Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Between A Rock And A Hard Place ❯ A Way With Words ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Reckless and obsessive knocking had brought Naruto's intense concentration with his breakfast for the morning. As he was accustomed to doing everyday, he had woken up with an urge to fill his stomach yet had barely nothing at all to pacify him. But luckily last night he had thought ahead for once and bought a few groceries before returning home. He would have thought it was turning into a better evening since he had gone a deal on the pork ramen, but then he had spotted Sasuke at his door. That was a pure moo killer if ever he knew one.

So to say that Naruto was in a much better mood as of this morning, would be a terrible exaggeration. He wasn't even along the lines of calm or at least agreeable. Unfortunately the person knocking at his door right now did not know this and was mistakenly adding fury to the blonde's testy mood today. With furl grunt, Naruto abandoned his station at the kitchen table and opened the front door. He had told himself to loose the grumpy appearance since the only person who was expected to visit him at any time of the day, was Iruka and Naruto did not wish to trouble the mother hen figure any more than he has to.

To his surprise it was not Iruka at the door, but someone more...irritating. "What are you doing here Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, blinking in a clueless manner. It was rare Kakashi ever visited him, so he had the right to expect there was something along the lines of an emergency going on. Though having Kakashi standing in his doorway with his head still burying deep in his subliminal orange book, did assure Naruto that nothing was serious or worth getting worried over right now.

"The Hokage simply wanted to thank you guys in person for the mission you took on last night." Kakashi replied, not glancing up once from the pages of his book. "Sakura and Sasuke have already left, they are waiting on you I suppose." Kakashi explained dully as if this had nothing to do with him at all. But of course it had a lot to do with him. Thanks to his usual absence he did not accompany his students on their mission last night, which would have helped them from getting into the trouble they did. Kakashi only excuse for the matter was he had to go feed a starving dolphin, which all the students quickly marked off as unacceptable as well as a lie. For the most part...it wasn't a lie.

Naruto sighed dryly. It figures he would be forced to go there where that jerk Sasuke could rub it in his face. he stepped out of his house and closed the door. "See you later Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto replied with a small smile before dashing off toward the Hokage's tower. As he slowly faded into the distance Kakashi actually lifted his nose out of the book as on of his eyes rose up suspiciously. He had noticed the immediate reluctance in Naruto's face when he mention his teammates there. Kakashi was actually curious to know what had gone on between them to make Naruto want to avoid them.

When Naruto reached Tsunade's office he saw Sasuke and Sakura standing in front of her desk tiresomely. He quickly came in, throwing a deadly glare to Sasuke as he passed him. "Morning Baa-san!" He exclaimed cheerfully as though he had not just been in a fowl mood. Of course Tsunade had picked this up as well. "I suppose you wanted to congratulate me on my great efforts with last nights mission." Naruto chuckled, rubbing the back of his head.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and found himself constantly mocking the blond in his mind. Surely Naruto didn't think he could fool the Hokage like this. Even if he was joking, the joke was to far from reality to even be considered as funny. Sasuke smirked when Naruto stepped back into line with the rest of his team. "Sorry dobe, but this isn't the academy anymore. You don't get A's for unsuccessful attempts. You actually have to do something to earn any sort of gratitude." Sasuke teased self-righteously. It was so amusing to watch Naruto slip back into his defensive personality as soon as he said that.

"Shut up teme!" Naruto snapped. He crossed his arms quickly and sneered at the raven haired teen. "I guess I wouldn't be so useless if I hade a permanent weapon with me at all times, you know, like that stick up your butt." Naruto mocked back. This only earned him a good whack on the head by Sakura who instantly took the roll of protecting Sasuke even without his wanting her to.

"Can't you see you are disturbing Hokage-san from speaking!" Sakura pointed out eagerly. Both boys when quite but still exchanged hateful looks of death across the room before Tsunade actually found the time to speak.

"Thank very much Sakura." Tsunade replied, nodding her head. Naruto was always giving her a headache though she knew he didn't mean to. He was simply too loud and reckless, which had its good qualities some of the time, but was still annoying when you wanted something done and you wanted it done fast. "I'd like to commend you all on your success with last night's mission. Since or recent pact with Sand, it would look bad on our behalf if we did not help out their country sometimes. I'll have the Sand scroll as soon as possible-"

"Lady Tsunade!" A guard ninja burst into the room without any concern for the fact that she had guest. "We have urgent news from Sand!" He exclaimed quickly. He took the time to take in a few shallow breaths as thought he were running just before he got here.

Tsunade looked seriously to the three teens standing before her. Her eyes merely telling them to leave now before they became a hindrance in this man's duty to deliver the news. Without another word the three excused themselves from Tsunade's office. Naruto, being the last one out, closed the door only a crack. And as soon as the others were down the hall he turned around and peeked inside. He wanted to know what was going on in sand. If the peace treaty between them was broken, them a war would sure enough start. And Naruto didn't really want to become enemies with his friends there. Well, they might not have considered him a friend, but Naruto naturally thought anyone he could hold up a conversation with or could at least tolerate him, was his friend.

Seeing that the close was clear, Tsunade requested the man deliver the news. "There has been reports of a great plague going arrow the village of Sand. Everyone is suddenly coming down with a mysterious illness that none of their doctors know how to treat. It his fatal for those who aren't treated quickly. They have asked that you come to the village to check it out with hopes that you would be able to heal them. If not, then could you please suggest a medical professional that can?" The man pleaded earnestly.

Tsunade sighed in frustration. If she wasn't able to do anything they would quickly accuse her of betraying them for sure. So she had no other choice but to help. "Alright, but I won't be able to leave until a few days. It's not exactly easy finding my replacement. And I'm sure some enemies will take advantage of this situation that their nation will have a minimal in shinobi. So I will need you to gather a few of our own to help guard them." She explained. With that command the ninja quickly fled from the room. But with no words of actual parting, Naruto was unable to move out the way before the man opened the door. "Naruto?" Tsunade questioned in suspicion.

"Oh, uh...sorry about that." Naruto replied hastily with a nervous laugh. He stepped inside anxiously and came to Tsunade's desk. "Is it really true Sand is in trouble?" He asked making sure he hadn't heard wrong. She solemnly nodded and turned her gaze to the window. "Well if you need a few shinobi to go on the trip, I'll be happy to assist!" Naruto offered cheerfully. "With me on watch, not a single intruder will make it past the gates." He bragged.

The blond lady simply gave a proud smirk. "Sorry kid, but it would be too dangerous to have you around. You'll just get in the way." She explained truthfully. Despite how supportive she usually was of Naruto's dreams and aspirations, she knew this was one thing he could not do just yet. He was simply too careless and wasn't serious enough to take on mission that involved a clear mind and calculating thoughts.

"Not you too Baa-san!" Naruto exclaimed dramatically. His eyes widened with surprise. Why was everyone constantly trying to bring him down? "I'm not helpless! If you just let me go I'll prove it to you! I swear I won't get in the way!" Naruto insisted relentlessly. This was his only chance to convince people to take him seriously. Sure he had made a lot o mistakes in the past, but that didn't make him prone to failure. He could be great if they just gave him the chance.

"Fine..." Tsunade gave in. She was never a strong opponent against this kid. For some reason she was always tempted to go easy on him. She really did want to she him make something of himself, but she didn't want to see him die in the process. "But others will be with you, so don't think you are the only one who has to fight." The lady warned.

"Oh thank you so much!" Naruto screamed. Being that he was the only one unaccustomed to treating Tsunade like the Hokage she was, he jumped right over her desk and gripped her in a tight hug. Tsunade couldn't bring herself to push him away simply because she had a reputation to up hold so she returned the kind embrace.

"Alright kid, I want you to be ready by dawn tomorrow at the front gates. Unfortunately, I won't be joining you until a few days later. So until I reach the village, I will need you to stay out of trouble and do try not to catch whatever they have." She suggested with a soft chuckle as she brushed down his spiky blond hair. This was all Naruto needed before he raced out of her office to go pack. "Shizune!" Tsunade called out. Quickly the frail looking raven haired woman stepped in. "I need you to assign another person to this mission." She explained.

Naruto had never been so excited in his life. He was finally going on a serious mission. Many people's lives depended on him. If he didn't screw this up, he was sure to make a name for himself. He grinned sneakily as he simply imagined Sasuke's angry face when he returned to the village a hero. "I'll show that teme!" Naruto cheered, thrusting a fist out as he raced toward the gate with his semi-heavy backpack. He had made sure to set his alarm clock before dawn and he had packed all day the night before. Of course that was all after he gloated about his mission to Iruka yesterday.

It had been nearly impossible to tare himself away from Iruka without hearing a hundred 'be careful's from the man. But finally Naruto was on his way. He spotted the gate from afar, and instantly his spirits were raised. With his wide and over jubilant smile Naruto quickly met up with the group of ninja already there. His eyes suddenly widened upon realizing exactly who was called to the mission as well. "Kakashi- sensei, Gai-sensei?" Naruto mumbled in surprise. But more surprisingly. "Teme! What are you doing here?!" Naruto screamed, pointing rudely at Sasuke.

"I've been assigned to this mission idiot." Sasuke growled. Surely Tsunade could have picked a better person than Naruto to come. Of course Sasuke thought he had every right to be there along with his high ranked teacher, but Naruto? What could Naruto possibly do that would benefit them at all? "I thought the Hokage was joking when she said I would have to do a little babysitting, but apparently she spoke the truth." Sasuke mocked with his illustrious smirk.

"Don't you start you two." Kakashi quickly intervened before Sasuke could strike one of Naruto's nerves. "We are just the first group. We are to report back to the Hokage if there is any need for more of us when we arrive in Suna. So until then, I suggest you boys try to get along." Kakashi explained. Sweat slowly dropped from his brow as soon as he realized both Naruto and Sasuke were staring at him suspiciously. Apparently they didn't think it was possible for Kakashi to take anything serious. "We should start moving." Kakashi suggested with a soft chuckle, hoping to break the intense silence between them all. Gai merely laughed at the situation and started off as well.

The trek had been astonishingly quite. Naruto had walked ahead of the group simply so he wouldn't have to see any part of Sasuke. Just looking at the arrogant jerk would make him angry, and Sasuke was sure to pick up anything like that and mock him on it. Kakashi and Gai however, thought this to be a very annoying, very boring voyage as long as the two students refused to cooperate with each other. "How do you expect us to be a team when you two act like this?" Kakashi remarked dully.

"What team? The only I person I see that matters is that selfish jerk over there." Naruto pointed to Sasuke as he turned around. "Me and Sakura get no recognition as long as his name is included in the group." Normally Naruto wouldn't have mentioned Sakura, but he knew if he didn't, that would all claim that he was making this all to be about him and it wasn't. He just thought he needed to be noticed at least as much as Sasuke if not more.

"Maybe if you carried your own weight around once in awhile Naruto, then you wouldn't be so invisible." Sasuke countered. "It's not like anyone would really notice you anyway dobe. It takes great things to get great attention, and just face it, you're everything but." Kakashi and Gai were both insightful enough to know that was pushing the lines. It was times like these, they really wished they wasn't present.

"Why don't you just die already Sasuke?!" Naruto screamed, stamping his foot. "Of course, then it would only earn you more fame! The great Uchiha who got his stupid ass killed while trying to save his village! Yeah, that's the story everyone wants to hear!" IN a heated mist, Naruto quickly started to race ahead, leaving everyone in the dust.

Kakashi sighed tiredly. "You should really stop toying with him Sasuke." He warned, starting to walk again. "Everyone has their own limits. He just going to get himself hurt trying to prove to you that your wrong." Sasuke only reply was a unconcerned grunt as he shuffled along the path. Eventually the group was able to catch up with Naruto. And luckily the blond hadn't run into any trouble. Looking around the forest and noticing that the sun was quickly setting, Kakashi finally sat his bags down. "I think it is best we rest for the night. We can head off again in the morning." He advised. "Me and Gai will keep watch for a few hours while you two catch up on some sleep." Kakashi knew they needed it. Hopefully it would be enough to blow off some steam between them.

So far it seemed to be working when Sasuke and Naruto were able to pitch up a tent without saying a word to one another. But Kakashi knew that couldn't last too long because Naruto hadn't brought his own and now was expected to share with Sasuke. Having the two of them in such an enclosed space was sure to strike up another serious argument between them. Kakashi reminded them to keep their voices low before he headed off to patrol the nearby area. But he knew it would do little in keeping them from fighting again.

Naruto was still consumed by a powerful fury as he shoved his sleeping bag into the tent an carelessly spread it out. Unlike Sasuke, he didn't feel obligated to stretch out any wrinkles or folds on it. He merely mumbled 'neat freak' under his breath as he finally crawled in beneath the protective blanket. "Night Teme." He barked hoarsely before jerking most of the covers over his head, disappearing from Sasuke's view completely.

The irritated Uchiha could only sigh for his misfortune. This mission would certainly be a long one. He snuck beneath his own blanket, but was facing Naruto's back as he stared at the saddening lump across from him. He had been unable to feel entirely satisfied with his early actions and even regretted them for awhile. He knew there were rare times when him and Naruto were almost close friends. Of course Naruto had probably considered him a closer friend every time he tried to save him. So Sasuke hadn't completely believed Naruto was as worthless as he pretended the boy to be.

After awhile when the darkness had completely set in, Sasuke was willed to actually speak in this gloomy silence. Guilt had been slowly eating away at his soul for the past few hours and it was really beginning to get on his nerves. he didn't want to feel remorse for what he said or done. He was an Uchiha and they never showed weakness such as concern for others, it was beneath them. But it would do them both some good if he just said 'it'. "I'm sorry Naruto." Sasuke finally forced the words from his lips. What more could he say though, that he didn't mean it? But he did sort of mean it and he didn't want to be lying to bring up the blonde's hopes.

Seeming satisfied with all his efforts, Sasuke rolled over onto his other side so that he was looking at the tent wall. He calmed himself once more and quickly closed his eyes to take on the much needed sleep. Naruto however, was wide awake when Sasuke apologized and now he was finding it extremely difficult to just go to sleep after that. He had so many questions he wanted answered. People merely couldn't say sorry unless they actually had something they felt guilty for, and Naruto wanted to know exactly what Sasuke was trying to take back. He argued with himself to just let it o and rest, but he had stayed up hours more simply staring off at the trees that cast a shadow on the wall.

"Sasuke..." He whispered after a long time. "Are you awake?" He asked, though it was a stupid thing to ask. Of course if he didn't get an answer the question would be a negative. To his surprise he received no response, and that fact rather upset him. "Figures you'd go to see as soon as you cleared your conscience." Naruto whimpered a little. This only proved more how Sasuke was so selfish. He did what was always best for himself, Naruto was sure of it.

Despite the silence Sasuke had taken during Naruto's question, he was in fact still awake. He merely thought it was weird that Naruto would say something back, especially after such a long period of silence. He frowned a bit upon hearing Naruto's claim about him. The dobe really had some nerve talking about him behind his back. Sasuke was more than tempted to frustrate the blond again and he would have to but his entire being suddenly felt weak. He stiffened when a soft sob filled the tent. Was Naruto actually crying? But why?

"I bet you don't ever have a restless night." Naruto choked. His back was still to the supposedly sleeping Uchiha as small tears collected at the corners of his eyes. "Everyone already loves you so you have nothing to worry about. Everything you've done...people will remember you for it." Sasuke's eyes suddenly opened. They held a certain sadness to them he didn't think possible for himself. "But who will remember me?" Naruto asked. "I'm a nobody; I won't be missed." Sasuke felt his heart sink further into him, if it were even possible. Why was Naruto such an idiot? He would believe anything, anyone told him.

Sasuke quickly sat up, a small smile appearing on his lips when he spotted Naruto shudder in surprise. "You're not a nobody Naruto. There are plenty of people who are going to remember you." Sasuke assured the blond. Bemused over how quickly Naruto suddenly scrambled up in his sleeping bag, Sasuke couldn't keep himself from snickering. But of course Naruto would be the one to take it offensively.

"Teme!" Naruto screamed, pointing at the other with pure astonishment. "How long were you going to let me think you were asleep you jerk?!" He whined. He quickly rubbed at his tears with the sleeve of his jacket as soon as he realized Sasuke had saw them. "You were really going to let me say all that without stopping me!" He accused, sneering. But Sasuke had to admit his pout didn't look intimidating in the least bit, especially with puffy red eyes and flushed cheeks.

Sasuke smirked and quickly leaned forward so that his and Naruto's noses actually touched. "Oh, I wasn't going to let you finish. I merely wanted to hear you confess your undying love for me." He teased. He suddenly founded it so much more amusing to watched Naruto's cheeks flare more furiously with an adorable red. What the hell?! Did he just think that?! Nothing about Naruto was cute!

"You perverted teme!" Naruto yelled, quickly shoving Sasuke back. "Forget everything I said!" He ordered quickly. Why was his heart suddenly racing now? Was it because Sasuke had caught him at such a vulnerable moment or because...he was about to kiss him? Naruto's head steamed with that simple thought, though it wouldn't have been the first time it happened.

"Why should I Naruto?" Sasuke teased. "I certainly go easier on you now that I know you are a sensitive crybaby." Sasuke mocked, his smirk not as meaningful as before. It was slowly turning back into a smile a she watched Naruto scrap his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"No, no, no!" Naruto wailed. "I just had something in my eye! I wasn't crying!" He quickly objected.

Sasuke couldn't help but laugh at this. Who did Naruto really think he was fooling? He just saw him crying. But the raven haired teen quickly stopped when he noticed Naruto was no longer shouting at him. He stared at the frightened blond and his brow instantly arched up. "What's wrong dobe?"

Naruto had backed into a corner of the tent and was glaring at his suspiciously. "You were actually laughing." He accused. "Who are you and where's the real Sasuke?!"

"Idiot." Sasuke replied, shaking his head. "Just go to sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow." Sasuke ordered, settling back into his sleeping bag.

Naruto was reluctant to getting in without getting the answer he wanted, but he accepted it and finally slid back beneath his blanket. "You're not really going to tell anyone are you teme?" He asked softly, suddenly feeling more embarrassed about it.

"Why would I do that?" Sasuke asked. "Then everyone would go easier on you. What more of a challenge will you be to me then?" Sasuke gloated proudly as he knew this was the only way to not be caught as if he actually respected Naruto's privacy.

"...Thanks teme..." Naruto whispered happily. Maybe Sasuke was not a complete jerk. He kenw that mucho talk was nothing more than a mask to fool him. But it didn't work this time. Naruto was sure he would be able to see the real Sasuke if he played his cards right, in the sneaky way of course.

To Be Continued...

A/N: I am amazed at all the great reviews I got on the first chapter! Thanks so much! Well I hope you guys liked this chapter! I couldn't just let Sasuke remain a complete jerk. Otherwise Gaara would have no competition if he was. Naruto will just have to make a choice,lol. So far it seems more people want GaaNaru at the end, and I would probably have to agree when they say their isn't a lot of great, long GaaNaru fics around here. I know I have a difficult time finding any, and I love this coupling. So I am more so considering it being a GaaNaru fic. But I can't be sure to the end. So review, and I'll update asap!