INFATUATION

11.

You watched Sakura rub her aching elbow ahead of you, she winced as her fingers made contact with the scrape. You almost felt guilty, but reminded yourself that she had it coming. "Oh boy, am I starving! What exotic foods are we gonna eat when we get there?!" Naruto asked, placing his hands over his tummy.

"You just ate.." You looked at him weirdly with a forced smile. "That puny sandwich? That was like forty minutes ago!" Naruto argued back, sounding quite offended. You sighed, deciding it was better not to argue about this with him.

"Well, what food is there in this village?" You asked, assuming the bridge builder would answer. But instead he kept his eyes forward, taking another sip at his drink. Even Kakashi looked over at him, expecting a response.

"You'll see when we get there." Tazuna eventually said.

Naruto crossed his arms, growing annoyed with the man, "Great.. that gives us no information.." He mumbled.

The six of you passed a puddle of water, a childish grin stretched over your lips as you stomped into it causing a splash. "Hey!" Naruto yelped, "You got mud water on me!" He placed his hands on his hips, annoyed. "Oops." You looked down at his dampened pant leg. "My bad, Naruto."

You awkwardly gulped, "Maybe you should roll your pants up for now." You suggested. The blond shook his head as he continued walking once more, "Nah, I'm joking! It isn't too bad." He smiled back at you. You followed after him, relieved he wasn't actually upset. "You're so dramatic." You joked.

Suddenly a pair of chain ninja emerged from the puddle a few feet behind you. Your eyes widened as you snapped to look back at them. "What?!" You heard Kakashi gasp before they wrapped their chains around his entire body.

"Sensei!"

The man let out a few grunts as he struggled to free himself. The two ninja swiftly yanked their arms, causing Kakashi to be sliced into bits. Naruto, and Sakura's mouths fell agape. You watched in horror as his body parts fell to the ground.

Sakura wailed, "Ka-Kakashi sensei..?!" Naruto cried out in distress. He soon tensed up as he felt the ninjas loom behind him, planning to annihilate him next. The two laughed together, "Now it's your turn.."

'Move, move, move!' You mentally shouted at yourself, you slowly reached for a kunai.. a grunt escaping your lips as you threw two of them. One, landed on the chain. The other had missed; however it managed to scratch the opponent's cheek bone.

Sasuke jumped into the air, deciding to take over the situation. He too threw a kunai, and this one also hit the chain. Securing that they both stay put. The Uchiha then landed on their giant claw gauntlets with a thump. Sasuke lifted his lower half up, he bent his knees as he charged up two kicks to their faces.

The chains snapped off the gauntlets as the men flew backwards. The two then took the opportunity to strike again. One of them charged towards the bridge builder, and the other to Naruto. Sakura hesitated, but rushed to protect Tazuna. "Stay behind me!" She crossed her arms in front of her, a kunai in hand.

"Sakura!" You breathed out worriedly, acting fast to shield her. You mindlessly threw yourself forward, adding an extra layer of protection. In a flash, Sasuke also arrived. Just as they were an inch away from him, Kakashi captured the two in a headlock. You lowered your guard, shocked.

"Hi." He said calmly. You deadpanned as he stood there, knocking the two ninja out with ease. "But.. how.." You mumbled as you curiously looked over to the now pile of wood. "Of course, a substitution jutsu." You pieced together, relieved. Sasuke huffed, 'Show off..' He thought to himself, as he jealously stared at your amazed expression.

Kakashi walked towards you three, dragging the unconscious bodies of the other two with him. "Nice job Sasuke, Y/n. Very smooth. And you too, Sakura." He complimented. The pinkette smiled, enjoying the praise much more than you or Sasuke. Naruto stayed quiet, kneeling alone in disbelief.

'I was useless! and Y/n was so cool.. Sasuke too, like they'd done this a thousand times!' Naruto observed the Uchiha's closely. Sasuke boredly stared up into the sky. 'D-didn't he feel scared at all? He looks so calm.. and not a scratch on him! And I was so.. lame! He had to come up and save me.'  The blond clenched his jaw, 'ugh.. why can't I keep up with them!?'

"Hey." Sasuke called out to him, and Naruto perked up. He brought himself to stand on both feet as he answered, "Yeah?" A smug grin plastered itself onto Sasuke's face. "You're not hurt are ya..?" He asked in a mocking tone. "Scaredy cat."

Naruto pursed his lips together, angrily balling his fists up as he grunted. "Sasuke..!-" He grunted, but Kakashi quickly called his name before he could do anything. "Stand still, these ninjas have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you, quickly!" Kakashi explained.

Everyone's eyes drifted down to his injury. You hadn't noticed, but he was in fact cut during battle. He had three slashes on the back of his hand, and blood trickling down his skin. You let out a small gasp, "Naruto!" You hurried over to him.

"Oh my- are you okay..?" You carefully touched his shoulder. "Y/n..?" He whispered, a gentle blush on his cheeks. Naruto was shocked, and not at all used to people being concerned for him. "Oh uh.. yeah, yeah!" He regained his composure. "I'm fine, believe it! Just a scratch!" He assured me with a toothy smile. You took notice of his unusually sharp teeth. They looked almost animalistic, like Kiba's.

Kakashi threw the two against a nearby tree before they could wake up again. "Are you sure? It looks pretty painful.." You worriedly stared down at it. Naruto tried to cover it up with his free hand. "It's alright! Don't worry about it..!" He lied. Sasuke glared daggers at Naruto, he desired the attention you gave Naruto. Watching you worry over another person had his blood boiling, he wished he was the one who was hurt instead.