Good day, dear readers! I want to thank everyone who's reviewed this story so far. It really means a lot to me! I hope you'll continue to read and support me. Right, so here's the next chapter! Hope you like it..

Disclaimer: I regret to inform you I do not own Naruto. It's Kishimoto's genius work.

Warning: Swearing, as usual. Nothing too bad though.

"…"

For once, Naruto had absolutely no idea what to say. 'Oh shit, he must've heard what Sakura-chan said about him.. What do I do?' Never having been particularly gifted at being subtle, he decided to just blurt out whatever came to mind in the hope that he could get everything out before the black haired boy could vent his anger. Looking down at his lap, he took a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak.

"Shit, look. I don't know what to say, man. It's just, well, you've been gone for, like, a long time. And you were kinda shitty, you know? Refusing to come back, trying to kill us and stuff. So, you can't really blame her for-, but I mean, she'll totally come around though! Right? You know her! Don't even sweat it, I'm sure she's just, you know, giving you a hard time until you apologise to her or something? Yeah, you should just go talk to her! I'm sure she didn't mean-, well, maybe she did.. But I know she still cares for you! How could she not? We went through so much shit for you, and it was worth it! Really! But well, you were kind of a homicidal maniac for a while there, I guess that kinda didn't sit right with her, or something.. ? Aaargh, I don't know, man! Just, just don't be mad, okay? It'll all work out, I'm sure of it.."

He wheezed out what small amount of air remained in his lungs and finally looked up to meet the boy's gaze. He didn't expect the mild confusion in Sasuke's dark eyes.

"Uh, did I.. Did I say something weird?"

Naruto received no answer, as usual, and continued to stare at the other boy in anticipation of some sort of outburst. He saw something akin to frustration bubble up in the black stare that faced him and decided to switch to pleading. Not that he was scared of the Uchiha or anything, but he needed the guy to understand.

"Could you pleaaase just let it go? I was kinda hoping you two were going to get along now that you're back and she's finally stopped crushing on you like a love sick puppy. Just give her some time.. I'll go talk to her, okay? Make her change her mind! She's like a sister to me now, you know? She'll listen to me. It's funny, isn't it? I spent all that time pining after her.. Now she's given up on you, but I can't bring myself to feel a goddamn thing anymore.. Sucks to be me, right?"

He ended the monologue with an embarrassed chuckle. He didn't mean to talk about his feelings like that, but he just couldn't stop the words from coming out. 'Anything to get rid of this awful silence..'. Sasuke was staring at him now, shock apparent on his graceful features. It alarmed Naruto to see the expression on the boy's usually stoic face. Just as Naruto was about to question his abnormal display of emotions, Sasuke heaved a sigh. All tension seemed to leave the boy's face and he promptly laughed. Uchiha Sasuke, was laughing.

"Uh, teme?"

Naruto was afraid the boy had lost it. 'Oh crap, I really did break him.' He was at a loss for words and simply regarded the boy in unconcealed awe. Sasuke's deep chuckle faded away after a few seconds and Naruto found himself missing the melodic sound already. 'Wait, what?' He had no time to think on that afterthought as Sasuke quietly muttered something to himself.

"Such an idiot.."

Naruto wasn't sure if the words were meant for him, but thought it likely considering their history and retaliated.

"Hey, that was uncalled for! Here I am, graciously trying to help you out and you're making fun of me again!"

Naruto realised that the burst of laughter, however, hadn't sounded mocking, but rather relieved. He felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips and gave a lopsided grin at the thought of Sasuke caring that much about his bond with Sakura.

"So don't worry about it, okay? I'll talk to her and you'll be fine. I promise."

"No, that's not-"

Sasuke swallowed the rest of his sentence and clearly decided he'd let his mask slip for long enough now. Naruto tilted his head in confusion. 'Wasn't that why he was so relieved?' Before he could open his mouth to ask what Sasuke had meant by that cut-off statement, he was rudely smacked on the head by the black haired boy's unscathed hand.

"You're making it worse."

Naruto followed the boy's gaze and looked down upon the injured hand. He'd unconsciously moved the hand that was holding Sasuke's wrist during their conversation and with a shock he realised his thumb was now firmly pressing on the reopened gash, causing tiny streams of blood to well up.

"Fuck! I'm so sorry!"

He hurriedly pulled back his now red stained hand and replaced it with the towel he'd used before.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, I'll fix it! Just give me a second!"

To his surprise, Sasuke didn't seem all that angry at him anymore. The boy was simply studying his actions, slightly scowling as he usually did, but it didn't hide the amused glint in his eyes. If Naruto didn't know any better he'd say the boy looked content, satisfied even. He did know better, though, and dismissed his findings as a figment of his imagination. A contemplating look crossed the Uchiha's features and he clenched his jaw before speaking up.

"I'm going training tomorrow."

Naruto, who was searching for bandages now that the wound had stopped bleeding so profusely, barely looked up in acknowledgement of the boy's statement and commented offhandedly.

"You're off too? I was thinking of doing the same thing actually.."

He was frowning while rummaging through the contents of the medic kit.

"Shit, where the hell did they put 'em.."

He softly muttered to himself, clearly too focused on his task to notice Sasuke being unusually talkative.

"We could spar."

Naruto finally found the gauze he was looking for and smirked triumphantly without paying attention to the other boy.

"Yes, found it.. Yeah, sure we can-"

Naruto's grin slid from his lips. He tore his eyes away from the bandages in favour of looking at Sasuke, utterly perplexed by what had just happened.

"I think I misheard.."

"Do you want to spar, or not?"

Naruto felt his eyes widen even more at the realisation that the boy was serious. His heart fluttered a bit and it took him a while to understand why it did. He was ridiculously happy. Not too long ago he'd proposed a sparring match to the other boy, but was shot down mercilessly. He'd feared that Sasuke didn't acknowledge him anymore, at least not as a rival, or an equal. He would have never admitted it to anyone, but the idea had made him feel so hurt and rejected he'd thought he was going to be sick. He'd thought their bond to be beyond repair. Hearing Sasuke's words now, hearing the boy contradict his assumptions made him want to break out in laughter as he'd heard the other boy do mere minutes ago. He felt so relieved and wondered if it was safe to hold onto hope again. 'This has got to mean something, right? For him to agree to spar with me.. Hell, to even suggest it himself?!' His blank expression changed to an insanely cheerful one as he gave his answer.

"Fuck yeah, I want to! I finally get a chance to kick your ass! There's no way I'm gonna pass up that opportunity! You're on!"

He was proud of his phrasing, satisfied he was able to temper the emotions raging through his mind and sound like himself.

"I'd like to see you try, dobe."

Naruto smiled at the offensive nickname and decided to let it slip because it hadn't sounded like an insult for once. He started wrapping up Sasuke's hand as gently as he could as an apology for his unintended abuse of it earlier. When his fingers momentarily brushed the other boy's pale skin, he instinctively looked up to see Sasuke's reaction, only to find the boy staring back at him intensely. He froze for a second, but quickly snapped out of the lock those dark eyes had him in and picked up the gauze that had slipped between his still fingers.

He honestly still had no idea what to make out of the conversation they'd had, but as he resumed wrapping the other boy's hand, he found himself not caring at that moment.

So there you go! I'm sure most of you can guess exactly which part of Naruto's conversation with Sakura had irked Sasuke.. The jealous brat. I always imagined Sasuke would be quite possessive and irrational when it came to the person he cared about. Hence his inability to just shrug it off and rationalise Naruto's conversation with Sakura.

I hope you like how I'm portraying both Sasuke and Naruto.. I actually rather enjoy writing Naruto, much to my own surprise. He's like an open (and rather foulmouthed) book, isn't he. Sasuke is a bit more difficult.. I hope you don't think he's too OOC. I'm really trying to keep him in character as well as I can.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this! If you enjoyed it, please review! You guys just make my day.