(Oshiete! -Bokura no Amai Himitsu-)

Novermber 11th, along with February 14th and March 14th, should be erased from the calendars and the very existence of such days should be shunned.

In the early morning of the eleventh day of November, Uzumaki Naruto (male, thirteen years old) thinks it appropriate to damn the day. Pocky Day is merely a conspiracy of candy manufacturers to sell more of their products; mere product of commercialism. He will not be affected by the fact that he will not get any pockies. After all, every holiday that involved some kind of gift giving and receiving passed by without him being able to receive anything, and of course this holiday would be no exception. He briefly wonders if he should relent and buy a box of pocky for Sakura, but easily dismisses the idea. What is the use of going through the trouble if in response she will look at him like a squashed bug she found on the back page of her textbook?

Pulling out a carton of milk, Naruto silently mutters obscenities to himself. Thinking about Sakura, of course, reminds him of certain narcissist asshole who most definitely does not deserve Sakura's admiration. In days like this, Sasuke would get so many candies that he would scarcely know what to do with them, and he would usually throw all of them away at the end of the day. Of course it would be like that. Someone like Naruto who is just dying to get even one box of pocky would not get any, while unappreciative bastard like Sasuke would be showered with gifts. Naruto thinks Sasuke-related thoughts were giving him bad taste in his mouth, but he realizes that it's his milk. Darn. It's spoiled.

He empties the milk down the drain and opens his cupboard. Heavy sigh escapes his throat. He had forgotten that he had eaten the last of his instant noodles yesterday night. He quickly decides that a trip to the grocery store is in order—after all, he had woken up very early this morning and had the time; the thought of getting nothing today made him nervous and upset as hell—and strips himself of his sleeping clothes. His apartment being pretty chilly, Naruto makes an assumption that outside will be even colder. He retrieves a heavy orange-brown coat from his closet and pulls it on top of his usual orange jumper suit. After fastening the straps of his boots, Naruto shoves the door of his apartment open and is instantly blasted by cold air. It is cold enough for him to see his breath. He shivers and wraps his arms around himself, venturing forward in his quest to buy foodstuffs.

He would have stepped on it if it had not glistened at the edge of his vision. Naruto stops and picks up the shiny object from his doormat, his brows crinkling in a frown. The rectangular shape, the soft, almost velvety texture of dark-blue wrapping paper, and long, curling light blue ribbon are all unfamiliar to him. But somehow this feels like it is supposed to be happening, the edge of his conscious nagging something at him, and then Naruto finally comprehends the situation.

He, Naruto, is holding a box of pocky in his hands.

It is rumored that Naruto's neighbors that day heard a loud, obnoxious laughter and bragging that sounded something like 'take that, Sasuke-bastard! I got one, too!' and other nonsense like that, and were forced to wake up early and tell certain blonde idiot to shut the hell up.

Uchiha Sasuke (also male and thirteen years old) is not in a good mood. Naruto is able to tell in a glance, from the way the edge of his mouth thins out and his dark eyes are narrowed. Of course he doesn't look much different even when he is in a relatively good mood—relative being the keyword here-, but Naruto is able to tell Sasuke's moods better than anyone else. Strange, but true.

And exactly why would he be in a bad mood? The colorful boxes piled high on his desk would be enough to make any normal male grin like a fool by now, but not Sasuke. Perhaps he is bitching about getting a box less than last year or something.

"Why are you in such a bad mood, Sasuke?" Naruto attempts in what is supposed to be start of a conversation. Sasuke's expression turns even sourer.

"Why would that be your concern, you dunce?"

When would he learn to leave him alone? Talking to the guy was like sticking one's hand into a wasp's nest. Painful, annoying, and completely unworthy of the effort. Naruto, however, takes the bait and flares up. "If you received so many pockies, shouldn't you at least be thankful to all the girls who went through the trouble of buying the pocky and wrapping it up for you and all that stuff? You are such an ass!"

"You only say that because you never receive any. They are only nuisance to me. It's troublesome to throw them away later."

"Shove them down your throat!" Naruto hotly replies. "I hate guys who are picky about eating, and I hate guys who don't like sweets even more! Anyway, think about how the girls would feel when they see their present in the garbage can later!"

Naruto almost adds that this year he received a box of pocky, but somehow he wants to keep it a secret. It is not something he wants to brag about, because it is precious gift. He cannot bear to have his pocky scorned. No matter how cold Sasuke is to him, Naruto can't help but feel something akin to 'friendship' towards the other boy, but if Sasuke makes fun of Naruto's first box of pocky present, he may really grow to hate him. And he doesn't want that.

Sasuke suddenly looks tired.

"…If they like me that much, they should at least know that I hate sweets. Just forcing their feelings on me is tiring; it's selfish to 'like' me and expect me to feel the same way towards them."

Naruto gets a strange urge to give a pat to Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke is like that. One minute he is so irritating that it is all Naruto can do to stop himself from punching him hard enough to knock couple of his teeth out, but the next minute he would suddenly smile softly or sigh sadly, and Naruto would feel strangely warm and protective. At the strange fluttering sensation in his stomach, Naruto huffs and turns his head away without replying.

It is a good thing that he did, because soon their classmates start to drift in. Heaven forbid that anyone see that Sasuke and Naruto are capable of having conversation with each other without ripping each other's throats out.

Naruto knows that Sasuke is staring at him. Yet again. It is nothing unusual. Naruto often feels Sasuke's eyes on him during classes, but today he is staring at Naruto more than he usually does, and far less discretely at that. This annoys Naruto. He whips his head from his textbook and glares at Sasuke. Their eyes meet, Sasuke's eyes slightly widen, and Naruto triumphantly shows him his middle finger.

"Naruto!"

Iruka-sensei's angry voice makes Naruto cringe, and Sasuke turns his eyes away. Naruto slowly and reluctantly stands up. Iruka-sensei asks him something about chakra flow around the cardiac region, causing Naruto to ask what the heck cardiac is. Other children start to mockingly laugh. Feeling his face turning hot, Naruto steals a glance at Sasuke. Sasuke is staring at him again.

And he is not laughing.

After school, Sasuke seems to find it fitting to trail after Naruto. Knowing that Sasuke's home is in the opposite direction, Naruto stops walking and waits for Sasuke to catch up to him. Sasuke stops walking when he reaches Naruto. His expression does not change, and he does not move, as if waiting for Naruto to simply move again.

"…What's your problem, Sasuke?"

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke coolly asks. Standing side by side, Naruto discovers that Sasuke's blue shirt crashes horribly with his orange shirt. Blue and orange are complementary colors. They do not match. Just like blue and orange, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto are complete opposites of each other, completely unrelated and most definitely not compatible. But Naruto still does not move away from the other boy.

"Look, I know you have lots of issues to work out. The first step in resolving your problems would be to take some calcium pills. But lacking calcium is not a good excuse to stare at me all day, and then deciding to stalk me, okay?" Naruto turns to face Sasuke, who is staring back at him. His face is no longer expressionless. His lips are still a stern, straight line, but his eyes had softened so that he looks almost amused now. "Why don't you just turn around and go home?"

"Do you want one?"

"…Haa?" Naruto wearily asks. Not only does Sasuke have personality problems, but he has problems forming coherent speech as well. Go figure. They say all geniuses are crazy, in one way or other.

"Pocky. You didn't get any today, did you? I'll give you one of my pocky. Forget one; you can have them all. You said you didn't want me to throw them away."

Naruto's first impulse is to happily accept the offered treats—free sweets can never go wrong—but he shakes his head instead. He does not want to eat Sasuke's pocky. The first pocky he wants to eat is the one that was left on his doorstep this morning. But he isn't sure when he would eat it. It is so precious to him that he didn't even unwrap it yet, so he doesn't even know what flavor pocky it is yet.

Sasuke's eyebrows shoot up into his hairline so that it's nearly covered by his bangs. "Why not?"

"Because…" Naruto feels his face threatening to turn pink, so he angrily yells, "What's it to you, stupid Sasuke? Go away and leave me alone!"

Sasuke's expression does not change, but he no longer looks amused. He opens his mouth, then closes it. Naruto starts to apologize, but he swallows his words. What did he do wrong? Everything is Sasuke's fault. Naruto turns around and starts to walk towards his home again. Sasuke trails behind him again, but this time Naruto ignores him. If he picked a fight with Sasuke every time he provoked him, he'll spend most of his waking minute fighting with Sasuke, which will not only be a waste of time, but be very trying on his patience and sanity as well.

But it was a completely different matter if Sasuke insisted on bugging him.

"…And exactly why did you follow me all the way to my home?" Naruto snaps, fumbling in his jacket for his keys. Sasuke has his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the wall of his apartment. When he just stares at Naruto without answering, Naruto sighs and gives up. "Fine, fine! Go ahead and look at my handsome face all you want. I know just how difficult it is to tear your eyes away from my beauty. Hell, I have a heck of a time tearing myself away from the mirror every morning."

Finally discovering that the key was in the back pocket of his pants, Naruto opens the door to his apartment and grabs Sasuke's arm. "You might as well as come in and gawk at my face in ease. Are you hungry?"

Sasuke shakes his head, and then he mutters a polite 'excuse me for the intrusion' as he enters Naruto's home. When Naruto kicks off his shoes and runs into his kitchen, Sasuke bends over and neatly puts the pair of shoes away at the corner, then takes off his own shoes and hangs up his coat. He looks up when Naruto comes back with a glass of juice in his hands. Naruto all but thrusts the glass at his face.

"Um, why don't you sit down?" Naruto timidly suggests. From his uncertainty, Sasuke realizes that it isn't often that Naruto is to entertain a guest. He takes the glass of juice and takes a sit, and Naruto looks relieved as he plops into the seat next to him. He leans backwards until he faces the ceiling, and Sasuke admires the smooth, graceful lines of his profile. A comfortable silence settles between the two, and Sasuke drinks some of the orange juice offered to him.

"I don't understand you, Sasuke," Naruto suddenly mutters. Sasuke does not reply, but Naruto continues. "Sometimes you act like you really hate me, and then you suddenly protect me. You glare at me like you want to rip my head off and throw it to the dogs, and then suddenly you smile at me, and you never smile in front of anyone else so I'd feel all special before you smirk and call me an idiot. Sometimes I wonder—What are you supposed to be, Sasuke? A friend? A rival? Just classmate?"

"Think what you will," Sasuke quietly says. "It does not matter to me what you think."

"…I hate you after all."

Naruto stands up and stretches. "I'm going to eat, shower, and sleep. Unless you have a good reason why you came here, you'd better leave before it gets dark. Or do you want to sleep over? I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

For the second time Sasuke looks like he wants to say something, but he turns his head away instead. "I'll be leaving soon. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, whatever suits you." Naruto starts to go to the kitchen to boil some water for his noodles, but he pauses. Something is definitely wrong with Sasuke today. Sure he was always sort of weird, but today he seemed absent-minded all day long, and he seems upset right now. Naruto takes a deep breath, tightly closes his eyes, and decides to take the risk.

"…Um, Sasuke?"

Silence.

"I, uh, that is… Thanks. You know. For the pocky this morning."

And Naruto suddenly realizes that's what he wanted. He wanted it to be Sasuke's pocky. He isn't sure why, but from the moment he had picked up the pocky this morning, he immediately branded it 'Sasuke's pocky'. When Sasuke remains silent, Naruto nervously turns his head to look at him. Sasuke… looks angry.

"Ahahaha. Just kidding, just kidding. Ignore me. The joke was not funny, right?" Naruto nervously stammers, backing away. Sasuke suddenly leaps up from his seat. With a yelp, Naruto runs away to his bedroom, but Sasuke is quicker. Damn his longer legs. With few strides he crosses the living room and pushes on the bedroom door so that Naruto cannot close it. He leans forward so that his forehead is touching Naruto's forehead, and Naruto flinches.

"Why?"

"…Eh?" Naruto asks, his eyes tightly closed in fear. "Wh, what do you mean by 'why'… Oh, why did I make a joke like that? See, this morning I got a box of pocky, and you were acting weird all day, and—"

"That's not what I'm asking, you dumbass!" Sasuke impatiently snarls. His black eyes glitters, and his cheeks are flushed. "Why aren't you eating it? Is it because I gave it to you? All day I was waiting to see you eat it, but-!"
"…Eh? Eh? Sa, Sasuke… So you really were the one who gave it to me?" Naruto numbly asks, his eyes widening. Then he feels his cheeks turning crimson and lowers his eyes. "…I couldn't bring myself to open it. I wanted to save it as long as I could, because… It's the first pocky I ever received, so…"

"You were… saving it?" Sasuke asks, his voice a lot more softened. Then Naruto whimpers as Sasuke smacks his head. "…I can just buy you another one, so eat it already!"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that. Ehehehe."

Naruto scratches the nape of his neck and shyly laughs. It takes a while, but Sasuke also puts something akin to smile on his face and pulls away from Naruto. "I'm going to go home, then. Good night."

"Ah, Sasuke?"

Sasuke looks at him questioningly. Naruto reaches inside his shirt, where he kept the box of pocky next to his heart the whole day, and carefully pulls the wrappings apart to reveal strawberry pocky. He takes one out and hurriedly eats it, then holds out another one for Sasuke.

"You should eat one, too."

Sasuke glances at the pocky. Naruto knows that Sasuke will not eat it. Sasuke hates sweets. Year after year, he had watched Sasuke throwing away all the pocky that he had received, not tasting even one—

Sasuke takes the pocky and eats it. Naruto stares at him in disbelief, then breaks into a wide smile. "…Happy Pocky Day, Sasuke!"

Sasuke nods. He is smiling.

"Aa." He holds up a finger. "But since I gave you a box of pocky, you have to repay me."

"Eh? Should I buy you a box, too? I can run out and get it right now," Naruto says, turning away to get his jacket. He is stopped by Sasuke's hand on his arm. Sasuke firmly shakes his head.

"Happy Pocky Day, Naruto. And next year—"

Sasuke's eyes narrow in laughter.

"Say 'Happy Pocky Day' to me once again."

"Ah…"

"And the year after that, too. And all the years that follow that as well. I'll give you a box every year, so…"

"Ah…. Okay."

"Fu." Naruto lowers his head to hide his grin as Sasuke ruffles up his hair. "Then it's a sweet secret just between the two of us."

To name something 'Tell me! Our Sweet Secret'... Aaaaah. My naming sense is really… (dies of embarrassment) Even while writing it, Shiro had no idea what the hell he was writing about. The only dominating thought was, 'Sweet! Make it sweet! Kuoooo!' Ahahaha. I want to eat pocky, too. (Actually I don't like sweets, but green tea pocky is good…) On a side note, at Shiro's website, there is a short doujinshi(fan comic) for pocky day as well. It's sort of companion comic to this story. I think. ;;;;;;;;;

I had sudden urge to revert back to the time when Sasuke and Naruto were innocent and were tittering on the line between friendship and love. I like current intense SasuNaru-ish atmosphere, but the beginning where the two fought childishly yet affectionately was really cute, too.

Happy Pocky Day, everyone. Please eat lots of pocky and have a pleasant day! X3