How did we get here? I lay in the sleeping bag inside the dark green tent, listening to the Naruto's even breathing while he slept that was silencing the faint chirping of the crickets just outside the tent.

I tilt my head slightly, drawing my eyes away from the top of the tent, to look at Naruto. He was curled up in a ball while facing away from me, wearing an oversized plain black shirt that he wore almost every other day to bed and some dark blue basketball shorts.

He had been mad at me since we got into the fight right after putting up this stupid tent, he cooled down right after, but I decided that wasn't enough and relit that fire for some goddam reason because I'm a genius.

I grasp his shoulder and shake him ever so gently, "Naruto?" I call for him, "You awake?" He suddenly shoved my hand off of his shoulder and pulled his knees closer to his chest.

I really fucked up this time, "Naruto, I'm sorry," I apologize. It stays silent for a moment before Naruto spoke up, "Sure," he said in a monotone.

He didn't mean that, and I know it, "Naruto, please forgive me," I plead. "I tried already," he snapped at me, "But you didn't want to move from the fucking past now, don't you?" he asks me in irritation.

I wince. I didn't hear Naruto curse that often, only if he was angry, like the time when someone shouted at him in public and almost ended up knocking them out if I hadn't interfered.

"Naruto, please?" I beg him. It stays silent. "I'll make it up to you," I no longer see Naruto's back facing me, but I see his beautiful tan face, and his eyes looking straight into mine.

"I'm listening," he states. A faint smile is barely visible on my face, "How about we do whatever you want for a day?" I ask him, looking at him with a caring gaze.

He contemplates silently for a moment before answering me, "Then, can we go camping?" "Fuck no, never again," I

respond almost immediately. He laughs a little before I join in with him.

We laugh for a bit before the laugh turns into a giggle. We stop to look at each other before breaking into laughter once again. Once our logic returned to us, we stayed silent.

"So we're good?" I question him. He smiles and nods. It wasn't a moment later until I pulled his into a kiss. The feeling of his lips on mine was familiar and just as good as I remember.

We both pull away from the kiss simultaneously, right after I pull Naruto into a hug, pulling him out of his sleeping bag, and into my arms.

"I love you. You know that?" I tell him, gazing down at Naruto, who stared back at me in return, his eyes a beautiful ocean blue bright like usual.

He buried his face into my shoulder, "I love you too," he muttered. I feel my heart skip a beat before I tighten the embrace, and we slowly drift off to sleep.

What kind of emotional rollercoaster was that? They just went through literally 15 emotions in the span of 8 minutes. What the hell- I'll just leave. These two are strange.

<>>

I awakened up to the light dimly radiating through the fabric of the tent, which somewhat irritated my eyes, trying to stare directly at it.

I try using an arm to cover the light from hitting my eyes, but struggle to move it. I look down to realize that Naruto has my hand and his intertwined with each others.

Even though he was asleep, the grip on my hand was quite strong. I pick up the black watch that I wore the previous day that laid next to my head.

I take a look at the gleaming green light that readout 6:30 AM from the digital watch. I look back down at Naruto, it might be early, but I might as well wake him up. I tap him on his head, "Naru, wake up," I whisper softly in his ear.

He stirs as his eyes flutter, and he sits up on top of my stomach. It hurt, but I didn't mention it. "Can't we sleep longer?" he requested in a weary voice.

His normal spiky hair, more ruffled than usual, was cute. "Of course not," I respond. He sighed and lays back down on top of me, resting his head on my chest. "I don't care," he groaned.

I gently shove him off me, letting him tumble onto his unused sleeping bag. "Ow," he whined while falling on his side.

Instead of getting up, he just pulled his knees closer to his chest and curled up into a ball like the night before. I frown and snake an arm around his waist and pull him closer to me.

"I mean, we could sleep for longer," I mutter in his ear. He opens his eyes and turns his head back to face me, "You mean it?" he asks me, his eyes gleaming in the barely visible light.

I smile and hit him on the head, "Of course not, get up idiot," I tell him as I open the entrance to the tent, letting the bright light enter the dark area.

I cover my eyes as they adjust to the new lighting. I stand up and stretch my arms in the warmth that surrounded me. I hear a ruffle behind me and see out of the corner of my eyes, Naruto standing beside me.

"That was so damn rude of you," he complains while massaging the top of his head. "Worth it," I state, walking over to my bag to retrieve the list I placed in it last night.

I opened the front pocket of the bag to find the paper wrinkled up in the crowded mess of other items. I seize it and carefully unfold it, reading the last thing on our list.

In the jet black ink, the last line read, 'Gather berries that are edible and safe to eat.' This was the only task assigned to us that we were instructed to wait until the next morning to complete.

I see a shadow peering over me. Looking at the silhouette, it was Naruto. "Berries? I didn't pay attention to that bit of the lesson," he complained.

We had learned everything we needed to complete on the list beforehand in school, like which berries to eat, what plants are dangerous, how to make a water filter, etc.

"Well, that's why I'm here," I reassure Naruto, as I place the paperback in the bag and get off my knees. I glance all over the area, trying to find some berries. We could move on from there.

I found a bush where multicolor specks were visible. I walked towards it, Naruto following close behind me. I find the bushes and start sorting through them.

I don't remember which berries you could specifically eat, but I remember the statistics on how safe they were.

90% of yellow and white berries are almost always poisonous, and 90% of blue, purple, and black-colored berries are usually okay to eat. And if I recall correctly, 50% of red berries are okay to eat.

I start picking the dark-colored berries, Naruto watching me in confusion. After getting a good handful, I turned to face him, "Pick ones exactly like these," I demand.

He still seemed slightly confused but agreed despite his confusion. He immediately went to work, plucking berries from every bush that resembled the ones I picked.

After giving him a minute to pick out the berries he handed me a good amount which I scooped up from his hand full of the juice of the berries he accidentally smashed in his hand.

After transferring the berries to me, I took them to a basket that we had to place the berries in for examining, whether they were edible or not.

I laid the berries in the basket carefully, which left my hands with the same substance on Naruto's hands. I regained my posture and turned around to see Naruto waving his arms around.

"HOW DO I GET THIS OFF?" he yelled in frustration, frantically trying to get the juice off his hands. I laugh at the sight. It wasn't every day you get to see Naruto this angry about something.

"SASUKE!" he screamed at me, not finding my laughing fitting for the situation, "COME HELP ME WITH THIS!" he stopped waving his arms and stood in front of me with a serious face until my laughs turned into giggles.

"What's the magic word?" I taunted him, say what you want this was a golden opportunity. He was about to say something before sucking it in, "Please?" he whispered reluctantly.

I laughed and walked over to Naruto's bag, which held a water bottle on the side of it. I grabbed it and opened it, letting the water glide over my palms and fingers.

Once I finished getting the substance off my hands, I walked over to Naruto. "Hold out your hands," I order him. He obliges and stretches his arms in front of him.

I pour the clear liquid over his hands, letting the juice get cleaned off. I noticed there was a speck that wasn't coming off of the middle of his palm. I stopped pouring the water, and lifted my hand, and started rubbing that area so the speck would come off.

After a couple of seconds, it fades away, and shook his hands violently to dry them off, "Thanks," he says. I nod and put the cap back on the water bottle and drying off the extra water that dripped off the side of it.

While walking back to the tent, I heard a rustle in the hedges. I'm not sure if I'm paranoid, but I swear I heard that exact sound just last night. I'm probably overthinking this.

Did I just witness some sort of ritual? I knew those two were always strange, but this is a whole new level. What have I created?

I-I'll leave them for another 15 minutes. Why does this always happen on my hourly rounds? Why me?

A/N I'm literally so tired rn. Everything is so tiring at this point.