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"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!"

Naruto's shout echoed from far away at the edge of the forest. I leaned back comfortably against the bark and sighed, wondering what Naruto could want this time. He was always on Sasuke's case, pestering him and trying to beat him up over the smallest things. Trying to prove himself to the maturer opponent. I thought of how this could all be settled. Instead of avoiding Naruto every time, Sasuke could confront him and beat him up, so Naruto would leave him alone.

Then again, Naruto might try even harder to prove he was better than Sasuke.

As I closed my eyes to relax in the scattered sunlight, I suddenly heard a soft but definitive noise coming from the other side of the tree trunk. Grabbing my kunai, I began to turn around slowly to see if it was an attacker or a squirrel.

Before I could even see the other side, a thin, quick figure darted around and covered my mouth. I squirmed and punched up in the general direction of his face, and heard a familiar groan of pain.

I turned to look up and gasped, my mouth now free. "Sasuke! I'm really sorry!" I whispered frantically as he cautiously gripped his bleeding nose. "I didn't know it was you! And you shouldn't have snuck up on me!" His black hair hung in his face as he brought his head back, leaning his head back against the tree. "Hey, you're supposed to tilt your head forward when your nose is bleeding," I said, poking his arm gently. He leaned his head against his knees, sitting next to me.

"I'm trying to get peace, away from Naruto," he said with his clogged nose. "You're always calm and peaceful, and never very stressed out, so when I saw you sitting here I thought I'd join you."

I blushed at the small compliment. It wasn't anything special, but it was the best I was ever going to get from Sasuke. "Well thanks, I'm sorry I ruined your calm, peaceful afternoon," I said, fiddling with my kunai.

He shook his head. "Not ruined. It was just made a little more exciting."

I giggled. "Sasuke, I punched you in the nose. This is your idea of exciting?"

That was the first time I'd ever seen him smile. It was a beautiful, mesmerizing smile that I couldn't turn away from. The entire forest seem to light up with his face, and his dark, piercing eyes suddenly became definitive from behind his black hair. All his features were outlined in a ring of happiness and serenity that I had never seen before, on him or anyone else.

But Sasuke's moment of happiness was rudely interrupted by a shout from below. I looked down from my spot in the tall, shady willow tree to see Naruto shoot into the clearing, panting loudly so that the sound reverberated off the surrounding trees. He glanced around furiously and sniffed the air, his blue eyes searching the trees wildly. "SASUKE, GET YOUR BUTT BACK HERE SO I CAN KICK IT!" he yelled.

Sasuke held a thin finger to his lips, glancing at me from the side, his head still tilted back against the tree. I nodded.

After a few tense minutes, Naruto dashed off to another clearing, until the echoes were no more than whispers in the slight breeze. Sasuke and I spent the rest of the day in the tree, our hands grazing occasionally, causing me to blush away and him to look at me with curiosity and then annoyance.

When the sun finally lay it's head upon the horizon, Sasuke spoke. I thought he'd been asleep. "This was highly enjoyed," he said. "Let's plan to do this again sometime." But he made no move to rise.

I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face into them to hide my blush. "Yes, let's do it again." The sun sank slowly lower, lighting up the sky with brilliant hues of magenta, orange, and fiery red. It looked so much like a painting, a magnificent beauty captured in time. I felt like I was part of the painting, the second lasting hours or days or years. I decided to paint this scene later when I returned home.

"Soon."

I turned to Sasuke, my infinity of light interrupted by his single word. Sasuke was much like the sunset. His face was written upon with intelligence, hardships, ferocity, and the new serenity. Smiling shyly, I nodded. "Tomorrow. While I paint."