Just Friends (Sasunaru/Narusasu)

Part 8

The next day...

Team 7 had gotten ready for their mission, packing new bags, and doing it quickly to not be late. Naruto and Sasuke felt like they had barely gotten a break, but then again it wasn't like they hadn't been informed of the mission just now, so they weren't going to complain.

The day before, Kakashi had all told them they would be helping a village right there in the Hidden Leaves that was under attack. Apparently, they were being raided and attacked by a gang that had started recently popping up called Doragon, a name that everybody started laughing at for its cheesiness.

The three genin waited around the entrance of the Leaf Village. Sakura was talking with Naruto and both boys noticed some kind of change about her. She hadn't tried to hit on Sasuke yet and she wasn't getting angry at the things Naruto said.

Poof! Kakashi appeared balancing himself on a tree, looking a bit embarrassed as the team yelled, "YOU'RE LATE!"

He jumped down, giving an excuse that he'd already used hundreds of times. "I simply got lost on the path of life."

Naruto harumphed saying, "And I'm a six-eyed frog."

A small laugh came from Sasuke and he eyed Naruto admiringly. How he wished to just walk up to that idiot fox-boy and tell him that he loved him. And he could.

Couldn't he just walk up to Naruto and tell him right now? What difference would it make if he did it now or later? Sasuke internally screamed as this battle of thoughts happened. Now isn't the time... Naruto doesn't love you at all... You'll just make a fool of yourself... Finding Itachi is more important anyway...

Sasuke is such a coward.

"Well, time to leave then," Kakashi said, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts.

"IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO!" Sakura screamed, looking like some kind of demon. She raised her fist into the air, seconds away from punching Kakashi when some common sense overtook her. Instead, she turned the fist back the other way and placed it on her hips, an angry expression used by her mother as well.

Kakashi laughed and jumped into the forest, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke quick on his trail.

-🍥-

"Soooo, Sasuke," Sakura said, appearing next to the raven. He was watching Naruto jump through the trees, side by side with his sensei, and heard his crush yell something ridiculous.

He noticed Sakura, turning his gaze to the pink-haired girl. "Yeah?"

"...uh. Well, I just wanted to tell you something."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He guessed it would be some kind of love confession. He'd have to let her down gently if he wanted to stay on good terms with Sakura. "What is it?"

"Right. So. I used to really like you, as you probably already know," She started. Sasuke remained quiet and stared at the trees in front of him. "But I don't anymore."

This was quite a surprise. Sasuke looked at her, his eyes widening. "Really?"

"Yeah, I've finally realized that I never really liked you. Sure, you're a great guy and all but my 'crush' on you was just because I wanted to follow the crowd, in this case, your fangirls. I thought that if I did the same as they did, I could be friends with them. Really, all it's brought for me is nothing but trouble." Sakura chuckled, thinking of Ino and so many other girls.

"That's nice to hear. It was hard to work as a team with you clinging onto me all the time."

A few moments passed with them jumping through the branches until Sakura made a devilish grin. "Another reason is... well I know I don't have a chance with you because you're already in love with someone else."

Sasuke's breath caught. "You know?"

Sakura leaned so the others couldn't hear. "It's Naruto, isn't it?"

There was no point in lying to Sakura. "Yes..."

Sakura pumped her fist in the air, yelling, "WOOHOO! I KNEW IT! THE WAY YOU LOOK AT HIM ALL THE TIME I COULD REALLY TE-"

Sasuke panicked, covering Sakura's mouth before anything else slipped out. He was blushing like crazy, hoping Naruto was too immersed in his conversation to care about what was happening behind him.

Naruto stopped mid-sentence and looked behind him to see what all the commotion was about. He could see the beautiful pale boy as red as a tomato, something he's seen rarely happen, if ever. Kakashi eyed Naruto and Sasuke, thinking about how he and Iruka started dating.

Kakashi raised his gloved hand, announcing that they were going to make a stop. Soon, the team of four was on the grassy forest floor, sitting against some trees. At least Sasuke and Kakashi were. Sakura was too giddy with excitement and couldn't sit down, and Naruto was... well he's Naruto so he couldn't really be still.

Sasuke buried his face into his hands and groaned. At this rate, everyone in the village would know and he wouldn't get the chance to properly tell Naruto he loved him before somebody else did.

"I'm gonna go check the area a bit. I know we're already pretty close to the village so we have to be careful. The Doragon members could be anywhere, and not just them but others as well," Kakashi told his team.

"Sure," Sasuke mumbled, now pulling his hands away from his face.

Naruto put his arm out in a punching position, yelling, "Believe it!"

Naruto turned around and went in Sasuke's direction. He sat down under the tree and leaned into the raven, looking at the clouds. Sasuke looked at Naruto, feeling his heart beat fast, faster.

The blonde pointed at one of the clouds pointing out that it looked like a cat. Sasuke would have replied, "A scaredy cat like you," but he couldn't seem to say anything. This moment was so amazing. Everything felt right with Naruto's body leaning into him.

 He didn't think about it. Sasuke was about to kiss Naruto when-

"AH! HELP! SASUKE, NARUTO, SOMEONE!" Sakura screamed, drawing their attention to the pink-haired girl. She was being held down by a ninja dressed in all black with scaly patterns in gold running down his outfit. He wore a black mask and dared to wear his Hidden Leaf headband.

Kakashi came running, throwing a kunai knife at another ninja, yelling, "WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"