't.
If it was...It was spiteful.
"When did I say that I was-"
"Sasuke!" Naruto stared at him. "You don't have anything better to do, right?"
"You don't think I do?" Sasuke's stare was defiant.
"No. I don't. Every time I see you you're alone, you never do anything. You just go about your business and shut yourself away from the rest of the world! It's not good for you to be antisocial like this!"
"He almost sounds like Anko and Kakashi." Sasuke told himself.
"Are you listening?! Sasuke-teme!" Naruto wanted to shout at him. He wanted to say that they'd both been through hell, but that Sasuke's way of dealing was beyond wrong. He wanted to tell him that he knew that the Sasuke who'd smiled was in there. He wanted to scream at him and make him wake up and realize that acting like the world didn't concern you, or like everyone else were inferior were bad ways of dealing with what he'd been trough.
But he held back.
At least almost.
"Sasuke do-"
"Fine." the raven gave.
"What?" Naruto broke himself of. Again the question failed to leave his lips.
"I'll go. If it makes you shut up."
The blonde's face broke into a grin again. "You don't have to pretend. I know you want to."
Sasuke didn't reply, but pushed Naruto gently.
He quickly regained his balance, but stopped nonetheless.
Walking a few steps behind the Uchiha, Naruto touched himself to the shoulder where Sasuke had pushed him. He smiled.
"Alright. I'll keep your secret." he continued, catching up to the raven again. "No need to get violent."
Sasuke turned his head and looked at him, picking up an apple as they passed the fruits. He threw it at the blonde, who gave him a friendly push.


"Look who I found!" Naruto announced as he and Sasuke came back to the park.
"Sasuke-kun!"
"Sasuke! Hi!"
Of course, Ino and Sakura were thrilled.
Sasuke wanted to run.
But he stayed, and plopped down on the grass next to the girls and Naruto.
The minute he sat down, Akamaru came galloping, settling down on his lap.
He looked down at the white ball of fur.
"He likes you." Sakura smiled.
Kiba stared at the dog. "Well what do you know?" he rolled his eyes, "Why didn't he act like that at the show?"
"It didn't go well?" Hinata asked.
"No. He was too curious about everything to sit still. He was pretty much disqualified."
"I guess he's not old enough for that stuff yet."
Naruto laughed. "Or maybe he's just too much like his owner! You can be pretty hyperactive too you know."
"Really?" Sasuke found himself asking.
"Yeah! When he's not at school, he's totally hyper!"
Shino gave a barely noticeable nod. He'd spent years with him after all, so he should know.
"Hn," Sasuke said. But it wasn't one of spite or ridicule. It was the kinda 'hn' a person makes when he learns something new about someone and doesn't quite know what to say in response.
He looked down at the puppy in his lap, gently petting it, a bit hesitant, like it was his first time petting a dog.

Ino picked up the Frisbee.
Akamaru reacted straight away. The fur on his back rising slightly, while his tail wagged frantically. His eyes shone, radiating the want to play.
She threw the blue disc, and the puppy chased after it.
Kiba sprung to his feet. "Go get it boy! Go get it!"
Naruto followed too, running after Akamaru, making him give up the Frisbee once he caught it.
He ran across the grass, Akamaru following in excited leaps, barking enthusiastically.
"Sasuke! Catch!" Naruto threw the Frisbee.
It almost hit the raven.
He scowled, took the disc and stood.
"Hey dobe!" he flung the disc at the blonde.
Naruto barely caught it.

Soon after Kiba had also joined the game. Though he played normally, as opposed to Sasuke and Naruto who seemed to want to deliberately hit each other with the toy.
Akamaru was chasing around them, barking with disappointment that he wasn't allowed to play.

An hour later, the three boys and the dog collapsed on the grass next to the girls, Shikamaru and Chouji. They were breathing heavily, and Naruto had a bruised forehead, where Sasuke had managed to it him with the Frisbee.
Sasuke rolled over at his side. "How's your head dobe?" he asked, swallowing hard, breathing slightly ragged.
"It doesn't hurt at all. You throw like a girl, bastard." Naruto smirked, panting slightly.
"So do you." Sasuke retorted.
Naruto flung out his arm, hitting Sasuke in the chest. But not hard.
"Could you be any more childish?" Ino rolled her eyes.
Naruto snagged one of the soda bottles. "It's alright to have some fun once in a while, Ino. There's nothing wrong with being a child at heart."
"Still, you act like a couple of brats."
"What do you expect from someone who lives with other brats?" Kiba reminded her.
Naruto just grinned.
"Yeah...well...You got Sasuke in on it!" she smiled sweetly at the Uchiha. "You know, you don't have to amuse these morons?"
Sasuke shook his head. "I have to give the moron at least one chance to repay me for that bump on his forehead."
Naruto scowled at him. "I don't need you to give me a chance! If I wanted to, I'd knock you out cold with that Frisbee!"
Sasuke snorted. "Yeah?"
"Yeah!" Naruto sprung to his feet, glaring defiantly at him.
"Prove it." Black, challenging orbs stared at him.
"Kiba," Naruto ordered. "Throw the frisbee!"
"You're gonna go again?!" Sakura frowned.
"I'm gonna wipe that smug smirk off that bastard's face!" Naruto was feeling real competitive. "Throw it!" he ordered again.
Kiba sighed, but did as told.
Akamaru chased after it right away, so did Sasuke and Naruto.

It was the Uchiha who caught it first, throwing it hard towards the blonde, who tossed it right back at him, just as hard.
The flying disc went back and forth between them, faster than a canon ball.
Naruto winced, dodged and even rolled to escape the Frisbee, as if it was a lethal weapon. And the way Sasuke threw, it might as well could have been.
There! He caught it in mid air, and flung it back at the raven.
The Uchiha stepped aside, dodging it gracefully.
But the next time he wasn't as lucky.
Sasuke reacted just a split second too late, and the disc hit him right beneath his left eye.
"Fuck!" he touched his hand to his cheek, but still managed to grab the Frisbee and throw it back at the loudmouthed blonde.


As their game intensified, it was suddenly interrupted by the change of the weather.
Sasuke and Naruto had been too wrapped up in their little game, that they, unlike the others hadn't seen the sneaking black clouds.
Soon after it was pouring.
They packed up in a hurry, and headed out into the street, towards the arcade.
"We'll pop in and see if the rain stops. If not, it's a good way to spend time."
"You mean waste it!" Ino snarled. "Jeez, this is the worst Golden Week ever!"
Sasuke turned to walk in the opposite direction. "See you."
Naruto held him back though, tugging on his sleeve. "Come on. Just leave your car at the store. They don't mind. Come with us!"
Sasuke sighed, reluctantly letting the blonde drag him along.
"If I get a ticket, you're paying for it." he muttered.

Stepping into the Arcade was like arriving in a different dimension, with it's blinking lights and noise. Although Konoha wasn't a very big city, the Arcade was just like the ones in the bigger cities: a two-story building with a wide selection of games, from old classics to the newest hypes, like DDR and GuitarHero.
To Sasuke, it was like being blinded. He squinted at the pink neon lights that beamed from one of the machines.
Being his own anti-social self, it pretty much said for itself that this wasn't the kind of place he'd usually go to.
It was more like a place he'd avoid at all cost.

Naruto's eyes widened. "You've never been to an arcade before?!"
"What are you?!" Kiba echoed. "A cave man?"
Sasuke just stared blankly at them.
"It's like you don't know how to have fun!"
"This is supposed to be fun?" Sasuke scowled at one of the obnoxious machines.
"Yeah! You don't think you're too good for it, do you?" Naruto nudged him, trying to awaken that will to win in Sasuke again.
"Hn," Sasuke looked away.
"I'm challenging you." the blonde continued. "Does anyone have any coins?!"
Kiba handed him the money he needed, and Naruto dragged Sasuke onto one of the platforms.
"Ok, just do what the machine tells you to; up, down, left, right, get it?" he grinned. "But you'll never beat me."
"We'll see, dobe." Sasuke stared back at him, well-knowing that he should keep his mouth shut, he'd never cared for dancing, much less played Dance Dance Revolution.
The song started up.
Already from the start, it held a very high tempo.
Naruto seemed to know all the steps by heart, and spent more time staring at the Uchiha than at the screen.
That made Sasuke's iron will set even harder on winning.
He stepped fiercely on the platform, his bangs sticking to his forehead. "Left, Up, blue, red, down, red-no! Blue! Aaargh!"
Naruto smirked, looking over at the other. Sweat gleamed on Naruto's forehead, but he grinned, because there was just no way Sasuke would beat him at this.
He'd danced to 'Love Love Shine' a billion times.
And, he was smirking because he knew that beneath that annoyed glare and those gritted teeth, Sasuke was enjoying himself.

The song ended just as abruptly as it had started.
Not surprisingly, Naruto won, but only by a few hundred points, which was a surprise.
Sasuke turned his head, smirking back at the blonde. Although he'd preferred winning, he had nothing to be ashamed of. The way he saw it, they were equals.
The blonde however seemed to look at it differently. He still had that moronic grin on his face as he exclaimed; "Yeah! Told you so, didn't I, Uchiha?!" he looked down at the others. "Who's next? Who dares to challenge me?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, stepping off the platform.
Sakura took his place. "I get to choose the song." she ordered.
"Fine. You can't beat me though."
"We'll see." she smiled. "Kiba!"
The boy sighed, feeding the machine more coins.

She lost.
Naruto screamed something about being the 'ruling champion'.
Ino tried her skills.
And lost.

Kiba tried.
As he got up on the platform, he shrilled. "Would someone please tell me why I am still the only one paying?!"
"It's your turn now, so it's only fair."
"Yeah? Well-" the brunette shrilled.
"Hey," Sasuke broke him off. "The song's starting." he smirked slightly.
Kiba growled, but didn't say anything more.

After having lost, he dragged Shino over to the 'House of the Dead' machine, where they spent the next half an hour.

Naruto was an entire wide grin when he stepped down from the platform.
He was undefeated.
And dead tired. But he tried not to let it show.
"Now what?" he asked, leaning against the wall.
Shikamaru got out his phone. "I have to get home. We're leaving in two hours."
"Oh right...Kyoto..."
He nodded. "I still need to pack."
"You haven't packed yet?!"
"It's too..."
"Troublesome." the group laughed in unison.
"Yeah."
"You can't leave just yet!" Ino grabbed his arm. "Since we're all here, how about we take a picture?!"
"Purikura?"
"The machine is broken." Shino said, pointing at the sign.
Ino frowned.
"Well, then we'll just have to make do with the old photo booth down the street!" Naruto said, rushing outside with the others following closely behind.

"We'll never fit in there. Not all of us."
"Don't be so negative!" Sakura scowled at Shikamaru.
Chouji did the same.
"Don't worry, we only need to squeeze together for like...ten seconds. You'll survive!" Naruto slipped into the photobooth. It wasn't too small. "Sasuke, come here. Chouji too. Shikamaru and Kiba can sit, and the girls'll sit on your laps."
"And Shino?"
"Shino..." the blonde thought for a moment. "Ok, change places with Shika, he's thin enough to be on the side without being out of the pic...I think..."

He hadn't been far off.
Once everyone was in their places, they were all in the picture. Pretty much at least.

Sasuke scowled at Naruto. He was squished in between the blonde and the wall, trying to figure out how he'd been dragged into this.
Naruto didn't seem to care. He just grinned.
His hand reached out, a finger pressing lightly against Sasuke's pale cheek. "It won't kill you to smile you know!"
Sasuke muttered something, but couldn't stop his lips from curving slightly upwards.
In the next second the flash blinded them all.

"Oh my gooood!"
The teenage girls were screaming with laughter as the machine spewed out the sheet of pictures.
"Sasuke-kun! You're smiling!"
"Yeah, but he still looks like he's about to bite Naruto's head off!"
"Oh no! My eyes are closed!"
"And your forehead looks huge!"
"What else is new?" Kiba poked her.
She stuck her tongue out, lightly punching Kiba's arm. Then everything was interrupted by another scream of laughter, as they noticed Shino was barely in the picture; his sunglasses reflected the flash, so he was pretty much covered by the bright light.
"This picture is terrible." Sakura finally concluded. "We should take a new one."
"No can do," Shikamaru replied. "I've got to go. We're leaving remember?"
"Oh...Right..."
"Don't worry about it, I think it's awesome!" Naruto said, grabbing the scissors that were chained to the photo booth, cutting out one picture for all of them.
"You would, wouldn't you dobe?" Sasuke smirked.
Naruto scowled. "Would what, bastard?"
"Never mind." Sasuke looked lazily down at the picture in his hand. Something stung in him.
"See ya," Shikamaru interrupted any reply that Naruto might've been about to give.
The brunette waved lazily back as he turned to walk, the others wishing him a nice trip.

They watched Shikamaru walk down the street.
"Now what?" Kiba asked.
"I should go too..." Naruto chewed his lip. "It's dinner time."
"We could go somewhere to eat?"
The blonde shook his head. "I have chores and stuff. Besides, I feel kinda guilty for leaving Gaara alone with the kids again."
"What is he? Your wife?"
For a second the Uchiha sounded almost jealous. But that was ridiculous. Or was it?
Gaara was to Naruto what Sasuke had used to be.
He pushed away the thought. Right now he didn't want to worry about that stuff. It always gave him a headache.
Naruto glared at Sasuke. "Are you trying to be funny Uchiha?"
Sasuke glared back.
"Well, you're failing."
"Hn." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm leaving."
"What? Because of this?" Naruto demanded. "In any case, could you give me a ride?"
"No. I'm going the other way."
The answer was cold. But that was Sasuke's way of acting. Yet, Naruto was slightly surprised. He'd gotten used to Sasuke driving him home whenever they met somewhere.
"Oh...Ok. See you guys later then." Naruto pulled himself together.


They parted ways.

Sasuke was shaky when he got in the car.
He rested his arms on the steering wheel, placing his head in his hands, then he exhaled slowly and blinked a couple of times.
Why was it that he reacted in this way?
He looked down at the small photo in his hand. Because they had made him smile? Was that it?
Or because of all those memories he'd wanted to forget, but couldn't?
It didn't matter what it was that made him shake like this, what mattered was that he got himself out of this state before getting to Anko's office. She'd notice immediately, and then there'd be no end to the questions.

He turned the key. He met his own gaze in the rear-view mirror, it was one of self-hatred.
He hated himself for being so cold. He hated himself not being able to calm down.
He hated himself for having done the stupid things that had made him have to have these stupid sessions with Anko in the first place.
And he absolutely hated himself for being so indecisive in his interactions with Naruto.
In the same way that he despised the way most students at Konoha High treated him. And in the same way that he couldn't stand those who acted friendly towards him. In just that way he hated himself for the way he was acting; in the blink of an eye his attitude towards him turned from bad to worse.

And he hated the blonde, for reasons he couldn't comprehend, much less wanted to. And still...when he looked down at the picture in his hand, he started to doubt this hate...
Just like years ago, when the world was painted pitch black; and that smile had been like the sun itself.

He took a few more moments to collect himself, before starting the car, heading for the other side of town, where Anko's office lay.


"Welcome back." Gaara rose to a sitting position, putting away the book he'd been reading. Around him a few of the kids were doing their homework. And some of the younger were climbing around in the couch, and on him.
"Sorry I'm so late!" Naruto kicked off his wet sneakers.
Gaara shrugged. "Don't worry about it. They're not that bad, and it's not like I'm alone with them..."
"Naruto? Is that you?" a young woman with shoulder-long brown hair came out of the kitchen.
"Yeah. Hi Yumiko." he greeted her.
"Do you think you could chop some ve-" she interrupted herself. "You're dripping wet!"
"Yeah...We got caught in the rain."
"Go up and change then. We wouldn't want you to get sick."

"So where were you?"
They were at the counter, chopping up vegetables. Tonight's menu was nabe; so they'd need lots of them. Konohamaru was clinging to Naruto as usual. "Don't pull on my sleeve." Naruto warned him. "I'm holding a knife. It's dangerous!"
He shook Konohamaru off, sending him back into the living room and turned to Gaara.
"The park, and the arcade."
"With Sasuke again?"
A bit perplexed, Naruto looked at his friend. "He was there... But that was just 'cos I ran into him randomly at the grocery store... Why?"
Gaara took a new carrot, and started peeling it. "Just asking." he said. "For someone known to be so anti-social he sure doesn't live up to his rumor."
Naruto laughed slightly. "You don't know Sasuke."
"I guess not."
"It's like...He's in his own private world, even when he's with the rest of us." Naruto tried to explain, but it seemed Gaara had stopped listening.


***
"Naruto-nii!"
Naruto's eyes flew open. "Wh-what?! I'm up!"
Konohamaru's mischievous smile shone towards him. "We're going!"
"Now?! But...." he touched his hand to his forehead. "I must've fallen asleep..."
"You've been sleeping for an hour!" Gaara said, dragging one of the younger children over to the couch. He sat down, helping her to put her shoes on. "Ok, who's next?"
A boy climbed up on his lap.
"I'm tired, ok?" Naruto grinned sheepishly. "After all, I had to go with these brats to the matinee this morning."
"I had to bake a cake." Gaara's piercing eyes dug into his. "A cake, Naruto. It was a nightmare."
"Pfft, just another impressive skill to add to your repertoire." the blonde pointed out.
Because Gaara was the way he was, and rarely went anywhere, he often helped with the cooking, even when it wasn't his turn, and as a result he was turning out to be a very promising chef.
"Naruto-nii! The fireworks! We're gonna miss it! Come on!" Moegi pulled on the blonde's hand.
"Yeah! Let's go! We can't miss it! It's the biggest day of the year! Just as big as Christmas, and New years eve...And my birthday! And Moegi's birthday, and Udon's birthday, and your birthday and Gaara's..."
"We get it." Gaara interrupted. "Go and put your shoes on!"
He was smiling.
Naruto smiled too. Lately Gaara had seemed a little gloomy, so it was relieving to see him back to normal again.
The president of the orphanage; Granny Chiyo, Yumiko and the other girls who worked there, and Shizune as well joined them in the living room. "Is everyone ready?"
Excited cheers filled the room.
The old lady smiled at the children. "Good! Let's get going then."
She walked behind them, along with Shizune, talking quietly, whilst the children rushed down the street. Naruto and Gaara walked in the middle of the crowd, helping to keep them on the right path, literally.
"Naruto!" Shizune called from behind them. "Did you talk to Iruka?"
"Yeah! He's meeting us by the bridge!"
Every year on Children's Day, Iruka joined them to watch the fireworks, and then for dinner afterwards. Chiyo used to say he was part of the family.
"Hey," Gaara elbowed Naruto in the ribs. "Think he'll be bringing Kakashi?"
Naruto burst out laughing.

They met with Iruka at the bridge, but the silver haired teacher was nowhere to be seen.
They did however run into him later that night at random, although both Naruto and Gaara had a hunch it was all but coincidental.

Naruto saw several of his classmates, and a few of his friends among the crowd, but he only waved at them. Children's day was all about the children, so he didn't feel like running out on them. He hoisted one of the younger ones up to his shoulders.
The child screamed with laughter, and pointed enthusiastically at the fireworks exploding above them.
Grinning, the blonde turned to Gaara; "Deidara-sensei is probably loving this."
Despite not knowing Deidara's almost insane love for explosions very well, Gaara looked back at him lip quirking into a smile.
"Naruto-nii! Lift me next!"
"Met too!"
The blonde laughed harder. "Yeah ok, hold on, wait your turn!"


Sasuke slid open the door to the balcony.
From here he could see most of Konoha. He had a clear view of the fireworks.
Sparkling, brightly colored buds and stars shot up from the park; blossoming on the midnight sky like giant flowers.
Sasuke's eyes followed as a bright red lighting flashed over the sky; exploded with a loud 'bang' and rained down towards the ground like snow-flakes.
His phone vibrated in his pocket.
As usual the sound was turned off. Sasuke hated obnoxious cell phones that went off everywhere at every possible time. He'd opposed to getting a cell, but Kakashi had insisted on him getting one; probably out of paranoia, and now he was stuck with this annoying device.
He ignored it, but it took a good couple of minutes before the buzzing stopped.

He went back inside, sliding the balcony door shut.
He'd always hated festivities of this sort. It wasn't just to be anti-social he didn't go.
Kakashi had tried to persuade him into going, saying that all of his 'friends' would be there.
Sakura and Ino had both somehow dug up his number, and had each sent him about five messages, begging him to come with them.
"That's probably one of them now..." he said to himself as the annoying thing in his pocket began buzzing again.

He fell down on the bed, taking out his phone. He glared at the display.
'Naruto'.
"You too?" he thought to himself, slightly annoyed.
He still didn't answer. Instead he threw the phone to the floor. It clattered against the floor boards.

Turning over on his side, his eyes fell upon a picture, it was laying glass-down on the dusty nightstand.
For a moment, Sasuke was tempted to lift it, to turn it the right way and look at it, like he had done so many times before.
But he decided against it. He knew what it showed anyway; two raven haired boys, aged six and twelve, both with serious, but carefree looks on their faces.
The only thing in this room that was somehow showing any sense of humanity, allowing a visitor to get just a teensy glimpse of the person who had lived here. Other than that the room was just as personal as you'd find a hospital room to be; obsessively clean; everything placed neatly where it should be, no posters or pictures on the walls, no flowers or anything else.
Even his room had a more personal feel than this.. But then again, he had still only been a child when....
He killed the thought as it was still budding.
Didn't want to think any further.

"Are you watching the fireworks?" he asked into the thin air. His voice sounded way too loudly in the empty room. He let it fall to a lower tone, almost whispering. "Are you even alive?"

Outside the fireworks still sounded clearly in the otherwise quiet night, brightly colored flowers continuing to enlighten the sky for hours to come.
Meanwhile, Sasuke grew weary, tiredness catching up to him. Soon he was sleeping, slightly uneasy on a bed that hadn't been touched for years, in the room he'd been almost afraid to step into since he came back.
Two days later, Sasuke ran into Naruto in the street.
It felt like it was the gazillionth time something like this happened lately.
"Are you stalking me, dobe?" he asked, brushing past Naruto, continuing down the street.
"What's wrong with you?!" Naruto ran after him.
"What?"
"What? Let's see....First of all you've started acting like a bastard again!" the blonde shrilled. "And why the hell wouldn't you pick up your phone on Children's Day?!"
"I didn't feel like it, if you must know." Sasuke replied coolly.
"Why do you have to be so anti-social?! I just wanted to invite you to come see the fireworks!"
"You, and everyone else."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Well excuuuuse me for trying to be including!"
"You don't have to. Children's day is for kids anyway."
"Sasuke-teme!!" the blonde wanted to punch him for acting so full of himself. "I thought you had fun with all of us the other day?!"
"Maybe I didn't."
"You did!"
Sasuke shrugged.
"Well fine. If you wanna be like that. But." Naruto pointed his finger at Sasuke in such an abrupt movement he could've poked his eye out. "You will be coming with us to the Hanami next Saturday."
"Hanami?"
"Don't play dumb with me, we all know you're a genius." he scowled at the raven. "The sakura viewing! You know, a festival for those little pink flowers that grow on trees!"
"Haha, funny." Sasuke said flatly. "Why should I go?"
"'Cos we all want you to. And cos you owe to us for being anti-social."
"And because we need to get to know each other again."
"What if I don't want to?"
"I'll come pick you up if I have to."
"Is that a threat, usuratonkatchi?"
"Just be there."
Sasuke sighed. "Fine, whatever."
Naruto smiled, obviously pleased with himself. "Good!"
He kept walking alongside the Uchiha.
Sasuke scowled at him. "What are you doing?"
"Keeping you company."
"Why?"
"Everything doesn't have to have a reason."
Sasuke didn't reply. He didn't know what to think of Naruto's behavior lately.
"So where are we going anyway Sasuke-teme?"
"Pharmacy."
"Oh...Why aren't you driving?"
Sasuke stopped, turned to him and glared. "Why do you care?"
Naruto shrugged. "Just trying to make conversation..."
"Well don't. I'll come with you to your stupid flower-thing, ok? Now, go away."
Naruto punched him softly in the shoulder. "Fine. I'll leave you alone. God, you're moody!"
Sasuke pretended to brush a speck of dust off his shoulder, looking straight into Naruto's eyes as he did.
"Alrigth, jeez. I'll see you Monday then. At school."
"I guess."
That was the end of that conversation.

Things went along in pretty much that same track for most of the following week; Sasuke being not friendly, nor hostile, and Naruto and the others constantly trying to make him lighten up.

Although not thrilled about it, Sasuke ended up coming to the festival with them after all.
And that's where he said it.

There, under the blossoming cherry trees, he told Naruto...

******TBC****
[Evil Cliffhanger of Doom]
Sorry you guys! xD
Please review on your way out as always! ^__^

Replies:

Reno's_Lover:
Ahahah, yes. I love the genderconfusion that always surrounds Dei-chan. ;p
Sasuke probably wants to tell Naruto, but I don't think he knows how to yet. But he will!

Pansy Lane:
Aaah you make me SO HAPPY for saying that!!! *squeezes you*
Haha, for me Deidara was teh obvious choice for an art teacher ;p
Ah yes...Sasuke with a car.... Sexy... *dreamy*
OMG! THE SWEATER! *snaps back to reality* I'm sure I was supposed to have a convo involving that in this chapter... but I'll just... throw it in somewhere else ;p
SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG! TTaTT

blue_genjutsu:
Aaaah! I'm trying so hard here not to scream out my plans for this fic! There's a possibility Itachi is alive, and it's also possible he isn't. It's also possible that I haven't made up my mind yet xD
*nodnod* I like how they start getting along better too. It's ALOT easier to write ;p Unfortunately, Sasuke is a complicated bastard x_x

HumanInfiltrator:
Gaara'll be itegrating more as we go along, I'm pretty sure of that. *looks at the GaaHina mention and giggles secretively*

Nusku:
Sasuke is taking his sweet time, isn't he? One step forward, and about ninteen back? xD
Glad you're enjoying it! Sorry for the wait!

RhianMahou:
Aah thank you! *huggles* I'm glad you're enjoying it! And that you're getting THAT involved with the story!
I do stuff like that too, only I usually end up hurting myself xD
Be careful, ne? *laughs*
Sasuke and Naruto are getting closer and still they are constantly drifting apart, but this IS a SasuNaru after all ^__~

Vex:
Well yeah.. Sasuke is getting better. And...worse *frown*
He's so...complicated.
AH! I'm so glad you noticed. Gaara is... having some issues of his own, but he's doing ok. I'd say this chapter was a pretty good one for him. ^-^

Momoiro_Usagi: YES! DEIDARA!!!! *leaps with joy*
THAT'S THE REACTION I WAS GOING FOR!!!
Aaah, I love you so much for loving this fic so much! xD *LOVES YOU*
I will be having more fun with Dei (who shall now be known as OMG DEDIARA forever xD) in teh next chappie! :D

bunni07:
I murdered something? O.o
xD
Probably. ;p
Sasuke is in with the gang. Kinda. But you know he's a (wannabe) cold hearted bastard who doesn't want to admit it.

Hypergraphian:
Thank you! ^____^ I'm so sorry for the delayed update, but I hope you're still willing to give the fic a chance!

Mitsuko: OMG! xDDD That's so cool! And random!
And thanks!! ^_____^