Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

It was Orochimaru’s fault. Not that Sasuke could ever tell him that. Obviously. But if he hadn’t send him on that stupid mission, he would have never found Naruto. If he’d never seen Naruto, the idiot would have never lost his shit at the sight of him wearing the Sound symbol on his forehead. If he had never lost his shit, then he would have never attacked him like that , somehow managing to get the forehead protector off of him.

Would have never seen the spiral.

Sasuke rubbed his chin. With soap, with a dry cloth, with some of Kabuto’s lotion . But nothing. Nothing worked. The dick, the drawing of a dick, remained on his skin, tattooed there, with black and pink ink.

The fucking idiot.

He stared at himself, his eyes fixed on the drawing until an orange curve appeared on his left cheek.

A-

Sasuke was going to kill him.

S-

Forget obtaining the Mangekyou, he was going to kill him out of principle.

S-

He rubbed his cheek, clawing at it, reddening it, until it was raw, a few scratches away from bleeding, but letters continued to appear, in the same orange ink, in the same stupid handwriting.

ASSHOLE .

Sasuke stomped out of his bathroom, heading to the bed stand. Grabbed a pen and scribbled on his left forearm--with considerable better handwriting than Naruto’s. Stop writing on me, idiot .

He held his breath, heading to the door. Locking it. Orochimaru was not a fan of locks, but Sasuke couldn’t risk anyone walking in right now and seeing the way he looked. A dick on his chin. The word asshole on his cheek. His own handwriting on his forearm. He took the pen, locked himself in the bathroom. Took another breath, watching words appear underneath his message.

I’ll stop when you return home .

He clenched the pen. Stared down at his feet, until the headache recedeed, until the room stopped spinning. Over the years, the situation had been nothing short of annoying and inconvenient, but not threatening. If Orochimaru found out, there were a few possibilities that would not end well for him. First, he could freak out, lock him up, and keep him in a cell until he took over his body. Or, he could extract the Sharingan and place them in a body that did not have a sickening connection to another shinobi. Or, his curiosity could be piqued and spend the rest of the time that Sasuke had to plan how to evade his deal with Orochimaru, experimenting on him. Until he found a way to break the connection or a way to use it to his advantage. Or finding a new body to which the Sharingan would be transferred.

He gripped the sink, watching his knuckles turned white. He could not let anyone find out about this. Picking up the pen again, he scribbled under Naruto’s threat. I haven’t killed my brother and I can’t go to prison yet.

The message appeared quicker this time. Barely legible. Sucks for you .

Sasuke groaned, cussed under his breath. A triangle appeared on the knuckles, on his right hand. Another triangle. Whiskers, and--the fucking asshole. It wasn’t even a good drawing, evidently, that fucking idiot was no artist. It looked like a mixture between a fox and a cat. Two minutes later, there was a flower underneath it. And then a book.

What’s your favorite animal?

Sasuke took another breath. And then another one. Stared at the ceiling for too many minutes...too many, as when he looked down again, to his arms, they were covered in hello s, are you there? s, and come back .

He grabbed the pen again, looking for an empty patch of skin to write on. I’m going to kill you .

I’m in Konoha, if you want to come kill me right now .

He could not head to Konoha right now. Obviously. Orochimaru might be letting him out more lately, but decidedly not to Konoha, especially not after Sasuke told him that he saw Naruto on the last mission. Maybe he shouldn’t have told him that, but he would have found out eventually. He always did, and Sasuke was okay with lying, but not when he couldn’t get away with it. And even if he could head out because Orochimaru let him, or turned a blind eye on it, he could not possibly leave Konoha again, his ass would be shoved in prison and his chakra would be bound. All things that could not happen--at least until Itachi was dead.

Another word appeared on his collarbone, but Sasuke couldn’t decipher it. Orochimaru was expecting him in half an hour, and he couldn’t show up looking like this. More importantly, he could not show up with Naruto still writing on him like he was a children’s coloring book. With a sigh, he wrote underneath the chicken scratch.

I’ll return after killing Itachi .

That could take forever . Huh. That was legible.

It won’t. Just stop .

Even if you come back, granny will throw you in jail.

You want me to go to jail?

No. But I want you to come back.

Sasuke grimaced at the conversation down his chest. Could he have any worse luck? But time was running out. He glanced at the door. Closed. Locked. Naruto wouldn’t stop, and he already ran through the scenarios with Orochimaru. All unacceptable. All bad. Terrible. And--

Well, he was thinking of deflecting soon. Certainly before Orochimaru tried to take over his body. And Orochimaru deserved to see justice, the ghost of his victims littered all of his hideouts. Sasuke wasn’t planning on killing him, personally, because he only yearned to kill his brother, but surely, someone in Konoha would want to see him dead? He killed the Third Hokage, after all, and destroyed Konoha’s economy and tarnished a large portion of its reputation across the Great Nations.

Stop writing on me. The pen hovered over his skin. With a sigh, he continued. Stop writing and I’ll give you Sound information .

It took five minutes--five less minutes to get ready before training with Orochimaru--for another message to appear. And I’ll give it to grandma. Fine. I’ll stop for now in exchange of one secret.

Sasuke considered. A secret not valuable enough in case Orochimaru found out. A secret worthwhile enough to keep Naruto’s pen capped and away from his body. There’s another Uzumaki near Suna. She works for Orochimaru.

WHAT?????????

Now, keep your part of the deal and stop writing on me . And wash everything off .

Sorry, asshole. Permanent ink. Will come off in a few weeks.

Sasuke glared at himself. Fucking unbelievable. It’s not like Sasuke’s own handwriting was disappearing from his own body, so Naruto must have a dick on his face too, must have the word asshole on his cheek, must have stupid drawings and words all over his arms and chest. Fucking asshole. Having no shame to walk around--

He shook his head. Taking another thousand of deep breaths, a headache once again looming near his temples, trying to think. Orochimaru was expecting him. And he looked like this. Alright, it was fine. Sasuke had clothes for stealth missions. He washed his face, perhaps, stupidly, expecting it all to disappear, like it was a fucking nightmare, another one of his night terrors, but it did not. He glanced at his door. Still closed. Locked. Headed to his closet, rummaging through his clothes until he found Orochimaru’s least favorite outfit. He put it on, slipped his fingers into black gloves. And with a sigh, pulled up the black mask to cover his chin and cheeks, to cover half of his face. Like this, he looked like--

He shook his head. He checked himself over one last time and then headed outside. Predictably, Orochimaru was less than amused. Sasuke did his best to take his displeasure on stride, and had enough speed to avoid most of the attacks, the ones that would have required Kabuto looking him over. Fortunately, he only ended up with bruises, a busted lip--safely hidden under the mask, and sore muscles--nothing for which Orochimaru would send him to Kabuto; after all, there was much to learn from inconvenient pain, Sasuke-kun, learn how to dodge better .

Sasuke forego dinner in favor of heading back to his chambers. How did Kakashi eat without anyone seen his face? Whatever. He’ll think about that later. For now, he could just sleep.

Except.

There was no much sleep, couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes, everytime he so much as blinked longer than five seconds, he felt hands on him, prying away his clothing, his mask, to find the words and drawings underneath.

How long did permanent ink last?

The next morning, he crawled out of bed, doing his best to ignore his stomach twisting, tying knots in protest over the lack of food. He dragged himself to the dining hall, but it was crawling with Sound shinobi, with fifty people who would sell him to Orochimaru without a second thought, without even a promised prize. Just out of pure spite, to see him cast down from what they perceived was special treatment.

He filled a cup with water and turned on his feet. Yeah, some treatment. Headed to the training grounds and placed the cup on his head. Over the past months, he’d managed to keep it on his head for longer than thirty minutes and had found that it was...useful, to think, to clear his head. It helped to ignore the bottomless pain in his stomach and the weight dragging him down from a lack of sleep--it was stupid, too, when had sleep ever been a necessary aspect of his life?

Kabuto called it a side effect of puberty , his beauty sleep , which--fuck him, very much so.

He set the cup down, still filled with every drop of water from the kitchen, and was about to pull down his mask to drink it and give his stomach some reprieve, when the doors swung opened. Sasuke pushed himself to a standing position, ignoring the burning calves in favor of keeping his eyes on Orochimaru, his eyes wild, fury contorting every feature. His chakra was pouring off of him, thickening the air of the chamber. The mask over his nose didn’t help--how did Kakashi do it? Why did Kakashi do it? Why was he standing there thinking about Kakashi when Orochimaru was looking at him like a piece of meat?

Did he find out? Did he know that Sasuke was without a doubt, connected to Naruto, for some reason, in some way? Did he know that Sasuke had just betrayed him?

“We’ll practice Ninjutsu today.”

Sasuke barely had time to activate the Sharingan before Orochimaru was running through hand signs, and the floor was shifting under his weight.

Seven copied jutsus later, Orochimaru paused. Gave a slight nod, in the direction of the door. Sasuke limped after him, his clothes charred, but still covering him, thankfully . They made it back to the main hall, the fifty shinobi from the dining hall, kneeling on the floor, neatly in rows, leaving room for Orochimaru to walk to the front, to stand before the snake statues. Sasuke stood behind him, on the left, while Kabuto stood on the right. The silence dragged on, Sasuke unable to pick up any breathing from the shinobi, any movement from them, as Orochimaru stood there, more immobile than his own statues.

“Our eastern base was attacked,” Orochimaru said, at last. Sasuke kept his face impassive, a practiced, bored expression covering his racing heart. “Scout the area. Bring me back Karin Uzumaki.” Evidently, he was enraged. Normally, he would flourish some of his speeches with sweet nothings, or throw a tantrum and murder a few of his men. Not bark orders. Not like this. And when the room was empty, except for Kabuto and himself, Orochimaru turned to stare at him. “We’ll practice Taijutsu outside.”

Sasuke caught the smirk on Kabuto’s face. But at the end of the day, he was getting stronger. He avoided the majority of attacks, though Orochimaru was clearly not amused. Even if Sasuke was gasping, his shoulder dislocated, again , by the time it ended. And then Orochimaru sent him to walk a hundred laps on his hands around the compound with a you need more upper body strength . He kept his mouth shut and obliged, the ‘Sasuke-kun’ missing from the sentence not lost on him.

Orochimaru walked a meter ahead of him the entire time. And then told him to do fifty more. By the time Orochimaru walked away, the sun had disappeared, replaced by a starless darkness, and cold air. Sasuke landed on his knees, rubbing his shoulder, wincing as he rolled it back into position. It was no secret that Orochimaru sometimes took some things out on him, under the guise of training, and it was no secret that Sasuke thrived on that because he needed to get stronger and nothing had worked more than continuously facing off with Orochimaru and getting his ass handed to him time and time again.

He pushed himself to his feet, his knees buckling under his weight. His legs, apparently forgetting how to work.

But this time, it felt different, it felt more personal than it should be, felt more sadistic than before. He descended the stairs, stepping into the hideout. His stomach had long ago stopped protesting the lack of food, instead leaving him hollow, with a gnawing pain. But instead of heading to the kitchen, he took a right. To his bedroom. He locked the door. Took a shower. The ink was there, but the incriminating words across his chest were beginning to fade. The warm water relaxed his muscles, but he hurried through the shower--if someone barged in...he couldn’t do that.

He suited up again, covering half of his face, covering his arms and chest and hands. He crawled under the covers. And stared up at the ceiling. They were looking for Karin. Orochimaru must think that she betrayed him, but she would have never done that. Konoha--more likely, Naruto--must have found her. Transported her back to Konoha for questioning. He glanced at the door quickly, his heart hammering against his chest, for some stupid, wild reason, and threw the covers to the floor, off of him. Cold air rushed him, but it only helped him get up, rubbing his eyes and closing his bathroom door.

The pen was still on top of the sink. He checked the lock was on, and then grabbed it, taking off his left glove with his teeth. There was space on the side of his left finger. Where is she?

Questioning .

That came fast. Did Naruto spend the entire time looking at himself, waiting for another message to be written? Did it matter? Could he judge Naruto, even if that was the case? Sasuke hadn’t been staring at himself, largely because Orochimaru hovered over him the entire time, but if he hadn’t, Sasuke would have, just to prevent anyone else from seeing it first. He stared at the word for a few minutes. Questioning. How many secrets did Karin hold? How long would she last, under interrogation, before she spilled them all? How helpful was she to Orochimaru? Would he forgive the presumed treason when he found her? Took her back?

There was no point in caring. He shouldn’t care, he knew that. Obviously, he didn’t care. But it was his fault and he’d been planning to have Karin track Itachi. She couldn’t do that if she died, under Konoha or Orochimaru.

Sound is looking for her .

Is that the secret for the day?

Fuck off. Sighing, he added. Yes .

Grandma Tsunade wants to know where I got my intel. I’m going to tell her.

He stared at the message. Why was he such a fucking idiot?

Do not tell her.

I’m trying to get you under her good graces for a pardon, idiot.

Sasuke was, evidently, too tired to find an argument for that. He set the pen down, putting the glove back on. Checked the door again. And slid down the door, resting his head against the wall, and closing his eyes.

--------------------

Sasuke jumped on another branch. Landed on the next one. And then, the next one, the curse seal finally receding, his heart slowing down against his chest, his lungs pulling in more air with each breath. He slowed down when the statue of the First Hokage came into view, across the waterfall. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that he was alone, not followed, not hunted--it would take some hours before Kabuto organized Orochimaru’s followers to hunt him down, but most of those hours had passed already.

He fell on the ground, his body deciding that it was time to let him know exactly how fucked he was. Dry blood covered his shirt. His own. His left ankle was sore and at some point, he’d heard a sickening crack , but it was not broken anymore. His head was pounding and he must have lost too much blood, but--

But he was alive.

Orochimaru was dead.

And he was alive, still in possession of his body--as tattered as it was at the moment.

He grimaced as he took out a pen from his pocket and rolled up his sleeve. Where are you ?

It was stupid to think that Naruto would reply. Half a day ago, he hovered outside of Orochimaru’s chamber, listening in, eavesdropping, on a briefing--Konoha attacked, the Jinchuriki, Naruto , taken. Almost immediately, his shoulder began to bleed--healing itself almost immediately, but bleeding nonetheless.

And the realization struck him.

And things went to shit after that.

But Orochimaru was dead and his body still belonged to him.

Sasuke had to start looking for the silver lining in his life, and that was a silver lining, if there ever was one.

He glanced down at his forearm, his words clearly written, but with no new words added. Fuck. With a sigh, he pushed himself to cross the waterfall, jump onto Konoha’s territory. They might lock him up. They were probably going to lock him up, but if Akatsuki took Naruto, then it wouldn’t be long before everything went to shit, he’d heard enough rumors to know that the hosts died and Sasuke had never been able to heal himself on his own, as magical injuries tore him apart. Naruto was getting hurt, and if Naruto got hurt, so did he.

And if Naruto was killed, then he would drop dead, too. His brother was very much alive, so he couldn’t die yet. It was stupid. And it sucked. But he needed to find Naruto, and that meant going to Konoha. It was fine. They had just suffered another invasion--besides, he wasn’t planning on staying. There couldn’t be any guards on duty right now, loitering in front of the cells, it wouldn’t be too difficult--

He fell on his knee. His torso was pierced, blood dripping onto the floor. He swallowed a groan, clutching his side, as he felt the skin patching itself up. He picked up the pace, not stopping until he saw the gates, half crumbled to the ground, half standing--much like himself.

At least he had the foresight to lose the Sound symbol at the mouth of the hideout.

Konoha looked worse than it did when Sound attacked. Most buildings were nothing more than dust, though the medical response was commendable, as white tents littered the street. Made sense, the Fifth was the greatest medical shinobi in the world. He slipped down the street, avoiding eyes, his pace urgent, as if he had somewhere to be to help out, but not running as a fugitive. He turned corners, doing his best to ignore the desperate screams of civilians, mourning their dead, to ignore the desperate cries of children for their--

Something sliced his--Naruto’s stomach. He looked down on his arm, but nothing. Naruto’s chicken scratch nowhere in sight.

The Hokage’s tower was demolished. Sasuke sidestepped it. Normally, he would be on the roofs, but there were no roofs. No good way to find a vantage point, but at least Konoha shinobi didn’t have a good vantage point, either.

Besides, they clearly had more pressing concerns.

Like the newly orphaned children.

He shook his head, taking a deep breath, and continued. The prison, surprisingly, was still standing, just outside of the former Uchiha district--also standing. It was so far from the center of the village that it would have been impractical to spend energy to destroy it. But the guards were called away. He kicked the door in.

When he was a child, his father brought him there once. There had been a lesson in there somewhere, and Sasuke remembered thinking that he was going to grow up and be part of the police force, to keep Konoha safe.

Ha.

But his father never showed him the cells, restricted access, presumably; perhaps, mother talking him out of it. He didn’t know, had no way of knowing. But if been with Orochimaru for so long taught him anything was that prisoners were downstairs, underground, if possible. For safety and psychological reasons. The stairs were labeled. And Sasuke took them, stumbling somewhat.

Did Naruto’s healing chakra have a limit?

After three flights of stairs--apparently, Konoha almost as competent as Orochimaru when it came to prisoners, but then again, they left their cells unattended, so maybe not--he arrived at a dark, cold hallways lined up with cells. With a burst of chakra to his eyes, the Sharingan came alive. No night visions, but it made him feel more alert. More capable to reacting quickly if the need arose.

“Karin?”

He heard some groans. Some grunts.

“Sasuke-kun?”

Three cells down. He rushed over. Karin was sitting on the ground, his knees pressed up to her chest. A seal on the door. Yeah, okay, whatever. “You’re okay?”

Karin stood up, walking up to the door. She looked fine. Perfectly fine, considering she must have been there for at least a month. Her eyes widened, presumably as she got a good look at him. “You’re bleeding!”

“ Was bleeding,” he said. The attacks on Naruto must have stopped. And he was healed. Thankfully. “Are--”

“Did Orochimaru-sama sent you?”

Sasuke bit back a sigh. This was not a conversation he wanted to have in Konoha’s prison. But Karin would find out sooner or later. “Orochimaru is dead.”

“What? Why ?”

He closed his eyes. The seal was there, keeping Karin there. Not that it mattered one way or another, but he’d been running away from Sound earlier. Left over paranoia. “He was going to take over my body. My brother is still alive,” he said.

“You killed Orochimaru-sama?”

Sasuke stared at her. “Would you have preferred that he took over my body and left you here to rot?”

Karin stared back. For what felt like hours, but it could not have been more than a few minutes. She shook her head, her lips pressed on a thin line, as if it was causing a great deal of effort to admit that to him, and to herself. “You need me to track your brother down. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Not right now.” Though maybe, his brother was with Naruto, was the one slicing his body up. His hands tightened around the bar. “I need you to track down Naruto. You’ve seen him, haven’t you?”

Karin nodded. “He visits sometimes.”

Of course he did. “Can you?”

Karin nodded again and Sasuke took the seal off the door. When Karin stepped outside, she rolled up her sleeve, biting into her arm. She whimpered, letting go five seconds later, but her eyes were sharper. Sasuke took her arm, running up the stairs. Halting. Karin crashed against him.

Three Anbu. They must have been alerted of a break-in when he removed the seal. Oh, well. They gripped their katana tighter. Sasuke pulled Karin behind him--she was a sensor , not a fighter, especially not after being locked up for weeks. She squeezed his hand, her thumb running from the right to the left. The window on his left. He squeezed her back, keeping the Sharingan on the Anbu guards. Felt as she slipped a hand into his pouch. He let go, running through familiar hand signs, the air cracking with electricity. The window broke. Sasuke ran after Karin as the bodies tumbled down.

Karin glanced back at him. “I have him locked.”

Sasuke nodded, before glancing back. Of course the image of the Anbu dropping to the ground was scorched into his memory now, but paranoia had been keeping him alive his entire life and it didn’t hurt to check. They ran towards the Uchiha district, passing the dock where he left his first jutsu, the dock unharmed from the invasion. He turned his attention to Karin, her pace slowing down, as they approached the Academy, or the remains of it. Children were lined up against the wall. Orphans . He shook his head, not having time for this, not having time for the slowed pace, no matter how much--

“Sasuke-kun!”

Fuck .

Sakura.

Sasuke picked up the pace, picking up Karin. She held onto his neck. They were almost at the Southern gate, and--

“Sakura-chan is chasing us.”

Sakura-chan ? Maybe Naruto wasn’t the only one who visited her.

“I’m running as fast as I can,” he hissed, wishing it was a lie. But it was not. His legs were burning, his lungs were struggling to draw air in. If only he hadn’t been running the entire day, if only Naruto hadn’t been captured--

“Sakura!”

Fuck .

Sasuke hadn’t heard that voice in three years, but that was Kakashi.

“Uh, Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-senpai is chasing us, too.”

Kakashi-senpai ? How long had Karin been in Konoha? He pushed chakra onto his legs, picking up the pace as much as he could. It wasn’t much, but no one had tackled them to the ground yet, so he must be maintaining the distance between them and Sakura and Kakashi. Under the circumstances, it was more than he could hope.

“Left.”

Sasuke made a sharp left. The village was behind them. But from the corner of his vision, he saw Sakura and Kakashi running after them, still. Of course. Why would they not? How had he expected all of this to go, anyway?

“Maybe we should stop and explain.” Sasuke tightened his hold on her. Karin shifted, “I mean, we’re trying to find Naruto-kun. I’m sure they would love finding him, too, you know.”

Why was he surprised she called him Naruto-kun? He bit back a sigh, decidedly not slowing down, because that was a terrible idea. The only thing they would accomplish by stopping would be a fight, one that maybe they would win, but would leave him exhausted--more than he already was. The curse seal was already pulsing, somewhat threatening--not something he needed right now. Karin’s lungs wouldn’t survive at an altitude, though it would be easier to ditch Sakura and Kakashi flying. So no stopping. No fighting.

Karin’s arm hovered over his mouth. Sasuke bit down on it, feeling a rush of chakra immediately. A deep howl came from behind.

“Kakashi-senpai just--”

“I know.”

It was not the first time that Kakashi’s pack was chasing him. It had been a recurring training exercise when he was learning the chidori--and it spoke to his exhaustion because they were on his sides, despite that he could normally outrun Orochimaru. He jumped on the ground. There was a yell from behind him, and the ground split, crumbling, dust flying. He stumbled forward, jumping to another fly-away piece of ground. He tripped over his feet like a fucking idiot, and tumbled backwards. He flipped them, skating across the floor.

Karin helped him up. The Sharingan swirled, taking in Kakashi’s pack around them, half of the fucking ground missing, Kakashi’s Sharingan fixed on them, Sakura next to him, holding a kunai. The hounds growled. They looked ridiculous, if Sasuke was honest, because they weren’t intimidated, except maybe Bull, but Sasuke knew that he was nice, had spent a lot of days with them. Pakkun liked his stomach and ears scratched, Urushi liked to catch treats in the air, Bull liked to lay on the grass--Sasuke used to lay on him as he studied a scroll, or meditated--Akino used to let him wear his sunglasses. He used to take naps with them. After a particularly frustrating training session, Guruko would lay on his feet to keep him warm, and Pakkun would offer to let him poke his paws.

Except now, they were barring their teeth, their eyes fixed on Karin and himself, their ears pinned back.

“We’re trying to find Naruto-kun!”

But despite her insistence on explaining, on talking, Karin’s hand was still inside his pouch, presumably gripping a kunai. Bull’s bark was deep. Loud. Sasuke glanced at him, before turning his attention to Kakashi. To Sakura. He could probably take them. He absolutely could probably take them.

“Do you know where he is?” Sakura sounded just like she did the last time Sasuke saw her, made her lose consciousness. But her eyes were cold and the grip on her kunai tightened just so.

“I’m finding him!”

“Why?” Kakashi’s eyes were colder than Sakura, if that was possible.

Karin glanced at him. Sasuke glanced down at his arm, his message to Naruto covered by his sleeve, but still there, he knew. And without looking, he knew that Naruto hadn’t written anything back, couldn’t have. He had felt the injuries that Naruto had. Felt Naruto’s chakra--or something else healing him, healing Naruto. Saying all of that sounded stupid, though. How was he to explain that since he’d deserted Konoha, turned traitor, attempted to murder Naruto, everything on Naruto’s skin appeared on his own? The explanation sounded more like an excuse, like lies, even to himself.

But now, Kakashi’s packs had their scents, and even if they could get away, they would continue to hunt them down.

And after selling fifty secrets to Konoha, giving up the locations of Kabuto’s experimental labs, hideouts, spies in Konoha , Naruto had told him that Grand--the Hokage was planing to at least grant him an audience.

Maybe he should tell them that Akatsuki took him, and he was only looking for his brother--which was not necessarily wrong, but not a moral crusade, and not something that would warrant Kakashi and Sakura letting them--letting this go. And even if they let them go, surely, they would tell their Hokage, and surely she would send Anbu after them.

Karin cleared her throat beside him, poking him on the back.

“Naruto...” he began, keeping his expression blanked. He was good at that, having kept his expression blanked for years. “When he gets hurt...it happens to me, too.”

“What?”

Karin snapped her fingers. “That’s why it’s orange!”

Sasuke swallowed back a groan, having no idea what Karin was referring to, and finding that he didn’t care about that very much right now. He took a step forward, doing his best to ignore the renewed barking and growls, did his best to ignore the way that Sakura shifted into a fighting stance, the way that Kakashi slipped his hand into his pouch. At least the ground wasn’t crumbled, that particular disaster behind Sakura and Kakashi.

He paused a meter away from them, not stupid enough to get closer. If needed, he could leap back or up, to the trees. Fall down and pick up Karin again. But he paused the chakra to his eyes, the Sharingan receding, the colors losing their sharpness. Funnily enough, that seemed to put them more on edge.

Whatever.

He bit back a sigh and pulled his shirt over his head, hearing a stifled giggle from behind him. Fuck, Karin . Just what he would have expected, if his brain wasn’t clouded by a thousand pressing worries. Naruto’s last message came two days ago, large and bold across his fucking chest, from his left ribs to the middle of his torso. As if Sasuke didn’t have to worry about Orochimaru and Kabuto trying to rip off his clothes at random intervals.

Kabuto almost succeeded once, after the mask became a permanent fixture because as it turned out permanent ink lasted a fucking long time . Sasuke punched him in the face and Kabuto kicked him on the ribs, and they attempted to kill each other until Orochimaru grew bored and intervened, separating them. Sasuke’s left hand stayed on his face, keeping the mask over his nose, his cheeks, his chin, even as Orochimaru twisted his elbows back, a finger brushing against the mask. Sasuke had growled, willing the Sharingan to fade as Orochimaru stroke the mask, with cold eyes and flat smile on his face.

Orochimaru had kept him immobile, stroking his face, obviously peeved that he’d punch Kabuto, as the medic brushed himself off. But eventually, he had waved his hands, releasing him, and telling Kabuto to leave him alone, as he was clearly being a teenager and feeling insecure about his appearance.

Sasuke didn’t sleep for days after that, until the dick and Asshole disappeared completely, until he no longer had to wear a mask and look like his former teacher. The day his face was clear from markings, he wrote a small message on his collarbone, to knock it off unless he wanted Orochimaru to kill him.

Naruto stopped writing on more visible places then, but his chest didn’t count. Each day, Sasuke would wake up with updates from Konoha. The last one, two days ago, had meant the most, even if he was never going to admit that to anyone, out loud, ever.

We found it! Grandma is sending Anbus to find any parents!

Underneath it was Sasuke’s own message back. Stop being so fucking obvious, idiot. And all their parents are dead .

And underneath that, in bigger and bolder words. IT DOESN’T HURT TO TRY BASTARD .

“Sasuke-kun,” Karin’s whisper broke the silence, as Sakura and Kakashi kept staring at him, their expressions controlled, guarded. As Sasuke pushed his own thoughts aside. “Why do you have a drawing of a man’s privates on your back?”

He was going to fucking kill Naruto. How did he even get his hand to--a fucking clone. He used a fucking clone to draw a dick on his back and Sasuke hadn’t seen it. At least neither had Kabuto or Orochimaru, or anyone else. Akatsuki better not kill him because at this point, that privilege was reserved for him. What a fucking idiot.

“Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura’s voice wavered at the end, though her eyes remained like ice.

Kakashi remained quiet, inspecting Sasuke’s chest. “That is Naruto’s handwriting.”

“But he could have copied it with the Sha--”

“Right,” Sasuke huffed. “Because anyone in their right mind would want to copy that atrocious--”

“Who says you’re in your right mind?”

Sasuke rolled his eyes, though part of him--well, Sakura had surely changed, had she not? He put his shirt back on, ignoring the sound of protest from Karin. “Look,” he turned to face Kakashi. “Naruto and I have been able to write on each other since I left Konoha. It’s just that now, he gets hurt and I do, too. And I can’t die yet. Karin is tracking Naruto down and we’re going to save him.” And then he was going to kill him. “From Akatsuki.”

Kakashi tilted his head. “Does he also get hurt when you get hurt?”

Sasuke shrugged. “Presumably.”

“Shame.”

Sakura huffed. Sasuke leapt back, landing next to Karin, his Sharingan activated after barely dodging Sakura’s punch. She walked to a tree, keeping his glare on him, pulled her arm back, and brush her knuckles against the wood. A second later, the tree was ten meters away, broken into large chunks. Sakura’s eyes remained on him as she walked back to Kakashi.

But that was that. Obviously, Kakashi and Sakura tagged along. Sasuke kept himself between Karin and them, largely in case that Anbu came after them--they were wanted, after all, and Sakura’s rage and hatred made it abundantly clear that she would like to see him in jail, if at least for a short time out. Kakashi was the same. Sasuke felt the distrust from him almost as easily as he used to feel Orochimaru’s fury--and if Anbu came after them, he would need to carry Karin again to flee.

“I’m looking for food,” Sasuke said, keeping his voice low and his back to Sakura and Kakashi. “Stay alert.”

“Sasuke-kun,” Karin grabbed his arm. “Bring some for them--”

“They can--”

“They were very nice to me when I was in jail.”

He didn’t care. About any of that. “Good for--”

“I would bring them food myself, but you know I’m tracker not a fighter, and if someone attacks, I won’t be able to defend myself.”

“You’re such a liar.”

Karin shrugged. “Only about the fighting. Sakura-chan used to visit me every third day. She always brought me sweets from the market, and Kakashi-senpai brought--”

“I’ll see what I can do,” he replied, shrugging her hand off, and jumping onto a tree.

He paused at the edge of river. Fish, it was. He stripped to his boxers because how stupid would it be if he got sick? He couldn’t have that. But maybe he wouldn’t get sick, maybe Naruto’s healing ability would fix that, too. It could be. He didn’t know. He mostly didn’t know anything about this situation, even if he had three whole fucking years to investigate.

He stifled a groan as he stepped inside. It was cold, but there were plenty of fish, and that was the most important thing. He caught five. Four for himself and one for Karin. Set them on the edge. Picked three more. And then two more.

He hadn’t eaten for a while.

Whatever.

He got out of the water, combing his fingers through his hair. He picked up his shirt, dirty with dry blood--he was already there. With a sigh, he shoved it under the water, using his hands to try to remove the stains. He was largely successful, but the shirt was wet, and it was getting dark. Leaving Karin alone was...not ideal. He shoved a wooden stick through the fish, to make it easier to carry, picked up his shirt, and ran back. There was no camp because none of them had planned for this, but they had started a fire.

Kakashi and Sakura were close together, both staring at the fire, not speaking. Karin was farther away, but the fire still flickered shadows across her face. She looked fine, though, so Sasuke turned on his heel, looking for wood for their own fire. It was stupid and unnecessary, and not particularly practical, because two fires had a higher chance of attracting the wrong kind of attention, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t sharing a fire with them.

He landed next to Karin, once again doing his best to ignore the stifled giggles, and handing her half of the fish. She composed herself then, sending him a far less suggestive smile and walked to Kakashi and Sakura’s fire. Sasuke turned around, not caring to see them get the fish, and shoved the wood together into pile, lighting it on fire, extending his shirt beside it for it to dry.

He felt something hot sliding across his jaw. He wiped his hand, looking down at it. Blood. His heart skipped a beat, but when he ran his fingers across his jaw, he only found raised skin, a small scar. Karin sat next to him, holding two fish over the fire, twisting them over the flame every few seconds.

“How did you kill him?”

Sasuke glanced at her. She was staring at the fire, the fish still hovering over the flames as their skin slowly roasted, but her chest had stopped rising and falling, clearly holding her breath. “I ran a chidori through him. He wasn’t expecting it.”

“Of course he wasn’t.” The betrayal was evident in her voice. The accusation wasn’t far behind. “You--”

“He was going to--”

“You made a deal with him.”

Sasuke shrugged. “My brother is still alive. I need to kill him.”

“If he was dead, would you have done it?”

Sasuke shrugged, again. He would have stabbed his eyes first, of course, but after that, Orochimaru could have gladly taken over his body, he supposed. “He sent hunters after you, you know. He was going to kill you, after you lost the eastern base.”

“I didn’t lose it. We were ambushed and--”

“I know.”

Karin stared at him. And then shoved him. “ You told them. I thought...” she shook her head. “I can’t believe you did that, Sasuke-kun. You betrayed Orochimaru-sama, he took you in and...he taught you everything he knew.”

Lucky him. “You really would have preferred that he took over my body?”

Karin opened her mouth. Turned back to the fire. “Orochimaru-sama saved my life.”

“He destroyed thousands of lives, too.”

Karin’s glare shifted to something else, but Sasuke turned his attention to the fire and to his shirt. He flipped it, his eyes catching something on his hand. He scooted closer to the fire.

We need to talk .

Still almost impossible to read, but Naruto’s handwriting. That was something. Promising, almost. He took his pen out of his pocket and wrote on his forearm.

Where are you?

Not sure . Running. Outside of Suna, maybe .

They were close to Suna. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder. Apparently, Kakashi had offered to take the first shift, as Sakura was curled into a tight ball. Karin was leaning against a tree, her eyes closed. She would wake up if he felt his chakra stirring, no doubt, but it didn’t take chakra to get up and walk over to the other fire. Kakashi’s back tensed when he was a meter away from him. Sakura remained a tight ball, though. Sasuke walked to stand before him, lifting his sleeve, letting him read the message. Eventually, Kakashi met his eyes.

“Why are you doing this?”

There was something in his voice that unsettled him. He kept his voice flat as he replied, “I told you. If he dies, I die, and I can’t die yet.”

“How did he get away?”

Sasuke wrote the question underneath Naruto’s last message because he had been reused to an instantaneous communication system.

Complicated .

Uncomplicate it .

Your brother saved me .

Sasuke’s mind stopped. He ran the message over and over, even activating the Sharingan, but the message didn’t change, it remained on his forearm.

Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me . Your brother saved me .

 He blinked as Kakashi yanked his arm towards him. He almost fell to his knees, but he kept still, his body not willing to fight right now, right there, as Kakashi read the message, too.

Why would Itachi save him? It was far more likely that Itachi had discovered this ability and was using it for his advantage, for some sickening reason. Sasuke relaxed his jaw, after realizing that he was gritting his teeth. Kakashi’s Sharingan was uncovered again, still staring at the message.

Sasuke yanked his arm back. Why? The word obviously showed that his hand had been shaking when he wrote it, but it was understandable, and Naruto had been writing nonsense on his body for weeks, so it was fine.

I would really rather tell you in person. Where are you?

Near Suna.

Great! A drawing of a smiling fox joined the word soon after.

Sasuke stared. Is he writing on you?

He ignored his beating heart as he waited for the response, ignored Kakashi standing over his shoulder, much like the same way that Orochimaru used to stand behind him, except that Kakashi didn’t make him want to turn around and press his back against a flat surface for the rest of his life. Even if it should because Kakashi was...perhaps not the enemy, right now, to him, but Sasuke was an enemy to Kakashi. It had been a stupid question, he realized, because if Itachi was writing on Naruto, he could simply write a lie. But it was even more stupid because Itachi Uchiha wouldn’t be drawing smiling foxes.

If he allowed himself a moment to remember, Itachi never liked to draw.

He shoved that thought away as he saw a new message appearing.

Nope! He’s cooking a rabbit.

Kakashi huffed behind him. “Must be his third try.”

“What?”

He burned the first one .

Sasuke stared down at the message, before glancing at Kakashi. There was nothing in his expression, though, almost like it had been replaced by a mask. Sasuke pulled his sleeve down, using it to scrub his skin, knowing that it wouldn’t make the messages disappear, but preferring to have raw skin instead of those messages on him, like...

He rolled his shoulders back and walked back to Karin. He sat down next to her, staring up at the branches. Karin was a quiet sleeper, only letting a soft hissing sound out of her nose with each breath. But it was enough noise to keep rested, but awake. Just as it should be. Three hours later, Sakura woke up and Kakashi shifted--not quite on his back, but not sitting any longer. Changing shifts. Sasuke looked down at Karin, but she looked exhausted and he knew what a toll it took on her to replenish other people’s chakras. Besides, it’s not like he would be sleeping even if she was standing guard.

Sleeping took energy--it took energy to relax his muscles and ease his heartbeat and push aside his racing thoughts--energy that he didn’t have right now. All of his energy was currently used to keep his mind blank, keeping intruding thoughts away.

His mind stayed blank, quiet , until both Sakura and Kakashi were standing up, stretching, mumbling something to each other. Sasuke nudged Karin, her eyes snapping open at the third nudge. Alert, just as a guard should be.

“You didn’t eat,” she whispered.

Sasuke stared at the fish. “You didn’t either.”

“I’m on a diet.”

He stood up, “me too.”

There should have been a giggle, or a but Sasuke-kun, you’re perfect already . But Karin only stood up, picked up a stick with a fish on its end, and handed it to him. “You need to be at your best.”

Sasuke looked down at the fish, then glanced up. Karin was scanning the surroundings, a small frown on her face, too many emotions behind her eyes, that Sasuke had no energy, time, need, or want to decipher. But he knew the way she rolled her shoulders back, the way her back straightened, the way she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

He rushed chakra into his eyes, the world bleeding around the edges. “You feel them, don’t you?”

Karin gave him a curt nod. “You need to eat, Sasuke-kun.”

It sounded like she was telling him to eat because she knew it was going to be his last meal. But Sasuke obliged. For a last meal, it sucked. But it filled his stomach and that’s all it mattered.

Karin set a slower pace. Sasuke understood it for what it meant, Karin trying to postpone the inevitable. He was a little insulted that she thought he was going to die, but he kind of thought the same thing, so it was understandable. It was fine. But halfway through the day, she sped up. They all followed after her, until they stopped at a clearing, a few kilometers away from Suna’s border.

“Naruto!”

Sakura past them, followed by Kakashi. Naruto was running towards, unharmed, alive. Itachi nowhere in sight.

“Sakura-chan! Kakashi-sensei!”

Sasuke turned to Karin. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” she wore a deep frown. Her voice was laced with annoyance and disbelief. “I lost him. That’s why I ran faster, I thought...” she shook her head. “I’m sorry, Sasuke-kun.”

She was probably only half sorry, as apparently, he wouldn’t die that day. He shook his head, “it’s fine. We’ll find him another day.” He turned his attention to his old team. Both Kakashi and Sakura were checking Naruto over, as if they didn’t know that all his injuries would have healed. “Now,” he cleared his throat. “I’m going to kill that idiot.”

Karin held him back. “He’s the only one left from my clan.”

Which was not a fair statement to say at all because Sasuke had a lot of reasons to kill Naruto, of course, but the pain on her voice was understandable, understated, visible, and it...might have hit too close to...he crossed his arms. Everything was hidden, underneath his sleeves, but it was still there.

Naruto telling him that his brother had saved him, like Itachi hadn’t attempted to kidnap him when they were younger.

Naruto telling him that Itachi burned the first rabbit, as if Itachi had shown that he was a hopeless cook. Like--

“Hey.”

Sasuke shook his head. Naruto was standing in front of him, having apparently switched spots with Karin, who was with Kakashi and Sakura, talking. When had they switched? Such a lack of observational skills would get him killed on a fight. Orochimaru would have pinned his eyes open and put him through a sleep deprivation regimen until he pulled himself together, how was he so distracted that he hadn’t seen Karin walking away and Naruto standing in front of him?

“Uh--”

“What happened? Where is he?”

Naruto shifted his weight. “I told him I should talk to you first.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. It didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. There was--why would Itachi listen to Naruto? Kakashi would have noticed if Naruto was under Genjutsu, of course, so that couldn’t be it. “And he listened to you?”

Naruto grinned. “He did once I threatened to slit my throat.”

That’s what the cut on his jaw was. He shoved him. Hard. Naruto shoved him back. Sasuke tackled him to the ground. It knocked the air out of his own lungs. That fucking idiot. Almost causing him his life with Orochimaru, making lose sleep over incriminating words, pictures, over--

He landed on his back. Sasuke drove his palm up Naruto’s nose. Two cracks . Warm blood dripped onto his shirt. Spilled down his mouth. He closed his mouth, not wanting to taste metal, not willing to admit that he had just punched himself.

But it healed.

“Are you done?”

Sasuke buckled his hips, throwing him off, slipping under him, and kicking him on the back. It hurt . But he didn’t give a fuck, if he needed to kick his own ass to kick Naruto’s, he would gladly do that. The fucking idiot. Naruto blocked a kick. Sasuke flashed behind him, kicking him in the ass. It hurt. This was absolutely--

Naruto grabbed his shoulder and flipped him on the air. Slammed him against the ground. Sasuke bit back the groan, but another came from Naruto. This was so stupid. What kind of sick joke was this? It was absolutely, fucking ridiculous--how did Itachi ever expect him to kill his--whatever to obtain the Mangekyou? That would be suicide. This was fucking bullshit. He threw a fireball in his general direction, holding his breath until he didn’t feel his own skin scorching, until he sighed in relief after Naruto dodged.

Okay.

Okay, he got it.

It was fine. He took a deep breath. Naruto was breathing hard, his eyes on him, a scowl on his face.

Sasuke took another breath. “What happened?”

Naruto looked to his left. They were all watching them. Kakashi might have been holding back both Sakura and Karin. “I don’t know if you want them to hear.”

Sasuke nodded in the opposite direction, signalling to Karin that he would be back. Kakashi must have understood as well. They put some distance between them, staying quiet until Naruto halted. Sat down. He stared at him expectantly, until Sasuke was sitting down, too.

“What happened?”

Naruto sighed. “They attacked. They knocked me out and when I woke up, I was in a cave. I don’t know what happened next, but Itachi was...not happy. He dragged me out--I think he must have killed some of them. He let me go, but it was weird , you know? I mean, he kidnapped me, so why would he help me escape? I asked him and he ignored me, but you know me,” he waved his hand. “He didn’t want to talk at first and he kept talking in riddles. He kept asking about our messages.”

Sasuke counted to a hundred, but Naruto was just staring at him, like he was some little kid, a toddler, and Naruto was trying to figure out how to tell him that the store ran out of his favorite candy. “And?”

“His boss told him to kill your family.”

“ What ?” The question was flat. But--but that was mostly because he could not have heard right. Could not have possibly heard right.

“He said it was the only option. It was a mission,” Naruto’s voice broke, in the way that something it did when they were younger, the way it broke when they first left the village and were attacked by mercenaries, the way it broke when they had buried Zabuza Momochi and that kid that killed Sasuke.

“It wasn’t,” Sasuke gritted out. “He was crazy and murdered everyone, he told me it was to--”

“Test himself,” Naruto finished. “He told you to find him after you killed your best friend, after you became strong. Didn’t you feel confused af--”

“Of course I was confused afterwards!” Sasuke stood up. He could not punch Naruto, because that would be punching himself, and he didn’t need that right now. He just needed to--

“I think he really wants you to kill him.”

“Shut up!”

And for once, Naruto did. He was going to--

What did--

Why would--

Itachi was lying. Obviously. How did Naruto believe him? Why did Naruto believed him? Why did--

“He said he was going to wait in ‘that room’. I don’t know what room he was talking about, to be entirely honest, but--”

Sasuke shoved him to the ground, turned around, and sprinted. The curse seal spread across his body, until it consumed him, the wings tearing his back to break free, and he took flight. The air was thinner, but his lungs were used to it. And he was a faster flyer than runner, anyway. That room--Sasuke knew exactly he was talking about. Underneath the shrine. The secret room.

--------------------------------------------

Danzo Shimura died. His brother should have killed him, but Sasuke’s temper was hotter than Itachi’s, had always been like that. And his blood had boiled with fury, with a desperate need to right the wrongs placed on him by strangers. Placed on his brother by strangers.

It looked like an accident.

The Elders’ deaths looked like an accident, too. Sasuke ignored the look his brother sent him when he heard of those deaths. But Sasuke had been trained by Orochimaru, had never carried political assassinations, but had picked up plenty of tips on how to carry them out. They were old and it wasn’t difficult. It was more than what they deserved, but Sasuke had trained under Orochimaru for three years, and knew the importance of keeping appearances, knew the importance of making deaths look like accidents or suicides.

He always thought that he would only kill one person, but he supposed that his brother’s life was worth three assholes’ lives. It was a fair tradeoff.

Sasuke squeezed the tomato. The store owner handed him a bag with a bright smile, and a bag of rice, for free. It was weird.

The Hokage had made a big show about it all. About most parts. In the dead of night, Sasuke wished that she would have admitted what the village did, what they forced Itachi to do, but Itachi had received a pardon. He had received a pardon. Their betrayals written off as self-sacrificial missions, missions to infiltrate Konoha’s worst enemies, and whisper back their weaknesses to take them down.

Sasuke tried to pay for the tomatoes, but the store owner refused. “For Itachi.”

It was not the first time that it happened, that Sasuke heard his brother’s name on a civilian’s mouth with admiration, respect--exactly the way that he sounded when he was child, looking up to his big brother. But he was still getting used to it.

He thanked the owner and jumped on the roof, heading back to their apartment. Itachi was gone on a mission, with Kakashi and Guy--which was weird, with people that Itachi fought not that long ago. He shook his head. They would be back soon, but until then, the apartment was empty. He unlocked the door, taking his shoes off, and heading to the kitchen. He took out a cutting board and knife, until his eyes caught words along his thumb.

Are you free?

Naruto had been practiced his handwriting, the letters no longer squeezed together, no longer slanted to the right. He picked up a pen.

Making lunch.

Be there in three.

Sasuke walked to the door, opened it. Naruto was standing there, a wide grin on his face. He sidestepped Sasuke, taking his shoes off. “What are you making?”

“Lunch.”

Naruto rolled his eyes, though he was clearly looking at the kitchen. He pushed his lips into a pout when he spotted the vegetables, the lack of noddles anywhere on the counter. “That’s fine, Iruka-sensei is taking me out to Ramen in an hour.”

“I wasn’t offering to feed you.” Naruto hummed, before turning to look at him. Sasuke felt the glance on him as he sliced the tomatos. The eggplant. Finally, he set the knife down. “What?”

“The Chunin Exams are coming up.”

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. “So?”

“Granny says that I can’t ever be Hokage if I stay as Genin!”

Sasuke smirked. “Maybe--”

“Don’t--”

“It’s time for you to find a new dream.”

“Hilarious,” Naruto said.

Sasuke looked down to hide a smile. It felt good to return his oh-so-helpful-words back to him. Though to be fair, they had been useful: Sasuke had found a new dream. Killing Danzo and the Elders. And Naruto was right, he was happier than he imagined he would have been if he killed his brother. He clenched his jaw--he had been so close to killing his brother, until--

He shook his head, looking back up at Naruto. “You know, you’ll pass if you take them.”

“I want you take them with me--”

“No.”

“Why not? Do you want to stay a Genin forever?”

Sasuke felt a bit foolish doing D-rank missions, but he finished them in a flash, was paid, and had time to train and do things that he never had time to do. Besides--more importantly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to be higher ranked, wasn’t sure he wanted to obtain mission that he...shouldn’t carry out. If someone ever handed him a mission, like they had done his brother, he wasn’t sure that he had the self-control not to stab the Hokage, or whoever handed him the mission. There was no morality issues when he painted someone’s fence.

“Do you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

“But I was thinking,” Naruto shoved him his hand. “We could cheat like this! Sasuke, it’s perfect! Life has handed us the perfect opportunity to cheat on them! I want to cheat .”

Sasuke snorted. “I already--”

“I know you did, but I didn’t get to--”

“Because you’re an idiot.”

Naruto groaned. “Just help me cheat!”

Sasuke looked down again, feeling a slight tug on his lips. “No.”

“You know,” Naruto said. “I could just doodle on my face again.”

He glanced up. Naruto was holding his pen, hovering it over his cheek. “Don’t you dare. I’m going to kill you.”

“Take them with me!”

“No!”

“Come on.” Naruto set the pen down. “If you don’t want to go on missions,” he cleared his throat. Sasuke bit back a sigh. They had that conversation one night on their stomachs, the last time Sasuke drank, thank you very much. “You can be a teacher. Like Iruka-sensei.”

Sasuke snorted. “Who would ever let me be a teacher? Idiot.”

Naruto shrugged. “I think a lot of kids could learn from you--who else would teach them how to carry S-rank, undercover missions so well?”

Sasuke threw an apple at him, not surprised that he dodged.

“Come on, Sasuke,” he pouted. “Take them with me. Karin will be our third member! She already said yes. And Sakura-chan told me that she’ll cheer us the last stage.”

“That sounds quite terrible.”

Naruto sighed. And continued to pout, twirling the pen in his fingers. Sighing. And pouting.

“ Fine . But I am kicking your butt in the finals.”