Drowning

"I did it!"

Joy surged through his chest, and a happy smile spread across his face.

However, pride came before a fall. His excitement was too much, and it affected Sasuke's control over his Chakra.

With a splash, he fell into the water.

To make matters worse... after exercising for too long and using up too much energy, lactic acid had built up in his muscles, and his leg cramped.

"Ugh... help... ugh..."

Sasuke's arm reached above the water as he struggled to survive, his body drifting downstream with the current.

"I think I heard... someone calling for help?"

Naruto, who had been absorbed in punching trees, stopped and looked around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Was I imagining it?"

In the Sealing Space, Kushina and Minato, who had been enjoying a romantic moment together, noticed what was happening outside and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Naruto? Are you tired and need a break?"

"It's nothing. I can keep going, but speaking of which... where's Uchiha Sasuke?"

That's right, Naruto had noticed long ago that Sasuke was following him and spying on him.

Sasuke thought he was doing a good job of hiding, but to Naruto, his hiding had more holes than a sieve.

Even without the powerful sensory abilities the Nine-Tails gave him, Naruto's own senses were enough to detect Sasuke following him.

But Naruto hadn't done anything about it.

If he wanted to watch, let him. One more or one less made no difference.

After all, he'd gotten used to being watched ever since he was little.

"His name is Sasuke, not Uchiha Sasuke. Why do you keep giving him nicknames?"

This was the nth time Kushina had corrected her son for the way he referred to Sasuke.

Naruto put on a serious expression. "Giving someone a nickname is a sign that you're close."

Minato asked curiously, "Then have you given Kushina and me any nicknames?"

"Uh... well..."

The nicknames "Bloody Habanero" and "Fastest Man in the Ninja World" flashed through Naruto's mind. He shook his head, his tone firm. "No! That would be too rude."

"You know it's rude, and yet you keep giving Sasuke nicknames."

Kushina didn't know what to say.

"It's different. You can't lump the two together... All right, you two, stop talking. I'm going to start training."

To keep Kushina from nagging him, Naruto immediately started punching the tree again.

Thump, thump, thump...

A little while later, Naruto stopped again, frowning as he tilted his head and listened.

"Did either of you... hear someone calling for help?"

Because they were confined to the Sealing Space, Minato and Kushina's senses weren't as sharp as Naruto's.

They hadn't heard anything, but they still advised Naruto to go and check right away.

It was no big deal if he'd heard wrong, but if someone really was in trouble, he should save them. A life was at stake, after all.

"Is this where it all ends for me? How ridiculous... I always said I'd kill Itachi, and this is how I end up dying..."

Cold water poured into his body from every direction, flowing into his mouth, nose, and throat and bringing with it a suffocating chill.

Sasuke's vision grew hazier and hazier, and his body had already gone numb with cold.

"Dad, Mom, I'm coming to see you..."

He lay there in silence, without moving, letting himself sink deeper and deeper into the darkness.

"Found him. He's here."

A delighted voice rang out, piercing the endless darkness and leading Sasuke toward the light.

By the riverbank.

Sasuke lay unconscious on the grass. Naruto crouched beside him, pressing down on his swollen stomach as river water poured from Sasuke's mouth.

After quite a while, Sasuke's stomach had gone down, but he still hadn't woken up.

Kushina reminded him, "Naruto, you need to give him mouth-to-mouth. I'll teach you..."

"No!"

Naruto flatly refused. His first kiss was meant for his future wife. There was no way he'd give it to Sasuke.

Minato admonished him, "Don't be so stubborn, Naruto. A shinobi is someone who can endure anything..."

"Sorry, but I can't endure anything."

Why did I work so hard to train? It wasn't so I'd have to put up with everything in the end. It was so I wouldn't have to put up with anything.

That was the only way to make my journey to the Ninja World worthwhile.

Naruto walked over to a nearby tree, knocked on it, then looked up. "Come down and save him."

"You can see me?"

An Anbu dropped from the branch and gazed at Naruto, his expression grave.

"Your hiding technique is so lousy. Why would it be strange if I noticed you?"

"You..."

"Stop wasting time and hurry up and save him. You know how to do mouth-to-mouth, right...?"

Naruto waved at the Anbu, urging him to get on with it.

The Anbu glanced at Sasuke and refused. "Saving people isn't part of my mission."

His only mission was to protect and monitor the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

"What about your Will of Fire?"

Naruto frowned. "Wherever the leaves dance, the fire will never die. The fire will continue to light up the village and make new leaves sprout... You haven't forgotten Lord Hokage's words, have you? Now a tender sprout is on the verge of death, and you're just standing there doing nothing... To be honest, I'm starting to doubt your loyalty to Konoha."

That was quite an accusation... Not only could the Anbu not take it, but Kushina and Minato couldn't either.

For the first time, the couple realized their son could be so sharp-tongued. He was about to make the Anbu so angry he'd want to kill someone.

The Anbu clenched his fists, trembling with rage, and shouted, "What would you know, you brat! When I was risking my life for Konoha..."

"Cough, cough... Am I not dead?"

Naruto turned around and saw Sasuke sitting up with a bewildered look on his face. He waved at the Anbu.

"You can go now. I don't need you anymore."

Without paying the Anbu any more attention, Naruto walked over to Sasuke and asked, "How do you feel?"

"I feel a little awful... Cough, cough. Did you save me? Thanks. I owe you my life now."

Sasuke coughed up a few mouthfuls of river water, stood up, and thanked Naruto earnestly.

Naruto accepted his thanks without hesitation, then asked curiously, "How did you end up drowning?"

If he hadn't arrived in time, this generation's Indra would have drowned. If that happened, all of Itachi's schemes would have become a joke.

Protecting his younger brother?

How could he protect his brother if his brother was gone? Itachi might go completely mad, then decide to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and create a world where he still had a younger brother...

Sasuke hesitated for a few seconds, then explained what had happened.

When he finished, he turned his face away. "Go ahead and laugh if you want. It was my own stupidity, and I deserved to end up drowning."

"Can I really laugh?" Naruto seemed to be holding back his laughter.

Sasuke gave him permission without a care, though he felt disappointed. So the blond kid was just like that after all...

"I'm going to laugh, okay?"

"Go ahead."

"I'm really going to laugh, okay?"

"Stop asking and just laugh already."

"I really, really am going to laugh, okay?"

"Will you quit being annoying? If you want to laugh, then laugh. Why do you keep asking me?"

Sasuke whipped around, looking ready to hit him, only to find Naruto's expression solemn, not a trace of laughter on his face.