Chapter 1:

This is the only real disclaimer you guys will get for this story. This my first Naruto Mpreg. I would like you to know that in this situation pregnancy with males is normal in the universe. it's one of the very few au themes i have added and we will get to the science of it later. I want to make it very clear at the beginning that although the first several chapters may not show it, this is most definitely a SasuNaru pairing. As you will soon see my writing can tend to be a bit long winded, but I am hoping that it is not a bad thing and that it increases how much you will enjoy it. I know many of you are against the idea of reading other original character pairings, but I promise that if you bear with me, and just go with what I'm trying to get across you will enjoy the ride. We are going to have a love hate relationship you and I lovely reader. Enjoy and let me know what you think. i will try to update atleast weekly, but you may find that you guys need to keep on me.

Warnings: yaoi, mpreg, angst, self-harm, het

do not own

The day was hot, and the bright sun was shining directly over head, beating the noon heat down on the backs of the three genin who walked side by side down the main road of Konoha. As they walked water dripped down their backs, a result from having just come from swimming in the river, and trying to beat the heat. Naruto and Sasuke had left their shirts off, and the water dried quickly on their hot skin. Sakura's shirt was wet from where her long hair hung wetly in thick pink strands down her back. The nine year old and two ten year olds walked dejectedly and aimlessly, the refreshing feeling from the cold water already gone, and the misery of the heat back in full force.

"Meh. Maybe we should go back to the river. I'm hot again already." Naruto complained.

"But we just walked all the way back! I don't want to turn around and do that all over again. " Sakura replied, but she had to admit that the memory of the sweetly cold water was appealing.

"True, but it would be worth it once we go there, and we could just stay until the sun goes down a bit, and then the walk home wouldn't be so bad." Sakura had to admit that Naruto made a good point, but it wasn't going to work."

"But that's hours away, and my mom needs me back home before then." Sakura hung her shoulders and returned to silence. A large part of her wanted that water so badly, but her mom would skin her alive if she was late again. She had already missed dinner three times this week because of her need to keep cool in the river. It wasn't her fault. She was the only one of the three who had to be home at a certain time, and the young boys on her team were very good at convincing her that the heat wave that had been taking over the village for the past two weeks was much more threatening that her mother's wrath. Her mother had let the first offense go with only a slight frown, and a "kids will be kids" air of understanding when Sakura offered a quick apology to her parents. The second apology was met with a bit more annoyance, but little anger since Sakura was a good child and a hard worker. On the third night being late Sakura's apology had been met with a great deal of frustration and a moderate amount of anger. Her mother was relatively appeased when Sakura had offered to clean the kitchen after dinner, and make her own supper. She did the remainder of her chores in a polite and timely manner and her mother had offered her a smile and a kiss before sending her to bed. Despite receiving the forgiveness of her parents, Sakura had been sent out of the house that morning with a reminder to train hard, and instructions to be home on time unless you was willing to be grounded from all outside activity for a week that did not involve training or missions. Sakura was slow to give in to Naruto's pleas for comfort.

"What do you think Sasuke?" Naruto turned to the black haired boy next to him when he realized Sakura would not be giving in."

"I'm torn. I'm in no rush to make that mile long walk again...but the water was nice." He looked up into the rays of the hot sun let himself remember how nice the water had been. They shouldn't have left in the first place.

"See! It was wasn't it? C'mon Sakura. Even Sasuke wants to go back. We can leave early if it is really that big of a deal. Don't you want to make your precious Sasuke-kun happy?" Sakura easily lost her patience. She brought her fist down on Naruto's head quickly and roughly, making him fall to the ground and see stars around his head. The baka was so infuriating, and now he was not only going to get her into trouble with her parents, but he was making fun of her on top of it.

"BAKA! If we leave early it will be just as hot as it is now when we return and it will have been pointless! If I'm late one more time my mother will flay me, and it will be all your fault!" Sakura fumed and balled her hands into tight fists at her side, and glared at the blond, daring him to stand up again. If he did she would just pound him back down into the ground for his stupidity.

"Ne, Sakura, no need to be so rough. I get it. I get it. Maybe tomorrow." Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head as he sat on his butt in the middle of the road, not bothering to get up again until Sakura's anger had passed. Sasuke huffed at his two teammates and kept walking, not wanting to bother with another one of Sakura's temper tantrums and Naruto's ensuing idiotic complacency. The two never changed. It was hot and he had no time or energy to bother with their fighting. Those two were exhausting.

"Teme! Come back! Where are you going? Don't just run away from us like that. It's rude after such a fun day together." Naruto quickly hopped up as he saw Sasuke continue down the road at a fast pace, his hands stuffed into his pockets, and ran to catch up.

"Sasuke-kun! Please don't run off. I didn't mean to lose my temper. I still have some time left, I just can't go back to the river...Sasuke-kun!" But Sasuke was too far away to hear at this point. The two genins ran after him hoping to catch up to the precious person and best friend who was oblivious to their pleas to return, or to at least slow down. When they finally caught up to the raven he had stopped in front of the stand for Ichiraku's ramen. He looked at it thoughtfully for a few moments, debating in his head if the taste of the village's most delicious noodles and broth were worth the fact that he would just be adding more heat to his body. He obviously wasn't the only one this had occurred to as the stand was vacant of customers. He was still pondering on his decision when Naruto zoomed past him and quickly took a seat without hesitating.

"Brilliant Sasuke. I'm starved." Naruto waited only a bit impatiently for his order to be taken. He had no issue with the fact that the food was hot. Now that his brain had registered that ramen was an option his mouth was watering. Sakura stood beside Sasuke in the street and seemed to be on the fence as well. It was too hot for soup right? But as usual the smell was inviting and she found herself inching closer for a larger sniff, but did not sit down. Sasuke made no move in either direction, still lost in thought.

"It's a bit hot for soup isn't it?" He asked after a moment. Naruto practically glared at him.

"It's not soup teme, it's ramen, and don't let Touchi-san hear you. I don't want to get kicked out for you saying stupid things like that. Geez. Who says such rude things out of the blue just like that?" Ayami came out from the side of the shop and grinned upon seeing the trio.

"Sure is hot today isn't it? Of course I'm not surprised to see you Naruto, but your friends appear to be melting." She smiled sweetly at Sakura who was standing there looking a bit forlorn. "You look hot Sakura, would you like something cold to drink before you decide if you will be eating?" Sakura smiled again and decided to take a seat. Ramen would not be so bad if she had something to cool her off. She sat down next to Naruto and nodded.

"Thank you Ayami-san. That would be very nice."

"Sasuke?...Will you be joining them today?" Ayami asked pleasantly.

"Hn." was the only response he gave as he too took a seat on Sakura's other side. He may as well stay. He had nowhere to be and he was hungry. A drink wouldn't hurt either. Ayami quickly went to retrieve their drinks and upon return set down a lemonade in front of each of them.

"What would you like today?" She asked the three.

"I would like a bowl of miso pork please Ayami-san." Naruto gave her his order without thinking, smiling at her the whole time.

"I will have the same please." was Sakura's reply. Ayami turned to Sasuke who seemed to still be dwelling on his decision. After a moment or two he quietly asked for a bowl of pork ramen. As Ayami went to retrieve the ramen for them the three sat sipping their drinks quietly. It was deplorably hot out. Too hot to walk, move, or even talk. It was barely past noon and the heat was only getting worse as the day wore on. When the ramen arrived they all dug in. Sasuke and Sakura ate slowly, allowing their bowls to cool a bit, but Naruto was quickly scarfing his food down, oblivious to the heat coming off of it. The time passed slowly and they enjoyed themselves, even Sasuke who had at first been wondering if this was a bad idea on a day like they were having. Naruto no longer seemed to even notice the heat, too lost in the delicious broth to care. Suddenly the blond's vision was removed and he was looking at darkness and felt a light pressure over his face.

"Wahhh! It's dark! Who is it? I'm trying to eat!" He began flailing his arms around wildly, trying to dislodge whatever was causing his sudden blindness. His vision returned after a moment and he saw a pair of pale hands pulling away from his face, the owner of the hands that had covered his eyes after sneaking up on him laughed gleefully.

"Ne, Naruto, for such a self proclaimed amazing shinobi I sure was able to sneak up on you very easily." the voice teased. Naruto smiled recognizing the tone immediately. His anger quickly receded. He turned around on his stool fast enough to almost knock himself off of it and was met with the deep black eyes of the young man who was his second best friend in the whole world. Yukata grabbed the flailing arms that were trying to balance on the now wobbling stool Naruto was fighting to balance on and laughed again. "Such an amazing shinobi surely would never be seen falling off of such a stable piece of furniture after being snuck up on would he? I didn't scare you I hope little Naruto" Yukata asked. Naruto's smile faded and he crossed his arms in front of him, glowering now that his stool was securely back on the ground.

"You didn't scare me! I saw you coming a mile away! I was trying to save you from being embarrassed when your plan didn't work Yukata-chan. You shouldn't make fun of me when I was doing you a favor...I admit I may have turned around on the stool too quickly." He looked away and spoke softly, annoyed that he had indeed been caught off guard. He would never admit to being frightened though. The last thing he needed was to be laughed at by Sasuke and Sakura as well. He glanced at the other two warily. It was useless. Sakura was already giggling, and Sasuke looked bored. He wasn't dumb. Naruto hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings and they both new it. Sakura waved hello to the young man starting all the raucous.

Yukata looked like he hadn't even been touched by the heat. The long black hair that went down his back almost to his back side, was free and unbound hanging still in the windless day, unlike many of those with long hair who had quickly pulled their hair up from their necks that morning when greeted by another day of hundred degree weather. Not even the long strands that had a tendency to fall into his eyes from the side of his face had stuck to his forehead as Sasuke's bangs were now doing. He had not a drop of sweat running down him, and his eyes were ringed in charcoal as was usual, and was also abandoned by most of the village that day for fear of it running.

"Hello Yukata-chan!" Sakura greeted him happily. The mutual friend of the three was also greeted by Sasuke with a nod of his head and a small smile.

"Hello everyone." He greeted back. "It's another beautiful sunny day again. How are you enjoying the weather?" The three genin sitting at the stand sweat dropped at his perkiness. Yukata was never unhappy and never complained. He occasionally became thoughtful and was very often whimsical in his speech. Of course he thought the day was beautiful. He thought everything was beautiful. He was obviously genuinely happy to have the sun shining, and birds singing, and they left him without a response to show their annoyance at his happiness while he stood there in seemingly easy comfort.

Yukata took the last available seat on Naruto's other side and was quickly greeted by Ayami. "Good afternoon Ayami-san. May I have a bowl of miso ramen please? I tried it for the first time last week and it was absolutely delicious." Ayami smiled happily at the compliment and nodded her head. She went off for a bit, but quickly returned with his steaming bowl of ramen. He took a slow and steady bite, as if checking to make sure it tasted just as good as it had the last time. He smiled widely at the wonderful flavor that was exactly as he remembered, and began to eat a bit more quickly. Settling back into the silence the other children began eating again as well. Half way through his bowl Yukata began talking again. The silence was not uncomfortable at all, but he enjoyed conversation during a meal. "Ayami-san? Where is Touchi-san today?" He asked politely. Ayami leaned against her side of the bar. She enjoyed talking with Yukata. He was such a happy child and extremely smart for an eleven year old.

"He is with everyone else down at the river today. He tried to hold out because we left the stand open, but it has been understandably slow lately due to the heat, so he asked me to take over so he could spend a day cooling off. I was just there yesterday myself"

"We just came from the river." Sakura perked up a bit and joined in the conversation. "We did not see him or I would have said hello. At least I did not see him." Naruto quickly swallowed the last bit of broth in his bowl before plopping it back on the bar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"If we had gone back to the river we may have seen him." He injected. He was annoyed. The ramen was amazing as always, but dammit he wanted to go back to the river. He didn't really want to leave in the first place and all of his friend's were there. There was no reason for him to have to mope about hot and sticky when he could be in the cold water. He received another pound to the head from Sakura for his trouble, and smart remark, and finally fell off his stool. "Sakura! I didn't even do anything that time." he whined. Sakura had already forgotten her annoyance at the boy and set her also empty bowl on the bar.

"I'm sorry Naruto. Did you say something? Oh! Oh my! Whatever are you doing on the ground? You should be more careful." She smiled wickedly in her sarcasm. Naruto got off the ground and put himself back in his stool. He asked for another bowl of miso pork and decided to ignore the pinkette. Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked away from the group, embarrassed to be seen with them. Sakura stood up herself and put a few bits of money on the counter to pay for her food. "I'm sorry to leave you so soon, but I was suddenly thinking about going to the flower shop to see Ino and buy a few roses from her mother's shop. After the trouble you two put me through today I'm beginning to see how mean I was to my own mother."

"You two?" Sasuke scoffed. "I haven't done anything. This dobe is the one that has been causing all of the trouble. I don't see you having to hit me."

"Oh she would never hit her precious Sasuke-kun now would she? Her precious Sasuke-kun can do no wrong." Naruto huffed and shirked back while covering his head, realizing too late that this remark would probably only incite Sakura to hit him again.

"Lala." she sang, covering her ears. "Did you hear something Yukata-chan? I thought I heard someone annoying, but it must have just been a fly. I will see you guys later. Thank you again Ayami-san." She emptied her glass of lemonade, hoping the last bit of the cool liquid would keep her a bit chill until she made it to the flower shop where it was cool, and then home again. The three boys watched her walk away and saw her flinch visibly as she stepped back out into the heat, already missing the shade of the stand. Naruto went back to his bowl and grumpily ate the last of it. The silence that hung in the air was a mixed atmosphere of annoyance from Naruto, calm introspection from Yukata, and indifference from Sasuke. Naruto sighed heavily and, making up his mind now that Sakura wasn't there to rain on his parade, finally stood up resolutely and pushed his stool in.

"Well I'm not going to let that spoil sport spoil anything else. I wanted to go back to the river, that I didn't want to leave in the first place, and so I'm going back to the river. Whether I go by myself or not. Sasuke you can stay or you can come with, but I'm going and I'm going now." He pulled a few pieces of money out of his wallet and put in on the bar. "Thank you Ayami-san. It was wonderful as always." He turned to go and felt a hand on his wrist. It curled around him and held him in place. He looked at Yukata questioningly, but the boy had his mouth full and was making a wait one second motion with his other hand. He swallowed and ,with his mouth now empty, began to speak.

"Wait Naruto-chan. I'll come with you. The river sounds lovely."

"Of course it does. You'd find a mud pit lovely." Sasuke mocked. Naruto glared at the raven, but Yukata just laughed. Sasuke was just being Sasuke, and he was in no way offended. He loved his friends just as they were, and while Sasuke was a bit abrasive he also had a lot of redeeming qualities. He was strong, smart, a good listener, reliable, and loyal despite his sometimes indifferent demeanor. Given his past he could be angry, bitter, and destructive, but he was mostly just abrasive.

"Ne, Sasuke. You should come to. Unless you have plans." Yukata invited.

"I don't, and the river does sound good, but I still don't know how I feel about that walk. We don't all think this heat is a gift from the gods. I think I may just go home and read or something. If I get hot I'll get in the pool." Yukata looked at him slightly confused.

"We can come with if you like? Would you like some company?" He asked. Sasuke had no one there to swim and play with. That's why he went to the river with everyone else. Yukata often went swimming in the Uchiha pool with Naruto and Sakura, but surprisingly Sasuke liked how many people went to the river. He wasn't exactly social, but with all the training they did now as shinobi it was nice to occasionally see old friends that were now just as busy with their own missions as he was. He had been spending a lot of time lately with Kiba and Neji. Neji had a lot of very intelligent things to say, and Kiba reminded him a lot of Naruto, but wasn't as clumsy. No. He was done with people for today.

"It's fine. I would have if we had gone earlier, but Sakura's tantrums have kinda worn me out, but I might change my mind. If you guys are still there later tonight you might see me. I like swimming there at night. Its actually very nice." Yukata smiled at that.

"It is isn't? I love night swimming. Its so relaxing and the river looks really nice at night." Naruto bobbed his head from one side to the other, getting impatient.

"Ok. Maybe I'll see you later then. You should come though. It will be fun." Naruto looked at Yukata signaling that he was ready to leave about five minutes ago and Yukata hopped up next to him after sliding Ayami the money for his food. He thanked her and grabbed Naruto's hand as he tried to make him move faster than the blond had originally meant to go. He wanted to go to the river, but it was still hot and he was in no mood to run in this heat. Sasuke huffed, a bit amused at how Naruto had been in such a rush but was now practically screaming at Yukata to slow down as he was practically dragged along by the other black haired boy. He smiled at Ayami who found the entire exchange just as funny and accepted Sasuke's money.

"Have a good evening Sasuke. I hope to see you soon. You're the only thing that can keep those three in check." she said.

"Hn" he agreed. He began to leave down the street without another word to the young woman, but threw a wave to her behind his back without looking. Ayami just continued to smile as she cleaned up the bowls from their meal.

Down the road Yukata was still dragging Naruto along by his hand, smiling happily and bobbing his head to an invisible tune. Naruto was trying to keep up, but it was so hot he felt like he was melting. Even the palm of his hand that wasn't attached to Yukata's was sweating and the one he was holding, no, being dragged with, was started to stick to the older boys skin. Yukata didn't seem to notice. Despite having been steadily moving along for a solid fifteen minutes his hair was still perfect, and his eyeliner was still tightly in place around his eyes. He sweat only where his hand held onto Naruto's.

"Yukata-chan. Please slow down. It's too hot to run. I already feel like I'm chewing on the air with how humid it is." Yukata looked back at him, that ever existing smile still on his face, but he slowed down a bit. Holding up for a few steps, he let Naruto catch up, and in a few seconds they were walking slowly side by side, hands still wrapped in each others. They held hands like this a lot. Yukata held hands with everyone. He came from a family that was openly affectionate with each other, and the other people in their lives that were close to them. He had no strife or tragedy in his life and had been taught that if you care about someone you touch them and are physically close too them. At first it was weird for Naruto. He had no family, and while he had received plenty of affectionate hugs from Iruka, he was not used to receiving physical affection from anyone other than him, and occasionally the Hokage. But Yukata held his hand anyway, just as he held hands with Sakura, and all his other friends. Even Sasuke allowed the touch on rare occasions. Naruto took a deep breath as the pace became one he could handle and looked over at Yukata's flawless body in envy. "Yukata-chan aren't you hot? How is your hair not sticky and your charcoal not running. All these sweaty girls are giving you dirty jealous looks." Yukata thought about it for a few seconds and then shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I mean...I know it's hot out. I'm hot, but I don't know why I don't sweat as much as everyone else. My mom said it's something to do with my jeans. Not sure what my pants have to do with it. I don't know why people are angry either. I can't help it." Naruto simply tipped his head to the side in confusion. He had not clue what his friend was talking about.

"I didn't say they were angry. I said they were jealous. Everyone loves you. Wait. Your pants? But you buy your pants at the same place that I do and I'm sweating in this sauna."

"I know. That's why I don't get it."

The boys finished their mile long hike in relative silence, Naruto was trying to beat the heat by saving his energy and not talking, and Yukata was looking around and taking in the pretty surroundings making happy comments about various things they passed. His perkiness should have been annoying, but it wasn't. He wasn't terribly hyper by nature, just optimistic and happy. He still seemed comfortable by the time they got to the river, but by then even he was sweating a bit, and his hair was sticking to his forehead. His eyeliner was still in place, but he had smudged it himself accidentally when using his hands to brush a stray piece of wet hair out of his eyes. His mom always tried to get him to cut his hair into bangs to avoid this common occurrence, but he liked his hair the way it was. He never cut it, and he doubt he ever would. He couldn't remember it ever being cut since his birth and he liked it that way. It hung all the way down to his back side now. He was very proud of it. All the girls were jealous of how long and silky it was, but he adamantly preached that he did nothing to it. They asked him all the time what he did to make it look so soft and shiny, but he had no answer for them. It just was. He washed it, dried it, and brushed it. They all called him a liar and secretly spied on him to see if they could catch his secret beauty regimen, which of course did not exist because Yukata never lied.

The river was just as packed with people as it had been when Naruto had left it earlier, if not more so as the days heat intensified into the mid-afternoon. Him and Yukata both looked around for familiar faces, but could find none through the thick throng of people. The two both both shared the same group of friends for the most part. Naruto had a friend or two younger than him that Yukata had never met, and Yukata a few that were older that Naruto never had reason to meet due to age, but other than that their solid group stayed the same.

"I think I see Neji." Yukata told Naruto. "Neji!" The raven called out, hoping to get the brunette's attention. The Hyuga looked up from his game of chicken with Hinata. He had his cousin up on his shoulders and Kiba had Hanabi on his own, and the two girls were wrestling each other in the air. The sudden movement from Neji caused Hinata to cry out as she fell into the water. Neji winced apologetically and helped the poor girl up from under the surface of the water.

"I win." Hanabi yelled gleefully.

"You do not. Sure I fell, but you didn't dismount me. That doesn't count." Hinata retorted, pouting a bit. She quickly blanched as she saw what had caused her fall. Neji was looking in the direction of the river bank where her friends Yukata and Naruto were waving happily and slowly wading into the water. Naruto had seen her fall. Oh how embarrassing. Oh my god. Not only had he seen her fall, but now he would see her in a bathing suit. She blushed harshly and sank down in the water up to her shoulders, hiding her pale skin, which although she had nothing to be ashamed of, returned her modesty enough to catch her breath and choke down her nervousness. She thought she had gotten over her crush on Naruto a while ago when she no longer saw him as much due to missions, but seeing him was such a surprise that day that her blush returned on instinct.

"I'm sorry Hinata." Neji apologized, but the girl just smiled gently at her cousin and nodded her head in acceptance of the apology. Words were not coming to her right now. She watched as Neji headed towards the bank of the river to speak with their friends while Hanabi hung still on Kiba's shoulders, confused as to how quickly the fun game had been abandoned.

Naruto and Yukata slowly slipped into water of the river, and Naruto automatically felt a million times better. It was just as cold as earlier, maybe even a bit too cold at first, but he new he would adjust to the ice cold water quickly. It was either that or bake like a chicken in the sun. Yukata appeared to feel none of the discomfort, and quickly waded in at a steady pace, heading for Neji. Naruto followed suit and soon the group of six were chatting happily. Hanabi had never met Yukata and quickly introduced herself before taking her leave to find other friends of her own age to play with. The game had been fun, but it was obviously over and she had no reason too stay. Hinata said her hellos, but kept quiet as usual while Naruto was around. Yukata winked at her knowingly when no one was looking, and she blushed a deeper shade of red than she already was. Yukata knew about her crush. She had openly told him a few years ago when she had fainted down dead after one of Naruto's excited hugs. Hinata had paid for his ramen that night as a birthday present to him. Yukata had stayed with her and ,when she had come to, had spilled everything. He was very understanding and did not make her feel more embarrassed in the slightest. He had even gone out of his way to try and push Naruto in her direction, but Naruto was oblivious to both the same sex and the opposite. He just wanted to run around and have fun. It was a disappointment to the young girl, but both her and Yukata agreed that it was one of the things they loved about Naruto. He was light-hearted, and fun, and free.

" I bet Sasuke would have agreed to come if he knew you would be here Neji." Naruto commented.

"I thought he was here earlier." Neji replied.

"He was but Sakura made him angry and he decided to hole up at his place for a bit. He might be back later. Hey were you guys playing chicken? Let's play." Hinata jumped at the distraction.

"I'll let you boys play it. We have one person too many for it, and I should go find my sister. Father worries about her down here with her being so little and with all these people." Everyone waved goodbye to her and Kiba grabbed onto Neji's shoulders, bouncing up and onto them. He steadied himself and held still to let Neji get his balance.

"Up you go Little Naruto." Yukata lowered himself into the water a bit so Naruto could hop onto his shoulders. He weighed nothing to the raven and was easily held. Both boys now up in the air Neji gave a quick whistle and the wrestling began.

Several turns and all boys tossed haphazardly into the water later, the sun began to set. Kiba and Neji headed home, and Hinata stopped by one more time with Hanabi to say their goodbyes. Hanabi was looking at Yukata with something akin to awe, and was blushing just as furiously as Hinata was around Naruto. The group that was now reduced to two was silent, reminiscing on the almost perfect day. It was so good to see their friends. They saw the people on their own teams everyday, and Yukata was nearly inseparable from team seven, but the other members of the young groups were hard to find most days due to their own work, and it was even more rare to catch them at the same time when they did bump into each other. What little down time they had for socializing with was often spent with their families and their very closest friends. For Yukata that was Naruto. For Sasuke it was Neji and Kiba. Sakura had Ino, and Shikamaru had Choji and Kiba as well.

Yukata and Naruto were laying next to each other on the river bank drying in the warm, but now pleasant night air. The humidity had finally left, and all that remained was a clear sky, warm air, and a beautiful starry night that anyone would enjoy, and Yukata even more so. He was known for cloud gazing with Shikamaru as well. The water was now too cold to endure, but they left their feet in anyway as a warm breeze floated by them, and their intertwined hands lay between them.

"I think Hanabi has a crush on you Yukata-chan." Naruto remarked smartly. He was not as oblivious as everyone would like to think. He just preferred them to think that so they wouldn't bother him with trivial nothings.

"Why do you say that Naruto-chan?"

"Because when she looks at you she gets that deep red flush to her face that Hinata-chan gets whenever she is around me." Yukata turned his head and looked at Naruto in surprise.

"What now about Hinata-chan?"

"Well it's pretty obvious she likes me. She's the only girl who blushes and faints like that whenever I am around, and I am the only one she does it with. It's kind of hard not to notice. That's how Hanabi was looking at you earlier."

"Wow. I had no idea you knew about Hinata-chan. She told me years ago she had a crush on you, but I promised not to say anything about it. I didn't want to embarrass her. I almost feel sorry for poor Hanabi-chan. I hope she gets over it quickly."

"Why? Don't you think she's cute?" Naruto asked as he turned over on his his side to face Yukata, switching hands so he wasn't laying on the one underneath him. He immediately laced their fingers together again.

"Sure I do, but she's like...chibi cute. She's just a little girl. She adorable, but I don't think she's cute in that way. I don't think any girls are cute that way." Yukata responded.

"Really? None of them? Surely there is one girl you must think is attractive. How about Ino? All that long blond hair? Or maybe TenTen. She's smart and very funny."

"No. I mean...like...I don't think any girls are attractive. I like boys better." The words slipped past Yukata's lips easily.

"Wahhh? How can you just say something like that Yukata-chan!?" Naruto yanked his head back. He was honestly shocked. He knew a few boys who liked other boys, but they were all older, and they all acted very...not like Yukata. He didn't know what the quality about them was. They weren't girly, or even boy crazy the way some guys could be girl crazy, but Yukata didn't act like they did.

"It's true. I mean. It's not like a big secret or anything. They're just..." Yukata took a moment to try and find the right words to describe how it felt. "The qualities I find attractive in someone don't naturally come with girls. I like people who are strong, and tall, with broader shoulders. I like people who are strait forward and take control of a situation. You typically find that in boys. I suppose if a girl had those qualities I would find them cute too."

"If it's not a big secret then why didn't I know?"

"You never asked, and it never came up. We started talking about Hanabi and it came up...so now you know." Yukata was strait forward with his answer. He was strait forward about everything. He had no secrets. He did not lie. He did not hide things from his friends. He may not blurt out everything that came into his head, although sometimes he did if he was particularly excited about something, but generally he spoke his mind and didn't much care if it took people by surprise. It was just how he was.

"So then is there a boy you think is cute?" Naruto nudged, grinning conspiratorially.

"No. Not at the moment. I had a little crush on a young man a while ago, but he was older and liked girls. I got over it pretty quick. I'm not interested in anyone right now, and even if I was I am way to busy right now to worry about it, so don't get any ideas about playing match maker little Naruto-chan." Naruto blushed shamefully at being caught. "But what about you and Hinata-chan? If you've known all along that she likes you why haven't you said anything?" Naruto frowned at the question.

"I don't like her like that either, but she's one of my best friend's. She's sweet, and caring, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I figured if I ignored it long enough she would get over it."

"She has gotten better lately. I think all the training has gotten her mind off of it. I won't tell her you know. I think it's sweet you don't want her to be upset. You're a good friend Naruto-chan." Yukata squeezed the blond's hand.

"Thank you Yukata-chan. So are you. All this time and you never broke your promise to her. That's very loyal of you." It didn't surprise Naruto though. Yukata was the most loyal person he knew after Sasuke, maybe even more so. "Yukata-chan?"

"Yes Naruto-chan?"

"Promise me we'll always be best friends."

"Of course we will Naruto-chan. We've known each other since we were very little. We'll always be together." Yukata smiled at him and Naruto shifted to lay back down, once again switching his hands and returning them back to their starting positions. The two boys returned to silence, enjoying the stars and reveling in memories of such a fun afternoon. The wretched heat was behind them and they no longer thought about it, not that Yukata had put much thought into it in the first place. They heard the soft padding of footsteps and they both turned their heads in the direction of the sound.

"Sasuke. You came."

"I said I might dobe."

"Sorry to say the water is a bit too cold now." Yukata patted the ground on the other side of him. Sasuke paused for a moment before lowering himself to the ground. Yukata held out his other hand and Sasuke took it. The three lay there for a while in still silence.

"So you guys are really just staring aimlessly into the blank sky?" He asked, obviously already bored. He had almost been looking forward to the water, but he could tell by the goosebumps crawling up the ankles of the other boy's legs that were still in the water that it was indeed too cold.

"It's not so bad. It's kind of nice to just lay down and relax after such a nice day...well mostly." Naruto answered.

"You two are as bad as Shikamaru, but I guess I can't argue with relaxing a bit before leaving for the mission tomorrow."

"You guys have a mission tomorrow? I didn't know that." The smile that had been plastered on Yukata's face all day suddenly disappeared.

"Yeah. We're going to escort a merchant back home or something." Naruto replied.

"How long will you guys be gone?"

"Not very long. Maybe a week." Sasuke answered.

"You'll write to me if you're gone longer, won't you Naruto-chan?" Yukata requested sadly. He was always so sad when the other team left. He was closer to them than he was his own team. He liked his team just fine, and they had been matched with each other perfectly, but these were his best friends. He had chosen them himself. Naruto always wrote to him when he went away on long missions.

"Of course. I always do." Was the instant reply.

ok guys let me know what you think. I don't think this needs to be said, but i honesty have no tolerance for flamers, and by that i mean that i will not acknowledge you, or what you are saying and while i don't think i can delete you i certainly can report you. that's right...i TATTLE. if you don't like what i'm putting down here then you have plenty of time to ignore it. the summary, the warnings, the notes, and heck even as you are reading. there is no reason for an abusive tantrum. That being said i will gladly accept advice, suggestions, and honest to god constructive criticism. notice the word constructive.