Naruto 1. Part 1

___**Summary**--Everyone else wanted Sasuke Uchiha's love. Naruto, on the other hand, would much rather claim he had his hate._

_This isn't one long story. It is, rather, a series of short stories, or perhaps drabbles, maybe stray thoughts for Valentines. If things go right then there will be five separate parts. Unfortunately, lemons won't start until part 3. _

_Happy reading :)_

_**Disclaimer:** Naruto's cute ass belongs to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Personally I'm not as happy with Part 1 as I'd like to be, but since its not my favourite idea and I want more time on other sections, here it is..._

**_:Valentine Shorts:.._**

**PART 1 **

Naruto always found that first period decided whether the day would be good or bad. It might have been because he tended to be quite emotionally unilateral, something many found undeniably annoying but which had been a defining trait for as long as Konoha could remember him. If the morning went bad then he would be whining all the way till the sun went down. If someone gave him reason to laugh then without doubt, everyone knew he'd be a pleasure to be around that day. Not the brightest crayon in the box, he sat towards the back of the classroom and as far away from his pirate-worshipping freak of a teacher as possible. As possible, because the furthest seat was taken up by Sasuke Uchiha; the brightest crayon and yet the most gloomy enigma of them all

This meant of course that Naruto was seated directly in front of his rival of nigh ten years. Everyone in their senior class lived with the perpetual potential for danger – there was no telling when the air might suddenly crackle and a nimbus cloud would be coalesced into being. Sasuke was the cool, placid one and Naruto was the hot-headed loud mouth that provided the ignition for a full blown war of wars. The two just weren't compatible.

So when on Valentines Day, Sasuke leaned over Naruto's shoulder and dropped a folded piece of paper on his desk during period one, the spirited class around them exploded into a rainfall of pink and frilly confetti.

Naruto stared blankly at the innocent parchment in front of him, uncomfortably aware that all the girls around him were wishing him a painful death a la glare. Damn, he was six foot under already…now to climb back up and read the bastard's will for him. He placed both his elbows on his desk and briskly unfolded the paper, hearing catches of angry breath all around him and unable to keep the silent shudder of fear from his mind. In Sasuke's perfect, flowing writing it read:

_I hate you._

Naruto closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh, a combination of something like relief and exasperation momentarily taking over his features. A smile quickly blossomed across his lips and into a full grin as he shoved the note under his lecture pad. To the fangirls all around him it was an unfamiliar reaction from the obnoxious blonde regarding Sasuke and they instantly panicked, more-so when Naruto scribbled on another scrap of paper and passed it over his shoulder without looking. Sasuke plucked it calmly from Naruto's fingers.

He smirked after reading it and Sakura, leaning far over the edge of her desk, made out the messy declaration:

_Love you too bastard._

By period two half the grade had heard. Sasuke, the aloof, solitary Uchiha and Naruto, the bubbling, happy orphan had the hots for each other. It wasn't a storm cloud anymore: the courtyard had been blown over by the great fire itself. Ino even claimed when she was late to period three that she had walked into a corridor only to find Naruto and Sasuke talking, _not _arguing. This was the signature on the confession, the stamp on the cooling wax. An exchange between Naruto and Sasuke, _alone, _that didn't involve fists? Yep. They were definitely together.

Thus began the stalking game when the two walked into the classroom, one after the other. Twenty minutes of English Literature class passed in silence, with Kakashi sitting up the front and doing his own personal reading while they took notes off the overhead.

"Hey Sasuke."

Ears perked and eyes turned to the back corner. Did Naruto just say Sasuke's name?

"What."

"Can you get my pencil? It's near your foot."

Sasuke blinked at the blonde then shuffled on his seat to see where the stray stationary had gone before leaning over and retrieving it from its hideaway. Straightening with it, he placed it lightly onto Naruto's waiting palm and the blonde smiled brightly as his fingers closed around it.

"Thanks bastard!"

Now even the guys were getting suspicious, catching onto the abnormalities that acute, female intuition had long since perceived. As Naruto glanced up from his writing to read the next line to copy down, Kiba leant precariously backwards on his seat and whispered to him, "Dude, are you really a fag?" Naruto raised an eyebrow in reply while Sasuke's gaze turned to slits from behind, having caught what Kiba asked.

Neither said anything though and feeling himself melting under the two most palpable glares to ever enter Konoha, Kiba hastily turned around and conceded defeat. Naruto also spun in his seat and mouthed something to Sasuke that may have been, _'Is he serious?'_ Sasuke shrugged and Naruto glared at him too.

The rest of English passed in awkward silence, everyone dumbed down to 'voiceless' status. Except for Kakashi who still managed the occasional, unbecoming giggle that was quite disturbing. With the beautiful peace, he successfully managed to immerse himself completely in his beloved, imaginary world and happily decided that if this was what a romantic Naruto and Sasuke equation was, then it was something he'd readily live with.

Actually…he scratched his chin and frowned at his page. Living with those two…lots of energy…no doubt lots of pent up frustration that could probably be channeled into the sexual kind…Kakashi took that back.

In the beginning of health theory, Gai declared the devotion of the lesson to discussing relationships. Naruto bristled visibly and Sasuke clenched his teeth when the exuberant man asked them all thirty minutes in, "Who do you love the most!" Gai positively bubbled with anticipation as he cast encouraging glances around his shocked class.

Parents were strictly removed from the options. Some would have questioned the personal nature of the topic but there was a heavy, brooding desire in the air as eyes focused their curious gazes to the two boys near the window, somehow mysteriously sitting next to each other on the carpet. And so it was that without objection, the questioning started.

It went rapidly around the circle, many girls unabashedly stating "Sasuke" and even Hinata blushingly stuttering, "Naruto," to which the blonde widened his eyes and gaped like a fish before Sasuke whacked his jaw shut for him. On the other hand, Naruto had to admit that Gai's proposition was an ingenious excuse in making otherwise tight-lipped teenagers admit their secret (as well as not so secret) crushes and associations. Most of the boys merely turned over the name of their girlfriend or ex. When it came to Sasuke's turn however and twenty pairs of eyes scrutinized him, he lowered his dark eyelashes and murmured to the air, "Itachi."

Time came to a jarring halt in the classroom, the memory of the Uchiha tragedy momentarily wiping all other intentions from every mind and blanketing any flares of excitement. Naruto looked sideways at Sasuke and bit his lip worriedly, aware that if Sasuke were to lash out anytime today it would definitely be now. After a minute of thick tension though, Sasuke simply smirked and drawled arrogantly, "Dobe, how long are you going to take?"

Naruto huffed and twisted his head to the other side, secretly glad he hadn't been punched. "My friends," he said simply in answer to Gai's question. Everyone jumped when Gai exclaimed joyously that Naruto had given the exact answer he'd been waiting to hear, and the blonde scratched the back of his head sheepishly as he grinned. The rest of the class deflated noticeably and with extremely sour demeanors realized Sasuke and Naruto had gotten off easily despite their suffering.

Twenty minutes later in chemistry, Naruto managed to successfully catch his test tube concoction on fire. After shouting in panic for a fire blanket for a few moments and having no one move, Sasuke finally strode from the taps at the other end of the room and dumped a beaker of water over the liquid fire, letting it fizzle and spit while Naruto stared aghast at his blackened table top. Sasuke returned to his own equipment but not before letting Naruto know exactly how stupid he was to have left the cork on so long.

Naruto heard whispers from around – the very people who'd done nothing— and a vein twitched as he swept the broken glass into the bin.

Come lunch in the cafeteria, the two boys in question thought things were getting ridiculously out of hand. One could only take so much ogling, then silence, more ogling, and maybe the occasional teasing. As they sat together wordlessly on opposite sides of the long table and their friends shared in on the verbal famine, Naruto finally cracked and shouted to the cafeteria, "God! You people, I swear…!"

He pulled his bag from the floor and after fumbling for a few moments through his books and papers, he extracted the note from Sasuke and lay it in plain view on the table. With that he threw his bag across his shoulder and left, muttering about 'idiots' and 'stupid fangirls' while said fangirls flocked over to scavenge the desired target.

Dramatic wails of happiness and loud clutter ransacked the room and the rumour mill was quashed in a matter of minutes. Through the movement and noise, no one noticed Sasuke slip quietly after Naruto.

* * *

He faced the window, golden light spilling across him and the length of the empty hallway as he stared transfixed at the panorama he was offered, ostensibly captured for his viewing pleasure. Long shadows shared the corridor where sunbeams couldn't quite eclipse the walls and Naruto sighed, seeing how with everything –_everyone – _there always existed that opposite. Where the sun couldn't reach, the cafeteria building stood in shadow many floors below.

His eyelids lowered a little and he settled his body back as arms wrapped around his own from behind, a hand straying across his neck to caress his cheek and turn his face gently.

"Are you angry?" Sasuke inquired softly and Naruto shook his head, feeling Sasuke's hair tickle his skin and familiar scent come over him soothingly.

"I told you they wouldn't take it well though," he grumbled, reprimanding the other. "And I'm blaming you when my body is found mangled by your fan girls." He smiled a bit sadly and the other kissed him, just a quick press to let him know he didn't like that joke and expression to go with it. Naruto chuckled and beamed at him.

His best friend, his boyfriend, his family; his most important person in every way.

"I love your nice side," he said stoutly. "Maybe it's a good thing others can't see it after all." Sasuke snorted at the possessiveness that was mostly his own forte, obsidian eyes taking in clear blue with fondness. Naruto turned back to the window. "I love you as well of course," he added.

Sasuke's arms tensed for a moment and Naruto startled, about to turn around in confusion when he abruptly heard Sasuke's deep voice whisper near his ear, "I love you too."

Naruto stopped moving. Completely and utterly shut down as those words washed over him for the first time. Sasuke tightened his hold hesitantly and pulled him closer. Never…not when they held each other, not when they kissed, not when they made love…Sasuke had never…

"Just like you love Itachi?" he asked, voice catching and breaking.

"I've got it right this time, dobe," Sasuke said and his jibe caused an instinctive scowl and backwards kick from Naruto to come his way. Moving his hands to the blonde's shoulders and turning him around forcefully, Sasuke connected their eyes seriously, wanting Naruto to know that this time around, it was different.

"I…I hate my brother," Sasuke said with a swallow, the words so different from the overflowing affection he'd felt from his childhood. "He killed them…he left me alone."

"Stop it," Naruto muttered. "That's enough, you don't have to –"

"And I love you," Sasuke continued anyway. "In a completely different way to _him_." He rested his chin on Naruto's hair and breathed unsteadily from the effort.

Finally…finally the words felt so _right_, said to the one who really deserved them. He ended up with a faceful of blonde as Naruto pulled his head down to him, kissing so desperately that Sasuke was lost and overwhelmed by everything the blonde tried to express in that one, non-vocal action. Hands roamed and the searing touch of the other was familiar, even with the exquisite levity that made this _forbidden_.

"I'm so proud of you," Naruto said between breaths. Sasuke entangled their fingers together and smiling fit to shame the sun behind him, Naruto murmured contentedly, "It was worth the wait."

Like he always did when Naruto was being unusually over affectionate, Sasuke shut him up in the best way he could, receiving no complaint from the other except to put more of his weight onto Sasuke. As they escaped the school grounds and their last two classes, curiously they found the only thing that changed was two little words.

It was many valentines ago when Sasuke first told Naruto he hated him. A few valentines later that Naruto realized what Sasuke was _trying_ to say, and words had become just words. It was their little secret, something they could laugh about later when others remarked how much they hated each other, the until now unvoiced truth that had been there all along.

_End Of Part 1_

* * *

_Part 2 will be coming soon. Feedback is welcome._


	2. Part 2

**_Summary_**--_Sometimes he'd hear adults say how certain orphans' eyes sparkled, and Naruto supposed a light was indeed in there somewhere. He had no idea however, how Sasuke had managed to lose both his light and heart.  
_

_Part 2 :) No lemon here - those will start from part 3 onwards._

_**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto. It's a very sad thing isn't it?_

_* * * * *_

**:_Valentine Shorts_:..**

**Part 2**

At a young age Naruto already knew many things. Such things preluded facts of the type that Iruka made the best ramen ever, social workers reported back to an almighty being known as 'the devil', and that the people next to the orphanage were actually spies, always looking at them outlandishly over the fence and speaking in quiet voices which Iruka told him meant 'secret things.' Why else would people peek over fences, if not for spying? It made sense to Naruto and so he stuck his tongue out at them whenever he could.

He knew how to sew without making holes in his fingers, how to boil water for when adults weren't around, could count all the numbers that mattered on his ten little fingers and could make the other children laugh when he expressed the slightest whimsical desire to do so. He enjoyed playing with the other children, very much so.

Sometimes though, a child would disappear and even though no one else might notice, Naruto always did. With the fingers that mattered, he could count every child in the orphanage. At first he cried, imagining clawed hands and bogeymen that stole children away when no one cared about them anymore. It took some time before he finally found out that children were happy to disappear.

He wondered if he would disappear too.

It came to pass that by the time Naruto was seven, so many children had appeared and disappeared that he couldn't remember them all. The kids that were already there when Naruto entered had also left one by one so that finally, he was the last remaining from his first group of comrades.

Feeling significantly left out by the toddlers playing with building blocks near the door, he instead sank himself into one of the ginormous orange beanbags and watched lucidly in their general direction. He was therefore the first one to notice the door open up and straightened with interest as Iruka stepped into the room with someone.

Next to the orphanage owner was a boy, reaching only slightly above Iruka's waist but definitely taller than any of the orphans already there. Because the new boy was taller than him, Naruto realized with a pout that he was also older. The older you get, the smarter you get and Naruto felt the first flames of competitiveness spring forth in his young mind.

Iruka was leading his new charge towards Naruto and for reasons undefined the blonde was staring very purposefully at the other, a combination of curiosity and hesitancy pooling in his stomach. The boy had a head of the most dark, midnight hair that he had ever seen and it was styled in such a way that vaguely made him think of the chicken in the yard. When the other made a strange noise in his throat, Naruto startled and looked at his eyes.

"Naruto, it's rude to stare!" Iruka chided with a scowl and Naruto sheepishly turned to him instead as the man introduced them.

"Sasuke, this here is Naruto. He knows everything about everyone here and I'm sure he could help you around. Naruto, take care of Sasuke okay?"

Naruto nodded with a bright smile in Sasuke's direction. The other didn't smile back and not to be discouraged, the blonde grabbed his hand and pulled him out the sliding doors and into the yard, with Iruka left watching bemusedly from behind.

Gesturing enthusiastically from the veranda at the expanse of greenery spreading from white fence to fence, Naruto pointed out to Sasuke the chicken that so resembled him and all the rabbits that were kept in the garden. He pulled the other down the mossy stone steps and to the swing, sending a pink eyed bunny hopping frantically away as he sat clumsily on the hanging plank of wood.

"Sometimes they disappear," Naruto told him with a sad smile, his feet skinning airily on the soft grass as he swung. "But Iruka said its bad when _rabbits_ disappear. It's good for kids, but not for rabbits. Isn't that strange Sasuke?"

He thought it was weird that Sasuke didn't say anything at all. All he did was make that weird 'hn' sound in his throat and occasionally glance funnily at the blonde, other times apparently deeply interested in the green tendrils that veined the white, wooden fence posts.

Naruto sometimes glanced at Sasuke too and every now and again they would look at the same time. When this happened then Naruto felt embarrassed, because Iruka had told him not to stare after all and the other was very good at the staring game. It was like looking at a butterfly's wings, where if you gazed too long then the all the pretty colors would swirl and flutter, leaving you so captivated that you had to look away before you got too dizzy.

Sasuke's eyes weren't colorful but it was almost the same thing, Naruto thought. Then he felt confused, because Sasuke's eyes were _black_, and wasn't black the opposite of color? His confusion showed on his face and he thought over it hard that night, restlessly pondering in a room filled with snores. Thoughts mixed with dreams where obsidian was prominent and everything reminded him of Sasuke…

He woke up from a nightmare for the first time in over a year when he fell into a deep, gaping chasm. As he panted and choked on sobs from how real the ordeal had been, his flustered face turned to the bed two bunks away. He hastily got back down and threw the sheets over his head when Sasuke shifted, his cerulean eyes wide and fear keeping him in that position despite the heat.

Sasuke's eyes, they were just like that ravine, empty and black. Naruto shuddered and thought before he fell back into slumber, looking at them was just like falling.

The next morning Naruto relived one of the other discoveries of his childhood; that was, that things in dreams were very different to real life. After spending all of breakfast and lunch skirting to the side of the table opposite from Sasuke and making sure to not make any eye contact whatsoever, Naruto was shocked to find himself sitting bang next to the raven at teatime. Fidgeting restlessly the entire time biscuits and cake were handed out, he hurriedly knotted his hands in his lap when his movements almost knocked a cup of juice across the linen tablecloth.

His hands shivered a little despite the pleasant Spring air and then another hand was reaching for and closing over his fingers, grasping and banishing the unwelcome discomfort as he jumped slightly. He looked sideways at the source of this warmth and did exactly what he told himself he wouldn't, blue eyes blinking blankly at questioning black. Sasuke's mouth opened soundlessly for a moment and caught by wonder, Naruto switched his attention to hesitant lips instead as they said quietly,

"I don't want to be alone again."

Naruto thought Sasuke's voice was more captivating than even those birds that sang every morning. Because of that, he decided Sasuke wasn't a ravine after all. Well, not really. His eyes were black after all, but they made falling a good thing in that it was just his stomach doing a funny little lurch, something he blamed on cheerfulness. He held Sasuke's hand too, many times thereafter.

One day while searching for a particular white rabbit in the bushes, Naruto heard a very peculiar whisper from over the fence. Two lady spies, still in their aprons as they leaned over the far fence said to each other, "Poor boy, I can't believe it. The Uchihas gone, just like –"

Naruto dived behind a neatly pruned shrub when he spotted the rabbit frozen there in alarm. Victoriously pulling the piteous creature by its ears from its sanctuary, he crawled back out with difficulty, once more overhearing the two women. He'd been taught eavesdropping was a bad thing to do and he quickly made away, but not before catching a familiar name.

"—Sasuke Uchiha, right? I saw him when he arrived the other day... the child looked godforsaken, poor soul. Like there was no light in his eyes and his heart was gone."

Naruto paused when he heard this and the rabbit successfully wrested itself from his grip to jump down a rabbit hole near the swing. Sometimes he'd heard adults exclaim how some orphans eyes 'sparkled', and he supposed a light was indeed there somewhere, but the fact that not having a heart was bad…? That was new.

"Do all things have a heart, sensei?"

Iruka appeared startled and examined the boy sitting on a spindly stool before him. Naruto eyed him earnestly, waiting for the answers that Iruka could always give him. The man wet his lips; Naruto wasn't talking about the knotted, beating piece of flesh was he? If he understood Naruto, which he did, then this was another one of those metaphorical matters that he always found direly important.

"A heart," he began with careful thought, "is something that everyone needs to live." His fingers held his chin as he nodded to himself. Yeah, that was the right thing to say, probably.

"Everyone?" Naruto echoed. "Even kids?"

"Even kids," Iruka confirmed, wondering where this might lead. Naruto thought for a moment before his brow furrowed, meaning he'd chosen to say something he was quite unsure of.

"Sensei…what happens if someone loses their heart?"

What? Iruka chuckled. "That's impossible Naruto. Is that what you are so worried about?" Naruto glared hotly, not to be mollified.

"Then why did Sasuke lose his heart?" he asked seriously and Iruka stopped chuckling, to Naruto's smug glee.

"Why would you think that?"

Iruka appeared calm when in fact he was growing fairly alarmed. The levity of Naruto's questions suggested he was on to something, which was absolutely disastrous. None of the children in the orphanage should be knowledgeable to the events behind Sasuke's admission as it would only create a barrier between them.

Under Iruka's scrutiny, Naruto averted his eyes and muttered inaudibly so that Iruka had to lean forward and make him repeat his sentence.

Guiltily, Naruto muttered to his lap, "I heard the spies say it."

Leaning back against his chair with a deep sigh, Iruka decided he was going to have a nice, long conversation with those neighbors of his. Mistaking the thundercloud above Iruka's head, Naruto winced and started babbling.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to overhear them, I promise!" Realising his mistake, Iruka rushed to mend it but the blonde was on a mission as he continued his rant.

"The spies were talking reaaaaally loudly and I was looking for the snow rabbit and she was hiding near the bushes, and when I grabbed her the spies were _still _talking and I accidentally heard—"

"Naruto," Iruka cut him off firmly. The blonde finally raised his head, blue eyes sparkling with the slightest hint of moisture. With a rush of motherly fondness and protectiveness, Iruka mussed the locks on the top of Naruto's head and smiled sincerely at him, wanting suddenly to do anything to rectify the blonde's discomposure.

"Sasuke hasn't lost his heart, Naruto."

"But…" Naruto's face twisted in puzzlement. "You said that spies always know everything."

Well, Iruka thought. He had dug himself into a right hole there. The cogs were turning in Naruto's head as he began to consider anxiously…was his teacher _wrong _about something_? _Before Naruto's trust in him could crumble to dust, Iruka changed tact after a short, intense meeting between conscience in his mind and the gut in his abdomen.

"Naruto, I will tell you a secret okay?" he said in a whisper, the very air around him stilling with his dramatics. Like fish drawn to bait Naruto stopped straining his brain and instead leaned forward conspiratorially to listen.

"Don't tell anyone else," Iruka said sadly. "Sasuke actually lost someone very important to his heart. His brother…disappeared, and now Sasuke doesn't have family anymore. His heart is very damaged Naruto, but you can't tell anyone because it will get worse."

"Like a germ," Naruto whispered, horrified. The fact that disappearing was supposed to be good didn't even register in his mind because he knew how it felt, that even though someone might be happy to disappear, he was in truth never happy when others left him alone. He squeezed his eyes shut painfully. "Sasuke…"

Iruka patted the boy gently on the shoulder, sure that Naruto would not spread what the neighbors had said. Although it had taken a warped version of the truth to earn that, it might actually be for the better if Naruto could become a closer friend to Sasuke.

"Iruka-sensei, can I give Sasuke my heart?"

Or not.

Spluttering to find an excuse that would not blow up his trail of tales in his face, Iruka merely managed to exclaim ineloquently, "Absolutely not!"

Naruto's mouth opened and closed, clearly flabbergasted by what he saw as a violent rejection.

"Then can I give Sasuke Kyuubi's heart?"

Iruka's eyes bulged at this. Kyuubi was the stuffed, demon fox toy that had accompanied Naruto into the orphanage. It was a relic left to him by his parents, salvaged from his room before his house had been collected by the government. A handsome toy with brilliant red fur and nine shapely tails, it had always sat in a respected position next to Naruto's pillow. Now he was willing to give it away and Iruka couldn't have been more shocked.

"No, dear lord…why would you do that?" he asked weakly.

"Because Sasuke doesn't have one," Naruto replied. Iruka didn't ask whether 'one' meant a Kyuubi or a heart.

"No, Naruto…Kyuubi doesn't have a heart, I'm afraid."

"But _why,"_ Naruto asked desperately as he ran out of options, and it started to make Iruka anxious as well. Anxious also apparently meant loss of rational thinking.

"Demons don't have hearts. Angels do, but demons don't."

Oh dear god, that had _not_ just come out his mouth. He had not just sentenced Naruto to a life of fantastical beliefs, _no._ Breathing regularly on the outside while inside he was beating himself up, he prepared himself for the no doubt challenging question that Naruto would come up with next. He wasn't prepared enough.

"Iruka sensei…what am I then?"

Iruka blinked, thrown off guard. "I beg your pardon?"

"Am I a demon or an angel?" Naruto said slowly. Iruka was now ready to strangle himself for causing this mess.

"Neither –"

"Then I don't have a heart and I can't give Sasuke one," Naruto whined tearfully. "He has no brother and now he's lost his heart as well."

And as these words clicked in Iruka's mind he grabbed too late at Naruto's sleeve, the blonde opening the door quickly and fleeing from his office.

In the empty sleeping quarters Naruto pulled Kyuubi from its nest of blankets and cushions. With practiced fingers he stroked its fur from tail to head, and to another tail again. Downcast, Naruto wondered what a demon actually was and held Kyuubi nose to nose with himself.

Red beady eyes, red fur and a grin that split from one floppy ear to the other. Naruto attempted the expression and found that his grin wouldn't go any further that his cheeks. Suddenly he felt angry and the edges of his mouth involuntarily curved downwards instead. Kyuubi got to be a demon and yet he, Naruto, wasn't anything! In his disappointment he promptly threw Kyuubi away from him and ran towards the yard to wait for tea.

He didn't find Kyuubi before bedtime.

This was why he should never throw things, he realized desperately as he flopped onto his bed. After crawling across the entire wood-planked floor and even popping his head out to look at the shrub beneath the window, he still hadn't found the elusive fox toy. Sadness began to build up inside his chest like a bubble as he craned his head to see the empty blanket nest. It wasn't just losing Kyuubi, his demon. It was like losing his parents, again.

Sleep didn't come easily, he was awake even when Iruka opened the door at midnight and checked on them as was routine. Knowing that he'd be in trouble for not sleeping like all other good children, he shut his eyes and stayed still until the man left.

When the next day came Naruto was very tired. He didn't even have the energy to accompany Sasuke and the other children and he retreated to the swing in the yard, sitting by himself and rocking lightly with his forehead against the twined rope. So deep was he in his own mind, he didn't even notice Sasuke walk down the stone steps until a pair of sneaker-clad shoes stood in his line of sight.

Raising his head, his eyes widened as he looked first from Sasuke's calm face to the red bundle gathered in his arms. Brilliant fur, beady eyes…and tails that hung in every direction!

"Kyuubi!" he cried out, "Sasuke, how—?"

"I found him on my bed," Sasuke revealed and Naruto would have glowered at himself for missing that. Leaning over, the raven haired boy reached out and delicately placed the fox into Naruto's hands, the blonde clasping it tightly to his chest and promising he'd never throw Kyuubi again. To Naruto's surprise Sasuke stayed where he was, eyes crinkling slightly as he watched Naruto cuddle the fox.

"Why do you care so much about it? It's just a toy," Sasuke stated, evidently confused. Naruto clutched Kyuubi even tighter as though scared it might listen and shook his head with a smile.

"Kyuubi is my demon," he said very quietly like a secret, but one the spies would not find out. "My parents gave him to me."

"Your parents?"

"Yep," Naruto said proudly before shrinking a little. "But they're gone now." He didn't much like talking about his missing parents and everyone told him they were 'in a better place.' But he didn't mind talking with Sasuke about it; Sasuke lost his brother.

"A demon…" Sasuke said, testing the word on his tongue. He thought for a moment and the other admired how his black locks of hair waved nicely in the wind. "My mother used to have an angel," he said. Naruto's eyes grew wide and he gasped, suddenly jealous of Sasuke's mother whom he hadn't ever met before.

"An angel," he whispered, the word almost sacred. A _heart_.

"She wore it around her neck and never took it off," Sasuke told him, closing his eyes as he remembered. "I always wanted to look at it. It had large, shiny wings and she told me it was made out of 'silver.'"

Naruto was enraptured, mind jumping rapidly from birds, to butterflies, to an image of feathered, sparkling wings fixed upon a person's back. To be able to fly…what a dream that would be! He would never have to fear falling again!

"My mother liked to hold her angel," Sasuke continued in a low whisper. "She would hold it very tightly, hidden in her hand and then when she was strong again she always kissed it softly."

It sounded beautiful, Naruto thought dazedly, gaze transfixed. He wanted it, so, so much that he found every cell in his body was wishing for it. He knew he would use every birthday wish, every falling star he saw, _always _and forever so that he could get this dream. Sasuke smiled tentatively, a rare expression only Naruto had the chance to ever see.

Then Sasuke lifted his chin with very careful fingers, Naruto watched him with large eyes that swirled a hundred shades of volatile sky blue and Sasuke's scent of freshly laundered lavender filled his senses because Sasuke was leaning over him, the movement like weightless feathers. Something soft and warm touched his forehead and putting pieces together, Naruto realized it was Sasuke's lips.

What was Sasuke doing?

The raven was still smiling as he drew back and Naruto, though confused, nonetheless smiled back with all he had. He didn't know why Sasuke did what he did but it had felt nice, and so he now stood up and followed Sasuke as he turned around and headed to the steps.

His stomach lurched again and certain that the taller boy in front was the reason for it, he held the hand offered to him, a single high laugh escaping as Sasuke's strong grasp led him back inside to the other children.

* * * * *

_I met many angels in my life, but the only one that mattered was the first one._

_He stayed._

::End of Part 2::

* * *

A lot of effort went into this over a week or so. Which actually says how much of a slow writer I am. -Blows cheeks up unhappily-

Well, next part comes the lemon lime bitters, aka, naughty stuff that I know you want. For shame XD

**Review comments**

**TheSiren'sMuse** Thank you very much for your kind words =) They are very valuable to me!

**Akkiofthefunk **Haha...truthfully, I'm actually more of an angst writer X.X Fluff is quite a new experiment.

**TGOMO **Words cannot express my love for you. Seriously ;) I think I will dub you stalker, but in a good way.


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Naruto, Friendship, Romance