Training Builds Character

Swoosh. Swoosh, swoosh-THUD.

Sasuke let out a grunt as his body connected with ice. He bit his lip, restraining a growl and pushed himself, very carefully, back onto his feet.

‘Alright Sasuke, come on. Focus the charka on your feet, push off and-…’

Sasuke pushed forward with his right foot and slid across the ice, wobbling slightly.

Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh. Swoosh-Thud.

He let out a frustrated growl this time as he rubbed his sore back absently, watching Sakura spitefully as she glided over the ice as if she’d been born to do it. She saw him glaring and called out,

“Hey Sasuke! Getting the hang of it?”

If looks could kill…

Once again, Sasuke slowly made his way to his feet. Once upright, he paused for a moment to get his bearings. He could see Sakura on the far side of the pond, skating before Kakashi-sensei, who sat on the bank, showing off her near perfect mastery of her chakra. Now where was the-

WHOOSH!

Sasuke barely muffled his shout as a blur of orange shot past him, knocking him to the ground again.

Naruto bared his teeth in a smile and called over his shoulder in a mocking tone, “Getting the hang of it Sasuke?”

Sasuke, lying on his back, decided not to justify the boy with an answer. He stayed there for a few moments, watching his breath cloud the air. When Kakashi had suggested ice skating for training he’d figured it’d be pretty easy, especially after watching Sakura take to it so fast. He, however, had yet to make it more than five steps without falling on his face. And of course, Naruto was being so gracious about his failure.

‘Figures’

He flinched slightly when he heard a scream, then two crashes, followed by a wail. He turned his head slowly to his right to see Sakura sitting on her butt, whimpering as she held her elbow. He could already see the blood trickling through her sleeve. Naruto sat on the ice a few feet away, rubbing his head.

“Naruto, you idiot!” Sakura howled as she shook her good fist at him.

“It wasn’t my fault!” he protested, folding his arms on his chest.

Kakashi stood next to Sakura, glancing down at her arm. “Let’s go get that bandaged, you’re bleeding on the ice,” he said, pulling her to her feet and to the edge. Sakura said something about getting priorities strait before they disappeared over the hill.

Sasuke let his head drift to center again as he stared at the cloudy sky, his breath coming slow and relaxed, ignoring the itchy feel of cold through his shirt from the ice.

He closed his eyes with a sigh and opened them, blinking slowly. He curled and uncurled his fingers to fight off the advancing cold and-HOLY SHIT.

A set of blue eyes appeared about five inches above him, causing his to jump and knock heads with the one above. Another fall.

“God dammit Naruto!”

“God dammit yourself!” Naruto hastily got to his feet, pulling a struggling Sasuke up with him.

“What are you doing, hands off!” Sasuke yelled as he tried to jerk his arm away. He hated the way his muscles contracted whenever Naruto touched him.

Sasuke could feel his balance teetering, but Naruto’s embrace held him steady for the moment. “You know, we shouldn’t waste this training time, you know” Naruto chided, giving a mock-serious look.

“Ever the model student” muttered Sasuke, pushing his arms away. “And I am perfectly capable of keeping my own balance, thank yoouuu-!” Sasuke let out an undignified shriek as he slipped.

Only Naruto’s grasp on his forearms kept him from falling on his face. Naruto was looking at him weird…He quickly diverted his eyes; trying to avoid the searching look Naruto was giving him. It made him feel naked. He pushed away the arms again, ignoring Naruto’s roll of the eyes. Salvaging any dignity that he had left, he focused on taking tiny baby steps, as to avoid another painful accident.

Naruto rolled his eyes again and gracefully skated behind Sasuke, putting his hands on the taller boy’s hips, causing Sasuke to start. He opened his mouth to-

“Oh just shut up and listen”

Sasuke snapped his mouth shut and glared venomously. Naruto glided a few feet, pushing Sasuke ahead of him. “You just have to focus the charka on the balls of your feet and push off” he instructed in a casual voice, letting his grip on Sasuke’s hips loosen slightly.

Sasuke focused, gathered his chakra and pushed off. He wobbled some, but somehow managed to stay upright. Naruto appeared behind him. “Ok, good. Now to turn, just focus more chakra in the opposite foot that you want to turn on”

Sasuke glared even more. He hated following directions, especially when they came from someone like Naruto.

“Try it Sasuke”

‘Ok, push forward, that’s it. Now put more chakra in the left-no-right foot and-‘

“WAH!” THUD. Two bodies hit the ice.

Frustrated silence.

“FUCK!”

A bird that had been resting in a nearby tree took flight abruptly, leaving the woods in complete silence.

“Ok, that was…good” Naruto gulped breath into his lungs from his spot sitting on the ice. “Although, next time, you might wanna-,”

“Shut UP” Sasuke hissed, crawling on his knees towards solid land quickly.

Naruto crawled before him, blocking his path. “Where are you going?” he whined. “You were kinda getting the hang of it!”

Sasuke rewarded him with a cynical glare and continued to shuffle across the ice. He was nearing the bank.

“No! SASUKE!” Naruto cried, crawling after him on his hands and knees. “C’mon, don’t quit!” This was punctuated by a hand grabbing Sasuke’s ankle and pulling him backward.

Sasuke felt his skin contract the way it did when Naruto touched him and in a panic kicked out. His leg now freed, he hauled double time to the edge of the pond.

‘Go. Go. Go. Go. Do not let him catch you. Do not let him catch you’

A hand clamped onto his calf. His body almost spasmed at the contact and let out a muffled cry. He could hear Naruto puffing behind him.

“Come on Sasuke, give it another shot” Naruto whined, his other hand gripping the back of Sasuke’s knee.

That was it.

Sasuke felt the other boys fingers close around his leg and he panicked. He sprung to his feet and leapt for the very near shore. He hadn’t thought about the fact that jumping upwards with someone attached to your leg wasn’t a very good idea, let alone on a slippery surface. But Naruto was up behind him, his arms grabbing one of Sasuke’s flailing arms, insistently pulling him back.

Sasuke could suddenly felt weightless as his legs failed him and he plummeted face first down. Luckily for him, it wasn’t ice that met him but a bank of snow. He landed hard and his body made a mold in the snow. He had lifted his head to gasp for air when he heard a scream and felt Naruto fall onto him fully, pushing him deeper into the snow.

He needed air.

His arms flailed out behind him, pushing Naruto off far enough so he could struggle to get lying on his back. He gasped for air as his back hit snow, his eyes squeezed shut. His face burned from the cold. He opened his eyes moments later when he realized an insistent weight on his chest.

Naruto stared down at him, hands on either side of Sasuke’s face, laying on top of Sasuke. Sasuke stared into the cerulean eyes above him, and he felt some heat rush to his face as he realized their position. The contact was making his entire body twitch uncomfortably.

‘Why isn’t he moving? Why isn’t he moving?! Oh god, he’s giving me the look’

Naruto’s brow furrowed slightly as he gazed intently at Sasuke’s face, not noticing Sasuke’s blush or his shaking body.

Sasuke snapped his head to his left at the sound of a throat being cleared. Kakashi stood a few meters away, his arms folded across his chest, giving them a curious look.

Sasuke squeaked and scrambled to get out from under his teammate. He stood quickly and gave Kakashi his practiced “shut up” look as he tried to fight down his blush.

Naruto blinked slowly, looking up only when he realized that Sasuke was gone. His eyes landed on Kakashi and he stood, rubbing his head sheepishly.

“Hey Kakashi-sensei” he called out, walking up to his teacher nonchalantly. “I think I’ve had enough training for one day”

Kakashi nodded and tried to quell a laugh as he turned and walked back to the village.

Sasuke shook his head. ‘That was so weird’ he thought as he walked back to Konoha.

And to this day, whenever he gets cold, Sasuke blushes.

END.


An old piece of mine. Reviews/critique are lovely. =]