Ocean Of Blood And Fire [Sasusaku]

Chapter Twelve: Sasuke's P.O.V.

Naruto and I watched them walk away in silence. Even after they were gone, we stared at the spot they disappeared.

Then Naruto turned to me. "Great going, teme," he said with a scowl.

I ignored him, still staring off, trying in vain to spot our teammate and our Sensei.

This didn't exactly bode well with the dobe.

"Hey! Teme! Look at me when I talk to you."

I sharply cut my gaze across to him, offended at his tone.

I knew I'd screwed up when I noticed that he wasn't blustering and yelling like a fool. He had that calm sort of anger, and I knew immediately that, no matter how idiotic and stubborn he could be, he was dangerous in times like this.

"Sakura-chan and I were having fun, and we thought you were, too. But instead of having fun, you decide to ruin it for the both of us and make Sakura-chan cry."

"She wasn't crying," I said flatly, to hide the rush of guilt.

At least, I hope she wasn't...

She wasn't.

"She was, Sasuke. There were tears in her eyes. Did you not see them? She must've blinked them away before they became too noticeable, I guess. But they were still there." He pointed an accusing finger at me. "And you put them there. So don't sit here and act like you did nothing wrong. You owe her an apology."

I scoffed. "An apology? For what? Your rampant imagination?"

"Sasuke," he growled lowly.

We stared daggers at each other, neither of us willing to back down.

"Apologize."

"No."

"NOW!"

"No!"

"SASUKEEE!"

He lunged at me. I just managed to dodge to the side, caught off guard by his unexpected move. I scowled.

"Naruto!" I snapped.

He lunged at me again, and this time he made the hand signs for his shadow clone jutsu.

Two more Narutos appeared from behind him. I quickly scanned over the scene, analyzing everything.

If I dodged the real Naruto, I would deliberately put myself in the path of one of the shadow clones. I was confident that I could get rid of them if I had enough time, but at the speed they were going, the minute I dodged Original Naruto, Clone Naruto would be on me, no matter which side I moved. So the only reasonable thing to do would be to face Original Naruto head on. His clones would most likely interfere, but they shouldn't be too hard to avoid.

My mind registered all this in an instant, eyes scanning over the scene to make the best call. Nii-san- damn, Itachi- used to tell me that it was part of the trademark genius of the Uchiha.

So I chose to take Naruto head on. I grabbed the fist he aimed at my face, using his momentum against him, and swung my arm back. His eyes widened as my fist nearly collided with his jaw, but he managed to duck, and instead rammed his shoulder into my stomach, sending us both flying backwards. I let out a grunt as I hit the river floor, holding my stomach.

Naruto sprung up, getting right back into his fighting stance, water droplets dripping down his face. He had a proud half-smile on his face.

"Yeah, bet that hurt, huh, teme?"