Naruto 1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Okay well, new story! I was just dying to write it T-T plot bunnies looked up at me from their cage with big ol'eyes and I just had to throw them a carrot! I have to give some credit to the song Runaway Love by Diamond Rings (idk if you've heard of them? XD) for giving me this idea but you know, that's how it works!**

**I'm still writing Knowing The Enemy….is that what it's called O-o, so if you've read that and your dying for an update, which I doubt, don't worry it will happen soon. XD There I go, being depressed if I'm not careful I'll be beaten with a stick.**

**On with the story!**

**Chapter One: The Rules **

Wednesday Night: Day One

"Get off." A blonde teen grumbled, trying to cuddle into the itchy white sheets of a hotel, swatting at the tender kiss being placed on his neck. Sasuke, the other teen, grabbed the blonde's wrist, pulling it back and pinning it to the head board.

"What's the matter Naruto?" He asked, continuing his ministrations on Naruto's neck. "Too much for you to handle?"

Shoving the raven off, Naruto stood from the tiny hotel bed, grabbing the boxers hanging from a nearby lamp and slipping them on. "Hey! Those are mine." Sasuke complained. Naruto only stuck his tongue out at him as he scooped the rest of his clothing from the ground. Entering the bathroom, the door slamming behind him, Naruto entertained the thought of just crawling back under the covers with Sasuke and forgetting the whole damn mess that was the world.

Not an option. With only his pants on, Naruto swung the door back open to see Sasuke digging behind the TV for the shirt Naruto purposely tossed there. "You better hurry up, or you'll miss your date tonight."

"It got canceled." Sasuke explained, getting fed up and shoving the TV further down the dresser it perched on, emerging from the cubby hole with his shirt as a prize. "I have to go to this dinner thing with my parents anyway."

"Sounds kosher." Naruto commented, slipping his shirt over his head as he walked over to the orange backpack, leaning against a plain black backpack in the forgotten corner of the room. Shoving pens, pencils and quarters back into the front pocket, strewn on the table's surface in the mists of carless heat. "I'm going to the club tonight with the guys for some illegal activities involving liquor, smokes, and a cheap hooker."

"Sounds illicit." Sasuke commented, swooping down to kiss Naruto's cheek while snatching the plain black backpack, he walked to the door, a smirk settled on his features as he stared back at Naruto. "See ya!" He winked, allowing the door to click silently behind him.

"Bastard." Naruto mumbled, now he had to wait ten minutes before he could leave. Precautions set by Bastard himself, paranoid didn't even begin to cut it when it came to Sasuke. Naruto didn't know how he ended up in this kind of relationship.

It was just supposed to be a forbidden teenage party with underage drinking and drama woven underneath all the stupidity. Naruto was so drunk he allegedly got kicked out for throwing a potted plant out of the second story master bedroom and sentencing whoever lived there to death, he might have also started a massive fight with the kid to...maybe... He wasn't sure if that's exactly what happened but he seemed to remember the thundering laughter of whiteness's, they laughed just as hard at the sight of him being dragged through the halls kicking and cursing.

Outside the party house, Naruto stumbled down the sidewalk hollering behind him and running right into a figure in the darkness. "What the hell asshole!" Naruto yelled at the figure, it shifted so that the light caught its face, illuminating the pale skin of the figure, his nose, the dark color of his brows and the shape of his hair barely visible in the setting. But his eyes, those were the real part of him, those obsidian eyes. They studied Naruto in silence, roaming his features carefully as if the moment was fragile, as if it was a balloon approaching needles about to be popped. Naruto recognized this guy, a guy he'd only seen in the halls and heard of in whispers echoing through the halls. This was Sasuke Uchiha, semi-rich academically outstanding attractive jock, known for being just the perfect amount of jerk to be envied yet well liked all at the same time.

After a moment Naruto decided enough was enough, pushing the needle forward, "What are you lookin at?" He spat, not appreciating the proximity of the other boy, or the light scent of expensive cologne tickling his nose and rubbing his cheeks red with thoughts Naruto would die to admit.

"You.", Sasuke answered, it was one word but sent shivers down Naruto's spine. The sound of a popping balloon seemed to ring down the dark streets, louder than the sound of pumping music from the crowded house at the end of the block.

Those obsidian eyes, they ate him up, body and soul. Naruto leaned in, not willing to give in so easily. "And what do you see? Huh?"

A smirk crawled on Sasuke's face, those obsidian eyes flashed white, transforming into an unmistakable twinkle. Sasuke leaned in, his breath brushing against Naruto's ear, who gulped with the shock of his nerves. "Idiot."

"Oh fuck you." Naruto growled, shoving the slightly taller boy off the curb, before resuming his journey home. Something caught him, turning him around, catching him the darkness. Soft lips skimmed his, shivers withered through him; Naruto was hooked then, caught. He spent the night with Sasuke in the same hotel he stood now, past that the night seemed to be a blurry mess. When he woke up in the morning, it was in Sasuke's arms.

Sasuke freaked out at first, afraid of what would happen if anyone ever found out. What would his parents think? The school? His team-mates? Naruto watched him buzz around the room, suffocating himself with uncertainties.

At first, Sasuke wanted nothing to do with Naruto, which was the original plan. But Naruto caught Sasuke in his lie; it was in the gaze that followed him in the hall, the burning hole in his back as he walked away, the images of passion that flooded his mind every time their eyes made accidental contact. So when he found a note with the words "meet me at the hotel" in his locker, Naruto wasn't surprised.

Actually now that it was running through his mind, a forbidden teenage party with underage drinking and drama woven underneath all the stupidity was exactly what he was participating in at the time.

"I want to keep seeing you." Sasuke had said, "But we set up rules." And Naruto agreed. Just to name a few; Naruto was not to talk or make contact with Sasuke outside of the hotel room, when one person left the other will wait at least ten minutes before leaving, no calling or texting, no contact with each other's friends, when communicating in school or public it will only be to fight.

Naruto hated that rule, one time Sasuke actually punched him in the jaw, and no matter how hard Sasuke hugged him later that night, apologizing consistently, Naruto could only feel the contact of that fist over and over again.

In a way though, Naruto also loved that first rule. It let him get out all of those personal frustrations he never shared with Sasuke. Like how he hated the sneaking, how he hated the rules, how it seemed like Sasuke always treated him as if he was the one who was more invested somehow. He hated that he loved it, and hated that he hated it all to.

It was all so fucking confusing.

"Hey! You're late young man!" Naruto's mother nagged from the living room as soon as he walked through the garage entrance into the kitchen. He wasn't really late, she was just teasing. Naruto let a smirk of his own adorn his face. Sure, he lied to Sasuke earlier. It was really movie night bonding time with his mother, Kushina, but Sasuke wouldn't know that, instead he'd have to suffer through his family dinner agonizing over the thought of Naruto gathering with unknown friends having fun with a hooker.

He was the jealous type after all.

"Did you eat all the popcorn already?!" Naruto called to her, examining his pantry for the absent box of popcorn.

"Microwave!" She called, smiling. You could hear it in her voice when she smiled; maybe it was the curvature of her lips that made the tone shift into such recognizable happiness.

Entering the living room, a bowl of popcorn from the microwave in his hand Naruto smiled at his mother, settling into the couch to have a good time. This was a typical Wednesday night as of two months ago, and he had no clue if the routine was fine for him or not. But it didn't seem to matter, at the end of the day Naruto would end up in that hotel room anyway.

Laughing at the movie, his mother's comments ringing sweetly in his ears as their obnoxious laughter weaved together in one continuous harmony, Naruto decided to make a box when this all started. Something inside his mind that he could shove all his questions, all his thoughts involving Sasuke and all the lies, something tangible to push into the far corners of his mind without a second thought.

Something to keep his soul from becoming tainted

* * *

Thursday: Day Two

It was Valentine's Day; Naruto never received valentines, ever. Instead he watched the halls, glowering at all the recipients of love like they had something he didn't.

Oh right, none of them had a secret gay lover. In which case he was the one who had something they didn't.

The familiar sight of duck ass shaped hair caught his attention, it was Sasuke and his new and first girlfriend, Sakura H. Honestly, Naruto thought she was pretty, even though he hated it personally. Her pink hair fitted her perfectly, from head to toe, like she was the essence of feminine beauty and everything that ever stood for it or something.

He watched her pearly teeth emerge from those pink lips as a rose reached her nose. Sasuke smirked beside her, muttering something Naruto couldn't hear from his position. He wished he had a valentine to show off, something tangible from Sasuke to justify their intimacy. Did he kiss her often? Caress her body gently; bite her lower lip with the edge of his teeth? Have they had sex yet? Naruto shoved these questions in a box, taping it tightly. He swore a long time ago that none of those things mattered, he knew his place. That was the only thing that mattered.

"What are you looking at?" The low voice of his friend, Gaara greeted from his side, looking in the same direction as Naruto.

"I'm wondering how that asshole can have somebody, and someone as sexy as I am can have no one to call honey!" Naruto joked, making a face of disgust in Sasuke's direction.

"I'm sorry it's my fault for dating the only other gay guy available in this town." Gaara was attempting a joke but his face and the tone of his voice was so gravely serious Naruto wasn't sure if he should laugh or not.

Gaara was referring to some mechanic Naruto had never run into, but always heard about. "You're still dating him? Isn't he like thirty, that's illegal right? Find someone better!"

"He's twenty-one; you should meet him with me sometime." Gaara commented, opening the locker next to Naruto's and shoving his bag in the empty space. Gaara and Naruto were best friends with an unspoken binding agreement to never date each other, not that they felt the need to. "Did you finish your homework?"

"Nope!" Naruto answered, shooting him a bright smile, Gaara shook his head disapprovingly, "what?! I'll pass the year I swear!"

"No summer school." Gaara commented pulling out notebooks and pencils. Naruto grimaced, he was sure the he would have to attend to make up for all the sleeping he does in math. Noticing the look, Gaara sighed into his locker, "So you're canceling on me again."

"No!" Naruto defended, slamming his locker shut, "we can still go on a road trip! It just might be a little bit shorter than we planned."

"I'm going to start beating you with a stick every time you disappoint me." Gaara commented, shutting his locker and staring at Naruto with a blank look.

Naruto laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "You're kidding right buddy? Right?"

Naruto stopped laughing when Gaara's face didn't even twitch a centimeter. "People remember things best when they have to suffer through them." the redhead commented blinking only once before turning around and heading in the direction of his class.

Great now his only friend was mad at him.

Entering Math, Sasuke's presence taunted him more than it ever did. He sat in the front row, writing fiercely in his notebook as if the equations on the board were going to melt into the chalkboard and fade away. Naruto wanted to believe it's because Sasuke was resisting his irresistible presence, but he was probably just super focused in being an academically successful bastard.

Naruto sighed at the back of Sasuke's head from the last row, before leaning his head and joining his table mate, Shikamaru for an afternoon nap.

He needed his rest for biology, which he shared with, surprise- surprise, both Sasuke and Sakura who sat just a table ahead of him side by side.

_What a perfect couple._ Naruto thought, burning a hole at the pair from the back row.

Sasuke swung his head around, catching Naruto's eyes. Sticking up his middle finger and sticking out his tongue in greeting for the day, Naruto teased him. The raven rolled his eyes in response turning his attention to the board, racking his hands through his hair to disguise the two birds he flew at Naruto so Sakura wouldn't notice.

Biting back a smile, Naruto flipped open his book, pretending to attempt the reading assignment scratched on the board. Biology was such a bore; the only highlight was Gaara's presence as his lab partner. They kept each other well entertained with note passing and whispers.

The only drawback was that Sasuke was in the same room, and Naruto had to be careful not to let his eyes linger on the raven for too long, otherwise his friend would definitely notice something and erupt with questions Naruto had no interest in answering.

"Did I just see Sasuke flipping you off?" Gaara stated, coming from behind me, slipping into his seat without anyone other than me noticing. Questions like those, littered with words like "Sasuke" and "you" pricking at the surface of every lie carefully set in place were exactly the type Naruto wanted to avoid.

"Dunno." Naruto replied, silently cursing the door for being in the back of the room making it difficult to watch for Gaara's presence in the room.

"Hmmm…" Gaara mused, before shrugging off the issue and opening the book, Naruto let out the air trapped in his lungs. That was a close one.

Biology dragged on without mercy, stabbing Naruto consistently with glances of Sakura smiling at Sasuke, Sakura admiring her single gifted rose, Sakura reaching over and grazing her fingers on the back of his hand silently. Sakura, Sakura, Sakura. By the end of the period Naruto couldn't tell if he was envious of the girl or if he felt so sorry for her he could barely stand it. Either way, the thoughts weighed down his stomach heavily, making him want to puke all over the floor.

"Are you feeling okay?" Gaara asked, following him out of the classroom. It was the end of the school day, and the halls were brimming with students eager to get out and celebrate.

"Yeah." Naruto muttered weakly, groaning as his back popped. After finally being Sasuke free, his day flew by with fantasies of murdering everyone with the chocolates he never received.

Murder by chocolate, it was delicious.

He was so fed up at the sight of loving couples he pounded his head into the locker repeatedly, until Gaara shoved him lightly, "Don't kill yourself before we can go on the road trip."

"Sorry." Grumbled Naruto as he leaned his head against the locker, entering the combination while pouting at the object like it cared about his bad day; Gaara studied him silently, closing his locker and coming to a conclusion. The blondes eyebrows were unhappily squishing together, his jaw was tight as he whispered threats to the lock that refused to open. Reaching out, Gaara patted Naruto's arm lightly, catching the blonde's full attention. Gaara never, ever engages in touching anyone other than his older boyfriend.

"You'll find somebody, just be patient." The redhead comforted, "I know we're just friends, but if it makes you feel better I can bring one for you tomorrow? Because in a totally non-romantic way I guess I do love you."

Naruto smiled, leaning off the locker, resting his hands on top of his head, "Awl, you got to cute and cuddly all of a sudden! I don't know what to do." Gaara glared pointedly, Naruto let out a nervous giggle, "But I wouldn't mind if you brought me one, that would be awesome, I'll get you one to!"

Satisfied, Gaara let the end of his lip curl in attempt to smile, "See you tomorrow then." before entering through the nearest exit.

"Bye Gaara!" Naruto called down the hall toward him, it echoed throughout the space with everyone now officially gone. Well, except for apparently a couple chasing each other.

"No!" The girl laughed, giggling when her boyfriend caught up to her, sweeping her off the floor, picking her up in a massive bear hug as they traveled out the door, leaving Naruto officially alone once and for all.

How sweet.

"Stupid Valentine's Day." Naruto breathed as he opened his locker in a hurry, just wanting the day to be over; inside a heart shaped box of chocolates with a note attached to them was resting. Naruto looked around the empty hall before picking up the gift and peeling of the note.

_"Missed you all day, are you up for a weekend of romance to make up for it dobe?"  
_

Naruto smiled, "Bastard."

* * *

**So what do you think so far? REVIEWWWWWWWWW OR MY PLOT BUNNIES WILL BOUNCE DOWN YOUR HOUSE, CRUSH YOU, AND EAT YOU! Fierce and adorable~! That's them :D**

**Also I'd just like to get this out of the way: even though it's not technically Basketball season, the team is constantly active because of Sasuke's crazy coach (One guess who that will be), there is more elaboration in that in this one later, but in Pulse of the Party it's in like the first chapter XDD**

**Also I haven't actually posted Pulse of the Party yet because, I'm exhausted **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! So, I was re-watching episodes of Naruto shippuden (non-recent spoiler alert btw) and after the battle on the bridge where Naruto goes all RAWR and kills Sakura….well, okay maybe not "Kills" per-se but, I mean, a person can dream can't they? I don't hate her that bad but…like usual she was being a stupid hoe (which I would also like to point out that Shika calls Naruto stupid for doing the same damn thing in the whole part in the anime with Sora, and I was like "Yeah, Sakura can't say anything, you should have been there to see her do it), no offense to any of my dear friends but if any of you went psycho monster I wouldn't approach you with a pole stretching hallway through fucking space….ANYWAY, off topic now. So back at the hide-out place, where Sai meets Sasuke, and Sasuke's like BLEH :P I don't like you let me knock you down with my menacing stare while I hide out in the dark with my even bigger duck ass hair-cut, and Kabato is all yelling at him to stop and talking about respecting Orochimaru, and Orochimaru is kind of indifferent I had a random thought of the two being Sasuke's surrogate parents, just because, idk I did! It cracked me up! So go to that scene, watch it, and let me know if you know what I'm saying cause…if there is not at least one fan fiction out there in CRACK style at least that hasn't thought of it…I wanna see it just purely for my sick sense of entertainment. Its English Dub btw, I don't know if the conversation is any different in sub.**

**On with the story! **

**Chapter Two: Sasuke's Plunge**

Thursday Evening, February 14 :

Wind breezed down the steadily warming street of Kohona Drive, with no natural company but the swarming of stray leaves left behind by fall, and forgotten in winter. Unnaturally speaking, there were plenty of things occupying company with the wind. Brick houses, cars, and other projects of human innovation were just naming a few, but nothing was more unsightly then the contents of a black mustang resting on the side of the road.

Inside, Sakura leaned in for a kiss on her boyfriend's lips, but he turned his head. Her frown pressed into his pale cheek, and Sasuke cursed himself for not getting the whole thing over with. Pulling away, her hands guided the distraught boys face to her eyes, "What's wrong?"

_I don't really like you like that. I'm secretly dating Naruto, who you hate. I don't feel comfortable. I hate lying to you now._ All answers that fluttered in his mind, but his mouth muttered, "Nothing."

She let out a disappointed huff as her hands released him, opening the car door, pausing as her foot hit the pavement. Her face was hidden from view, and Sasuke had only the quiet harsh tone of her voice to bid him farewell, "I thought since its Valentine's Day, and you seemed happy, that things were progressing….this weekend, when you're off goofing around with your friends, how about you consider that I might not be here waiting for you when you get back."

It was a lie, they were both liars, she would be waiting. Knowing that worsened the twitching of Sasuke's stomach as he watched the pink girl walk to her front door, seemingly depressed of all air, like she was being suffocated by his complete lack of enthusiasm for anything physical beyond an awkward intermingling of hands. It was enough of a sight to make anyone queasy.

Groaning, his body relaxed into the leather as the engine roared to life. He needed Naruto, wished he was there in the car with him. Actually, it was possible, possible to just go sweep him off his feet in front of the entire school, show Naruto off to his parent's, live a happy life with little adopted kids or something.

Possible, but was it really that simple?

The grating deflation of his parents voices as they disowned him itched at his ears, the cold shoulder of his friends burned him, the hard life of glares and ridicule shook him. And would any of that really make life happy? It's not a choice to be gay, but was it a choice to live the life of a homosexual person? Could he fake it? Or would it be an inevitable fate, brought upon him by the mountain of crushing realities that he could ever be truly happy suffering with Sakura as he could be laughing with Naruto.

He was locked in a situation of internal impasse. Where the brick houses, cars, and other projects of human innovation intertwined with the wind, to the point where the distinguishing of unnatural from natural blurred in the inconsistence of the human thought process.

What is natural? What is it really? Is it the thing beneath every layer a person coats themselves in, or is it all the layers themselves? He didn't know.

* * *

Friday February 15: 

Driving up to the hotel just outside of the smaller city, Sasuke barely caught a glance of Naruto lying down recklessly on the sidewalk, supposedly napping. He didn't seem to notice when the black GT mustang pulled up right beside him, lost in his daydreams.

_Oh this will be fun_. Sasuke smirked, allowing his hand to crawl down the steering wheel slowly and press down on the magical button. At the sound of the sudden honk, naruto jumped up in alarm, scowling as he slid into the passenger seat. "You're such an ass."

"You know you like it." Sasuke commented, easing himself back into traffic. "Did you pack?"

"I didn't realize I had to…" The blonde responded wide-eyed with disbelief, "So that note was literal? We're spending the weekend together?"

"Yeah." Sasuke smirked, rolling his eyes, forgetting how obtuse his lover could be. "No shit Naruto."

"Shut-up!" The blonde growled, bring his phone to his ear. "Hey Mom, can I spend the weekend at Gaara's?"

Gaara, the only other gay teen in the city, or at least that's how it seemed to their High School; images of seeing the red-head and the blonde together leaked into his head. Were they a couple? Did they do intimate things once or even now? Pushing those thoughts aside, he became distracted with Naruto who started excitingly bouncing in his seat, thrilled to have permission to run free for the weekend. Shoving a smirk on his face, Sasuke grudgingly followed the directions to the blonde's house.

He didn't want to know where Naruto lived, his number, his friends. That's why he set up the rules, so that he would never know Naruto past a certain extent, so that if the time ever came, if he ever had to say his goodbyes, then there wouldn't be much to hold on to.

It was the small things he allowed himself to know. Naruto made a 23 on last week's biology test, is friends with Gaara, and doesn't really party as much or as hard as he leads Sasuke to believe. Though the thought of a hooker, male or female, entertaining Naruto did crawl under Sasuke's skin and bite him where it hurt the most.

Sasuke cherished every bit of information unearthed, craved it, unintentionally hunted for it, and dreamed of it every chance he got. Despite that, he let every bit drift as far away as possible in his mind, before it would become too much of a treasure.

Pulling up to a curb just three blocks down from the small two story brick house that Naruto lived in, they searched the block, looking for anyone or anything that breathed. When they saw that no one was coming, Naruto hopped out of the car, and Sasuke silently cursed at the fact Naruto and Sakura shared the same neighborhood, and that she lived just three blocks down on the same damn street. He should have thought to give Naruto more precise instructions so they wouldn't end up in this situation.

Lost in thought, Sasuke's eyes wandered to the passenger seat absentmindedly, causing him to double take at something that caught his eye. Swallowing, he reached out and picked up the box of chocolates, not the box of chocolates he gave him, but another, smaller, set with six chocolates. The front read, "Love you forever!" in cheap stupid font. Sasuke scoffed, Naruto was worth more than the dollar this was paid for.

"Don't eat my chocolate!" cried the blonde, snatching away the box from the fuming Uchiha as he plopped down in the passenger seat, and shoved the chocolates into the bag in his lap.

"Who did you get those from?" Asked Sasuke, trying to sound calm…too calm, smirking Naruto examined him.

"Why do you want to know? Jealous or something?" He teased, Sasuke glared with a frown, rolling his eyes. "One day, your eyes are going to get stuck like that. The chocolates are from Gaara who decided to entertain my pity party yesterday, so calm down Mr. Grumpy."

"You like to come up with all kinds of interesting names for me don't you?" Sasuke grinned, Naruto only smiled, leaning back in the seat and falling into a slumber.

Miles later, Sasuke decided it was safe to stop for gas and snacks, especially with Naruto who was still passed out with his cheek pressed against the glass window and drool running down the side of his mouth.

It was cute, in a dorky sort of way. Sasuke thought about the moment to himself as he exited the car.

Walking up to the stations front door, he found himself staring at one of those people he was always praying he didn't run into. Resisting the urge to turn around and check on Naruto, Sasuke looked at the girl in front of him with the blankest face possible.

They walked into the gas station silently, and he didn't bother to snap at her when she followed him to the back corner where he was examining drinks. "Aren't you supposed to be one some kind of all male team bonding trip? Isn't that why you denied your date with Sakura?"

"I don't see how that's any of your business Temari." He replied back, feeling the heat of her laser green eyes drilling a hole in his head.

"Maybe I should text her right now." She threatened, catching Sasuke's full attention; he grabbed the phone located in her hand, halting her attempt.

"Look….I just had some personal things I need to take care of, okay? Sakura isn't exactly the most trusting person with a secret, especially when someone makes her mad which I do often, we both know that." Releasing a sigh, he made full eye contact with her, "I'll handle it with her on my own time, but for the moment this is something I need to do by myself."

He unclenched his grip on her hand; she stared at him warily as she shut the phone and put it back in the pocket of her shorts. "Take care of it Uchiha." was her final comment before she stormed toward the bathrooms in the back.

He hoped that didn't back fire on him.

* * *

Saturday Morning, February 16:

"What do you tell your parents when you're doing when you're with me?" Naruto wondered out loud suddenly, his arms encompassing Sasuke's torso loosely. It was nine thirty in the morning, but the curtains shut out any sense of light, leaving the two boys to rest in darkness, both staring at the ceiling. Relaxing and thinking. Both of them were worn out from their…nightly activities, but at the same time, they were too invigorated to sleep, "How did you get away with this?" Naruto rephrased to the darkness. Sighing, Sasuke shifted in his arms, sinking into Naruto's warmth.

"I told Sakura and my parents I was going on a weekend trip with the rest of the basketball players, and I told Neji to tell my team to cover for me because I was going on a trip with another woman. I trust Neji to leave that part out in his announcement, and make something up, he doesn't really spread information." Sasuke explained to the ceiling with a sigh.

"Another woman? That doesn't sound very kosher?" The raven could hear the mischievous smile in the blonde's voice. He rolled his eyes, realizing that Naruto was probably picturing Sasuke with a female version of himself, laughing and mocking the things that Sasuke's friends and family would never know.

Turning over so that he was directly on top of Naruto, Sasuke planted a soft kiss on his smirk, running his teeth gently on the blonde's lower lip before whispering, "I don't think that I'm really a kosher kind of guy."

Naruto groaned at the weight being pressed on his stomach as Sasuke's weight slid off him and walked across the room, lifting his bag from the floor onto the hotel room table. "Are we going somewhere?" the blonde inquired hopefully.

For the first time in a long time, Sasuke allowed himself to actually fully smile at Naruto, "We didn't go far-far away for nothing."

"Yes!" Naruto cried, jumping out of the bed and running to his own bag, pulling out a massive assortment of clothes. "Where are we going first? Should we go out for breakfast? What's around here? Oh-let's do all that lovey-dovey crap you love so much!"

"That I love so much? What about you?" Sasuke laughed, slipping on a plain black shirt.

"Well you're the one who always wants to cuddle, and all that crap." Naruto teased, knowing full well that wasn't the whole truth. "Come on! What are we doing?! Tell me!"

"Going for a walk…..on the beach." Sasuke tried to bite back his smirk but failed as Naruto was struck with silent laughter.

"Oh sure!" He rubbed in teasingly, sitting on the bed to complete his extremely bright outfit with neon orange shoes, "You're not romantic or lovey-dovey in anyway Sasuke!"

"Fine, I'll go and you can stay here." Sasuke threatened, pretending to be mad, as he slipped into his shoes without bothering to re-tie anything. "Don't cry to me when you get bored."

"I was just joking! I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Naruto pleaded, strolling over slowly toward the sulking Sasuke and wrapping his arms around his waist, kissing his neck.

"Fine I'll forgive you, but you're not topping tonight." Sasuke resigned, undoing Naruto's grip and re-zipping his bag.

"But it's my turn!" Naruto complained, before breaking out into a smile, "There's no way you would pass up a chance to be bottom Sasuke, you know you like it. The only reason you top in the first place is because of your pride, we both know that."

Raising his eyebrows Sasuke opened the hotel room door, not waiting for the blonde to exit before stepping into the hall and letting the door slam behind him, "Then you won't get any at all." Sasuke called through the door.

"Abuse!" Naruto hollered, catching the maid down the halls attention, as he opened the door and grabbed Sasuke's hand firmly. Wiggling out of his grasp, Sasuke led the pair down the hall, telling himself not to be so paranoid and just relax. He was here to have a good time with Naruto, and that meant holding hands in public or whatever normal couples did that they couldn't do.

Once outside, Sasuke grasped Naruto's hand again, giving it a reassuring squeeze without words. Like he promised, Sasuke took Naruto to a beach, which was surprisingly empty. Naruto made a wig out of seaweed and forced Sasuke to take turns wearing it, he also convinced Sasuke to allow him to take pictures of the vacation on the condition that he would never, ever, show them to anyone and keep them under lock and key at all times until he was like fifty and everyone they knew was dead.

Other pictures of Sasuke including him picking through shells, making a funny face when Naruto sprayed him with sunscreen, and one that Sasuke didn't even notice of the two kissing. After three hours were spent, Naruto complained of hunger so intensifying he had to be dying right then in there; which caused another thirty minutes of arguing over issues in other parts of the world to pass, before the two would actually make any attempt of solving the where-to-eat problem. "I want seafood!" Naruto proclaimed pointing to a restaurant just down a little ways set on a pier.

"Seafood?" Sasuke groaned, mostly just for the pure sake of arguing, he was still sulking from the argument. Without warning, Naruto reached out and pulled him into a kiss, releasing him in a state of shock. "Seafood sounds good." Sasuke commented, taking Naruto's hand again.

Naruto leaned his weight on Sasuke as they walked, "So then what next? What's another really icky lovey-dovey thing we could do?"

"Did you just use the word icky?" Sasuke teased, Naruto reached down and slapped him on the ass to shut him up, only it didn't just shut Sasuke up; it caused him to totally freeze with embarrassment.

"You look like some kind of tomato." Naruto teased, leaning in and poking the blushing raven on the nose with a grin, "I am defiantly topping tonight."

Snapping out of it, Sasuke shoved Naruto away and glared. "Ew. Let's just go eat seafood."

An older man walking with his wife, nearly shoved past Sasuke out of nowhere, "Disgusting.", the man commented to his wife, looking back at Naruto and Sasuke, who had frozen at the sound of the word.

"You know what's disgusting?!" Naruto yelled at them, his face going red with anger, "Fucking old men who have nothing but hate!" This was the darkness, the kind Sasuke tainted Naruto with, it made him angry, resentful, and seeing it just made Sasuke want to wipe away all the pain.

"Let's just go, forget him." Pulled Sasuke, taking Naruto's hand, "I'm here for you and you're here for me, and we are both here to have a damn good time, that's all that matters. Fuck all the rest, that's the theme for this weekend."

"It's not like this everywhere you know?" Naruto almost whispered, his fingers rubbing the back of Sasuke's hand as they continued their walk, "There are places where I can walk down the street with you, just like this, and no one will have a single bad thought in their heads…right?"

"Yeah." Sasuke said, sounding just as uncertain as Naruto had, but he knew that Naruto wasn't like him. He was stronger, he could handle the world knowing all of who he was, he was loud, and brash. And because of that, he defiantly needed more hope.

They walked in silence, remaining that way even as they sat down in the restaurant, until Naruto couldn't contain himself anymore and decided to play with his lobster, making it dance and talk, until Sasuke let out a laugh.

"Now what can we do?" Naruto asked, looking up at the evening sky with a sigh. "Tourist shopping?"

"Sure." Sasuke shrugged, poking Naruto in the side, "I don't suppose you brought any money with you because you want me to pay again right?"

"Your rich, that's what rich people do for their mistresses. Haven't you heard?" Naruto teased with a poke back, "Don't worry, I brought some money. Oh! I know how about this, we enter a shop and then split up and you pick out something for me and I'll pick up something for you. Then without letting each other see, the other will check out separately. Then we can exchange them in the hotel room later."

"What if I don't find anything in the store that I think is good enough for you?" Sasuke commented, making Naruto smile.

"Don't out-do me too bad by buying something I couldn't afford in my wildest dreams!" He complained, pausing to squint his eyes as he thought of a solution to Sasuke's proposal, "Okay, how about we enter the shop, do the same thing I suggested earlier, only if you don't find anything you go wait outside and then I'll come out and we'll ask each other if we found a gift yet. Then we just keep going until we find one!"

"Hmm….alright let's do it." Sasuke said, ready to one-up the lousy chocolates he gave Naruto for Valentine's Day.

Five stores later, Sasuke was making Naruto nervous and impatient. "Just pick something, come on I want to give you my gift!"

"I can't just pick something!" Sasuke complained, entering another store, "It needs be perfect."

He stalked through the aisles, prowling for that one object that would make the blonde brighter than the sun. With a smirk, Sasuke located something at last, approaching the object cautiously before diving in to sink his teeth into the object before anyone else around could even think of touching it.

A small-chain necklace, simple, light, but something that could always be carried without total embarrassment. At the end of the necklace was an annoyingly orange sea shell, so Sasuke knew that Naruto would love it, especially since Sasuke was gifting it. It helped that it was pricey enough to meet his standards, but not overly expensive.

"Can we not wait to get back to the room!" begged the blonde, whining and tugging at the smug Uchiha, who ignored the feeling as he continued down the street, "Please! I want my gift now!"

"Naruto, stop, it was your idea!" Sasuke pulled his hand out of Naruto's grasp, pausing when the teary blue puppy eyes put him in his place. "Naruto….Naruto, come on! I want to…." it was too late; the stubborn wall that was so well known in his family was wavering with just one look from his lover's pleading eyes.

"Sasuke." Naruto whined, knocking down the wall in Sasuke's mind completely. Reluctantly, the raven slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box he'd been concealing, grudgingly handing it over to the bouncing ball that was his boyfriend. In turn, he blonde practically threw Sasuke's gift at him, if it weren't for his amazing reflexes the bag would have crashed into the floor.

Reaching into the bag, he pulled out a small key chain; at the end of it was a cutesy looking fox with big black eyes, its tiny black painted limbs poking out of the sides of its plump orange body, a long full tail hung down with a black tip. Of course Naruto got something embarrassing! Nevertheless, Sasuke liked it more than he would dare to admit.

Sasuke looked up, smiling at the sight of Naruto taking in the gift with a huge grin on his face. Without saying anything, the blonde began waltzing toward the observing Uchiha with a flirting expression, drawing him in and wrapping his hands around him. "Wanna help me put it on." He winked, dragging him to the car.

_He is defiantly having his turn tonight_, Sasuke thought, eagerly pressing the gas all the way to the hotel room.

* * *

Sunday 12:00 am, February 17:

It was their last night together, whole and untouched by anyone else but each other for a very long time. Naruto snuggled into the scent of Sasuke's hair, pretending to sleep so that the wet feeling on his arm could be properly ignored. What would he say if he acknowledged it? What else could he do more than he was already doing?

Carefully, so that he wouldn't wake up the slumbering Naruto, or at least what he thought was a slumbering Naruto, Sasuke carefully shifted his hands past Naruto's firm grip to wipe away the unexpected tears. _How annoying_, the boy thought, _who the hell gave my eyes permission?_

Shutting his eyes, he decided to savor this moment and this time, he would make it a true treasure.

* * *

Sunday Night, February 17:

"How was your weekend on the trip?" his mother asked patting his hand lightly, across the table his father only stared.

"Alright." Sasuke answered, disregarding any sense of detail, the chair next to his father where his older brother Itachi would typically sit was noticeably absent and cold.

"Was Sakura upset? You should have taken her out on a Valentines date, instead of letting her sit around while you're out messing around with your friends." To anyone else it would sound like she was chastening him, but she really said it in the same manner she does when she talked about the seasoning she used in the spaghetti.

"I'll make it up to her mom." He replied, jabbing his fork into his salad resting on his plate pointedly, never breaking eye-contact with the mysteriously examining eyes of his Father.

That look haunted him even as he lay in bed that night, unable to sleep. A cold burn was tickling the skin where Naruto's arms were embracing him just hours ago. An aching chill. Closing his eyes, he remembered the feel of their hands intertwined as the breeze of the stroll on the pier swept through their hair and the tingling burn of the sun as it radiated Naruto's features. He looked bright, happy, like he was never tainted by the raven's hands at all.

Had he ever seen anything more beautiful?

Nevertheless, the cold burn refused to cease only growing horridly worse. Groaning, Sasuke cuddled into his blankets, muttering to himself.

"I'm such a bastard."

* * *

**So any thoughts of Sasuke thus far? Is he the same as he gives you an impression of in the first chapter, or does the story in more of his point of view kind of shift the ideas of his character? Let me know~! I'm curious to see if it had any effect at all. **

**Also Pulse of the Party will provide insight into future chapters and it's just fucking awesome so there you go. XDD It's a shikatema, but I'm not sure if anyone would consider it your typical deal of them are not. *shrugs* Idk, check it out though!**


	3. Chapter 3

**:D HI! So, here's the dealio~! I love this story…..no seriously, I do! Like I write it I look at it, I bang my head against the wall for ten minutes thinking it could be better, then I re-read it and be like 'Awesome" and then it dawns on me that I only beat my head on the wall for a few minutes when typically, I can spend DAYS beating myself up after posting something XDD no joke though, seriously I can. My writing is very precious to me, and I'm always looking for ways to improve my skill, I still think that my fanfictions are nowhere near the level of my actual stories O-o but I enjoy writing them and that's all that matters I guess XD SO SCREW FLAMERS~! Which, I don't think I've had yet, but hey, now I probably will, so if you plan on flaming me you should know to be prepared to sit with me their PMing back and forth for about a week to two weeks because I'm going probably going to annoy the shit out of you with questions and random things even if you don't reply to every one O-o idk I'm just like that, I ramble when I get excited, and to be flamed well…my very present sadistic side finds that appealing to respond to :D MAN I lOVE A GOOD INTERNET CLASH!**

**On with the Story~!**

**Also i realized i forgot to do this because i was so tired while posting them for the first time so: **

_Thoughts_

Dates

**and i cant remember what else?**

* * *

**Chapter Three: An Unexpected Pairing**

Monday, February 18:

"Ugh, I'm so tired." Naruto groaned into his locker, he was unable to sleep Sunday Night._ Sleeping with Sasuke is as poisonous as it is comforting._

"Should I staple your eyelids open?" Gaara commented, pulling out a small black stapler from the cubby of his locker, flipping it open and looking up at Naruto expectedly. "Would you like some pain killers first? I think I brought some in my bag."

Naruto laughed, straitening up and shuffling things around in his locker with new found vigor, "You're so funny man! Lately you've been making some really good jokes."

"Jokes. Right." Gaara replied, examining the blond for any sign of exhaustion before slowly setting the stapler back into its rightful place. Naruto jumped beside him as the sound of Gaara's locker slamming rung down the almost empty hallway. "See you in biology."

"Bye." Naruto called weakly down the hall, watching as Gaara took a few steps and then froze.

"And Naruto." continued Gaara with a menacing tone just beneath the surface of his normally monotone way of speaking.

"Y-yes." Naruto gulped, slowly shutting his locker and sliding his backpack over his shoulder.

"Don't. Fall. Asleep." Gaara warned, "Because if you do, and you fail this semester…..well…who knows how I might react."

"I won't!" Naruto called, his stomach flipping with fear. He loved Gaara, sure, but that didn't mean Gaara didn't scare the crap out of him from time to time.

* * *

"Everyone stand!" ordered the voice of the commanding biology teacher, "Line up against the wall."

Naruto and Gaara exchanged questioning glances before lining up against the wall with the other students, out of the corner of his eye; Naruto caught the gaze of Sasuke's eyes and the slight curl of his lip as he stared.

For someone so cautious he was being very obvious. Ignoring him, Naruto focused on his conversation with Gaara, "What do you think this is about?"

"I don't know." Gaara answered, examining the room with his eyebrows meeting in the middle. "Maybe she's arranging us again?"

"What? No I don't want to be partners with someone else!" Frowned Naruto, on the inside his heart was fluttering with a light hope at the chances of being paired with Sasuke. Even if it meant fighting with him constantly, it would be worth it.

The class watched the teacher putting stickers on the desks, eagerly waiting for the moment she would tell them to search for their seats. Looking around, the teacher finalized her task by clapping her hands and calling, "Find your seat!"

Naruto surged forward in the crowd, his eyes roaming for the bold black letters of his name, hopefully with Sasuke's right next to it. When he found it, in the third row on the left side of the room, he closed his eyes praying before opening them to see the name next to him. "What."

"You've got to be kidding me!" roared the booming angry voice of Naruto's rival, Sakura Haruno as she stood with her hands crossed over her chest glaring at him wickedly. He never could remember what it was that made her hate him so much, maybe he called her a name or something. "I'm not being paired with this idiot!"

"Sit down." The warning voice of the teacher crawled over, stopping any more protesting the pink girl could have done. The whole class obeyed instantly, blue eyes glanced at Sasuke who was siting just a table over next to some kind wearing sunglasses. It didn't take much to notice the anxious expression on his face, what man wouldn't have that when his lover and his girlfriend are right next to each other?

"Just let me do everything." Sakura's whisper invaded his thoughts as Naruto turned his attention to her angry face as she leaned in close to his space, speaking through her teeth, "Don't bother doing anything, you'll just screw it up."

"Hey! What the hell do you know?!" He complained in an attempt of a whisper, the teacher ignored the outburst as she scribbled notes on the board. "I'm actually not that bad!"

"Whatever." She huffed, leaning her face into the pages of her note book, scribbling so fiercely she ripped a piece of the page.

Naruto's anger softened with understanding as his continued to study her, he knew exactly what was bothering her. Why wouldn't he? He deals with it at least a hundred times a day. Leaning in, Naruto managed to whisper, "I-I know that I'm not Sasuke, and I know this is the only class you guys really have together, right? Look, it's my only time with Gaara, and I'd rather spend it with him, but it's not like I got a choice. Neither do you. So...let's figure out a way to get our old partners back without asking."

Her pen stopped, she brushed her hair behind her ear and looked up at Naruto in surprise. "We'll talk about it later, for now let's just get through this class." She replied, resolve in her voice as she switched her focus back to the lesson once again.

How could she be surprised? After all, Naruto of all people understood longing.

* * *

That day, Naruto went over to Sakura's house. He felt out of place in her spacious house, with light cascading off the white walls in every direction and her massive staircase looming over the entire entry way.

So, so different from his smaller one story, though in his opinion his house was better decorated. "Why am I here again?"

"Well, my Mother knows that we have a science project, so I need you over here so she thinks I'm working on something. But beyond that we can pretty much just continue the plan." She explained in a whisper, motioning for him to follow her up the stairs.

Earlier that day during lunch, she dragged Naruto off to the library where they concocted a way to get what they wanted. They would purposely fail the project together; complain to their parents and teacher about each other until the due date, to the point where it would be ridiculous to keep them in a group together when they didn't work very well.

There was a chance it would fail, but they had to at least give it a shot, and just in case Sakura stated that she had a project in reserve.

Then they'd just have to try again.

Sakura's room was surprisingly un-pink; instead it was white with green and black objects littered around the room. "Nice room." He commented, it was certainly better decorated than the rest of the house, but he didn't want to die so he didn't mention that.

"Thanks." Closing the door behind her, she shuffled past him, plopping on the bed and gesturing to the black bean bag in the corner for him to sit in. "So, are you and Gaara, you know? A thing?"

"What?! No!" the beads sunk around him as he collapsed into the bean bag, struggling to get comfortable.

"Really, so you guys are just friends? You've never done anything or anything?" He eyed her carefully, this was Sakura one of the queens of the gossip circuit, but oh well, fuck it. Giving her information seemed a hell of a lot better than snapping that it was none of her business and spending the rest of the time sitting an awkward silence.

"Well…one time when we were thirteen, we made out. But it was nothing; the feelings just weren't there, though it was enjoyable." Smiling at this, she laid on her stomach, her legs swinging in the air playfully while her chin rested on her hands, "You ever do any experimenting?"

"What?! No." She replied like it was the most disgusting thing she ever heard of, and at the sight of Naruto's raised eyebrows, scrambled to save the situation, "Not that there is a problem with that, I'm okay with homosexuality, it's just…not for me."

"It's okay I get it." He replied, and despite their best efforts an awkward silence fell between them, their eyes roaming the room in hope of discovering something to talk about. Then it dawned at Naruto, there was something he could discuss, "Hey, don't get mad of anything, but why do you not like me? I don't really remember."

"Seriously, you mean you don't remember?" Sakura raised her eyebrows this time, sitting up on her bed and crossing her arms across her chest, "It was freshman year, you ran into me in the hall and called me the ugliest bitch you've ever touched."

He chuckled nervously under her glare, "Oh man really? Look uh, I know that it's a little too late but if it helps I was generally angry back then because of my built up angst from being in the closet for too long. You know? And I don't think you're ugly; you're actually a very pretty girl."

"Really?" she replied weakly, her arms unfolding to her sides, revealing a piece of herself unintentionally, "I really wouldn't know."

I guess her closeted gay boyfriend doesn't bother to call her beautiful, Naruto made a note to punch Sasuke in the arm on Wednesday for not paying enough attention to his supposed-to-be sweetheart.

Wow, don't hear that every day.

"How could you not know?!" bouncing out of the bean bag, Naruto grabbed her arms, dragging her off the bed and forcing her in front of the mirror. "Look at this! You've got pretty eyes, full lips, and nice skin! You're skinny, but still womanly! Your hair is dyed to perfection and it's the perfect shade for your eyes! What the hell do you mean you wouldn't know?!"

She smiled in her reflection, laughing when Naruto pretended to be knocked back at the sight. "And look at that! Look at that smile!"

They both laughed, surprisingly at ease with each other by the end of the moment as they found themselves in a comfortable silence. Silently, Naruto questioned why he was being beyond civil, but nice to the girl. Was it guilt maybe? "You want to play a game?" Sakura asked almost shyly, "My parents won't check on us, they're too busy with work in their offices downstairs."

"Sure." He grinned when she turned on the TV settled in the corner, switching on the PS3; he was shocked to see what game was already settled in the drive "You play Call of Duty?"

"What? You got a problem with it." She was ready to defend, smiling playfully at him as she eased into a green bean bag next to Naruto, who was sitting with his legs crossed on the floor.

"No, what's your name?" they both watched the screen, waiting for the game to load.

"SasseyPanties12." She muttered, a pink tint painting her cheeks at the revelation, but Naruto paid no mind as his eyes grew out of his skull.

"WHAT! I'm KillerDemon23, well with a bunch of x's but you get me, I thought you were a guy! You talk like your one!" Faces of pleasant surprise where not mirrored on both faces as the two came to the realization that they had been communicating for months of the game's messaging system after the two bonded during a game and Naruto sent her a friend request which Sakura nonchalantly accepted.

"Well I didn't want people messing with me because I'm a girl!" Sakura explained, setting up the game, teasing, "You know? When I'm on the mic, do I really sound like a guy?"

"Yeah! I mean, you don't say much but when you do your voice is all deep and stuff." Naruto admitted honestly, amazed. She smiled in response, proud to have been that good at fooling the others.

Naruto spent so long at Sakura's house, he ended up eating dinner with her. Laughing, joking, and teasing the two were becoming fast friends, torturing him with his secret. Leading him into another sleepless night filled with worries, doubts, and crushing realities of the things that last in life and the things, that don't.

* * *

Wednesday, February 20:

It was literally no time at all before Sakura and Naruto were sickeningly buddy-buddy, yesterday he even had to listen to the enthusiasm in her voice as she went on and on about her surprise date that Sasuke invited her out to spend last night. Evidently he felt guilty for ditching her to be with his teammates on a Valentine weekend bonding trip or whatever it was.

"You look dead." Gaara commented, shaking Naruto out of his thoughts as they stood in their usual place beside their lockers.

"Thanks man. That's nice." Naruto popped his back, as he swung his locker door shut, "Just what a good friend does."

"You're welcome." Naruto looked back into those unrevealing green eyes and wondered for just a second if Gaara have even a hint of what was going on, if he wondered constantly about the things happening in Naruto's life.

Sure he did, why wouldn't he? But that didn't mean he ever got any answers.

"I'll see you in biology." His friend replied with an unwavering gaze, thoughts clouding his mind about his friend's newfound problems.

"Yeah, see you in biology." Naruto grumbled in reply, slamming his locker shut, catching the attention of several people around him. Ignoring them, he made his way down the hall to class.

Biology was hell.

She caught his attention almost immediately. It was the way she stared at the black top desk, like it wasn't really there. Her favorite pen lay forgotten on a blank page in front of her, even though the teacher was pouring information on the board. Swallowing, he leaned forward. "Sakura…what's wrong?"

"Sasuke canceled the date." She replied dryly, Naruto shoved down the elation suddenly filling his heart. "He always cancels."

"Well, maybe he'll just ask you out again on a different day?! And you guys will be able to have a better time!" Naruto tried, but she only sighed as she cradled her head in her arms against the table. Well, what she didn't know was that Naruto had special ways of making sure Sasuke went through with the date.

He was the mistress after all.

* * *

**Announcement~! If you haven't read the following titles:**

**I Hate him, I hate him, I wish for his death; blah (Damn that's a long ass title! I might change it O_O XDDD)**

**Who Are You?**

**Welcome to the Family (One of my first btw xD man it was sucky, so I would appreciate constructive feedback on that one)**

**Go and read them now~! Because I'm going to be editing the shit out of them~! XDD which means if you really want to notice the differences, you should start looking now. Or if you want to help me with finding them to, that would be awesome.**

**Also if you notice something off with these that I'm posting now please inform me. (I mostly edit when i have writer's block, so let this be a warning to you.) Also, I'm not updating until i get at least one review T-T I feel like I'm working on not feedback, and its making me a little nervous because im so damn used to it!**

**Review this one please~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Are you guys aware that my stories write themselves O_o, no seriously they do! I create the plot, but beyond that I'm just a canal between the story and you guys, the readers. And do you know what this story has told me recently? LEMMMMMMOOONNNNNNNNN! **

**Yeah, that's right. I who-really-knows am going to write my first lemon in this story, somewhere around chapter 14 ; I'm a T-Rated writer T-T I'm too shy, but I love this story to much to burn it! I might work around it, I might not, we'll see T-T and if I do I will make it totally skip-able, because i understand that you might not want to read my crappy lemon writing XDDDDDD **

**So rating may change…maybe not?...ON with the story~! **

**Chapter Four: The End**

* * *

Wednesday February 20:Day 8

"Nope." His blonde shoved him off the bed, Sasuke glared from the floor, rubbing his head. Who dared to push him off the bed! Naruto stuck out his tongue from the corner of the bed at the fuming Uchiha, "No sex."

Of course he only bothered to tell Sasuke this after he got completely naked and crawled under the covers, only further infuriating the raven. "Why?" he growled.

"Because of Sakura, do you know how broken up she was in biology?" Naruto replied, glaring at him.

He thought back to lunch, Sakura seemed fine enough. "No."

"Well she was super depressed! So I want you to ask her out!" ordered Naruto, pointing a finger at Sasuke accusingly.

"What?" Sasuke asked, unsure if he heard the blonde right.

"Look, having Sakura all depressed and unhappy isn't good for your reputation or for my class time." For once, Naruto was approaching the logical route with Sasuke and it was somewhat working. Then suddenly, without warning, Naruto focused his eyes on the raven as he started sliding his hands across his chest, slowly dipping them beneath the sheet and back up again. With this action, he had all of Sasuke at full attention. Smirking, the blonde approached Sasuke on all fours, reaching out to stroke his cheek, whining, "Sasuke, come on and do it. For me~!"

_Oh, so that's why he's naked._ But even if Sasuke realized what was going on, that didn't mean it didn't work. "Fine, I'll do it."

"Yay! Tha-"The blonde didn't get to say much else as he was tackled by a very impatient Sasuke the second he dropped his guard.

Sasuke groaned into his blonde's hair, anything for Naruto.

* * *

He arrived home later than usual, but it wasn't that big of a deal. As far as his parents knew, Sasuke was attending extra practices with some of the guys, and sometimes that meant he would be home late at night. "How was your practice Sasuke?" called a voice from the foot of the stairs as soon as the front door clicked behind him.

Images of Naruto's face plastered with sweat, flushed with rosy cheeks, as he bit the corner of his lips and moaned out "Sasuke" filled his mind. He had to bite back a smirk so his father wouldn't notice anything unusual. "It was good."

"Really." said his father, motioning for Sasuke to come forward in the dark. "Follow me."

Unsure of what to think, he followed his father up the stairs and into his private office. A place Sasuke was absolutely, never ever, supposed to go. A bookcase took up the far wall on the right of the office; in the center was his father's desk, windows towering on either side of it with tree's blocking the moonlight. A lamp was turned on, the table counterpart next to his father's desk held up his computer.

His father took a seat, and Sasuke slowly approached the seat on the other side of the desk, wondering if somebody important died or something.

"I know what's going on Sasuke." His Father cut to the chase, opening a drawer on his desk and pulling out a file. Sasuke said nothing as he watched the older man slid the folder across the table at him. Slowly, the boy reached out, setting the folder in his lap as he opened it. Pictures, Sasuke and Naruto on the beach, Sasuke and Naruto outside their hotel room in separate pictures, Sasuke and Naruto in the hotel room. His face grew red at the realization of another person peeking into their room while they were doing….things. And then, that embarrassment grew into fear.

"So what now." It wasn't a question, Sasuke knew the next step. But he would do anything, anything to prevent it.

"Put an end to it." His Father pushed a small black cell phone across the desk; a number was glaring at Sasuke from the screen, daring him to push the green button.

Sasuke knew the number. Granted it was a number he never called, a number he didn't look at daily or even dial it monthly. He'd seen it just once, when he looked through Naruto's phone and burned the numbers in his head.

Hands trembling as he brought the phone to his ear, Sasuke's heart pounded in his head, the palms sweating fiercely. "Hello? Who is this?" The familiar voice called from the other side, swooning sweetly in his ear.

Sasuke swallowed, breaking eye-contact with his father's pressing gaze momentarily as his eyelids squeezed themselves shut. "It's over, Dobe." Then he slammed the phone closed, feeling the world collapsing in the palm of his hand no matter how much he tried to make it quick, the searing pain couldn't be ignored.

The world had chosen for him.

* * *

**Sorry for the short chapter, but he has a super long one later, so I figured that would balance it out some. and dont worry, this is not the end of any yoai action trust me, btw there will be no other pairings even though it might seem that way later.**

**I'd like to thank and reply to previous reviewers so**

**Zeka-fan: T_T I was surprised to, I was really hoping for at least a few more or something, but THE POSTS WILL PERSIST! Thank you for the plot comment T-T i worked on the structure of it four about 4 days**

** 123: YOU'RE NAME LOOKS FAMILIAR? Have you reviewed me before O_O (memory loss is a burden T-T and I'll probably remember what ur familiar from after i post this) anyway, THANK YOU~~! :D I'm glad about the flow, i was worried about it**

**clover71: Thank you very much~! You should work though O_O dont get in trouble! And i so agree, it does need more reviews, SO ON THAT NOTE FREAKING **

**REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know this one is short, and the last one is short, but don't despair! Because it's not going to last very long T-T unfortunately for my hands.**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Brining Down Reality**

Wednesday, February 20: 

It was over? Just like that?

One second, he was with Sasuke and the next? It was over.

Naruto leaned against the body of his refrigerator, the smile whipped off his face. He stared through the walkway of his kitchen at the celebrating expressions of his parents, his father was shaking a gift teasingly, refusing to open anything without attempting a guess, and Kushina was fake playing anger at him for taking so long to open her anniversary gift.

Their love was unmistakable.

Numbness clouded over his thoughts, what was he expecting? It was going to happen; they both knew it was going to happen and that they had no control of when because life was just seriously fucked up like that. After all, that was the purpose of the box collecting dust in the corners of his mind.

His Mother's face froze at the sight of her sons face as she poked her head into the kitchen to call Naruto back to the table, "What's wrong?" she approached, wrapping him in secure warmth even though he was almost too big to fit in the cradle of her arms, "What's wrong?"

Naruto didn't say anything, instead he gripped the cloth of her back, his shoulder shaking as silent sobs raked his body mercilessly, and his knees gave in, sinking to the floor and bringing his Mother with him. Strong arms wrapped around the both of him as his Dad joined in, unsure of what else he could really do.

Naruto told them nothing, but even so they held him in their arms for almost an hour and comforted him without questions.

And he was grateful.

* * *

"Gaara!" Moaned Naruto into the phone the second he heard the other end pick-up, "I have one of those kinds of girly confessing conversations to get through with you."

"Let me get my bat." Gaara's deep voice replied, Naruto shot up off the surface of his bed.

"You don't have to get a bat! It's not something that requires violence or anything like that!" four hours had passed since the break-up, the last thing he needed was his crazed best friend running the streets to hunt down the estranged Uchiha. "Please but the weapon down!"

"Actually, I was talking about my new pet, his name is Sparky. I was going to surprise you but you can see him this weekend." Naruto sighed, leaning back into the comfort of his bed. "But for the record, I'll be the one to judge if the situation calls for violence."

His eyes squinted as the words poured out of his mouth non-stop, "Umm….well, you know how Sasuke and I don't really get along? Well, what if I told you that I, and don't hate me, but that I've actually been secretly dating him for about two months, even though he is going out with Sakura, my new lab partner, who is also my new freaking friend by the way, not that she will ever have a chance of taking your place, and that Sasuke called me just a few hours ago to tell me it's over and hang up without even explaining anything to me, not that I wasn't expecting that the bastard?!"

Silence pressed Naruto's ear as he waited anxiously for any hint of a reaction, "Well…" replied the deep voice finally, "Let me get my bat."

"Huh? Didn't you hear a word I said?" He couldn't believe it, Gaara wasn't going to react? He didn't know already did he? Sasuke has been kind of obvious lately.

"No, this time I meant the kind you swing." Gaara explained, the sound of him opening what was possibly a closet door and shuffling through its contents filled Naruto's panicked mind. A faint sound of his older brother's voice sounded in the background, and Naruto heard Gaara reply, "Have you seen the bat from Temari's little league days?"

"Gaara, calm down." reasoned Naruto, his arms flinging through the air wildly, "I already cried and everything it's okay! I'm good, we're good."

"You cried." State Gaara faintly, freezing Naruto as the realization of his mistake took hold of his body, "Kankuro, do we have anything large and sharp, like a machete?"

"Gaara!" cried Naruto, nearly breaking his bed as he sprung up and paced the room, "You can be a good friend just by letting me spend shit loads of time at your house hanging out this weekend! Fuck man! Don't go to prison on me!"

This seemed to shake some sort of sense into the red head, who called to Kankuro that there was no longer a need for the weapon to be fetched from the garage. "Fine. Come over this weekend and I'll take him off your mind."

Naruto sighed, "Thanks."

"So, what are you going to do about Sakura?" Gaara replied, the sound of a door shutting muffling his voice.

"I don't really know."

* * *

Thursday. February 21

In math, everything seemed like it had been crushed with a hammer. Even Shikamaru who would normally be sleeping at this point had his head resting on his hand with his feet dancing under the table uneasily. Naruto couldn't even sleep it was so distracting. So instead he settled on staring at his tablemate in a mock glare, but it was all ignored.

Shikamaru only looked over once, rolled his eyes, and kept on.

After the lack of sleep, Naruto wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of sharing a class with his new ex, but hey, what can you do?

Sasuke was absent. That was the first thing he noticed, and Sakura? Sakura was glowing. Chewing on the end of his pencil, he examined the glowing girl thoroughly. Biting back a harsh tone, he decided to just go ahead and ask what was on his mind, "Feeling better today Sakura?"

"Yeah!" she smiled, leaning closer to me so she wouldn't catch the teacher's attention. "Sasuke apologized to me this morning on the phone, and he asked me back out again! We're going on a date tonight!"

"That's great Sakura!" He managed to exclaim, so the bastard was taking her out on a date the day after dumping him? Wonderful. "Where is he anyway?"

"Oh, he said he had a doctor's appointment." Sakura commented with a shrug, "Nothing big, just a check-up. His Mom is letting him stay home for the rest of the day though."

"Oh, that's good." He replied, not knowing how else to really respond. For the first time in a long time, Naruto started to feel that nagging raw bite of loneliness sinking its teeth into his skull, nibbling on his sanity.

"Naruto?" came the voice of Sakura from his side; she brushed her hair behind her ear, eerily timid. "Let's not stop being lab partners."

And there it was. A new life presented in front of him in all of its pink glory. Sure, he fucked her boyfriend for a while in a fling, but they were friends long before they even knew it through the wonderful world of online gaming. So why not continue on? Get a better boyfriend, one who would walk down the hall with him hand and hand without fear. Live a new life.

"Sure." He smiled, this was it.

This was his new life.

* * *

Friday February 22:

It was insanity at work. Days felt like years, and minutes felt like centuries. Was it a blessing or a curse to live life so slowly? In his bones, it felt like his whole world had flipped upside down, along with Sakura he seemed to gain the friendship of Ino, and with Ino came Hinata. In the morning, he got three extra greetings from the girls as they walked down the hall, earning a look from Gaara.

At lunch, the five of them cluttered around the table, trading likes and dislikes back and forth. Gaara even warmed up to friendship with Hinata rather quickly, earning a mental high-five from the group for her efforts. And from across the way, sitting at a totally different table amongst his close friends of the basketball team, sat a sulking Sasuke staring that he back of Naruto's head with a glare. Naruto basked in this fact, swimming in elation at the thought of twisting the raven's panties in a wad.

He could get used to this; life without the box.

* * *

**it was short T-T the party is really where shit goes down T-T it was such a pain to write….actually not really considering that I finished Pulse of the Party's part in that first, so really all I had to do was correlate at that point, but you get me right? FUCKING AWESOME! **

**Okay review! *whispers***


	6. Chapter 6

**I just want to go ahead and put this out here from the get-go; I purposely set most of Sasuke's chapters at night after his break-up with Naruto to show how he's kind of losing it. He's caught between what he truly wants to do, and what he's been told to do. When it all starts to clear up for him, you'll start seeing some more day chapters.**

**ON with the story~!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: He's Trying**

Friday Night, February 22: Day 10

"…and then Naruto was climbing the thing….and then Naruto was…Naruto…." It was every other fucking word out of her fucking mouth. Naruto this, and Naruto that. Sasuke was getting fed up with it; he should have made it a movie date instead of a dinner date.

But then knowing Sakura, she might have been expecting something from that.

_You've got to be kidding me, she won't shut-up_. Sasuke really tried, really he did, but then he just wouldn't take it, "Will you shut-up!" his voice boomed around the restaurant, halting all conversation from the surrounding tables as they watched the young couple in the center of the restaurant.

Hiding his face, he cursed his own impatience. He'd caused a scene without meaning to, he never causes scenes.

"Sasuke…." her voice came out in a whimper as she held her hand up to her mouth, staring at him wide eyed. Great, just great_. "Take her out and show her a good time, who knows Sasuke you might even start to realize you like her more."_ Had pretty much been the whole speech he received from his father, and that added to Naruto's last request is the reason he was even here, sitting with the naïve little girl, in the first place.

"He's a loser." Sasuke said suddenly, looking for an out, even though the words dripping from his tongue stung his lips with acid at every word, "A nobody, and a nothing. It's fine if you associate with him, but I don't want to be anywhere near that trash, and I don't want to hear about him."

He was expecting her to just obey him.

He was expecting her to shut-up about it.

He was expecting her to maybe claim he was jealous and too shy to admit it.

He was expecting anything other than what he got.

A hard slap to the face, as she stood up, her heels making her taller than she actually was in the long red dress she was wearing. It was a nice night, it was a good time, but now it was shit. "Don't talk about him like that; at least he's there for me when I need him! You know what, don't talk to me for a while okay!" and with that she stormed out of the restaurant, not looking back once.

Sasuke thought he would be happy when the night was over, instead he just felt a sinking emptiness.

Great, just great.

* * *

Saturday Night, February 23: Day 11

Greetings came from all over as he shuffled through the crowd, it was still sort of early but he had no doubt things would be picking up pretty soon. Sasuke, despite hating the mingling of stupid parties, often attended them just to get out of the house and drink.

And he would need a lot to drink.

After all, this was the same place he took Naruto just last weekend. It felt like a far-away dream now.

With that thought he subconsciously reached for the keys in his pocket, feeling the fox creature still hanging there on its given place. He tried to take it off, he really did, but then he just couldn't get it off. The metal wire stung his hands to much.

"Want a beer?" Someone random asked him out of nowhere, he accepted without an answer, continuing to wander around for a bit before the sight of a familiar car caught his attention. He couldn't believe it; of course he would be here.

Sliding into the shadows, he decided it would be better to just stay away from everyone anyway, considering his mood.

Naruto climbed out of the vehicle, followed by Gaara who was supposedly giving him some kind of order. He watched the familiar expression of defiance grace the blonde's face as he wiggled his eyebrows at his friend, purposely trying to tick him off probably.

Now he was a stalker, and he couldn't stop.

Especially when a little stupid fuck decided to prance his way up to the blonde and whisper in his ear, causing the blond to swing around and smack him in the face, good Sasuke smiled.

Sai wasn't someone who attended their school, but he did attend a rival school of theirs, which only proved that this party was clearly going to get out of hand before it even really began. Sasuke had the pleasure of only encountering him once, and has hated him ever since.

With a passion.

By the time Sasuke was on his fifth…or was it his sixth… beer Sai was escorting Naruto around like he owned the place, pointing around at everyone and everything with a look of certainty, as if he knew everything. Of course out of all the damn people in the world, it had to be him. Its couldn't have been anyone else but him!

He groaned, not enjoying the view of the chatting couple from the hood of his car, he stretched out his arms, his beer resting around his clutched hand with the bottom on the car as he closed his eyes against the cool night breeze.

The sound of shuffling feet waltzing over filled his ears, but he ignored them. Naruto was in his hands now, back in the hotel room with him, and they were just playing around like usual.

"Sasuke!" said a voice, "Come on, I have a question for you!"

Something grabbed his foot, rocking it around without warning. Pissed, mostly at the fact he could no longer be with Naruto in the freaking hotel room now, he shot up rubbing at his eyes to suppress the yawn he felt coming. "What the fuck do you want?!" Looking up he saw the familiar face of someone who he was aware of detesting his entire existence, Shikamaru Nara. Couldn't anyone just give him a break? "Well…spit it out!"

_He looks tired_, Sasuke thought drifting as he stared at the other guy in front of him, going on and on about something or another as Sasuke settled back into the hood of the car. _Tired like me._ "Did you?" the others voice flood his ears.

"Hn." Sasuke replied, he wasn't in the mood for this; really he could do without it. Focusing on his breathing, he tried to go back to that hotel room. He really tried. A rough hit to the stomach sent him jolting up once again, this time even more pissed off then the first time, "What the fuck?!"

"Answer my question." Shikamaru answered calmly, as if he didn't just hit Sasuke in the stomach without mercy.

"Yeah sure, whatever okay! It's not really my problem!" Sasuke replied, shrugging as he slid off the hood of the car, shoving past Shikamaru and walking toward the hollering teens. This was the last thing he needed, really the last thing.

Without thinking twice about it, he found himself walking past the blonde, grabbing his arm without a word to Sai and dragging him off in the opposite direction toward more parked cars further away from his own vehicle and the seemingly angry Nara.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto spat at him, hitting him in the back of his head, but Sasuke persisted. He had enough of this shit.

Shoving the blonde in front of him, he growled, "Stay away from Sakura, and stay away from my life."

Those blue eyes he so greatly admired glared at him intently, "Oh really? Because I don't have to follow your rules anymore Sasuke?! In case you forgot, I'm not attached to you anymore!"

"You knew it was going to happen, you knew what our relationship was." Sasuke pressed him, clutching onto his wrists and shaking him, at this point he was no longer talking to just Naruto, but also himself, the two of them together, "You knew so why are you over-reacting?!"

Naruto's face turned into stone at Sasuke's words, he didn't even fight the grip around his wrists as he replied, "Gee Sasuke, thanks for summing that up for me. Tell you what? Why don't I just walk away right now and go live my life how I want to? Because I wasn't anything but your whore right? So why would I want anyone to know about what happened? Don't worry, your secrets safe with me….." he pulled his hands away, walking back to the party with the piercing gaze of the raven at his back.

_What happened?_ Sasuke didn't know, instead he stood looking out into the roaring waves of the ocean, wanting for nothing more than the tide to come in and wash whatever all of this was away. He wanted it gone.

With a passion.

* * *

Sunday, February 24: 4:00am 

The door creaked, barely audible amongst the sounds of stupid tweeting happy birds just waking up. Death by headache, it was going on Sasuke's tombstone at this point. "Go away Itachi. Aren't you banned from the family or something?"

"I just thought you could use some pills and my special tea." Itachi wasn't stupid, he knew his brother didn't go spend the night at Neji's that night to work on a project. Setting the tea on the bedside table, Itachi wandered around the room, snorting at the sight of clothes littering the floor, and the sight of his little brother's long forgotten drinks cluttering his work desk. "So, what's going on?"

"I went to a party, that's what's going on." Sasuke grumbled, shoving the covers over his face as he heard his older brother pull out his desk chair and take a seat. Great, this wasn't ending any time soon. "Why the hell are you up so early?"

"I had to sacrifice a virgin to the pagan Gods so Father's business will prosper." Itachi replied, picking up a book off the floor and shuffling through its pages, this was just his way of saying he was up through the night doing some dirty work for their dad. As much as the two seemed to butt heads, their father still trusted Itachi way more than he would ever trust Sasuke, it was infuriating. "But don't avoid the question."

Snorting, Sasuke shoved the covers off of him as he picked up the mug of tea and brought it to his lips. Itachi only watched his brother out of the corner of his eye, still flipping through the pages intently. Now that he thought about it, Itachi probably already knew all about the hotel room stuff, because who else would know to spy like that for their Father. Sasuke turned to him, setting the cup back down, "Do I make a good virgin, Itachi."

Understand passed between them, it was one of those I-know-that-you-know-moments.

"You're not a virgin Sasuke." The older man replied, looking away from his brother who groaned into his pillows. Now it was twenty times worse that his own brother was standing outside the window while he fucked Naruto's brains out with a camera and a mission. "I almost considered not showing Father anything, but then I thought better of it."

Itachi didn't elaborate any further, so Sasuke sought the initiative, "and why did you think that?"

"Because…"Itachi answered, throwing the book down as he stood and walked across the room, towering over Sasuke. "I thought you needed to do some growing up."

Then he jabbed Sasuke in the forehead, who flushed with embarrassment, and left, leaving his brother to fume amongst the comfort of his pillows.

Now everything was twenty times worse.

* * *

Tuesday February 26th;Day 14

Apparently, Sasuke Uchiha was as straight as can be, and had another woman on the side. Temari whatever-her-last- name- was- again. He hardly ever interacted with her, excluding that one moment in the gas station.

So then why the hell was this happening?

And to top it all off, he was supposed going to run off and marry her in secret so that they could raise their unborn child together in Alaska, where they've always wanted to go. Sasuke tried, he really did, but this was just too much. He knew he probably brought it upon himself by telling Neji, but he thought Neji would keep his mouth shut, since he thought they were friends.

"What do you want Sakura?!" Hollered Sasuke as he slammed his locker shut, he could feel her approach before he saw her, and didn't even hesitate to snap even with the bristling crowd of exiting students eyeing him.

"Sasuke." Was all she said, he looked up at her to see a perfectly calm girl clad in pink and red with her hair tied up in a new style of bun he had never noticed on her before. It was shocking.

"Have you come to yell at me for a bunch of untrue shit?" His tone still held the anger rushing through his veins, but he was growing calmer, neither of them had spoken since the fight on their date Friday night.

"No." she replied, dropping her backpack on the floor, stretching her arms out toward him. He considered shoving past her; he considered telling her to shove her arms back down to her sides and to just go away. But in the end, he ended up accepting her hug anyway because he really, really, needed it.

Why couldn't anyone see, he was trying. He really was.

* * *

**See, it's longer this time XDDDDD Naruto's will be pretty long to. I'm curious to see how this is going to turn out O-o XDDD Also i think Diamond Rings has captured my heart T-T I pretty much love the whole album of Free Dimensional at this point, if i can dance and cook in my kitchen to it, I typically love it XDD**


	7. Chapter 7

**This one is super LONG O-o idek why? It just freaking is!**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Sai**

Saturday, February 23: Day 11

"Hello?" Naruto was running around his room, grabbing clothing and other things as he packed a giant bag to stay at Gaara's for the weekend, his cellphone was pressed to his ear as the voice on the other side cracked.

"I'm so stupid." Freezing, Naruto realized that it was Sakura on the other line, sounding like she had been crying for hours. He sat on the bed next to his bags, running his hands through his hair as he wondered what to do.

"Well….what happened?" He asked, the only friend he ever really had was Gaara, and he was pretty sure Gaara would never call him bawling because he was upset about something.

"Me and Sasuke fought last night, during the date. He was being so awful, and then when I called Ino to vent but she ended up cutting me off, and she told me that he didn't really go on that weekend trip with the guys or whatever, that he went to be with another woman or something." Gulping, he pressed his hands over his heard, feeling the pound against his chest as he listened to the girl, "I got mad because he was saying awful things about you, but maybe if I just shut my trap more often, he wouldn't cheat on me."

And by then she was sobbing again.

"N-no Sakura that's not it!" he waved his arms around even though he couldn't see her, struggling to find what to say, the sound of her cries were the only thing going on in the conversation for quite a few seconds. Really, what could he do? Tell her that Sasuke was really gay, and that he had an affair with Naruto, and that Sakura was really just being played the whole time to be honest so it wouldn't matter what she did or didn't do. Yeah, no that's not it. "That guy is such an asshole." He breathed before he could stop himself.

"I know." Sakura sniffed, not realizing that he hadn't meant to say that, "but I can't help it, I just really want him to love me back so bad…I'm pathetic."

Anger surged forward, propelling his mouth before he could regain any sense of control, "No! He's the pathetic one. What kind of guy doesn't take out a pretty girl out for Valentine's Day? What kind of guy yells at you every time he gets even just a little bit annoyed? What kind of guy treats you like shit? An asshole, that's who! So what if you got into an argument, good, at least he knows that you care! "

Silence greeted him from the other end, and he seriously considered that he did take it too far once again, but who could really blame him? Finally he was awarded with a, "Yeah." From her tired voice.

Softening his tone he decided to let her go now, before this got anymore awkward than it already had, "Look arguments suck, but it's not like it's the end of the world. And maybe he did go off with some chick, or maybe he didn't. But you don't really know unless you talk to him."

"Thanks." She replied, hanging up before Naruto could even say good-bye. He didn't take any offense, he just decided that was probably the better thing and to try and move on.

* * *

Same Day, Gaara's House:

"So she called me crying and I just didn't know what to do?!" Naruto was lounging on Gaara's floor, his arms and legs spread out while Gaara was setting up a new cage for Sparky. "I want to tell her, but then if I do that the whole plan of moving on with my life and leaving Sasuke in the dust will go to shit."

"I say leave Sasuke in the dust and lie to the Pink girl." Gaara replied, looking down at Naruto as he moved on to arranging something on his desk. Naruto sighed, not saying anything as music started to stream into his ears. He'd come over much earlier than he usually did, it was like 11am and even though they had a party to go to, they still had time to hang out.

"You know what? You're right!" The blonde jumped up, speeding for the doorway, "Let's get out of here and go to the game room before I go-Ah!" In his eagerness to leave, he ran into Gaara's sister, Temari, apparently in a rush from some odd reason.

"Sorry Tem-" Petrified, Naruto stared at the box just two feet in front of him, his gaze shifting from it to Temari and back again. He could feel the redhead without looking, peeking over his shoulder._ Oh god, we're all going to die. _

In horror, Temari and Naruto watched Gaara walk past Naruto and pick the box up off the floor, "Pregnancy test Temari?"

"Well…."She shuffled her feet, reaching out slowly to take the box from him, Naruto cursed mentally. Of all the times it had to be now, when Gaara was already worried about Naruto's new found social life, and stressed with relationship troubles that his sister would pop up with something like this "I just need to be sure."

Nodded at that, Gaara motioned toward Naruto, "We'll take it with you. This isn't something you're going to do alone." Naruto wanted to run out of the house, laugh, throw his hands up, and say "fuck it I'm sleeping this weekend". But in the end his loyalties won him over, after all Temari and him had some good times in the past. Sure they weren't friends but she had never been bad to him, plus she has to be scared shitless knowing their dad.

As she wandered into the bathroom, Gaara and Naruto made themselves comfortable against the hallway wall. "What was she thinking?" Gaara muttered his face almost in a scowl.

"Probably all the things your thing right now." Naruto shrugged back, "I mean just think about your dad." Gaara didn't have to do much thinking.

"Stupid." Was the entire redhead muttered, as he leaned against the door.

They couldn't contain it anymore. They had to know. Gaara and Naruto leaned on the frame of the doorway, side by side, as they eyed the bathroom door. Waiting, hoping, that this would all end in peace.

Temari opened the door, her eyes widening at the sight of the two of them, Naruto couldn't help it, "What's it say?"

"I don't know I have to wait!" She growled, shoving past them, Naruto looked over at Gaara. No one else would recognize the worry itching at his fingers, but Naruto did and he felt just the same way.

"Well let's go into the game room then!" Naruto exclaimed, running his hands through his hair crazily, he wanted to just sit down and put his mind elsewhere, "Just bring it with you so I don't have to suffer in the hall with nothing to do all day, what else are rich friends good for if you can't play with their crap!"

"Tonight you sleep outside." Gaara stated. Naruto dropped to his knees, hugging his pant legs tightly, begging for mercy that was instantly given. Entering the game room, Naruto plopped on the couch with Temari, eager to get rid of at least some of the tension.

"What are you going to do if it's positive?" Gaara said suddenly from the armchair next her. Naruto decided it would be better to focus on something else, so he flicked on the TV and dug into the vast world of online gaming.

"I don't know." Came her answer, great that answer was only going to irritate Gaara more, but Temari was probably more scared then he was.

"Who is the father?" he asked. _Oh God, don't do anything to him._

"Don't do anything Gaara." She warned, Naruto silently agreed with her as he selected things on the screen, whatever he could click, he didn't care. "Shikamaru."

"Nara?!" Naruto paused his game, sitting up on the couch instantly with his mouth gaping open, the thought of his number one sleeping buddy doing anything even remotely sexual was a little bit more than surprising, "Like the lazy guy, with the tired looking eyes, and the sarcasm?"

"Yeah." She replied, crossing her arms at the description of him. Gaara visibly reacted, his eyebrows scrunching together. _Who knew he had it in him._

"Didn't know he had it in him?" Gaara said, letting his face relax again as he sunk further into the armchair, staring at the paused screen.

"I know right?!" Naruto exclaimed, the control slipping out of his hands on to the floor, he hastily went for it sending Gaara a don't-kill-me look, but his friend wasn't even paying any attention.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Temari vented, glaring at the two boys who fell silent without a reply. They watched as Temari checked her watch, paling visible so that when she got up and started her walk down the hall, both boys stomachs lurched uncertainty.

She left the door open as she leaned over the counter to peer at the test; Naruto watched her eyes as they watered slightly. Was it relief? Or was it what they feared?

"What is it?" Gaara's voice called to her from the doorway, she gulped.

"Positive."

He wanted to pat her on the back and tell her everything was going to be okay, that Shikamaru could be responsible, and that she'd have at least their support always. But looking at her, he wasn't sure what he should really say.

The three now sat around the sibling's dining room table, clutching mugs of various drinks in their hands. What was he holding? Was it water or juice or some kind of coffee? Never mind, all he could do was silently thank the powers that be that Kankuro wasn't here; otherwise he'd already be on the way to Shikamaru's house with some kind of weapon.

"So…" Naruto started, but then faded off as he gazed down into his cup, after all what if those things floating around in his mind are things she didn't want to hear right now? What if it would only make her mad right now? He didn't want to be hit.

"For now, let's just keep this a secret until we figure out what to do." Gaara said suddenly, grasping the handle of his mug as he took charge, "Don't tell Kankuro, and especially stay away from telling Dad. I'll find you a doctor, just take care of yourself and buy some books, no wait, maybe just read them in the store."

"Can I tell Hinata?" Naruto was surprised that she didn't argue, surprised that she just kind of accepted it without any fighting, maybe she was too shocked to fight.

"Go ahead, but no one else." He answered, lifting the cup and taking a brief sip, "Especially not Ino or Sakura."

After that they all managed to finish their drinks and relax some, it was better to have Gaara in charge, he always had a way of keeping everyone calm.

"Do you want to come to the party?" Naruto offered, sure she couldn't drink, but maybe some mindless dancing would help her relax some.

"No thanks." She replied, shaking her head, "There really isn't a need for that, besides Shikamaru might be there, and I just don't want to deal with him tonight."

"Okay, well bye!" Naruto and Gaara waved behind them as they made their way toward the car, poor Temari, he could only wish the best for her at this point.

And for himself.

On the way to the party, same damn day of course:

"Isn't that Kiba's car?" Gaara said nonchalantly pointing ahead, too nonchalantly. Treading carefully, Naruto eyed his friend as he nodded.

"I think so, but you can never know for sure." To be honest, Naruto was actually more than sure it was Kiba's car, considering he didn't think anyone else in the world would have drawn a giant happy face on the bumper of his car with its tongue sticking out, and its little cartoon hands flipping off the driver's behind him. But, you never know it could be someone else?

"Well there is one way to check." Commented Gaara, speeding up as he sped in-between cars.

"Gaara! Gaara you're not using your blinker!" he panicked, looking his friend pleadingly, "Why are you doing this?!"

"He's friends with him, so it's only logical." Gaara replied, speeding down anyway as he looked over, Naruto followed his gaze, barely catching a glimpse of Kiba and the one person Gaara wasn't safe to be around.

"Shit! Come on, Shikamaru's an okay guy! Give him a chance!" Gaara said nothing; he only started to speed up again, not bothering with blinkers as he slid in right ahead of them. Naruto looked back at the shocked faces of Kiba and Shikamaru, waving his arms frantically for Gaara to listen to him. He knew the plan, Gaara was going to slow down so that they rammed into the back of his car. "Gaara! This is not the way to do things, come on man! Come on! Let's just get off at the next exit, stop at a gas station and breathe!"

He pleaded with his eyes as Gaara seemed to finally really breathe. He took Naruto's advice, exiting off the highway and pulling into the nearest gas station. They sat in the car; Gaara just breathed, loud and harsh, with Naruto's eyes watching his every move carefully.

"I can't-I can't stand it." Gaara started, leaning into the steering wheel, "I have one of those girly confessions to have with you to."

"Sure go for it man." Naruto replied, patting him on the back lightly.

"I hate my boyfriend." The red-head confessed, sitting back up in his seat. Naruto resisted the urge to interrupt him any further, he was sure Gaara would either kill him, or go silent and neither of those were good outcomes. "I can't stand him. All he wants is one thing, not that I mind that one thing, but when he tries to touch…it just makes me sick. But I don't want to break-up with him either, because if I do then what?"

Naruto knew what he meant, that's how he ended up with Sasuke in the first place. Even though there were gay guys in the small city, or maybe large town as some might call it, there really wasn't anyone who was their age and out. Most of them were in their thirties or older, and the rest were constantly trying to move or be anywhere else. "Yeah….."

"Well…..Kankuro is expecting me to show up, he's running the party and if I'm not there to help he'll be angry." Gaara re-collected his cool as he started the engine leaving Naruto to lean against the cool surface of his car window and wonder.

Was it really that impossible?

* * *

When they arrived, Naruto's heart was sinking at the sight. This was the same area that Sasuke and Naruto had spent time just days earlier….but there was nothing left to show for it.

"This is Sai." Gaara spoke up, snapping Naruto out of his visions of the past as he motioned over to a guy who looked similar to Sasuke. "He's a friend, get to know him."

And then Gaara, his most amazing best friend in the world, just left him there….with a creepy smiling guy, and nothing else. Naruto stuck his tongue out at his friend, disliking the orders as he walked away before turning his attention back to the boy as they started to walk.

"Uhhh…." Naruto stared at the guy as they approached the heart of the party; music was thumping loudly making conversation pretty much impossible, something he hoped would keep his company quiet. Instead, it gave Sai and excuse stand very close to him from behind, whispering things in his ear.

"You know for a guy, you're pretty. Like a girl." Sai muttered into his ear, Naruto pulled away trying to will this moment out of his life. "I wonder if you even have a dick."

Without thinking, Naruto spun around, bitch-slapping Sai in the process. "Of course I have a dick you asshole!"

Sai stood, rubbing his cheek slightly with a creepy smile still present on his features. "You'll have to prove it to me sometime, Naruto. How about on a date?"

"Absolutely not." Glared Naruto, this is it, Gaara was no longer a best friend he was a secret evil emperor with the single mission of hooking him up with a creep. Or so he wished, and the threat of Gaara's temper if Naruto left Sai in the dust is the only thing that kept him from stomping off. "Just try to act normal please."

"Okay." The creepy guy replied, for the most part after that, things went much more smoothly. Sai started out by point out people he knew that Naruto never bothered to, entertaining Naruto with dick-references. Sai wasn't so bad, decided Naruto, at least when he was now keeping his hands to himself and not being an ass.

It was during a somewhat durable conversation involving Sai's fascination with dicks, that all hell came tumbling down.

Sasuke, with his eyes glaring and his hair bouncing in the night wind, stomped toward Naruto virtually halting the conversation all together as Sai noticed the struck look on Naruto's face. Without a warning, Sasuke grabbed his arm, dragging him off toward a dark corner of a beach; pushing past a bunch of drunken people Naruto doubted even went to their school.

"What the hell are you doing?" Naruto whispered frantically, looking around to see if anyone he knew was witnessing this, he even tried hitting the raven in the back of the head, but that seemed to only make him more determined than before.

Once alone in the dark, with the sounds of the party off in the distance, Sasuke released Naruto with a shove. Bracing himself so that he wouldn't fall, Naruto swung around to face Sasuke who growled, "Stay away from Sakura, and stay away from my life."

To say it pissed him off was an understatement. Infuriated? Maybe. Sent him on a homicidal mission to destroy all raven-haired boys with perfect eyes and nice teeth? Maybe. But not quite, no it was something more than that….pure unadulterated hate fueled his veins, "Oh really? Because I don't have to follow your rules anymore Sasuke?! In case you forgot, I'm not attached to you anymore!"

"You knew it was going to happen, you knew what our relationship was." Sasuke pressed him, clutching onto his wrists and shaking him, "You knew so why are you over-reacting?!"

Maybe he did know it was coming, sure, but he always figured it would be on more equal terms. That Sasuke would come to him with some kind of explanation, or at least start treating him like a person in front of other people. Sometimes, when he dreamed, he even thought that one day the raven might consider the whole deal just a bunch of shit, say fuck-it, and ride off into the sunset with Naruto anyway.

But none of that happened.

Naruto's face turned into stone at Sasuke's words, he didn't even fight the grip around his wrists as he replied, "Gee Sasuke, thanks for summing that up for me. Tell you what? Why don't I just walk away right now and go live my life how I want to? Because I wasn't anything but your whore right? So why would I want anyone to know about what happened? Don't worry, your secrets safe with me….." he pulled his hands away, walking back to the party with the piercing gaze of the raven at his back.

As he walked, his hands traced down his chest, pulling on the chain around his neck so that the shell on the other end would appear from the collar of his shirt. Examining it in the moonlight, he remembered Sasuke's face when he opened the gift for the first time; smug, happy, and exited. That was the Sasuke that he loved. That was the Sasuke he hugged all the time. That was the Sasuke that he knew more than any other.

He pulled off the necklace, breaking its clasps and ignoring the prickling feeling on his skin as the metal rubbed against its surface. He played with it, rolling it across the line of his fingers before he let it slide down into the sand beneath his feet.

And with one shaky breath, he never looked back.

* * *

**SO review**


	8. Chapter 8

**My cat Oreo, is very insistent that she opens the door and comes in at this very moment, but I won't let her BECAUSE SHE ALWAYS SITS ON THE KEYBOARD AND THEN SHES LIKE MWAHAHHAHA UR STORIES? Fuck them!**

**Anyway….that's my cat.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Little Things**

Monday, March 4: Day 20

_It's gone. _

He told himself so over and over; he whispered it under the sprays of the shower, carved it into the corner of his notebook, burned it into the layers of his skin every time he caught his eyes gazing down at the palms of his hands.

All those things he had with Naruto, they were gone. Itachi was right, he had to grow up. It was all just childish play, just stupid….. "Sasuke!" yelled a voice as a hand frantically waved in front of his eyes, he looked up at a glaring Ino, her fat boyfriend stood beside her munching on whatever was in his hands.

She leaned in, one hand on her hip, "Did you cheat on my best friend?"

"None of your business." he replied, how could he say no? How could he say yes? Why not just plead the fifth. "That's between me and her; there isn't any reason for you to get involved."

He got the feeling she was going to hit him, but her boyfriend gripped her arm lightly, guiding her away with comforting whispers. Sakura walked past them as she came through the door with a questioning glance, it was biology, the one period he shared with Naruto. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said, slowly pushing his pencils out of place, Naruto was always complaining about them being in place, and Sasuke, oh how he hated the chaotic organization of his lover. They could argue for hours just on that one topic alone, in fact they had one time. It ended with a broken table, but not for any violent reasons…though it did start off violent.

Even as he stared at the stray pencils, he felt that familiar agitation tugging at his collar, and yet he couldn't fix them back to his way again. Instead, he let that memory swarm him; he wafted it out of the box and into the rest of his mind, allowed it to take over all of his senses.

And then, only after he felt the tug in his heart, he fixed them back again. By the time he looked up, Sakura was already gone.

* * *

(Gym Period)

Naruto loved watching basketball, he used to sit in the bed beside him hollering, screaming, irritating Sasuke with his hand waves, and his tongue sticking out of his mouth at the screen every few seconds at players he didn't like.

"What are you smiling at?" Snapping out of it, Sasuke only shook his head and turned to Neji, realizing that he had just missed the catch he was supposed to make and that the ball had rolled to the other side of the gym, "Something on your mind?"

"Why so nosy?" Sasuke questioned, still angry at his friend for the rumor mix-up, and then they both fell into an appropriate silence as the raven stalked away, unfortunately this put him in the direct vision of his….eccentric….coach.

"Sasuke, see if you can knock this one into shape!" , yelled Coach Guy, looking over he was not too pleased to see who it would be, of all the people in this godforsaken gym, it just had to be him .

At least Shikamaru looked just as pleased with the whole arrangement, he even spoke up on their behalf, "Uhh…Coach, I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Now! Now! Nara, you mustn't be afraid, life needs its challenges! Sure, Sasuke is a fierce opponent, but that's the only way you'll really get motivated." Then he patted the unhappy guy on the back and moved on to blow his whistle at a pair working on the other side of the gym.

"I don't care what you do." Sasuke replied, crossing his arms, he was really hoping that gym would be the one time he had to himself.

"You don't care about much do you?" Shikamaru glared back, "You trample all over people, and you don't even blink an eye, you're a selfish asshole, and there isn't anything more to you than that is there."

He stared into the suddenly wide-eyed boy, and then it dawned on Sasuke that he really hadn't meant to say all that. That something in the guy just made him do it without really thinking it through. But even with that realization well….it didn't stop Sasuke from doing the one thing he knew he could.

Giving him a hard punch to the face.

"Violence is never the answer boys." Their homeroom teacher, Iruka, nearly screamed. Red was coating his face, and he talked through clenched teeth while shaking random graded papers in their faces. They were both seated just one seat apart outside the principal's office, with the same look on their faces of total exhaustion at the thought of what's to come. "The principle has taken a sick day, so I've personally volunteered to call your parents, and give you you're punishment."

He paused, taking in the expressions of his students, and was even more irritated to find relief written on their faces. It infuriated him, but when he thought about the fierce intensity of her scolding he instantly calmed. There was no way he could keep up with that, so he resolved to just not say anything and do the job he was put there for.

Sasuke knew right then in there, when he looked over at the guy snoozing with his head against the wall and his eyes closed, he knew that he wasn't alone in this…feeling.

Because, he realized, there was a look to the lost.

* * *

To his surprise his Father was the one to pick him up from the office. "I'm very disappointed." Those words were never said, they didn't have to be. It was written in the lines of his face, painted on his back, swelling in his gait.

"I'm very disappointed, Sasuke." words said in the cold glare, said in the clutch of the steering wheel, said in the frown of his lips but never once spoken. And when the front door shut behind them, echoing through-out every open space of the house, those words were caught in the walls, scratched in its surface the only thing he could think about as he climbed the stairs, and laid down on the surface of his bed; was Naruto.

Naruto, Naruto, Naruto; he followed him through the day; he peeked in and out of his mind and transcended any thought.

Fuck Itachi, fuck his Father! Fuck everyone else, he didn't give a damn! Not anymore.

It doesn't matter, no matter what he does, no matter what he says, no matter how much distance he sets in place, it's always there.

Those thoughts. Thoughts of bright blonde hair, sweet sweat on tan skin, strong bright smiles, the warmth…all the warmth….all these thoughts playing over and over in his head with every glace at a grain of sand, or every sway of a curtain in the breeze. The small fox burned his skin as he squeezed, chocking back the sting of his eyes.

All these thoughts of the one he loved, they would never be gone.

* * *

**LLALALAALA So you know what to do~! REVIEW **


	9. Chapter 9

**So I wrote the other chapters, and this was actually supposed to somehow be in the last chapter which was originally supposed to span over five days, but then I was like "Fuck it" when I went into writing mode, and for some reason my story just went in a different direction. It's like I always say, my stories seriously write themselves! NOT EVEN KIDDING **

**On with the story~!**

* * *

**Chapter 9:Burning Secrets in the Fan**

Monday February 25: Day 13

Naruto was in a bind, he didn't know if he should find the new story running in the waters of the churning waterfall that is the gossip cycle hilarious or sad. I mean on one hand, it was extremely entertaining to think that Temari was the person, out of all people, that Sasuke spent that mini-vacation from his life with and not Naruto himself. But on the other hand, Temari was Sakura's friend and the thought of her and her boyfriend together pissed her off.

It was the one place a friend doesn't go, at least in her opinion.

And on a whole other third hand stretching out from his stomach, her opinion on that did terrify the shit out of him considering that he was her friend who really did go there and not in the spinning wheel of rumor kingdom! Granted, it was pre-friend phase, but still….hard to admit.

"THAT BITCH!" the sound of bending metal cracked through Naruto's thoughts as he jolted back to reality, Sakura had just punched in a locker, her eyes looking murderous.

"Wait-wait Sakura!" he held up his hands as her attention turned fully toward him, "Look I know Temari, and well I know that she doesn't have that kind of interest in Sasuke….and….well…."

"Are you going to deny her pregnancy?! Haven't you noticed her totally stuffing her face that pig!" Sakura pressed forward, Naruto looked around only to find that they were alone in the hallway. That was kind of the point, Sakura wanted his company, and to avoid the sympathetic stares that meant waiting until long after the final bell rang.

So in other words, they were pretty much all alone at this point.

"No! I'm not denying her pregnancy, come on Sakura!" he pleaded, his back coming into contact with a nearby mass of lockers, "It's just, Sasuke isn't the Father, she was never with Sasuke!"

That made Sakura pause, her eyebrows wiggled together as thoughts streamed in her eyes, finally she focused back on Naruto, "Wait….so you're saying she's pregnant, but it's not Sasuke's….then who is it?"

"Uhhhl….wellll….." Naruto tried to avoid her gaze, but that didn't work because she only moved in the direction of his sight. He had forgotten that Sakura was known for her amazing pursuance skills.

"Narutoooo…." She warned, her hands forming to her hips. He gulped.

"Shikamaru's." The name slipped from his mouth so quickly, it was literally like he was spitting it out. Sakura's eyes grew wide as she pressed herself against a locker next to him.

"I didn't know he had it in him?" she said, rubbing her temple.

"I know right!" Naruto couldn't help but comment, they both leaned there for a second, letting the reality sink in.

"I have to call Temari." Sakura suddenly resolved, picking up the backpack she had tossed nearly half-way across the hall, "Come on Naruto!"

He hoped he wasn't screwed.

_Sakura's Mom makes freaking awesome cookies_. Naruto sat on her bed shoving cookies in his mouth while she paced around the room, one hand on her hip while she talked into the phone.

"I know!" Roared Sakura suddenly causing Naruto to jump, she noticed and seemed to forcibly calm herself as she continued, "That's not what this is about, you're pregnant and you didn't tell me!"

_Please don't mention me, please don't mention me._ Naruto's prayers were short-lived.

"Naruto told me, Temari, cut the crap!" Sakura roared to life again, "Why didn't you tell me?! Why did you tell Naruto, but not me! Not Ino, or Ten-ten, or Hinata! What? Were you planning on going through all of this by yourself! With no one?! Are you crazy?"

Naruto was bouncing on her bed by now, waving his hands and shaking his head no at the sound of his name, she stuck up a finger in the air to halt his protests as she sighed, "You're our friend, Temari. Really, you are! That means we're there for you when you need it okay! We'd never betray you or anything! Come on!"

He let himself sink back to the bed, snatching up a cookie that had fallen on the comforter and shoved it in his mouth as he glared at his pink friend.

"Good." The pink haired betrayer replied, "Then you don't object to me telling the others. And Temari, don't worry about a damn thing, I have some black mail on nearly have the school I've been collecting for years!" She smiled after a brief pause, "Bye!"

"What the hell Sakura!" it was his turn to roar as she flipped the phone closed, she only shook her head, "Now she's going to get mad at me!"

"She's not-" the sound of Naruto's obnoxious goat ring-tone cut her off, he dived into his pocket unsurprised to see the name on the caller ID.

"Uh…..hey Temari." This wasn't good, guilt gnawed at him once again. He'd sold her out so easy, it wasn't hard at all. What did that say about him?

"You told Sakura of all people! Sakura!" she roared in his ear, he winced at the sound "What the hell! Naruto you are so dead!"

"Wait…Temari wait…." Naruto rushed for the door and down the stairs as he whispered in the phone. "Look, since I told your secret, I'll tell you one of mine and then you can do whatever you want with it."

She said nothing as Naruto entered the backyard, quickly glimpsing around the yard for any open doors or windows as he went to the corner of the yard and squatted in a corner of the fence. If Sasuke ever taught him anything, it was that you can never be too careful.

"I….I was the one Sasuke cheated on Sakura with….." he closed his eyes, hoping that no one could hear him from here, "We've been secretly dating for like a month or two, well at least we were he broke up with me not long after that weekend…so…you can do whatever you want with that information okay? It's only fair right."

"Naruto…" she replied into the phone after a small pause, "I'm not going to tell anybody."

"Uhh….look, I gotta go." Relief shot through him, massaging every tense muscle, he didn't to keep Sakura waiting, "We'll talk later."

* * *

March 4: Day 20 

He tried not to stare too much at the towering blonde that was Ino frowning in Sasuke's face as she interrogated him for every detail she could wring out. Only it wasn't working, Sasuke was as blank as ever, revealing nothing as he told her something the blonde couldn't hear causing Choji to drag Ino off. Sakura seemed just as puzzled about the situation walking in as Naruto did sitting at their table.

He watched as Sakura walked up to Sasuke, who promptly ignored her, before she gave up and walked over to their table.

Figures he would be such an asshole. Naruto continued to examine the sighing Sakura with a twinge of guilt weighing down his stomach. "What's up with Sasuke?"

"I don't know." She replied, pulling her notebook out of her backpack, "He's just sitting there spacing out and re-arranging his pencils."

At the word "pencils" Naruto had to hold back the flood of memories involving Sasuke and a table that seemed to steam from the box he thought lay forgotten in the back of his mind.

Well, that was a pretty fun night, they did break that table.

But that was beside the point! He shouldn't be thinking about things like that anymore, Sakura was his friend now!

Well at least now that he was aware of! And with that thought, he shook his head once to shake away the memories and pushed them all back into the box.

_Sakura is your friend._

* * *

Same Day:

"Look at him." Naruto, Gaara, Kiba and their female companions all glared at the sleeping figure resting casually on the table surface ahead of him. After everyone in the group had discovered Temari's pregnancy, and the name of the father, the new goal at hand was convincing Temari to tell him. Which she still hasn't done, and continues to insist that she simply doesn't have to at this point? Why? Naruto had no clue.

"What an idiot." Ino complained jabbing her fork in Shikamaru's general direction, "Doesn't he realize something is wrong? I've known that guy practically all my life! He's got to be smarter than this."

"Not when it comes to Temari unfortunately, he may as well be Naruto." Responded Kiba, who had recently joined just for the day was let in on the little secret by Ino, his personal gossip companion, and was sworn to absolute secrecy under the condition that if he blabbed his balls would mysteriously undergo an accident and be lost forever.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Naruto complained, throwing a wadded hamburger wrapper at Kiba who only swatted it away mid-air, "I'm not that stupid?!"

"Why did you say that like it was a question then?" he teased back, shutting up at Gaara's glare with an apologetic smile. "Anyway, my point is he's a total coward. Temari is the one who's going to have to do something; otherwise he'll just sit their sulking all damn day. It doesn't matter how much he thinks about it, in the end he won't know what to do. Or he might be in heavy denial; he's good with everyone's emotions but his!"

"If he's that much of a coward then how will he handle any kind of responsibility?" Temari reasoned, beside her Hinata was cutting up a banana for her friend, arranging them in pretty patterns with an intense look on her face as if she was working to come up with a solution to the issue privately. Temari reached out and took the banana pieces from her, setting them in a container as she stood up, her new clothing only adding to the mysterious glowing beauty she acquired recently, "I'm going, I have things to do."

"Bye!" The group called to her disappointedly.

"That idiot better pull his head out of his ass and soon." Kiba growled as he munched away on his food, talking with his mouth half-open. "He's been sulking for days, and at the party he got really wasted. It was bad; I think he's just going crazy."

"You are so disgusting!" Ino nagged, slapping him over the head before calming down with an examining stare in the brunette in question's direction. "But you do have a point; maybe he is going a little crazy?"

"You've been strangely silent Sakura?" Ino commented, causing Sakura to jump in her own skin as she hastily brought a drink to her lips. The table waited for her to swallow as her eyes roamed across their faces.

"I'm fine, it's nothing." The table would have believed her, if she was convincing.

But she wasn't.

"Are we playing a game? Because if so, I want to call bullshit.", Kiba tore the silent moment apart with a hand raised in the air, Ino smacked him slightly hard in the back.

"It's really nothing; I'm just worried about a test that's all." But Naruto knew better, since science earlier today the girl had retained the same mood from being ignored by Sasuke. Didn't he know what kind of damage he causes her? How much pain he puts her through? And for what?

It was all to annoying to think about, so Naruto shoved his thoughts elsewhere.

After all he really had no way of knowing what was coming next.

* * *

**Sorry for the long delay! My annoying but lovable cat Oreo went blind and then just a whole bunch happened in-between. So I'm sorry! Ch 10 coming soon.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Review Replies: **

** 123: ****Silly kitty, staying away from fanfiction so long! That's like throwing a steak to a dog who is a vegetarian. It just doesn't happen; kitties need catnip end of story!**

**Clover71: ****How did you choose this name? Anyway, yes you can trust Temari she wont do anything, if you read pulse of the party you realize that she has to many other things to deal with at the moment.**** I hope that this story answers some of those questions!**

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**Chapter 10: Cake **

March 8th, Friday: Day 24

He really can't do it anymore.

Nothing is the same, and yet, nothing is different. He still really likes Naruto, he still is in a relationship with Sakura, he still wants his Father's approval above mostly everything-well except one thing, but that's where the different part comes into play.

Because the difference now is, he's realized he can't have his cake and eat it to.

That is something that has never made any sense to Sasuke, he always thought, well of course I can, it's my cake.

But now he really understands. At the beginning of his life, Sasuke only has one single piece of cake to enjoy, cut it in half and enjoy the rest on a later date was always his mother's motto; however, life was simply not so, well, simple.

Because eventually the other half of the cake, which is not his father's approval but Naruto's love, will come to spoil, rotting away into nothing. You can't cut cake into half's; you can't really have it and enjoy it all in the same setting either? So what do you do with it?

Now he was just confusing himself.

"Sasuke is something wrong?" chimed Sakura from beside him. On a Friday after-school, Sasuke didn't seem to have a lot of things to do. So he ended up here, at a bakery of all places, with a bright happy Sakura and a piece of cake on his plate that he didn't even like.

"Sakura….." would it really happen if he just said it? Would words truly have the power to do what actions didn't seem to achieve? "Let's break-up."

"W-what?" her fork stood in mid-air, poised on her fingertips as she stared at him with her green eyes wide and he mouth gaping. Slowly, the fork drifted back down toward the plate, tapping it with a light sound as it rested on the surface. "What?"

Sasuke didn't say anything as his eyes roamed around then bakery, no one was there but them and the baker who was mysteriously mopping the floor at a vigorous pace while humming loudly a few feet away from them. Maybe it was the guys attempt at giving them privacy that was almost impossible in such a tiny space, "You heard me."

"Sasuke….." That was it, his name, floating through the air in a light whisper escaping from her now trembling lips. The truth was, there was a part of him that really did like Sakura despite his best efforts, that was why he eventually broke down and took her as his girlfriend. Seeing her cry was never an easy feat, something he didn't like to do even when he did it on purpose.

Like now.

Without saying anything, Sasuke simply rose from his chair and left the bakery, a crying Sakura shaking in a booth all alone behind him.

She would just have to get over it.

* * *

(Later that same day)

He stared at the number glaring up at him from the screen of his phone, wondering if this is something he should really do. Would Naruto choose Sakura over him?

"Sasuke!" echoed his mother's voice up the stairs and into his room, causing her son to jump out of his skin, "Dinner is ready!"

Of course, it just had to be ready in the middle of his personal struggle to not call or call Naruto. Why not?

Groaning, he stalked down the hall, nearly running into a bemused Itachi on his way down the staircase. "What do you want?"

Itachi only snickered, irritating Sasuke who shoved him lightly only to receive a bump on the top of his head. "Don't be so sensitive Sasuke; I was just thinking of how foolish you are."

"Foolish? Who the hell is foolish, outcast?" Itachi waved a dismissal in the air before continuing his trek up the stairs, leaving Sasuke to pout in his own thoughts. What right did Itachi have to tell him what to do? If it weren't for Itachi, Naruto would still be his and none of those other things would have had to happen.

It was all Itachi's fault.

"Sasuke?" His mother called up to him, concerned about her son's shaking fist's as he stood five stairs from the first floor with his brow crinkled and his lip pinched white by the force of his teeth. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." Sasuke recollected himself; he couldn't be this way during dinner. After all, his father will be there, eyeing him for any hint of rainbow glamour shimmering through his son's façade.

And sure enough, the second Sasuke's butt pressed against the hard wood of the chair, his father's eyes fixed on his son with an intent stare. "So are you doing anything with Sakura this weekend? You were home early today."

Telling his mother wasn't a problem, she never really liked Sakura to much anyway. But his father….that was a whole different story. In the end, nothing changed the fact that lying would be pointless, "We broke up."

Silence embraced the table with a tight squeeze, squishing the family together in a heavy cramped awkward state.

Sasuke's Mother bit back a smile while refocusing her eyes on her obviously displeased husband who in turn was glaring a hole into Sasuke's face. And Itachi's seat remained empty as usual, because the asshole just wanted nothing to do with this family when he wasn't wreaking something.

Enough was enough, Sasuke was through playing games. Maybe his father could keep things with Naruto hushed up, maybe his father could disown him from the family, and maybe his Father could yell and scream until the roof toppled on their heads and the Earth turned its axis changing the seasons and effectively destroying the ecosystem along with mankind as a result.

But he could never, not ever, tell him to date anyone.

Or marry, or love, or kiss, or hug.

In the end, Sasuke decided that it was Naruto or nothing. That was the deal.

So when his Father pressed the fork into the table with a tightly squeezed hand, and gave him a look that said nothing but the usual flicker of disappointed remarks, Sasuke did not react.

He just ate silently.

* * *

Sasuke was back at it again.

He was staring at the screen of the phone, with those pretty numbers gazing up at him teasingly as if saying, _"What are you going to do Sasuke? Do you have the balls to dial me?"_

Why yes, yes he did. With a new found confidence from the evening's dinner, Sasuke pressed on that green button and pressed the phone to his ear. He would not hang-up.

"Hello?" Sasuke's stomach swooned; it had been a long time since he'd heard that voice. Too long. "Do you have the wrong number?"

"Don't you pay attention to phone numbers Dobe?" There was a silence that seemed to still any sense of activity in the area in waves. There was a faint breathing sound, a sigh maybe, before Naruto started to talk in a voice barely above a whisper.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" He sounded tired….tired of Sasuke, tired of the whole mess that Sasuke's package came with, and that alone sucked away the growing confidence swelling in the raven's heart.

"Naruto, I broke up with Sakura. I want to be with you."

He tried not to flinch at the bitter harsh tone echoing through the cell, it was so real he could almost picture the fuming Naruto standing in front of him, "Be with me how Sasuke? You mean you want me to sneak around with you right?"

Sasuke said nothing, to be honest even though he did want to be with Naruto and no one else, he hadn't planned on not hiding it. He just wanted things to be as they were, before his Father found out and Itachi stalked him.

Naruto continued on, "I threw away the necklace Sasuke…..it's too late to go back, what's done is done and I'm moving on!"

The phone beeped in his ear with a hang-up, leaving his right hand to squeeze the small fox that was his keychain.

This was….loneliness.

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**hey! So ff did some weird stuff when I loaded this, I tried correcting as much as I could but if you notice anything wrong let me know! As usual review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**YO! I know it's been awhile, and I'm really sorry about that XD**

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**Chapter 11: Heating the New World **

March 9th Saturday: Day 25

What the hell was Sasuke thinking?

As if Naruto would go back into a life of hiding! There was no way…..even if it weighed down the bottom of his stomach…a ton of weight….no! No he was better than the hiding, better than the life Sasuke had him in! There was no way he was going back!

Absolutely no way….Naruto jumped in his skin as a familiar ring tone swelled from his phone, with a gulp he answered.

"Hey Sakura." He answered cautiously, well aware of how freaked out she might be right now, if only she knew why Sasuke broke up with her in the first place.

Then he'd defiantly be dead.

All that greeted him back was a mess of sobs as Sakura talked incoherently into the phone, Naruto listened hard trying to search for the words, "Sasuke….broke-up…..humiliating…..thought it was better….what did I do…."

"Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed, holding the phone away from his ear the loud sound of her blowing her nose echoed through the phone. Bringing back to his ear, he continued, "Look how about I come over and you can tell me all about it."

"Okay." Sobbed her voice through the phone, Naruto sighed; this was all just too much for one day. Now, after turning down Sasuke, he has to go face Sasuke's new ex-girlfriend pretending that he doesn't have a clue what the hell is going on.

Should he tell Sakura what's really going on?

He shook his head, what the hell was a death wish doing sneaking in his head!

* * *

"And then he just left." Sakura shrugged as she finished her explanation, sniffling as she wiped her nose with a tissue and took a large bite out of a peppermint cookie. "Oh Naruto, I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Do about what Sakura? You're just in high-school and you're a pretty girl! There are plenty of guys better in the world than Sasuke, trust me on that one." Naruto rolled his eyes, handing Sakura another cookie as she sighed. "I know you really liked him, but its not the end of the world."

"I know…that's not the point, it's everyone else! What are Ino and the rest of the girls going to think! I'm always boasting about me and Sasuke, I always make a point while talking about us, and now it doesn't even apply anymore." Sakura's fist began to crush the cookie in her hands as she fumed on, "I'm going to be laughed at."

"You know what I think?" said Naruto leaning in, one eyebrow raised.

"What?" asked Sakura, setting the crushed cookie on the plate while dusting the crumbs off her hands.

"You can't get mad at me." Warned Naruto, one finger pointing at her.

"Why would I get mad?" she laughed, he gave a look and she sighed, "I promise I won't."

"Okay, well this is what I think." Explained Naruto, standing off of her bed to pace around her room as he continued, "I think that Ino and the girls won't give a damn, I think if anything they'll be a bit happy for you to move on to someone better than Sasuke! And I think crying over Sasuke is a waste because when it's all done and over with your going to look back on it and think why the hell did I even bother spilling tears over _that_!"

"You sound like you've been through this before." commented Sakura, hugging her knees as she stared up at him with curious eyes.

Naruto laughed nervously in response while rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah, you could say that."

"Well?" she said expectedly with a smile on her face as she pulled Naruto on the bed, "Tell me all about it! It makes me feel better just hearing you've been through this before."

"Uh well…."staring into her green eyes, he just couldn't say no, what else was he supposed to do? "I was kind of dating this guy for a long time, he was a bit of an asshole but I liked him a lot and that made me really happy. But he was just using me, in a way I always knew that but…"

"You were blinded." Finished Sakura, Naruto nodded at her, those were the perfect words to use in his opinion. Blinded by love.

"Anyway, one day he just randomly decided to end it, and I…well…I was kind of a bit of a wreck, but then I was angry and after the anger was gone I was just…." Naruto shrugged, "I should say, now, I'm just ready for something better in life."

A sad smile graced the pink-haired girl's lips as she pulled Naruto off the bed, "Call of Duty?"

"Sounds perfect." Naruto answered with a smile, grabbing a controller from her as he thought he wouldn't do anything to ever jeopardize this friendship.

He'd just be a bit selfish for now.

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**Chapter twelve will either be up later tonight or tomorrow sometime! In the meantime go visit some other stories of mine and review T-T I need more feedback because I'm second-guessing my chapters. **

**Also I know this one is short, but i was going for something simple and just a tad sweet XD Even with a crying Sakura...**


	12. Chapter 12

**Zumbiekiller: Woah man relax! No Sasuke won't kill himself! **

**Also I just have to say IM SO NERVOUS because chapter fourteen is the SEXUAL CHAPTER AHHH! Wish me luck guys! T-T**

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**Chapter 12**

March 13th Wednesday: Day 29

"Sasuke!" echoed through the house as the door slammed shut and Sasuke stalked up the stairs, ignoring the calls of his mother, "Sasuke?!"

Another slam echoed through the house as his bedroom door swung shut behind him.

This was quickly going from irritating to maddening; he wanted Naruto and everything that came with that. But the blonde didn't want it anymore?

He even threw away the necklace.

The poor little fox key-chain tried not to perish in the suffocating hands of Sasuke Uchiha as the boy slammed into the comforts of his bed. How? How could convince Naruto to take him back and not ruin everything at school at the same time?

Sakura and him were friends now, if she found out about this not only would she trash him but she'd burn him alive in the middle of the school cafeteria. That, Sasuke knew for sure, and he seriously doubted ruining anything with Sakura would help in his long-term goals.

That's right, long-term.

After the phone call with Naruto, Sasuke realized that long-term meant that things couldn't go back to the way they were before, sneaking around in hotel-rooms and after class that one time in the closet. No! Instead Sasuke resolved that he would live a life with Naruto that was even better, he wouldn't hide anymore.

He'd walk with him down the street hand and hand.

"Sasuke!" said a soft voice through the door, Sasuke sighed as he bit down a yell, it was his mother even if he wanted to he couldn't be ugly to her. "Can I come in?"

He sat up on the bed, walked up only enough to turn the knob and open the door before sitting back down on the bed. Sasuke watched his Mother open the door, giving him a small smile before joining him on the bed. "What is it Mom?"

"Hmm….what could it be?" she answered, one hand running through her pretty long hair as her head rested on her hand, she smirked slightly, her eyes sad. "Maybe it has something to do with your desire to slam everything, and the way you haven't been touching your breakfast in the morning."

"Hn." Sasuke answered, wanting to protest the hand that started to run its fingers through his air as his mother leaned him just a tad closer to her.

"Is it about Sakura?" her voice wondered as she continued to stroke his hair.

"Hn."

"Then what is it Sasuke?" her hand paused, as she turned to face him again, her small smile gone as she pleaded with her eyes for the answer. Sasuke wanted to tell her everything, every small secret in the world he held tight to his chest. She stroked the side of his cheek, "Tell me."

Damn his Mother, what was it about her that made him so weak.

"I-", Sasuke began, watching her eyes light up with hope and a willing to ease the pain of her child, "It's nothing, I'm just stressed from school, it's no excuse to take it out on things sorry."

She shook her head with a sigh, how wouldn't she know when her son is lying? But she couldn't force him to reveal anything; she would just have to be ready for Sasuke when he needed her, "Okay."

Sasuke watched his Mother close the door behind her as she exited the room, a part of him wishing she pushed a little harder for the answer. But it wasn't even half a second later before the door swung open and Itachi popped his head in.

"What are you doing in here?" growled Sasuke with a glare.

"Mother told me dinner would be ready in ten minutes." Answered Itachi, making him-self comfortable in the room, as he picked up things and set them back down, Sasuke glared without an answer for his older brother, "She never tells me, it's always done at the same time every day so she doesn't have to, which means she was really just distracted about something, it wasn't hard to figure out from there."

"So? That doesn't explain what you're doing in here." Itachi shook his head with a sigh, setting down the award in his hands as he walked toward the door; he turned with a bored look in his eyes, shaking his head again, "You're still just a child."

Then he closed the door before Sasuke could retort, leaving the sullen Uchiha to fume alone.

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**review~!**


	13. Chapter 13

**yay new update! Let me kno how this one is, Im really excited to be almost done with this story!**

**Chapter 13**

**March 28****th**** Thursday: Day 44**

Twenty-one days.

It had been twenty-one days since Sasuke called him up, talking about second chances and other bullshit, not that Naruto was counting.

And he swore he wasn't counting.

He didn't miss the looks in the halls, the holes being burned in the back of his head as he did anything from the burning gaze of one Sasuke Uchiha, it almost reminded him of when all of this-whatever it was- had started. But Naruto wasn't the same person as he was then.

No, then he was excited to see such a popular good-looking asshole drooling at him and feel truly attractive. It was hard to believe that just a few months ago he really was that much of an idiot, blinded by the prospects of a new relationship.

Or now that he thinks about, was it really that unbelievable?

"Welcome home!" called his mother as he entered the house, Naruto sighed, dropping his backpack on the ground immediately as he stretched, Kushina was sitting on the couch with a spatula sitting on the table and an apron around her waist as she stared at her son with a smile, "How was your day?"

"Okay." Replied Naruto with a sigh as he slipped off his shoes, his legs were sore as hell for no apparent reason, it bothered him all damn day. He wondered if it was karma taking its might affect or something for not being upfront with Sakura about everything. Why he didn't consider it was all the walking around he did on Saturday at Temari's failed celebration plus the hell of walking everywhere anyway, everyone else with sanity questioned.

Naruto began to head for his room when his Mother called out, "Wait! That's it, that's all I get after slaving away all day to make a wonderful dinner? Come sit down on the couch!"

He dared not to disobey his Mother; he didn't have a death wish. Naruto plopped beside her as she smiled, turning of the TV and excitedly adjusting herself, "Lately we haven't had any movies Fridays like we used to! I miss you, you know?"

He smiled back at her, "Yeah. Sorry Mom, I've just been busy with new friends and then Gaara, you know?"

"Yeah." She replied shaking her head with a light sigh, one leg propped up on the coffee table as she relaxed into the couch again, "So tell me about him."

"Him who?" questioned Naruto, one eyebrow raised as Sasuke flashed in his mind of half a second.

She laughed, gripping her stomach tightly, "Oh Naruto, you think a mother doesn't know her son? The smiles for no apparent reason, the time you wore the turtle neck you swore to never touch unless grandma came to visit, the moment when you cried in the kitchen as if the whole world as you hoped it to be crumbled away and you didn't say a word about it. I'm smarter than that you know?"

"Uh…." He didn't really know what to say as he turned his head away, not meeting her understanding gaze as she smiled half-heartedly at him. "Well…there was a guy named Sasuke, but now it's not anything anymore, I mean, it's useless to talk about!"

"Is it really?" asked Kushina, eyeing her son carefully.

"Well…he wants to get back together with me." Naruto explained, rushing to respond, "B-But I'm not going to do it! I mean, I've moved on it's not something I'm interested in anymore."

"You know Naru-" Kushina was cut off by the sound of her son's cellphone's loud ring as he reached in his pocket, pulling out the phone with a nervous look at his Mother, she smiled, "Answer it."

"Hello Sakura." Naruto pressed the phone to his ear, a momentary pained expression flashed on his face before it was replaced once again with a semi-excited one.

"Can you come over! I already cleared everything up with my Mom!" exclaimed Sakura on the other end, more excited about anything then she's been in forever.

"Uhh…hold on." Naruto held the phone away from his ear, giving a pleading look to his Mother, "I know its Thursday but can I please go spend the night at Sakura's? It's her birthday today!"

Kushina sighed, pointing in the kitchen; she just knew her son wouldn't remember the conversation with her he had about the girl's birthday last week, "Gifts on the table, I hope she likes to paint her nails."

"Thanks Mom." Smiled Naruto, pecking her on the cheek quickly before excitedly chatting away with Sakura for a few seconds before he finally hung up the phone, "Sakura said she's coming to pick me up, we can…uh, talk about it later."

Naruto made his way in the kitchen, swooping the present off the table before making his way to his room under his Mother's gaze. Where did that come from? He did his best not to be super obvious; he wasn't like Sasuke who showed everything up front most of the time.

Shaking his head and thoughts along with it, Naruto reserved to take care of things with Sakura fast as the sound of her honking her horn right outside filled the area.

"Bye Mom!" Naruto called, the door slamming shut behind him as he ran out of the house, Kushina sighed after him as she pulled her own cellphone out of her apron pocket and stirred the noodles as the phone rang in her ear.

"Hello Yoshino, how are you?" she tapped the spoon on the side of the lid, setting it aside as she put the lid back on the noodles, "Thanks for giving me the heads up, I suspected something but I never suspected anything of this degree?"

"Yeah well that's how it goes." replied the woman on the other line, "Hold on a second."

Kushina waited patiently, taking her seat back on the couch as Yoshino yelled at her son about chores, before asking the real question, "So which one of us is going to tell Mikoto about all this? Are we going to tell Mikoto about all this?"

The loud sound of a dryer now at work filled the background noise as Kushina listened to Yoshino wonder around her house, "Well one of us should, I'm sure she is worrying herself sick! She's bound to have noticed something in her son and lord knows if that ungrateful child will tell her anything."

"You don't know him, how is he already ungrateful." Half-mumbled Kushina, chewing on the end of her hair as she turned on the TV ad began to flip through the channels.

"How can you say that Kushina, after what he did- Hey! In all your years of living here have you ever seen that there? Then it's not where it goes, put it back!" Kushina sighed, as she listened to Shikaku on the other end try to explain to his wife why he was moving her precious rug.

"Naruto is the reason why I say that, otherwise I would agree with you Yoshino." Kushina turned off the TV again, bored as she answered, "I know my son, something isn't adding up."

"Hm, well if you ask me it makes no difference- feet off of the table!-ungrateful is ungrateful." Kushina rose from her couch, checking the nearby calendar only to affirm that it must be one of Yoshino's infamous cleaning days in the Nara household.

"How did you find out about this anyway? You never did get around to telling me before Naruto got home." She wondered, her gaze lifting from the calendar as she moved into the kitchen to check on her meal in progress.

"Ah that, well speaking of ungrateful children, my son has gone and done it! Don't you 'Mom' me, go to your room!" there was a pause as Kushina imagined Yoshino melting her son with a glare until he turned into mush and formed a puddle in her carpet. "He got a girl, you know! Of all things, early pregnancy I don't know what else I expected? Drugs, maybe alcohol or some experimentation with a man named Steven in college! But not this! This is not a laughing matter Kushina, I'm serious!"

"I'm sorry!" laughed Kushina as she stirred the meat and gravy mix with her spatula, "But when you put it like that Yoshino, it's hard not to laugh."

"Yes well, anyway he's lucky she's a lovely girl otherwise he'd be in the ground." Kushina could hear the smile in her old friends voice, she actually paused her cooking activities as she listened to Yoshino fawn over the other girl, "She's very pretty, and spunky to. She'll whip him into shape I just know it! I'm just glad she's not one of those stupid girls."

"Well that's good to hear, I'm glad you like her, will I be invited to the wedding?" teased Kushina, listening to Yoshino sputter a response on the other end.

"W-well she's a nice girl." Kushina pushed the cellphone to her ear so she could hear Yoshino's whisper into the phone, "Of course you're invited to the wedding."

Kushina laughed heartily, "Don't worry about it then, I'll tell Mikoto since you're so busy."

"Alright! See you next week." called Yoshino on the other end, hanging up before Kushina could even reply. With a sigh, the red haired one started dialing her friends number, dreading everything she was about to say.

Her son was having the same kind of day.

* * *

"Oh my gosh Naruto look at all of these colors!" Sakura was fawning over her new gift the moment the pair entered her house, "I can paint my nails to match almost every outfit I own with this."

"I'm glad you like it." Naruto made a mental note to thank his Mother for her awesome gift later, and not to let it slip to Sakura that he had completely forgotten about her birthday all together. "Sakura…there's, uh, something we have to talk about."

"What is it?" she asked, walking up the stairs with Naruto trailing behind her, the blonde was seriously reconsidering this chat, after all it was her birthday but then again when would he not find a reason to no tell her? He'd always find something if he didn't tell her now. Sakura opened her bedroom door, taking a seat on her bed while Naruto remained standing at the entry way with a somber look on his face, "Naruto? What is it you want to tell me?"

"Uhh…well, I have kind of a confession to make, but I don't want you to hate me, I mean I…." Sakura's confused green eyes examined him as the blonde entered the room and began to pace around the room, "Remember when Sasuke was cheating with somebody? You know that camping trip or whatever it was that those people do and he didn't go to it or something I don't even remember anymore!"

"Yeah." replied Sakura, her face morphing into stone.

"I was the one with him." Silence filled the room, suffocating every surface as those words sunk into the pair; Naruto had braced himself for everything. A punch to the face, a kick in the balls, a screaming raging Sakura peeling the skin of his body and selling it on ebay to the highest bidder; all of those things made sense, what didn't make sense was what really happened.

She hugged him.

Her hands shout out, catching him from the bed and pulling him closer in a hug. Naruto stood there, shocked and unable to see the pink-haired girl's expression as her face pressed into his chest. Was this magic?

"I know." came the soft whisper of a reply as she released him, Sakura settled back on the bed hugging one knee to her chest as she continued to explain, "I was at the party, Sasuke didn't know I was there because I wanted to surprise him, and then I saw him drag you away from Sai so I went to talk to him and he told me what he knew from Gaara. At first I really wanted to hurt you in some way, I really wanted you to suffer but then I don't know. I like you, your my friend, it's like you said, screw Sasuke."

"So you don't hate me?" Naruto questioned, cautiously joining her on the bed.

She laughed, as she smacked the back of his head hard. That was something he expected, "No, just don't ever mess with anyone of mine again!"

"I won't." pledged Naruto with a half-smile as he rubbed the back of his head in a wince, Sakura cocked her head to one side as she studied him.

"You know he likes you right? Like's you more than he ever liked me." Sakura sighed with a shrug, "I'm surprised he hasn't asked you back out, but then again he's never been the one to make the first move."

"He asked me out, I just rejected him." Naruto replied before he could even stop himself, Sakura stared at him with a shocked look, "What?"

"You rejected him! Oh he must be going insane!" Sakura fell back into her bed, a look of wonder crossing her face, "So then you're not even going to give a real chance?"

"You're taking his side Sakura." Grumbled Naruto with a weak glare.

"No, I'm just saying, it's really rare for Sasuke to do something like that." Sakura explained, one finger tracing the air in the form of a giant X, " I just didn't know he could be canceled out that easily."

Silence filled the room again for a few minutes before Naruto turned to Sakura, "It's getting pretty late, if we stay up here staring at nothing forever we'll ruin the fun of a movie marathon."

"I've got popcorn!" exclaimed Sakura, Naruto happily chasing after her as normal conversation resumed himself.

He felt, lighter.

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**I NEED TO UPDATE POP! Because that really explains things between the mother better! Also next chapter is the sexual chapter and I'm so nervous its killing me! Wish me luck T-T**

**Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

Yo! First I want to say thank you to the many reviews, and I should probably give you readers an explanation.

I actually finished the sex scene. A really good, fucking passionate one after my last update for this fic. Then my laptop decided to be a major Bitch nugget and crap out on me!

Then I went on vacation and that's a whole other mess of shit.

Now I thought that I had saved the chapter! I really did, but I only managed to save half of what I had for writing and documents total! So that just fucking sucks!  
Now I just got my laptop, and am still waiting on Internet, so my dear friend has taken the time (despite being very busy) to post this for me.

This does not mean I am discontinuing. But unfortunately it does mean I'm not happy and want to take my fingers and slide them through some poor inspecting strangers skin and watche the blood ooze from their neck -_-

Obviously, I'm pissed.

Either way, I'm working on it, so see you with real updates hopefully soon


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Naruto, Humor, Romance