By Your Side [Chap. Ten is up]

[Kiba]

Note: This fan-fiction is the first I've ever put up for 'public viewing' and critique or comments would be appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to K. Masashi.

Prelude

Naruto yawned. His hands came up and rubbed his eyes lazily. It was late; at least one thirty in the morning and he'd yet to go to sleep. Then again, Naruto didn't usually go to bed until around midnight. It was just what he did.

A piece of paper sat in front of him, half of it covered in writing that was scribbled and barely legible. A small grunt worked its way out as the boy set to erasing the last sentence he'd just wrote. It seemed as if he just couldn't complete this assignment. Figuring he'd just come back to it later - preferably tomorrow - Naruto pushed himself away from the desk and looked over to his bed.

Blankets were heaped onto the mattress and thrown about. He never was one to keep things organized. He liked to keep his messes where they lay; some could hardly find anything, but Naruto knew where everything was hidden away.

In the next room over was his one of his friends. The room on the other side hid his other friend away. They both had said they were going to bed about two hours ago, but Naruto knew better.

Sasuke had set off to work on some project he wanted to get done for science class, and Kiba had left so he could get back to playing his newest video game. It hadn't bothered Naruto. The only reason was that at the moment, he had a large load of homework that he needed to get done. Kiba had helped him on most of it, with Sasuke going on and on about how it was Naruto's work, he should be doing it himself. Neither boy listened, preferring their methods.

Now Naruto climbed into his bed, burying himself beneath his heap of blankets. He made sure the alarm on his phone was set to go off. The next morning would be troublesome, he was sure. Wondering vaguely if he should try to finish the paper now or just before class, the blonde fell asleep.

[Kiba]

Again, Naruto belongs entirely to K. Masashi. Although I would love to have ownership of all those characters. T-T

Also, I changed "asshole" to "a--hole" to honor the fact that there is a censor in place (disreguarding this one avoidence of the censor, of course). And I'd much rather have "A--hole" instead of "not a very nice person." It just... didn't fit the character's reactions. At all.

Chapter One: What a Great Way to Start Off the Day.

The dull sound woke the blonde from his slumber. A tanned hand made its way out from under heaps of blankets until it found what it was looking for; the small rectangle-shaped phone that was emitting the alarm. Grumbled, unintelligible words came from underneath the pile of comforters. Pushing them off of himself, Naruto managed to pull himself out of bed for yet another day.

A few moments passed as the blonde got dressed, wearing baggy jeans with his favorite orange hoodie. Normally he seemed out of place wearing such a thing, but it was winter time. As he gathered his things together, a muffled cry rang out. Chuckling, Naruto gave a light knock on the door that connected his room to the room on the right. Growling could be heard, and seconds later the door was wrenched open. The sight of the upset brunette was almost enough to make the blonde burst out laughing; he looked like he'd woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

Kiba's hair stood up in various places in unflattering ways. The boy's jeans were ripped in several different places thanks to his dog that he liked to keep at his side, and his grey hoodie smelled something foul. The boy's mouth was turned into a grimace as he looked at Naruto. Sure, Naruto didn't look tidy in the least, but Naruto wasn't reeking horribly with holes torn out of his jeans when it was freezing outside.

"Naruto," Kiba wined, "Could I borrow some jeans?" Naruto paused, giving the appearance of debating the matter. Of course he'd lend him some jeans. If they didn't get torn up, that is. Kiba agreed to his terms quickly, just pleased to have something to wear that wasn't ruined in some form by his pet Akamaru.

"You two numskulls ready to go?" Sasuke asked dully. If someone were to meet these three for the first time, it would appear that Sasuke was only with the two because he was forced to be - and that was how their friendship had happened - but it wasn't the case. Sasuke saw the two as friends, and treated them as such. It was just that his way of treating his friends wasn't like what most were accustomed to.

The raven was dressed the nicest out of the three, and it was clear who cared the most about appearance. But, that was to be expected of an Uchiha. Sasuke reigned from a rich family, and when both his parents passed away, he'd inherited their great wealth. The boy was brought up well enough, though Naruto and Kiba both agreed that he could really use some people skills.

"Let's get moving. You two are going to make me late," Sasuke said at a moment's length. The duo just grinned stupidly. They knew that Sasuke would wait on them because he was their ride to school; if he didn't give them a ride, they'd fine ways to get back at him, and the raven had grown tired of the constant tricks and pranks that the two would always come up with. It was tiring, and he found it childish.

"We're right behind ya," Naruto chuckled. The three bounded out of the house quickly, all rushing to Sasuke's car. Of course Sasuke was going to be driving. It wasn't as if he was worried about one of the other two trying to steal his seat; the reason he was sprinting to his car was because it was his car. Those other two would mess up his car if he didn't make it there first. Naruto and Kiba were racing for the position of shot-gun in the car, both shoving and trying to trip each other.

Sasuke slipped quietly and quickly into the driver side and gave the smallest hint of a grin to himself; those two fools were out there falling all over the place. It was this day when Sasuke had finally figured out that he was safe to take his time in getting to his car, but he wasn't entirely sure if he was willing to take the chances.

"I win!" a voice panted as the passenger-side door was flung open and a body collapsed into the vehicle. Sasuke let out a small grunt to the brunette.

"Naruto, get in the back already!" Kiba mocked gleefully. He was going to get the most out of this; Naruto was usually the winner. Naruto mumbled under his breath as he climbed into the back seat and placed his backpack on the empty seat beside him. Kiba tossed his bag onto the floor of the backseat, and Sasuke's bag followed soon after.

Sasuke pulled out of the driveway as he'd done ever since he'd received his license in the month of August. Kiba fiddled with the radio; he couldn't seem to find a station that he liked. Every few stations he'd stop and let a song play before changing it again. Sasuke finally turned it off once they were just about to the school yard.

"Get out," Sasuke barked as he brought his car to a stop in the student parking lot. Kiba huffed, but did as he was told; he was in too good of a mood to get into a fight with Sasuke at the moment.

"C'mon Naruto," Kiba exclaimed. Naruto grabbed his bag and was running from Sasuke's car as soon as he'd opened the door. Both boys were in exceptionally good moods, which were countered with Sasuke's obvious bad mood. They didn't even pretend to understand what was the matter with him.

Racing into the school, the two made for their lockers as fast as possible. Kiba had a farther way to go, as the lockers went in alphabetical order, and from their position, the last letters were closer.

As Naruto opened his locker, grabbed all that he needed for the day, put what he didn't need into the locker, and closed it, Sasuke managed to come up to his own locker. Which happened to be right next to Naruto's. Not many had last names that started with "U."

"Hey, A--hole," Sasuke said easily, "If you ever mess up my car, you'll be paying with the money out of your pockets. And Kiba too."

"And you're calling me the a--hole?" Naruto exclaimed, letting his bag fall to the floor. His teeth ground together as his anger was slowly building up. As if the blonde could come up with the kind of money needed to pay the Uchiha for his car; he had enough trouble paying for necessities as it was; both Sasuke and Naruto managed to avoid paying any sort of rent for a home because they stayed with Kiba's family.

"You need to quit taking your bad mood out on us!" Naruto exclaimed, doing his best not to shout in the hallways that were slowly filling more and more. Sasuke had been in a bad mood often as of recent, and the blonde and brunette had figured if they ignored it for long enough, it would go away. Well, it still wasn't gone, and Naruto's patience had run out.

"You don't know what it's like being me," Sasuke grunted.

"Yeah? Well you don't need to take your frustration out on us!"

"Just shut up," Sasuke growled. He wanted to get away from the situation. Out of all days, he didn't want to be fighting with Naruto today, but there was just no helping it.

Naruto's face flashed with anger. "Don't tell me to shut up! How about you go do whatever the hell it is you little emo pricks do and leave me alone! I'm tired of you!"

Sasuke's face paled. The boy looked as if someone had done some physical damage to him. Naruto's eyes widened in response. Before he had much time to do anything else, Sasuke was running down the hallway at full speed.

I . . . didn't think he'd react like that, Naruto thought, staring wide-eyed in the direction the raven had run off in.

[Oturan Uzumaki]

This is... AWESOME!!! Better than mine even. I congratulate you on a job well done, Kiba.

[Kiba]

Oh, thank you! I'm glad you like it so far!
Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up this week, or maybe next week... ^__^

[Kiba]

Well, "nuts" just didn't seem to flow smoothly, so I edited it to "sh*t" instead. ^^;
I hope you don't mind my alternate ways of censoring my words?

ALSO. It's been decided that this will end up a YAOI fan-fiction (boy and boy). So, I guess if you don't like it, well, just don't read it. I'm planning on making some 'straight' fictions as well, I just can't decide which characters to do. If you have an idea for me, please don't hesitate to ask! I'm all ears!

Chapter Two: You Can't Break a Promise

What is the matter with Sasuke? It must be something important for him to have reacted like that. And it's my fault, too. Naruto stood there with his mouth hanging open. A few of the people who'd been standing around were looking at Naruto, wondering what had happened. The blonde would like to know himself. It was definitly going to be awkard seeing Sasuke again later on in the day. Well, I hope I didn't screw up Kiba's ride home, he thought, trying to clear his mind.

"Naruto! What the hell happened? Sasuke took off like someone was going to kill him or something!" Kiba had one strap of his backpack over his shoulder, and dropped it as he came to a stop. Naruto just looked at Kiba and shrugged; there was no way the blonde was going to act as if it had affected him an overly amount. Kiba and Naruto were cracking jokes as they walked to their first class. Naruto felt slightly relieved because on this day, he had no classes with Sasuke. He only had two out of eight classes with him anyway, but he didn't have the courage to face Sasuke right away.

Both boys took their seats in the classroom. They were in the back left corner. Being back there enabled them to get away with not paying attention more. Not that this class was one that needed full attention. They were sitting in the art room, just a few seconds before the tardy bell would ring, and the teacher still wasn't in the classroom. It was a good ten minutes later before the teacher showed up, wearing a turtleneck sweater to cover his face and a pair of loose jeans.

"Good morning class. You all know what to do; I'll be here reading if you need anything," the silver haired man instructed. Naruto nudged Kiba. Kiba knew that was his cue. Raising his hand up, Kiba said repeatedly, "Mister Hatake. You think I could go to the bathroom?"

"Yes, yes. Go ahead, Kiba," Kakashi answered, not even looking up from his book once he buried his nose into it. Sometimes Naruto wondered if it was ever possible to get the book out of his hands. Kiba got up and made his way to the bathroom, but Naruto knew that wasn't where he was going. He was going to see who he could run into in the hallways to find some information about Sasuke's freak-out.

Naruto took out a piece of paper and doodled all over it, looking to the clock every now and then. It wasn't too long before Kiba came back, his head hung in defeat. Pulling out his chair, Kiba slumped down and laid over his desk.

"No luck. From what I hear, Sasuke's distancing himself from everyone at the moment. What were the two of you arguing about, anyway?"

"I told him to stop taking out his bad mood on us," Naruto grumbled, scribbling on his paper with more force than necessary.

"Oh, good. Now he'll treat us even better," Kiba sneered. "And he'll definitely stay to give us the f**king ride back to my house!" Naruto wanted to sink down into his chair. He didn't need Kiba mad at him too.

"Look! I'll try to apologize to him, okay? Once I see him, I'll get right on it. I promise."

"You know you can't break a promise. If you do, I'll break your face. This is only going to f**king make things all f**king complicated until you two make up."

"Shut up, Kiba," Naruto growled. He knew Kiba was right. It was just the way that Kiba had said it that he didn't like. He had to say 'f**k' all the time. He was sure it was his favorite word. As if to prove his point, Kiba made a mistake on his drawing and exclaimed, "f**k!" Naruto fought back his laughter.

The class finally ended and the two made their way to their next class, surveying the hallways for the raven. Entering the next classroom, they grumbled to each other. The girl in front of them turned around, staring at them with her green eyes.

"Hey, Sakura," Naruto greeted. Sakura returned his greeting, though it wasn't as friendly as normal. Naruto looked at her with confusion.

"Idiot. What'd you do to Sasuke?"

"He didn't do anything, f**k!" Kiba grunted. "What's it to you, anyway?"

"What do you mean what's it to you, anway?" Sakura mocked, mimicing Kiba in a low gruff voice. Naruto didn't think it was half bad. Before Kiba went off, Naruto decided he needed to do the talking. It's sort of my fault anyway, he thought dejectedly.

"We got into an argument about his car," Naruto sighed. He didn't want to tell this story over and over again, but he was used to doing such things; it was the same anytime he met someone new. Sakura looked like she wanted to question the blonde further, but the Science teacher walked in then.

"And how is my lovely class doing today? All full of youth, I see!" the man cried out, smiling. A classmate answered him with "Oh, Mighto Gai! You will teach us the splendors of youth, yes?" Naruto, once again, tried not to laugh. Sakura shot him a look that made it not a problem; she was really going to hold this Sasuke thing against him. While Lee and Gai carried on about youth, Naruto thought to himself. He was trying to think of a way to apologize without coming off too soft or too inconsiderate. It was really starting to make his head spin.

"Hey, Kiba? You think if I called your mom, she'd come pick me up?"

"What? No! You're not leaving me here to deal with your mess! You made me a promise!"

"Yeah. To apologize to him. Not to stay here with all these stares!"

"If you leave, you won't be walking around the school anymore. That means you won't see him in the f**king hallways! f**k! And I'm not apologizing for whatever sh*t you pulled."

"Kiba!" Naurto hissed. He was making it seem as if it was all the blonde's fault! "Who's side are you on, anyway?"

"Well, that should be obvious. Fu-"

"Inuzuka! Would you kindly give us insight with your youthfulness on this topic?" Kiba felt his muscles twitch as he was addressed. He'd been too busy discussing the topic of the raven with Naruto. He had no idea what kind of answer he was supposed to give Gai.

"Uh... You know, Akamaru is a really good dog - lots of energy. I think you should really get a dog. It'd do wonders for you, I'm sure," Kiba answered. Gai seemed delighted.

"Oh, the joys of youth! Puppies and kittens! All full of youth and cuteness! Why, what an amazing idea, Kiba!" Gai cried out. Lee was saying something along the same lines; apparently those two would be going to get themselves some new companions after school. Kiba and Naruto turned back to each other, figuring they'd talk some more.

The bell rang. Naruto and Kiba both jumped up. They were the first ones out the door; the faster they got out of classes and slower they walked to the next one, the more time they had to search. Both sighed heavily as they trudged to their next classes. Kiba had foreign language and Naruto had English.

Naruto let his belongings fall to the floor as he took his seat in the English room. Sakura had this class as well - something the blonde wasn't pleased about. He was certain that the pink-haired girl would get word around if it hadn't yet; Naruto and Sasuke tended to be quite the topics in school from time to time.

Saskue was for obvious reasons - he came from a wealthy family with two sons, one of whom took a different path from what was wanted and so was left out of the parents' will. Naruto was because events in his past, but they weren't glamorous; his parents were murdered when he was still a newborn child. He'd been left with scars on his face - three lines on each side. They weren't noticeable unless you studied the blonde's face for long periods of time.

"Uh, N-Naruto?" a shy, timid voice asked. The blonde turned to face the speaker. Blue eyes met pure white as Naruto found himself speaking with Hinata Hyuuga. Her contacts always managed to freak him out; her cousin wore them as well.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto replied, giving her a smile. "What is it?"

"You're friends with Kiba," she trailed off. It was easy to see she was nervous, but Naruto had always been oblivious for this. Hinata had had a crush on him since she'd met him, but was finally going after someone else. Another classmate, Shino, spoke up for her.

"Naruto Uzumaki. Would you please request Kiba Inuzuka to take Hinata Hyuuga out on a date?" The boy's voice stayed the same level as he spoke. That always creeped Naruto out as well. Naruto gulped and gave a nod. If he could remember if when the day was done, he'd certainly ask KIba to go out with her. The guy needed to get of his room more often, and if his friends couldn't get him to do it, a girl could.

For the rest of the class period, Naruto was a prisoner of his own mind. The scene at the lockers played over and over in his mind. He didn't want to lose the friend he'd made in Sasuke. Both him and Kiba were his best friends, and he wasn't willing to give up either one. Relief came when the bell rang and Naruto headed to lunch.

He'd yet to see Sasuke still, and he couldn't remember if he had this lunch with Sasuke or Kiba. It was driving him crazy. When he'd failed to have someone come up behind him and yell into his ear, he figured that this was the lunch he had with Sasuke. That was good. It meant if he could find hte raven, things could be sorted out.

Naruto was searching the lunch room. Then he was outside looking all around. The students weren't allowed to drive anywhere to eat for lunch, meaning Sasuke was either walking to a near by store or he was hiding. Naruto resorted to asking everyone around it they'd seen him. When he finally got an answer, the blonde was going as fast as he could, trying to reach the raven before he could find a new location.

Naruto tripped and fell flat on his face at the feet of Sasuke as he sat against a brick wall. He lifted himself up as quickly as possible. Looking to Sasuke, Naruto felt himself freeze. Sasuke was glaring at him. Naruto opened his mouth, but words were failing him. He wanted to say how he'd been wrong to yell, but Sasuke had still been wrong too.

"Hey, Sasuke," Naruto managed out in a small voice. Sasuke averted his gaze and pretended not to take note of the blonde. "Look, I know I probably shoudn't have said some of the stuff I did, but yo were in the wrong too!"

"Great apology. Not accepted."

"Sasuke!" Naruto growled. He wasn't going to leave him alone; now that he found him, he'd skip his last class to get back on good terms with Sasuke. He bit his tongue, fighting the urge to scream at him. Another paralyzing stare.

"Go away, Naruto. Leave me alone."

"Fine! Kiba will be expecting a ride from you! I'll walk, A--hole." I promised Kiba I'd apologize, dammit! "Look, Sasuke. . . I'm sorry." Sasuke's eyes remained hard. Naruto let out another frustrated growl. How was he supposed to deal with this? He wanted to punch the raven's head in, not kiss his ass. But what choice did he have left?

Sasuke kept his stare. THere was no way he was going to give into Naruto. Sure, it was more than he'd expected to see Naruto here, attempting to apologize, but that didn't mean that he was ready to forgive him. He was going to let the blonde suffer. Maybe the brunette too. It wasn't as if he really cared.

"Sasuke," Naruto was becoming angry again. He was relieved that no one else was able to see the two from where they were and that Sasuke had been alone. He didn't want people to see him like this. "I said I'm sorry! Take it or leave it! I'm leaving!" Naruto stormed off. If Sasuke was going to be like that, Naruto wasn't going to take it. He fulfilled his promise to Kiba. The brunette never said he had to bring the jackass back with him.

[Kiba]

Oh, I have another three chapters written and haven't even posted them up! Silly me!
Even though I keep asking to have Sasuke, K. Masashi won't let me have him. I just can't win. He won't let me have Kiba either.

Chapter Three: Classmates

The bell rang. Naruto growled as he grabbed his bag and tossed it over his shoulder. He headed angrily to his last class of the day; History. He wanted it to be tomorrow already - his last class on those days were study halls, where he could have time to himself to think through things.

Once Naruto was at his desk, he slumped into it. His backpack fell to the floor. He wasn't going to hide that he was angry.

"Naruto, the two of you need to sort things out already," a calm voice commented. Naruto jerked his head in the direction of the voice. The boy behind him had been the one who'd spoken. He wore his hair tied up in a ponytail and his clothes were always baggy and looked like he put as little thought as possible into grabbing them out as possible, which was probably the case.

"What do you know, Shikamaru?"

"I was just trying to help."

"Yeah? Well," Naruto paused, "thanks." He really didn't need to be starting fights with all of his classmates. Really, it was shocking that they all cared so much, but then again, it was a small high school and news spread quickly. All of them, for the most part, had gone to the same school for as long as they could remember.

"You two really should," another person commented. It was a girl with long blonde hair, her bangs shorter than the rest, but still relatively long. Her blue eyes looked lazily at him. Her hands were crossed over her desk and her chin sat atop her hands.

"You all should mind your own business," Naruto growled. Sure, he talked to Shikamaru, and his best friend Choji, from time to time, but Ino? She was someone who avoided talking to Naruto all the time. Thinking of all the people who he hardly talked to reminded him of Shino, as he never talked to the guy. That, in turn, made him think about how Hinata had asked him to ask Kiba out for her. What an interesting day it'd become. Thank God it was almost over.

The bell starting class rang out. Naruto wasn't paying attention throughout the whole class. He figured he'd get the notes from Shikamaru before he realized that he wouldn't have taken any notes. Thinking it over, Naruto finally decided he'd ask Neji, Hinata's cousin, later. He was someone who Naruto had conversations with every now and then and the two would help each other out in classes when they needed it; of course, Neji was usually helping Naruto.

Finally the bell ending the day sounded. While it came as a relief that the day was over, Naruto wasn't as relieved as he would normally be. He got to his locker and shoved everything into it without much care. He just wanted to go home.

"Naruto! Did you apologize?"

"Yeah. But I don't know if he accepted it," Naruto grumbled. He stumbled backward as Kiba's fist came within inches of his face. "What the hell!" Naruto cried.

"I was going to break your face," Kiba answered simply, "but you did keep your promise. So, now I'll just have to break the douche's face." Naruto wondered about Kiba from time to time. It was startling, some of the things he did. Before Naruto fully responded, Kiba pushed him forward and took off running. Naruto knew immediately what as going to happen. And he was all for it.

The two were at a full blown sprint for the sleek, black car in the student parking lot. Sasuke may have anticipated this, but he must've forgotten because they beat him to the car. And Naruto happened to have the spare keys; he'd taken them a while back and Sasuke had never noticed. From them on, Naruto kept them with him as a prize. Now they served a purpose. They opened the doors and locked them again. Both hid down on the floor of the backseat, grinning. This plan would work. Only a few minutes later, the driver door opened.

Both boys waited impatiently; they knew they couldn't reveal themselves until Sasuke started up the car and was driving off. They would be the surprise, and he couldn't just drop them off in the middle of nowhere. Well, yes he could, but they were hoping he wouldn't.

The car started up and slowly exited the parking lot. Naruto tried to control his breathing as he waited. Time seemed to be going so slow today. If Sasuke didn't hurry up, Naruto was going to take his chances.

The road smoothed out after a while, and the blonde and brunette knew they were safe to show themsevles. Both got up off the floor of the backseat and smiled stupidly as Sasuke's face contorted. It went from shocked to angered to his normal scowl.

"You two don't give up, do you?"

"I said sorry!" Naruto grumbled. "What else is there to say?" Sasuke shot him a dirty look. Naruto stared at the small mirror where he was watching Sasuke's facial expressions change. Kiba started shouting.

"You'd better take us back to my place! We'll get everything sorted out there, you bastard!" Naruto kicked Kiba; he knew calling him names wasn't going to get them on any better terms. "f**k!" Kiba yelped, grabbing at his shin.

"Hn." Sasuke's face seemed indifferent now. Maybe that meant he was ready to accept Naruto's apology? The blonde hoped so. The raven must realize how sincere he was by now, right?

[Kiba]

Chapter four, whooo. Still have yet to come into possession of any characters. K. Masashi is selfish.

Chapter Four: What It Takes

"You shouldn't have been in my car. How'd you get in?"

“I have a spare key,” Naruto grinned. Sasuke looked displeased. The blonde shook it off. Sasuke still hadn’t accepted the apology. Kiba had finally gone to his room, giving up. Naruto wasn’t ready to call it quits.

“Look, Sasuke! Just accept my apology and tell me what’s the matter! That way we can be more,” he paused, wondering what the right word was, “sensitive?”

“Shut up, a--hole.”

“Bastard,” Naruto growled. He knew what he’d have to do to win Sasuke’s forgiveness. After a moment’s silence, Naruto spoke up again. “You know, you’re lucky. You have all that fortune that was left behind, just for you. I was just left with these scars.” Sasuke remained silent; he was Naruto’s closest friend, not counting Kiba, and Naruto still didn’t go in depth about his parents to them. It was this moment when he realized just how desperate the blonde was.

“That bastard,” Naruto continued, “He killed my father. And my mother. And he wanted to kill me - he almost did.” Naruto’s voice was shaking as he thought over what he’d been told. He was too young to remember that event, but his imagination worked fairly well.

“Naruto, stop it! You’re forgiven.” Naruto looked up to Sasuke. Relief washed over him as he did so, and even hugged the raven.

“Get off me,” Sasuke growled. He pushed Naruto away. Naruto felt embarrassed by what he’d just done; guys weren’t supposed to give hugs all the time and things of that sort. It was what girls did.

“Sorry,” he quickly apologized. “But now you have to tell me!”

“It’s none of your business.” Naruto let out another frustrated growl. Why’d Sasuke have to be so d**n stubborn? Finally having enough, Naruto walked out of Sasuke’s room and headed straight for his own. He’d had a long enough day. It was then he remembered what Shino had told him to do. I’ll do it in the morning, he decided.

Naruto fell onto his bed. Yes, his day had worn him out. But he didn’t feel like sleeping. It took until he’d almost told Sasuke the most secretive thing about himself to get Sasuke to finally forgive him. That was nerve racking for the poor blonde. He was shuddering as he lay there, remembering all the stares he’d received and the long years he went without a friend.

It wasn’t until two years ago when he made his first friend, Kiba. He’d just transfered schools and so Kiba didn’t know Naruto’s history at all. The blonde liked that he’d escaped the stares and was now in a place where no one knew his past. It was like a breath of fresh air. Kiba didn’t act differently towards Naruto after he’d told him his parents were murdered; which was what he’d wanted.

Naruto’s friendship with Sasuke wasn’t so grand in the beginning. The two started off hating each other. They were grouped together for projects many times, and a lot of the time ended up failing or Sasuke would do everything, wanting to preserve his grades. Naruto hated that; he could be just as efficient if he needed to be. They’d finally come to friendship terms when Naruto learned that Sasuke’s family was all dead except for his older brother, who’d run away. There was even rumor that Sasuke’s brother Itachi was the one who killed the family.

Naruto sighed and flung one arm over his eyes. He never turned on his light upon walking in, so his room was dark - his arm made no difference. It was simply something he did when he wanted to be comforted. Rolling over, he buried his head in his pillow and let sleep come over him. It was nice to just let everything fade away.

“Get up.” Naruto’s eyes opened, then quickly shut. The light had painfully assaulted his eyes. Hands grabbed him and pulled him out of the bed. Naruto crashed to the floor. He landed on his left leg and pain shot through it.

“What the hell?” Naruto cried out, looking up angrily. Sasuke was smirking. Naruto got to his feet with some difficulty and stared at the raven. He didn’t like when Sasuke pulled things on him like he was doing.

“Hn. Time for school,” Sasuke answered. Naruto yelled a few profanities before running to his closet and grabbing a pair of jeans. Sasuke left and Naruto changed quickly. He was fine with just leaving his hoodie on; it was what he usually did anyway. Kiba was rushing out of the bathroom; both boys had woken up late. Sasuke was gone - he’d already disappeared to his car. Kiba and Naruto were sprinting out to the vehicle.

Naruto made it to the passenger side first. His face was plastered with a grin as Kiba grudgingly got into the back seat. Naruto looked like he was about to burst: “Don’t take it so hard, Kiba. You have a girlfriend now.”

“What? No I don’t!”

“Hinata wants you,” Naruto blurted. He felt satisfied as Kiba’s face took on a red color. That settled that matter. Hinata would be delighted; Kiba had liked her for a few years, from what Naruto had come to understand.

As Sasuke pulled his car into the driveway, Kiba rushed out. He was running away without a second glance. Naruto smiled; he knew a girl would get the buy out more. He grabbed his bag and opened the door when Sasuke’s hand grabbed his arm.

“Naruto. Do you want a girlfriend?” Naruto laughed. It was odd of Sasuke to be asking such a question, but Sasuke was acting strangely as of recent anyway, so Naruto dismissed it.

“I dunno. You know, I think I’m bisexual, honestly.” Naruto chuckled. His care free nature missed the light that came to Sasuke’s eyes at that moment. He let go of Naruto’s arm and watched as the blonde took off for school.

[Kiba]

Honestly, I'm lazy and don't really feel like looking through this and seeing if there are some censors that I just dislike and want to modify. And, my main thing is getting up the chapters I've done at the moment. Chapter ELEVEN is currently underway. o-o

Chapter Five: "I like you."

"Would you guys stop it!" Naruto screamed. He didn't know what was with everyone, but they all had something going on and were leaving the poor blonde out of it all. Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, and Neji were all sitting at the same table as the blonde. They were seated at a table against a window in a small ice cream parlor. Currently, they were waiting for the server to bring them their orders. Kiba was sitting next to Hinata, with Naruto on his other side. To Naruto's left was Shikamaru, Choji, then Neji. Shino sat at the other end of Naruto, and no one sat to Shino's left. Naruto just hoped that no one else was going to show up.

"Stop what?" Shino questioned. Naruto paused. He knew that Shino was talking to him, but the guy was always wearing shades, making it hard to know just what or who he was looking at.

"Secrets! I want to know what's going on!" Kiba looked to Naruto with an aggravated face. Sighing, he answered with, "You'll find out soon enough, f**k!" Hinata let out a small giggle at that. It only made Naruto more frustrated. Just then, the door to the parlor opened and someone else walked in. Naruto couldn't see who it was, since his back was to that direction. It took all his might not to turn and see who it was; he was determined to get these guys to tell him what was going on.

"Idiot," a familiar voice stated. That caused the blonde to turn. Sasuke stood there, looking angered. I didn't do anything! Why's he mad at me again? Naruto knew he hadn't done anything wrong; it'd been a week and they'd yet to have any friendship-threatening fights. Sasuke noted the confused look on the blonde's face, and he knew what was going on. "Nevermind," the raven growled, walking to the empty seat next to Shino. Naruto only felt more confused. Was Sasuke in on this secret too? The blonde grumbed to himself. This wasn't fair.

"Here we are," the server smiled as she came over with the various orders. She handed the dishes out accordingly. Shino had refused to get anything, Sasuke hadn't been there to order, and Neji just chose the simpliest thing - vanilla ice cream. Hinata had gotten a small dish of vanilla with strawberries and strawberry syrup mixed in, Kiba had cookie dough and sprinkles worked into his, Naruto's was larger than those two's dishes and was chocolate with chocolate syrup and brownies, and Choji's was a few different flavors with sprinkles, cookie bits, caramel, chocolate syrup, and a few other things worked into the largest dish possible. They all thanked the server and started eating.

"Naruto - race you?"

"You're on, Choji!" Naruto started eating as quickly as possible. It wasn't long before he stopped and grabbed at his head, groaning "Brain freeze!" A few poked fun at the guy, and Choji smiled confidently. If anyone knew how to scarf down cold products without earning themself a brain freeze, it was him. After a moment, Naruto's little brain freeze was over with and he was eating slower. It was almost enevitable that Choji would win, so Naruto decided to take the smart move and throw in the towel.

After a while, it was obvious Kiba wanted some alone-time with his girlfriend, and the two said their goodbyes before leaving the group. Everyone stood to say bye. That left Choji, Shikamaru, Shino, Sasuke, Neji, and Naruto. Naruto didn't mind that, but he would feel more at ease around Shino if Kiba were still with them; Shino and Kiba knew each other pretty well as they were usually put into a group. Shikamaru looked bored and Choji was munching on some potato chips he'd brought along. If Naruto were to stop and think it over, he was almost certain he always saw Choji eating something. Neji looked like he was unsure whether he wanted to leave or stay, and Shino just looked indifferent.

"What a drag," Shikamaru stated simply. Choji gave a nod in agreement. "Well, we're out. We still have homework to do."

"As if you're going to do it," Choji laughed. Shikamaru gave a shrug before saying, "That's why you're coming with me. You'll have to trick me into it somehow. Of course, then I'll know it's a trick and still won't do it." The two gave small chuckles as they departed, waving to the rest over their shoulders. Shino, Neji and Sasuke didn't seem to care. Naruto did. Everyone was going to be leaving. But that didn't bother him as much as it could because he knew Sasuke would still be there with him. Shino looked to Neji and nodded before leaving without a word.

The blonde couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy. The three that were left never hung out all at once. In fact, Naruto wasn't certain if Neji and Sasuke would be able to stand each other. His fears were quieted when Sasuke and Neji nodded to each other; his anger rose. He couldn't understand it. They all were in on something, and Naruto had a creeping suspicion it was about himself. It was nods here and there, and "Oh, I'll be going now," continuously.

"Naruto," Sasuke began. Naruto sensed the tension in his voice.

"Dammit, Sasuke! Don't be mad at me! I haven't done anything!"

"Naruto. Let him speak," Neji retorted. The long-haired boy was there to make sure Sasuke would say what was needed to be said. He'd been chosen to smooth matters over in case it was needed. Everyone had felt that someone needed to be there, and who better than Neji?

"Naruto, I," the raven paused, looking to the floor for a spilt second before his eyes trained onto Naruto and took a fierce hold, "I like you. And don't play stupid; you know what I mean."

Naruto blinked. It felt like everything else didn't matter. Sasuke, his best friend, was standing in front of him admitting feelings of attraction to him. Naruto didn't know how to take that. He'd never thought about Sasuke in that way, but then again, he'd never really thought of anyone in that way. It was always so hard to even make a friendship that the blonde had given up on chances at any loving relationship. His senses felt like they were failing. Everything seemed dull. His head was hurting slightly.

"Naruto? Naruto?" Sasuke was grabbing the blonde's shoulders, lightly shaking him. Naruto shook his head slightly and smiled; "I'm fine, Sasuke. I'm fine." Sasuke let go of the blonde and stared at him. Neji stared as well. Naruto was trying to get the words out of his mouth that seemed trapped. He watched Sasuke turn away, exit the doors, and start his car up. Seconds later, music could be heard blasting and an engine roared to life as a sleek black car tore down the street.

Neji was still standing there, looking at Naruto questioningly. The blonde fell into his seat. His legs had started to wobble and he didn't trust them to keep him up. Blue eyes met pure white.

"He," Naruto paused, not wanting his voice to shake, "likes me. And he didn't wait for me to give an answer."

"He most likely assumed that you don't have those feelings in return. You froze up and were wide-eyed," Neji answered simply.

"Well, he should've waited for me to actually say something!" Naruto hissed. He looked down to the floor dejectedly. "I think... I like him too."

[Kiba]

Chapter Six: Avoidance

It was Friday. Sasuke had avoided Naruto as if he were the plague for the past two days. Naruto wasn’t sure how long he could take it. He played the scene over and over in his mind. He’d tried to talk to Sasuke, but the raven wouldn’t have it. The blonde was sure he’d go mad if he didn’t talk it out with him by the end of the day. Kiba had his arms folded across the desk as he stared at the blonde, looking expectant.

“Naruto, you’re loosing focus again, f**k! Help me out here!”

“Sorry,” Naruto answered, shaking his head. “What do you need help with again?” The two were sitting in study hall, homework from various classes lying on both desks. Naruto hadn’t really worked on his. He was too occupied with trying to help Kiba and thinking about Sasuke. If it hadn’t been clear before, it was now. Naruto had strong feelings for Sasuke. It was killing him that the raven was keeping his distance. Naruto didn’t want to admit it, but he knew he’d chase after the raven for as long as it took. Last week’s events were proof of that. It was only adding up more now.

“English! I don’t get this!”

“Try not putting ‘f**k’ at the end of everything,” Naruto laughed. Kiba growled, but was grinning. It the blonde was still going to make jokes, Kiba knew that he had some sort of plan in mind to get the raven.

“Yeah, I’ll try that,” Kiba muttered, looking back to his paper. He bit at the end of his pencil as he tried to think over what it was he needed to do. Naruto pulled out his English work and compared where they were on it. Naruto was almost finished, and Kiba was just starting it. Kiba’s eyes lit up: “Lemme see that!”

Naruto stared down at his empty hands. Kiba was at work, busily copying all of Naruto’s work as his own. Naruto just shrugged and grabbed a different piece of homework. Looking down at the textbook, he found his mind still wasn’t focusing all that well, even though he’d thought out a loose plan of action. He knew Sasuke wouldn’t avoid him forever. If he could corner him, then Naruto could talk to Sasuke and tell him just how he felt. But maybe he’ll-No! Naruto stopped the thought. He couldn’t think that way.

“Hey, Naruto,” a voice whispered. Naruto turned to see who it was. He let a frown come to his face as he saw who it was. Ino. He didn’t really care to hear what she had to say. Probably something along the lines of how Naruto and Sasuke needed to figure out their problem and be friends again. There was no interest in that. Surprisingly, Ino didn’t say anything like that. “Naruto! I want some help too. If you’re helping Kiba, I want help.” Naruto didn’t fully understand what she meant by that.

“Uh, okay,” Naruto grunted, sitting in his chair backwards. “What do you need help with?”

“Math. You know, it’s really hard to get some of this stuff!” Naruto tried not to smirk as he watched Ino pull out a Geometry textbook. It made sense; Geometry was the standard Sophmore class. But Naruto was in Algebra II - a year ahead of some classmates. He had that class with Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke. Naruto sighed. This really was going to drive him crazy. What he wanted was a breath of fresh air.

“Naruto? Are you even paying attention? Pay attention to me, dammit!” Ino was growling. Naruto blinked before the words registered.

“Hey! I’m helping you, here! You’re yelling at me?”

“If you call ‘helping’ spacing off and ignoring everything I say!” Naruto couldn’t take it anymore. He was developing a headache. Getting up without another word, Naruto walked to the teacher’s desk.

“Hey, Jiraiya, you think I could go to the bathroom?” The gray-haired man looked to the blonde and gave a nod. Naruto gave a muttered thanks as he walked out of the classroom.

The blonde was talking to himself softly as he made his way to the bathroom. Turning sharply, he pushed the door open and entered the bathroom. He walked to the sink. Luckily, no one else was in the bathroom at the moment. He stared into the mirror intently. Letting a sigh escape, he closed his eyes and turned on the faucet. Splashing some water onto his face, Naruto felt only slightly better.

“Sasuke, just let me talk to you, dammit,” Naruto muttered. He grabbed a paper towel and wiped the water from his face. As he threw away the paper, another person entered the restroom. Naruto froze for a split second before relaxing again.

“Think I was someone else?” Neji inquired. Naruto didn’t bother to answer. They both knew who the blonde had thought he’d run into. Anytime the blonde was somewhere alone and someone else showed, he thought it would be that one, certain person. Even when he knew it wasn’t possible in some situations. It was his imagination getting the better of him.

“Naruto, go to the back of the school once the bell rings. He’ll be waiting there.” Naruto felt is heart leap. He’d been chasing down Sasuke for only the past two days and it was torture. If he missed this chance, there was no knowing when it would come again. At the same time, the blonde felt unsure. He never had thought about exactly what he was going to say when he saw Sasuke and could actually talk to him. He ran a hand through his hair before he spoke.

“How do you know he’ll stay to talk to me. To hear me out?”

“He wants to hear what you have to say just as much as you want to tell him. He’s just afraid of being hurt.” Naruto let a small chuckle out at that. To think Sasuke was afraid that he, Naruto, could hurt him.

“Alright, I’ll go. But if it doesn’t work out, I’m blaming you,” Naruto said jokingly. While he had meant it as a joke, he thought that maybe he really would blame Neji. “I have to get back to class now,” he added, pushing the door open and entering back into the hall.

[Kiba]

Chapter Seven: The Fox Finds the Raven

Naruto wasn’t sure how he was feeling. His chest hurt slightly, and he was overly eager. As they parted ways, Kiba nudged the blonde slightly. It was the brunette’s way of signaling Naruto that if he needed it, Kiba would have his sister come back to pick him up. That’s how it’d been for the past two days. Sasuke wasn’t even staying at the house; he was staying with Kakashi, as he was Sasuke’s legal guardian. It wasn’t that Sasuke disliked staying with Kakashi - he chose to live with Kiba and Naruto hoping that maybe it could make them all be a little closer. Even if the raven had trouble with being “closer” with others.

The blonde brought a nervous hand up through his hair as he made his way to the back of the school. He walked through the cafeteria. The doors leading outside were mostly made of glass, just as the entire wall was. Heart-rate increased as Naruto saw Sasuke. He had his back to the windows, leaning casually against them. It was clear he was waiting for someone.

Neji and Sasuke must’ve had plans to meet up after school. Well, this’ll shock him so bad his hair will turn white! Naruto grinned at the thought. He could be a smaller version of Kakashi. Naruto found himself moving slower the closer he got to the doors. Placing one hand against the door, the blonde took a deep breath, shoved the door open, and broke into a run.

“What the he-” the raven cried as Naruto’s body came slamming into his own, the two falling to the grassy earth. His angered exclamation was stopped when they hit.

“Sasuke,” Naruto gasped. He felt at an odd angle; one of his legs was tangled with one of Sasuke’s, and he was propping himself up with his arms. “Sasuke, listen to me dammit! STOP MOVING!”

Sasuke stopped. He refused to look the blonde in the face, keeping his own turned and looking to the grass. Naruto was frustrated by that, but he wasn’t about to start yelling at him for it now. It was enough that Sasuke stopped struggling and would listen.

“Sasuke, I like you too. Dammit! What were you thinking? Driving off like that? When you never showed at Kiba’s, I thought you got into an accident or something! I was worried about you the whole night! And then, I see you at school and you completely ignore me! You didn’t even let me answer at the parlor!” The blonde was screaming. Sasuke was staring wide-eyed. He didn’t really register what Naruto was going on about. Naruto liked him too.

“Shut up,” Sasuke said simply, turning to face the blonde. A small smirk was on his face. Naruto hadn’t expected any kind of look like that from Sasuke. He’d expected getting punched, kicked, or worse. Not a smirk and simply “shut up.” There should’ve been more insults. Apparently Sasuke knew what Naruto was thinking.

“Get off of me, idiot. Otherwise I’ll use force. Now.” Naruto rolled off of him, quickly picking himself up. It wasn’t until then that he realized he was blushing. The next thought was just how long had he been blushing? Not that it seemed to really matter anymore.

“Are you going back to Kiba’s?” Naruto sounded pleading, and he cursed himself for sounding so. He didn’t want to be pleading. He wanted to be casual about it. Of course, casual may be a bit different for the two.

“Hn. I’m staying at Kakashi’s. I don’t think Kiba would be for it once he realized that our rooms are next to each other, with just a door opened linking them together. I don’t know that he’d want to... listen, either,” the raven chuckled. Naruto felt his face grow hot. Of course he was blushing even more now. Why did Sasuke have to say such suggestive things? And the two of them had just gotten back to speaking to each other.

“Staying with Kakashi, huh?” the blonde repeated. He felt a bit down about that. But, he did just score himself a boyfriend. His head was filled with so many different feelings that the poor guy was surprised he didn’t explode. “You think you could give me a ride back to Kiba’s? If you can’t, it’s fine. I’ll just call Kiba and have his sister come get me,” Naruto grumbled.

“Come on. We have some talking to do.” Naruto followed after the raven, eventually climbing into the black car.

“First of all, why’d you tackle me?”

“I didn’t think you’d stay if I just walked up to you. I had to make sure you couldn’t get away,” Naruto answered, his voice getting smaller and smaller. Sasuke just smirked.

“And why’d you take two days?”

“I... I don’t have an answer. I guess I was... unsure. But I couldn’t take it anymore. Sasuke, I really do like you. A lot.” Sasuke didn’t reply. Naruto contented himself with looking to his hands, trying to think of something else to say.

“You say you like me?” Sasuke finally inquired. He stopped the car, just a block away from Kiba’s home. Naruto looked to the other boy, wondering where he was going. He nodded. Sasuke continued staring out to the road. Feeling nervous, Naruto thought about just getting out of the car now. Hell, maybe that’s why Sasuke stopped. Maybe he was actually taking into account how Kiba wouldn’t want him just driving up to the house and acting like it was all okay. Or maybe, Sasuke didn’t want to deal with Kiba’s yelling, or having to see Kiba’s older sister, and just wanted to get to Kakashi’s. The blonde didn’t feel like trying to think anything over. The headache from earlier was only getting worse.

“Sasuke, I’ll get out here, it’s okay. Thanks. For all this,” the blonde gave his usual stupid grin and Sasuke couldn’t help but feel like smirking. But he held it back and nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Sasuke replied coolly. Naruto’s smile faded only slightly, then he said, “Yeah, you’ll see me tomorrow. But, if you wanna,” he paused, “call? Uh, well, yeah.” It was such a girl thing to say. Why did Naruto keep feeling like such a girl? (1) Sasuke chuckled. Naruto felt even more embarrassed by his lack of a response.

“If you don’t want to, don’t,” Naruto breathed, getting out of the car. He hadn’t thought Sasuke could hear it, but more chuckling sounded. Naruto just growled and slammed the car door, stomping to Kiba’s house. He felt so embarrassed, and on top of that, Sasuke seemed to be making fun of him. Stupid Sasuke, the blonde thought to himself as he opened the door to the Inuzuka household.

[Kiba]

Chapter Eight: Screaming and Yelling

“Hey! You’re here!”

“Naruto! You got a ride? I thought I was going to have to pick you up!”

“Uh, yeah. I fixed things with Sasuke, so it’s okay now. He’s not going to be staying here anymore, though. Kakashi, his legal guardian? Yeah, he chose to move back in with him,” Naruto answered. A sly grin came to Hana’s face. She could tell by the way the boy held himself that something interesting had happened. And it had been something good.

“So, what happened? Are you and Sasuke... an item now?” Hana gave a smile as she watched Naruto’s face turn a light pink. Satisfied, she walked away. That left Naruto with Kiba. The brunette stared for a few seconds, thinking. Naruto tried not to laugh; they both did that.

“You two are dating now... and Sasuke chose not to live here?” Slowly, ever so slowly, Kiba put it together. Naruto walked away, not sure if he really wanted to be around when Kiba realized Sasuke’s reason for not wanting to live with them. Shutting his door behind himself, Naruto let out a sigh. Only a few seconds passed before screaming pierced the air.

“You’re not doing THAT in this house, Uzumaki! You and Sasuke are not going to be here alone. Ever! F**k! What the hell, Naruto?”

“I didn’t ask you to picture it, Kiba,” Naruto shouted back in response. Just to have some fun, he added, “Besides, we’ll just go to Kakashi’s.” That got the brunette speechless for a while. In the few moments of silence, it was all Naruto could do not to burst out laughing. Then more of Kiba’s cries started up. It took Hana to get him to stop.

“Quit your barking! Naruto, you know his bark is worse than his bite. I’ll take care of him, I promise. You won’t have to deal with this pup’s wines for much longer.”

“That’s okay, really,” Naruto struggled to get out through his laughter. It was this friendly atmosphere that he’d grown to enjoy. They had accepted Naruto into their family without a second thought; it was truly something the blonde held dear.

Fumbling over the various things lying on the ground, Naruto sat down on his bed. Taking out his phone, he stared at it. Of course that wouldn’t make it ring. And even if it did ring, there was no guarantee that it would be Sasuke. A growl escaped. I bet Sasuke’s sitting at Kakashi’s, just imagining me clinging to my phone, hoping he’ll call. Well, I won’t wait around for him to call! Besides, I told him not to if he didn’t want to... So, if he does call, I can play hard to get and not answer! Naruto sighed. Of course he’d answer if it was Sasuke. The boy knew deep down that he’d do just about anything for the raven.

“Whatever,” he grunted, tossing his phone down on the bed and leaning back so that he was staring at the ceiling. His mind was racing, going in circles over Sasuke. They were dating now, weren’t they? Sure, neither had really asked the other out, but they told each other that they liked each other, didn’t they? So, they should be going out. Is that the point Sasuke’s making by not calling me? Dammit, Sasuke!

Hours later, the small device began to play a tune. It took the blonde by surprise; any time his phone sounded it surprised him. He just wasn’t used to people talking to him, even after two years. It was a strange adjustment.

“Hello?”

“Stupid. You were waiting by your phone, weren’t you?”

“No! I wasn’t! I just... I’m not used to calls.” The blonde was blushing. He’d kept his phone with him at all times, just having the slight hope that Sasuke really would call.

“Hn.”

“You know, I didn’t think you were going to call... I have a question,” Naruto felt himself shaking slightly. But he needed to ask the question. It was important. Sasuke remained silent, so Naruto assumed that meant for him to continue on. “Are, uh, we dating? I know we told each other that we like each other and everything but-”

“Yes. Now shut up, Idiot.” Relief rushed through the blonde.

“You could call me something else, bastard. Like Naruto, maybe?”

“Hn.” Naruto sighed. Sasuke was going to continue with the insults. In that case, Naruto would be keeping it up too.

“Sasuke, you missed a priceless moment over here. Hana had to calm Kiba down after he thought about,” Naruto didn’t feel that he could complete the sentence. It felt awkward for him to even think it, let alone say it.

“It seems I did miss something.” Sasuke’s tone suggested that he was amused as he tried to think of what happened. Naruto laughed and tried to tell the raven just how it had gone down. After a while, Sasuke said he needed to go; Kakashi was nagging him about being on the phone for so long. The click as Sasuke hung up made Naruto want to frown, but instead, he smiled. The raven was his now. His. That made him feel wanted, needed, appreciated.

A knock at the door sounded. “Hey, Naruto?” Naruto got up to answer the door. “F**k! Naruto, wou-”

“Yeah, Kiba?” Naruto opened the door, staring at his impatient friend. Kiba opened his mouth, closed it again, opened, thought about it, shut it again, and finally just pushed his way into the room.

“Sorry. About yelling. I, uh, sorry. Just, don’t f**king do that in this f**king house, please?” Naruto grinned. Giving Kiba a thumbs up, he said, “I don’t think I’ll be ready for anything like that anyway.” Kiba gave a wolfish smile back.

“Oh yeah. Hinata said she wanted me to invite the two of you to come with us on our next date. f**k, girls are weird. I told her that you two probably wouldn’t want to go. It’s f**king Sasuke we’re talking about! As if he’d want to go on a date. Or pa-”

“Sure, we’ll come,” Naruto smiled. It gave him an excuse to go somewhere with Sasuke. And maybe Naruto could get the raven to go. He was sure he’d have to ask some more favors from Neji. Hell, maybe he’d even ask Sakura and Ino to help him out. And with the way things went for him, he figured he’d be going to them anyway; why not go to them first? The blonde already owed Neji.

“Okay. You’ll have to show me this great f**king plan of yours that will get him to go. But yeah. I’ll pay for you guys if you can do it!” Naruto wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It would be hard to pay Kiba back, which Naruto was sure he’d have to do if they went on this date. There was no way Kiba wasn’t going to not ask for the money back; he would need it to buy more video games. And, as if Kiba knew he’d just thought the words “video game,” the guy was up and walking out of the room.

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve got a game on pause. My time’s going up and I want to beat it with as little time clocked as possible!” With that, the brunette was sprinting back to his room. Naruto laughed. As Kiba’s door closed, Naruto tried to think over just how he’d get Sasuke to go. And if he really needed to ask Sakura and Ino for help. After what felt like hours of thinking, the blonde gave up. His head wasn’t focusing as it should be. To Ino and Sakura it was.

[Kiba]

Chapter Nine: Girls

Naruto shot up. Shaking his head, one hand came up and ran through his hair. Letting out a small chuckle, he pushed himself off the bed and got dressed. Kiba was snoring in the next room. Once the blonde was fully dressed, he figured he may as well do the guy a favor and get him up so he wasn’t rushing like always.

“Kiba!” The blonde leaped onto the bed. A confused growl came out of the body underneath the blankets. Slowly, Kiba worked his way out of the covers to greet a smiling Naruto.

“f**k, Naruto! What kind of wake up call is that? f**k!” Kiba shoved Naruto off the bed.

“Just wanted you up earlier so you weren’t in a rush,” Naruto answered, sticking out his tongue at his friend. Kiba muttered curse words as he rolled out of bed. Naruto left to let the guy get ready to leave.

Ten minutes later, Naruto and Kiba were pushing and shoving, racing to Hana’s car. Hana herself was seated in the front seat, watching the two with an amused face. Inwardly, she figured that this was one of the main factors as to why Sasuke didn’t like giving them rides to school.

Kiba smiled triumphantly as he took the passenger seat. Naruto scoffed and said that it wasn’t fair because Kiba had tripped him more times than was allowed. Kiba came back with the fact that rules had never been established, so the amount of times someone was tripped didn’t matter.

“How about both of you get stuck in the back seat?” Hana smirked. That got the two to shut up. They couldn’t not race to the car for the passenger seat. It was like a tradition for them. To have to stop it; neither could even picture it.

Before long, the school was in view. Hana dropped them off, making fun of both of them lovingly. Hana had come to see Naruto as a second brother, as Naruto had come to see her as an older sister figure. They all had the “teasing-lovingly” moments as any siblings do.

“Thanks for the ride,” both muttered as they got out of the car and headed for the front doors. Kiba was grinning. Naruto didn’t have to wait long to find out what it was about: “So, you thought of how you’re getting him to come? You have until Friday. Good luck.”

“Friday? That’s three days away! I can convince him!” Naruto’s smile showed. He had to get Sasuke to come. Otherwise, Kiba would feel superior. And he was already thingyy enough. He didn’t need anything added to his ego. They entered the school and went to their lockers.

The raven was leaning against his own locker, smirking as Naruto walked by. Sasuke waited as his blonde boyfriend dug through his locker, grabbing the various things he’d need for classes. Leaning forward, Sasuke peeked into Naruto’s locker.

“You’re such a slob.”

“I know where everything is,” Naruto answered, his eyebrows drawing together. Sasuke hadn’t even gave a “hello” or anything of the like. No, the first thing he said was about how the blonde was a slob. Which was apparent anyhow.

“Hn.” It was quiet for a short amount of time. Sasuke was just antisocial in most regards, and Naruto wanted to start a conversation, but didn’t know what to say.

“So, uh, what class will you be going to?”

“English.”

“English! What a stupid first class! I get to go to art!”

“And that’s because-”

“I’m a slob, I know. But, you like that, right?” A grin came to Naruto’s face. “You like me, and I’m a slob. It’s a nice counter to your... not-slob-ness.”

“Hn,” Sasuke smirked. “Let’s head to Art. I haven’t seen Kiba in a few days. I almost miss his bark.” Naruto laughed. If Sasuke wanted to walk him to class, he wasn’t going to refuse. The two headed to the art room, seeing Kiba and Hinata at his desk.

“Hey, guys,” Naruto said, mostly greeting Hinata as Kiba did the same, greeting Sasuke. Sasuke grunted and Hinata gave a shy smile. Naruto sank down, sitting in his seat. Kiba gave a small grin; Naruto knew what it meant: Have you brought it up yet? Naruto cleared his throat, not wanting Kiba to say anything about it until the blonde had actually asked Sasuke himself if he’d go.

“Sasuke,” Naruto smiled, “these two invited us on a double date.” Sasuke looked down to Naruto with a grimace on his face. It was clear that the raven wouldn’t go without a fight. Great. Now I really need to find Sakura and Ino. And I only really like Sakura out of those two. Dammit. Hinata and Sasuke said quick ‘byes’ before heading to their classrooms.

“So much for that!”

“Sakura and Ino. They’ll help me.” Kiba started coughing. Naruto figured he was choking on his own spit. The brunette had a talent for it.

“Do those two even know the two of you are f**king dating?”

“If not, they will now. What should it matter?” Kiba shook his head, letting a few more coughs out. Maybe Sakura could get over the fact that they were dating, but Kiba really wanted to see Ino’s reaction.

“Lemme be there when you ask for their help. Or tape it! Please?”

“Hell no,” Naruto grunted, pulling out his sketch book. The bell had rung, and Kakashi still wasn’t there, as usual. Twenty minutes later, he came walking in as if he was on time. No one said a word, all doing as they had been since class started; goofing off and acting like they were really doing something.

The bell rang and Naruto and Kiba were both off to science class. Both took their seats. Naruto kept his eyes on the door, waiting to see the familiar pink-haired girl walk in. Finally, Sakura entered the room.

“Sakura! I need your help! Please?” Naruto was on his feet, about to rush the girl. She stopped, startled. Seeing the pleading look on the blonde’s face, she consented and walked over to him, setting her stuff down at her seat as she did so.

“What do you need my help with? Some homework you didn’t get done?” Naruto growled - he did need help on the homework assignment. But that wasn’t the issue.

“No. I, uh, I need you to help me to get Sasuke to go out with me, Kiba, and Hinata,” the blonde muttered. Sakura just smiled, answering him with “sure!” That shocked him; he’d expected her to be a bit violent or something. Maybe she didn’t put it together yet.

“So, why are the two of you going with Kiba and Hinata? Wouldn’t those two rather go on a date without Kiba’s friends tagging along?” She hadn’t.

“No, uh, you see, Sasuke and I are-”

“They’re dating, f**k!” A fist connected with Naruto’s chin.

“What? You mean I can’t have Sasuke? And he chose you?” Naruto fell over. After a few seconds to recover from the shock of what happened, he was on his feet again.

“What the hell, Sakura? So what if we’re gay? I need your help to get him to go with us! And I figured you wouldn’t be so close-minded about it!”

“Hah! I’m not close-minded! I just... It was just a shock, I guess. Sorry about punching you,” Sakura muttered. Naruto accepted the apology only because he needed Sakura’s help. And Ino’s.

“Sure, sure. Let’s meet after school.” Naruto agreed. Surprisingly, it was Kiba who brought up the little dilemma that was caused by that.

“Won’t Sasuke offer to give you a ride home?”

“I’ll tell him I have to work on a project with you here.” Kiba tried thinking it over. He didn’t see a problem with that. It was agreed then. Now Naruto just had to talk to Ino about it all.

Naruto’s next class was with Ino. As soon as he was in the classroom, he was at Ino’s desk, giving her a smile. Ino knew that meant he wanted something. Staring at him wearily, she questioned what he was doing.

“I need your help. Sakura will be helping too. Kiba will just be there because he’s my excuse for staying after school with the two of you,” Naruto answered truthfully.

“I haven’t even agreed to help, Stupid! You can’t make all these plans thinking I’d just help you!”

“You owe me; I helped you with Geometry homework, remember?”

“Yeah, you ignored me.” Naruto huffed. If he couldn’t get Ino to help, he wasn’t sure it would all work out. He wanted to get ideas from both Ino and Sakura, and the three of them could all work something out.

“Look, I promise I’ll make it up to you, just help me out!”

“Fine. Now, what am I helping you with?”

“Sasuke. I, uh, I need to get him to come with me on a date with Kiba and Hinata. A double date.” Ino started chuckling, which turned into pure laughter.

“You. Sasuke. Date?” Her laughter came after every word, and the blonde girl looked like she must may fall out of her seat. Naruto let out a growl.

“Yes! f**k!” Naruto exclaimed. His immediate thoughts went to Kiba. I’m starting to talk like him? f**k. That stopped Ino’s laughter, though. With that outburst, she realized that Naruto was serious about this and wasn’t pulling her leg. And, even more to Naruto’s surprise, she didn’t insult him about being a homosexual or try to hit him.

“Alright, I’m in! We’re going to get Sasuke out on this date!” Ino was smiling, and looked positively determined. It almost scared Naruto. But now they were ready to get ideas out, develop them into something workable, and get Sasuke to go with Naruto on the date. It was perfect.

The four teens were gathered at one of the picnic tables at the back of the school. Each sat on a different side. Sakura had one hand at her cheek, leaning onto her elbow. Ino had her arms crossed and her chin sat atop them. Kiba was leaning back, looking to the sky, and Naruto had his head against the wooden table. His mind felt over-worked, and he’d felt slightly guilty about lying to Sasuke.

“Blackmail?” Ino suggested.

“f**k that,” Kiba growled. It was how the conversation had been going for the past ten minutes; someone would suggest something and Kiba would say “f**k that.”

“Just tell him you really want to go on the date, Naruto,” Sakura sighed.

“As if that would work. No, we need something... Something,” Naruto began saying the word “something” over and over, trying to think of something to say after it, but nothing was coming to mind.

“Tell him to go, or it’s over.”

“f**k that!”

“Hell no! Like I’d do that! What kind of thing is that to say?”

“Hey, I agree with her. It’d work.” Kiba and Naruto looked to each other, wondering just what went through girl’s minds. If they all thought like that, Naruto was happy he had Sasuke, and Kiba was glad that Hinata didn’t talk an overly amount. If she said half the things these two did, he was sure he couldn’t take having her as a girlfriend.

“Threaten him!” Both girls were in unison, fully for this idea. Naruto and Kiba both were against that.

“I thought having you two would help me, not make things worse,” Naruto uttered.

“I know. Hold something against him.”

“Like what I said!”

“I’m not blackmailing him!” Naruto wasn’t sure he liked this. These girls were so cruel. Blackmail and threats? No, he wasn’t willing to do that. The small group went silent as they all tried to think of something. Only a few minutes later, another person came upon the group.

“Tell him... you owe him... Anything he wants.” The four jumped. Kiba yelped, then was grinning stupidly. His girlfriend had come up and was standing behind him. Naruto wondered how she knew what they were talking about, and how long she’d been there. But, it didn’t really matter. Her idea was the best any of them had heard; they all agreed, though Sakura and Ino thought that threats and blackmail were the runners up.

“Alright. We’ll see how this goes,” Naruto stated. He’d call Sasuke later on and see how the conversation would go. Ino and Sakura made it clear that they wanted to know how the conversation went, and the blonde boy promised he’d tell them. Kiba didn’t worry; if he really wanted to know, he could eavesdrop.

It was decided; Naruto would call the raven, tell him he’d owe him anything that Sasuke could possibly think of, and hopefully that’d get him to go on the double date.

[Kiba]

Chapter Ten: Call

It was nearing six. Naruto had his phone clutched in his hand. Just thinking about calling Sasuke was making him nervous. Sasuke had been under the impression that Naruto and Kiba had been working on some project, and when the blonde called, it would be obvious that he’d lied. Naruto didn’t think he’d be able to lie to the raven again. It was so hard to do.

Finally, the blonde scrolled through his contacts and found the name he was looking for. His finger wavered as he readied himself to press the “send” button. Before he could think of a way to get himself out of it, the button was pressed and Naruto clung to the phone, hoping the raven would answer. One ring. Two. Three.

“Hello?”

“Sasuke!” Naruto knew the relief in his voice showed, but he didn’t care. Sasuke picked up.

“Yes?”

“You’ll go on the date, won’t you?”

“I thought it was clear. I’m not going.”

“Sasuke... If you go, I’ll owe you. ...Anything you want. Please?” A chuckle sounded over the connection.

“Anything I want, you say? Hn,” the raven’s voice answered. It was quiet as Naruto waited for a solid answer. He knew Sasuke was thinking it over. He just hoped that this “anything” offer wouldn’t come back to bite him in the ass.

“... Fine, Naruto. And it’s tomorrow? You’re coming with me after school this time. Not plotting on how to get me out on a date.”

“How did you know?” Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke had known that was the plan after all? And Naruto had thought he’d done a good job of lying. Well, this certainly meant the blonde would know better than to lie to Sasuke.

“I have my ways. Besides, you and Kiba actually working on a project? Usually Shino’s paired with Kiba for projects, right?” The questions weren’t really questions; they were more or less Sasuke showing off what he knew.

“Yeah, yeah,” Naruto grumbled. It wasn’t too bad. Sasuke still didn’t know that Ino and Sakura had been there, along with Hinata. As long as that bit was secret, Naruto felt okay with the whole thing.

“Where are we going for the date?”

“I’ll go ask Kiba. Hold on,” Naruto replied, walking out of his room and knocking on Kiba’s door. Kiba answered his door, looking irritated.

“How the f**k does he f**king know? Is he a f**king psychic?” Kiba greeted. Naruto felt slightly angered; Kiba had been eavesdropping after all. Naruto made a hand motion indicating he’d explain later. Kiba hadn’t heard the entire conversation, obviously.

“Where are we going for the double date?”

“I wanted to go bowling, but Hinata didn’t think that was a good idea. She said that I’d probably be at the arcade the whole time, and she isn’t very good at video games. Or so she says. I’ve never seen her play one,” Kiba explained, “So, we thought about just going to a movie. But I dunno. Maybe we go to the movie and dinner? Ah,” Kiba rubbed the back of his head. Naruto gave a small nod, returning the phone to his ear and relayed the information to Sasuke.

“Any movie you two would chose would be stupid,” Sasuke answered. Kiba let out a small growl. “Oh, calm down, Dog-boy. I’m just giving my input.” Naruto just sighed. This was going to be a painful process. Deciding and agreeing wasn’t a strong point of the group. Luckily, they had Hinata this time around. She could prove as a voice of reason. Maybe.

“If we went to a movie, would you even watch?” Naruto teased Kiba.

“No.” The blonde was blushing, and it was Kiba’s turn to start laughing. In fact, the brunette was laughing so hard he was doubled over, gripping an edge of his desk to keep himself standing.

“How about we just go to the mall,” Naruto muttered out of embarrassment. Kiba, still laughing, didn’t answer until a mew minutes afterward; he agreed. Sasuke said it sounded fine; the raven didn’t really care where they went. His main thing was that Naruto owed him. Anything. Naruto walked back to his room, feeling foolish and mumbling to himself, not really thinking about the fact that Sasuke was still on the phone.

“Hello,” Sasuke said.

“Oh, sorry. Kiba... just... yeah.” Naruto could still feel the warmth in his face. Kiba was talking now, meaning he’d just called Hinata to ask her opinion on the plans. “I guess I’ll let you go now. You know me, I’ve got a pile of homework waiting to be done.”

“And it isn’t going to get done.”

“You do know me,” Naruto laughed.

“Get working. Bye.” The line on the other end went dead. Sasuke really was horrible at ending conversations over the phone.

“I’ll get right on that,” Naruto grumbled into the receiver. He put his phone in his pocket, fiddled around with various objects about his room, and finally started on his homework. Of course, he didn't like that he ended up doing what Sasuke had told him to do.