At long last he had fulfilled his promise to Sakura-chan, their irate teammate was back and once again he was a permanent member of Team 7. Sasuke's return wasn't easy on any of them but Naruto refused to turn his back on his best friend, to just give up and wash his hands of him. After all what kind of Hokage would he make if he couldn't even save one friend? (1)
Yeah there were times he wanted to bash the stubborn bastard's head in, times he just wanted to walk away and tell Sasuke to shove off. Every time he fell into one of those funks though Sai was there to help, whether the other shinobi realized it or not. It was Sai's faith in him, Sai's faith in the bond between Naruto and Sasuke that helped him stick it out with the bastard. Sai, the emotionally challenged and socially stunted ex-Roots ANBU whose outlook on life had changed so much as a result of him, Naruto. Sai's admiration was a powerful and potent thing and he refused to disappoint the teen.
Sometimes Naruto just needed an escape from the trials of shinobi life. Hanging out with the Konoha eleven always proved entertaining but only Sai brought out a calmness and tranquility in him that he never even knew existed before. Of course that only happened when he was alone with Sai. If Sakura was around then somehow both he and Sai ended up nursing wounds inflicted by the bipolar kunoichi while Sasuke just sat there and smirked. Throw just Sasuke in the mix and the two brunettes quarreled like a pair of pampered cats over a saucer of milk. Sasuke viewed Sai as his replacement, and yeah okay in the beginning so did Naruto, but Sai was Sai and no one else could compare!
So he said he didn't have any emotions, Naruto had seen different. Naruto knew Sai had emotions, he'd seen them first hand, even been on the receiving end of one of the most amazing smiles ever. And he used to think Sakura's smiles were beautiful, she had nothing on Sai. The problem was Sai just had difficulties understanding and expressing what he felt. Naruto was determined to see Sai open up and grow more because Sai was not just a friend (2), he was a strong, beautiful, and precious person. Not that Naruto would ever admit that aloud! Sai would probably say that his admiration was a direct result of Naruto's penis envy, what with his dick being so small and Sai's being so huge.
And that was the problem. No it wasn't that he had a small dick, though it was admittedly smaller than Sai's, but Sai really did have a friggin huge dick! Not that he compared sizes or anything. The big problem was that Sai seemed to see Naruto as a brother, and he teased and treated him accordingly. The thoughts that went through Naruto's head at times were definitely not brotherly. Ever since Sai had graced him with that beautiful and genuine smile Naruto had been hooked. Sai might as well have placed a collar around his neck with a tag that read: property of Sai, because from that day onward his thoughts were always with the artistic shinobi.
There wasn't a moment his thoughts didn't return to the teen. So much so that he had to beg Tsunade-obaasan to stop sending him on missions alone with Sai. Naturally the old hag had wanted to know the reason behind the odd request and once she realized that Naruto's reason was also a source of great embarrassment to him she needled and hounded him until he caved. Tsunade had never laughed so hard until the day that Uzumaki Naruto, the future Rokudaime, asked that he not be partnered with Sai on a mission unless there was at least one other person on account of Sai's revealing and provocative choice of mission gear (3). It wasn't until that moment that Tsunade noticed just how low on his hips the ANBU's pants rode, and just how very little the teen's shirt actually covered up. Well the boy didn't have a chest to flaunt, like certain kunoichi's did, but he did have a nice pair of abs and so as tempting as it was to order Sai to chose more appropriate attire she instead opted to grant Naruto his request. After all who was she to preach about modesty?
Of course she couldn't just grant Naruto's request that easily, Tsunade then had to find out why Naruto found Sai's outfit to be such a distraction, although she'd already figured it out, but making Naruto admit his attraction aloud allowed her another round of amusement and chance to play mother hen. Naruto had left her office that day grumbling about perverted old hags and skimpy-outfit-wearing teammates.
Even though he had obtained some much needed peace of mind while on missions, missions with Sasuke were not all that much easier to handle either. Sasuke was still the bastard he always was before, meaning a pain in the ass to deal with whenever he was moody or crabby, which was most of the time. Once he made the mistake of mentioning how laid-back Sai was and how much easier he was to work with instead of a PMSing teammate like Sasuke. Lesson learned, never compare Sasuke to Sai except to say that Sasuke is the better shinobi, no contest of course, or suffer dire consequences. Enhanced healing ability aside, Naruto had come pretty damn close to resembling a kyuubi-pin cushion after his rather tactless comment.
For some odd reason he felt more comfortable talking about the private stuff with Sasuke then Sakura, but if he were to tell Sasuke about this, well he just didn't want to imagine his best friend's reaction. Although he had a suspicion that it would not bode well for Sai. As for talking to Sai about it, uh yeah, he wasn't that dumb. So that was where he stood, unable to talk to his closest friends and unable to figure out what his next move should be. So for now he had to settle for being "like a brother" to Sai and desperately hope that Sai was into incest.
Footnotes:
1. A reference to chapter 307 of the manga, in which Team 7 under Yamato's leadership comes face to face with Sasuke in Orochimaru's lair. Sasuke executes some speedy moves and gets inside Naruto's guard to taunt him about how he spared Naruto's life [back then] on a whim and how Naruto's dream of becoming a Hokage was a waste as he was going to kill Naruto now on a whim. To which Naruto responded with: "Like there's any chance someone, who can't save a friend, could become Hokage."
2. Minor reference to my other NaruSai oneshot entitled "Just a Friend" *snickers* oh the irony of these two guys is funny.
3. Is it just me or does Sai dress better and more provocatively than most of the girls in Naruto? Sakura's new outfit kinda makes me laugh, Hinata's is an improvement but it is still very modest. Kurenai's is okay but not revealing in the least, Ten-Ten is still just Ten-Ten, and Temari's outfit no longer reveals much skin. Ino's new outfit is definitely cool though, but Sai takes the cake. He just looks so yummy in that outfit.
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The Original Naruto Fanfic Archive - http://www.narutofic.org/viewuser.php?uid=158
Author's Notes: Another NaruSai one shot! It's Naruto's turn to analyze his feelings and the relationship he shares with Sai. Damn, but these guys are just a bit oblivious aren't they?
Once again, this story contains spoilers for those who have not read beyond chapter 281 of the manga. Unbetaed Version!
Disclaimer: Naruto and it's characters are the creation of the talented Kishimoto Masahi, I'm just toying around with their emotions for a bit.