The Fox Hidden In The Leaves (Completed)*WATTYS 2017*

Chapter Five: The Party (Part 1)

The next week went by pretty fast for Naruto, well, not all of it. There were several occations when time seemed to slow down to a crawl for him. The first time was that Monday.

Never someone to waste time Sasuke had insisted on talking to Naruto alone about what had happened.

Naruto had begged Tsunade to let him tell Sasuke the whole truth, as he had his other friends, it was the only way to get Sasuke to trust him, Naruto had insisted to her.

Tsunade finally agreed, after almost ten minutes of groveling. She was going to let him anyway, she just wanted him to squirm a lil first. It was mean, but Tsunade just couldn't resist sometimes, he was like her lil brother, and what big sister doesn't like torturing her lil brother occationally. She did however tell Sasuke that what he was about to be told was an S-Rank secret, and if he betrayed the village again, or specifically Naruto, she would personally hunt him down and kill him.

Sasuke didn't scare easily, but the killing intent he felt from her when she told him the last part, dwarfed anything he'd felt from anyone in his life. He got the message very cleary. When she wanted to be, she was more terrifying than all his current bad memories and nightmares combined. He saw Naruto flinch when he felt it. If Naruto was afraid of her when she was mad, and he'd killed Itachi, Orochmaru and Pain, then he had no chance at all. Sasuke had his private talk with Naruto, and most of it was shocking. Sasuke listened intently as Naruto told him about the fight with Orochimaru, he was glad the snake man was dead, he only went to him for power anyway, and even that had failed to get him what he wanted. The battle with Pain was just as interesting, but Naruto's battle with his brother Itachi was by far the most interesting to Sasuke. He was visibly upset Naruto had killed Itachi, not him, and he told Naruto exactly how he felt, but he was still glad his clan had been avenged, eventhough he hadn't been the one to do it. Part of him wished Itachi had come back so he'd have some family again, but that didn't last long. His older brother Itachi, the one he respected and loved when he was little, had died a long time ago as far as he was concerned. Sasuke wasn't really very surprized to learn that Naruto had Kyuubi sealed inside him, it explained a lot of things he always wondered about. What had really shocked him was finding out who Naruto's parents were. The stoic expression he was known for, dropped off for almost two minutes at hearing that, which got a laugh from Naruto at breaking his mask, something he'd been trying to do since they'd first met. But even that news paled in comparison when he found out what had happened during the three year training mission.

When Naruto dropped his henge he was the sole witness to something so rare most didn't think it possible... Sasuke Uchiha fainted. He wasn't out long, but when he woke he made Naruto promise, on everything he was, that he'd never tell anyone what had happened, not even Tsunade, even if it cost him his life. Naruto agreed, but on the condition he come to his housewarming party that coming Saturday and for once take that sick out of his butt and be a regular person and have a good time.

Though a lil upset for a minute, he knew Naruto well, if he didn't agree Naruto would tell everyone in the village he'd fainted. That was something he couldn't allow. His reputation, not to mention his image, would be destroyed. Plus there was the added thought that hearing he'd fainted would make his fan girls, that he knew were still out there, want him even more. That thought sent a shiver down his back. He agreed to try, but no promises.

It wasn't much, but Naruto knew he'd started forging a new friendship with Sasuke, and hopefully expanded his family by one more person. It'd take time, but Naruto could wait for Sasuke to come around to his way of thinking about things. The worst part of the week, and toughest moment of his life, no comparison, was his first couple meetings with Tayuya. Luckiy for Naruto, Tsunade was there with him, but to say that she was grateful he freed her from Orochimaru and that Curse Mark was the understatement ot the century. As he'd found out that day, when Tayuya wanted to do or say something, she did it without regard to where she was or who was around. And unlike Hinata, as he discovered the hard way, much to his extreme embarrassment, she wasn't shy, Naruto doubted she even knew what the word meant. When he'd first walked into her hospital room she'd been sitting on the side of her bed waiting for him like a big red puppy.