Kakashi sits in a hospital bed with Tsunade glowering at him from the door. She's just been standing there for a minute staring at him, saying nothing. Kakashi can't bear the tension any longer. "Hello Lady Ts-"

"Oh save it." She growls, striding the rest of the way into his room and slamming the door behind her. "I told you not to be caught, you idiot. What happened out there?"

Kakashi looks up at the ceiling. "He attacked Sasuke directly. I had no choice but to intervene. But I didn't interfere with their exam besides saving them from Orochimaru so-"

"Oh relax, I'm not kicking them out. Only ANBU and Anko are aware of your presence in the forest, and I already have their oaths of silence. No one will ever find out that team 7 cheated."

"Actually-"

"Drop it, Kakashi." Lady Tsunade growls, examining his almost empty I.V. bag and then stopping to read his medical charts. "It looks like Shizune was able to neutralize the venom successfully. As soon as you can stand without feeling dizzy, I need you back out there. Your team just finished their third round preliminaries and will need further instruction for their month long training period for the final round in the arena. All three advanced through their preliminary fights. I can convince Jiraiya to take on Naruto for the time being and I'll take Sakura myself, but I need you watching the Uchiha 24/7. Take him out of the village to an undisclosed location, and make sure no one knows where you go. Train him like nothing is out of the ordinary, but keep an eye out for that snake or his spy."

"He has a spy?" Kakashi inquires, already swinging his legs out of bed. He quickly locates his clothes and brings them into the attached bathroom with him. He still feels a little woozy, but with every passing second that he's vertical it becomes more tolerable. He's very relieved to hear all three members of team 7 seven will be advancing. He has been neglecting his own training ever since they were assigned to him, and it showed in his fight against Orochimaru. Without the distraction his three genin created, he would have died before Anko and the ANBU arrived.

"He has to. There's no other way he would have been able to sneak into the forest. He has insider information if he figured out how to get past the barrier." Tsunade's voice is slightly muffled by the closed door between them, but Kakashi is still perfectly able to understand her. After relieving his bladder and splashing his face with cold water, he leans on the sink for support. He rarely sees his own uncovered face, and he can't help but stare at the long scar and Sharingan spinning lazily at the center. Rin. Obito. His eye socket aches and the eye itself is bloodshot. From just one battle it is extremely overworked. He could tell Tsunade about it and she'd probably figure out a treatment plan, like the brilliant medical shinobi she is, but that would mean removing him from active duty, at least for a while so she could run labs and tests. And if there's one thing in this world that Kakashi hates more than anything, it's being inactive. His mind is too full of ghosts to give it even a moment's rest. With a slow and deep breath, Kakashi lowers his hitai-ate and raises his mask. With both in place he can't see the physical reminders of his dead loved ones. Forgetting is still the only way he can deal with the loss.

"Well hopefully when Jiraiya arrives he can look for the rat." Kakashi suggests when he exits the bathroom. Tsunade doesn't even glance at him as she stares out the window, which has a nice view overlooking the village. It's a beautiful day.

"He's already back and looking into it. He's met Naruto too, so you won't even have to introduce them when you drop the twerp off. I'll tell Jiraiya to meet him at the bridge near the hot springs this afternoon." She pauses for a moment and taps her chin. "Actually, why don't you send Sakura along this afternoon as well. I have a meeting with the other Kage to finalize security arrangements for all of the daimyos. After that my schedule should be flexible enough to fit in time with her every day."

Kakashi nods and opens the window, ready to jump out to avoid the overbearing hospital staff. Tsunade's arm on his bicep stops him. "There's one other thing, Kakashi."

A mixture of sweat, dirt, and blood trickles down the side of Sasuke's face as he breathes heavily, muscles tightly coiled in anticipation as he stares down Kakashi. They have been away from Konoha for a week now, and the older man hasn't given Sasuke more than two hours of sleep at any given time, always dragging him from one location to the next. The first three days were spent walking up a turbulent river, that with each day just grew more choppy and harder to stay atop of. Yesterday they were at the Valley of the End, climbing the rocks with just their arms and no chakra, from dusk till dawn. Today they've been sparring in the woods, and Kakashi hasn't been pulling any of his punches or handicapping his insane speed at all. Sasuke is covered in scratches and bruises, and he thinks he may have dislocated his shoulder, but he was just knocked to the ground a minute ago and heard a pop, and he's pretty sure that put it back in place. He can use that arm again, at least.

"Alright we'll take a short break for food and a bath before we start working on your ninjutsu. We aren't going to bed until you are ready to pass out from chakra exhaustion." Kakashi flips down from the branch where he was perched. While he's also sweaty and dirty, there isn't a scratch on him. While he's getting better at dodging and parrying, Sasuke still is nowhere near fast enough to lay a finger on the copy ninja. He grits his teeth to keep from retorting, recognizing that while this type of intensive and all consuming training feels like torture, he is still seeing more progress in his own abilities than he ever has before. He doesn't remember even Itachi improving this much in such a condensed amount of time. At the thought of his brother, Sasuke sends a surge of electricity through the kunai still in his palm and hurls it with all his strength at a tree trunk. The thick wood shatters, and with a rumbling groan the tree slowly falls to the forest floor, where it lands with an earth shaking thud.

"Mah, Sasuke you shouldn't be so grumpy! Would you rather lose to Neji in front of thousands of people?" Kakashi misinterprets Sasuke's fury, but nonetheless his goading still works. Without a word, he stalks off toward the river. If he wants to eat, he has to catch his food first. Kakashi wouldn't allow him to bring any rations.

After stripping off all his clothes except his underwear, Sasuke crouches by the river to quickly scrub the dirt and blood from them. He hangs them from a tree branch to dry in the afternoon sun before wading into the refreshing water. With kunai in hand, he stands motionless, his Sharingan eyes flitting about as he searches for a fish. Finally spotting one, he hurls the kunai, catching the fish cleanly in the gills and pinning it to the bottom of the riverbed, instantly killing his prey. He takes a quick breath of air before submerging and boosting off the submerged rock where he was previously positioned. The river is only about ten feet deep, and he takes a moment once he reaches his catch to look up. The sun is obscured by the rippling current of the river and it glimmers down to him in a beautiful kaleidoscope of cerulean. Just like Naruto's eyes. He rolls his eyes at himself for the mushy thought. How pathetic. Kakashi has been kicking the shit out of him for a week and he's at the bottom of a riverbed with a dead fish in his hand, and he's still thinking about his blond teammate.

He spares a thought for his other teammate and smirks to himself. At least he gets a break from his crush. Ino is probably all over Sakura this month, since the blonde didn't advance to the next round after getting clobbered by Temari of the Sand. She's probably trying to help her friend train, but Sakura will be too distracted by the Yamanaka's revealing clothing to actually accomplish anything. At least Naruto wears a hideous orange tracksuit.

Sasuke realizes he's been under the surface for quite a while when his vision starts to get blotchy. He quickly boosts off the muddy riverbed and sucks in a deep breath when he surfaces. Kakashi is standing in just his underwear in mask, looking panicked and about to dive in when they make eye contact.

"I thought you were drowning yourself down there." Kakashi says when Sasuke raises an eyebrow in question. The Uchiha snorts in response.

"If I was going to kill myself, I'd have done it already." It can't get much worse than it's already been. Sasuke thinks to himself.

Kakashi huffs in amusement and catches the dead fish his student tosses to him. He gives the young teen a look that communicates his sympathy. "Touche." Is all he says before turning to walk back to camp. "Thanks for the dinner! You have twenty minutes to catch another and cook it before I put out the fire."

Sasuke rolls his eyes but activates his Sharingan to look for another fish. He doesn't know what exactly his sensei has been through, but whatever it was, Sasuke thinks he's likely the only one on his team that might actually understand Sasuke's pain and humiliation.

"Tsunade-sama, do you have a minute to talk? I have a few questions and I haven't been able to find any answers in any historical texts." Sakura is sitting with her back against a tre and her legs splayed out in front of her. She's been training with the Hokage for hours, and even after a healing session her body still aches from all of the broken bones and torn muscles. This is the first day that her new shishou has had a chance to spar with her, and she insisted they keep going even after the older woman had snapped both of her arms like twigs multiple times. Sakura was determined to show her new sensei how much she has learned from just a few lessons in the past two weeks. The pinkette has put in countless hours by herself practicing expelling miniscule amounts of chakra from all over her body to accelerate her movement and make her strikes more forceful, and she has even developed a method to heal herself without the use of her hands. It's still in the works and she can only use it on minor cuts and bruises, but the surprise and approval she saw in Tsunade's amber eyes when the older kunoichi noticed the technique made the near sleepless nights spent researching and honing her chakra control were worth it.

Tsunade doesn't have a scratch on her, although she did break a sweat sparing with the prospective chunin. She was about to shushin back to the Hokage tower for a quick shower and meal before resuming her mind numbing paperwork, but Sakura's question stops her in her tracks. She has an idea of what the girl is going to ask, and she feels she deserves answers. Plus, Tsunade will do anything to avoid paperwork.

"What is it?" She asks, leaning against a tree trunk and staring down at the tired genin.

Sakura reaches into her bag that she has pulled into her lap and rummages around until she finds the scroll she is looking for. To her utmost surprise, the scroll isn't about Orochimaru like she thought, but instead about Akatsuki. "Where did you find that?" She snaps, anger seeping into her tone. The girl is too young to know about such people. No matter how impressive her chakra control and her knack for creating her own techniques, the girl is still young and naive.

Sakura is unperturbed by her Hokage's tone and holds the scroll up for the older woman to se, pointing to a web drawn at the bottom. The name she is pointing to is Itachi Uchiha. Her finger slides over to the other side where Orochimaru's name is scrawled. "Orochimaru mentioned that he knew Itachi." Sakura explains, seeing confusion overtake Lady Tsunade's expression. "I knew from previous reading that Orochimaru was one of the Sannin, but he was illegally experimenting on live subjects and chased out of the village by the Third Hokage."

"How did you-"

"You wrote about it in your annotations in the copy of the third edition of the Konoha Medical Ethical Codes that you loaned me." Sakura explains. "And the fact that Orochimaru was one of your teammates isn't that hard to come across if you just flip to any random page of a history book on the second shinobi war."

Tsunade is still processing the fact that this fourteen year old genin was able to research all of this in a matter of a week when Sakura clears her throat and taps the scroll. "Now what I really wanted to ask you, is why Itachi joined Akatsuki."

Tsunade is silent for too long, so Sakura continues. "Itachi is the most peaceful person I've ever met. Why would he join an organization that 'seeks to capture the bijuu, presumably for power and domination'?" She runs her finger along a line written by Jiraiya further up the scroll.

"You never answered how you got a hold of that scroll. I could have you discharged and arrested. That scroll is so highly classified that not even your sensei has read it." Tsunade rips the scroll from the pinkette's grip and rolls it back up before shoving it in her cleavage for safe keeping.

"You gave me the hand seals for unlimited access to the Hokage archives after I did all of your paperwork last weekend." Sakura explains, and a hazy memory comes back to Tsunade. She had been two sake bottles deep and on her way to a weekend gambling retreat when her new rosy cheeked apprentice had volunteered for the task in exchange for the code. She had assumed the girl just wanted to read about the Byakugou seal, as that is what she has been badgering Tsunade about as of late.

"That still doesn't mean you can just-"

"Please Shisou. I need to know. Orochimaru wants Sasuke, and I'm afraid he'll use this to convince him to leave. And this also means Naruto is in constant danger from a force of S-class psychopaths that most shinobi don't even know exist. I need to know as much as I can to keep anything from happening. I won't let anyone harm my team. They've suffered too much already."

Tsunade can't bring herself to punish Sakura now that she has revealed her motives. Afterall, this is exactly the mindset Tsunade has been trying to cultivate among the new generation of shinobi. Even though she's known the girl for only a short while and has only taken her on as an apprentice for the past few weeks, she knows she can trust the promising kunoichi with her life. Still, she can't just tell the young girl top secret information when she doesn't have the clearance. "Tell you what, when you become one of my heads of a department or an ANBU captain I'll tell you. Now keep practicing that healing technique I saw you using. And stop by my office later and I'll loan you a few scrolls from my grandfather."

"But shishou-"

"No more questions, Sakura. You could be arrested for what you've already revealed to me. So stop digging and let me handle it."

"But-" Tsunade disappears in a flurry of leaves, leaving Sakura alone with no more information than she started with. "At least I'm not in handcuffs." Sakura mutters, having already known where that conversation could have gotten her. But she's desperate for answers, because without them, she doesn't know what potential scenarios she'll be facing. What if she's not there the next time Orochimaru comes for Sasuke? What if Akatsuki uses Itachi's insider information to take Naruto? What if Itachi takes Naruto? Would he even do that? What happened to change him so fundamentally as a person that he would join such a terrible group of murderers? And what does Orochimaru want an Uchiha for? If it's for their kekkei genkai, why does he specifically want theirs? And why the hell hasn't he been imprisoned or killed when he's been on the loose for decades?

With a deep sigh to dispel the weariness she feels to her bones, Sakura pulls out a large text on the history of the Uchiha that Mikoto loaned her. The two of them have discussed at length how out of character it was for Itachi to just leave. Mikoto was unable to follow him as she has been under house arrest, and Sakura is too weak and would be labeled a rogue if she were to just disappear. Besides, Team 7 needs her here where she can guard them and keep honing her skills so she can one day actually stand a chance against the threats they face. Sakura has sworn a sacred vow to Mikoto to protect her youngest son, and in return the woman has given the young kunoichi almost unlimited access to the clan's archives. She has come across mentions of a 'final form' of the Sharingan several times in the past week, but she hasn't had a chance to ask Mikoto what this refers to.

After hours of sitting hunched over the book rapidly devouring information on the warring states period from the Uchiha point of view, one that is almost the opposite of what they read at the academy, Sakura finishes the book and puts it back in her bag. The more she reads from the Uchiha library, the more aware she is of the fact that victors are the ones who record historical events. Sakura has always thought of the Senju as the 'good guys' of history, but she's quickly learning everything isn't so cut and dry. The next time she's on a mission she'll have to remember to buy a few books and scrolls on the ninja wars from other nations' points of view. She has a nagging feeling that she might discover the same about Konoha, which is a frightening notion. But she can't just avoid the truth because it scares her.

She slings her bag over her shoulder and uses a hand on the trunk behind her to gingerly ease her way onto her feet. The sun is just starting to set and she still has plenty to do, but her chakra is still not recovered enough to mess around with her working theories on the Byakugou or any of the new genjutsus she found recorded in the Uchiha's copied repertoire. She decides to trudge home for a long bath before going to bed early to get up before dawn. Her morning stretches and laps around the village will take quite a while and she wants to visit Mikoto for late morning tea and more information before going to see Tsuande for those scrolls she promised about the First Hokage's techniques.

She's just passing the best barbeque spot in town and contemplating going in after her stomach growls in protest when Team 10 exits the mouth watering restaurant. Ino's eyes light up when she sees her best friend and she shoos the boys before linking her arm with Sakura's and dragging her along for a post-meal walk.

"I haven't seen you in ages Forehead! How is it you look worse now than you did in the forest of death?" She teases, and Sakura glowers at Ino. The blonde's appearance is immaculate per usual, and her clothing choice for the day accentuates her growing curves. Sakura's own body has begun to change, but from her long days of training her frame will likely remain wiry and compact. Once she would have been horrified by the defined muscles on her arms, stomach, and legs, but they are physical reminders of her hard work and she can't bring herself to resent that.

The two catch up as they stroll around the village, Sakura momentarily forgetting her aching muscles and tired mind. Her eyes keep falling to the blonde's painted lips as her beautiful friend speaks, and it seems as if every time it happens, Ino catches her, but continues to chatter on about the latest gossip as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Finally after this happens for what feels like the twentieth time, Ino stops and pivots to place herself in front of Sakura, her hand on her hip as she tosses her ponytail over her shoulder. Sakura's face is bright red as the blonde leans in. "Why do you keep staring at my lips, Forehead?"

Sakura shouldn't be as surprised as she is. Ino's always this upfront with everybody, and the older she gets the more confident she is. "I-I like the shade of your lipstick." Sakura replies lamely after failing to think of a better excuse.

Ino snorts, knowing full well her friend could care less about makeup. These days her beauty routine consists of throwing her long pink hair up in a ponytail and wiping the grit from the corners of her eyes as she makes her way to the training grounds or library before the sun has risen. She knows this because the only way she can get Sakura's attention is if she walks with her on her way to the determined girl's destination. And Ino isn't used to working to get someone's attention. Normally it just takes a bat of her eyelashes and a coy smile and they don't leave her alone, man or woman. She always suspected Sakura had a crush on her, but lately with the lack of attention she isn't so sure.

"Here, take a swatch then." And before Sakura can react she plants a wet kiss on Sakura's cheek, leaving a perfect rouge lipstick print on the tanned skin. Sakura blushes pinker than her hair and Ino has to restrain her exclamation of triumph. So she does like me after all. With that knowledge, Ino gives an excuse for needing to get back to the flower shop before sauntering away, making sure to sway her hips a bit.

Naruto is used to being told he's dense. Sasuke mutters it every time Naruto puts his foot in his mouth when conversing with a cute girl. Sakura says it loudly while pulling on his ear when he speaks to his superiors frankly and without the traditional frills that are expected of him. Kiba says it every time he bumps into Team 8 and Hinata inevitably passes out or runs away. He probably hears it every single day. But even he knows something is up when he spots Sakura walking down the street with a deep blush and a hand clasped over the side of her face.

"Sakura-chan!" He calls as he jogs over to her. He hasn't seen her for over a week now, both of them having been kept busy by their new mentors. He doesn't hesitate to hug her, despite the dried sweat and dirt crusting his clothes and skin. She's not much cleaner, anyways.

"H-Hi Naruto, what's up?" She offers him a smile but he knows it's forced immediately. That's very unlike Sakura. She's terrible at hiding how she truly feels so she doesn't usually even attempt to hide it.

"Nothing much, just spent the whole day being shoved off a cliff so I could learn how to summon toads."

"...What?"

"Nevermind, what's wrong with your face? Did you get a scratch or something? You can heal that, can't you?" And without her permission he reaches out to grab her wrist and pull it away so he can take a look. She resists his tug firmly and steps back.

"Oh, it's nothing! Um… It's… It's just a… pimple. Yeah. A pimple. It looks gross so I was just covering until-" And before she can finish her lame excuse Naruto unceremoniously tackles her to the ground. In her surprise she throws her arms out to try to catch them but ends up sprawled on the ground.

"Naruto! You can't just-" She stops in the middle of her reprimand, her face going bright red at the shit eating grin that has spread across Naruto's face.

"Who have you been kissing, Sakura-chan?" He teases, running his thumb across the smeared lip print. She obviously tried to wipe it off, but the deep rouge color has stained her skin. She won't get that off until she scrubs it raw with soap and water.

"Keep your voice down!" She hisses while shoving him off her. They're in the middle of the street and a few people are still out and about, despite the sun having already disappeared below the tree line surrounding the village.

"Oh relax, Sa-" She slams her palm over his mouth before tugging him to his feet and dragging him along to her house. She jumps up to her window, probably to avoid her parents seeing her, and he quickly follows. He had also been on his way home, drowsy after a long day of training and a full stomach of ramen from Ichiraku's (that was paid for by Jiraiya!), but now he's wide awake and eager to find out what his female teammate has been up to. Jiraiya is great company and someone Naruto has already begun to look up to, but the Uzumaki sorely misses his team. He finds himself daydreaming about sparring with Sakura and laying in Sasuke's bed rambling in his ear more often than he thinks about food, which is a strange change for him.

Sakura sits down cross legged on her floor and Naruto quickly joins her, almost bouncing with excitement while he waits for Sakura to tell him about the girl. She's never really said anything about having a crush on anyone, but he always figured she talked to Ino about that kind of stuff. After all, he and Sasuke don't ever talk about that kind of thing either. But from the way she's nervously twitching and opening and closing her mouth like she doesn't know where to start, he wonders if maybe she doesn't ever talk about this kind of thing.

"Do I know her?" Naruto asks, trying to help the pinkette start somewhere.

She immediately nods and purses her lips together. He gives her a few seconds before pressing again. "Has she kissed you before?" Sakura shakes her head no this time.

With a cheeky grin, Naruto asks "Are you happy she did?"

Sakura buries her face in her hands and he hears the deep frustrated sigh she lets out. "I don't know." comes her muffled reply. "I'm afraid."

"Why?" Naruto asks immediately. "You know that no one will care, Sakura. Only the hoighty toighty clans give two shits about traditional-"

"It's Ino." Sakura cuts him off, looking up at him with big round eyes and nervously biting her lip. "Ino kissed me. And I kind of hope she does it again." The last part is barely louder than a whisper.

"Oh." Is his lame response, as his brain shifts gears. And here he thought Sakura was upset because it was a girl. "That… That's…"

"Yeah." Sakura agrees, nodding her head. "Yeah it's complicated."

Naruto rubs his chin and looks around the room, trying to gather his thoughts. He can't help but notice all of the picture frames on the walls, almost half of them taken with the Yamanaka in question. Ino's her best friend. "It would be like if Sasuke kissed me." He says, suddenly a train of thought coming to him. "That would be…" He trails off as he realizes he doesn't know how he feels about that. "Okay bad example. Nevermind. Um-"

"Wait wait wait wait. No continue." Sakura leans forward and placed her hands on Naruto's knees. "How is that any different?"

Naruto scratches the back of his head and a faint blush colors his cheeks. "Well, you know I…He would never do that so it doesn't make sense to compare that to you and Ino."

He swears Sakura's eyes glint in the light like a cat stalking her prey. "But would you kiss him?"

"Sakura-"

"I think you're the Ino in this situation." She says before he can respond. "Except you're more dense."

Naruto snorts and rolls his eyes. "What does that have to do with anything?" He mutters, not letting himself dwell on the thought long enough to come to any conclusions. "And anyways, are you saying that Ino perceived something? So you do like her?" His grin is back as Sakura retreats again.

"I'm not sure." Sakura mumbles. Naruto remains silent, waiting for her to continue. "I think she's pretty. But so does everyone else. And… I think I like guys too. But… but Ino is… different. She's… Ino. I'm just so confused." And Naruto gets what she's trying to say.

"I feel the same way." Naruto reassures her when he sees the uncertainty and vulnerability on Sakura's face. Normally she has all the answers for everything. She isn't used to being confused like Naruto is. He's sure she's terrified. "I think girls are cute, but I also catch myself staring at guys. It's…." Naruto trails off, not sure what word to use.

"A lot." Sakura finishes for him, a small smile of relief on her face. "It's just a lot."

"Yeah." He agrees, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "So when are you going to kiss her back?" He laughs as Sakura jokingly slugs him in the chest and tackles him. Even though he is already comfortable with the fact that he likes guys and girls, he's happy to finally have someone to talk to about it. He feels less lonely.

After teasing her a bit more and catching up with each other on what they've been working on in training for the past few weeks, Naruto slips out her window to go back to the orphanage. He's officially signed for an apartment for himself and Sasuke to move into when the Uchiha gets back, but he's too lazy to move all of their stuff on his own. Besides, Sasuke is anal about where he keeps his stuff and he probably wants it all packed up in a certain way. It's better just to wait. After a quick shower he pulls on a pair of boxers that are not his own and crawls into the bed that's not his either. It still smells like Sasuke, and even though he'll never admit it, it's the only way he can sleep with his best friend gone. Within minutes, Naruto has passed out in a dreamless sleep.

Sakura is sitting with Mikoto in a deep conversation about the effects of different medicinal and poisonous herbs when the front door to the Uchiha household is pushed open. They both startle and look over, having not been aware of a chakra signature. A man who looks vaguely familiar to Sakura stands in the doorway grinning at the pair, and Mikoto is on her feet and across the room in an instant. She throws her arms around him in a motherly hug, which he returns instantly.

"Shisui I'm so glad you're alright. I stopped getting your letters months ago." Mikoto's voice is shaky and Sakura wonders if she's crying.

She doesn't let go of him for a long time, and Sakura notices the way he rests his chin on top of her head and closes his eyes. She hasn't seen Sasuke's cousin in years. He used to come with Itachi sometimes to the park to supervise her, Sasuke and Naruto. She doesn't know much about him, besides that he was also in ANBU, like Itachi.

"I'm sorry. I was being watched too closely by my target to risk blowing my cover. But I've been given a month's leave since the mission took so long, so I'll be around for a while. How are you? Is Sasuke around?" He looks up and seems to notice Sakura. "I would remember that hair anywhere. Sakura, right?" He grins at her when she nods. "I haven't seen you since you were a little kid. Now you look all grown up." He winks at her and Mikoto swats him on the shoulder, glaring at her nephew.

"She just turned 14, Shisui. Hands off." And Shisui grimaces, throwing his hands up in defense. "Relax, Mikoto. She's too innocent for my tastes, anyways."

Sakura's face is the color of her hair as she glares at Shisui. Now she remembers how he used to flirt shamelessly with the young mothers at the park with their children. "And I don't like guys with a big head, so it looks like I'll be leaving." And she starts to get to her feet.

"No, no don't leave! I'm sorry. That was inappropriate. I promise to behave." And in a silly flourish, Shisui puts one hand on his chest and raises his other hand, as if he's taking an oath. "Now don't let me interrupt. What were you two discussing before I got here?"

Mikoto is still frowning at her nephew, but she motions for him to sit at the table with Sakura while she goes to get another cup and plate. He's already eating one of the pastries in the middle of the table by the time she gets back, and she brushes the crumbs onto the plate before setting it beneath him and settling in her seat. She pours his tea and adds a dash of milk and honey, obviously familiar enough with the young man to know his preferences. He thanks her before taking a sip and letting out a refreshed sigh. "It's good to be home." He says.

Sakura is staring at him and has now noticed the ANBU mask tied to his hip holster. "Aren't you supposed to hide that so no one can identify you when you have it on?"

Shisui follows the direction of her eyes down to his mask and shrugs. "Yeah, but I wasn't expecting anyone to be here except family." He holds a finger up to his lips in a shushing motion. "You can keep a secret, right pinkie?"

Sakura is ruffled by the nickname and her eyes narrow further. She already can't wait for her afternoon training session to get all of this anger out. It's been a while since she interacted with anyone this irritating.

Mikoto clears her throat and the pair glance at her. "Sakura-hime is Tsunade-sama's apprentice now, Shisui." She takes a sip of her tea while giving him a pointed look.

He scratches the back of his head and winces. "Wow, I'm really not used to being back in society, yet. How many more times will I embarrass myself in front of you, Sakura?" He unties the ANBU mask and stuffs it in the pack on his back. "Tell Lady Tsunade that I'll be more careful from now on." He adds.

"Speaking of my shishou, I should be going. I need to stop by her office for a few scrolls before we train. I'll be back later this week to return these. Thank you for the tea, Mikoto-san." Sakura dips her head respectfully before carefully placing the scrolls on the table in her bag. Shisui doesn't fail to notice that they are Uchiha crolls, but he says nothing after exchanging a look with Mikoto. He has enough sense to hold his tongue until Saukra is gone. He's already insulted her enough for one day.

"Alright, dear. Let me know if you hear anything more from Sasuke. I'm glad to hear his training is going well." Miktoo walks Sakura to the door and gives her a hug before Sakura dashes away on the rooftops.

As soon as the door closes, Mikoto spins on her heel and marches back to Shisui, swatting him on the head. "I forgot how ill-behaved you can be sometimes, nephew. Shame on you for giving Sakura such a hard time. She is working very hard to help Sasuke and keep him safe."

Shisui rubs his head but dips it low in apology. "I'm sorry, I spoke without thinking. I guess I was just caught off guard to find her here." He meets Mikoto's eyes. "And to see her leave with classified clan scrolls."

Mikoto doesn't look ashamed at all. "She is a part of this family, as far as I am concerned. And it's not like Sasuke will share any of it with her. She wants to know as much as she can about him and Itachi so she can help." At the mention of his name, Shisui's face hardens. Mikoto continues anyways. "I can't save them, but she can. Sakura has a pure heart and a kind soul. I can tell she loves Sasuke like he's her brother, and that's good enough for me."

Shisui ponders his aunt's words and feels guilt seep in. He's been taking very long and difficult missions ever since the coup, and even when her heard that Itachi left, he didn't come back to help his family. Or rather, he couldn't. He was too hurt by the betrayal and the look of suspicion in his fellow comrade's eyes. They expected him to run next, and he felt like he needed to prove them wrong by taking all of the hardest missions with the worst pay. He even had Lady Tsunade just start relaying his next assignment by summons so that he wouldn't have to return to the village in between missions. He made sure to write to Mikoto weekly and attempted to stay in contact with Sasuke too, but the young Uchiha never responded. He owes Sakura an immense debt for taking care of his family while he was gone. It's obvious to him now that from Mikoto's words, the girl has also been a tremendous help to the matriarch as well. There's no way she would reveal clan secrets otherwise.

"I'll find her later and apologize again." Shisui promises. "Do you know where I can find her?"

Mikoto taps her chin as she thinks. "I know she trains with Tsunade-sama all afternoon, and I believe she remains at the training grounds afterwards to read. I'm not sure which one, though." She sniffs daintily and makes a face before standing up to clear the dishes. "But I will not leave this house until you bathe. You reek, Shisui-kun."

Sasuke feels nervous as he approaches the gates of Konoha, although outwardly no one would ever guess. He long ago mastered his mask of indifference. There's only two days left until the chunin finals, and Kakashi was summoned back to the village for another mission. He couldn't say what, but Sasuke suspects it probably has something to do with Orochimaru. That's also probably why Kakashi took him away from the village, not that Sasuke is complaining. The intense training from the last month he just underwent would not have been possible within the confines of Konoha. Having to stay on constant alert, learning how to survive on his own, and focusing on nothing but training was physically gruelling, but also mentally stabilizing. However, the closer he gets to the village, the more anxious he grows. Sasuke made several resolutions to himself while he was in the forest, all of which seemed much easier when they were still only thoughts. But he'll have to act on them soon, as he and Kakashi are now at the gates.

"I have to go report to the Hokage immediately. You're free to do as you please. We'll meet tomorrow as a team in our usual spot, so make sure you let Sakura and Naruto know." And with that he shushins off into the village.

Sasuke continues to walk calmly through the bustling streets, forcing his posture to remain relaxed despite his aversion to the crowds made only worse in the last few weeks. He decides to see his mother first, knowing exactly where to find her. He has decided he's done avoiding her, and that he needs to apologize to her. What Sakura said about his mother loving him unconditionally has been bouncing around his thoughts ever since then, and he knows his teammate is right. He loves her too and has now realized that ignoring her won't erase the shame and anger he feels. She's probably the only other person in his life that understands it.

He's snapped out of his thoughts when he reaches the door to his childhood home. He can't sense the ANBU guard stationed nearby, but he knows they're there. He wonders how much longer she will be under house arrest. She didn't do anything, anyways. He pushes down the anger that starts to boil up and slides open the door. He won't misdirect his frustrations onto her any longer.

With a clear head he walks into the kitchen where he finds her kneading dough. She looks up and almost drops it on the floor. "Sasuke." She breathes, her hands falling to her apron where she twists her hands in the fabric, whether out of anxiety or to clean them off he does not know. They're still covered in flour when he gets close enough for her to reach out and wrap her arms around her son. For the first time in years, he returns her embrace. He can feel the wetness of her tears soak into his shirt. "I'm back." He says quietly. He holds his mother for a long while, neither of them saying anything.

Shisui's tanto barely misses Sakura's face as she does a backbend to dodge the strike. Sakura's fighting style takes advantage of her flexibility and small build, and it's rare that anyone's attack lands. It doesn't hurt that she's been practicing with Lady Tsunade for the past month, and getting hit even once means you've lost. Sakura doesn't want to get her hopes too high, but she doubts if any of the genin she'll be facing in the final round will be anywhere near as strong as her shishou or as fast as Shisui, who has been training with her as well for the past two weeks. After their obnoxious reintroduction, he came to apologize later that day, and ended up helping her with her genjutsu. After that it became an unspoken plan to meet every evening to work on different jutsu. She doesn't know if he's just bored or if Mikoto put him up to it, but nevertheless she appreciates the help. He's been very useful for explaining new techniques, and has even showed her how to shushin, although she isn't used to it enough yet to use it in a fight, for fear of miscalculating the movement and accidentally impaling herself on a weapon or getting caught in a jutsu. But she can move around the village a lot more quickly now, which is surprisingly useful.

Besides learning these new techniques, Sakura has very recently been successful in her trial runs with the Byakugou. While Tsunade stores her chakra slowly over a long period of time, Sakura used the first Hokage's notes to figure out a way to alter the seal slightly so she can store large amounts all at once after she discovered it was surprisingly easy for her to use Tsunade-sama's version. Her shishou's notes said if too much was stored at once the user ran the risk of rupturing the seal, which would release a shockwave of chakra into the body and cause irreparable damage, but Sakura's never had even the slightest issue controlling her chakra before. Despite the risks, she attempted her version of the seal anyways and was able to store away all of her chakra the day before into a fixed point on her forehead.

Today she's wearing a sweatband to cover the mark, but now that her reserves are low, she thinks it's a good time to test the release mechanism of the mark. She jumps back to put distance between herself and Shisui and quick forms the hand sign. The flood of chakra is jarring at first, but she laughs in exhilaration when it settles and her reserves are brimming full once again. She looks down at her arms and legs and they are wrapped in the elongated seal, just as Tsuande's were when she demonstrated the effects of her own Byakugou.

"What is that?!" Shisui is instantly in front of her, but instead of continuing the spar he is analyzing the markings with his Sharingan, his eyes flitting about rapidly. He follows the marks up to her forehead and without hesitating pulls off her sweat band to reveal the small diamond Sakura knows is there.

"Is… Is that the Byakugou?" He stares at her as if she has grown a second head. "Sakura that's an S-class jutsu. How… How?" He runs a hand through his hair and goes back to looking at the intricacies of the seal.

"Well, it's not exactly the same as Lady Tsunade's. That would have taken me years. I make a few tweaks to the storage mechanism of the seal so now I can store large amounts of chakra all at once and release it whenever I want without the seal breaking." She blushes lightly as Shisui looks at her with amazement. He's too stunned to speak, which is a first.

"And they call Uchihas the masters of copying jutsu." He says after a minute. "Sakura, this is incredible. How did you think of this?"

She shrugs, glancing away. "It just came to me after I read a bunch of different notes. I guess the way the First Hokage described storing and using natural chakra for his sage mode it just kind of… clicked." She explains.

"The First Hokage's notes? What-"

"What are you doing here, Shisui?" The pair look up at the familiar voice to see Sasuke strolling into the training grounds. Sakura runs over to him to draw him into a too-tight hug, which he returns absentmindedly with one arm, while he looks over her head at his cousin.

"It's good to see you too, little cousin! I heard you were off training with Kakashi. I hope you haven't picked up any of his dirty habits while you were gone." He quirks an eyebrow and glances at Sakura, who is still clinging to Sasuke.

The younger Uchiha rolls his eyes. "I've developed quite the aversion, actually." He retorts, knowing Shisui is referring to Kakashi's habits of reading porn, especially when there are other people around.

Sakura snorts and pulls away from Sasuke slightly, still leaning against him when she turns to glower at Shisui. "Honestly, you're even more perverted than our sensei." Sakura accuses.

Shisui pretends to be offended. "How rude!" He replies, but he can't help the grin that breaks his facade. He looks back at Sasuke. "Are you prepared for friday? I heard you're up against Gaara of the sand village. He has quite the reputation in Suna. Don't know why he's even bothering with the chunin exams, honestly. He's apparently a monster in battle." He's eyeing his younger cousin as if he's sizing him up. "Although, it looks like you've gotten stronger too. Care to join our spar? Sakura was just showing me her newest S-Class technique. I thought you were supposed to be the prodigy of your year." The taunt is obvious to Sakura, but she feels Sasuke tense next to her, taking the bait. She rolls her eyes. It's really too easy to goad Sasuke sometimes.

"Well, I actually need to go show Tsunade this before she leaves her office. She'll have a fit if I use this during the exam and she doesn't know about it first. See you two later!" And with that she shushins off.

Sasuke swears when she leaves so abruptly, not having the chance to pass along the message that they're supposed to meet up as a team tomorrow. He'll just have to stop by her house later. He'll probably want to sleep somewhere besides the orphanage later anyways, after he talks to Naruto. The mere thought of that conversation has him clenching his fists in anxiety, and he turns his attention back to Shisui to distract himself. He feels his earlier anger return.

"I thought you had left the village too." Sasuke sneers, slowly taking off his pack and cloak. He draws his sword and takes up a fighting stance. "What do you think you're doing, moving in with my mother and befriending my teammate? Is this some sort of sick joke to you?" He seethes.

Shisui looks taken aback. "I didn't leave the village. I was just-"

"You were just hiding." Sasuke interrupts. "Like a coward. You left our family to deal with the fallout of the rebellion all alone, and didn't even come back when Itachi left." And without any preamble he attacks. Shisui barely manages to parry the strike of Sasuke's sword, and he's unprepared when lightning flares through the specially crafted blade. He drops his tanto when the flesh on his palm is fried and hisses in pain as he retreats.

"You're right." Shisui says, falling into a defensive stance as Sasuke rushes at him once again with impressive speed. His fighting style is so similar to Itachi's that Shisui's heart aches. "I am a coward. I was hiding." He barely ducks a particularly savage slash of the blade. "But I'm back now. And I'm not going anywhere." Sasuke catches him in the gut with a kick and lifts him up by the wide collar of his shirt. Shisui doesn't struggle as he stares into Sasuke's spinning Sharingan, all three tomoe activated. It really has been a long time since he saw his little cousin. "I'm sorry, Sasuke. I'm sorry I wasn't there to stop Itachi." He lets his head fall. "I should have been there. I could have…. I don't know what I could have done. But I could have done something."

Neither moves for a while, but Sasuke slowly releases his death grip on Shisui's shirt. They stand there panting in silence until Sasuke sheaths his sword. "Well what are you going to do now?" He demands.

"I'm going to find him." Shisui says immediately. "I'll drag that idiot back here by his ponytail if I have to, and beat some sense into him. I don't know what he's thinking. This is unlike him."

Sasuke nods almost immediately. "Mother said the same thing. And I agree. Apparently mother has had Sakura looking for clues at the Hokage Tower." He lowers his voice. "She said something about a group called Akatsuki. Do you know anything about them?"

Shisui's brow furrows. "Yes, but not much. They're a group of ruge nin who take a lot of contracts the villages turn down. I haven't run into them, but I heard talk of them in a lot of towns, especially in countries without a ninja village."

Sasuke frowns and adds that to his list of things to tell Sakura. He doesn't see any significance to Shisui's words, but Sakura might. She's always been the best at piecing together information on missions. Even better than Kakashi, and he has years of experience.

"I'll see you tomorrow. I have something to do." Sasuke says abruptly, turning to leave. "Don't do anything yet. Sakura will be mad if you act before she knows what's going on."

Shisui laughs. "She really has you whipped. Is it her brain or her looks that got your attention?"

Sasuke rolls his eyes. "I'm not interested in women, actually." And with a smirk at the dumbstruck look on his cousin's face, he disappears in a flurry of leaves.

Naruto is just about to drift off to sleep when he hears the doorknob to his room turning. He sits bolt upright when he senses the chakra signature and has launched himself across the room and pulled Sasuke into a tight hug before the other can even flick on the light in the room.

"Put me down dobe." Sasuke manages to huff out, the air being squeezed from his lungs by Naruto's tight embrace.

The blonde aquiesses and slowly releases his best friend, stepping back to let him enter the room. Sasuke flicks on the light and only briefly glances at him before moving past him to place his pack down at the foot of the bed. He notices the sheets thrown down and turns to Naruto. "Were you sleeping in my bed?" Naruto grins sheepishly and rubs the back of his head in response. "Why?"
Naruto glances around nervously, trying to think of a good lie. "It's more comfortable?"
"We have the same mattress, dobe."

"Fine! I couldn't fall asleep in mine, so I slept in yours instead."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Shut up." Naruto collapses back into the bed, making sure to leave enough room for Sasuke. "Geez, you've only been back for less than a minute and you're already driving me crazy."

He receives only a grunt of agreement in reply and he watches as the Uchiha starts to unpack his things. Naruto prattles on about his training with Jiraiya over the past month, and follows Sasuke to the bathroom to sit outside of the door as he showers so that he can ask him questions about his time with Kakashi.

When Sasuke exits the bathroom he's fully clothed and walking stiffly. He goes to his bed and sits down, only to restlessly sand up when Naruto joins him. He paces around the room and slowly Naruto catches on that something is bothering him and stops talking. "Is something wrong?" He asks.

Sasuke stops on the spot and whirls around on his heel. He stares at Naruto lounging on his bed, wearing his underwear, and asking him about his feelings, and can't decide if he'd rather punch or kiss the blond.

"I'm gay." He finally blurts out. He says nothing else, but Naruto doesn't miss the panic that flits across his face. Too late, the blond realizes his mouth is hanging open and that he's probably giving Sasuke a really strange look. Before he can stop him, the Uchiha flits away with a shushin.

Naruto lies on the bed staring at the ceiling trying to process what Sasuke just told him. He berates himself for not saying anything. Why did he act so surprised, anyways? Is it really that surprising? While Sasuke doesn't necessarily fit many stereotypes, he's certainly never expressed any interest in girls. And it's not as if Naruto's as straight as an arrow either, so the concept isn't what floored him either. He supposes it's the way he said it. So bluntly. And after so long. Why didn't he tell him before? And why right now? And why did he run away? Naruto looks down at himself and groans, smacking a hand to his forehead. I'm lying nearly naked in his bed. I definitely didn't make that easy.

Knowing exactly where Sasuke would flee, Naruto quickly gets dressed and pulls on his sandals. He's at Sakura's house in no time, and he leaps up to her window. He doesn't know if Sakura's parents are home or not, but he doesn't want to risk having to explain to them what he's doing here after dark. They definitely don't know Sasuke's here. He peers through her bedroom window, and sure enough he spots a head of unruly black hair sitting on her floor. He pulls open the window and vaults through. Sasuke looks ready to bludgeon him with the cup of tea in his hands when he glares over his shoulder at him. "Go away."

"Not a chance, teme. Not until you come back home with me." He sits on the floor in front of him, legs and arms crossed stubbornly.

It's been a long time since Naruto faced this calibre of glare from Sasuke. I hasn't been this bad since Itachi left, honestly. He feels a spike of guilt at having caused his best friend this much pain. "I'm sorry for freezing up and not saying anything. You just caught me off guard." He laughs nervously and uncrosses his arms. "I'm used to you not talking much, but that was extreme, even for you."

Sasuke's glare doesn't waver and he still says nothing. Naruto swallows the lump in his throat, but doesn't break eye contact. He hears Sakura walking up the stairs and uses their last moment of being alone to whisper, "this is going to hurt".

The door slams open and Sakura enters the room, fury clearly evident on her face. She smacks Naruto hard upside the head and grabs him by the collar, yanking him to his feet. "You moron! What the hell is wrong with you? How can you be so dense all of the time?"

She shakes him for emphasis before shifting her hold so she has him by the ear. She drags him out of her bedroom and to the stairs, obviously headed for the front door. So her parents must not be home. "Sakura-chan, wait! I need to-ow, that hurts! Let go!" he tries to loosen her fingers but her grip his like steel. He continues to whine until they get to the door. She throws him out on the front steps, but just before she can slam the door in his face, he grabs her wrist. "Sakura-chan." His voice is quiet and serious. He can feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "I need to talk to him. Please."

Sakura lets out a long suffering sigh and massages her temples. "Why are you so good at puppy dog eyes? Fine!" She finally says, stepping aside to let him in. "But you have two minutes and then you're out! Honestly, I can't believe you. What could you have possibly said that upset him so much?" She gives him a weird look. "You're not one of those people who's homophobic but still likes men, are you? Because if-"

"What? No! I didn't say anything!" He interrupts her indignantly before his shoulders slump. "I just… gaped at him and… Imayhavebeenwearinghisunderwearwhilelyinginhisbed." He mumbles, his face flushing. Sakura stares at him for a few seconds before her shoulders tart shaking. She doubles over with laughter and Naruto stalks past her. "Yeah, yeah laugh all you want. By the way, how's Ino?" He calls over his shoulder, yelping when a scroll hits him in the back of the head. He chuckles to himself as he jogs up the stairs, but is serious again by the time he reaches her bedroom door. Sasuke is standing now, looking out the window.

"I escaped." Naruto jokes lamely, stepping into the room and closing the door so Sakura can't eavesdrop too easily. She probably will anyways.

"That's too bad. I hoped she'd kick your ass out of the gates of the village." Sasuke replies, not turning around.

"Is that what you want? A fight?" Naruto asks, stepping forward. He places he hand on Sasuke's shoulder only to frown when he shrugs off the touch.

"No. I want you to go away." Is Sasuke's growled response.

"Well too bad." And before Sasuke can react, Naruto slings the Uchiha over his shoulder and uses the hand sign to activate his new jutsu. They materialize instantly in training ground 3 with his palm pressed against the seal he has carved into one of the trees. When he wasn't being pushed off cliffs and forced to summon toads, Naruto spent the last month reading the notes from his father on his Hiraishin and Rasengan jutsus. With his Uzumaki blood, Naruto is naturally gifted at fuinjutsu. With Jiraiya's guidance, he was able to quickly learn the terminology and basics, and now he can use the technique, although sparingly and not quickly enough to utilize it in a battle. But for scenarios like this, it's pretty useful. The rasengan was a lot more difficult for him to learn because of his terrible chakra control, but after many weeks and a lot of shadow clones, he figured it out.

Sasuke delivers a kick to his gut, and Naruto releases him as he doubles over in pain. Sasuke is staring at him incredulously, looking from the seal on the tree to Naruto. "How the hell did you do that?"

Naruto grins and traces the seal with a finger. "It's my dad's jutsu. Ero-sannin had the scrolls of notes and showed them to me. It's called Hiraishin."

"Well it's annoying." And with that, Sasuke charges Naruto. The Uchiha is faster, but Naruto has better endurance. He takes quite a few hits over the next half hour and bides his time, letting Sasuke get all of his anger and frustration out. Even though Sasuke said otherwise, the blond knows that a good spar will always make his friend feel better. He's not good at talking, but his hits are more than expressive. At the first sign of fatigue, Naruto starts to fight back. He lands his first hit and sends the Uchiha sprawling. He barely rolls out of the way before Naruto slams a rasengan down into the ground, right where his chest was a moment ago. Having now escalated the fight, their punches aren't pulled at all. Sasuke's lip is busted, and Naruto has such a bad black eye it has swelled shut. Sasuke's now fighting with just one arm because the other is broken from blocking a particularly nasty hit from Naruto, and the latter is slowed down significantly from the blow he took to the knee from the raven. They both have several cracked ribs. It's the middle of the night before they're finally done, lying in the grass next to each other staring up at the bright full moon.

"Why did you make that stupid face?" Sasuke surprises Naruto by breaking the silence.

Naruto winces, but not from physical pain. "I don't know. I really don't. I'm just an idiot, I guess. You just caught me off guard." Naruto chuckles. "You just yelled it at me while I was rambling about the different toads I've summoned."

Sasuke snorts, and turns his head to look at Naruto. "You wouldn't shut up."

"Hey! I asked if anything was wrong!"

"And nothing was wrong."

"That's bullshit, teme. Why didn't you just tell me? Hell, I wouldn't be sleeping in your underwear or climbing in your bed if I knew it bothered you!"

Sasuke doesn't speak for a long time, observing Naruto's face for a long moment. "That's because it doesn't bother me." He looks back at the sky and Naruto realizes he's embarrassed. "Does that bother you?"

"Hell no!" Is the blond's immediate reply. "I just thought-"

"Since when do you think?" Sasuke says with a smirk.

"Shut up."

They lie in silence for another long while, but soon their sweat dries on their skin and the chill of the night sets in. Naruto's body aches, and he can only imagine how Sasuke feels. He doesn't have a monster bijuu sealed inside of him to heal his injuries. "Come on, lets go see Sakura-chan. Maybe she'll take pity and heal us."

Sasuke groans at the prospect of moving. Naruto gets to his feet slowly and offers a hand. He slowly pulls his friend to his feet and Sasuke takes one of Naruto's arms around his shoulders, bearing the weight on the blond's injured side.

"I can use the Hiraishin to get us there." Naruto says just before he uses the jutsu. Sasuke looks slightly ill when they arrive and he looks around in bewilderment at the inside of Sakura's room. "She's going to kill you when she finds out." He mutters when he notices the seal painted behind her dresser.

She does give him an earful, but in the end Sakura lets him go with only a stern reprimand for invading her privacy. She heals Sasuke first, and the Uchiha goes to sit in her window seat while she works on Naruto. The pinkette gives him a questioning look, which the blond returns with a smile and nod. Sakura grins back at him and winks. Naruto immediately realizes she misinterpreted what he meant and frantically waves his arms and shakes his head. This draws Sasuke's attention and he frowns at them.

"Something you want to say, dobe?" He asks, obviously aware they were just communicating behind his back. He rolls his eyes when Naruto grins sheepishly and waves Sasuke off. "Oh, nothing. Sakura just wanted to know if you beat me, and I was letting her know I kicked your ass."

Sasuke snorts and doesn't even bother to respond, instead looking out the window again. Naruto gives Sakura a dirty look while she shakes with silent laughter. They thank their teammate and Sasuke lets her know they're supposed to meet in the morning at the bridge before Naruto grabs his shoulder and Haraishins them home. The blond gets to the shower first and washes off the blood, sweat and dirt from before.

After he's used up a good portion of the hot water, he gets out and dries off before slinging his towel around his hips. He walks out into their room and is suddenly very conscious of the fact that Sasuke is standing only a few feet away with his shirt off. He swallows and fights to keep his face indifferent as he walks around the other teen, reaching into his underwear drawer. "Sorry, I need to do my laundry." Naruto says sheepishly. Trying to act normal, he drops his towel as he always would and quickly yanks on the dark blue boxer briefs. He turns around only to find that Sasuke is already in the bathroom, paying no attention to him.

Naruto flops down on the Uchiha's bed and covers his face with his hands, muffling a groan after the shower has been turned on and he knows Sasuke won't hear him. Why am I acting so weird right now? Neither of us is any different than we were before. He grabs his towel and rubs it roughly through his hair to dry the unruly mop. It's getting a little longer than usual, so the spikes don't sall tick straight out like they used to.

Naruto lies back down on the bed and stares at the door of the bathroom while he waits patiently for Sasuke to be done with his shower. When he hears the water shut off he rolls onto his back. Sasuke walks out shortly after fully dressed in his pajamas, and with only a quick glance at Naruto's face he climbs onto the bed with him. Naruto is acutely aware of how they're completely pressed against one another as they lie there, the blond for once at a loss for words. Sasuke didn't crawl under the covers like he normally does, so the thin cotton of his pajamas are pressed against Naruto's bare leg. The blond gulps and twiddles with his thumbs on his abdomen to distract himself.

"Your seal looks different." Sasuke says after a while, and Naruto feels goosebumps break out on his arms when the Uchiha's finger trace the spiral of ink on his stomach. The muscles in his torso clench and Naruto clamps his mouth shut. When the raven withdraws his hand, the blond is able to regain his composure somewhat.

"Yeah. Jiraiya reworked the design a little bit. My dad didn't really have that much time when he sealed the Nine Tails in me." After an awkward pause, words begin to come to him again. "It turns out I don't even have all of the chakra. Ero-sannin says the rest is sealed away on Mount Myoboku. Did you know there are places where summons live?" He continues to ramble on, slowly forgetting his nerves and sinking into the familiar heat of Sasuke's body. In no time his eyelids are drooping, and before he notices he has drifted off to sleep.