• (Chapter 1: Words Sharper Than Swords)


    What the hell is going on here?! What did i do that was so wrong?Ugh!

    Naruto just got back from a long day of being kicked, slapped, yelled at, gossip, and had no idea what any of it was about!

    "Let's see...I got hit by Sakura first, then she said she was going to go 'talk to some people.' After that Ino, Ten Ten, Temari, and all those random chicks started taking turns nagging the crap outta me!"

    He thought a little harder about what he's been doing lately, all that cam to mind was how long he's gone without Ramen, a whole ten hours to be exact. What better way to get away from all the confusion of the day than with his favorite existing food?

    "All right! Let's go get some Ra-! Ow! What was...?" He looked up to see his least favorite raven-haired boy.

    "You should watch it, dobe." Naruto still had his usual stupid grin on his face, wich told Sasuke he was listening only to the voices inside his own head. "Hey." Although he didn't shout, his voice was firm enough to wake even the well-known ignorant Naruto from his thoughts.

    "Huh? You say something?" He was actually paying attention now, he just still didn't care, which earned him a cold glare from the agitated Uchiha.

    "Yeah, I did. What's wrong with you? Other than the usual, of course."

    "I don't have time for stupid fights! I'm staaaarving!"

    Impatient as always. But still...

    Before he could even finish his thoughts, his teammate was speaking again.

    "Hey? Hello? You in there?" The idiot waved his hands in front of the others face until he managed to get his attention.

    Geez. There he goes again! Where does he even get all this energy? He felt a hand tugging on his sleeve.

    "Well if you wanna stand there like some brainless zombie, go ahead! But if you actually came here for a reason follow me so we can go get some chow!"

    Hmph! Like hell I'm gonna let him drag me around like that! He jerked his arm back roughly and continued walking slowly behind Naruto, who thought this to be too rude to ignore. He considered turning around and to ask what his problem was but thought better of it.

    Whatever! I don't have time to waste on this freaking Goth!

    Once they reached what seemed like a decent restaurant a small smirk swept across the Ramen-obsessors whiskered face.

    "Yes! Sweet Ramen, here I come!" He threw his hands up in the air, as if it were a sign of victory. He turned to see his companion shaking his head and laughing to himself.

    "What's so funny? You know I've eaten hardly anything all day!” This just got an even more amused look from the Raven.

    "I'm surprised you lasted this long, too. Just the way you were in such a hurry I suspected you had a fatal injury and needed to find a hospital." Although you couldn't tell through his multi-emotion-filled face, but there was only one thing he was hoping for-comeback.

    "Yeah? Well...at least i don't turn all ghost in the middle of a conversation!" After that stated, the boy stuck out his tongue, pout, and try every other form of mockery he knew of.

    "You talk to Sakura lately?" Sasuke asked, as if he never paid attention to any of the earlier conversation. Naruto, who was now in the middle of some form of monkey pose, now had a dumbfounded look across his face.

    "Huh? Yea, I did. How did you know? You wanted to talk to her or something?" Sasuke...such a suspicious Goth...always has been.

    "No. I already saw her this morning. Just wanted to know if you had."

    "Well I did," Naruto was getting more and more worried by this with every passing second. "Wait a second! Were you the one that told her to knee me in the gut?!"

    "So that's her reaction? Hmm...Anyone else you seen lately?"

    "What Sasuke, you b*****d! You're the reason I got the crap beat outta me by all those chicks?! What did you tell them?! What did you do?! Tell meeee!"

    "Who me? I didn't do anything. And as far as saying anything...well, you know what they say, the truth hurts. Maybe you a little more than them. Not exactly my intentions but..." Naruto instinctively brought his hand to his bandaged cheek; which got possibly the most damage out of everything. The training, and then those pissed off groupies...wait! Those were groupies! They all had one thing in common...Sasuke. But what does that mean?

    As if reading his mind, Sasuke gave Naruto the answer he wanted, or more like questioned his question.

    "Well, if you wanted to know why you were getting mauled, why didn't you so much as ask one of them? Why didn't you so much as fight back? Why did you just sit there and take all those beatings if you thought you didn't even deserve them?” This coming from Sasuke hurt him, more than he showed.

    "So...you did this on purpose...just to watch me get humiliated like that? Well...just hope you enjoyed the show."

    Naruto said coldly and turned from what he thought was his friend. Just as Sasuke was about to turn back, all he saw was a small puff of smoke.

    There aren't any places that serve Ramen nearby...so there's one place he could be now. And with that, Sasuke also disappeared into a smoke cloud.


    (Chapter 2: Learning Fate)


    By a small lonely bridge, a confused blonde leaned over the edge, sulking.

    Man! And I thought he was finally done tormenting me…guess I should have seen that coming, but still, I thought he was different now.

    “Ugh! Why did I let him get to me like that? I should have let him know what it’s like to lose your dignity to someone’s fists! Why did I let him get away with that?!”

    “I don’t know. Why did you?” Naruto was a little too lost in his own thoughts to hear the sneaking Uchiha. He was also now a little too startled to yell, like that would stop him?

    “Why the hell you gotta sneak up on people like that?! Damn, you emo bastards sure are quiet!”

    After saying that comment aloud, he figured he’d have yet another story to tell his grandchildren about how he got beaten up so badly as a child it was a miracle they had ever come to be. He was a little relieved but nonetheless shocked to see Sasuke now leaning up against the railing next to him. Damn, really quiet.

    “So, you think I told them to hurt you?” Sasuke asked straight out, admiring the sky.

    “Well, didn’t you say that? You said yourself you talked to them this morning.” Naruto just glared at his so-called friend to get the point across that he didn’t really expect or want an explanation.

    “No, only Sakura. And besides, do you even know what I told her?”

    He thought about this for a moment. No, but if that’s what turned all those people against me, why should I care?

    “The answer would be ‘no’, Naruto," Sasuke raised his voice a little. "Did it honestly take you that long to process the question?” He sighed and shook his head. “Never mind,” The other also let out a huge sigh and slid down the tree he was leaning against to think about all that was happening now.

    “But you did know what the result was going to be either way? So this actually was your intention in a way.”

    The idiot still doesn’t get it!

    “No! Did you not hear a single thing I said before?”

    “But if you knew what was gonna happen if you said whatever the hell it is you said, what’s the point of knowing the technicalities?”

    “Because if you only know the ending and part of the beginning, you miss the most important details that turn out to tell you the story!.”

    “Well then tell me! What is the story?!” This jerk-off is really starting to piss me off!

    “Hmph.” The Uchiha simply said and walked away casually.

    “Hmph? A freaking grunt? What the hell is with you?!”

    He grabbed the boys shoulder and forced him to look him in the eyes. Instead of smacking it away, like Naruto expected, Sasuke grabbed his hand and pushed him up against the tree they had just been leaning on. Naruto looked into the Raven’s eyes, unable to find words. They looked as if they carried a silent message. He read it as ‘If you have something to say, you best say it now.’ This glare continued only for a few more seconds. Naruto then nodded his head slightly, assuring himself that was the true hidden message. At that moment, Sasuke made his move, pushing his lips onto those of his dobe. The kiss grew more and more passionate as Naruto returned the care. After about 2 minutes of this Sasuke became bored and was now working his way around Naruto's neck. He then continued to his now bare chest. Since when did I take off my shirt? Naruto thought, still not really caring. Just as Sasuke turned his attention back to the somewhat neglected lips, Naruto heard a small song in his head. It strengthened until he could make out the words clearly. “Nobody gonna love me better, I'mma stick with you forever. No body gonna take me higher, I’mma stick with you…”

    Wait! That song’s not even coming from my head; Sasuke’s humming it, too! What the-?!

    Just as he began to pull away from Sasuke, he woke up. He looked around for a second. He was in his bedroom. He figured he just needed a glass of water. So he managed down the stairs, through the kitchen, to the sink, and back to bed. As soon as he lay back down, an arm snaked around his waist.

    “What’s wrong? It’s a little early to be up, isn’t it?”

    “I know, but I just needed to get something that could possibly help me get back to sleep.”

    “You sure that’s it? I think I heard you mumbling in your sleep, something about chick fights?”

    “Oh, well…can I ask you something straight out?”

    “Sure, why not? But if it’s for a ‘favor’, we've got to be well-rested for tomorrow...”

    Naruto just rolled his eyes at that statement. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that...I never did find out what you told Sakura that one day. Do you remember?”

    “Hm…yeah, if you’re talking about the day you figured out how I actually felt about you? Finally.” He said the last word a little more to himself, knowing well what would happen, or not happen, if he said it directly to Naruto. Naruto heard it of course, but pretended not to. He just simply nodded.

    “Well…I basically told her that I didn’t and would never like her, or any other of my intimidatingly obsessed fangirls. But if you wanted to know the details…”

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    *Flashback*

    “Look Sakura, I know you think that if you keep hoping, I will one day fall for you. But it’ll never happen.”

    “Wh…what…why? Is there someone else?”

    A small smirk was shown on his face. “Yes, someone you know very well.”

    She began throwing punches at the air, her nails threatened to rip right through her skin.

    “If it’s that Ino, I’ll tear her freak-!” She was stopped by Sasuke cutting in, tired of hearing her whiny voice.

    “No, not Ino, or anyone else you’ll probably think of…”

    “Don’t tell me…those rumors and…they were true? Well let me tell you, if you dragged me out here at seven in the morning to tell me it’s that…that knuckle-headed little-!” She opened her eyes and found her anger could be brought to a whole new level. “HEY!! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”

    “No matter what you say, I’m still going to feel the same way about him, forever, no matter what anyone thinks.” He then dismissed her.

    *End Flashback*

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    Naruto leaned over and kissed his lover in a way of thanks.

    “If that offer for a ‘favor’ is still open…”