Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Duality ❯ Friend ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven: Friend

It was a few days later that Kakashi decided that having Naruto and Sasuke around while Sekai trained was just too distracting.

“Arguments are a strategy that only works for you two,” said the masked Jounin, his one visible eye looking at them sternly. The mood between the teens had not improved since the first day. In fact, it was getting worse. “If Sekai-kun is worried about you fighting then he won’t concentrate.”

Sekai flushed, his feet shifting uneasily. “I don’t mean to cause all this trouble…”

Sasuke snorted quietly. Yeah, right. He still did not know what Sekai hoped to accomplish by trying to get him to talk to Naruto. It was not any of his business. Whether he told Naruto or not (and he most certainly would not), it was his decision. Sekai needed to stay the hell out of it.

Naruto opened his mouth as if to object, but Kakashi cut him off. “Don’t argue.” If his voice sounded snappish, it was only because he cared for them a great deal—and they were slowly driving him insane. It did not help to know that they were both attracted to each other and too stupid to figure it out. “Go spend some quality time together. Just don’t destroy property or I’ll get in trouble for setting you loose.”

Naruto’s face twisted into a grimace. “You make it sound like we’re pets.”

Kakashi smiled. “Misbehaving pets. Now go on, and be good!”

Sakura took a step forward, frowning worriedly. “Kakashi-sensei, should I go with them?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “We’re not children. We can go a few hours without trying to kill each other.”

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, as if to say ‘Oh really? Prove it.’ “See that you do. And no, Sakura; I need you to stay here and assist me. Your insight is very helpful to Sekai.” He was already starting to improve. Though he would never be as powerful as Naruto (few were), Sekai still had incredible potential that became more apparent as the training went on. Definitely the Fourth’s blood…

Sakura hesitated but nodded. “Alright…” Though she was worried about the two of them being alone together (for more reasons than just their fighting, though it was the main one), she couldn’t very well abandon Sekai.

Naruto pouted and folded his arms behind his head. “Damn. The three of us could have had a nice date…”

“Idiot Naruto, three people can’t go on a date together!” said Sakura.

Tired of the pointless conversation, Sasuke grabbed Naruto’s wrist and began to pull him toward the edge of the clearing. “Come on.”

“Good luck, Aniki!” Naruto yelled over his shoulder as he and Sasuke walked away.

Kakashi turned his gaze back to his new pupil when they were gone. Sekai stared after them as if in a daze. “Ready?”

Sekai blinked. “Oh, yeah, sorry. My brain was still stuck on the ‘pet’ imagery.”

“What Naruto and Sasuke would be if they were pets?” asked Sai.

Sekai nodded eagerly. “Naruto-nii would be the dog and Sasuke-kun would be the cat!”

Sai smiled in amusement. “Naruto would bark constantly at everything and chew on the furniture. And lick his balls in front of everyone.”

Sekai laughed loudly. “And Sasuke would claw on the furniture and bring dead lizards into the house!”

“And they would chase each other around constantly,” Sai added.

“Oh yeah! And—”

Kakashi sighed. Sai and Sekai could go on like this for hours once they found a conversation topic. “Oi. Training?”

Both boys blushed slightly and apologized.

-

They did not speak for a long time as they walked, each boy lost in their respective thoughts. After the first few minutes it was actually quite comfortable—Sasuke was naturally a quiet person and even Naruto could appreciate silence. He may be Konoha’s number one hyperactive, loudmouth ninja, but he didn’t have to talk all the time.

There was a cool breeze blowing through the treetops that was gradually becoming warmer as morning shifted to afternoon.

Naruto realized that they had left their lunches with the others and his stomach growled loudly. “Er, you wanna get something to eat?” he asked, breaking the silence at last.

Sasuke shrugged. “Sure.” He also supposed this meant he was paying, but he didn’t mind. The two of them had never had any kind of normal outing together. If felt… nice…

Naruto grinned. “Cool. It’s a date then.” He blushed, realizing only after it was said how it sounded.

Sasuke’s eyes widened marginally, unable to hide his surprise. A date…?

“Umm, well, I didn’t mean, er…” Naruto stammered nervously.

Sasuke quickly made his face blank again. “Let’s go.”

“Okay…” Naruto bit his lip and followed, knowing he’d said something wrong. Geez, I’m letting what Aniki said get to me. I like Sasuke and all—I love him—but… I don’t know what I want.

Would he like it if they went on a date?

They were still a few blocks away from Ichiraku’s when a loud voice called out to them. “Oi!”

They turned to see that it was Jiraiya walking toward them.

“Pervert hermit!” Naruto called in greeting, smiling.

Jiraiya chuckled. “Hey, brat. Haven’t seen you in a while.” Then he glanced around suspiciously. “Where’s that weird brother of yours? He’s not waiting to pull some prank on me again, is he?”

Naruto laughed. “Nah. He’s training with Kakashi-sensei.”

“Is that so? Well I’m safe then.” Then Jiraiya’s gaze fell on Sasuke and his face hardened.

Sasuke merely looked back calmly. He had gotten that look from a lot of people since his return. But when Jiraiya looked at him, Sasuke knew the old man was really seeing someone else. It did not bother him though. Jiraiya was foolish and could think whatever he wanted.

“How about I treat you guys to lunch?” Jiraiya asked slowly after a moment. “Princess Tsunade’s ordered me not to leave the village because of everything that’s going on and I have nothing better to do.” In truth it was his own idea to stick around, but saying so might worry Naruto.

“Yeah, yeah!” Naruto cheered. “Ramen!”

“Don’t you ever get tired of that?”

“Why would I? It’s ramen.”

Sasuke smiled inwardly. Naruto really hadn’t changed all that much, increased chakra level aside. It was consistencies like this that were reassuring.

That was how the three found themselves sharing a meal together a few moments later.

“Itadakimasu!” Naruto cried before digging in with his chop sticks. Sasuke and Jiraiya, sitting on either side of the blond, were much more sedate in their ramen consumption.

“So, Sasuke. Settling back in alright?” Jiraiya asked, glancing at the teen, that hard look still in his eyes.

“I suppose,” Sasuke answered apathetically. Whatever the legendary one-third was up to, he could do it without him.

“I’m kind of surprised that no one threw out your things,” Jiraiya commented airily. “Not that it matters—it’s not like the clothes will fit after three years.”

“I wouldn’t have let them!” Naruto interjected vehemently around the flavored noodles in his mouth. A few dangled out of his mouth as he spoke. He slurped them up loudly.

Sasuke looked at him, ignoring Jiraiya for the moment. “Why? It’s just stuff.”

“Because… it would have been like saying you weren’t coming back.” Naruto grinned. “But you did. You’re home.”

Sasuke wanted to tell him that home wasn’t places or possessions to him. He knew he never would.

Jiraiya’s glare hardened. “Not that he cares.”

Sasuke glared in return now, tired of the old man’s behavior. “Why don’t you just say what’s on your mind? Spit it out!”

“Fine.” He pointed a finger at the dark-haired teen. “You may be a genius, but you have no idea about the things that really matter in life. Learning new techniques and getting stronger isn’t everything! I’ve seen this happen once before and I won’t let it happen again—Naruto doesn’t deserve that.”

Sasuke snorted derisively, darkly amused. “It’s a little too late to say these things. The one you really want to yell at is dead.”

“You will be too someday, if you keep following down his path. You’re exactly like Orochimaru!”

Naruto was glancing back and forth between his teacher and his best friend, not at all sure what they were arguing about. But that last part he understood very well. “Sasuke is NOT Orochimaru! I’m tired of you saying that!” During his training, for two and a half years, Jiraiya had kept trying to talk him out of pursuing Sasuke. Jiraiya thought Sasuke was a lost cause. “You don’t know anything about Sasuke, so just stop it!”

“I know exactly what he is, Naruto!” Jiraiya shouted back.

“No! We aren’t you and Orochimaru!”

Sasuke pushed his unfinished meal away, stood and headed for the street outside the stand. “I came here to eat, not to be insulted.”

Naruto glared at his teacher. He cared about Jiraiya too—the old pervert was a good friend—but this was something they just weren’t going to agree on. “I’m going too.” He stood up to run after his friend.

“Naruto, wait!” Jiraiya tried, but Naruto ignored him.

He was surprised to find Sasuke outside waiting for him. He smiled awkwardly. “I thought you’d be long gone by now…”

Sasuke shrugged one shoulder. “We’re supposed to stay together, remember?”

“Yeah, I know, but…” Naruto shifted uneasily, feeling a heaviness in his chest. He was not fond of verbal fights. Fighting with fists, now, that was something he understood. “I’m sorry about how he’s acting. He’s stupid sometimes.”

“He was trying to protect you,” Sasuke hazarded to point out. Tsunade had been the same when he had first come back, though not nearly as obnoxious. Naruto seemed to draw protectiveness from people.

“There’s nothing to protect me from! I mean it; you’re not like that evil bastard.”

Sasuke was quiet for a long moment as they walked away from the ramen stand. “Thanks,” he said finally, almost too softly for Naruto to hear.

Naruto grinned brightly, the heaviness leaving him for the moment. He’d talk to Jiraiya later after they had both cooled down and get his teacher to realize Sasuke wasn’t a bad person. “You don’t need to thank me for that, Sasuke. We’re best friends, right? I’ll stick by you no matter what.”

He wasn’t sure, but Sasuke’s face almost seemed to soften for a moment before the look was quickly gone. “Yeah. Best friends.”

Naruto groaned suddenly as his stomach twisted in hunger. “Stupid pervert hermit, he made me abandon my ramen!”

Sasuke smirked. “You gave up ramen on my account? I’m flattered.” For Naruto, that was almost a declaration of love. Fuck, I did not just think that…

Naruto grinned. “You should be.”

“Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Sure.” Naruto caught a whiff in the air of frying meat and headed toward the restaurant closest to them at that moment. “This looks cool.”

Inside they saw a familiar trio sitting together at one of the tables.

“Do you really have to smoke when we’re eating?” Ino was complaining. Shikimaru had picked up smoking since Asuma’s death and it was starting to annoy her. She knew he actually hated it, but smoking was how he coped. (1)

Shikamaru took one last puff before extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray at his elbow. It was too troublesome to argue with her about it. “Happy now?”

Ino rolled her eyes. “Geez, I don’t know how Temari puts up with that. If I were your girlfriend, I’d make you quit.”

Shikamaru fixed his eyes on the window. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Yeah, right.” Ino was just about to tease him about how obvious he was when her eyes were caught by one of the figures entering the restaurant. “Sasuke-kun! Come join us! You can sit next to me if you want,” she added hopefully.

Sasuke very pointedly sat down beside Naruto once the blond boy took a seat beside Shikamaru. The seat was a little tight for all three of them but they managed.

“Or across from me,” said Ino, recovering quickly. “Whatever makes you happy.” She winked.

Shikamaru exchanged a look with Chouji. The girl just did not know when to give up. “So what has your team been up to?” he asked after Sasuke and Naruto had made their orders—and Chouji had ordered his third.

“Oh!” Naruto said excitedly. “You haven’t met Aniki yet!”

Ino, Chouji, and Shikamaru blinked at the blond. “Aniki?” they chorused.

“He’s a cross-dressing deviant—but Naruto’s fond of him,” Sasuke added quickly.

Naruto rolled his eyes and let the insult slide (this time) as he told their friends all about the happenings of the past week (whilst eating of course).

Chouji chewed thoughtfully. “You know, the weirdest stuff only happens to you guys.”

“I heard about someone being arrested for trying to steal something from the vault in the Hokage Tower,” remarked Shikamaru. “Though I didn’t know who it was until now. I suppose Hokage-sama wanted to keep it quiet.”

Ino leaned forward. “So you have a lot of free time now, right, Sasuke-kun? As long as you’re with someone?”

Sasuke felt his eye twitching. “Yes…”

“Well, what do you say to going out this evening with me?”

“Sorry,” said Sasuke hastily. “We have plans.” He jerked his thumb at Naruto.

Naruto blushed inexplicably. “We do?” He hissed sharply as Sasuke kicked his shin underneath the table. At his friend’s glare he quickly amended, “Oh yeah, we do.”

“Oh?” the girl asked archly, not buying it.

“Er, yeah. He’s, uh, staying with Aniki and me tonight,” Naruto lied on the spot, badly.

“…Like a sleepover?”

“Yeah!”

Sasuke smirked as Ino’s eye started twitching.

Shikamaru waited for the outburst, but it never came so he relaxed. “I’m surprised you aren’t freaking out like you did when Naruto stole Sasuke’s first kiss.” Both boys blushed at the reminder and he smirked knowingly.

Ino grimaced. “Yuck, don’t remind me! That was so wrong, even if it was an accident.”

Sasuke carefully did not look at anyone. An accident would have been if our foreheads had hit, not our lips… It had been a spur of the moment thing, something left over from the understanding they had had as little kids, but after it had happened he’d panicked, pretending to be as disgusted as Naruto.

Naruto frowned slightly at the girl. At the time he’d been grossed out but now he found he did not mind it so much. In fact, he was starting to get interested in trying it again. “What was wrong about it? We were just kids and all.”

Sasuke glanced at him sharply and Naruto’s blush renewed. The Uchiha was surprised. He’d expected Naruto to react differently to that memory; definitely not so calmly.

“Two boys shouldn’t do that stuff,” Ino announced matter-of-factly.

Sasuke snorted and got to his feet. “That is a matter of opinion. Not that a close-minded person would understand.” That said he turned to leave after paying for the food. At least this time he’d finished eating.

Naruto, remembering what Sekai had said to him days before, agreed. “Yeah. There’s nothing wrong with it,” he added before standing to follow Sasuke.

Ino gaped after them, her mind slowly processing what had been going on. They couldn’t… No way…

Shikamaru smirked as he noticed Sasuke had paid for both his and Naruto’s portion of the meal. For the moment, he enjoyed the peace and quiet their exit had awarded.

-

“It was my first kiss too,” Naruto admitted a little while later after they’d found a spot on one of the tall towers that overlooked the village, to rest and let the food in their bellies settle.

Sasuke looked at him carefully but the blond would not meet his gaze. “Does that bother you?”

Naruto shifted beside him uneasily. He looked down at their legs dangling over the side of the building. “No, not really.”

“You probably would have preferred Sakura,” Sasuke said, not believing him.

“Heh heh. Yeah, I would have.”

Sasuke felt his chest constrict painfully.

Naruto leaned back on the rooftop, closing his eyes against the sun and smiling. “But I’m over that now. Sakura-chan’s relieved. She can chase after you without feeling guilty about hurting my feelings, I guess.”

Sasuke found he could suddenly breathe again, just as quickly. Every time he thought Naruto would never change, he would discover all the little and intricate ways that he had. It still left him surprised. “Too bad she can’t get over her crush.”

Naruto opened his eyes, astonished by the confession. “You don’t feel the same?”

“No.”

“Oh…”

“She knows.” They had never spoken of it, but he felt had made it pretty obvious.

“Oh.” Naruto was surprised by his need to smile. He tried to remind himself that Sakura was most likely hurt by this revelation, if she did indeed know, but he couldn’t help but feel happy. “Hey…”

“What?”

“You wanna really stay over tonight?” Naruto asked quickly, looking at Sasuke with wide eyes. “Please? Aniki won’t mind.”

Sasuke snorted, thoughts of the other blond immediately putting him in a bad mood again. “I don’t doubt that he would. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Naruto pouted at him. “I wish you two would get along…”

“Why?” Sasuke asked sharply.

“Because I love you both!” Naruto blushed after he said it, but he didn’t take it back. “I don’t like feeling like I have to choose between you…”

“What, you want us both to be your brothers?” Sasuke asked, unfazed by the confession. (2)

“What’s wrong with that?”

Sasuke sighed. He supposed this had to be said at some point. “Naruto, I have one brother and I want to kill him. I don’t want to associate you with him.”

“Oh.” Naruto found himself smiling at that as he finally understood. Originally when Sai told him what Sasuke had said after their meeting he had been disheartened, but now he understood what the words meant. Sasuke didn’t hate him; he hated Itachi. “That’s okay then.”

Sasuke blinked. “It is?”

“Sure. But you’ll still be my friend, right?”

“… Yeah.” Was it really that easy? Sasuke couldn’t believe it.

“Good.” Grinning, Naruto shifted closer so their arms touched. “If… it was just the two of us,” he asked slowly, thinking, “would you sleep over?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke surprised himself by answering immediately.

Naruto flushed, pleased. They stayed like that for a long time and a silence stretched between them that was not as comfortable as before, but neither of them felt the need to break it regardless.

-

It was approaching dusk when the training session was over. Sekai made it out of the clearing alright, but as soon as they lost sight of the others he began to stumble

Sai caught the tired talisman user instinctively, holding up the slighter boy by his arms. “You pushed yourself too hard again.” The blond tended to overexert himself because he very much wanted to prove his worth.

Sekai smiled at him tiredly. “Hey, I have more stamina than it looks.” He winked.

The ANBU laughed softly. “Really? You might have to prove that.”

The blond blushed, taking an entirely different meaning to Sai’s words. Then he realized how little that thought bothered him and he gave Sai an appraising look. Well… He is cute—and he’s got that whole ‘dark, brooding and sexy’ thing going for him—but he’s really sweet too. Sekai let his smile widen in what he thought was an alluring way. “You’d let me?”

Sai just thought the smile was kind of creepy. “I don’t think I follow you,” he said cautiously.

Sekai laughed a little and stepped away, his legs steadier now. It was probably best if he did not clarify that, given the expression on the other boy’s face. He knew one of his faults was flirting before thinking. If he scared Sai off now then he might not want to be his friend anymore. Sekai did not want that to happen. “Ne, Sai-kun, can you come with me for a minute? There’s someone I need to talk to.”

“Alright,” Sai said readily, though confused why Sekai would suddenly change the subject. That was how he found himself, some moments later, on a rooftop near the cliffs, where carved upon were the faces of the five past and present Hokage.

“I couldn’t come before,” Sekai was saying, “because I didn’t want to do it in front of Naruto-nii. But I don’t mind doing it in front of you.” That said, he turned and walked to the edge of the roof, head tilted toward the face of the Fourth Hokage. “Hi, Dad. I made it. I’m home.”

Sai, speechless, could only stand there and listen to him talk, realizing this was what Sekai had meant about needing to talk to someone. He wondered if the boy expected the rock to talk back.

“I probably didn’t turn out like you and mom expected,” Sekai went on, voice growing softer. “You probably wouldn’t like me very much. Most people don’t. I’m weird.” Then his tone brightened. “But you would love Naruto. You’d be as proud of him as I am. I promise, I’ll protect him as much as I can!”

Then Sekai went quiet for a long moment, as if he were trying to think of something to add but deciding after a time that there didn’t need to be anymore said. He took a deep breath of cool air and released it slowly, as if expelling inner demons. Then he turned away from the mountain.

“I like you,” said his living audience abruptly.

Sekai’s cheeks slowly flamed red as his brain processed the words. “What?”

“You said most people didn’t like you,” Sai reminded. “But I do.”

The blush increased. Sekai looked away, smiling shyly “Oh. Yeah, you said that before at the hot springs.”

“Naruto likes you very much. You should be aware of that by now. Yume also seems to be very fond of you, even when she teases you.”

“I know. I shouldn’t dwell on it and just focus on what I do have, but I can’t help it.” The sadness and insecurity etched on his features was interrupted by a jaw-cracking yawn. “Mmm. I wanna nap now.”

“I’ll take you home,” Sai offered immediately, wishing there was something more he could say, but he had no idea what could be done to make Sekai feel differently.

“Thanks. The doggy and kitty are probably there by now.” Sekai brightened. “Let’s go make sure they haven’t peed on the carpet.”

Together they headed toward the apartment the Uzumaki brothers shared.

-

Once Jiraiya was finished speaking, he was surprised to find that Kakashi was laughing. “Eh? This isn’t a laughing matter!” Uchiha Sasuke was a serious problem! The hold he had on Naruto was too strong! Something needed to be done.

Kakashi attempted to stifle his amusement. “Sorry, Jiraiya-sama, but… I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Unless Orochimaru was secretly in love with you.”

“… What?!”

Even after Kakashi explained what he meant, Jiraiya still did not quite believe it.

TBC.

1. I wrote this chapter after 328 but before 341; in retrospect I would not have had Shikamaru continue smoking after defeating Hidan, but I like it well enough not to change it.

2. Naruto said “suki” here which can mean both like and love. (Rather than “ai shiteru” which is closer to “I’m in love with you.”) It’s commonly used between friends and family members. But, in many cases, it is also used between would-be lovers in anime as well. (Example: Kaworu and Shinji in Neon Genesis Evangelion.)