Memories of a Good Friend

______________________Hey guys! This chapter is a compilation of memories of Kaji and Sasuke. Hope you enjoy!

The tiger above is Kenta!

Peace

______________________

Kaji's POV

"Later guys." Kakashi waves to us, poofing away.

We just got back from one of those stupid baby missions, painting a fence. It was more than boring, and there's sticky paint on my hands.

Let's just say, I'm not happy.

"So, Sasuke-kun..." Sakura says blushing, "Maybe we can, spend some alone time together?" She asks hopefully.

Sasuke doesn't even bother to respond as he turns to me, "Kaji, training?" He asks. I nod, following him as we head to a training ground. I hear both of our teammates yelling behind us, but I ignore them.

I walk side by side with Sasuke, enjoying his presence. I'm almost a good a friend with Sasuke as I am with Naruto, though our friendship is a little different.

We make each other stronger. We are usually sparring partners, and though we don't communicate that much, we talk through our fists.

That's why a connection runs deep for both of us. When my fist connects with his body, he feels all of my emotions. And when he punches me, kicks me, I can feel his emotions.

I know that sounds bad, but it isn't. It's a form of communication between us. And we might not show it while we're on missions, or in front of our teammates, but I know that we have a strong friendship.

We finally reach a random training ground and I walk a ways past him, turning back towards him and getting in an offensive position. He grunts as a sign to start, and I shoot towards him.

I don't use my kekkai Genkai in these fights, but Sasuke can use his Sharingan. I don't really like using it against a comrade, and I want Sasuke to train with his Sharingan to strengthen it.

He runs towards me, matching my speed. He aims a punch for my face, but I side step and raise my knee up sharply, hitting his stomach. He grunts in pain, but uses my knee to push himself away from me. He sprints back towards me, sending a kick to my stomach. It was just perfectly angled so that I couldn't duck under it or jump over it in time.

I use my hands to lighten the blow, and his kick sends me flying into a tree. I use my legs to soften my landing and shoot right back towards Sasuke, who is doing a few familiar handsigns.

He mumbles something and a huge fireball shoots towards me, making my eyes narrow ever so slightly. I do handsigns as quick as I can, spitting out a fireball right at Sasuke's.

Our jutsu's dispel eachother's, and I land on the ground safely. Sasuke is the direct opposite of me, and he calmly gets up and dusts his pants. I do the same, and we walk towards eachother. Two of each of our fingers interlock, forming the sign of friendship after a battle, in the academy at least.

He starts walking away around the same time I do, me following him to his place.

No, we don't like each other in a romantic way, but after training I like to go to his house, or him coming to mine, to eat and possibly watch a movie. It's nice to have someone that can calm you down, just by being near you, in your team.

We get to his apartment, not in the Uchiha district, and he opens the door for me. I walk in and immediately make my way to the kitchen, my stomach growling.

I hear a quiet chuckle come from behind me, and the scuff of shoes being taken off.

I grab the rice out of his pantry and grab a few tomatoes, for both of us, and pour a few cups of rice into his rice maker. I add a little more than necessary for the two of us so that he can have something ready for him when he gets home, as I've recently found out that he isn't the best cook. I make extra for him so he can eat the left overs, it's become a routine thing for us.

I dice up the tomatoes, washing the juice and seeds off of them. I pat a paper towel on all of them, as a group, and wait for the rice to cook.

"So Sasuke, what're your favorite foods?" I ask Sasuke, who is sitting across from me at his dinner table.

"Basically what you're making, rice balls with tomatoes." He says after a slight moment of silence. I smirk at him.

"What would you do without me Sasuke?" I ask him teasingly, pouring the now cooked rice into one of the big plastic bowls. I spoon a serving of rice on two plates and pour the tomatoes over both of them. You wouldn't think so, but it was actually really good. I slide him his plate, along with a pair of chopsticks, and I take mine over right next to him. We eat in silence, not suffocating or awkward silence, but peaceful.

I finish my dish in a matter of minutes, casting a glance over to Sasuke. He also has finished the food, so I grab his plate and mine. I take it to the sink and wash both of them, dry them, and put them back in the cupboard. By the time I'm done with cleaning his whole sink, which I don't mind doing, I see Sasuke on the couch.

Asleep.

I quietly walk upstairs to grab a blanket and pillow from his room, then closing the door and waking back out. I make my way back downstairs, and turn to see Sasuke.

I smile slightly at Itachi's brother, snoring softly on his couch. I don't just care for Sasuke because I love his brother, you know. I do it because he is a teammate, and I care for his well being.

People may not know this, but Sasuke trains way harder than people describe. And then after, because he is so tired, he doesn't eat proper meals. So I have taken it upon myself to watch over Sasuke and make sure he is being healthy, his clothes are washed, his house is clean, the dishes are done, that kind of stuff. And he trusts me with it.

I walk over to Sasuke and lay the blanket and pillow down next to him. I grab the pillow with one hand and use my other to lightly lift his head up. I slide the soft pillow under his head and lay it down on the pillow. I then pick up the blanket and drape it over his body, watching him slightly snuggling into it. I smile softly and brush a strand of hair out of his face, and then walk out of the room.

I walk to the kitchen first, putting a cover over the now room temperature rice and placing it in the fridge. I clean the countertops and throw away the paper towel, walking out of the kitchen.

I walk to the front door and put my shoes on, then open the door.

I walk outside into the slightly chilly night air, shutting Sasuke's door softly, so he doesn't wake up.

~~~~

I aim a punch for Sasuke's back, but he senses it and moves out of the way. He spins around and grabs my arm, swinging me over his shoulder and smashing me into the ground. I power chakra onto my body to soften the blow, and get up after the dust settles around me.

Sasuke runs towards me, sending a jab to my sides. I, however, catch his hand and twist it, making him turn his body around. I lift my foot up to kick his back but he suddenly jumps up. He powers chakra into his arm and flips me over his shoulder, and before I reach the ground, kicks me into a nearby tree.

I grunt as my back makes contact with the hard bark, shakily getting up. My eyes meet his, and I gasp in surprise.

"What happened?" He asked, his eyes showing slight concern.

My lips form into a wide grin, and I rush towards him. I wrap my arms around his body and lift him into the air, doing a 360. I set him back on the ground, and look back up to him, the smile still plastered onto my face, despite the searing pain in my back.

"You have two tomoes in your Sharingan, Sasuke." I tell him, watching as his eyes widen.

His onyx orbs fill with joy and before I know it, he is lifting me off of the ground in a bone crushing hug. He spins us around in a circle a few times, before setting me down gently and holding me by my shoulders. His happy eyes connect with my congratulatory ones and his smile widens.

"Thank you Kaji!" He tells me.

"For what?" I say, generally confused now.

"If it wasn't for you and our training sessions, my second tomoe wouldn't have appeared!" He says, being unusually expressive. But I guess I would be too, if something as amazing as that happened to me.

"No problem Sasuke," I say, holding a thumbs up.

"What are friends for?" I say.

~~~

I swat a fly away from the plate of rice balls with tomatoes, making sure all of the candles are lit.

It was Sasuke's birthday.

I know he hates sweets, so I ended up making him his mothers famous rice balls with tomatoes. With candles in them.

I made 13 total, a candle in each, because he was turning 13. I ran to the front door and stared out of the key hole, seeing Sasuke approach the front door. I run back to the kitchen, switching off all of the lights as I run back. The house is pitch black as I hear Sasuke enter the door, me masking my chakra and holding my breath. I hear him grumbling something, and I see lights being turned on. He turns on the light for the kitchen, and his face comes out from behind the wall.

He looks over towards me, a ghost of a smile one his face, and I wish him a happy birthday.

"Thank you, Kaji." Sasuke tells me, and I can hear the sincerity in his voice.

I smile, "It was no problem." I tell him breezily, sliding him a plate.

We ate, laughed, and talked throughout that whole day, and before I was about to leave, I slid his present towards him.

He smirked at me, before ripping it open. His smirk fades an a genuine smile replaces it, looking at the beautiful necklace I got him.

The necklace was a sliver cross, the part that was running up and down looked like a blade, and the part that ran side to side curved up and down on both sides. In the middle was a dark blue sapphire, the same color as his hair.

I walked to the front door and put my shoes back on, hearing a quiet 'Thank you' being thrown at my back as I close the door.

No problem Sasuke.