Chapter 3

Naruto raised his eyebrow. "Oh really?"

"Yeah. I'm not too happy about it, but then again, it was bound to happen eventually. Our relationship has only been getting worse since Sarada was born."

"Well, what are you going to do now?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, staring into his ocean blue eyes. Something was off, but what? "I don't know."

Naruto frowned. "I'm sorry to hear about that."

"It's nothing, I thought you should know. After all, you're my best friend." Naruto's eyes hardened for a split second, and Sasuke blinked, trying to determine whether he imagined it or not.

Hastily, Naruto got up. "Well, uh, thanks for telling me, but I have to go now. You know, hokage work and all." Sasuke smiled at him, "Right, of course." The duo walked outside, saying their goodbyes and separating to go on their own paths.

As soon as Naruto was out of sight, Sasuke's smile dropped right off of his face. Something is wrong with him, and I intend to find out what.

~~~

It was 10 at night, and Sasuke was out 'buying groceries'. He had talked to Hinata, and she'd told him that once a month on the last Saturday, Naruto went out at 10:15 PM and came back at about 6:30 AM, claiming that he had hokage work to attend to. At first Hinata had suspicions that he was cheating on her, but when she followed him one night, he had indeed gone to work. The only suspicious part was, that he went into the forest to do it.

When she had questioned him, he answered that it was calming there, and then got upset that Hinata had thought him to cheat. She let it go, but there's no way Sasuke would. The whole thing was far too suspicious.

Sasuke was yanked out of his thoughts when Naruto walked out of his house. He was wearing dark clothing, clearing not wanting to be spotted. Matching Hinata's story, Naruto headed in the forest's direction. Sasuke quickly concealed his presence, following Naruto with graceful steps, careful to not make a sound.

He followed Naruto into the forest, staying a good 6 yards behind him at all times, never letting his guard down. Soon enough, they reached a small clearing, and Sasuke settled down on a branch where he could get a good view of what was going on.

Sasuke watched as Naruto made several complicated hand signs, whispering something that Sasuke assumed to be a seal. Before he knew it, at least 20 thick stacks of paperwork appeared on the floor next to Naruto, who hastily picked them up and started working. Sasuke had to stifle a laugh. Of course Naruto did this. It was why he always made it home at precisely 9 PM.

Sasuke frowned. Something was still not right though. The dark haired boy closed his eyes and muttered under his breath. "Shadow Clone Jutsu." He instructed a clone to watch over this Naruto, and then headed with the others to examine the surrounding areas.

He and his clones split up, determined to cover every inch of the forest. Sasuke himself had been jumping all around, desperate to prove that something big was going on, and that he wasn't delusional.

The Uchiha then spotted a flash of yellow out of the corner of his eye. Reacting instantly, he silently ran over to the area where it appeared, spotting Naruto a few feet away. Naruto made a clone to do his work for him? I guess that makes sense. Sasuke frowned, just realizing that when he was thinking, Naruto somehow managed to disappear. Mentally, Sasuke kicked himself for making such a mistake, and continued to look for the hokage. Having no luck, Sasuke reluctantly returned home. He'd have to try again next time.