Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Stranger than the Wild	By : kiddattwell Category: Naruto > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 30155 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and I don't make any money off of it.

Chapter List
- 18
- 19
Chapter 19

---- ---- ---- ---- SAKURA

“So... do you think you’d want to be in a relationship with us both, Sasuke-kun?”

Sakura had rolled on to her side to face Sasuke, her head resting on her outstretched arm while her legs dangled off the end of the bed. Sasuke was on his back, staring up at the canopy. It had taken awhile for them to get their heads on straight, for Sakura to stop tearing up every time she spoke and for Sasuke to come back to reality. But after they had each recounted their versions of the last few days, Sakura had recovered enough to think of some questions. Namely, the most important one.

Sasuke closed his eyes. She touched his chest.

“Would you want that?” He asked.

“I don’t think there are any other options that would make all three of us happy.”

Sasuke’s brow tensed.

“Don’t worry about us. Think about yourself,” he said. “Would you want it?”

“I love Naruto and... I love you. I didn’t know that three people could... well... I never even considered it. But now that I think we can... This seems like the only option that would make me happy, too.”

He opened his eyes and rolled to face her, holding her hand in place against his chest so it didn’t fall away.

“Do you understand what that would mean? To be with us both?”

“I’ve thought about the repercussions, what people might say. I’m scared of how it might affect our careers, especially Naruto’s since his dreams are so lofty. I suppose keeping it secret or coming out with it is something we’ll have to figure out when the time comes.”

“What about... the other part,” Sasuke asked. A little bit of irritation crept into his expression when she just blinked at him. “The part where you’re with both of us?”

“Oh! Um...” Sakura fought to keep looking him in the eye. Talking about sex with Sasuke was definitely not something she had any practice at, but she tried her hardest to sound mature and calm, “I’ve... thought about some things and... researched some things.” Her volume of Arise, My Knights may have been trying to send her to an early grave, but it had been a useful reference book. “I think I’ll be able to roll with it.”

“Roll with it,” he repeated incredulously, and squeezed her hand.

“Would you want that, Sasuke-kun? To be in a real relationship with us both?”

He lowered his gaze. Sakura could feel his heart knocking around in his chest.

“Yes,” he finally said.

Sakura had given herself to Sasuke so many times in the hope of hearing that one yes. She always thought that if he ever accepted her, she’d probably be too happy to function.

But in reality, she felt... heavy.

Sasuke wanted to be with them. He’d decided to trust her. She didn’t think he trusted himself half the time, but he trusted her. She could never let him down. Ever.

I have to make this work, she thought as bubbles of anxiety began to ripple through her.

With confidence she didn’t have, she grasped the hand holding hers and said, “Ok, then. I’ll figure out the best way to talk to Naruto and get this done. I won’t let you down.”

Sasuke’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t say anything. She pulled his hand closer to her.

“Really. You have nothing to worry about. I’ll handle everything.”

He stared at her steadily, and said, “You didn’t bow.”

“...What?”

“When you’re assigned a mission, you’re supposed to bow to the highest ranked ninja in the room after you accept,” he said, his face inscrutable.

Sakura gaped at him, unsure how to take his jab. She was feeling too many new emotions to be able to gage whether she should laugh or be insulted.

“Sakura,” he said, “If we’re together, I don’t need you to be my subordinate. Or my handler.”

“I... I know, but... I wasn’t sure if you wanted to put yourself out there... This isn’t going to be easy...”

“Nothing about this situation is going to be easy, but if we’re doing this, I want an equal part in it.” He pulled his hand out of her grasp, only to grab her forearms and drag her closer to him. “You’ll have to trust me. You’ll both have to trust me.”

She wanted to babble away at him, saying of course she trusted him, always had, team bonds and all that. But the truth was, she didn’t. Not the way she trusted Naruto. Hell, not the way she trusted Kakashi.

As much as she cared for Sasuke over the years, she had always assumed the connection was much more fragile on his end. Because of that, she tended to handle him as gently as possible, not wanting to do anything to jeopardize their relationship, even when they were just teammates. Even now, her first instinct was to just appease his suspicion so as not to offend him.

But he was right. They couldn’t have a real relationship with her tip-toeing around him, trying to keep everything perfect.

He said he wanted to be with her...

Sakura glanced up into the black eyes only inches away from hers. She could barely believe how close they were, that he was holding on to her of his own accord. He was waiting for her response.

...It was hard. It went against her deeply engrained Sasuke-based instincts.

But she had to take him at his word if this was ever going to go anywhere. And she really wanted it to go somewhere.

“Ok,” she whispered, “I’m counting on you.”

Sasuke nodded, then rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes. Sakura was grateful. She really didn’t want him to notice that his sudden movement toward her had caused every drop of blood in her body to rush to her face. She tried to relax, even as she noticed that his breath smelled like the sweet, slightly peppery desert fruit that he had eaten for breakfast, and that his hand was absently rubbing her arm.

Sakura probably would have been happy to die in that bed next to Sasuke, but that plan got shelved by a few hard raps on the door.

They both jerked upright as it creaked open.

“You guys done gossiping yet? The carriage is ready and I brought bathing suits,” Temari called.

They both rose at her command, Sakura going into the bathroom and slipping on her borrowed bathing suit in a daze before following Temari to the entrance of the mansion where Kankuro was waiting for them.

“Hey, bro asked me to hold you up. He wants to see us before we leave,” Kankuro said to Temari, who huffed.

“What? Why?”

“Don’t know, but we should probably let them go ahead of us just in case it takes a while. He might not be able to talk until after his meeting.”

If her mind was working correctly, Sakura may have politely insisted that they wait for their hosts. But part of her couldn’t quite adjust to the fact that this world, the one where she was a ninja and a medic, and the newly christened Suna-magic-bedroom world, the one where she and Sasuke had confessed their feelings, could both be one in the same.

It was amidst those sort of calculations that she let herself be shuffled into the carriage with only an equally dazed Sasuke by her side.

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

What Temari called “the diving cave” was located deep in the mountains surrounding Suna. Protected from the constant bombardment of sand outside, the cavern was warm and humid. Smooth sandstone pillars were illuminated by their lamps as they walked in.

“Oh!” Sakura exclaimed as the water came into sight. Steaming and milky in color, the surface was perfectly still and smooth.

Their escorts had gone back to the Kazekage’s mansion to wait on the rest of the party, leaving her and Sasuke to themselves underground in a world that seemed as unreal as the rest of the morning had been.

After they hung their lamps on some hooks installed in the walls of the cave, Sakura lingered at the edge of the water, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. Sasuke threw his shirt off as easily as he and Naruto did at home, but... the bathing suit Temari let her borrow was a rather... elaborate and scanty bikini. Sakura didn’t have many body hang-ups, but after everything that had happened, she was feeling a bit shy at the idea of stripping down in front of Sasuke.

Knowing she couldn’t put it off forever, Sakura casually walked as far away from the lights of the lamps as she could get before she undressed, then immediately splashed up to her waist into the water. She had tried not to look at Sasuke before she disrobed, but she found his eyes were on her as she treaded through the pool.

The texture of the water was slimier than she expected. Even the sand under her feet felt like mush. She glanced again at Sasuke, who she heard wading toward her, but quickly turned away in case she started to blush again, “This water feels weird, doesn’t it? What do you think makes it so slick? I wonder if it’s the minerals in the rocks or the spring that feeds into the... um...”

Fingertips traced up her back, so softly that she thought she might have imagined it. She shivered as they traveled up to her neck, over the sensitive skin left exposed by her ponytail, and down again, following the curve of her waist until two hands firmly came to rest on her hips.

With gentle pressure, Sasuke turned her to face him. There was nowhere safe to look. His gaze was too much to meet and the sinews of his neck had never been so close or available to her. Her hands pressed against his chest as he pulled her closer and she got an eyeful of the muscles that she had always been so careful not to stare at for too long.

They had kissed before, but the deliberate movements Sasuke was making, the pressure of his slick touch as his fingers grazed along her body, was much more intense than their spur of the moment make-out session. It was just this side of scary.

It was that edge of anxiety that allowed her to be strong enough to slip her hand over his mouth as he leaned down toward her.

“We can’t,” Sakura said breathlessly, “Until we go home and talk to Naruto about this, we can’t… It would be cheating. I mean, I’m pretty sure I know how he feels about you; he kissed you and he practically lives in the palm of your hand, but…”

Sasuke nodded against her fingers, but Sakura saw a sort of blank, single-minded drive in his gaze. She’d seen it only once before, that night on the roof of their house, and the memory still gave her shivers.

The dumb, horny part of her brain argued that technically, they were already cheating by talking about their feelings without Naruto present, but she ignored it as best as she could. She waded out of his arms, backing up until she was up to her shoulders in the water, and Sasuke seemed to come back to himself a bit.

Sakura tried to smiled at him, “Maybe we shouldn’t have come alone. The temptation is scary.”

“That’s what Gaara was after, getting Temari and Kankuro to stay behind. He doesn’t know that we already talked about everything, so I’m sure he’s still trying to make me break. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one who picked out your bathing suit.”

Sasuke had explained most of what had happened in Suna while they were chatting in bed. Even in the dreamy state she had been in at the time, she was pretty shocked when Sasuke told her that he had revealed his feelings to Gaara of all people.

“He’s really looking out for you, making sure we have plenty of time to talk...” Sakura murmured, “I think we kind of owe him for this.”

“I thought so too. I’ve been trying to think of something,” Sasuke replied, closing the distance between them and sinking further into the water. Absently, he reached toward her. She thought (or rather hoped) that they had enough self-control to at least touch hands. Her fingers brushed his reaching ones, and he caught them, adjusting his grip so he could pull her toward him.

She was worried for a moment, but he looked like he was in control. More than likely, he was still thinking about Gaara. Which brought up a question.

“Sasuke-kun... when did you realize that you wanted to be with me and Naruto?”

“The party,” Sasuke said, frowning as he came back to the moment.

She squeezed his hands and let herself float a little, using the tension in his arms, “Was it that bad?”

“I’m glad it happened, now. But it was hard.” he said, staring into the water.

“It was hard for me, too, when I realized. What were you thinking at the time?”

“...That I missed you,” he said quietly, “And I missed Naruto, even though he was right there. Knowing I had those kinds of feelings for you both felt like the end of something.”

“It wasn’t,” Sakura said determinedly, pulling herself toward him.

He nodded and he stared down at their intertwined hands.

“But I have to say, I’m glad you came to Suna. Otherwise, this might not have worked out as well as it did. And you made a new friend, too,” Sakura said, trying to perk him back up. Sasuke huffed.

“So when did you know?” he asked.

“Oh, that I, um, wanted both of you in my life?”

Sasuke nodded.

“Well... it was a bit of a process. I sort of guessed your feelings after you kissed me and Naruto the morning before my trip,” she said, knocking their joined hands against Sasuke’s chest as he gave her an irritated glare, “I think I said it before, but normal teammates just don’t kiss as much as the three of us do.”

She explained her miserable tour with Kakashi and the hours she spent agonizing over what to do. The endless speculation. The day she spent in the carriage with Arise, My Knights wedged against her spine, scared to death that Kakashi was going to notice it.

“You mean that book?” Sasuke asked, “That’s what you tackled me for? A dirty novel?”

“Well, yeah! I didn’t want you to guess my feelings after I thought you wanted to be with Gaara. That freaking book has had me living in fear ever since I got it... but honestly, it was a valuable research tool.”

Sasuke glowered at her like he was considering revenge for being manhandled over something so silly, but then he leaned forward to press his face into her shoulder. His head was turned slightly toward her neck; she could feel him breathing on her collar bone.

Sakura tried to control her heart beat. This was just a friendly, platonic... neck and shoulder nuzzle.

Yeah, sure. Just like I do with Ino and Kakashi all the time, she thought dryly.

But it was technically a hug, right? And hugging wasn’t cheating... Tentatively, Sakura brought her arms around his shoulders. The ends of his hair tickled her arms and she used her wet hands to slick the strands back into one piece.

Sasuke’s hands, which had been passively hanging in the water, crept around her waist.

Still a hug, she thought, even as his touch on her spine made her fingers twitch against his scalp. Please stay a hug. I’m not sure if I have the strength to resist anything else.

“Y-your hair’s getting long. And it’s soft,” Sakura said, trying to shift the mood.

“That’s Gaara’s fault, too,” Sasuke sighed against her shoulder.

Sakura had to giggle at that, “Really? How?”

Sasuke described all the pampering Gaara had been putting him through over the last few days and she was able to calm down. After a few minutes, it felt comfortable, almost natural, to be that close to Sasuke, floating in and out of his embrace.

They parted when Temari and Kankuro showed up an hour or so later (thankfully announcing their presence by speaking loudly and hollering for them before they were visible). They jumped into the water with rowdy abandon, cajoling the leaf nins into climbing the stony walls and diving into the deepest part of the pool. After an hour or so, Temari waded back to the shore and produced a bottle of Suna liquor from her bag.

She waggled her eyebrows at Sakura, “We did promise Naruto to make up for you missing the party.”

“Ohhh no. I think I’ve heard enough about the party to know that I shouldn’t be following Naruto’s example. I’m good,” Sakura said, well aware of the fact that she needed 100% of her faculties to resist throwing Sasuke up against a wall and having her way with him.

Sasuke refused to drink as well.

“I’m never drinking again,” Sasuke said, his expression dark.

“Too soon, huh?” Kankuro asked with a grin.

Sasuke turned his head, avoiding the other man’s gaze, clearly pouting.

Temari nudged his shoulder, “It all worked out in the end though, didn’t it?”

Sakura’s heart skipped for a moment and Sasuke looked up too, suddenly alert. Had Temari figured it out?

“If we hadn’t gotten you drunk, you would have been too shy to kiss Gaara and you would have never ended up out here with us now,” Temari gloated, a sly smile on her face.

“…I didn’t say I regretted it,” Sasuke muttered. Sakura was smiling her head off, but she could have cried.

Thank God for Suna liquor.

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

The rest of the day passed quickly, followed by a night of Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro playing the amiable hosts. After dinner, they pulled out every kind of game Sakura had ever heard of and they all played while yelling and arguing and generally having a great time. Sakura couldn’t help but notice Sasuke and Gaara sneak away a few times (mostly because Temari gave her a good-natured elbow to the ribs every time it happened). But as they broke for the night, after everyone stood up and started meandering toward Gaara’s door, Gaara suddenly reached out and grabbed Sakura’s hand.

He pulled her to him, her back falling against his chest as he leaned close enough to speak softly in her ear.

“I’ve been told that you’re one of the brightest kunoichi in Konoha.”

“Um...” Sakura didn’t know what to say. And there was no one to help her as Sasuke was talking to Temari in the hall and Kankuro had already left.

“I’m glad I wasn’t misled,” Gaara said, and released her.

She turned to face him, “Thank you...” she said quietly, “And thank you for everything you did today. I think you might have changed my life.”

Gaara nodded, and Sakura took him in one more time. Gaara had always been slightly intimidating, but... Either she was going crazy, or there was a softness in his eyes that she had never noticed before. And now that she had, she wasn’t sure if she was ever going to be able to be afraid of him again.

“Take care of them,” Gaara said, just as Sasuke called over to them.

Sakura nodded, wondering if she was ever going to be able to live through another twelve-hour period without wanting to shed sentimental tears at least once.

Her eyes were put to the test again the next morning as they lined up outside of the Kazekage’s home to say goodbye to their hosts.

The weather was finally fair and the early morning light was beautiful in the clear blue desert sky. Sakura was fighting the urge to hug everyone, political mission be damned, while Sasuke seemed a little melancholy.

After Kakashi said his goodbyes and let himself be loaded into the carriage, Sakura and Sasuke stood in a circle with all three Sand siblings, exchanging more personal farewells and once again, Sakura was almost moved to tears.

“I can’t thank you guys enough,” she said, her voice wavering against her will. She wasn’t trying to be emotional, but how could she not express her thanks?

“Don’t be silly. Come to see us again, ok? We haven’t had this much fun hosting in forever,” Temari said, patting her shoulder.

Sasuke, however, only had eyes for Gaara, who met his gaze with his own steady one.

“Thank you,” Sasuke said seriously, “I owe you a lot."

Gaara gave him a small, sly smile, “I’ll take my payment, then.”

Gaara grabbed a hold of Sasuke’s shoulders and pulled him to him, his lips finding the dark-haired boy’s with a seemingly familiar ease.

The siblings backed off immediately, Temari giggling and Kankuro with a groan. Sakura staggered back a few steps and hit the wheel of the carriage, leaving her uncomfortably close to what she was witnessing. Fully aware that a couple dozen Konoha and Suna ninja were also watching the scene, Sakura wasn’t quite sure what Sasuke would do.

For a second, Sasuke seemed frozen. But then he grabbed the back of Gaara’s neck with one hand and caressed his cheek with the other, changing the angle of their faces and kissing him thoroughly. Sakura actually had to look away when she thought she saw someones tongue.

She only peeked over again when she heard Sasuke mumble, “For what you did, that’s still too cheap.”

Gaara looked pleased, like someone had just told him a great joke.

“Don’t start laughing,” Sasuke murmured, “You’ll ruin the effect.”

“I won’t,” Gaara said, grasping his shoulder, “Write me. I want to hear how everything goes. Seal your letters and I’ll make sure they’re delivered straight to my hand.”

Sasuke nodded. Gaara reached out a hand to Sakura and she stepped forward to take it, praying she wasn’t as flushed as she felt. He entwined it with his before raising it to his mouth and kissing it. “I hope to see you again soon, Sakura.”

Then Sakura and Sasuke loaded themselves in the carriage across from Kakashi, who was already passively reading a book.

Sakura bit her lip, waving to her friends through the window. It was the first time in her life that she didn’t want a mission to end. But they soon pulled out of sight of the mansion and Sakura was filled with a strange apprehension that was only broken when Kakashi cleared his throat.

“Sunagakure is really working to overcome their reputation for austerity,” he said, never taking his eyes from the pages in front of him.

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

Fortunately, or unfortunately, Sakura didn’t have much time to feel uneasy about going home. She was too busy feeling uneasy about the weird vibes in the carriage.

Trying to make up for the fact that she had basically ignored Kakashi for the entirety of their last day in Suna, she made sure to give him plenty of attention on the road whenever he let his book droop into his lap for a moment. But it was during those moments that Sasuke’s natural moodiness changed into a more direct, prickly energy that was pointed mostly at Kakashi, but also a little bit at Sakura.

It was definitely odd. Sakura thought Kakashi would have teased Sasuke, or at least have been curious about his relationship with Gaara after witnessing the show they put on when they said goodbye, but after his first throwaway comment, nothing more was said. How had things gotten even worse between them when Kakashi had been away from him for a month?

When they stopped to eat their lunch in a rocky little clearing, Sakura cornered Sasuke a little ways away from the rest of the group.

“What’s up? Why’re you glaring daggers every time Kakashi says something?”

Sasuke eyed her with a calculating expression, “Don’t you think you two are a bit too close for comfort?”

“What? Me and Kakashi?” Sakura squawked. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder to ensure they weren’t being overheard, but then he nodded.

“No, I mean... he’s Kakashi-sensei. We may not have always been as close as we are now, but we’ve always been friendly. There’s nothing weird about it.”

“I saw him. In the hall. Leaning up against you.” Sasuke murmured, looking about as awkward as Sakura had ever seen him.

“You did?” Sakura squeaked. But when Sasuke said nothing, she had to speak.

“That... well... I was teasing him about dating someone, so he tried to make me flustered as revenge. He wasn’t serious,” Sakura explained. When Sasuke didn’t look convinced, she gave him a light push on his shoulder, “Maybe Kakashi and I do look close in that way on occasion, but there’s nothing funny going on. I mean, don’t you think I have my hands full with you and Naruto and our whole... situation?”

Sasuke seemed like he was considering her words, but he was obviously still bothered. “I don’t like the way he looks at you.”

“You don’t like the way he looks. But really, Sasuke-kun, you have to try to get along with him. You’re going to be working together at headquarters sooner than you think. And as much clout as you and Naruto have, you really don’t want the soon-to-be-Hokage as an adversary. Especially one that you can’t actually fight,” she added, because Sasuke gave her a look like he would very much like to see Kakashi on the other end of a battle field.

“Maybe you should use this trip as a chance to work out whatever problems you have with him...” Sakura suggested.

“Maybe I’ll march behind the carriage with the rest of the guard.”

“No you won’t!” Sakura half-laughed, half-shouted, and gave him another push. But when he looked like he was seriously considering it, she sidled a little closer to him. This usually worked on Naruto, but she never thought she’d see the day when she’d have to try it out on Sasuke.

She looked up at him as gently as she could, her best innocent expression on her face. “Please, Sasuke-kun. I want to ride back with you. Won’t you try to get along with sensei, for me?”

Sasuke snorted, “You’re cuter when you’re not trying to be cute.”

“Oh? Is that right?” Sakura said, then grabbed his shirt in a loose grip, “So it’ll be cute when I manhandle you into the carriage in front of a dozen or so of our allies?”

“Yeah,” Sasuke said simply, “If you’re willing to go that far, then I know how much you want me.”

Sakura dropped her grip on his shirt, feeling heat rush up her neck. It’s not like she could deny that she wanted him, but hearing it thrown out so plainly...

Sasuke seemed to realize what he said and tried to back petal, “Want me with you. In the carriage.”

Sakura laughed a little, “Well, you already know I do, so it’s a bit late to be embarrassed about it. I mean, if our time in the diving cave wasn’t proof enough—"

“Sakura,” Sasuke said, palming his eyes in his hand.

“Hm?”

“Let’s wait until we get home before we talk about... the caves.”

“Oh, um, right.”

They waited for their blushes to cool, before they rejoined the convoy. By the time they were packed back into the carriage, they had returned to normal... too normal. Probably without realizing it, Sasuke had already sunk back into his sitting-across-from-Kakashi mood.

“So, what are you going to do first when you get home?” Sakura asked Kakashi before he could bury himself in a book, leaving her alone with all of the weird vibes.

“Sleep in my own bed. Maybe for days.”

“Yeah, that’ll be great. Naruto got me a full mattress before I left, so I’ll get to break that in... Unless Naruto has been doing it for me. Has he been sleeping in my room, Sasuke-kun?” She asked. Even if they didn’t have some big cathartic conversation, just making them able to have a civilized chat with one another would be progress.

“Not sure,” Sasuke said. A long, dead pause followed his statement, but then he finally added, “I mostly caught him sleeping on the couch.”

Sakura smiled, partially just out of relief that Sasuke tried to answer her, “Aw. He must be lonely. I’m surprised he didn’t climb into bed with you just to have someone to talk to at night.”

Sakura saw him tense almost imperceptibly. Shoot. I guess that’s weird to say now that I know how much Sasuke-kun would have liked that.

“I thought that wasn’t so strange for the two of them. We found them like that before, didn’t we, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi asked in a teasing tone.

“O-oh, did we?” Sakura asked quickly. The last thing she wanted was to bring up that night, but it was too late. Sasuke looked intrigued.

“When was that?” He asked.

Sakura gave Kakashi a pleading stare. Talking about that would not make for fun, casual conversation.

“When was it again?” Kakashi hemmed, doing his forgetful old man act. Sakura sighed in relief.

“You’ve spent so much time lurking around with Sakura that you can’t remember?” Sasuke asked. Despite his usual, unamused tone, his words seemed pointed.

Kakashi, however, seemed completely prepared for such an outburst.

“Lurking around is a lot more useful than barreling through everything like a genin.”

Sasuke looked pissed, so Sakura had no choice but to butt in.

“Sasuke-kun... Kakashi-sensei’s not trying to tease you. He’s just covering for me. Remember the morning after we all had that fight and I broke into your house to surprise attack you with breakfast? It was sensei who helped me find out where you guys were, so that’s what he’s talking about.”

Sasuke said nothing, but Kakashi sighed.

“You call me sensei again whenever there’s trouble, Sakura-chan. When I’m Hokage, can I at least get upgraded to shishou?”

Sakura, quick to jump on any conversation train that was different than the one they were currently on, replied, “You don’t get to inherent that title from Tsunade-sama. Anyway, I’m sure I’ll have a hard enough time remembering to call you Hokage-sama.”

“You’re eager for Sakura to forget you’re her sensei, even though you set so much stock in the idea whenever you talk to me or Naruto,” Sasuke said.

“Sakura and I have our own, special relationship. Ne, Sakura-chan?” Kakashi asked, smiling at her, his eye crinkled closed.

“Stop being an idiot,” she scolded, kicking Kakashi’s leg lightly, “We’re friends. That’s all. Kakashi’s just trying to annoy you.”

There was a long silence in the cart with Sasuke and Kakashi staring out of separate windows.

It was really starting to piss her off. With her last shred of patience, Sakura said, “You know, you two should really try to bury the hatchet since we’re going to be traveling together for a few more days.”

“I know just where to bury it,” Sasuke murmured.

“Sorry Sakura-chan. I can’t help myself. Sasuke has been easy to tease lately. Almost as easy as you,” Kakashi said, his impenetrable smile in place.

“And teasing is all you’re interested in? It seems like you want more when it comes to Sakura,” Sasuke said.

Even Kakashi couldn’t hide his mild surprise as they waded into new territory. Sasuke had been implying it, but there was no way to wiggle around such a direct accusation.

“Of course that’s all it is,” Sakura protested.

“Like she said,” Kakashi said quietly, “But you don’t agree with her, do you, Sasuke-kun? What exactly do you think I’m after?”

“I could care less what you’re after, as long as you stay away from Sakura.”

Sakura raised her hand between them, “Excuse me. Kakashi is my boss and my friend. We can’t–“

Sasuke held his arms straight out in front of him, “About this far at all times.” He said, indicating the invisible rectangle he was forming with his arms and body, “Maybe double. That would be the right amount of distance.”

Sasuke looked dead serious. Sakura held her hand over her mouth to cover her smile. Kakashi looked kind of pissed off, though.

“It’s awfully nice of you to look after Naruto’s girlfriend so diligently,” he said.

“Yeah. It is.” Sasuke said, a bit of a smirk forming on his face as he realized he’d finally succeeded in getting under Kakashi’s skin.

“I noticed that you don’t seem to mind breaking your own rule, though,” he said, eyeing the lack of space between Sasuke and Sakura on the seat.

“It’s a special rule. Just for you. Since you like to take advantage of how innocent your students are.”

Sakura smacked her hand against her forehead. How the hell were she and Naruto the innocent ones when she was pretty sure they were the only members of the team who were getting any on a regular basis.

“Not like you, Sasuke-kun. You only live with them, eat with them, work with them, train with them, and spend every second of the day with them. You don’t take advantage at all.”

Sasuke scowled.

“Ok, enough! Neither of you take advantage of us. When Kakashi teases too much, I am fully capable of punishing him myself. And Naruto and I like having Sasuke around,” she shot at Kakashi, “You two need to stop diverting the issue to being about other people and figure out what’s going on between yourselves.”

“I don’t have a personal problem with Sasuke...” Kakashi said, leaning back in his seat. Sakura gave him a hard stare, and Kakashi sighed and shrugged, “Well, it is kind of annoying when he’s acting up, but won’t listen to good advice.”

“So your problem is that you don’t like to see him being self-destructive and obstinate,” Sakura jumped in before anything else could be said, “What about you, Sasuke-kun?

Sasuke glared at her, but then redirected it at Kakashi.

“Smug,” Sasuke grumbled.

“What was that, Sasuke-kun?”

“He’s too smug,” Sasuke said a bit louder, “Why would I listen to his good advice when he’s always throwing stuff in my face?”

“I don’t do that to try to make it seem like I’m better than you. I’ve told you a thousand times that I’m not. If I’m bringing something up, then it’s to make a point or show you a pattern that you’re too close to see.”

“Where do you get off lecturing me at all? Maybe I don’t want you shoving life lessons down my throat every time I see you.”

“Fair enough,” Kakashi said.

There was a long silence as the road rumbled beneath them. Sakura didn’t know what to do.

“But it’s hard,” Kakashi added.

Sasuke looked up at him with a glare.

“I still care about what happens to you. And I’ve already failed you before.”

“How?” Sasuke spat, “By doing every single thing you could to stop me? You didn’t fail me. I failed myself.”

“You didn’t. You were just a kid. I was the one responsible for you.”

“No, you weren’t. You did everything you could as a sensei. But that’s all you could be to me. That was the most I was willing to accept.”

“...I’m still sorry. If I had known more, or shared more, or had the right words... I feel like I could have spared you all so much.”

“Don’t you know better than to torture yourself with what-ifs?” Sasuke asked, “I thought you were supposed to be wiser than me, but after hearing that, maybe not.”

“Maybe not,” Kakashi sighed. But they had finally managed to agree on something.

The carriage was silent, but finally free of the negative aura that had contaminated it. Sakura had been holding herself back with all of her might, but she couldn’t take it anymore. She threw her arms around Sasuke, pressing a swift kiss to his cheek as he recoiled from her, and then dived over the aisle to throw her arms around Kakashi’s neck. When she pulled back, they looked so confused that she broke down into nervous giggles.

“I know we like to fight with each other and it can get tense, but... I’m still so grateful that we can all be together like this. I just love you both so much,” Sakura gushed, grabbing both of their hands as she knelt in the aisle between them, “You’re both so... so... I’m just happy we’re a team.”

“I love you too, Sakura-chan,” Kakashi said. Then they both looked at Sasuke expectantly. He raised an eyebrow

“I wasn’t afraid to say it back,” Kakashi mumbled, clasping his other hand over top of Sakura’s.

Sasuke tugged her back on to the seat beside him, snatching her hand away from Kakashi. She couldn’t help but giggle.

It was ok. She already knew he had feelings for her. He didn’t have to say

“I love you.”

The words were soft, but determined. He was looking at her and Sakura actually had to turn away as she had started to blush.

“Ohhhh, Sasuke, I’m impressed!” Kakashi exclaimed.

“Shut up!”

“The way you drew it out gave it much more gravitas.”

Then Sasuke was kicking and Sakura had to jump in front of him as the whole carriage rattled.

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

So many things had happened that it seemed impossible that they’d arrive back in Konoha unscathed. Something had to get in the way. So when the carriage let them off at Konoha HQ, Sakura got out on shaky legs, not just because she’d been sitting all day, but because she could hardly believe the universe had allowed them to get home without incident.

Of course, some things could have gone better. After Kakashi and Sakura went to report to Tsunade personally, Sasuke was caught waiting for her in the hall and got chewed out for leaving the village and his training without notice. Sakura tried to interject when she could, relaying that the Kazekage himself had asked him to accompany him, but Sasuke merely shook his head at her and took his dressing down with grace. Sakura guessed that Tsunade was only putting on the show of anger, because any days she didn’t have to spend training Naruto and Sasuke were days that could be spent doing something else. In the end, Sasuke’s only punishment was administration duty (i.e. gopher duty) until Naruto returned home, beginning first thing the next morning.

Their walk home was quiet. From the moment they had stepped out of that carriage, a countdown had started. Lugging their swollen packs on their backs, walking down familiar streets, a siren in her mind occasionally blasted out: five minutes until she was alone with Sasuke! Two minutes!

“One minute!” it screamed as their house came into view. Even the house was affecting her mind. Had the sight of the gate ever made her heart race like this? Had jingling the keys into the front door ever made her hands tingle?

Alright, now. Let’s manage these expectations, Sakura told herself. She wasn’t even sure what she expected; she’d already made it clear that nothing could happen between them without Naruto. But... they’d really be alone! In their house! Sasuke was probably planning to just take a shower and grab dinner. It was up to her to control herself.

Sasuke walked into the living room and immediately dropped his pack to the floor, turning to her. Sakura followed suit and summoned a weak smile, “We’re home...”

She barely had time to speak the words before Sasuke was reaching for her. He pulled her into him with a secure grip around her back, pressing them together firmly. She felt him tuck his chin down on to her shoulder and his chest deflate as he exhaled into her hair.

When he let her go, he only released her far enough to let them look at each other. His hands slid up her arms and finally into her hair, his thumbs cupping her cheeks.

He looked intense as one thumb traveling to skate across her lips.

“What?” She asked, realizing that he’d been saying something, but she’d totally missed it.

He smiled at her, small, but with the same hint of arrogance that had disturbed the equilibrium of her 11-year-old mind just as easily as it did now.

“What should we say to Naruto?” He said, speaking each word distinctly.

“Naruto? Naruto,” Sakura repeated to herself, pushing away from Sasuke to rub her hands over her face. This was important. They had to talk about Naruto!

“Let’s... um...” she gestured over to the couches. She wasn’t going to be able to think while she was looking at Sasuke.

“It’s really a question of how we ask him,” Sakura said once they were settled on the cushions. Sasuke was sat right beside her, shifting against her until she was leaning more on him than the couch, but Sakura figured as long as she could avoid looking at him, her brain might continue to function, “We should definitely do it right away. No secrets,” Sakura said, and thought she sounded mostly normal, despite being tucked into Sasuke’s lap, living out Sasuke-fantasy 48, except instead of her parent’s terrible old floral sofa from her original fantasy, she had been upgraded to being him within her very own house. Baby Sakura’s mind had been unable to imagine such an outcome!

Focus! We can update the fantasy index later!

“Are you sure you want to be part of that conversation?” Sasuke asked, “I don’t want you to risk your relationship with Naruto if this doesn’t go right.”

“And leave you responsible for the whole thing? No way. I mean, that wouldn’t be very fair when this is what we both want. And I don’t want Naruto to have a reason to question where I stand on the matter. I want us all together.”

She felt Sasuke pick up the end of a strand of her hair, “It’s not fair, but it is strategic, Sakura. If this doesn’t go the way we’d like, I still want you both to be happy together.”

Sakura shook her head, “I wouldn’t have been torturing myself with the idea of the three of us if I didn’t think it was possible. I really do think he feels the same way we do, he just hasn’t thought of this as a possibility. So he’s just... repressing. And super hard, at that. And even before you and I had our heart to heart, I was trying to think of ways to bring this up to him. So, no. You don’t have to do this alone.”

“Alright. Then what’s the plan? I find out when he’s due home and we plan something for that night?”

“Yeah. We’ll take a bath, have dinner, get into a relaxed mood, and then talk to him about it. Gently. We don’t want to pressure him. Just... ask him how he feels about the idea. Somehow...” Sakura said, then sighed, leaning fully into Sasuke’s arms. His hand found hers and squeezed it absently.

“You’re better at handling him than I am,” Sasuke murmured, “And you’re good at expressing yourself. What should we say?”

“I’m not sure... How did the two of you leave things before you came to Suna?”

“He wasn’t happy. He tried to talk me out of going the entire time I was packing.”

“Good.”

“Good?”

Sakura turned to see his face. His brow was furrowed in his usual moody stare. She smiled at him, “Sasuke-kun... he was probably jealous.”

The tension fell from his face in an instant, “...Really?”

She nodded, “Which is more good news for us, but I can’t keep looking for all these little confirmations,” Sakura said, “I think if we just can figure out how to open the conversation, we’ll be fine. It’s just... how do you bring up the idea of adding someone to your relationship?”

“He’ll probably ask about Gaara first thing when he gets back. Is there a segue from there?”

“Well, Gaara thinks we should all be together. We could make it seem like it was his idea,” Sakura smiled.

“He was the one who put the idea in my head,” Sasuke admitted.

“And for that I’ll be forever grateful to him, but in this case, it could be the wrong lead in... How about I say, ‘Naruto, you know how I was freaking out after Sasuke kissed us? How I said I think he’s in love with us, but you didn’t believe me? Well... he is.’ And then... we see how he reacts.”

Sasuke nodded, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. Sakura stared at him for a long moment, basking in the feeling of being connected, of having his arm across her shoulders, of seeing him relaxed enough to close his eyes... but...

She tugged on the bottom of his shirt and he creaked his eyes open. “Should we plan something for all of his possible reactions?”

Sasuke blinked at her, frowning, “Is that what you normally do?”

“Well normally you guys don’t give me time to prepare...” Sakura huffed, “But we’re in a unique situation, right? So why not increase the likelihood of success by planning for everything?”

Sasuke stretched before he reached down and adjusted her in his arms, scooping up her legs to lay across his. He looked a little too relaxed in Sakura’s opinion; there was still a lot to account for, after all!

“I’ll give you three. What are the three worst reactions you’d want a plan for?” Sasuke asked.

“Um... if he freaks out and runs away. If he freaks out and starts shouting random stuff because he doesn’t know what to say... and if he just freaks out.”

Sasuke laid his head on her shoulder, “Ok, talk me through number one.”

“Ok, so... if he runs away...” Sakura began talking strategy, flanking positions, exits and escape routes, but slowly, she noticed Sasuke’s breathing getting heavier. He’d fallen asleep, his head on her shoulder, his mouth slightly open. She shimmied her arm around him and leaned back as well, closing her eyes. She’d just plan everything in her head and tell him when he woke up.

---- ---- ---- ---- NARUTO

Naruto sat down beside the campfire, staring up at the stars. Most of the team was in bed already. It was just him on watch and Chouji cleaning up by the stream after dinner.

The mission itself was nothing special; he knew it wouldn’t be based off the scroll. But his team was acting like a bunch of academy kids, running all over the place and barely following protocol. Everyone knew the mission was a breeze, but that didn’t mean they were allowed to go crazy, did it?

Even worse, he suspected it had to do with him being the leader. Naruto had been the butt of a few jokes from some of the older, higher ranked nins on the team. His party march down main street had become a little infamous, apparently. But half of him couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he was missing his right-hand man. Could it have been possible that no one had ever respected his leadership and it was just Sasuke that had made people take him seriously?

Whether it was Sasuke or the party, he had no idea, but the team was all over the place. He had tried joking around with them when they ribbed him on the first day and asserting leadership on the second and third days, but eventually he broke down and shouted at a ninja who broke formation to chat with his buddy when he was old enough to know better.

But that didn’t make him feel any better, and he realized he was a lot farther away from being Hokage than he had thought he was before the mission started.

And that was on top of trying to figure out what to do about Sasuke. Naruto went from wanting to beat the crap out of him to hoping like crazy that he would come back with Sakura like he said he would. The longer they were apart, the more Naruto felt like something had gone very wrong at the party and he had missed it. When he wasn’t herding his wayward mission crew, he was wracking his brain, trying to figure out what crucial thing he might have missed that night… Or torturing himself with guilt over like letting Sakura down by losing Sasuke...

Naruto started out of his reflections when Chouji reappeared, a pot in his hand.

“The river must have been freezing,” Naruto said.

“It was either cold water or dirty dishes,” Chouji grumbled.

Chouji hadn’t been in the best mood during the mission either. Naruto hadn’t gotten to talk to him about it; Chouji was one of the few people he trusted on the team, so he often kept him sleeping on different shifts or covering his opposite flank. But since he was up…

“You alright?” Naruto asked him.

“Yeah. I guess,” he said, and sat down heavily beside the fire, holding the pot in his lap as he held his hands out to warm them, “I’m not trying to add to the insubordination out here, but I didn’t really want this mission,” Chouji sighed.

“You’re tellin’ me. My whole team is in Suna right now, practically on vacation without me.”

“At least out there you don’t have to worry about them doing something dumb.”

“Have you met Sasuke?”

Chouji snorted, “Good point.”

“You worried about something back home? Shikamaru?” Naruto asked, lowering his voice slightly.

Chouji shook his head, “It’s more like... there’s about to be an explosion.”

“An explosion?” Naruto questioned, squinting at him.

Chouji nodded, “And I want to be there when it happens to keep things sane and under control.”

“Do you mean Shikamaru and Ino are going to fight?”

“Yeah. Something like that. You know how it is, when tension is building up under the surface and things just get that bad vibe...”

“Sure, but... it can’t be that bad. Ino and Shikamaru are dating and stuff.”

“You’d think that would help, but...” Chouji sighed again.

“I mean, if they’re in love, it can’t get too serious,” Naruto said.

Chouji shook his head, “I thought they would settle down if they got together, but that doesn’t seem to be the case...”

Naruto studied his friend. He hadn’t realized that Chouji was so invested in his team. He knew he cared about them, of course, but Naruto wasn’t sure if other teams had dynamics as complicated as Team 7’s. It was actually kind of a relief, knowing that they had problems too. Although, he had to wonder if maybe Chouji, the one who wasn’t in a romantic relationship, had a perspective more similar to Sasuke’s than his…

With that in mind, Naruto asked, “Is it hard being the third wheel to them?”

Chouji smirked, “No… at least, not in the way you’d think. Honestly, if they wanted to make my life easier, they’d be even more together. They’d be married with three kids and running the flower shop full-time.”

Naruto blinked at him in confusion, “Are you saying that because that’s what your parents wanted?”

Chouji nodded, “That. And because they’re the two most important people in the world to me. I just want to keep them safe and happy, and that seems to be the best way to do it.”

Naruto nodded. He understood that perfectly.

“But I think it’s also a little selfish,” Chouji continued, “Sometimes I think that, if I really loved them, I’d let them do whatever they wanted, make mistakes, hurt themselves… But I don’t want to feel them go through that. And I don’t want the family broken up any more than it has to be. I honestly can’t take any more of that.”

That sounds more like me than Sasuke, Naruto thought.

Chewing his cheek, Naruto asked, “What if... one of them was thinking about doing something big and drastic, like... moving away somewhere, to Suna or something. Would you let them go?”

Chouji whipped his head up and gave Naruto a hard look, “Suna? Why Suna?”

“You know… ‘Cause my team’s there,” Naruto replied..

“Oh. Then I guess we’d talk about it,” Chouji said with an annoyed roll of his eyes. “And I’m guessing that Shikamaru and Ino would have split in that scenario?”

Naruto shrugged.

“I don’t know. It would depend on their reasoning. Knowing us, we’d end up fighting about it until we figured it out.”

“What if you thought it was for the wrong reason, but they went anyway?”

“Then I’d drag their ass home and make them explain themselves until it made sense. We’re not strangers. We owe each other a lot. But... if Ino or Shikamaru tried something like that for an obviously wrong reason, then the real reason was probably something they were keeping a secret.”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, they must have thought it would benefit the team if they went there. Maybe they’re in trouble, or someone offered them a lot of money or something, so they left to earn it for us.”

Naruto frowned. He didn’t think Sasuke left for his or Sakura’s benefit. In fact, he seemed to have only been thinking of his own stupid urges.

“Isn’t that always how it is on teams? Somebody cares too much, somebody is overthinking something, and somebody is trying to be self-sacrificing. I’m pretty sure mine is the first role... and the worst role,” Chouji finished in a grumble.

Naruto agreed, although he wasn’t sure who was who on his team. All of those roles seemed to be up for grabs at any given time.

“I feel like I have a hard time keeping it all together sometimes,” Naruto admitted, “Even though I’m pretty sure me and Sasuke and Sakura all care about the team in our own way.”

Chouji gave him an understanding look, “I get you…” he said, “But you know, I have learned something this year.”

“What?”

“Responsibility, structure, and when all else fails, distractions,” he said with a slight smile, “If something really bad is going on, fling the team a curve ball and let them deal with that instead. Preferably something that’ll make them work together. I’m not there right now, but I tried to leave them something to do...”

They all had plenty of responsibilities, but... “A distraction, huh?” Naruto sighed.

“Hm? You got something going on in your group too?” Chouji asked.

Naruto shook his head, but thought, If Sasuke came back, he promised himself that he would try twenty-times harder to distract him from whatever was bothering him.

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

Naruto’s heart was pounding in his chest. It had been running on high all day, and so had the team. He’d made them double their pace for the last two days to save them one extra night of camping, and also as petty revenge for the older ninjas giving him a hard time.

But they’d made it through the gate as the sun was setting. As the mission leader, he had to drop the scroll off at HQ, where the receptionist smiled at him and inadvertently gave him great news.

“You just missed Tsunade-sama and Uchiha-san.”

“Sasuke’s back?” Naruto gaped. Sasuke said he’d come back with Sakura, but part of him hadn’t believed it.

“Yep. He’s been working the last two days.”

“That’s... that’s great,” Naruto said as he tried to compose himself, but he couldn’t help but flash a blinding smile at the lady.

“It... is,” she said, confused, but answering his smile with her own.

Feeling his energy renewed, he dashed home, fishing his key out of his pack as the house came into view without breaking pace. He’d been missing his girl for a month and there wasn’t anything left to think about when it came to Sasuke, no new angle that he hadn’t covered during their nearly two weeks apart. The only thing left to do was see him.

He burst through the front door, practically ramming into the shoe cupboard in his haste to round the corner.

And there they were. Looking startled as hell, too, standing in front of the couch like they had both shot to their feet.

“Sorry about the door,” Naruto laughed, half at their shocked faces and half in relief that Sasuke was actually home, back in their house. Their house.

“Naruto!” Sakura gasped, “You’re early!”

He dropped his pack on the floor and ran over to her, and Sakura met him half way.

“We ran a bit,” Naruto said, pulling her into his arms and lifting her off the floor. He buried his face in her hair and sighed. It felt like two-hundred pounds had fallen off his shoulders.

“A bit?” Sasuke asked. Naruto saw him lean back to sit on the arm of the couch.

“Well, a nights worth,” Naruto admitted, blowing a few strands of Sakura’s hair out of his face.

“I just can’t believe you’re back,” Sakura murmured when he set her back down on her feet, “We were planning everything for tomorrow! We bought the ingredients for fancy ramen and I’ve got all your laundry out hanging.”

“Ooo, fancy ramen from scratch? For me?”

“Of course!” She said heartily, “I mean, I guess there’s no reason we can’t do it tonight instead. What do you think, Sasuke-kun?” She asked, turning to face him.

Sasuke stared at the floor, his expression closed.

“The sooner the better,” he replied.

Sakura squeezed Naruto’s shoulders, smiling like crazy, but... was it just him or was her smile a little... frantic?

Well, she does like to keep to her schedules, he thought.

“So are you going to help too?” Naruto teased automatically as he grinned at Sasuke… before he remembering that he was supposed to be feeling the guy out for any lingering, might-move-to-Suna weirdness.

Sasuke glanced up at him briefly, then looked away and mumbled some disdainful comment under his breath. Sakura giggled and sidled around the couch into the kitchen. Naruto threw himself down on the couch next to Sasuke.

But then Sasuke immediately stood up.

Only... he didn’t seem to know why he did it. Naruto saw Sakura turn in the kitchen to watch him, too, her eyes wide and apprehensive as Sasuke stood motionless for a few seconds before walking towards the front door.

“I’ll... take this. It shouldn’t be... here,” Sasuke said, picking up Naruto’s pack and marching determinedly out the back door with it, presumably to put it in Naruto’s room.

“What’s up with him?” Naruto asked quietly.

Sakura smiled at him, wide and cheerful, “Not sure. Um, what flavor do you want me to make the stock?”

“Red miso,” Naruto answered, and Sakura practically darted over to the stove to get the cooking started, while chirping, “Now come tell me about your mission. Did it go alright?”

“It was nothing aside from a pain in the ass. Yours is the mission worth hearing about.”

“Hahaha,” Sakura said, glancing over her shoulder to look out the back door. Sasuke hadn’t come back yet.

Naruto stood and walked into the kitchen. He caught Sakura pulling the strainer out of the cupboard and wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his mouth right against her ear. She jumped a little when he whispered, “What is it? What’s going on with Sasuke?”

“Nothing! Or… well…. I mean, you never know, right?” She said, chuckling as she stepped away from his arms and turned to him, holding the strainer between them, “I’m sure he’s just happy to see you again in his own, funny, Sasuke-kun way.”

Naruto leaned to whisper in her ear again, “Did you hear about–“

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura called, and Naruto turned. But Sasuke was still on the other side of the sliding doors.

When he opened it, Sasuke looked… apprehensive.

“If you don’t get in here and help me, this is going to take all night and will probably turn into a huge mess,” Sakura said, smiling brightly.

Naruto found his heart thudding in his chest, even as Sakura smiled beside him at Sasuke’s carefully blank face.

Something was definitely off. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Sasuke and Sakura were up to something. Even Sasuke, who usually had a good poker face, was being awkward.

If the two of them were in cahoots, it must have been because they both knew that whatever was going on was something Naruto wouldn’t like.

“So, Naruto... you... you wanted to hear about the trip?” Sakura asked.

Had Sasuke told Sakura about Gaara and waylaid her into supporting their relationship so Naruto couldn’t give him a hard time?

Maybe… But if they were this awkward, it had to be worse than that.

Was Sasuke... thinking of moving to Suna?

“No!” Naruto said, a bit too loudly. They both stared at him. “Not yet,” he added, “I’m going to get in the shower, ok?”

“Oh, right. You were supposed to– or, I... I thought you might. I forgot!” Sakura stuttered.

Naruto practically ran up the stairs.

In the bathroom he threw his clothes violently from his body, pacing in a circle before finally remembering what he was there for and turning on the water.

What could he do? How could he stop this? He stood under the water, wracking his brain for a solution. Chouji said to throw them a curve ball... but what the hell would be enough of a distraction at this point? Something big enough to change Sasuke’s plans...

Naruto stood in the shower until it turned cold, and continued standing there, willing the icy water to wake up his brain and help him think.

Eventually it got to the point where he thought they might come look for him if he took any longer. Shivering, he dried off and started to pray. He needed more time, some kind of interruption. An attack on Konoha! Some assassins! The Aburame family swarm buzzing out of control! Anything!

He was considering sneaking out of the bathroom window and planting some explosives in the field outside when he heard a knock on the front door.

Please let this be good, he thought, before throwing a towel around his waist and creeping down the steps.

The smell of ramen hit him as he descended the steps, and he was momentarily distracted by how hungry he suddenly was, but he saw Sasuke standing at the end of the entrance way. He caught his eye as he heard Sakura’s voice.

“No, I had no idea. I only got back a few days ago and I’ve been so busy, that I haven’t talked to her yet. I’m not even sure if she knows I’m back.”

Sasuke walked over to Naruto and murmured, “Get some clothes on. Borrow some from my room upstairs.”

“Sure, but who is it? What’s going on?”

“Come in for a second and sit down. I’m sure we can figure this out,” he heard Sakura say.

Whoever was at the door must have declined because she said, “Ok, but wait a second and I’ll come look with you. I’m sure we can find her. Just let me go get my jacket.”

“What’s up?” Naruto asked as Sakura turned to him.

“Can you explain it, Sasuke-kun?” Sakura said, jogging out to her bedroom. But there was already someone walking into the living room. It was Chouji.

“I’ll explain it,” Chouji said. Sasuke jogged upstairs himself, leaving them alone for the moment. “That explosion I was worried about? It happened. I can’t find Shikamaru or Ino anywhere. And as if just being missing isn’t disturbing enough, Ino’s run away entirely. All of her stuff is gone. Even the big stuff! I mean, what the fuck?! It’s her house!”

“It’s ok. We’ll find them. If Ino’s got a ton of stuff with her, she couldn’t have gone far without someone noticing. You can’t just stay at an inn with a house worth of furniture as your luggage,” Naruto said.

Sasuke reappeared when Sakura did, buttoning her jacket as she came back into the living room. Sasuke pressed a long sleeve black shirt and loose shorts into Naruto’s free hand. He was still holding two jackets.

“We’re coming,” Sasuke announced, “Get dressed,” he told Naruto.

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

They decided to split up, with Sakura and Chouji going to call on a few of Ino’s friends while Sasuke and Naruto canvased the food district. It was dinner time after all, and they figured Ino had to eat at some point.

Naruto felt guilty that he had managed to manifest disaster on the team that least deserved it. But he was sure they’d find Ino and everything would be alright. It was probably just a big fight that had gotten blown out of proportion. Team 7 had had a few of those themselves over the last few months.

In the meantime, he planned on using this opportunity to lay the team spirit on thick with Sasuke…. while avoiding talking about the Sand at all costs.

Naruto waved Sasuke over to him after circling the restaurant district for the fifth time. “No sightings?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook his head.

Naruto sighed. He’d seen a few of their mutual acquaintances and no one had heard from her or seen her around in a few days.

“This sucks. I feel bad for Chouji. There’s nothing worse than your team going AWOL–“ Naruto clamped his mouth shut. He could have slapped his own face. Those were not the feelings he wanted to bring up in Sasuke. “Thanks for looking with me. It makes it suck less,” Naruto said quickly.

He waited for Sasuke’s snort of dismissal, or some blunt comment about the team they were working with, but nothing came. He just looked at Naruto like he was trying to stare right through to his soul.

“Come on, let’s scan the streets from up there,” Naruto said awkwardly, pointing up at the nearest building. Sasuke said nothing, but followed without complaint.

They moved to a few different spots, scanning the streets on opposite sides of the building, before Naruto tried again.

“I know this isn’t really the best circumstances to come home to, but I’m really glad to be back. I missed you guys when you were gone. The house was so empty when I was by myself. I’ve already gotten used to having you both there with me all the time...”

Naruto chanced a look at his silent companion and found Sasuke was staring hard at his back.

“What?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke stared at him for a few more seconds before turning away again, “Nothing. Should we change buildings?” He asked.

“Yeah, let’s... Oh, wait. I think I see Hinata down there. We can ask if she’s seen Ino. HEY, HINATA-CHAN!” Naruto called, dropping down on to the street.

“Naruto-kun,” she said, surprised, “Aren’t you early? You’re not supposed to be back until tomorrow,” she said happily enough, but then Naruto saw her tense up as he heard Sasuke land beside him.

Great. He traumatized her at the party, Naruto thought with an inward sigh. He might as well get to the point before she tried to run away.

“Ne, Hinata-chan, have you seen Ino at all in the last couple days?”

“I-Ino-chan? Why?” She asked.

“Sakura-chan’s looking for her, but she’s not at home,” was the excuse they decided to use if anyone asked why they were looking. They figured if they couldn’t find her tonight, they’d stop worrying about her privacy and shout loud and long that they were looking for her. But until then...

“But... Sakura-chan’s not looking with you?”

“Nah, she wandered off to ask around while we got dinner,” Naruto fibbed.

“I... guess I can give you the address,” Hinata said, slightly unsure, “It’s not a secret... and if you’re back, that means Chouji-kun must be, too, so someone should tell her...”

“What?” Naruto shouted, “You know where she is?”

Hinata nodded.

“That’s great! Thanks Hinata-chan!”

A few minutes later, Naruto had reconnected with the other two members of the search party and the four of them were marching to the address. Chouji, rather than looking relieved that they had found his teammate, seemed to be settling into an even darker mood.

“This is good, though. She didn’t actually run away if she’s just hanging out in a house in town. Shikamaru is probably there, too,” Sakura said, jogging a little bit to keep up with Chouji’s pace.

“No. He’s not gonna be there,” Chouji said.

“How do you know?” Sakura asked.

“He’d never…” Chouji began, but then stopped, shaking his head, “I just know. They’re not going to be there together. Best I can hope for is that Ino knows where he is.”

They studied the building numbers carefully, the new apartments and townhouses looked nearly identical in the dark. But they soon found themselves on the front stoop of Ino’s supposed location..

However, now that he was there, Chouji seemed reluctant to knock. Naruto squeezed past Sakura to stand beside him.

“Hey. It’ll be alright. And the sooner you see her, the sooner everything will go back to normal,” Naruto said, patting his back.

Chouji took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Naruto could hear little, tappy footsteps, so similar to Sakura’s, approaching the door. When Ino threw the door open, Naruto was only surprised because of the wide smile on her face. But it dropped instantly.

“Chouji! You’re back early!”

“So what? Would I have found you at home with all your stuff if I had come back when you expected me?”

Sakura pushed past Chouji to see her friend, who looked even more surprised when she realized the entirety of Team 7 was also on her doorstep.

“What’s going on?” Ino and Sakura asked at the same time. But Chouji interrupted them.

“Thank you, guys, for helping me find her, but can you give us some privacy now? We need to talk.”

Sakura furrowed her brow, “Is that ok with you?” She asked Ino.

Ino nodded, and Naruto thought she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“How about Sakura comes back in about an hour?” Naruto suggested.

“Yeah, I’ll go get some stuff and come back. Would that be ok?” Sakura asked.

Ino nodded, wiping a tear that fell down her cheek.

“Ok,” Sakura said, and pulled Ino into her arms for a moment. The other girl clutched her with shaking hands before releasing Sakura to join her teammates as they backed down the front stoop. Team 7 watched as Chouji closed the door behind him.

“Man... what’s going on?” Sakura whispered, running her hands through her hair as they walked home, “What could have happened?”

“Chouji mentioned that things had been tense before he left for the mission. Maybe Ino and Shikamaru had a fight and it just got out of hand or something...” Naruto said.

Sakura rubbed her eyes with her palms, “They might have had a fight, but it would have had to have been really bad for her to actually move out. I mean, that girl doesn’t back down from anything. She’d have stayed and fought to the end. I wonder...” Sakura murmured to herself.

Naruto wrapped his arm around Sakura’s shoulder and Sasuke, who had been walking slightly ahead of them, slowed down to fall into step beside her.

“Temari?” Sasuke offered quietly, his arm bumping into Naruto’s hand on Sakura’s shoulder.

“I was just thinking that,” Sakura said.

“What? What’s she got to do with anything?”

“She was practically stalking Shikamaru at the party,” Sasuke said.

“And in Suna, she told me that she and Shikamaru were in a relationship that ended unexpectedly when he got with Ino. She was really upset about it.”

“You know what? I think I saw them fighting at some point at the party...” Naruto said, remembering how he’d thought it was Sasuke being cornered and not Shikamaru, “Those Sand nins were making moves all over the damn place that night.”

“Well, Temari wasn’t wrong to try to talk to him. They’d been a thing for years before he ghosted her,” Sakura said.

“That pisses me off,” Sasuke murmured, causing Naruto to peek around Sakura to make sure he’d heard him right. Sure enough, Sasuke was scowling away.

“Yeah... Shikamaru’s been through a lot, but Temari certainly doesn’t deserve to suffer for it,” Sakura sighed.

“I’m sure they’ll figure it out,” Naruto said, quick to change the subject from Suna, even more convinced that they were up to something because of their new, ominous loyalty to the Sand siblings.

Fate had broken up Sakura and Sasuke’s scheme for one evening at least, but Naruto still didn’t have any ideas about how he was going to convince Sasuke to... not do whatever he was trying to do. Naruto grimaced and silently wished Chouji luck. It seemed like, for the sake of their teams, they were both going to need it.

---- ---- ---- ---- SASUKE

Sasuke stood in the foyer with Naruto as Sakura slipped into her shoes. This was not how he had expected the evening to go.

“Well, I’m off to fulfill my Best friend duties. I’m just sorry it had to happen on your first night back,” Sakura said to Naruto as the boys stood at the front door to see her off.

“It’s ok, Sakura-chan. Best friend duties are practically sacred.”

Sakura smiled, her eyes flitting guiltily over to Sasuke for just a moment. He knew she was still trying to wrap her head around this too. The night Naruto returned was supposed to be their big moment, after all. But she was covering it with aplomb. If Sasuke hadn’t known she was disappointed, he would have never guessed.

“Can you two be good for one more night without me?” she asked, pouting her lip cutely at Naruto.

“Of course!” Naruto smiled, “But I would have been extra good if you stayed.”

With that, he pulled her in by the shoulders and kissed her. When Naruto didn’t let go after a few moments, she squeaked in protest, slapping her hands against his chest, but he wrapped his arms around her tightly and stepped between her legs, forcing her to cling to him or lose her balance.

Sakura let out a muffled whine, a sound that shot straight to Sasuke’s shorts, and he turned away to force himself not to stare. Naruto and Sakura were both very affectionate and he was used to seeing them kiss and cuddle and tease each other, even though they usually made a big song and dance about not doing those things around him. But even before he realized how he felt, he had always been a little fascinated by it, by Sakura’s hand running absently through Naruto’s hair while they sat next to each other on the couch, or Naruto biting her shoulders and neck while they were play fighting.

With the benefit of hindsight, he realized that it had always been kind of... sexy.

That realization didn’t make it any easier for Sasuke to will his body to stop doing what it was doing.

“That should hold me over,” He finally heard Naruto say.

“D-dummy. We’re not alone out here you know!”

“I’m sure Sasuke’s past caring at this point.”

“Hn,” Sasuke replied, glancing down and finding that his dignity wasn’t on the line. However, he stumbled when Naruto’s full weight suddenly pounced on to his shoulders.

“But I’ll kiss you if you feel left out, Sasuke-kuuuunnnn,” Naruto drawled.

Sasuke saw Sakura freeze in his peripherals. It was obviously a joke, not a real offer, but he couldn’t help but lock eyes with Sakura, who, like Sasuke, was considering the moment as an opening.

But Sakura recovered first and tugged Naruto off of him, “How do you have so much energy already? Your mission just ended. Both of you get some rest, alright?”

“But my mission was super boring and lame. Hey, since we kinda had to kill the ramen plan, you wanna go out to eat or somethin? With just the two of us, we won’t have to worry about breaking the bank on Sakura-chan’s mammoth appetite.”

“Hmph! Me and my appetite are going to Ino’s! And maybe we’ll just stay there! Forever!”

But after Naruto chased her down to apologize and kiss her goodbye again, the offer was still on the table and Sasuke couldn’t think of a reason to say no.

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

Naruto was being aggressively talkative.

On the walk back into town he started talking about his “super boring and lame” mission and managed to regale Sasuke with stories about it, both petty and grand, until they were inside the restaurant and had to study their menus.

“I’ve gotten spoiled, I think,” Naruto sighed after they’d ordered and the waiter took away their menus, “I only wanna work with my own team these days.”

For the first time in thirty minutes, Naruto left Sasuke a space to respond, but of course, he only did it after he’d managed to fluster him. Sasuke stared down at the gleaming wooden table, trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t be as obvious as, ‘Me too.’

Sasuke finally decided on, “Me and Sakura are more insubordinate than a team of strangers.”

“But it’s the insubordination I’m comfortable with. Besides, ever since you told Tsunade-oba-chan that you’d support me, I’ve gotten used to it.”

Sasuke glanced out into the restaurant to hide his confusion. That was the third or fourth time in just a few hours that Naruto had said something like that and it was becoming suspicious. Was Naruto... coming on to him? Did he finally get a clue?

No way, he told himself, Hell would freeze over first.

But then what was with the compliment overdose? Did he really just miss him that much?

Naruto had never been an enigma to Sasuke before. Wondering whether Naruto was trying to make his heart pound was as irritating as it was thrilling. But when considering if he’d rather punch or kiss Naruto for it, he couldn’t deny that the kiss side was winning out.

Thankfully, Naruto hadn’t noticed him quietly struggling because he was talking again, this time jumping from topic to topic like he was afraid to let silence fall between them, which, again, was weird. They’d spent plenty of quiet evenings alone while Sakura was away. Why was he so hyper?

But it was hard for Sasuke to think while being bombarded with conversation.

What did Tsunade-sama have him doing at HQ? Had he gotten any more calls to teach at the academy? What should they use their mission money for? When will Kakashi start training them again?

“He might be busy,” Sasuke replied to Naruto’s last query, “I haven’t seen him since I got back, but he has a lot on his plate with the transition being finalized.”

“Oh, I guess he would be busy. How did he do in...” Naruto began, but then abruptly changed tract, “I sure hope Spring comes early this year. I’m tired of training in this icy ass mud. The first thing Kakashi-sensei should do as Hokage is put down some more grass in the training grounds. Somebody’s been tearing it up like crazy.”

Understanding suddenly sank like a stone into Sasuke’s mind. Naruto was trying to avoid talking about Suna. That’s why he wasn’t letting the conversation lull; he was thinking Sasuke would bring it up. He even avoided it at the expense of hearing gossip about Kakashi.

Sasuke felt electric with hope. Was Naruto actually jealous like Sakura had suspected? So jealous that he didn’t even want to hear Sasuke talk about Gaara?

He also felt a little stupid. How had Sasuke failed to notice something so obvious for as long as he did? He shuddered to think how long things might have taken if Sakura hadn’t noticed this stuff and pointed it out to him.

In any case, Sasuke was burning to get to the bottom of Naruto’s strange behavior, so as they walked home, Sasuke decided to give Naruto a push.

After they had arrived back at the house and closed the front gate behind them, Sasuke cut through Naruto’s incessant blathering.

“Naruto.”

Naruto tensed, his limbs becoming plank-like.

Sasuke frowned. He didn’t need to be that worried. “I’m glad you’re home. It’s not right without you here, either.”

Naruto looked stunned, then smiled, quietly pleased. He scratched his nose, “Really? Thanks... it’s... it’s kinda nice, isn’t it? Having people waiting for you to come back? Although... nah, never mind.” Naruto tried the door knob, but found it locked and started to pat his pockets for his key.

“What?” Sasuke asked.

“Just... you know. Me and Sakura were always waiting for you to come back, so I suppose you already knew what it’s like.”

“This is different. This is our home,” Sasuke said, “We’re...”

Family, he thought, but he couldn’t bring himself to say the word.

Sasuke’s heart began to race again, and not in the exciting way that it had over dinner. He quickly produced his own key and pushed through the front door, stepping into the cover of their dark entranceway.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d felt that way, or when it became true, but it was. Even if Naruto rejected him, Team 7 was his family.

Family. It was supposed to be a nice, supportive thing, but Sasuke knew the true power family had. The power they had to hurt you was equally proportionate to the power they had to love you. Families die. They go away. They betray you.

It was so small, just one word, but it was scarier than anything else he could think of. Sasuke wanted Sakura and Naruto. He wanted them so badly that he could barely form coherent thoughts that weren’t about them anymore. But if something happened to them... if anything happened... he wasn’t sure he could take it.

“This is different,” Naruto said, shutting the door and locking it behind him as he crossed the threshold, “I never imagined having a real home like this. And it’s the prestigious Uchiha residence, too,” he teased, “I lucked out.”

“Are you sure? We’re not kids anymore. We both know the truth about the “prestigious” Uchihas. That’s not really a legacy you want to join,” Sasuke said, focusing on keeping his steps slow, his voice unbothered as Naruto groped around for the light switch.

“You’re the legacy of the Uchiha’s. Of course I wanna be part of that. And I want you to be a part of mine too, ok?”

Sasuke stopped in the living room and turned on a lamp, just as Naruto found the entrance way light. He turned to Naruto and Naruto grinned at him expectantly.

Sasuke took a deep breath. “If you want to be part of my legacy, make me a vow.”

“Hell yeah! Should we do a blood oath? You know, there might be some kinda genjutsu thing we could try...”

Sasuke quickly closed the space between them and put both hands on Naruto’s shoulders to settle him down. Then he activated the sharingan. Naruto rocked back on his heels, but didn’t look away from him. When Sasuke was quiet for too long, Naruto asked, “Are you about to use those things on me?”

“Swear that you’ll never let yourself get killed in battle, that you’ll never sacrifice yourself for me, and that you’ll outlive me. If you can do that, you can join my... family,” he finished. He flexed his hands on Naruto’s shoulders to keep them from shaking. If he could hear Naruto swear those words, let the sharingan burn them into the deepest part of his memory... then maybe… he could be brave enough to do this again.

Naruto stared at him, his expression serious as he considered Sasuke’s words. Finally, he said, “Well, I promise I won’t die, at least, not for a good long while, and especially not in battle. But if you don’t want me to sacrifice myself for you, then you better stay on your toes so I won’t have to, ‘cause I won’t let you die if I can do something about it. And as for outliving you... I dunno. You Uchiha are like fossilized cockroaches. Wasn’t your great great grandpa like, 200 years old or something and still kicking?”

“Naruto...” Sasuke sighed and let him go, stepping past him toward the stairs.

“What?! I do gotta die eventually, but it’s not like it’s gonna be that bad. And we got a lot of people waiting on the other side for us, right?”

Sasuke stopped and Naruto caught up to him, turning him around by his shoulders, “Hey, how about this? I won’t die until you’re good and tired of me. And if that’s not good enough... well, I bring other stuff to the table, too! I am gonna be Hokage and that’s prestigious as hell!”

“...I don’t accept.”

“What?!” Naruto shouted.

Naruto manhandled him over to the couch as they continued to debate. They finally decided that Sakura actually had to die last because she knew the least amount of people on the other side so she’d be the most annoyed if she went over first. Naruto would be allowed to die first if it was in defense of the village and if he was over the age of 70. Naruto would not be allowed to die for Sasuke for any reason, but Sasuke agreed not to die until he was 80, at least. And if possible, they would try to arrange it so they all died at the same time.

“But how?” Naruto asked.

“Bomb attack. Half of Konoha raised to the ground.”

“I don’t wanna die when Konoha is being attacked! I gotta stay alive to fight for it.”

Sasuke thought a little more, “Tragic land mine accident while teaching at the academy. You and me and Sakura are 120 years old and fighting about the best way to teach the kids about explosives. You aren’t wearing your glasses and you accidentally set off the whole supply pile. It’s over in an instant.”

“And the kids are scarred for life! Also, this is kinda morbid, isn’t it? It feels like bad luck to be planning out our deaths like this,” Naruto said.

They were both, leaning back on the couch, staring into the dim.

“So... a life time of Team 7...” Naruto chuckled, “I do wanna live to see that.”

“Naruto... thanks for waiting for me to come home. Not just this time, but…”

“Course I waited,” Naruto said easily, then slapped Sasuke on the chest with the back of his hand, “Of course...” he repeated quietly, before adding, “I’m serious about our vow, ok? Were you?”

Sasuke nodded.

Naruto took a deep breath and then sighed, before he sat up and turned toward Sasuke, “Alright, then... So... how was it in the Sand, anyway?”

“Fine... good,” Sasuke said, a small huff of laughter escaping him as he realized that all that soul searching was just the result of Naruto being too nervous to ask him about Suna...

Sasuke really was a love-struck bastard.

Naruto looked suspicious, “How good was it? I don’t gotta worry about you doin the whole expatriate thing, do I?”

Sasuke smirked, “No.”

“So, you and Gaara...”

“We’re just friends.”

Naruto sighed in relief, sliding a bit farther down the couch before he seemed to catch himself. Sasuke’s heart rate had settled down since they came to their agreement, but now he felt it climbing again for a different reason.

“You act like I went there to elope,” Sasuke said.

“You left!” Naruto said emphatically, “With Gaara! Right after you kissed, too! What was I supposed to think? ...Why are you smiling?!”

Sasuke was caught. He couldn’t help it.

“Hmph! Don’t think you’re a big shot just because you’re popular.”

“Are you jealous that I stole Gaara from you?” Sasuke asked, unable to resist egging him on.

“You didn’t steal him! You seduced him!”

Sasuke shrugged, “I guess I was more his type than you are.”

“No way! He just chose you ‘cause I have Sakura. I could totally get that guy to like me.”

“I see...”

“Don’t sound so proud of yourself! If he likes you so much, why aren’t you dating him?”

“Because I like someone else.”

“Whhhhhaaaaaattttttt?!” Naruto screeched, practically levitating off of the couch. He had turned all the way around on the edge of the cushion to stare at him.

Sasuke hadn’t meant to say it. Rather, he said it without thinking. But now was the moment to joke and say Iruka-sensei or Tsunade-sama or someone like that. He’d already gotten to see Naruto act jealous again, which was amusing and satisfying. And they’d vowed to stay together as a family and never die. He didn’t have to push anything. There was no hurry. Sakura would be home tomorrow and they could make their move the way they’d planned, together.

Plus, Naruto was being completely outrageous right now anyway, one second acting like Sasuke was some kind of ultimate flirt and the next acting like it was impossible for Sasuke to even have a crush. It was incredibly gratifying to see Naruto so worked up over him. As far as Sasuke was concerned, he was on top of the world.

But… when you were standing on top of the world, it was similar to being on a high cliff. Sometimes, you just wanted to jump.

Sasuke forced himself to remain calm as adrenalin coursed through him. Sakura’s carefully planned words slid out of his mind; they weren’t his, anyway. Besides, she’d already been brave and made the leap for them back in the Sand when she confessed to Sasuke first. He could return the favor. But he had to do it his own way.

He slid his hand on top of Naruto’s, curling his fingers until they were wrapped under the other boy’s palm. Naruto’s hand was bigger than his and a little rougher. Tanned. Solid. It surprised Sasuke just how right it felt to hold it. Naruto’s eyes widened, then narrowed, “You makin’ fun of me, teme?”

“We just talked about how we wanted to spend our lives as a team,” Sasuke said.

“Oh... yeah,” Naruto agreed.

“So how could I like anyone else?”

“Well, you could still... wait. What?”

Sasuke interlaced their hands more firmly and clenched his jaw, trying to keep himself from doing anything embarrassing like blushing or looking away like a giddy little girl after giving her first confession.

“So... are you saying... you like... Team... 7?” Naruto asked.

“Yes.”

Naruto looked like he was doing complex math in his head. But then he smiled, so bright and happy that Sasuke felt himself lose his battle to look cool and begin to smile in return. Thankfully Naruto covered for him when he threw his arms around him and tackled Sasuke into the couch.

“Teme!” Naruto yelled, “You... ya big idiot!”

Sasuke’s heart raced. His hands were tingling. He gently touched one to the back of Naruto’s head, coarse hair threading through his fingers. The other was trapped against Naruto’s chest, not bothering to hold off any of the other boy’s weight as he pressed into him.

“I love you, teme!” Naruto exclaimed, his voice muffled in the cushions as he gave him a nearly choking hug, “We’re gonna be friends forever.”

Sasuke’s hand on Naruto’s head stilled, then slipped downward to pat his broad back.

So much for that.

I tried, Sakura.

But with Naruto clinging on to him and talking excitedly about staying up all night to catch up, he wasn’t too mad that he failed for a change.
- 18
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Stranger than the Wild