Everyone's Got Secrets

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Chapter 8:

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Iruka felt surprisingly calm, glancing to the left at his lover in
the kitchen, coughing and clutching a bottle of Sake, and then glancing
to the right at the smoldering gazes being exchanged between his
students, and hearing their incoherent attempts at speech.

Of all the things he’d been imagining when the four of them were finally assembled, Iruka would have never predicted that he would handle it the best.

“Sasuke… you… I mean, your Yukata is …” Naruto stuttered, gesturing
with a gloved hand to try and grab the right words from the air.

Iruka watched the two carefully, trying to decide if he should go
into the kitchen to check on Kakashi or not, standing where he could
keep all three of them in his sight.

Sasuke nodded at the implied compliment, “It’s … uh… early birthday present. From Kakashi-sensei.”

Iruka glanced into the kitchen a second time, seeing Kakashi take
another swig of Sake, though he was actually standing a little bit
straighter.

“Er… Kakashi-san?” he said, “Can I offer you some refreshments?”
Since their students were there, he probably shouldn’t go in there and
calm Kakashi down in the usual way.

“Maaa… then I’m going to have to find you a really… really… really cool birthday present!” Naruto said in the background.

Iruka watched Kakashi raise his open hand, declining the offer of
assistance. Then he raised just his first finger—he wanted a minute to
himself. Iruka felt a bit guilty at not warning him beforehand, but how
could he know the sight of Naruto would be so traumatic? Iruka looked back to Sasuke, who was watching Naruto intently.

“There’s … only one thing… I really want,” he said, his
voice even, but his eyes showing something dark and sexual. Naruto
seemed to hear the undertone to the simple statement, his cheeks
flushing furiously under the Uchiha’s heated gaze.

Oh-kaaaay… Now this was starting to get awkward. Maybe the
two students could pretend he wasn’t there, but Iruka knew he couldn’t
continue to just stand still watching them hit on each other! Although
it was rather bold of Sasuke to do it right here in his teacher’s apartment—the kid had guts. Or maybe it was the eyeliner.

Iruka cleared his throat, “Would anyone like some tea before we leave?”

Ninja law #39: When in doubt, follow the rules of hospitality.

Sasuke and Naruto didn’t take their eyes off each other. Iruka was
about to repeat himself, when Sasuke finally shook his head, and Naruto
got his voice working.

“Er… no thanks…”

“Okay,” Iruka paused, ignoring for the moment how they were reacting to each other.

Well, hadn’t that been the idea? He probably should be grateful they
were only gawking, despite the palpable attraction on the air. He had
to hand it to Kakashi; Sasuke’s Yukata was exactly right for him. It’s
no wonder Naruto was having trouble with forming complete sentences. He
better hurry this along before the students attacked each other.

“Well, do either of you have a preference of where we should go
first?” Iruka moved over to his hanging flak jacket and withdrew a
folded piece of parchment from his pocket.

“I was teaching down at the festival site today and I got us a map
of everything going on, both tonight and for the next few days.”

Naruto took a step forward, suddenly alert, “Oi, does it show where the Hu--nmff!“

Sasuke’s hand cut off Naruto’s question, firmly covering his mouth.
Iruka watched curiously as Naruto glared at the interference, while
Sasuke turned away from his teammate to look right at him, his expression cool.

“May I see the map, Iruka-sensei?” Sasuke asked, Naruto grabbing his arm and flinging his hand away.

“Of course,” Iruka handed it over.

He could see some things hadn’t changed, and it made him smile
before he remembered to hide it. Sasuke began to pour over the map, his
face thoughtful, and Iruka was reminded of how Kakashi looked when
mentally wrapped up in some kind of analysis.

Kakashi stepped out of the kitchen just then, his expression and manner considerably more normal. Normal for him, anyway.

“I had no idea your kitchen was so lovely, Iruka-sensei,” he said, his eye crinkling as he smiled.

“Er, thanks…” Iruka said warily, relieved that Kakashi seemed to be
back to his usual self, even though it meant he was still
unpredictable. And that had been a lot of Sake.

“Thank you, Iruka-sensei, for allowing us to meet at your
apartment. It was very easy to find,” Kakashi continued, coming up
close, and standing right behind his shoulder.

“Oh, er—well,” Iruka’s cheeks were growing warmer under Kakashi’s gaze. “I’m glad it made things easy for you and Sasuke.”

Sasuke glanced up at his name, but turned back to the map almost
immediately. Naruto peered over his shoulder, trying to take the map in
one hand so he could see it too. Sasuke didn’t relinquish it, and the
two of them tugged stubbornly on either side.

“And, might I add,” Kakashi drew his long, gloved fingers down the
outer edge of Iruka’s arm, sliding over his tanned muscles and scarlet
knots and clasping his wrist with long, silver fingers. He bent the arm
gently, lifting Iruka’s wrist and making the silken cords sway in the
air as if to tease a kitten.

“I really like your Yukata. Wherever did you get it?”

Iruka’s blood felt thick in his veins. He turned his head to look
into Kakashi’s blue eye, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

He let the words stretch tight between them, letting the Jounin decide for himself if they were a threat, or a promise.

“I think we should start over here …” Sasuke’s voice diminished into
silence, and when he didn’t continue right away, Iruka looked at him
out of curiosity.

The Uchiha was staring at him, although blank-faced, and he let go
of the map. Naruto snatched it up triumphantly, burying his nose in it
and disregarding the rest of them. Under the dark teen’s gaze, Iruka
became aware of Kakashi’s hold on his wrist, and he shook off his
lover’s grip, embarrassed.

Sasuke swallowed. “The shops along the next block lead right into the festival.”

“Sounds good,” Kakashi said, stepping away from Iruka. “Shall we be off?”

Iruka nodded, “I’m ready. Naruto?”

“Hora! Tsunade-no-Baa-Chan is speaking at full dark!” he gestured excitedly to Sasuke, pointing to a spot on the map.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow pointedly as he glared his teammate to
silence. “We’re ready, Iruka-sensei. Kakashi-sensei,” Sasuke replied.

Kakashi opened the door and the rest of them followed, Sasuke
nudging Naruto ahead of him. Iruka shut the door firmly, and then led
the way down the building’s interior stairs and onto the street.

Here on the outskirts of the festival the decorations were minimal;
brightly colored lanterns hung on either side of the road, a few
swinging in the breeze from the network of lines crossing up above,
glowing although the sun still had a ways to descend before the
lanterns would be necessary. The mingled smells of sulfur and food,
combined with the distant drumming of musicians was more than enough
for them to know that the Festival of the Golden Kunai was underway.

Iruka led them confidently through his neighborhood, following the
more discernible sounds of laughter and firecrackers coming from the
area Sasuke had chosen from the map. Hotarubi Street opened out onto a
much larger avenue, and the growing quantity of lanterns and streamers
competed with the sunset in a rainbow of glittering colors.

Up ahead was an enormous fireworks stand with a banner marked on
either end with a black boar. The stand seemed to be doing a lot of
business, the proprietor shouting in a friendly yet booming voice and
instructing two assistants to demonstrate their products
intermittently. Iruka tried to take it all in, there were crowds of
people everywhere, most of them—especially the smaller kids—holding
sparklers and waving them in delight.

Naruto suddenly rushed forward, Sasuke muttering something under his
breath as he followed close behind. The students reached the stand
first, Iruka and Kakashi following at a more leisurely pace behind
them, and Iruka took advantage of the opportunity to observe them as
they browsed, Naruto darting here and there excitedly while Sasuke made
a more thorough canvassing of the wares.

“Welcome to Kukaku’s Fireworks! The self-proclaimed, Number-One fireworks manufacturer in all of Fire Country!”

The stand’s owner spread his beefy arms wide, indicating the diverse
array of explosives set out behind him, almost as bizarre a sight as
the things he was selling. His costume was eccentric: A sleeveless
green vest worn over a white shirt, combined with black trousers
bleached on the thighs with bold white swirls, and a bright green
bandana covering the upper half of his head. Tufts of unruly black hair
stuck out from underneath the bandana—it had exactly the opposite
effect of Kakashi’s mask.

His forearms and shins had special guards on them like nothing Iruka
had ever seen before; they had a rough, ridged surface that had to be
more than decoration. Iruka thought he made quite the spectacle, until
his eye was drawn to something tied off to the side; could that really
be a wild boar?

“If it explodes, we sell it!” The man shouted, talking to no one and
everyone, his assistants ringing up sales and helping people light
their sparklers.

“Ano saa, ano saa,” Naruto piped up, holding out a baseball-sized sphere to the man in green, “What does this one do?”

Iruka was turning to see if Kakashi was still there somewhere behind
him, catching a quick glimpse of him just as he heard a little voice
calling his name. He looked down to see who it was.

“Iruka-sensei! Iruka-sensei!” A very young girl was tugging on the
end of the red cords at his wrist to get his attention, and he smiled
to see one of his newer students beaming up at him in a vivid and very flowery Yukata.

“Oh, hello! And how pretty you look, Keiko-chan!”

Her eyes squinted closed from delight, and two other girls came up to join her, giggling in similarly bright Yukata.

“Look what I’ve got, Iruka-sensei!” She held up a large sparkler
hissing a stream of golden sparks and waved it excitedly, and the other
girls added their high voices to Keiko’s:

“Hi Iruka-sensei!”

“Look at mine! Look at mine!”

He laughed, greeting the two newcomers with pats on their heads and
glancing quickly over at Kakashi, who was watching him with a curious
expression from off to the side, his arms crossed nonchalantly as he
somehow made himself unnoticeable in the busy street.

“And after this, we’re going to set off fireworks at our house!
Daddy said so!” Keiko announced proudly. Iruka smiled, seeing her
mother and another lady approach him.

“Are you bothering our favorite sensei, Keiko-chan?” her mother teased both of them, nodding her head to Iruka in greeting.

He smiled, nodding back politely, “Iie, Keiko is never one to bother
any of her sensei.” Keiko grinned, then ran off to get another sparkler
with her two friends.

More parents came up to say hello, and also to tell him how much
their children were improving from his excellent teaching, and he
blushed under the flurry of compliments. He was trying to find a way to
extract himself from this circle of bright colored, flowery females,
feeling slightly claustrophobic and wanting to check on what Naruto and
Sasuke were up to, when there was a loud bang and the ladies all
squealed and jumped in surprise.

All of them turned to the fireworks stand to see what had happened,
and Iruka saw Naruto grinning broadly as he laughed, even with Sasuke
fuming at him through the telltale plumes of smoke. The fireworks
merchant was laughing as hard as the blond, which meant everything was
probably okay—although you never knew with Naruto.

The ladies began to whisper to each other urgently, and Iruka cocked
his ear closer to them, trying to make out what they were saying. A
couple of them were pointing at the students, and he quickly looked
over to see what the boys could be doing to attract such attention.

Naruto had his back to them, the bright phoenix practically
screaming the Fourth’s name. Iruka gulped. Could they already have
recognized Yondaime’s coat? That would be a catastrophe! He bit his lip anxiously at the idea.

As he watched Naruto gesturing defensively, still grinning, and
Sasuke pointing a finger at him with a deep scowl on his face, he
caught snippets of the ladies’ words:

…Look!… that must be him… scavenger hunt… did he
come back? … Uchiha… no one stood a chance… if he enters again… where
has he been?… no way…

Iruka furrowed his brow. Wait a minute… were they talking about Sasuke?

“Oi, Iruka-sensei!” Naruto was shouting, waving a gloved hand in the
air. Sasuke had his arms crossed over his chest and was looking
irritated. Iruka turned around to locate Kakashi, who was already
walking casually towards the students.

“Excuse me,” Iruka nodded politely to the whispering parents and slipped out of their circle. They didn’t even notice.

“Are you causing trouble again?” he asked Naruto, moving up beside
him. The proprietor of the stand guffawed loudly in his face.

“This one’s just a little eager,” he tapped Naruto’s shoulder with a big hand.

“Tch,” Sasuke commented darkly, gaining the merchant’s full attention.

“Ahhhhh, I can tell right away that you’re not just any
ninja,” the man said to Sasuke, making him roll his eyes in disdain.
The man went over to the teen, throwing an arm across Sasuke’s
shoulders and lowering his voice in conspiracy. “You’re looking for
something special, aren’t you?”

“No way! You’ve got even better stuff than this?” Naruto butted in
while Sasuke shrugged off the man’s arm to stand apart looking bored
and disgruntled.

“Mochiron,” the man said, turning to the blond fish he’d hooked,
grinning with confidence as he began to reel him in. “Kukaku’s is the
self-proclaimed Number-One fireworks manufacturer in all of Fire
Country!”

He disappeared behind his stand, and came out with three black
arm-length objects with tapered ends. He grinned at the students, and
Iruka could feel many other adults coming up behind them to watch. Now
where had Kakashi gone off to?

With a quick flick of the wrist, the merchant scraped the end of one
staff against the roughened surface of his forearm-guard, and it burst
into flames. There was an appreciative “Ooooh” from the crowd and the merchant held the torch high in the air dramatically.

“Now watch, everyone! Prepare to be amazed!” he bellowed, lighting
the other two torches and beginning to juggle them in the air.

Several people clapped, and Naruto gurgled excited noises. Sasuke
didn’t seem all that impressed, scowling at the merchant, but then
Iruka saw him look at Naruto’s face—brightly smiling and fascinated by
the simple trick—and Sasuke’s expression seemed to soften. Iruka bit
his lip, watching, and didn’t notice Kakashi slipping through the crowd
to stand not too far behind him.

“These torches are the finest, and will burn for twelve hours
straight!” the man shouted, his eyeballs darting up and down as he
concentrated on his movements. “And here’s something you won’t find
anywhere but at Kukaku’s!” he said, throwing them higher into the air
and giving himself time to light the opposite ends of the torches
against his forearms, one after the other in sequence.

The dramatic effect of the juggling was doubled with six bright
flames dancing in the air, and the man had to modify his wrist
movements to keep from grabbing in the wrong place. Even Sasuke seemed
to be watching with interest as the merchant flawlessly tossed the
torches in sweeping arcs. The guy wasn’t at all attractive, but there
was something magnetic about the sight of him twirling the torches in
the dusk of the evening, creating the image that he held a giant, fiery
sphere.

“Isn’t it amazing!” he shouted, and the crowd erupted in applause.
“And here’s the best part!” he added, which signaled one of his
assistants to approach with a bucket of water.

In three hissing splashes, the torches were quenched as the man
tossed them into the bucket. He retrieved one of them, and with a
flourish, re-lit it instantly against his forearm and held it high in
the air, water droplets coursing down his arm. The crowd erupted in
applause and cheers, and Naruto made a grab for the torch.

“Can I try?” he asked, and the merchant dutifully lit the others and handed them over.

Iruka could tell Sasuke was itching to snatch them away before
Naruto hurt himself, impressed when the teen held himself back. Naruto
was rather comical in his first attempts, having to hop around to catch
the torches while trying to figure out the pattern to throw them. One
torch flipped wildly and the crowd backed away, but Sasuke grabbed it
in his strong hand and tossed it back to his teammate.

Naruto actually caught it, getting only a tad thrown off by the odd
rhythm, but he was one of the quickest hands-on learners Iruka had ever
taught; Naruto was just getting warmed up. Currently he was grinning,
having fun trying out something new and not at all perturbed by the
crowds. In fact, the audience probably helped him.

Iruka could see some younger girls giggling behind their hands as
they watched, their eyes sparkling. Naruto did look very
attractive—he’d grown several inches in the last year alone, so they
were almost the same height. Sasuke was still taller, by an inch or
two, but none of them could beat Kakashi’s six feet. Iruka sighed; he
really shouldn’t think of them as “boys” anymore.

Naruto’s gloved hands were catching the torches very smoothly now,
and Yondaime’s coat billowed around him from the efforts as if it too
was on fire. Iruka glanced at Sasuke, who was following every movement
with his dark eyes, drawn to Naruto like a moth.

It made Iruka blush to see it written so clearly on Sasuke’s face how much he liked what he saw.

Then a whisper against his ear made him break out in goose bumps. “Saa,” Kakashi said, “I think I’ve seen that look before… from a certain Academy sensei…”

Iruka flushed, shushing his lover as loudly as he dared while
fighting not to react, fearful that someone in the press of the crowd
could have heard. Kakashi’s laughter tickled his skin.

“Looks like those two are quite enjoying themselves…”

Iruka didn’t dare turn his head. “The evening is still young, Kakashi-san,” he reminded.

Kakashi chuckled, then Iruka felt him move away through the crowd to
join Sasuke at the sidelines. The two of them turned to the racks of
explosives and started discussing tactics. Or at least that’s what
Iruka decided to assume; Kakashi sometimes had more surprises than
Naruto.

Naruto eventually dropped one of the torches on a miscalculated
catch, and then tossed the other two torches back to the merchant so he
could retrieve the fallen one from the ground. There was loud clapping
from the crowd, and Iruka saw the merchant take Naruto aside and begin
whispering to him. The blond looked happy and excited by whatever he
said, and Iruka moved over to see what was going on, in case he needed
to intervene.

“Now, when you buy a set of these, then I’ll throw in one of these
for free, but when you get two sets from over here, you’ll get this
deluxe, super-sized…” the green merchant gestured to rows of explosives
while Naruto held onto the third torch with boyish glee.

Iruka did his best to counter the blatant sales pitch, but had to
shake his head when the four of them moved away from the stand, with
Naruto balancing a sack full of explosives against his chest with both
hands.

Kakashi was almost as bad; he had bought what looked like three hundred packages of sparklers. Iruka wasn’t going to ask.

They moved through the festival, stopping briefly so that Kakashi
could treat them to a special candy that burst in the mouth with a
volcano of thick sweetness, coating the tongue in a searing lava of
intense spiciness. But since the sky was darkening, they kept a steady
progress through the vendors and exhibits and made their way towards
the main Konoha stadium where the Hokage would officially start the
festival.

Outside the huge structure were rows of game vendors. Iruka was
impressed that the Hokage was clever to stage them where they had some
open space, since ninja naturally gravitated towards the use of
projectiles, and the vendors had come from all over Fire Country to earn some money—the combination would be disastrous in the residential streets of downtown Konoha.

It was one of the brightest areas of the whole grounds, with
torches, lanterns, and smaller fireworks shooting across the sky in a
conspiracy to conquer the growing darkness.

“Fire-Archery…” Sasuke read the sign at the largest and
emptiest of the game booths, eyeing the long stretch of grass between
the starting line and the row of five round, ringed targets.

“Step right up! Step right up!”

The Archery master popped out of nowhere, choosing to place a fat
hand on Kakashi’s shoulder and guide him up to the booth. Iruka put his
palm over his mouth to stifle a laugh—this man had no idea who he was dealing with!

Kakashi was busy grinning in that disarming way, however, and Iruka
smiled, familiar with Kakashi’s sense of humor. He walked up with
Sasuke and Naruto to see the Archer busily choosing a simple wooden
longbow and an arrow for the Jounin.

“Now, have you ever used one of these before? Not a typical weapon
for a ninja, eh?” The man winked, taking a handkerchief out of the fold
of his food-stained Yukata and wiping the sweat from his balding head.

“Oh… hmmmmm…” Kakashi pretended to think, tapping his
masked cheek, “I might have once… Saa, I can’t remember.” He shrugged
and grinned back at the bald man, who practically rubbed his fingers
together with greed.

“Daijobu, daijobu,” he said, pushing Kakashi over to the starting line in front of the first target.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, standing in his typical pose of boredom, and
Naruto was reaching behind the counter of the booth to try and unhook a
longbow off the back wall. Iruka paid them no mind, watching his lover
in action after realizing that he could do so without having to hide
it. He roved his eyes hungrily over the Jounin’s backside.

“Now, I should charge you the fee - but why don’t you try one shot
on the house!” The man was grinning, putting the bow in Kakashi’s left
hand and showing him where to grip.

“So… where does this go?” Kakashi asked, holding the arrow
backwards, and the gamesman laughed nervously. Iruka almost couldn’t
bear to watch.

“Oh, no, no, it goes this way,” he said correcting it.

Kakashi smiled innocently at him again, getting situated in the
right places, and the man held a lighter to the end of the arrow. Iruka
heard Sasuke call to Naruto, who hurried to join them with a bow and
arrow already in his hands.

“Now, just pull back on the string, take aim, and loose the arrow!”
the bald man said, his voice shaking in eagerness, expecting to earn
some easy cash. The arrow’s flame flickered on the night wind, and
Iruka held his breath.

“Hmmm…like this?” Kakashi asked jovially, pulling back on the string
and letting it snap the arrow into the darkness. It made a fiery arc
and then plunged into the target, piercing the black center spot near
its uppermost edge.

Kakashi turned back to the man, rubbing his neck in embarrassment, “I guess I need some more practice.”

The bald man’s face had fallen—he’d been so sure that Kakashi would miss. Iruka was surprised at how quickly he regrouped.

“Oh, beginner’s luck, beginner’s luck! I’m sure you couldn’t do it again!”

“Care to wager?” Kakashi chuckled, resting the end of his bow on the grass.

The man glared, turning quickly to the rest of them, “Anyone else? Who wants to have a shot at winning a fabulous prize?”

“My turn! My turn!” Naruto bounded up to the starting line, standing next to Kakashi.

“Yes! All right,” the bald man hurried over, a little surprised that
Naruto already had equipment. “That’ll be five dollars an arrow; how
many would you like?”

“Nani?” Naruto demanded, pointing at Kakashi, “But you let him go for free!”

“Ah, well…you see,” the man mopped his bald head, “That was the last free-shot of the night.”

Naruto grumbled, digging out his wallet and opening it’s frog mouth.
“Ehhhhhh?” he shouted, finding only three dollars. He turned the wallet
over and shook it by the legs.

“Baka,” Sasuke muttered, walking up to the starting line. He handed a wad of bills over to the bald man. “He’ll take ten.”

Iruka and Kakashi glanced at each other in surprise, and the bald
man pocketed the money with ninja-like speed. “Coming right up!” he
shuffled off to the large quiver of arrows behind the counter.

Naruto gaped, “I don’t need ten!”

Sasuke smirked at him, looking cool. “It’ll take you at least ten to hit the bulls-eye.”

Naruto took a step towards him, furious, “Teme! I’ll do it in five! No—THREE!” He held out three fingers.

“Tch,” Sasuke didn’t change his expression, skeptical with an edge of amusement.

The man came over and handed him the first lighted arrow, and Naruto
planted his feet, determined to hit the center. Iruka moved a couple of
steps closer to Kakashi, uncomfortable with the intensity of the
challenge between the students. Naruto had a steady grip on the
longbow, and he nocked the arrow in the right place. Iruka
blinked—Naruto must really have been watching Kakashi a minute ago.

Naruto pulled back on the string, aimed, and loosed the arrow. The
three watched spellbound as it sailed completely over the target to
land in the dirt.

“Hn,” Sasuke commented, Naruto facing him with a furious scowl. He
gripped his longbow tightly and marched over towards Iruka, moving past
him to grab onto Kakashi’s arm and tug him a few steps away.

Iruka could hear Naruto ask in what he probably thought was a whisper, “Ano saa… Kakashi-sensei, can you give me some pointers?”

Naruto craned his neck to aim a hot glare at Sasuke, who was facing
their direction in cool ease. Those cunning black eyes met Iruka’s for
a moment, and he felt a chill along his spine. He glanced back at
Kakashi who was whispering silently and steadily into the blond’s ear.

“Got it,” Naruto nodded at the Jounin, and with a determined look marched back to the starting line.

Iruka felt Kakashi come up next to him, and they exchanged a glance.
He was grinning, perfectly calm, and it made Iruka irritated that he
wasn’t more affected by the overall tense dynamics.

Naruto braced his feet again, nocking the next arrow, while Sasuke
looked on in unruffled elegance. The bald man lit the tip, and Naruto
drew the arrow and string back close to his ear. He gritted his teeth
in concentration, and Iruka thought he could smell a hint of chakra
before the string snapped and the arrow whipped through the air—

They watched in silence as the arrow thudded into the top edge of
the straw-packed target, taking out a chunk of it before falling into
the dirt near his first shot.

“Kuso!” Naruto cursed through his teeth, running his gloved hand
through his wild blond hair in frustration. Iruka bit his lip. Naruto
was getting closer to hitting the center, but he was using too much
power… he had to control it better…

Naruto held out an impatient hand for the next arrow, and the bald
man jumped before handing it to him. Naruto didn’t look at any of
them—his eyes were locked on the target. He nodded at the bald man to
light the arrow, and then he drew the string back slowly, holding it
taut next to his head. He closed his blue eyes in concentration, and
the night air ruffled the majestic, flaming coat around his body.

Iruka closed his hands around his elbows, the suspense making him
sweat even though the summer night was pleasant. Naruto stood
completely still, and Iruka bit his lip hard, wondering if he’d really
do it. Sasuke was turned towards the target, but if it were Iruka
standing that close, he’d have had both eyes on Naruto. Iruka felt the ghost of Kakashi’s gloved hand touching him briefly and reassuringly at the small of his back.

Naruto opened his eyes, taking careful aim, and with his throat
rumbling with electric energy he let the arrow shoot into the darkness—

The flaming point smashed clean through the target, leaving a gaping
hole in its wake, divided in equal parts of the black center and the
first white ring surrounding it.

“Haha!” Naruto exclaimed, throwing a fist in the air, “Did you see that!”

He grabbed Sasuke’s arm and shook him, and Iruka thought he saw a
brief smile curl Sasuke’s lip before he rolled his eyes and jerked his
elbow away.

“Usurakontachi,” Sasuke muttered, and Naruto stuck out his tongue.

“Let’s see you do it, tensai,” he challenged, holding out the bow.

Iruka let out the breath he’d been holding and turned to Kakashi. He kept his voice low, “What
did you tell him?” Iruka had never seen someone shoot straight through
a target; it was remarkable that the arrow didn’t shatter first.

Kakashi simply grinned, “I told him what he needed to hear.”

Iruka glared at the non-answer and added it to the list of things
he’d make Kakashi tell him later. With physical force, if necessary.

“Baka,” Sasuke said to Naruto, stepping up to the line in front of
the third target and snatching the longbow from Naruto’s hand. Naruto
crossed his arms, his confident blue eyes sweeping up and down Sasuke’s
form while he was getting situated..

The Uchiha held the bow tightly in his left hand, accepting the
arrow from the bald man, who was sweating so heavily that at this point
his handkerchief was only pushing the dampness around on his scalp. At
Sasuke’s glare, he lit the point with a shaking hand, and Sasuke pulled
back on the string, his eyes switching to blood red as he sighted along
the arrow’s shaft. There was a sharp ping, and the arrow shot in an arc to thud into the target, two rings to the left of the dark, black center.

“Ha,” Naruto teased, “It’s harder than it looks!”

Sasuke glared with his scarlet eyes, and held out a hand to the
proprietor for the next arrow. When it was lit, he pulled back on the
string, taking a few moments longer to aim, and then he released the
arrow.

Iruka bit his lip—he could already tell that it was going to miss
the center, even though it would be closer than the first shot.

“Shimatta,” he heard Sasuke curse softly, and to his
surprise, Sasuke reached to his sash and withdrew something black,
flipping it open in the direction of the target with lightning speed.

Iruka couldn’t see what happened, but the arrow changed its
trajectory in mid-descent, piercing the left edge of the black center.
The arrow’s fletchings wobbled to and fro from the impact. Sasuke
folded the fan and tucked it back into his Obi, and Iruka gaped–had he
altered the air current with that little fan?

He wasn’t the only one gaping; Naruto was pointing and shouting, “What the hell was that?”

“Tch,” Sasuke replied unapologetically.

“What did you do?” Naruto demanded, trying to grab the fan from Sasuke’s sash, his face twisted in anger.

Sasuke grabbed his gloved arm tightly, equally irritated. “I hit the target, Dobe.”

Iruka took a step forward, wanting to break up the scuffle before it got out of hand, but Kakashi was walking past him.

“Maaa,” he addressed the bald gamesman, “Did I hear you say you had fabulous prizes? I believe we have some winners, ne?”

The bald man spluttered, and Naruto and Sasuke stopped their bickering for the moment. ‘Good one‘, Iruka smiled at the back of his lover.

“I… I… of course I have prizes,” the bald man was wiping his brow
furiously. He spread his hands out in apology, “Alas–there hasn’t yet
been a qualified winner.”

“Nani?!” Naruto raised his voice.

“Ho…” Kakashi countered, “The prizes go to those who hit the center
of the targets, yes? Then there should be at least two prizes awarded.
I will graciously step out of the running, as you were so kind to give
me a free shot.”

Kakashi spread his hands in a humble gesture, though his tone was predatory. Iruka watched from the side, glad to be out of it.

“Ah-ha-ha… ano…” the bald man wrung his hands, “But you
see, putting a hole in the target is a disqualification–” Naruto made
angry noises and the man raised his voice, “–and I’m sorry, but using
ninja …arts?… to redirect your arrow is also a disqualification…”

Kakashi looked thoughtful, “So if Sasuke and Naruto hit a bulls-eye
without either of those things occurring, then they will be awarded
prizes?”

“They would…” the man was shuffling uncomfortably, starting to turn
red from distress, “Except that once disqualified, they are furthermore
ineligible!”

“That’s not fair!” Naruto shouted, and Sasuke held him back, though his face was equally outraged.

“Okay.” Kakashi was smiling again.

Both of the students turned to glare at him, annoyed with his easy concession.

He continued smoothly, “Then I suppose it’s Iruka’s turn.”

The four of them looked at Iruka, who felt completely stunned by this announcement.

“Me?” He asked in disbelief.

“Saa,” Kakashi crooked his finger at him, “There are five arrows left. I’m sure you know how to shoot a longbow, Iruka-sensei.”

Iruka glared at him, but walked over to the line, putting his hands on his hips. How did Kakashi know? They’d never talked about it before. The man was as maddening as he was mysterious.

“Yes! Go Iruka-sensei!” Naruto gave a little cheer.

Sasuke handed him the bow, his expression unreadable. Iruka felt a
flare of anger—Sasuke was underestimating him! He may not be a tensai,
but he sure wasn’t a Genin. Iruka’s expression hardened.

“Okay, how many prizes do you guys want?” he let the confidence show
in his voice, and Sasuke raised his eyebrows–which infuriated Iruka
further.

“Chotto, chotto!” The bald man’s weasel-voice was really starting to
get on Iruka’s nerves. He waved his fat hand in the air, “Only one
prize per customer!”

“But we’ve got five arrows left,” Iruka shot back.

The man quailed, but kept up his protest, “I am a poor traveling tradesman, and I can’t afford to give so many prizes away…”

“Tch,” Iruka glared at him, “Fine. I say two bulls-eyes is worth two
prizes. You’ve made a nice profit on our group already, and if you
don’t comply I will report to the Hokage that you’re trying to cheat her people.”

The bald man looked very alarmed at this, spluttering, “Ano…well…if you use only two arrows… and hit the exact centers, mind…”

Iruka gave him one more glare, then picked his spot at the starting
line, testing the weight of the bow. He pulled on the string, making
sure it was the right tightness. It would do. He looked down the grassy
field to the two remaining targets, checking their alignment and
smirking.

This was going to be easy.

Iruka held out his hand as the man shuffled forward with the
remaining arrows, and he looked them over. He picked two that looked
just right, and twirled them together like a baton around his fingers,
getting the feel of them.

“Fire, please,” he said to the gamesman, holding out the ends of both arrows.

The man nervously obeyed, not willing to question what Iruka was
doing. Iruka turned to his comrades and jerked his head to his left,
suggesting they step back out of the way.

He closed his mind, eliminating everything but the sound of the
flames dancing on the arrowheads, and the sight of the remaining
targets lined up at a distance. It was a shot he’d made a thousand
times—two targets at once was simple for someone with his talents.

He held the feathered ends of the arrows with the fingers of his
right hand, like chopsticks, and brought them to the bow. He nocked
them both at once, leaving a space on the bowstring for his grip, and
closed his hand around the smooth wood of the bow just the way he’d
been taught.

Trick shots weren’t so difficult, really. All they needed were a
strong wrist and steady fingers, and the control to hold the arrows
precisely and make them obey. Iruka drew back the string close to his
ear, each flaming tip angled to a separate target. He concentrated on
the heat of the two flames licking over his knuckles as he took careful
aim.

Iruka loosed the string and his breath as one—the arrows sang through the air like firecrackers.

Their twin arcs plunged towards the two last targets like the
swooping tails of Dragons, thudding almost simultaneously in the center
of the black circles. Iruka had kept himself still, his weight forward
on one foot and his arms still in the air, watching with a keen eye to
make sure he won the gamble. The dangling red cords swayed at his
wrists, a soft movement in the silence after his arrows had hit their
marks.

Even Naruto was dumfounded, murmuring an awestruck “Sugoi…”

Iruka felt vindication coil in his belly, complacent, purring,
seeing the re-assessing gaze of his student Sasuke, and the completely
shocked blue eye of his lover. Kakashi was standing very still, the
back of his gloved hand pressed against his nose. It wasn’t often that
he could do that to the Copy-Ninja, and Iruka enjoyed it thoroughly—filling his brown eyes with the promises of similar power to feed on.

Later.

He glanced at the shocked features of the gamesman, reaching out to
return the bow and finding him completely unresponsive. Iruka grumbled,
resting the longbow impatiently against the man’s shoulder and heading
back to his comrades.

“Naruto, Sasuke,” he addressed the students, “Let’s get your prizes and go on into the stadium.”

“Hai!” Was the unanimous reply.

♦

Sasuke looked doubtfully at the so-called prize.

When was he ever going to use a pencil case? It figured that the
cheap bald man would only have things like this to call “prizes,” and
he sighed. Now he was stuck having to keep track of it for the rest of
the night.

Still… Iruka-sensei had been quite impressive. He was so friendly
and open, it was hard to remember that he was also a very skilled ninja.
It made Sasuke think higher of Academy teachers, and it made him
curious about what other special skills Iruka had up his sleeve. In
chagrin, he realized he hadn’t yet considered that Naruto might face
him in the hunt.

Sasuke watched the brown-haired teacher talking casually with
Kakashi, and felt a pang of envy—they were obviously very well matched.
It was exactly what he wanted with his teammate.

He looked down at Naruto, who was tucking his pencil-case into his
sack of explosives, the stunning coat fanned out behind him as he
knelt. Sasuke folded his arms across his body and tightened his lips.
It was going to be a very long evening if he was still salivating like
this over him—where in the world had he gotten such an amazing outfit?
He’d never seen gloves like those, and the coat!

His palms itched almost as much to touch the magnificent embroidery as they did to touch the shinobi underneath.

“Oi, Naruto! OI!” Came a loud, brassy voice behind them.

Sasuke saw Naruto’s head jerk up out of the corner of his eye as he
turned towards the noise. Two of their classmates were heading towards
them, no doubt on their way to the stadium. Sasuke suddenly noticed the
sea of people streaming in that direction, and felt a twinge of
urgency—they couldn’t miss the speech!

“Hey, Kiba!” Naruto jumped up, taking a few quick steps to catch up
to the tall boy, flanked as always by his large white dog and his
silent teammate, Shino.

So… Shino had made it back in time for the Hunt. Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.

Naruto grabbed Kiba’s arm and pointed to the demolished target, “Look, look! I shot an arrow right through it!”

Kiba ruffled Naruto’s blond hair, grinning and shaking his head, “Baaaa-ka, you’re not supposed to destroy things!”

Naruto laughed and knocked Kiba’s hand away with his armored wrist;
Kiba brought his other hand up to continue his playful attack.

“What in heck are you wearing?” Kiba grinned, swiping at Naruto with
his quick reflexes and making exaggerated leers at the beautiful coat.

“I could ask you the same thing, dog breath!” Naruto laughed,
blocking Kiba and managing to muss his brown hair over his eyes. Sasuke
spared a glance at Kiba’s fur-trimmed coat that hid most of his deep
brown Yukata.

“You never do anything normal, eh Naruto?” Kiba tossed the hair from his eyes with a sassy jerk of his head.

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed further, watching the little game, and he
took a step towards them–surprised to see Shino do the same thing. For
a long moment he and Shino looked at each other; cold black eyes locked
with cold black sunglasses.

“Oi, Baka,” Kiba was saying, feinting to throw Naruto off, “Are you going in to hear the speech about the Hunt?”

“Of course!” Naruto laughed, easily dodging Kiba’s half-hearted attempts to land a punch somewhere.

Sasuke felt his brows creasing in his forehead, since it looked like
Naruto was having fun. Irrationally, Sasuke didn’t like it.

“Do you have seats yet?” Kiba asked, “Hey, come sit with us! We were just going in—”

“Kiba.” That was all Shino said, but it’s effect on Kiba was instant.

Sasuke watched as the Inuzuka quickly dropped his arms and turned
away from Naruto. Kiba and Shino exchanged a long look, then Shino
turned and walked away from them, unhurried. Kiba turned to Naruto, a
chagrined smile on his face and his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Guess I better go. Ja, na!” He dashed off to catch up with his teammate.

“Ja!” Naruto called back, waving. His happy smile changed to a more thoughtful one.

“What a weird guy…” Naruto commented to Sasuke, and he nodded back.

They both knew which of them he meant, and they watched for a moment
as their classmates walked up the steps into the coliseum. They were
both wearing coats over their Yukata; Sasuke felt a little absurd for
noticing.

He shifted his eyes over to Naruto and just drank in the sight of
him, uninterrupted for a good minute until their eyes met. Sasuke
smirked, tilting his head in the direction of their friends.

“Let’s go.”

Naruto shot him a big grin and picked up his sack of Kukaku’s loot,
and Sasuke’s heart made an overly-loud thump in his chest. Naruto
really had no idea how cute he was, did he?

“Oi, Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto called to their teachers,
and the four of them made their way into the huge building.

The stadium was a familiar place; they came here to watch the final
matches of the Chuunin exam each time that Konoha hosted it. The stands
were nearly full, which meant that they’d probably make it just in time
to hear Tsunade. Kakashi led them up the winding staircases to the
higher tiers, and the four of them had to crowd past all the people
loitering in clusters and socializing before the Opening Ceremony began.

Sasuke looked around as they climbed up the stairs, and became
increasingly self-conscious at the number of adults who were staring at
him. He kept his chin high, but his senses alert, wondering what the
deal was—it was far different from the attention he was used to from
idiot fangirls. It had already happened once or twice over the course
of the evening, but the larger crowds made it much more noticeable.

He tightened his lips, following at the end of their group and
finally coming out of the tight staircase onto the upper-most tier.
Kakashi motioned for the three of them to go ahead down the aisle to
find four empty seats, and Sasuke caught his eye before passing him. He
raised a questioning eyebrow; maybe Kakashi could tell him what was
going on. If anyone had noticed, it would be him.

Kakashi’s face was unreadable under the mask, and he simply gestured
his gloved hand in the direction the others had gone. Sasuke didn’t
like it, but he turned and went down the narrow steps anyways, sliding
into the row and taking the seat beside Naruto. Iruka smiled warmly and
sat on his other side, Kakashi on the aisle.

He took a deep breath, though the hairs on the back of his neck were
rigid from the sense of people staring at him from behind. He tried to
sit casually, looking down into the stadium to take his mind off of the
disturbing behavior around him. There was a raised platform at the far
end of the grassy area below them; on all four sides, framing it, stood
lines of huge drums. Around the interior of the stadium was a huge ring
of tall torches flickering against the oval shaped concrete wall.

Sasuke leaned his elbows forward on his knees, folding his hands in
front of his face, waiting for something to happen. The staring was not
helping him enjoy the festival, even though he had Naruto beside him—he
wanted to get out of here as soon as they heard Tsunade’s speech. He
rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand; either he really shouldn’t
have gone without sleep, or he was getting overly paranoid—he was
starting to imagine people whispering as well.

“Ne, Sasuke,” Naruto nudged his shoulder.

He turned his head enough to see those gorgeous blue eyes looking at
him. He didn’t know what was different, but they were so intense and
blue…it was like he’d never really looked at them before…

“You’ve gone all stiff,” Naruto said, “Something bothering you?”

Sasuke’s heart thumped hard in his chest, and he couldn’t think of
anything to say. He didn’t want Naruto worrying, so he shrugged, and
tried to come up with an excuse that was simple and believable. Before
he managed to say anything, Naruto placed a strong hand on his knee,
giving it a friendly squeeze.

“Try and loosen up, ne?” For a thrilling moment their eyes met, and
Sasuke could feel electric tingles shooting up his thigh. Naruto smiled
in that disarming way of his, and turned back to look out into the
stadium.

Sasuke was going to have a heart attack.

There was a roaring cheer, and he turned along with everyone else to
the Hokage balcony, seeing Tsunade step up to the railing with several
attendants behind her. She was in a very elegant sleeveless Yukata in
the overly-bare women’s style, a pale spring green with an asymmetrical
pattern of pink Sakura blossoms swirling down the left side. Her long
golden hair was twisted on top of her head in a modern European style,
and she raised her arms in welcome.

“People of Konoha! Welcome to the Opening Ceremony of the Festival of the Golden Kunai!”
her voice boomed out over the crowds, and people jumped to their feet.
Sasuke stood up too, feeling the contagious excitement sweep over
everyone.

“May I introduce the esteemed Feudal Lords of Fire Country!” Tsunade
said, and there was a bustle of activity down at ground level.

Eight men in bright red costumes filed behind the center row of
drums, taking up their large mallets. On some unknown cue, they began
to beat out an undulating rhythm, adding their deep male voices in
staccato bursts that seemed to incite everyone in the audience.

Dressed in ornate and gaudy regalia, the Feudal Lords entered into
the stadium on horseback, a glittering parade of jeweled robes on both
the men and their horses. They waved at the crowds as they circled the
stadium in a long line. Some of the Lords were accompanied by their
wives, but it was mostly men riding tall in the saddle with regal grace.

The man in the very front had the flashiest appearance, and he was
closely flanked by a brown haired girl who couldn’t be much younger
than Sasuke; she rode comfortably and confidently, keeping close to the
man Sasuke assumed to be her father, and yet she also seemed to command
a certain deference from the men riding behind her.

Her robes looked as expensive as they were elegant, and from the way
she carried herself he could tell she wasn’t just a wealthy noble
female. She was too… poised, or graceful. Something about the way she
sat implied she’d had years of training in something other
than riding horses, and if it wasn’t ninjutsu it had to be something
similar. Whoever she was, Sasuke made note of her—she was bound to be
someone important.

As he’d learned early on; all knowledge is worth having.

Behind the long string of Lords—and there were many more than Sasuke
expected to see—came more horses. Only these weren’t dressed in finery
or ridden by a nobleman. Harnessed and guided by caretakers, the horses
seemed utterly naked and primal without all the tassels and sequins,
their coats brushed to a sleek shimmer, and their manes and tails
unbraided and flowing in the air.

“Hmmm,” Naruto was leaning forward in his seat, craning to see the
horses, “I saw someone with a horse yesterday… waiting to see
Tsunade-no-Baa-Chan…”

Sasuke perked his ears, finding the tidbit curious, but it was Iruka
who spoke, “The Feudal Lords are known for producing magnificent
horses,” the teacher said. “They are no doubt showing off their latest
stock.”

“Yes,” Kakashi added, “They’ve been trying for years to breed a
horse that can beat the lines of purebreds from the Wind Country. I
suspect Tsunade-sama has allowed them a chance to do some trading in
Konoha… since we are a hidden village…”

“And if Konoha can profit from the secret trading…” Sasuke added, and the two sensei nodded their agreements. Interesting. Maybe Tsunade was a better businesswoman than they thought.

The parade finally ended, and Tsunade stood up again to address the
crowd. Naruto moved to the edge of his seat, and Sasuke felt a half
smile twitch at his lip. He loved watching Naruto when he got excited
about something. Everyone was focused on the Hokage with bated breath,
and Tsunade took her time, letting the suspense build.

“Now that we are all assembled, I have an important announcement. As you know, one of the highlights of the Festival of the Golden Kunai is the traditional Scavenger Hunt!”

Tsunade paused for dramatic effect, and Sasuke heard a ripple of murmurs from the crowd.

“As your Hokage, I have done my best to arrange and ensure a very exciting, and highly competitive
experience for those who choose to participate,” Her eyes scanned the
crowd from one side to the other, “And so I challenge you! Chuunin and
Jounin of Konoha—do you have what it takes to survive?”

People everywhere were jumping to their feet, Naruto included,
whether from personal determination or just the rush of excitement, it
was impossible to tell. Sasuke stood, even though he had no desire to
take part. He’d do everything to help Naruto, but he definitely
wouldn’t compete: If he lost, he’d know for sure that he wasn’t as
strong as Itachi. And if he won, he’d break the heart of his most
precious person…

Putting a second Kunai in his cabinet wasn’t worth the price he’d have to pay.

“Registration is open for any Chuunin or Jounin who believes
themselves worthy of being Konoha’s champion! Report to the conference
room in the Hokage tower tomorrow at 3:00 sharp for rules and
instructions. And now, for your special entertainment, may I present
our first performance of the night: Fire Country’s very own National
Acrobatics Troupe.” Tsunade paused, and there was applause as well as
excited conversation sweeping across the rows of gathered ninja.

Tsunade spread her arms out wide, grinning broadly, “Without further ado, I, Godaime Hokage declare: LET THE FESTIVAL BEGIN!”

Amid the deafening cheers of the spectators, Sasuke could feel the
booming of all the drums beating in unison down below. It rippled in
his chest, and most everyone around them was sitting down to watch the
spectacle, the cheers dying off rapidly. He sat down as well, relieved
that there was something other than him to distract the
villagers–even though he still saw several people turning around in
their seats to look at him. He resisted the urge to sink down in his
seat, ignoring everyone and trying to watch what was happening on the
stage.

Five men in bright red pants had leapt onto the platform, shirtless
and muscular, each carrying a thin staff about four feet long. They
created intricate patterns with high leaps and the quick twirling of
each pole, an acrobatic routine that was as frenzied as it was
graceful. These men had obviously trained for a very long time to
master such moves—almost like taijutsu, but with too many openings, if
you didn’t count the weapons in their hands.

Then a sixth performer entered, wearing a horned mask and trailing
what looked like scarves in a hundred different shades of red over a
golden costume. Next to the five men it was obvious that the latest
addition was female, and her moves were the yin to their yang, somehow
balancing the choreography while becoming the center of it.

In a sudden, bold move that punctuated their athletic abilities and
heightened the performance, each staff burst into flames at either end.
The audience Ooooo-ed and Ahhhhhh-ed, watching in
fascination at the complex patterns the men created from throwing and
catching the flaming weapons while also flipping and somersaulting
across the stage.

Sasuke let his eyes bleed to the Sharingan, feeling the slight
sea-sickness that always accompanied the spinning of the Copy mode. He
recorded everything the dancers did: the timing of the throws, the
angles of the leaps, the movements in the wrists that kept the
double-torches in constant motion. Any part of it might be useful later
on.

He stopped recording when he became aware of the increasingly
obvious whispering from the spectators in front of him, closing his
eyes for a moment and letting the Sharingan recede. As soon as his
lashes rested on his cheeks, his ears could make out pieces of the
murmurings—

Look!… is that him?… the Uchiha… eliminated everyone… if
he enters again… which one is he… wouldn’t want to fight him… he’s
doing it now!… had a brother… shhh, he’s looking… never stood a chance…
Uchiha bloodline… better not risk it… yes, Itachi… they say … Itachi…

Sasuke opened his eyes in shock. Itachi? Itachi!

People everywhere were looking at him, leaning to their neighbors
and whispering. His ears flattened against his head defensively, and he
looked around at all the faces, his hand touching his necklace in a
subconsciously protective gesture. What the hell was going on?

Naruto nudged him with his knee to get his attention, and Sasuke
turned to face him, trying to keep his disquiet from showing. Naruto’s
face was intense, like when he was ready to fight in a match, his voice
lower that usual.

“Why is everyone staring, Sasuke?”

Sasuke glared past Naruto to the next people over, talking in not-so hushed voices:

Ask him!”

No YOU ask him!”

Sasuke bared his teeth, scowling. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly.

“I don’t like it,” Naruto looked around, also scowling in irritation, “What the hell?”

Sasuke’s lips pressed in a tight line, and he looked over to
Iruka-sensei. Iruka was turned to Kakashi, and they were exchanging
fast whispers; he couldn’t hear or see enough to follow their quick
dialogue. He looked behind them to find more people gawking, and—to his
shock!—catching lots of people actually pointing at him. They quickly
dropped their arms when they saw him turn around, but he was starting
to get angry.

“Iruka-sensei,” Naruto interrupted loudly, “Is it time for dinner yet?”

Iruka stopped his conversation with Kakashi and turned to them both.
His smile was obviously forced, “We were just talking about that.”

“I picked out a very nice place, so if you’re all ready, I’ll lead
the way,” Kakashi offered, standing up and keeping his voice light.

Sasuke felt relieved; he didn’t know how much more staring or
whispering he could take, although he didn’t have much of an appetite
either. The rest of them stood, Naruto having to heave up his sack of
fireworks before following them out of the row, but Sasuke felt
comforted having him at his back. Walking up the exposed aisle made it
even worse; people weren’t even bothering to whisper now, although the
mixture of voices made it impossible to follow any one conversation.

Sasuke jumped when he heard Naruto’s voice shouting angrily at the people to their right: “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT?”

It made him smile, at least on the inside; it was good to have
Naruto as a teammate. Sasuke had an awful guess about what was stirring
up the ninjas in the village, and if he was right, it wasn’t likely to
stop until the festival was over. If it stopped at all.

Kakashi got them out of there much quicker than it had taken to get
in; almost everyone in the village was inside watching the
entertainment, so there was no traffic. This proved to be the case all
over Konoha, as the only people they encountered were those too drunk
to care about the Ceremony, or those who didn’t care about the Hunt. It
was obvious there were considerably more of the former than the latter.

Kakashi stopped them in front of a Korean barbecue restaurant, not too far from Sasuke’s favorite curry shop.

“I made reservations here, I hope you all like barbecue!” Kakashi’s eye crinkled as he smiled, gesturing at the doors.

Sasuke touched Kakashi’s arm-guard, saying in a low voice, “I want to talk to you.”

The Jounin looked back at him steadily, then called to Iruka without
breaking their gaze. “Would you mind getting the table? We’ll just be a
moment.”

“No problem,” Iruka guided Naruto into the restaurant, and Sasuke
crossed his arms as he retreated into the thicker shadows of the
building. Kakashi waited for him to start, leaning into the wall nearby
and resting his hands on his hips as if he had pockets to put them in.

Sasuke gritted his teeth, choosing his first words carefully. “I look like him, don’t I.”

“Hmmm,” Kakashi paused, looking out into the street. The lanterns
were swaying gently, and they could hear couples laughing drunkenly a
little ways down the street.

“You are his brother, and an Uchiha.”

“But I can’t look like him, I mean…” Sasuke ran a hand angrily through his hair, “I don’t even remember–”

He gasped—it was true! His heart clenched; he was starting to forget what Itachi looked like. It had been too long.

“Sasuke.” Kakashi turned his head to look at him, his eye roving
over his features. “People are only remembering how Itachi won the last
Hunt, and how he left Konoha rather… mysteriously. There
aren’t many shinobi who can say they really knew him, or have had the
pleasure of knowing you both.” He looked up at the sky, watching the
rainbow of lanterns bob on their lines.

“You know who you are. Try not to let it bother you.”

“But you did it too, Kakashi-sensei!” Sasuke knew his eyes were as angry as his voice, “You mistook me for him, didn’t you?”

Kakashi closed his eye and sighed, “Only for a moment…”

“You almost attacked me!” Sasuke looked out into the street,
wondering why Kakashi had reacted so strongly. He’d always thought the
two had been close; at least that was what Itachi had implied.

He sighed, “I must really look like him if it fooled you, Kakashi-sensei.”

Kakashi took a deep breath, “I thought you were Itachi, yes. You
showed up in his cloak and you’re wearing his necklace, for God’s
sake.” His voice was that rigid calm that meant underneath, he was
upset.

“This isn’t his, it’s mine!” Sasuke felt childish, hearing the words out loud. He touched the bead at his throat.

“But he gave it to you, didn’t he?” Kakashi argued. Sasuke scowled.

“I worked with him in ANBU,” Kakashi continued, “He preferred mesh
shirts, and he always wore that necklace—or one just like it.” Kakashi
paused, lost in thought. “You know he was… unpredictable …so when I thought it was him, my reaction was automatic. I wouldn’t have hurt you, Sasuke.”

It was a small relief.

“So everyone,” Sasuke hesitated; he felt sick. “When they look at me, they only see him.”

“No, I wouldn’t say that.” Kakashi took a step closer. “The festival
is reminding everyone that the Uchiha clan is powerful; a force to be
reckoned with. They remember Itachi, yes… but they are wondering about you: Uchiha Sasuke.”

Sasuke didn’t comment.

After a moment, Kakashi continued, “Saa. This time, you’ll be the
one to show everyone in the Hunt how strong you are; you almost got the
bell from me by yourself the other day.”

Sasuke shook his head, anger seeping back into his chest. “Tch.
Everyone will be disappointed, then. I won’t be entering the Hunt.”

“What?” Kakashi was genuinely surprised, “Why not?”

Sasuke only glared, cocking his head defiantly.

“Then what was all that with the strawberries, and the training with Naruto?”

Sasuke felt himself flush, but his voice was serious, “That was … for Naruto. He’s the one who’s going to win.”

“I see,” Kakashi regarded him curiously. The two of them stood in silence for several minutes.

Kuso! Sasuke had hoped to avoid talking about the Hunt. Kakashi was
the one ninja Sasuke was worried about Naruto beating; he hadn’t yet
come up with a strategy that might give Naruto enough of an edge. The
Jounin hadn’t said either way, but Sasuke was reasonably sure that
Kakashi would be competing; he couldn’t think of any reason for him not
to. He had to find a way. He just had to.

“So,” Kakashi cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Speaking of Naruto, he’s been checking you out all night…”

Sasuke snapped to attention, not sure if Kakashi was joking, but
then flushed at the lewd grin on his sensei’s face. “Hn,” he muttered.

“Maaa,” Kakashi leered at him, “You know, the evening’s almost over–have you figured out how you’ll make your move? Hmmm?”

“Kakashi!” Sasuke hissed, glaring for all he was worth though his stomach flipped eagerly at the suggestion.

That was another thing he had to figure out, and fast! God, why
couldn’t he at least have taken a nap before tonight? This wasn’t
supposed to be so stressful.

The Jounin just laughed at him, holding out a hand, “Here, let me see your pencil case.”

Sasuke’s eyes narrowed. “Why?” He demanded, holding it behind his back protectively.

Kakashi wiggled his gloved fingers, “I’m serious. I just want to give you something.”

Sasuke didn’t trust him, but he could always throw it away if it was something… something what?
What could it possibly be? Reluctantly, he handed over the pencil case,
and Kakashi opened it, closed it, and handed it back so fast that
Sasuke didn’t see what he’d done.

He looked at the case in his hands, holding it with care as if it could explode if he moved even a single muscle.

“Saa,” Kakashi laughed, “You can thank me later. Let’s go in.” And with that he turned and walked through the restaurant door.

Sasuke had to look. He had to know.

Very carefully, he lifted the lid of the pencil case, and felt his
face grow hotter than lava and twice as red. He closed the lid and
tucked it safely and securely into his sash, next to the fan.

They would never speak of this again.

♦

In the nearly empty restaurant, Naruto sat down in the booth across
from Iruka, plunking his sack of explosives safely under the table.

“Iruka-sensei, what was with all those people?” he asked. Naruto had never seen such behavior.

…At least, when it wasn’t directed at him.

It had really bothered Sasuke, and it didn’t make any sense—what
could Sasuke have done? Naruto felt a twitching in his abdomen; Sasuke
was drop-dead gorgeous tonight, and having to fight off an erection more than once because of it was proof enough.

But Sasuke couldn’t have …er… bewitched everyone in the village, could he? Naruto folded his arms on the edge of the table.

“Everyone’s just worked up about the festival,” Iruka answered, leaning back in the booth in a relaxed manner.

“I don’t like to see him so uncomfortable like that.”

“Daijobu. He’ll be feeling loads better when he comes back in with Kakashi,” Iruka reassured him.

“Yeah,” Naruto agreed, “Kakashi-sensei is good at that kind of thing.”

He smiled at his teacher, and Iruka looked surprised for a moment.
Then he turned away with a hint of color in his cheeks, and a soft
smile.

Naruto laughed, “You can’t even help it, can you?” He teased, seeing Iruka’s shocked expression.

“Naruto!” Iruka warned him, his cheeks turning pinker. Naruto laughed harder.

“Look who’s talking,” Iruka raised his eyebrows, “I’ve seen you gawking at Sasuke more than once tonight!”

Naruto grinned, “Demo saa, demo saa, Sasuke is completely
sexy tonight! Argh!” He clapped his gloved hands over his cheeks,
trying to hide his blush. Iruka laughed with him, both of them crimson.

“Shhhh,” Iruka warned, “They could come back here at any time, you know.”

“Ne, Iruka-sensei,” Naruto looked at the teacher more seriously, “It
was kinda weird at first to be around Kakashi… especially since I know,
uh …” Crap, this wasn’t what he was trying to say at all!

Iruka’s smile fell, and Naruto quickly went on, “But really, he’s a
really great sensei… and I can tell that you… and that he…er…” Naruto
blushed, not finishing his sentence.

Iruka looked relieved, “I think I know what you’re trying to say.”

“Yeah,” Naruto ran a hand through his hair. “I want that. With Sasuke.”

Iruka looked pleasantly surprised, and they didn’t say anything else for a minute or two.

“So…” Iruka cleared his throat after a while, “I saw Sasuke watching you, too…” He was blushing, though it was clear that he was trying not to.

“Seriously?” Naruto asked loudly, his own cheeks coloring.

“Aa,” Iruka nodded. “You didn’t tell me how the training went
yesterday… so I was a little worried that maybe things… I don’t know…”

Naruto chuckled, looking away, “Heh, training… that was really fun.”
He turned back with a huge grin on his face, “I was so dirty I had to
borrow his clothes so I could get home!”

Naruto thoroughly enjoyed the look on Iruka’s face at this
announcement, and laughed uninhibitedly. He was tempted, but maybe he
shouldn’t tell Iruka about how Sasuke had licked strawberry off of his
collarbone… it might be too much.

He shivered; it was almost too much for him.

“So, ka,” Iruka replied, obviously trying to imagine what in the
world had gone on yesterday. “Then… are you going to make a move? The
night is almost over—just dinner and the fireworks finale.”

“Ehhhhh!” Naruto looked shocked, “It’s almost over?”

Oh God… what was he going to do? He hadn’t figured anything out yet, how to get Sasuke alone… what would he say?

“Shhhh,” Iruka cautioned again, and Naruto ducked his head down low, trying to become less visible.

“After dinner, Kakashi’s picked out a spot to watch the fireworks, and then he and I… er…” Iruka blushed.

“Oi,” Naruto held up a hand, “I didn’t say I wanted to know everything about you and the pervert.”

Iruka rolled his eyes, “I wasn’t going to tell you!”

He took an exasperated breath, and Naruto tried to get the image of
his teachers out of his mind. It wasn’t that they were gross… Just ew.

Iruka cleared his throat. “I’m just seeing what you had in mind,
because I think you’ve got a good shot, and there’s not much time left
if you were going to do something tonight.” Iruka explained.

Naruto thought hard, drumming his fingers on the table, “Gah! I don’t know!”

Iruka bit his lip, and Naruto felt even more panicked. If even
Iruka-sensei couldn’t think of anything, how was he going to get
anywhere? God, Sasuke was so irresistible, and there’d been so much
tension over the past few days–Naruto thought he’d commit seppuku if
something didn’t happen that night.

“Naruto,” Iruka was whispering, his face tense, and his hand shifting underneath the table.

“What?” Naruto mimicked his sensei, leaning forward and whispering. This must be something big.

“Here,” Iruka glanced around at the empty tables beside them, “I’m
going to pass you something under the table.” He leaned forward.

“What?” Naruto asked confused, reaching under the table and
stretching his fingers out obediently, looking for Iruka’s hand. Where
was it?

“Quickly!” Iruka’s whisper was urgent, “Take it! Now!”

“Where?” Naruto flailed, not finding anything, “I can’t find it!”

“Here! To the left!” Iruka hissed.

“Ah!”

Naruto’s fingers finally found Iruka’s arm, and he moved his hand
until he could take the object he was offering. It felt like it could
be anything. Iruka was sighing with relief, crossing his arms on the table as Naruto started to pull his hand out to look at it.

“NO!” Iruka practically shrieked, his voice hysterical, and Naruto froze.

“Nan-dayo!” He asked impatiently, “How can I tell what it is if I can’t see it?”

“Shhhh!” Iruka cautioned, and Naruto ducked down again. “You can look at it later, just put it somewhere safe!”

“Like where?” Naruto asked, looking around the booth.

“Like…” Iruka thought for a moment, “…The pencil case! Put it in there! Now!”

Naruto grumbled. This was so much fuss. What the hell was so
important? He tucked the item in between his knees, holding it there
while he dug around in his fireworks, feeling for the pencil case. He
found it and opened the lid, putting the item inside and closing it
tight with a little click.

Iruka sighed with relief, and Naruto started to drop the case back
into the bag, but something stopped him. This just wasn’t adding up. He
looked back at his teacher. What the hell did he give him?

He had to look.

He couldn’t stand not knowing, since Iruka had made such a big deal.
Maybe Sasuke had that kind of discipline, but he sure didn’t. Naruto
ducked underneath the table, ignoring Iruka’s questioning voice,
holding the pencil case and cracking the lid. He looked at the object
inside–

“NANI!” He shouted, banging his head on the table in his
haste to sit up. “Ow-ow-ow-ow…” he grumbled, emerging from below the
table rubbing the back of his head. He looked accusingly at his sensei,
trying to cover his embarrassment.

Iruka was shifting uncomfortably in his seat, “Er, well… At least you’ll be prepared… just in case!”

Naruto couldn’t believe it. He couldn’t even say it. It was too weird.

“Yo!” said Kakashi, making both Naruto and Iruka jump in their seats.

Naruto flushed crimson, and his throat clenched up in surprise. He
exchanged a glance with Iruka and found the teacher to be just as
boiling red. Naruto forced his eyes to look up at Kakashi, who was
leering down at the two of them dramatically.

“What …are… you …two …up …to?” He drew out the words in a suggestive accusation.

“N-n-nothing,” Naruto chuckled, totally mortified.

“Hmmmm,” Kakashi said skeptically, fixing his gaze on Iruka.

“R-r-r-really, K-Kakashi!” Iruka tucked a lock of his long hair
behind his ear, trying to look calm, “We were just waiting for you!”

“So, ka,” Kakashi said, putting his hands on his hips and shaking
his head. “Well, I guess I’ll sit down,” he announced, sitting next to
Iruka and picking up the menu.

Naruto felt his forehead break out in sweat from the awkwardness.

“Yo.” Sasuke said, also appearing out of nowhere.

Naruto jumped in his seat, whipping his head around at the sound of
his teammate’s voice. If Naruto thought he’d been red a moment ago, it
was nothing compared to what he felt he must look like now. He couldn’tstand it! The combination of Sasuke’s natural sex appeal, and the knowledge of the secret item stashed in his pencil case…

He gulped past the lump in his throat.

Sasuke sat down smoothly in the seat, strangely avoiding any kind of
eye-contact. Naruto just stared at him, wondering if his ears were
going to start whistling from being so close to him. Oh God! He was mere inches away in the tiny booth, so powerful, so deadly, so beautiful–

“What are you looking at?” Sasuke finally turned his head, and
Naruto felt his heart stop altogether from the weight of those black,
black eyes.

He couldn’t have answered even if he’d wanted to, and somehow he
knew that was okay, because whatever Sasuke had been about to ask him
dissolved on his tongue when their eyes met. Naruto watched,
mesmerized, as Sasuke’s skin blossomed as crimson as his own, starting
across his nose and spreading outward. Naruto’s heart started back up
with a painful thudding, the electricity between them raising the hairs
on his neck.

He never knew just what Kakashi did, but Iruka’s wild yelp and flailing arms broke the tension at the table with an imploding POP.

The mood shattered, spilling across the table and dripping onto the
floor; Naruto felt like his lungs had been deprived of air for a
century and he gasped from the rush of simple breathing, propping
himself on the table with his elbows. When he’d managed to get himself
back under control, he looked over at Sasuke, who was holding himself
perfectly still and glaring at his menu, disregarding the sexy flush
lingering on his own cheeks.

Across the table, Iruka looked absolutely livid, and Kakashi was
laughing uncontrollably, and without apology. Naruto shook his head.

If he knew Iruka, that Special Jounin was in loads of trouble now!

♦

Sasuke sipped his tea, feeling more relaxed after getting some food in his system, although he hadn’t managed to eat a lot.

He sat quietly, watching Iruka and Naruto cooking the last of their
supper on the round grill in the center of the table. He glanced over
at Kakashi, and narrowed his eyes when he saw that the Jounin had been
watching him. Kakashi hadn’t eaten much either. But Sasuke could bet it
was because he had two of his students trying to see under his mask,
rather than getting more and more nervous as the minutes ticked by.

“Heh, heh,” Naruto was chuckling in his appealing way, “This is almost as much fun as Ramen!”

Sasuke felt his mouth quirk in a half-smile, and he sipped his tea
to hide it from his teammate. Kakashi had probably seen it, though, and
he met Kakashi’s eye, daring him to comment. His sensei’s blue eye was
sparkling.

“Iie,” Iruka laughed, turning over a nicely browned slice of pork,
“Ramen is infinitely better. But it can be good to change your routine,
now and again.”

He looked pointedly at Kakashi, and Sasuke didn’t miss the curious exchange between them. He sipped his tea.

“Mmmm,” Naruto said, “I’m just glad its pork… miso-pork ramen, or
pork yakiniku…” He put one of the cooked slices of pork into his mouth
and chewed slowly, his eyes closed.

“I didn’t know you liked pork that much,” Kakashi commented.

Naruto swallowed and grinned, using his chopsticks to move the last of the meat around on the grill. “I pretend it’s Ton-Ton!”

Iruka gaped at him, “Naruto!”

Kakashi didn’t comment, and neither did Sasuke, though they were
both smirking at the idea. Sasuke knew firsthand how Shizune treated
Naruto, and it wouldn’t surprise him if Kakashi was aware of the
extreme animosity between the two of them. Naruto tried to look guilty,
but his grin didn’t quite make it work for him.

“What?” He asked Iruka defensively, “You can’t expect me to like that pig, when Shizune is such a bit—mnff!”

Just in time, Sasuke clapped his hand over Naruto’s mouth. There was
no need to say it, especially in front of their sensei. Naruto was
glaring at him, snorting his annoyance in hot puffs over the back of
Sasuke’s hand. He let the blond simmer for a moment, and then released
him. Naruto scowled, but refrained from elaborating further on why he
hated the kunoichi.

The door to the restaurant opened, and a large group of people came
in, chattering socially and laughing together as they sat down. Sasuke
eyed them over his shoulder, thankful for the corner booth that Iruka
and Naruto had picked out. It was the most private one they could have
acquired, but he didn’t like how quickly business was picking up. This
wasn’t the first group to enter over the last twenty minutes.

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi, who nodded. Good. They would be leaving
soon. He sipped his tea, watching Naruto and Iruka eating the last of
their dinner, and silently urging them to hurry.

“Yare-yare,” Iruka said, slumping back in the booth. “I couldn’t eat
another bite!” He tucked his hands behind his head, relaxing.

“Ho,” Kakashi smirked, “I bet there’s room left… for dessert.”

Kakashi’s voice was so suggestive, Sasuke inhaled a bit of his tea
and had to cough. He kept himself from looking at either of the sensei.
He didn’t want to know what he’d see.

“Maaa, Sasuke,” Naruto piped up, “You haven’t eaten much.” He
flipped the last pieces of meat on the grill before looking over to
him, “Aren’t you hungry?”

Sasuke felt his heart thud against his ribcage. He looked into those
blue, blue eyes, and knew he’d die of starvation if he didn’t get to
taste the spice of that smiling mouth within the next two hours. Surely
the fireworks wouldn’t last longer than that? He shrugged, keeping his
voice even, though he wasn’t sure he could prevent his eyes from
speaking what his voice left out.

“It’s okay… I can always have a snack before bedtime.”

He didn’t look away, and Naruto’s eyes widened, locking with his own
until he heard chopsticks clatter against the tabletop. Sasuke reached
for them, holding them out to his teammate, who laughed nervously as he
took them back.

Oh yes—his stomach growled—he wouldn’t be going to bed hungry. Not this night.

“I think these are ready,” Iruka said, reaching over the table to
shift the tasty pork onto Naruto’s plate, carefully keeping the red
cords from the hot grill. Sasuke was relieved the teacher was acting
oblivious; he’d known for a long time that Iruka’s intelligent eyes
didn’t miss much. He sighed.

Maybe there were some things you just couldn’t keep secret.

He sipped his tea, watching Naruto gobble up every bit that was
left. The blond slumped back in the booth, his gloved hands resting on
his satisfied belly, a smile on his face as he chewed the last bite.
Sasuke looked back at Kakashi, who held his gaze a moment before
clearing his throat.

“Well I guess we better get going, before this place gets too
crowded. I would like to humbly invite all of you to enjoy the
fireworks from my rooftop—the view is particularly spectacular from up
there,” Kakashi smiled, his eye crinkling into a crescent.

“How generous of you, Kakashi-san,” Iruka smiled politely.

Naruto nodded his agreement, and Sasuke looked nervously back over
his shoulder. There were more and more people entering the restaurant.
He didn’t care where they went from here–as long as he wasn’t subjected
to more whispers and stares.

Kakashi stood and the rest of them followed, Naruto lugging his bag
of fireworks from under the table. Sasuke moved next to Iruka near the
door, trying not to draw attention to himself in the noisier section of
the restaurant while Kakashi settled the bill. He felt Naruto standing
close behind his other shoulder, and his upper arm broke out in goose
bumps.

Kakashi didn’t keep them waiting long, and their group was heading
to the door to leave when someone opened it suddenly on their way in.
As the four of them stepped politely back out of the way, Sasuke
realized that the pair entering weren’t strangers. Not friends
exactly—at least not his—but not strangers either.

Asuma was smoking as usual, though the bridge of his nose was
flushed from the consumption of alcohol. He’d rolled packs of
cigarettes up in the sleeves of his plain black Yukata, exposing his
rock-hard biceps. Kurenai slinked in behind him, her Yukata matching
her eyes and blinding everyone else’s. Sasuke saw them give a cursory
look over their group, and then double-take when they saw Kakashi.

“Oh! There you are, Kakashi,” Kurenai’s happy greeting
faltered when she realized the masked Jounin was part of the small
group in the doorway. Her face flickered in confusion.

“Yo,” Kakashi gave his little wave. Asuma grunted, puffing on his cigarette and eyeing their group with obvious arrogance.

“We were wondering why you weren’t sitting with the rest of the
Jounin,” she said, resting her dainty hand on Asuma’s muscled forearm,
cocking an eyebrow to Kakashi in an unspoken question.

“Maaa,” Kakashi replied, indicating all of them with sweeping hands, “There’s just not enough of me to go around!”

He chuckled, but somehow Sasuke didn’t find it funny to be dismissed
so quickly by the newcomers, and he felt Iruka stiffen beside him under
the second pass of Asuma’s sneer.

“Then it’s good we caught you,” Kurenai continued, facing Kakashi
and ignoring the rest of them. “Genma is having a big party at his
place later on–it’s his birthday, so you have to come! Why don’t you
join us?”

“Yeah, we still owe you for last time,” Asuma chided in his deep voice, cracking his knuckles and grinning.

“Sorry,” Kakashi smiled disarmingly, rubbing his neck, “I’ve already made other plans.”

“With these guys?” Asuma jerked a thumb in their direction, his face and tone carrying his disbelief and disapproval.

Sasuke felt his indignation seep from his skin in waves, only half
surprised to feel a similar surge of power from Iruka. Kakashi,
Kurenai, and Asuma turned as one to the source of the disturbance.
Asuma looked curiously at Iruka, then locked eyes with Sasuke—he looked
irritated when Sasuke didn’t flinch.

Sasuke seethed on the inside. Was he seeing him? Or Itachi?

A strange part of him wanted Asuma to try something, even if the
Jounin was a little drunk; Sasuke was on edge enough from lack of sleep
and sexual tension that he knew he’d be able to take him. He wanted it.

“Asuma,” Kurenai said his name with a warning undertone, giving his forearm a tug to deter him from anything reckless.

“Tch, Uchiha,” Asuma drawled, making it sound like a disease. Sasuke glared harder.

Kakashi took a quick step in front of Naruto, preventing him from
moving towards the two Jounin, “Maaa, this place sure is filling up
quickly; I hope there are tables left.”

Asuma was still glaring only at Sasuke, and though it didn’t match
his turbulent emotions, Sasuke shifted his body into its familiar and
comfortable pose of bored superiority, seeking to get a rise from the
Jounin. Asuma grimaced, the cigarette dangling from the edge of his
lip, and he started to move forward.

Sasuke was pleased with himself for making the other man move first.
Kurenai’s tugging on her boyfriend’s arm held him back, but Sasuke was
sure that if they hadn’t had interference, Asuma would have fought him
there and then. He was aware of Kakashi and Iruka, tense and alert on
either side of him, though for opposite reasons.

Kurenai slithered against Asuma’s back, moving her red lips up to his ear and whispering, “They’re only Chuunin…
Saa…” She tugged on his elbow, drawing him towards the dining area, and
he looked down at her as if just remembering he had company.

Apparently her cleavage was enough of a distraction; he smirked, puffing on his cigarette, turning his back on everyone else.

“See you around, Kakashi,” he grunted, moving off to get a table.

Kurenai looked over her shoulder as she was led away, smiling
briefly to Kakashi in what she probably thought was an apology, and
Sasuke heard her feminine voice as they disappeared into the heart of
the restaurant, “That’s quite enough Sake for you…”

Naruto was fuming, “What the—“

“–Yare-yare, we don’t want to miss the fireworks! Let’s go,” Kakashi’s voice was firm, and he steered everyone out the door.

Once outside, the three of them followed Kakashi as he led them
towards his apartment. The streets were only half as full as before the
speech, dappled with couples walking hand in hand and strolling lazily
in the cool summer evening. If he hadn’t been so annoyed, Sasuke might
have appreciated the romance, with the lanterns setting a cozy mood
over the village, and the busiest vendors selling expensive desserts.
On every nearby bench were more couples, sitting close to feed each
other and giggle.

Sasuke watched Iruka in front of him. The teacher was obviously
unhappy about the encounter in the restaurant, although Kakashi was
trying to act like it wasn’t important. Sasuke was just as irritated,
and so was Naruto; they exchanged a dark glance as they followed the
sensei, the insults of the other Jounin still hot on their ears.

“I didn’t realize your friends were so full of themselves, Kakashi.” Iruka looked like he had many other ways to describe them.

“Maaa, Asuma’s not usually like that,” Kakashi said. “He had obviously been drinking.”

“That’s not a good excuse,” Iruka argued, his right hand making a fist at his side.

“Yeah!” Naruto added his two cents. Sasuke just kept walking,
wanting the evening to be over with. He thought about how Asuma had
looked at him, how he sneered when he said his name: Uchiha.

What had passed between him and Itachi?

Sasuke felt someone staring again, and he turned quickly, armed with
a glare, but was relieved that it was only Naruto—although Naruto was
watching him with a gaze that, for him, was oddly
calculating. Sasuke felt his glare disappear, watching a smile begin to
spread across Naruto’s face. The blond looked ahead, craning his neck
and searching for something further up.

Suddenly Naruto shoved his bag of explosives into Sasuke’s arms, and
Sasuke watched dumbfounded as Naruto slipped between their sensei and
darted ahead, moving to a vendor’s stand and pointing to something on
the menu. He grinned at the stand owner, and nodded, skipping back past
the curious stares of Kakashi and Iruka, and sidling up beside Sasuke.

“Here,” he said, splitting the double-Popsicle in half and holding one side out to him.

Sasuke felt his heart grow warm, gripping the bag with one arm and
reaching out to take the frozen gift with careful fingers. Naruto was
already enjoying his, keeping the melting juice from running onto his
glove with an active tongue. Sasuke sighed. This was exactly what he loved about Naruto—he was always thinking of others, and trying to make things better.

“Tch, idiot,” he said, giving in and tasting the cool, lemony treat in his hands.

Naruto knew he meant it affectionately, grinning broadly and laughing. Damn he was sexy when eating a Popsicle. Watching the process with keen black eyes, Sasuke felt his mood brighten.

It was good to be reminded that there were things to look forward to.

♦

“Suge-tebayo!” Naruto shouted, looking up into the sky which had exploded in a particularly lively burst of color.

Sasuke readjusted his position on the roof tiles, bracing his feet
against the slant and holding his sparkler where it wouldn’t burn
anyone. Naruto was holding two in each hand, waving them periodically
and watching the fireworks display with uninhibited glee. Iruka and
Kakashi were seated not too far away, also looking up into the sky and
holding sparklers.

Sasuke was finally able to relax somewhat. Here, high above the
village, there was no one to stare or whisper, or mistake him for his
infamous brother.

There were other clusters of shinobi scattered on rooftops all over
the village, but they were too far away to make the night miserable. He
felt almost safe, here on Kakashi’s roof where he could
simply enjoy the company of good friends, and forget the annoyances of
the day. The last forty minutes had been just about perfect.

But there he was, his rival, sitting both too close to him and much too far away.

Sasuke was hard pressed to watch the fireworks themselves, and not
the ever-changing expressions of delight shifting on Naruto’s face in a
display all their own. The colors in the sky reflected on his skin, and
Sasuke thought he could watch it for hours and hours, completely
content. Although he also had an insane urge to kiss the spots of color, to chase them over his skin with his tongue like a cat trying to catch a prism rainbow with its paw.

He licked his lips, and closed his fingers more tightly around his
sparkler. He had to control himself. Just for a little bit more.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto leaned back to look over at their sensei, “Are there any sparklers left?”

“Of course,” Kakashi called, passing some to Iruka, who reached over to pass them to Sasuke.

Sasuke felt rather awkward when he made eye-contact with the
teacher. If he’d been wondering before, that flicker in Iruka’s eyes
confirmed that the teacher was fully aware of the attraction between
him and Naruto. It made him worry whether Iruka had also guessed that
Sasuke knew about him and Kakashi.

He took the sparklers and turned back to Naruto—one thing to worry about at a time.

“Man, this is great!” Naruto grinned, taking the whole bundle and
lighting them with the one of his four that hadn’t burned out. He
singled out a sparkling golden one and passed it back.

“Here. Yours went out,” he gestured at the charred wire Sasuke still held in his hand. Sasuke looked at it in dismay.

Naruto laughed, “Here. Take it.”

Sasuke put the used sparkler into the pile with the others, and took
the golden one. Naruto watched him for a moment or two, then reached
out and smoothed a few locks of his black hair back away from his face.

“It’s a good thing I’ve got extras,” he laughed, waving his large
bundle of sparklers and spraying multicolored bits of light all over
the two of them. Sasuke rolled his eyes, holding a hand up to shield
himself as well as the smirk on his lips, and was sincerely relieved
that Naruto’s sack of explosives was waiting safely downstairs.

“Oh my gosh, it’s the finale!” Iruka exclaimed as the sky flashed
chaotically overhead in hundreds of bright bursts. The air was filled
with deep rumbling blasts as the fireworks shot high above them, to
crack and spread overlapping tentacles in a canopy of dazzling light.

The four of them were mesmerized, impressed by the climactic timing
of the colors and types of explosives, orchestrated in a performance
more grandiose than they’d ever seen before. Sasuke found himself
wondering absurdly if that idiot salesman had been part of it, but put
it from his mind. Regardless, it was more spectacular than any show he
could remember, and he felt deeply moved when the last explosions
created an enormous green leaf–the symbol of Konoha hovering
protectively over her people.

As the leaf faded, Sasuke could hear the soft echoes of the
thousands of cheers that erupted all over the village. It contrasted
with the silence that crept over the four of them, now that the evening
was drawing to a close.

Sasuke felt his palms break out in sweat.

“Maaa,” Kakashi said, rising slowly from his spot on the roof and stretching lazily. “This was a very fun night.”

“Aa,” Iruka agreed, standing. Sasuke stood up as well, trying not to
show how nervous he was, and felt even more anxious that he was
probably failing.

“Er… where should I put these?” Naruto was holding out his fist-full
of used sparklers. Sasuke looked down at the pile they’d made.

“I’ll take them,” Iruka-sensei said, moving carefully along the
tiles. He held his hand out and Naruto dutifully passed him the wires,
cool ends first.

Iruka continued, his voice a bit more jittery, “Er…why don’t you boys—er, guys—go on home? It’s late… and I can help Kakashi-sensei clean up out here, since he was so gracious to host us.”

Sasuke was surprised by Iruka’s aid; it was just the kind of thing
he’d been hoping for so that he and Naruto could leave together. Then
again, maybe Iruka had his own plans for the night–Sasuke could see
Kakashi grinning lewdly under his mask.

“Arigatou, Iruka-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto grinned, running a
hand through his blond hair and moving down to the edge of the roof.
“Ja matane!”

“Arigatou,” Sasuke nodded at the sensei, exchanging a long look with first Iruka, then Kakashi. Feeling very, very uncomfortable, he followed his teammate over the roof’s edge and onto the little hallway in front of Kakashi’s door.

Naruto was there, tying a more secure knot in the top of his
Kukaku’s bag, and heaving it over his shoulder. They stood there,
looking at each other, awkward in the silence.

“Sasuke…” Naruto began, but no other words came out.

Sasuke took a deep breath. Sometime during the fireworks, he’d had
an idea. Far from his usual complicated stratagems, he hoped that the
simplicity meant it might actually work.

“Come on.” He turned and walked a couple of steps down the outside hall, “I’ll walk you home.”

Sasuke kept walking, deliberately unhurried, not looking back.
Naruto would either follow him, or let him walk away. The choice was
his.

By the time he reached the stairs, Naruto had caught up; Sasuke sighed with relief.

They walked at a normal pace through the streets towards Naruto’s
neighborhood, leaving a gap between them so they wouldn’t look
suspicious. Sasuke wanted to run, to cover the distance as fast as he
could, but he didn’t want to seem overly eager. He remembered well what
had happened when he’d surprised his teammate the last time—he knew
better than to make any sudden moves.

There weren’t many people still out; most everyone had gone home for
the night. Here and there the lanterns had either burned out or been
blown out, leaving only strange glowing pockets of light in no pattern
at all. They wouldn’t have needed the lanterns anyhow, the full moon
was shining high in the sky, casting a silvery glow on every surface.
Naruto’s face was calm, but Sasuke noticed his knuckles were white
where he held onto his bundle of loot.

Naruto stopped when they reached his building, “Well… this is my building…”

Sasuke cocked an eyebrow, “I know, Dobe.” Naruto blinked at him, so
he held out his hand, gesturing for him to go on up the steps.

“Heh, heh… ” Naruto chuckled nervously, “Of course you do…” He turned and moved up the steps, and Sasuke followed behind him.

Two flights, three flights, four flights… Sasuke’s heart was beating
fast, more from nervous energy than from the light exercise. ‘Kami-sama, why did Naruto have to live on the sixth floor?’
Each step got him closer to his goal, but each step got harder and
harder to take, stretching the tension between them like yesterday’s
shuriken lines. At least there was only one neighbor on the floor to
worry about.

Finally, they made it to the top; reflected light from the remains
of the festival was enough to see where they were going. Naruto moved
over to his door, setting his bag down and running a hand through his
blond hair. Sasuke checked for signs of activity from behind the
neighbor’s door, then joined him; standing close, but not too close in
the darkened hallway.

“That was really fun… the festival…” Naruto said, smiling, but not quite meeting his eyes.

“Aa,” Sasuke agreed, watching him closely.

It wasn’t that Naruto was cute, it was what he was doing
that was so cute—so nervous, shifting his feet. But Naruto was so much
more than cute; he was breathtakingly attractive. So much energy, so
much wildness…

Sasuke reached out and touched his blond hair, running it through
his fingers at the temple where it wasn’t spiked with gel. Naruto
looked up at him then, face strong—Sasuke saw his own anticipation
reflected back to him. He felt his belly tighten with desire, churning
slowly in waves throughout the rest of him.

“Ne… Sasuke…” Naruto’s voice was breathy, hesitant.

Sasuke took a deep breath, “Nanda?”

For a moment nothing happened. Naruto just looked at him, searching
his face for some kind of sign, the vein in his neck palpitating
furiously. Sasuke stopped his fingers in mid-stroke through the blond
hair–was it bothering him? Then Naruto stepped forward.

Sasuke felt a gloved hand rest on his shoulder, sliding a bit
awkwardly behind his neck as those blue eyes stared into his own. He
was intensely aware of Naruto’s body, now so close, and then his entire
back erupted in goose bumps as Naruto’s fingers dug into in the hair on
his neck. Sasuke’s heart leaped up into his throat, and Naruto had just
enough time to lean in and murmur “Goodnight” before Sasuke snapped.

He bent forward and pressed his lips to Naruto’s. Naruto made a
noise of surprise that caught behind their entwined mouths, and Sasuke
blinked looking into his eyes, which were still wide open.

He wrapped his arms around Naruto’s back, pulling him closer lest he
panic and try to hit him again. But he needn’t have worried—Naruto’s
eyes closed and the blond relaxed into his hold, and Sasuke made his
own noise of pleasure when more fingers moved to his neck and wound
tighter into his hair, trying to pull him even closer in a two-handed
grip.

Sasuke closed his eyes, his heart thudding wildly. Naruto’s lips felt even better than he imagined, and much, much
better than he remembered. They were just the right amount of firm and
supple, eager and yielding underneath his own. He pulled back to take a
breath and then kissed him again—once would never, ever be enough.

Naruto was trying to step forward, like he thought there was still
too much space between them even though they were pressed together in a
tight line. But Sasuke agreed with the sentiment, moving them the other
way until Naruto bumped into his door, leaning into him as they kissed.

Naruto’s fingers moved on his neck, sending sparks of pleasure over
his skin. Sasuke slid one hand further down Naruto’s back, passing over
the textured surface of the phoenix to rest at the inward curve of his
spine, holding him securely and using his lips and teeth to nibble the
blond’s mouth in fevered kisses.

Naruto growled, nibbling back and making more goose bumps break out
on Sasuke’s neck and chest. Sasuke felt Naruto’s hips press forward
against him, and he groaned, crushing their lips together in almost
painful need. Naruto’s lips opened and Sasuke felt lightheaded at the
rush of sensations when his tongue slid past and into Naruto’s mouth.

He thought his knees might buckle.

He would definitely have done this long ago if he knew how oddly
sensual and wildly arousing it would be to kiss Naruto like this.
Naruto obviously agreed—his tongue and lips were kissing back with
typical fierceness, and Sasuke was a little alarmed that he
might actually be the one devoured. His senses reeled, and before
either of them passed out, he pulled back for a moment to catch his
breath.

Naruto was panting, his cheeks flushed. Sasuke kept his arm at the
back of his waist, moving his other hand above Naruto’s shoulder to
brace himself on the door, breathing just as hard as Naruto from the
rush of hormones. They looked at each other, panting, ravenous, equal
in their need, and then his teammate grinned.

“Oi,” Naruto chuckled, his voice low and teasing, “Tired already?”

Sasuke ate the chuckle right off his lips, making Naruto gasp from
the intensity and grab onto his shoulders. Sasuke growled, a deep noise
from way down inside him, showing Naruto just who he was dealing with.
He pressed his hips forward, roughly grinding Naruto into his own door.

Naruto loved it.

The blond kept up with him, drinking down every kiss, nibble and
lick and offering more, spiced with the fighting spirit he was known
for. He moved as far as Sasuke let him, trying to inch his hips and
thighs away from the door and closer to his teammate, a mad effort to
defy physics. Sasuke curled his fingers around Naruto’s neck, tilting
his head back and gaining deeper access to his mouth, his brain nearly
bursting from all the new information pouring in for him to process.

Naruto’s hands moved around his back, making fists in the fabric of
the Yukata even as he groaned beneath Sasuke’s hot kisses. Sasuke
pressed every inch of himself against his teammate, and even through
all the layers of fabric, Sasuke could tell that Naruto was hard—rigid,throbbing hard. The thrill of the knowledge made him shudder,
and he kissed Naruto until he had his teammate squirming as much as he
was.

Sasuke eased up when Naruto tried for the second time to say
something, the words and noises getting lost in the exchange of lips
and tongue. He held Naruto’s lips with his own for a long moment,
quieting down the lust coursing through his body enough to process
speech, and then released the kiss with a soft smacking noise that he’d
never known existed. He shivered with pleasure.

Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, breathing hard, and then moved
his hand to the doorknob. His cheeks darkened, and Sasuke held his
breath, his heartbeat thudding loudly in his chest.

“Do you wanna—” Naruto jerked his head back towards the door.

“Oh God yes,” Sasuke answered immediately, taking his mouth in another kiss.

Naruto groaned, and Sasuke heard the doorknob click as his tongue
found Naruto’s for another round of heavy kissing. Naruto twisted his
free hand in the front of Sasuke’s Yukata, and pulled him forward until
they stumbled into the pitch-black apartment. Sasuke closed the door
behind them just as Naruto pressed him up against it, refitting their
bodies together in a tantalizingly sweet position.

Kami-sama! If this was a bedtime snack, he might not survive a four-course meal…

♦